A SERIES of services were held here last week on the occasion of constitut ing a Church according to the usages of Congregationalism. The Rev. J. Robertson, M.A., of Beresford-street Church, (presided. ?A religious ser vice was held on Wednesday, at which addresses were delivered by Rev. J. Robertson, Rev. W. Gittos, and Mr H. Barton. The next day a soiree was held, the tables being supplied by the ladiea of the district. There was a large attendance; the schoolroom being nearly tilled. On the following Sunday Mr Robertson met the members desirous of constituting ths Church at 10.30., and afterwards preached on the nature of a Christian Church, and described the constitution of a Church of the Congregational order; after which tl £ ordinance of the Lord's Supper was adI}, ministered. In the afternoon the children of the district assembled, when they were addressed by Mr Robertson. The evening service was again well attended, the sermon being preached by Mr Barton. The meet ings throughout were marked by a feeling of deep interest, and gave great satisfaction to all concerned. The Maungaturoto district is well worthy of a visit. Perhaps in no part of the North has more decided progress been made. Fourteen years ago it was a dense forest, in all its natural wildness, with no road but a surveyor';, track. Now it is covered with smiling homesteads, and roads intersect it in every direction. An air of well-to-doism pervades the settlement; and one is deeply struck with the amount of energy, pluck, and self-denial which must have been put forth to secure such pleasant results. A striking feature of the district is the number of children in almost every house; and such is the healthfulness of the place that not one child has died since the settlement was formed in 1563. The chapel for the district is a neat structure, well finished through out. The land on which it stands was given by Mr W. M. Flower, and the whole is held in trust for the Congregational Independents.
