THE DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2509, 2 March 1871, Page 2

THE DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Tho Diocesan Synod met yesterday evening in the City Council Chambers ; his Lordship the Primate presiding. The roll of members was as follows : Lay Representatives : Messrs G. G, Russell and J. H. Pope, Caversham, Green Island, and Peninsula ; R. B, Martin and H. Howorth, St. Paul’s, Dunedin ; F. G. Downes, Port Chalmers and Blueskiu ; B. Hibbard and J. Dewe, Tokomairiro ; A. Pillans, Inch Clutha ; George Richardson, Popotunoa; I. N. Watt and H Houghton, Riverton ; H. F, Hardy and Henry Orbell, Waikouaiti; E. Herbert and C. W. Adams, Tuapeka and Waitahuna ; James Smith and James Walcott, Oamaru; W. Mason, Otepopo, Hamden, and Moeralci; Waituki Plain, E, E. C. Quick ; Queenstown, W. C. Young, A. D. Lubecki; Arrowtown, G. F. Reid; Invercargill, John Hare and J. T. Thomson ; All Saints’, Dr Buchanan, D’Arcy Haggitt; Maniototo, P. Hill; Campbelltown, G. S. Brodrick. 0

J is the list of ministers, mem* Sera of-tbe Synod:—Revs. E. G. Edwards, A. Gifford, A. Dasent, E. H. Granger, R. L. Stanford, W. F. Oldham, W. P. Tanner, R, Coffey, G. P. Beaumont, T. L. Stanley. The Primate, having declared the Synod open for the despatch of business, read a lengthy address, in the course of which he said there were many measures of importance ai i-dng out of the proceedings of the General Synod which claimed their immediate consideration. Some of them had a direct bearing upon the interests of this Diocese, and could only be brought into operation by the Synod. Ho had carefully gone over the proceedings of the General Synod, and had selected those requiring action on their part. His Lordship then enumerated, and commented upon, the various alterations made in the Statutes during the sitting of the General Synod, and the various matters relative to the Diocese which had c.»me before the Synod. The Bishopric Statute, 1871, of the General Synod, he said, had now come into operation ; and in clause 4 there was a provision that the nomination of the first bishop of Dunedin shall be made in the Diocesan Synod. He would not add anything to what he had elsewhere said of the need of a resident bishop. He believed that all were agreed that it was essential to its welfare and orderly government that it should be presided over by a bishop capable of giving it his undivided attention. He would only remark that if this Synod should see fit to proceed, at this session, to the election' of a clergymen to .fill?the office of Bishop of this Diocese, the following were the rules, laid down in -the for its guidance. ; The nominatidn'slMP'be made by one of the-; clergy and seconded by one of the lay representatives; and the Synod shall vote by i orders, and no election of any clergyman shall be valid unless a majority of the votes of each of the orders shall be given for him. By clauses 6, 7, and 9, it was further provided that the votes of each order shall be taken by ballot in such a manner as shall have been previously determined upon; thafr in case the required majority shall not be given for any clergyman on the first ballot, a second, and a third ballot should be taken, and iu case the third ballot should be ineffectual, additional nominations should be made in the maimer before mentioned. It was competent also for the Diooesau Synod to dele- ■ gate its right of nominations to any person or persons whom it may appoint, either absohvely, or subject to any conditions it may think fit to impose. As to the fund for tho suppoit of a Bishop, the Society for Promoting Chris :ian Knowledge would probably require the actual collection of LSOOO, as originally stipulated, before they would give the grant of LIOOO. If the Synod proceeded at once to elect a Bishop, some steps should be taken to obtain for that Bishop an inadequate income. It would be scarcely creditable to the Diocese to invite any clergyman to fill that office, without, at least, some reasonable pros, ects of securing for him the means of supporting it so soon as he would enter upon it. Refening to the resolution of the General Synod, that the standing committee of each diocese should report upou the plans in operation in fihe Diocese for providing the services of clergymen in outlying districts, his Lordship said some such plats were contemplated by the last Diocesap Synod, and accordingly instructions were given by it to the standing committee to take such immediate steps as they might deem most effective for the purpose of raising a special fund to be called the Missionary Clergy Fund, tp be applied to the introduction 0 into the Diocese, and the subsequent maintenance of missionary clergymen. It would be seen from the standing committee s report that ■ little had beep done towards the establishment of this fund. He need not urge upon tbp Synod how mpeh the welfare df the Diocese depended upon the due supply of clergymen qualified for the service of the Church, and that not only the outlying parts of the Diocese were interested in the supply, but those parts which now had the full benefit of tli 3 Church’s ministrations. There was no measure, therefore, more deserving consideration or more urgently requiring it, than the setting on foot of some fupd by wuich fresh clergymen could be brought intp the Diocese, and be- maiutai-cd in it until other meaus could he provided for their support. He advocated a system of a small quarterly payment by every adult within the Diocese who was connected -\yijih the Church, iu recognition of his pc hei: membership ; the proposed payment wholly irrespective of contributions for the support of the local ministry, pnd tp be applied in'the supply of clergy. Spcp a fund would be continually increasing with the increase of tfye body, and if once'fplly established, might be iporp safely relied upon than 'any fpibscriptipu list pr occasional offertories. It must he patent tp all who know anything of the Dipcpse, its increasing population and extent, that there was need of many additional clergymen. Many would agree with him that the appoint, ment of a bishop, whose interests and duties would be 00-exteusive with'the whole Diooese, and who himself will have frequently to act as a missionary clergyman, would do more than anything else to give direction and strength to their efforts tending to this point. He sincerely trusted that the Dioce-'e ofDunedin would soon he able to take its place among the other Dioceses of the Colony—complete in its ecclesiastical organisation j but they should keep in view that the material prosperity pf theiv Church wqs hut a means to an end, which was the growth of vital godliness, of faith, and purity, and charity. . ~ A vote of thanks was awarded to his Lordship for his address, which was ordered to be printed. The Rev. Mr Grainger was appointed clerical, and Mr E. Quick lay secretary, and the Hon. Mr Buchanan chairman of committees. His Lordship laid on the table a protest from Mr J. S. Webb, in which he stated that he, Mr J. T. Thomson, and Mr Hare, had been candidates for election to the parish of Invercargill. The returning officers declared Messrs Thomson and Hare to have been duly elected. Against the return of the foimer he now protested, on the ground of his not bein» a communicant. On the motion of the Rev. Mr Stanford, an election committee was appointed, to which the petition was referred. The Standing Committee reported recommending that two clerical and two lay members should form its quorum in future; that in accordance with the Synod’s resolution the several parishes had been communicated with as to the best means of obtaining a supply of clergy, and that all Had replied with the exception of St. John’s, Tokomairiro, hut that the replies had been of so unsatisfactory a character-that the committee bad taken no further steps j that measures

had been taken for the establishment in Dunedin of an agency of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowle tge, towards which object Ll4 had been voted by various parishes, and 15 from the general fund, besides which L 4 had been promif ed ; and that as soon as the contributions r ached 1 2d a supply of books would be ordered. The Eev. E. H. Grainger had been appointed committece’s secretary vice Mr Hardy, resigned ; Mr Quick, treasurer, vice Mr Hill; and Mr Quick, registrar, vice Mr Hardy. The Synod adjourned until to day at 4 p.m.