AUCKLAND'S NEW BISHOP.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1841, 29 August 1913, Page 8

AUCKLAND'S NEW BISHOP.

■ . DR. AVERILL ACCEPTS. THE POSITION. AN INTERVIEW. THE PROPOSED TARANARI DIOCESE. , The Bishop of Waiapu (Dr. Averill) has accepted the Anglican bishopric of Auckland, the ofl'enof which was made to him by the Auckland Diocesan Synod last week. "I found the question a very difficult ono to decide," said tlie J'ishbp when interviewed .last evening. "I very fully appreciate' the confidence which the Synod of Auckland has expressed'in me in liiaking mo the olFer, but -I must say that when it. first came I felt a very strong desire to dccline it-, for tho reason principally that I have boon in Waiapu barely four years, and because I have started a great deal of new work there, and I.felt that perhaps it was my duty to remain there for some time longer in order to carry on this work to greater completion. At the same timo I had to lace very seriously tho question, whether it was not my duty to accent the greater responsibilities and difficulties of a larger diocese like Auckland, particularly at a time when Auckland was in,-a period of difficulty, having lost two bishops within such a ■ short- period. ' After considering the matter v or . v i very carefully from all points of view, and after ascertaining the ooinions of my fellow bishops in Now Zealand, I decided, that it was my dut-v to,accept the-position—hence ray decision." "At tlie same time," the Bishon wont on-, to sav, "T have been'nulled very strongly in the opposite direction by the • neoplo of my own - diocese, who have bcon doing their utmost to induce lue to . remain with them. . However, ■ the question has been solved now, and I hope that it has been solved rightly. I hope that my experience will be useful- in the diocese of Auckland,-and that J may find'both - the clergi) and tho laity as loyal and as staunch to me there as I liave found them to be in the diocese of Waiapu." . Dr. Averill was unable to stato delin- ' itel.v when he is likely to be able to take up liis new duties. "I do not yet ! know exactly, when they will want me ' to go,'" lie -said. ' "I. want to show every consideration to my present'diocese, and it will probably be two or '-:three months before I will leave 1 Waiiipu. - I; probably. will not leave until my successor-is appointed, although 1 may not remain until he takes up his duties. -The ordinary session of ' the Waiapu Diocesan Synod will open on Octooer 3, and it is'quite possible that a - sjjecial . session may bo held at ! the same time, for the purpose of elect- '- .ing a bishop." | The Bishop was reminded that the ! Auckland Synod will also sit in tho J usual courso in October. "Yes," ho ! replied, "but I will not take that. It will bo taken by Archdeacon Cnlder, as commissary. X will take the Waiapu ' Synod." , ' Jn the course of further conversation the Bishop said: "The conditions of the work in .the diocese o£ Auckland and "Waiapu are .v6ry similar. The principal ■ difference, of .course, is the ) city of Auckland:itself, but therein lies, - perhaps, the greatest attraction to me, l because, before I went'.to Waiapu, jl, - hud always, worked in big towns. I - worked in London for eight years, and - I was also in Christchurch for fifteen , years before going to Waiapu. Naturi ally lam fond of the w'ork in big towns, ) but- lam also fond of- the country'. _ , "I do not know anything of the North 3 of Auckland, and I do not know much 1 about the, Taranaki part of tho diocese. 3 I know something of tho Waikato dis- - ,trict, and also of various parts of tho ; diocese along the Main Trunk line. The . Maori work is .very similar in the two - dioceses. The of having to s have what is practically a doublp orr - ganisatiou—for pakehas and Maoris— 8 exists in both cases." "I do not think the k physical diffi- : - culties of the work mil bt igrcater than ;, in my present diocese. Thcro I liave ii been awav from home 'for two months a at a time", and I do not suppose I will be away so long as tliat in the Auckland diocese. During -the great part of y the two months mentioned 1 was riding |- on horseback." ' _ • i ; ' The Bishop, was invited to say some- ' thing regarding the proposal to form a ;] new diocese to take in Taranaki, (now in • the Auckland diocese) and part of tho \'. Wellington diocese. "I think," ho said, | "that it is desirable that as soon as it can be brought about a new dioceso i- should be formed, because I do n'ot i- think that any Bishop can give the d time that is really necessary to properly (] work a diocese of the pro son t size of h Auckland. -It spenis to me that a now diocese could be formed to take in Ta-ra-j 3 naki,'and perhaps also.Wanganu? and j the surrounding district, thus also redticing the size of the Wellington diocese. If a new diocese is to be formed y'. it ought to take in more territory than Taranaki'alone. : It would be quite im--o possible, owing!to the .configuration of the countiT, to include any part- of the n Waiapu diocese in such a. now diocese, or that might also be reduced at the snme timo. The Rotonia. and Bay of plenty districts, wliioli aro now in the Waiapu diocese, could he more successfully worked from Auckland than from Napier, but of course there would be. no obiect to be gained in reducing tlie ' size of tho diocese at one o,ud and increasing it. at. the other end. . "The, additional diocese," the Bishop IS continued, "has'been talked of a great :e many times, but J cannot say y yet-whether it is within'the region of r- iirnctical Church polities. As the populotion increases another dincese is is brumcl to come sooner or later; at present it looks lis if it will be later, and ly that is «' pity." . id The appointment of Bishop Averill to ?r Aiiekland is interesting, from the fact id' th"*' it is tho first occasion on which io a N"w Zealand Bishop has been trans- '<? lated f«>m one dioceso in the Dominion to ' to another. _ in Bishop Averill will remain m WelId linj/ton until the beginning of next i'e week.,; . '