GENERAL SYNOD.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1932, 4 May 1880, Page 2

GENERAL SYNOD.

Monday, May 3. The Synod resumed at three o’clock. There were no notices of motion given or reports presented. Mr Kimbell moved—“ That it is desirable that, as far as possible, every young clergyman, before being appointed to a separate cure, should first have gone through a course of training in parochial work under an incumbent.” The motion was seconded by the Hon. H. B. Gresson, and a discussion ensued. The following addition, suggested by the Dean of Christchurch, was accepted by the mover :—“ Any funds which may be raised for the services of assistant curates shall be placed in the hands of the incumbents of parishes, in order that they may bo in a position to choose and pay their own curates.” The motion as amended was then put and carried.

The Bishop of Melanesia moved —“ Resolution recommended by the committee on petition from the diocese of Wellington on the Masterton petition. 1. That the report be adopted. 2. That the mover (Ven. Archdeacon Stock) be requested to communicate the result in writing to the petitioners.” After some discussion, the first resolution was carried, the second was withdrawn. The Bishop of Melanesia moved—“ Resolution of the committee on petitions from the diocese of Wellington, on petition from certain clergymen in the diocese of Wellington 1. That the report be adopted. 2. That clause 18 of Statute 4 of the Diocesan Synod of Wellington be altered by replacing the word ‘ curate’ instead of the word ‘ vestry' in line 3 of that clause. The clause is as follows: —‘The function and management of the choir, and the selection and practice of church music shall be subject to the control of the vestry of the parish. In case of any disagreement between the curate and the vestry, an appeal may be made to the Standing Committee, whose decision shall bo final.’ ”

The adoption of the report was agreed to. Considerable discussion took place in reference to the second resolution, and ultimately the Bishop of Melanesia withdrew it in favor of the following, proposed by the Hon. H. B. Gresson :—That the following be a regulation of the General Synod :—“ That the formation and management of the choir and selection and practice of Church music shall be subject to the control and direction of the minister of the parish and parochial district; and that the attention of the Bishop of the Diocese of Wellington bo drawn to the above resolution.”

The Synod then went into committee on Statute No. 15 Amendment Bill.

The Bill was amended in committee, and reported to the Synod in the following form : “ Statute No. 15—An Act for Defining the Qualifications of Parishioners and Electors of Synodemen and Lay Representatives. Be it enacted, Ac.—l. The short title of this statute shall bo * The Registration Statute, 1880.’ 2. Statute No. 15, 1871, is hereby repealed. 3. The rules hereinafter laid down withregard to parishes shall apply to parochial districts, so far as may be practicable, and in accordance with regulations to be made in that behalf by the Synods of the several dioceses. 4. Every man of the age of twenty-one years or upwards resident in any parish, and who shall have been registered for a period of not less than two months in the churchwardens’ boob, hereinafter referred to, as having made and subscribed the following declaration, that is to say, ‘ I, A.B , do hereby declare that I am a member of the Church of the Province of New Z.-nland, commonly called the Church of England,” shell be entitled to attend and vote at parish meetings, and to vote in the election of Synodsmen for the parish.

Provided that it shall be the duty of churchwardens to registerinthechurchwardens’book the names of all men of the age of twentyone years or upwards resident in the parish, who shall have been proved to their satisfaction to have signed, before this statute came into force, the declaration required under this statute, or the declaration in the following form, viz. : —‘ I, A. 8., do hereby declare that I am a member of the United Church of England and Ireland in New Zealand.’ And all persons, upon being so registered, shall bo entitled to attend and vote at parish meetings, and to vote in the election of Synodsmen for the parish. 5. There shall be kept by the churchwardens of each parish a book, to bo called the churchwardens’ book, in which they shall register in the form provided in the schedule to this statute the names of all men of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, resident in the parish, who shall have signed the first or second, as the case may be, of the declarations hereinbefore referred to. ■6. It shall be the duty of the churchwardens from time to time to strike out from such book the names of all persons who have ceased to reside in the parish. 7. It shall be the duty of the churchwardens of every parish to transmit to the standing committee of the diocese, at such time in every year as the Synod of each diocese shall determine, a list of the names registered in the churchwardens’ book at such date. 8. It shall be the duty of the standing committee of each diocese, under such regulations as the Synod of such diocese may determine, to make up from such lists transmitted as aforesaid, and from time to time to revise and correct, electoral rolls for the several districts into which the diocese shall bo divided for the purpose of electing lay representatives to tbe General Synod; and those persons whose names shall be contained in the said electoral rolls shall be entitled to vote at the election of lay representatives for the districts in which they severally reside. 9. This statute shall come into force in each diocese from and immediately after the close of the next ensuing ordinary session of the Synod of such diocese.” Then follows the schedule. The third reading of the Bill was made an order of the day for Tuesday. The Bishop of Dunedin moved—“ 1. That it is expedient that a correspondent be appointed by the General Synod to establish communication with the heads of the Church of Sweden, with a view to obtaining the issue of letters commendatory by the Swedish clergy on behalf of emigrants from their country to our own. 2. That the correspondent be instructed to bring before the proper authorities the question of the mission of a Swedish theological student to receive ordination at the hands of a bishop of this province, for the purposes mentioned in the report. 3. That copies of these resolutions be forwarded by the Primate of New Zealand to the several Metropolitans or Primates of the Anglican Communion, to the presiding Bishops of the Church in America, and to the Bishops of London and Winchester. 4. That this report be printed in the appendix to the proceedings of the General Synod at this session.” Mr Hunter Brown seconded the motion.

