DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1171, 5 July 1911, Page 4

DIOCESAN SYNOD.

THE CHURCH'S WEEDS;

ADDRESS BY BISHOP SPROTT,

SOCIAL PROBLEMS,

; "CLERICALISM" CONDEMNED; : The first session of the nineteenth Synod of the."Wellington. Diocese of the • Anglican Church of the province of New Zealand was opened yesterday afternoon .. in the Sydney Street Schoolroom. The !■'.' Eight Rev. T. IL Sprott, D.D., Bishop of : .Wellington, presided. Almost all tho ; "members of the Synod were present. •' : THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS. ' '■ Bishop Sprott besa.n his presidential ad- | dress with a reference to tho Coronation. .'■ "Two; principles," he, said, "stand lumin- ': ously forth iti that symbolism.. (1) Our '■I Sovereigns do not crown themselves. ; ■: They/receive tho Crown from na officer .",.empowered by the nation to confer it. •"«. They, are' not autocrats. The Throne '■? confessedly stands broad-based upon the /''people's-.consent. (2) Tho ollicei so cm- ''.', powered to' bestow the crown is a minister '■ of religion, and at his hands our Sovc- : leigns receive' it kneeling.. It is the con- ,', fession by r both King and .people of a !, more, august sovereignty to. which both alike are .subject... The Kiiig is to be » the Christian head of a Christian people, ■■■ and the Bible is given to him with the ;: injunction that .he should rulo according to its'prmciples.""' Pray we both for King • and/people that they may have grace to ;' translate the ancient symbolism into liv- ; ing fact; -TUs.Empire need then fear no ; foe." ; . . Dr.'- Sprott next stated .that the \dnties ... .-which he hail had to perform-during 'the ; ' four tveeks since his consecration had pre'vented him devoting so much time as he ;'■•. could have.'.wished to the preparation df ; this address. ■ He had administered tho ■'"lite of confirmation at Island Bay, Wai- :■■ ianae, Marfan, Foxton, Otaki -Maori- ; Church, Otaki Pakeha Church, Carter- '. \tou;' and -Ekotahuna, confirming in all 211 ; candidates. , ■' The kindliness of the rc--1 ception, the. heartiness of the worship, • and the. reverence of tho candidates in '-■ ell these places had bean most pleasing; :' : The Work of the Diocese, \ . "I'ou-,may remember," he- continued, "that in my consecration sornion I said c that I, Tiad no programme of diocesan i '.vofk'or'oriiajiisation to lay before the ;. diocese,- that I felt that I must know tho ! diocese,; better before, .embarking upon' f '} frtsh' , schomes," arid, that my ■ immediato ' '' task;.nWsfc;.'be rather to maintain tho '■: existing, organisation .than to inaugurate :' anything new. " Already I am realising ';• that eyen.-this modest programme is not :■: bo easy, as it might 'ssein. : Within the ( next three months Ve shall, I regret to. ; say; nave lost three most valued cleTgy. ' Already the vicar of Petone- has left us, ■ and the vicars of Khandallah and Tinui ; will shortly, do' likewise." .'Need I say' ;■'.- that. I.- count tho departures !of . three I such earnest and strenuous workers a i : great los 3to the diocese? - But Jest I I'.■'. ehould 'seem to be complaining, I must I : add that I believe the reasons foivdesir- : ing a change of.sphere.to be in each case '. entirely adequate. ' To" fill these .ya'can- ■: cies she Rev. G. B. Stephenson has been appointed to Petone, and. the.Eev. H. F. ; .Wilson-to.Khandallah,,thus necessitating my finding men at o'nco'.foi' Timii/Pbnga'-" , loa, and Eongotea. In addition to this, at its .Inst meeting tho Stand-- ; ing Committee created ii new'. ' •parochial .. district ~;by 'separating from Johnsonville, and for' ■ this a vicar must be found! I could have ! wished that no vacancies had occurred until I had had time to make myself per.'i eonally acquainted'with the parishes con- : cerned; a : nd, further, seeing that. ,wo . must look to.England for the four vicars required, I could havo wished to lmve had time,,to.get my commissaries there appointeai>\ I. have. Steady written to . four of mjilfriends asking them to be kind ' ,en6ugh-to' ait .in that capacity. l As yet j : I have had time to hear from only ono of ■ them, Dr. • Emery Barnes, Hulsean ProF7- fessor, of Divinity at Cambridge. ' Dr. ' ■■ Barnes has. written. accepting the office, ,-', adding that ho will do. all he can to help '. us, As he is' examining chaplain to tho ,Bishop of t London, as .well as'.a.divinity •. professor,'. tie may have opportunities of urging the needs of our remote diocese upon some of the younger cltrgy of ■ the Mother Church. I trust I shall have a like favourable reply from tho three others to whom I harp -written-. ■ / „ An Educational Grant, "But though I do not propose any fresh ; organisation, there are two matters which '■'..were under the .consideration .of.iiiy-pre-decessor, b'uf wliich unhappily, he was unable to complete, that must bo dealt with during the,ensuing year. (1) It is I think known to most of .the members 'of the Synod that a sum of .62000 was allotted to our New Zealand-Church out of the thank-offering made at the PanAnglican Congress" held in ' London in . 1908. The Administering Committee de- ■ sired that'this grant 'should b& applied to educational purposes. The Dioceses of Chnstchurcli, Wniapu, and Nelson have generously waived their claims'to a'share' of the grant, leaving it to be divided equally., between the Dioceses of Auckland, Dunedin. and Wellington. It was I believe, also tho wish of the administering committee that any scheme involving the expenditure of this fund should have the approval not only of the Bishop of the diocese, but also that of the Diocesan Synod. As the grant has not yet been paid-over, and as the committco ; will probably not wish to havo it lying unused.for-an indefinite period, the matter should-be dealt with as soon as possible. Obviously, so small a sum as our share will bo can Only serve as the nucleus of ; a much larger fund; in itself it is wholly inadequate for educational work of any moment. It is, I think, also »™ that no scheme can be formulatol ' by the Synod at its .present session. I would, therefore, suggest that the Synocr delegate its power of approval to the t-tandmg Committee, so that the matter may bo considered, and if possible some , practical steps taken during this year

