ANGLICAN SYNOD.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 732, 3 February 1910, Page 6

ANGLICAN SYNOD.

. . WOMEN'S DISABILITIES. A SUNDAY SCHOOL PBOBLEM. The tenth day's proceedings of the triennial' General Synod: of the Anglican Church; occupied yesterday afternoon and evening;; The Primate '(Bishop Nevill, of Dunedin) presided. -A' considerable clearance of the order, paper was effected and it is ■ expected that the Synod will be,conoluded this evening. .VOTES FOR WOMEN. The Kiev. J. Hobbs (Hastings), resuming the debate on Mr. Scandretfs motion to give women communicants a vote iii- elections of vestrymen, and diocesan synodmen, said the reasons for giving women ' their > legitimate voice in the counsels of the Church, which they had been denied for 20 centuries, were to be found in the Bible, in the rights of the people, in the benefits that would accrue to the Churchy and in -the existence' of an anomaly which should be removed. Women had a say in everything in this country - now, except- the Anglican Church. Women were competent to sit as churchwardens,; and did •so in : England. It was true that in the marriage service the woman promised to obey, but the moment they got out of the Churcl* the husband gave over to her the' whole government :ol his -house, ■ and. the reason why she governed well was that-she obeyed.' looking to the' qualities of women, he believed that the debts of -.Church would-be' cleared off more rapidly if. the women were given a larger i -Ji" 8 i? businessmanagement. ' Mr. T. P. Martin supported the motion. He quoted the canons to show that women were already entitled to act as vestrymen." The motion" sought to remove an anachronism that was quite out ,of_harmony with modern life. ••' .- The closure was moved by Mr. H D Andrews and carried on the voices. . i7fr .smilingly - congratulated ffr.' Hobbs on, his speech, and remarked that a proposal to establish a faculty ofv domestic scienoe was before the Un-i----veimty ■ Senate, and he was sure Mr. Hobbs would be competent to take hon-ours-in that subject.

SUNDAY'SCHOOLS.

DO, THEY HELP THE CHUECH?

A-rphdeacon. Calder (Auokland)' moved the 6ettmg up of a comihiitce, consisting of Archdeacons -Goesett,'. Gould, York Rev. J. 'Hobbs, Rev. T. H.' Sprott, aisd the mover,'to arrange,, if-possible, for-a system ofjsunday school 'instruction extending over the whole Dominion. •. . Dean Fitchett (Dunedin) said, he wished • a 'tention 1 to a- very .'grave' defect m the Sunday school system; - The children were not trained'to go to church, iney formed no church-going habits. He .oiten went into a.' Sunday school, where there were perhaps 3DO children, though not more than; 30 - had been, at church m the morning. Speaking from long experience' he' could; say that the 'ohildren who-did not attend Sundajr school were the most likely to come into the church and take .up ohurch' offices.' The matter was a most: serious one. Children whodid .not-go to ohurch, and did not form ohuroh-goag habits, became the parents o: others, who in their, turn were ; not trained 'in, ohurchigoing 1 habits,- ■ Archdeacon Calder-(Auckland) 'said the Dean'-had spoken from the fulness-''(if his ac d the lack -of his information. It; was,,quite possible ..-to-'.have',Sun-day-schools .which ivould give the chil.dren.WW- church-going 'habit.-. -. He "had asked his bishop to authorise and back !JP '■* 1 system of : children's eiicharisfe' at 'J.,30 m the morning, so that the children might be , taught how to ' worship.'' He (the, speaker) knew something about the matter, for he' had, not always lived in JNew Zealand—he was glad to . say; He Vi enfc to England 16 years ago and saw the system in operation there, and .did. not like'' it; i- He' went -back again .18 months ago, and looked at it again. He vatnessed such a service, where'there was intense devotion, a "real interest and great quietness. He . never /saw ■ such a thing before,,'and nd did not suppose he would see. such a again.j.unless . he' went back to England. New Zealand was losing to some extent the power of wor- «. was hoping-a great deal' 5- j j. P ower f u ' and : unemotional methods of the ■ coming General Mission, 83 J^dicated: by the -forerunners.: He would like to ask the bishops, to-consider . the time had hot come for the 40 1)0 brought, say, once- a month to -a celebration where they might be instructed in the divine art of worship..; He: .would be 'frightened to do anything which even appeared to be Roman, but he did'not think this was Roman at all. ' He believed it was one of •• out of -the; present impasse. The Bishop of Auckland said that in authorising the course proposed by Archdeacon Calder, he had-provided careful safeguards. •- • •

Archdeacon ,Calder: My bishop would not give, me any ;enoottra.gement, but he gave me, 4<vts of safeguards. 1 , ; ; -The,motion was, carried.

