A 'Cute Undertaker.

Manawatu Herald, 15 December 1896, Page 3

A 'Cute Undertaker.

» According to the Argus a new church has sprung into existence under peculiar circumstanced. Recently a member of an undertaking firm was sued by a Church of Eng- [ land minister for conducting a ' funeral service in a suburban burying ground, where the prosecuting minister was licensed to officiate as a minister. He won the day, but the undertaker quickly turned the tables. According to the prevailing methods of licensing clergymen, it appears that any man who can get himself nominated bishop or clergyman by forLy householders, who join themselves together as a church congregation, is registered forthwith, and, as a matter of course, is entitled to celebrate marriages and oonduot burials like any clergyman of a recognised church. Taking advantage of this the undertaker in question gathered together forty people and established a new church which he called the Reformed Church of England. A petition, asking that the denomination be recognised and the undertaker with the title of Reverend be recognised as its head, was presented in the ordinary way to the authorities, and granted. The undertaker, with the reverend preceding his name, now advertises thai he is prepared to conduct marriage and funeral services, as well as undertaking in all its branches.