Diocesan Missioner. "(2) The other matter ret|uiring immediate attention is tho appointment of a diocesan missioner. It will bo remembered that at tho. request of my predecessor it was decided to devote the thank-bfFerings of tho General Mission to a fund for' providing a permanent diocesan missioner. Ihe amount realised was ,£Bl9 Though I count this to be a most gratifying jesult, yet of course it is in itselfrruite inadequate for the' purpose wo have in view, and will require to bo in somo way largely supplemented. The Standing Committee has had the matter under consideration, but decided to postpone action till a new Bj«hop had been appointed. I would suggest that the new branding Committee bo empowered to compete the arrangements. I may just add that the title''Diocesan: Missioned is not necessarily to bo interpreted somewhat widely. Missions such as we have just had can only be held in parishes with advantage at somewhat rare- interim ~ T °L- not I , hink thnt w ° oonW use the whole famo of a permanent missioncr m this war* nor would it be good for the man himself to be continuously employed in sueh work. _ It should, I th'ink, be understood that in addition to mission work proper, it was his-function to tako temporary charge, of vacant parochial districts. I can imasrino no greater boon to the dioceso than tho provision of a strong and vigorous man for such work would be.

'The losses sustained by the Synod and « t f e /ft" , " B ! 1 , lf , r - Q" iclc ' s resignation qt the Chancellorship, nnd the death of Mr. Cr. W. Wheeler wero feelingly dwelt upon by the Bishop. In referrin"" to Mr Quicks successor in .office, ho said that Mr. r. F. Martin required no introduction to tho Synod, nor did his eminent fitness for tho office TCquiro any certificate.

More Clergy Needed,

Speaking oE tho General Mission hold a few months ago, Dr. Sprc-tt said it was too soon (o estimate the results. Ho thought that no other mission in New Zealand had evoked such a wido response This was not a matter of boasting It simply meant that there woro large numbers of people who, if they received tho Christian Gospel at alj, were more likely to receive it from the English Church than from any other. , :' "This: ,T?aS ..the measure of their responsibility, and he did not think they were adequately meetins it. They had not enough clergy.