ELECTIONS. , , ,1% following were''elected to. form the Standing Commission The Primate, the -Dean of Dunedin, . Messrs.. , J.. ;H. Hosking, K.C., J. P. .WoodhoHise, and A. A. Finch. '

The following, were constituted as the elected members of the>Board of TheoJopcal. .. Studies: —Archdeacons Neild. .Eicliards, arid Williams, theEevs. A/ M. J °tnA>n, T. H. Sprott, and J. E. Wilford. Ihe ;Sjaiod-also-adopted oommittee resolutions' authorising an assessment •of the dioceses for-.£loo a year-to meet the expenses of the board,, and the setting aside - of. per annum for the' next .three years by the General Churoh Trust to, provide exhibitions ! if required. .

FINANCIAL METHODS."' : " •_ Mr. E. Wilberfoss (Wellington) said the financial. methods of -the Synod urgently needed reform. ' The oommittees. to whom accounts were referred did not. consider them, and he suggested thai; they, did not understand. them. A;much simpler method of presenting the accounts was required. He moved:— ~

: That this Synod instructs the trustees of the several . trusts ,under its .; . , control' that the accounts of ' these trusts shall be presented -to ; this Synod in;the foliowing.form, viz.:— .1. Capital or Corpus Aoco.unt,. ehow- .... ing-in detail the whole corpus, of tie trust; properties,to' be taken into aocbunt at the' land tax valuation of • - the " same. '2. Capital Cash Account, ; showing in detail ,the intromissioms of . . the. same, during' the period covered : -by the accounts. -8. Revenue Account, . showing-in detail the'whole of the revenue'of .the-trust receivable and the. liabilities .payable during the period -, covered by the accounts. 4. A state-' : .ment of-.the assets and,liabilities of ■ the trust." . Mr. J. W. White (Blenheim)' secondedthe motion. Mr. J. H. Upton (Auckland) defended the ' administration of trusts and ' the method of keeping trust accounts in the Auckland ■ diocese, with special reference to St. John's College. To report ■ the land tax valuation .would be a deplorable mistake, ■: and would lead .to.' - erroneous ideas being formed. All necessary, information was given in the accounts of the Auckland trusts submitted to ; the General Synod. Mr. J. W. Henderson (Wellington) said he , had,found at past synods that time was wasted by committees asking for explanations .of points they did'not understand. Under the provisions . now ' in force, the accounts could not be presented in more detail than at present. He supported the. motion.' Canon .Mac Murray 6aid the trust, accounts were fully examined in. the Diocesan Synods. The Bishop of Auckland thanked Mr. Upton for his remarks, and asked the synod to reject the motion, and thus show their confidence in the St. John's College Trustees, who had faithfullycarried out the instructions' of ? the General.- Synod. / The motion was lost on the voices. ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE. Eesolutions submitted by the committee on educational institutions were discussed at the evening sitting. Objection was taken by Mr. J. H. Upton (Auckland) and other Auckland speakers to the recommendation that the travelling expenses of the members of the governing body of St John's College should, if

practicable; be -made a charge . on. the general aocount of the institution. . It was stated that the cost would be £15 a year, and the total annual income was only <£200. It was also mentioned that the trustees are appointed by the bishops, and certain of those most recently appointed reside in parts of the Dominion remote from Auckland.

The Bishop of Christohuroh said it must bo remembered that the collego was a provincial (i.e., New Zealand) institution,: not an Auckland diocesan institution. •

The recommendation was rejected on a division, the majority -of the ■ lay members being against it. _ The Bishop of Christchurch, as chairman of the committee on educational institutions, then moved: "That if the governors and trustees of St.' John's College are of opinion that any of the scholarship trusts are, in their' present form," subversive of the discipline of the college, they are hereby authorised to apply to the Courts or Parliament for such alteration in the terms of the trusts as may be found neoessary to discipline." The mover explained that under the terms of a certain scholarship a man was appointed for a term of five years, and could only be dismissed on such serious grounds as would, in practically all cases, prevent the authorities from removing him, although his conduct might be quite subversive of discipline/. It was not possible for a student to contract himself out of his rights under, the trhst. A scandal- had .occurred, and there was grave risk.of scandal in the future,-if the conditions were not changed., .The resolution was adopted.

