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Anglo-Maori Warder, Volume 1, Issue 22, 21 September 1848, Page 2

A fourth meeting of members of the Church of England was held on Tuesday last, at the school-house in Eden crescent, the Lord Bishop of New Zealand in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed, after which questions of local consideration were disposed of. The committee appointed for the purpose of raising funds towards the supply of additional ministerial aid in the town of Auckland, reported that £121) had been subscribed up to that time, which the Bishop requested be paid into the Archdeaconry account at the bank. The committee appointed for the purpose of carrying out the repairs and improvement of St. Paul's Church, then brought up the architect's and their own report. They stated that the principle subjects of consideration had been the state of the outside walls, of the roof, and the imide lining of the church. The outSide walls wete hastening fast to decay, the

progress of which it was of urgent necessity to arrest. The architect stated that out of several plans which had suggested themselves to his mind, the least expensive would be this, to take out all the bad bricks, to pin in new, the whole to be afterwards twice doue over with boiled linseed oil. But that as the funds at the disposal of the committee would not suffice to carry out this plan all ronnd the church, he proposed repairing the north end only, which had suffered the most from weather, for the present *. the cost of this portion of the operations he estimated at about £35. AVith regard to the roof, it was thought that the expense of slating it could not be justified as yet; that re-shingling over the old shingles might suffice for a while, and would at all events, obviate the necessity of opening umbrellas in church, which some of the congregation had before now been forced to do. The cost of that likewise was estimated at £35. The cost of lining the whole of the inside walls, like the chancel, with rimu, was estimated at £ll2. It was stated that the timber had been already ordered. £4O was allowed for an outside fence of puriri posts; and the committee were then empowered to carry their suggestions inso effect, it appearing that at a rough calculation they would presentlya-bout £220 at their disposal. The more imp&luiflportion of the proceedings were then Bishop, who read the pastoral had been requested at the last meeting tVfjddress to the members of the Church of England. He stated that at first he had intended to print it; but that upon after consideration, he had thought himself hardly justified in giving such complete publicity to those extracts from Mr. Gladstone's correspondence with the Archbishop of Canterbury, which were contained in it; and the more so, that Mr. Gladstone recommended that -ie enquiry which he proposed—namely, into the opinions and wishes of the laity with regard to a system of church government should be made, not, indeed, secretly, but privately, and unostentatiously. Still, he had no objection to any person who wished it, taking a copy. We are perhaps, not strictly accurate in calling it a pastoral letter; it was rather in the nature of a short report of his own observations, to which he proposed making additions from time to time, so as up the sense of the meeting to tUM^ST'# His with care that the meeting svw" enquiry only ; that its office was to collecls&he general sentiments of the church upon the subject which they had assembled to discuss *, to prepare the materials for the adjustment of a systematic form of church government; but that the idea that it had power to give legality to any resolutions of its own, must be by no means entertained. The Chief Justice thought that the Bishop's letter had made clear the exact limit of the functions of the meeting, and had quite sufficiently guarded against any misapprehension of their nature. The following resolution was then moved by the Attorney General, seconded by Mr. FitzGerald, and agreed to *. —that " This meeting have received with pleasure thecomn unication addressed to the members of the Church of England by the Bishop of New Zealand, calling upon them to aid him in reporting to the heads of the Church in England the general sentiments of the clergy and laity on the subject of the formation of a good system of Church government for this diocese." The Bishop then suggested, that c'ay after day, some question relating to Churca polity be proposed, tigiich should be entered upon, and freely discuss&kat meeting. The said that he would attempt rough way the great divisions The first point of consideration the meeting, was the constitution olfee general governing body in the Church ; to inquire who are the constituents, the electoral body of the Church; or what in fact constitutes a member of the Church of England, with a right to exercise legislative functions; who are the class of persons that in England would be called parishioners. With this, the question of vestries would be identical. The Bishop there observed upon the inconvenience of no register being kept of members of the Church of England ; that the census had been taken by the civil authorities only, and that many persons who had stated themselves to be members of the Chutch when applied to for one purpose, had repudiated the connexion when applied to for another. The committee for collecting subscriptions towards additional ministerial aid for the town had already complained of the difficulties which the want of some such guide had entailed upon them. The Chief Justice resumed, and stated, that after the general law-making power had been disposed of, the next subject for consideration would be the discipline of the Church • how to administer it safely, yet efficiently. The Revenue of the Church would form another branch of the aittstib; how it should be supported and would include the subject of fees. The stipends of ministers then claim attention, and the principle upcm which jn adjusting should be formed. The would be a large miscellaneous di-

vision, under which all the remaining subjects of consideration, buildings, burying grounds, and other matters, would range themselves. After some general, but interesting conversation, the meeting was then adjourned until that day month, at the same hour.