. VI o need," affirmed the Bishop, "not indeed to render our stair adequate, Ijut to wader it less woefully inadequate, at least twelve additional men. The harvest is ripe. The long winter of materialism is breaking up. -As a philosophical theory ot tho universe, materialism is admittedly bankrupt. .The mission has. shown that numbers of people, who are, not philosophers, aro coming, to feel tint it is not n. practical creed—not a creud thai, can help a, nlail j u ]j v i llg i,j s ), os t and highest life. They aro coming by experience to. realiso the truth of Mnzzini's weighty 'ivonls—'l believe that we can never make man worthier, more laving, nobler, or more divine, which is, in fast, our end and aim on earth, by merely heaping upon him the nieans of enjoyment, and setting bot'oro him as tho aim of' life, that irony which is named happiness.' Shall we not then rite to the occasion? What tho Ascended lord of the Apocalypse, said to tho missionary church of Philadelphia, lit the close of the first use—grandest, most inspiring words that any Christian Brotherhood can. hear— He has through the mission emphatically repeated to us: 'Behold, I have set before thee au open door, which no man cau shut'

The Working Classes and .Clericalism. "I havo said that the mission evoked a widespread response. One class in the community seem to have been found responsive than many hud hoped would be tho case: I mean the artisans of tho cities. Tho cause of this has been found by some in a. lack of sympathy on the. part of the local church with the social and political aims and ospiratioiis of this section of our fcllow-eilizons; and the clergy havft been advised to givo more serious study to social problems.- I do not myself , undertake to compare tho irresponsiveness to the;, mission 'of the artisan class with, that of. other classes. Irresponsive persons were found in all clns.=as. Kor do I undertake to > say whether the alleged lack of sympathy exists in fact. But .the atlvjeo that we should seek to understand tho social problems of our ago and country I think excellent, and T'trust'that as far as possible we shall act upon it. But I think a- word of , warning—not to the laity, but to the clergy—may not be out of place. Wo hear m.uch in these days of 'clericalism.' The term is not always understood ■by those who-oftonest use it as, a. term of opprobrium. But, rightly understood, an evil thing. Ministers of 'religion arc yielding to clericalism when they imagine that, just because they aro ministers of religion and apart from any qualifications of serious study and competent, knowledge, they aro ' entitled magisterially to decide what is the- right and what is the wrong solution of complicated social and political problems. When. ministers of religion so act they only compromise religion by identifying it in men's minds with somo certainly imperfect and possibly mischievous policy; and they incur a .just resentment by making claims unsuitained by any adequate equipment of knowledge. .

Church, and State. . "I must not bo misunderstood to be suggesting that religion.has nothing to do with social and political questions. Such ■a suggestion would be a flat contradiction of my opening words to-day. I spoke of the- King as having been consecrated and crowned the Christian head of a Christian people. If the Coronation service be not a meaningless farce, it nieans that this Empire is not a merely secular organisation. Tho Biblo was presented to tho King, as T a reminder that this Empire is to', -be- governed in accordance with Christian, principles. Thoso who think that the State is a purely secular- thing, and that.religion has nothing'to : do With '.stjoial. and.;political, mrttfers,./:..nitpht to ;clampnr;for- tho -abolition of ; theCorono■tionservica.l IVc' Englishdmrclimeri, of course, cannot take that position';" To be \cdrisisr.ont ) ...tKen; wo must hold'and main- ■ tain;thW:;Christian principles-'are.applic-able and.ought to bo applied to social and political problems.', But the application in detail.is. often a matter of huge difficulty .and. complexity. If any'of-'the clergy by ssvero study - have qualified themselves for tho task, they iriay bo able to assist in the precess. But those of us who aro not experts, in. tpciolozy will., bo on firmer ground]; jfAwe.VconMo ourselves, in our capacif; .as" ministers of -religion, to reminding- ! men'. .thft tho Christ of 'many crowns'"claims to rule the whole of human'life—life" social and political as well as individual arid personal, and to appealing to men's consciences to live out their Christianity in all ths relations of life. leaving each man to make the application, as in the sight of God in , his own time, and place. Ho doing, wo" shall at least bo following tho Master's own practice,'. Who when..He was appealed to"by two-quarrelling- , brothers to settle a disnnte about property, sternly refused, but bade both beware of'covetousness for. said Ho, 'a man's life consiststb not: in the. abundance of the things which he possesseth.' wns the secret of their dispute. Had they not both been covetous there would probablv have been-no dispute, at 'all. The 'episode has its lesson and its warning for our own tuna.