A discussion ensued, during which the Bishop of Nelson, the Dean of Christchurch, and the Bishop of Wellington expressed the opinion that the Synod should not commit itself to anything further than a communication between the heads of the two Churches. The first resolution was carried.

The second resolution was withdrawn, and the third was negatived on the voices. The fourth resolution was carried.

On the motion of the Bishop of Nelson, it was resolved that the Bishop of Dunedin should be the correspondent referred to in the resolution adopted.

Mr Gr'gg moved—“ That this Synod agrees with the report of the Committee on Eire Insurance, and orders that a copy of the said report be forwarded to the Standing Committees of the several dioceses in this ecclesiastical province.” Carried. The Kev. Mr Dudley moved—“ That the treasurer of this Synod be requested to pay the proporlion of the accrued funds of the Eire Insurance Branch of the General Pension Fund contributed by the diocese of Auckland to the president of the Pension Board of the diocese of Auckland.” After discussion, the motion was amended and passed in the following form : —“ That the treasurer, acting for the Synod in this behalf, be requested to pay over to the Bishops of the dioceses interested that portion of the capital of the extinct Fire Insurance branch of the General Pension Fund to which their dioceses are severally entitled.”

The Rot Mr Dudley drew attention to resolution SIX. of seventh General Synod (1877), relative to the subject of intemperance, and asked the president whether any action has been taken by any of the Diocesan Synods in the direction indicated by the resolution, and if so, what action.” The President replied—“ A resolution on the subject of intemperance was adopted by the Synod of Christchurch at the last session, to the effect that the Bishop be requested to call a meeting of churchmen to consider the question of intemperance in drink, with a view to the adoption of measures to allay the vice of intoxication, but the proposed meeting has not yet been called.” On the motion of Archdeacon Harper, a resolution was carried as follows :—“ That this Synod rejoices to hear of the continued success that- has attended the labours of the Bight Bev. the Bishop of Melanesia and the other members of the Mission to the Melanesian Islands.”

Moved by the Bishop of Nelson, and carried—“ That the Reports for the three years 1877 78 79, forwarded by the Secretary of the Board of Theological Studies to the Primate, as Chairman of the Board, be printed in the proceedings of this Synod.” The Dean of Christchurch moved —“ 1. That a Commission be appointed to sit during the recess for the purpose of inquiring (a) as to the effect that ordination to the Diaconate at an earlier age than twenty-three would have on the status of clergymen so ordained, under the Colonial Clergy Act, and other similar enactments of the Imperial Parliament ; (5) as to the working of the system of earlier ordination in the American Church ; (c) as to the number of Faculties that have been granted by Archbishops of Canterbury under the provisions of the Ordinal, with reference to the age at which men may be admitted to Deacons’ Orders, since the revision of the Prayer Book in the year of our Lord 1663 j and (d) as to the experience in the same matter of the Scottish Episcopal Church.” “2. That the following resolution be adopted by the Synod, and appended as a second clause to the resolution headed ‘ XII. Day Agency,’ viz.: —‘That it is desirable that lay readers should be admitted to their office in the face of the congregation.’ ” “3. That the report of the Select Committee on the diaconate and lay ministrations be printed •with the report of the proceedings of this Synod.” The resolutions were carried. The following resolutions were also passed: The Bishop of Nelson —“ That the Standing Commission shall consist of the following persons :—The Most Rev. the Primate, the Very Rev. the Dean of Christchurch, the Hon. H. B. Gresson, H. J. Tancred, Eeq., and the Hon. J. B. Acland.” Bishop of Wellington —“ That the report of the governors and the master of St. John’s College be printed, with the report of the General Synod.” “2. That this Synod recommends that any vacancy in the open scholarships of St. John’s College be advertised in the various diocesan papers.” Bishop of Melanesia—“ That it be an instruction to all trustees and Boards of Governors reporting to the Synod to cause their reports to be printed, and to forward a sufficient number for the use of the members of this Synod.” Mr Bice —“ That all reports of select committees presented to the Synod during the present session be printed, with the proceedings of the Synod.” Archdeacon Williams— “ That there be printed with the proceedings of this session of the General Synod the numbers of the population belonging to this Church in each diocese of this ecclesiastical province, and the proportion per centum, as recorded by the Registrar-General in the ‘ Results of a Census of the colony of New Zealand taken for the night of March 3rd, 1878 ’ ” Mr Malet—“ 1, That a Commission be appointed for the purpose of causing a Bill to be drafted to give effect to the resolutions passed by the Synod this session for the purpose of obtaining incorporation of bodies of trustees and other purposes, to revise the same, and to take all tho necessary steps for carrying the Bill through the Legislature. 3. Such Commission to consist of the President, the Very Rev. the Dean of Christchurch, tho Hon. Henry Barnes Gresson, Henry John Tancred, Esq., Mr Pitt, Mr Acland, and Mr Malet.”

The Synod adjourned at 12,15 o’clock.