THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD.

Evening Star, Issue 3095, 20 January 1873, Page 3

THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD.

Saturday. The principal portion of to-day’s sederunt was occnpii d in discussing the report of the Church Extension Committee (which we published yesterday.) The report was adopted ; the action of the Committee in sending home for two clergymen sustained ; and it was agreed to send home for fom additional ministers. ADDRESSES. On Friday evening last, the deputations from the Northern Church and the General Assembly of Victoria addres ed the Synod. The Rev. Mr Elmslie, from Wanganui, said it afforded him great pleasure to meet the brethren here, and witness the spirit of unanimity and brotherly love manifested amongst them. In addressing them, ho would leave it to his friend Mr Fraser to deal with the ecclesiastical work going on in the North, and confine himself especially to the consideration of the principal object of the deputation. He then at some length explained the cause which originally led the Northern Church to desire union with that of Otago and Southland. The Northern Church was not actuated by personal motives or the prospect of pecuniary advantage, for, although they were not so weathy as the Church of this Province, they were in comfortable circumstance?. The people were liberal, and as a rule the clergy were well maintained. The people and the ministers were alike desirous of union, because the present state of things was an anomaly that should not exist, and because unity would be productive of greater prosperity. He felt satisfied that if Loth Churches wore united they would he stronger, and progress more rapidly in five years than under existing circumstances in ten. The origin of both Chinches, their aim and work, were much alike, th ir character and constitution were much the same; wherefore, then, should they not be joined together? He then proceeded to speak <>f the paucity of laborers in the Colonial Church, the difficulty of obtaining help irom the outside, and the necessity there was for a Colonially trained Ministry, The extension of the eh a rch, the forr/.ing of her future character and history rested with the present generation. The responsibi ity, therefore, was great, and no should be taken without great care and deliberation. The Church at present was essentially of the Evangelical mould, and that characteristic should be maintained at all cosls. There w> re a few slight differences in practice between the Church of the North and this, so far as the use of hymns and the instruments of music in public worship were concerned, but these, after all, were bat secondary matters that might easily be arranged. The great aim of hoih Churches was the spread of Evangelical religion and the continuance of spiritual Church, he therefore hoped that the day was not distant when they would be united under one bynod, with Presbyteries as now existing. The Rev, Mr Fraser, from Christchurch, aftei alluding to the pleasure and profit tne Northern Uhurch bad derived from the visit of the Rev. Michael Watt, and the happiness he had in being present on this occasion, said the alliance desired was based on other than financial grounds. TboLhurch, in Canterbury, was not endowed as this Church was ; still, it was in a healthy oonHit on, and a l, le to carry on its work prosperously. The rate of stipend paid the to ministers was liberal, while funds L-r Church exten.-ion were obiained freely. On the north side of the Wait iki, extending to the West Coast, there was one Church, and on the sou hj side, extending to Southland, there was another ; bo hj were composed, in a great measure of the same ingredients, both had all the elements of the Home Church, and the desire was that they should coalesce. He did not see that there were any great difficulties in the way to this being accomplished. On a former occasion lie a luded to the subject, awd regretted that no further progress had been made in the matter. The minor difficulties of church practice, so far as the use of hymiu) apd instrumental music in public worship might be easily arranged In Canterbury, the matter was left to the choice of the congregations, If any of them desired hymns and instrumental music in public worship, it was granted to them, but in no case was it forced on them. He took this to he the right course to adopt, and so long as the particular desires of any congregation did not interfere with the doctrines or government, of the Church, it was better to allow them. The decision, therefore, of the Synod yesterday evening with regard to funerals was a correct one. With regard to the work of Church extension in Canterbury, the Church there had established an as-ociation, with a fund analogous to the Sustentation Eupd qf tin's Church, ami if; hfid proved of great service in enabling tffe synod to send' ministers into country' places unable of th- msclycs to support a minist f. He thou referred to the question of cdueati n, remarking that, after due consideration, he had come to the conclusion that a system of secular education was best adapted to the requirement i of the people. He knew that the question was still debateab’e, and that a large section of the people held that religious instruction should not be separated froiq secular in our public schools. The Church, however, was imt in a position to offer both, ami a« the Government had doo (led to establish a system of secular education only, he thought it would bettor servo the interests of the people for the Church to yield, and devote its at tention absolutely 'll a special mbsiqn. The early Church confined itself to religious instruction, and bad catechists whose duty was to import religious instruction to the young. The Church of Scotland waa, he thought, the last that departed from this practice. If the Church appointed catechists to supplement the labors of Sunday School teachers, then the ‘difficulty would he mot, but aft;r all the mothers were the best instructors of the young, in religious matters. T he most important question, however, was how arc we till our pulpits. The whole matter 1 1 t] been surrounded with uncertainty, and will continue to bp 'until Qere in a position to provide a Colopifffly trained ministry. He then described the course pursued by tfic American Church, and by ’flic Rev. Mr Spurgeon in England, with regard to the education and training uf ministers, and expressed his approval ot the proposal of the Synod to establish a Theological Hall He was satisfied that whether the Churches became united or not, the Northern Church would help to support the Institution as far as it oould, by sending down students, whose fees would help to swell tho funds, and enable tiie managers to maintain an efficient staff of professors, Tim Bov, Mr Nish, from Victoria, said probably it would bo expected that he should say something about the condition and prospects of the Church in Victoria. The population in that Colony numbered about 700.000 souls, and ifio Church was composed of ab.'ut one.mvenUi of tho community. It had been reported, in a New Zealand periodical, that the Church had only about 45.000 worshippers ; but this, he apprehended, was a mistake. T'm majority of those prqfussing Hrechyteviaulsra. attended Church regularly ; but there was a consider-able-number, he regretted to §ay, who did not, I he Go send A iiStqpldy W at > composed of 114 ministers and III) elders, and he was glad to say tnat a large proportion, or about ijvqsixths of the whole, attended layt meeting, and took part in the deliberations, There were ten Presbyteries, smno large and some small. That of Melbourne was composed of thirty members, while that