' Tho Power of Prayer. " The.mission-had also taught tho-realitv of tho power of prayer. There'had been ■current during the last 40 years a'theory that prayer had only a reflex influence, .like the rehet experienced.by telling one's troubles to a friend, who yet might bo unable actively to help; the same in kind •with the-elevation of soul which comes from n strongly-felt wish to bo better men and women. But that God should over grant our requests in a way analagoiis to a> fathers granting of'the request of his child by supplying food to its hunger, the scientists and philosophers •of forty years ago were supposed once for all to have ascertained to bo quito impossible. Many had learnt from books that tho philosophers and scientists of to-day were not quite so confident us to their 'knowledge of tho limits within which tho Eternal r Jlind and Energy works. But the mission.has given soino of them a surer coub'denco than they could ever get from books. They prayed, not for themselves, bat for others; for others, too, who wore not present to hear tho prayers, so as to be directly influenced by them, and God answered those prayers.' Ilencefortti this New Zealand Church should be a praying Church.

Fellowship. Many people learnt during tho mission the viiliio of systematic Bible instruction, and he trusted, they" would now do what they could to make it easier for the clergy to do a , little more ot such work than it had 'been at all possiblo for .them to do hitherto. "The Inst point I shall touch upon is this," continued tho Bishop. "Wc who took part in the mission in this city realised, I think, as we never realised i't before, how many people, there are who through force of circumstances are livin" lonely live?, who long for and who ni'eil the fellowship of other souls. It i=; not good for any of us to bo alone. Wo arc social beings. Only in and through fellowship with others can we realise our best, our truest selves. I trust that we all shall do what we cnii to make the brotherhood of Christ's Church a more real thing. Only let us remember the end for which tin Churnli exists. It 'exists to remind men of their common origin as sons of God; of their common" destiny as members of His Kingdom; of their common privilege as felloiv-workers wiMi Christ m the upbuilding, of God's Kingdom and tho salvation of man.'. Should not tho ties which bind together the members of a society with such aims be very dear, very sacrod, and wry real? Anil should not the fact thnt we members of this synod are the appointed leaders of a society with such nims, be an inspiration of the highest potency? You remember William Blake's lines—

I will not cetiso from mental strife, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till wo hove built Joru=.ilem

In England's green and pleasant land. For England substitute New Zealand, and you have in these lines a perfect stalement of our task us Christian Churchmen—to build in New Zealand God's own Jerusalem. Let us not think tho task 100 great. We are not alone. We are not unaided. For of that city ultimately tho Builder and Maker is Cod." BUSINESS DOME. Officers for the session were appointed as follow:—Clerical secretary, the Her'. A W. 11. Conipton; lay secretary, Mr. W. ,1. Birch (Marton); chairman of committee' Mr. G. Shirtcliffo (Wellington). ; The following Finance Committee- was set up:—Tho Ven. Arclidericriiv Fancourt and Messrs. J. Kebbrll, If, A. Nevins, W. F. Jacob, C. Kebhcll, A Martin, and g\ Shirtcliffo. The cormnittoo was instructed to consider and report upon the financial returns for the several parishes and districts,

Tho necessary Accounts and Ueports Committees were also set up. Notices of Motion. .The following notices of motion were given:— Hy.lhe Kev. A. IF. Johnson: "That the ven. Archdeacons T'aneourt and Harper Mid Mr. W. .1. liireh be elected diocesan nominators for I he ensuing thren years." By tho Kev. Joshua Janes: "Th'at tho boundaries of the parish of St. James's, Lower Ilutt, bo altered with a view to the creation of a new parochial district at Eastbourne." By the Veil.- Archdeacon Faneourt: (1) "That the sum of .6700 allocated to his diocese for the thank-olic-ring on the occasion of the Pan-Anglican. Conference be entrusted to .the Standing Committee, and alter mature -consideration be devoted to Rome educational purpose." (2) "That the thank-offering raised in the diocese in connection with the recent mission be entrusted to the Standing Committee, to be by if devoted to the establishment of a permanent mission agency .... as soon as it is possible to devise a satisfactory working scheme to give effect lo the resolution already passed by synod." By Mr. G. Shirleli'lVc: "That Mr. G.-G. Bridges be appointed a trustee of the Wellington Diocesan Pension Fund Trust Board and that the thanks of the synod be tendered to Mr. Embling for his valuable services."

By the Veu. Archdeacon Harper: "That, a fund be- established to be called. 'The Bishop's Soci-.'.l Service Fund,' to bo administered by a committee consisting of the Bishop, the Archdeacons, and four laylnen elected by the Standing Committee, all matters to do with the building up of the fund and its administration to be arranged by the committee under the final control of the Standing Committee and Synod." ... Synod' adjourned until i p.m. to-day. In tho evening, the members of Synod attended evensong at St. Paul's-Pro-Cathedral. The Ven. Archdeacon Harper preached on ".The Church, Her Witness and Work."