A PIONEER. > It was resolved, on the motion of Arch-deacon'Richards:-"That this synod desires to record its appreciation of the life and'work of George "Price Beaumont, M.A.,"who in his-pioneer work'on" the West Coast, as vicar of' the parish of Tuapeka and Waitahuna and Archdeacon .of Queenstown, and on several occasions as member of the General ; Synod,. did much towards the progress and edification of the Church in this , province, ; to the, glory of God." , : OTHER BUSINESS. The resolutions of the committee set up to. deal with questions arising'out of the Bishop of New Zealand Trust Act (as reported l yesterday) were adopted by the synod: - . .. . : ■ . The report of the Committee on Trusts and Finance 'was amended by reducing the . grants towards the "erection of a cathedral at Dunedin and See houses 1 for Waiapu and Wellington from ,£IOO each to' each, .and: authorising.-^BO-for the promotion of a Bill in Parliament relatingto.the Bishop.of New Zealand.Trusts. The grant to' the Primate of JJSO for expenses - (three years) was raised to. -£75, and' the vote of - .£IOO for. preparation.' of Church history, was-reduced to ; The report,.- with .amendments,' was'; adopted. Archdeacon Williams's Bill: relating to the Primacy was further considered" in committee. The Bill -consisted originally of- two clauses.' .The first had- previously been struck out, 1 and "the same fate was on this occasion meted, out to the second.

; Other Bills-before; the synod were-put through their 'final .stages, " ' '^;.' •It• was-resolved-." V■ • - ' V

"That the. next session of-the General Synod be held at. Nelson, on Thursday, January 16, 1913;" . .. .™That' the Maori Mission, Board consist of the Bishop of Christchurclv the' Rev's; W. W. Sedgwick, and J. de B. Galwey, and Messrs. Charles Bean- 1 and, T. D. Harman." '-~. ; THANKS. ' Vote3.;of?'thanks were'passed .'to ; the Wellington, Wellesley, 'lYavellors', > Central, aid- -Pioneer .Clubs-..for _ hospitality, :-the Parliamentary. Library' Commitjtee,.-. Mr. Maughan Barnett (organ recital), Victoria Bowling Club,' ladies of St. Peter's, und St.. Paul's /parishes (afternoon tea), ' -the secretaries, and. the press.' '■

PROPOSED CONGRESS. The Primate, referring to . a .resolution of'the synod- asking the bishops; to consider the desirability.of holding a>Church Congress' during 1911, stated' that • the bishops did not regard next year as a suitable time. They had .not.considered the possibility' of• holding it at any, other' time. , . . '. - ■ The Primate also thanked members for. their, courtesy ; and ' . consideration, and; said, the syriod ; 'had been the;mosthhar t ; honious ; one within his recollection. He then pronounced ' the benediction,' and the synod concluded at; 10.40 p.m. .

The. following matters were dealt with at' Tuesday's sitting' of the Synod SELECTION OF PARISH CLERGY. Archdeacon C. C. : Harper' .moved, the second , reading of a Bill to' amend' Title A, Canon 11, Section 1, relating to the appointment of a clergyman' to a vacant parish. At present the., selection is made Dy nominators; chosen by the/Diocesan Synod ■ and the: parish vestry; ■ the - number of nominators being determined ; by- the Diocesan Synod. ' Archdeacon : Harper's Bill'; provided that ; thereshould'"be 1 in every case nine nominators, four' of "them to be appointed by' the Diocesan Synod, and four by the l parish' vestry, the: bishop of the diocese to act as .chairman. In support of this proposal, Archdeacon Harper said that .the present system' was faulty,. in- that: the . one person .'' (the bishop) who best understood the interests of the parish, and'knew the clergymen available for the appointment,' was not allowed a voice in - the matter. Ho believed: this was the only Church where such'was the case. ;., , .

■ Canon Mac Murray, who opposed ;the Bill, remarked i that the bishops. should have influence rather than' authority. . Mr.-T. P. Martin said he'saw a difficulty in a bishop: being a > member of ■ a board' which . was to, present a .clergyman to' him for nomination.

- The Primate, said he .thought it was very much better, that the Bishop should not be mixed up with the nominations. He would very, much dislike,,it personally, but lie had V always , furbished the nominators with'such information as they required. ; The Bishop of Christchurck expressed 'similar views. '

The second reading , was, lost on the voices-'.-.. .'. , ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE. The Eev. T. H. Sprott . (Wellington) moved the second reading of a BUI to amend Title. E, Canon ; 11, "of St. John's College." He explained that the object of the Bill was to make it perfectly, clear by what body the trustees of the college :were to be appointed. A. casual reader of the Canon would suppose that they :were to be elected by the General Synod, but the custom, had been that they were Selected by the 1 . Auckland Diocesan Trnsts'Board. The Bill proposed to make it perfectly. clear that they should be ' appointed by the- Trusts Board., . Another defect was that no provision was ■made for: the filling of a vacancy caused by the death or resignation of a trustee, and the Bill proposed to remedy this omission by giving. the Diocesan Trusts Board; power to appoint a trustee to fill any such vacancy. • The Bill was read a second time, and ■put through committee. v ;