of which he was a member and clerk formerly represented three ministers and five congregations, and now included twenty congregations and eighteen ministers. The congregations were all in a flourishing condition. Most of the ministers were provided with comfortable manses, and their stipends were not affected by them. Hitherto the Church had received State aid, but that was about to be abolished, and in the face of this, the Assembly had instituted several funds not hitherto required. A portion of the St de aid for the next five years would be devoted to the establishing of a loan fund to assist congregations to build churches. For instance, a congregation with L4OO would have the privilege of borrowing L4OO, free of interest, to enable them to build a church The loan would be repaid in ten animal instalments of L4O, A widows’ fund had also been established through the indefatigable efforts of the Rev, Dr. M ‘Donald. It now amounted to Ll4 000, but it was proposed ro increase it to L2O, 00. Thirteen widows and nineteen children were psiticipating in the profits to the extent of L7OO, and although that sum looked small, they were enabled, with the assistance of the congregations, to live comfortably on it. An infirm mimster’s fund bad also been established. Ministers were formerly required to contribute L 5 each per annum to the fund, and persons at their ordination now paid L2O, or five annual instalments of L 5. The fund now amounted to L 5.000, but it was not proposed to draw on it until it reached double that sum, A Theological Hall had been established, with a library of 3,600 volumes. The curriculum had hitherto been administered by four ministers, but now it was proposed to appoint one professor and one tutor, and throe other professors, when there were funds sufficient to endow the chairs. It was also proposed to establish six scholarships, of the value of LSO, to be held fur three years. Two scholarships only would be competed for in each year. The stipends were now derived from the pew rents and collections at the church doors. The collections varied from L 35 a year in some country churches to L 955 in some of the towns ; while the pew rents varied between L"3 and 1.670. The stipends ranged from 1.150 to LBOU. There were only two cases where two colleagues received between them LI6OO a year. It was now proposed to form a Sustcntation Fund, and that the minimum stipend should ho L3OO. He then referred to the Mew Hebrides Mission, remarking that the relation of all the Churches with that mission should be more clearly defined. It was a m tter to be earnestly 'lesired, that there should be no misunderstanding between the Churches and the faithful men who were now doing their work so well among the islands of the Pacific. Still ho failed to understand why the missionaries had removed the headquarters of the Day spring from Melbourne to Sydney, and taken the agency from Dr M‘Donald, without consulting the churches. The matter had been referred to Scotland, and he hoped that nothing would occur likely to have the effect of alienating the affections of the people from the mission. He concluded by warning the Synod against hasty or over legislation, remarking that the Church in Victoria had suffered from the evil of excessive legislation. There was a disposition on the part of Presbyterians to legislate on every trivial matter, and thus cramp the liberty of the individual. He thought, therefore, that the introduction of a little Congregationalism would be beneficial If the proposal of Messrs Elms'ie and Fraser to partition the North and Middle Islands into two Synods, with considerable latitude of action, union might be effected easily. Importance ought to be attached at all times to matters of faith and general principles, hut the carrying out of details, with regard to administration and forms, might be left to the congregations.