BISHOP FITCHETT

Evening Star, Issue 21744, 12 June 1934, Page 6

BISHOP FITCHETT

ENTHRONEMENT SERVICE LARGE ATTENDANCE AT ST. PAUL'S A special church service, in the course of which Bishop Fitchett was enthroned, was held last night in St. Paul’s Cathedral, a very large congre gation being in attendance. The procession entered the cathedral singing the hymn, ‘At the Name oi Jesus/ It was Jed by the choir, fol lowing whom came the diocesan clergy the visiting clergy, the archdeacons, the canons, the chancellor, the regi strar, Dean Cruickshank, Bishop Fitchett, and his chaplain (the Rev. V. G. Bryan King). At the chancel steps the bishop tapped three times with his staff and demanded the episcopal scat in the cathedral. The dean asked that the certificate of consecration should be produced and read, this being done by the chancellor of the diocese (Mr J. A. Cook). After the certificate had been read the bishop was conducted to the throne and installed by the dean, who then offered up a prayer. The declaration of allegiance was made on be half of the clergy by Archdeacon Russell, of Oamaru, and on behalf of the laity by the chancellor. Evensong was sung, the first lesson, from the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, being read by the Rev. C. E. P. Webb, vicar of Gore, and the second, from the third chapter of First Corinthians, by Archdeacon Whitehead. The choir gave a very beautiful rendering ot Wesley’s anthem, ‘ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.’ THE BISHOP’S SERMON.’ The sermon was delivered by Bishop Fitchett, who took' as his text the eighteenth verse of the first chapter of Colossians. In his opening remarks Bishop Fitchett said he wished to speak in simple terms about the church militant on earth, the visible church of Christ. That night he wished them to spend a few moments considering what was the central purpose of our Lord’s life on earth. To his mind it was the saving of the world by the establishment of a great spiritual kingdom of fellowship, that kingdom which they now called the church. That was not a purpose adopted during His life; it was the very purpose of His' coming. They would remember that at His birth he was hailed as a king and worshipped as a king by the Magi. Herod sought to destroy Him because Ho was said, to be born a king. Christ’s teaching was constantly of a king, and many of His parables dealt with the kingdom. The constant impression which He created on the people of that time was that He was chiefly concerned in the establish ment of a kingdom. How did He pro ceed to establish that church?

It was interesting to look back to the first chapter of Genesis. Those chapters, about which there had been so much controversy in the past, were now understood not to contain lustorv but the folklore winch Abraham took with him. They found it represented in that folklore that, after the body had been formed by the Creator from the dust it was the breathing into j. n) a spirit that gave it the power of action. He asked them to look at an interesting parallel. As Christ went. about teaching and performing miracles, He gathered a few men who were continually attached to Him They were not men of any standing in the world of that time. It was not a fact that they were utterly ignorant and uncultured, but they were men ol small account, and he might liken them to the dust of the ground. Those men Christ'welded into a fellowship which was the nucleus of the church. They would remember that before His ascension Christ gave to that body the commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and at the same time the definite instruction to remain at Jerusalem till they were imbued with power from on high. At Pentecost the Spirit of God entered that body, and immediately n began to carry out the commission Christ had given it. There they had the Holy Catholic Church, a divine institution. After the resurrection of Christ, and before his ascension, there was the period which was referred to as tho ‘‘ great forty days.” During that time, they were told, Christ was speak ing of affairs concerning His Kingdom. They had a right to assume that something was said about the nature of membership, the ministry, and the ad ministering of the sacraments. It was not his purpose to enter upon the thorny question of the order ol ministry or of the Apostolic succession. There were some present that night who would not agree with him on these matters, but, happily, it was the case that, though they differed widely, this did not beep them apart. There were few who would not agree that the form of entry into the Christian Church was bv baptism. The church consisted of all baptised members. If there was one thing needed in the church to-day it was the realisation on the part if its members that they were members, and that the responsibility ot carrying out the church’s commission rested not alone on the bishops and on the lorgy, but on each individual member. It was not the business of the • hnrcli to do anything official as an official body, save to teach the principles of hrlst, and by its ministrations to its members to give them courage and .... i to live in accord with those ■ •iucipias. The church had not altogether Iniied in that duty. Individuals, lommunities, and Governments bad imbibed much of her teaching and had not ac knowledged whence it came. In spite of many things, there was more of the spirit of the principles of Christ in the world to-day than ever before. Why did they have hospitals and societies to care for the poor, , the weak, the maimed, the afflicted, and the unfortunate? Why were Governments interested in these things so that they taxed their people fo provide for them? It was because the church, hy patie'nt work, had created a public conscience in these things which communities and Governments dared not ignore. The church had been criticised ns a failure, but what the world wanted was a church strengthened by renewed zeal in her members—by a realisation on. the part of every member that the church was a divine institution to be reverenced, and that its membership was something to be cherished s a privilege. Wnat a wonderful privilege it would be if each 3"- med as such! And they ’’d have at their command, by using the ministrations of the church, the help of God in their troubles and the consolation of God in their sorrows. “As 1 enter upon the responsibilities of my office,” concluded the Bishop, “ my appeal to each member is to try and realise in a way he or she has never done before that the church is God’s instrument for the salvation of the world, and that it has the spirit of God. I want you to realise, above all things, that it is your responsibility to take your share in carrying out the commission which was given by Christ, for Ho is your Head and the Hoad cf the Church.” At the conclusion of the sermon the blessing was pronounced and the service was concluded with the singing of the Bcuedictus.