THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 84, 19 May 1843, Page 3

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND.

(From the Eoclesidlogistf The Lord Bishop of New Zealand having requested the Cambridge Camden Society to furnish him with designs arid models for the cathedral church of. the new diocese, and for the parish churches which will be first erected, it cannot but be deeply interesting to members of that society to be made acquainted with the steps which his lordship proposes to. take with respect to the erection of temples for the worship of Almighty God, on his arrival in his diocese. As soon as possible after setting foot in New Zealand, it is his intention to use a temporary church, a tent which he carries with him for that purpose, an altar, with its appurtenances being erected in its eastern end. Here the daily service of our church will be commenced on the first morning after tlie Bishop’s arrival, never thenceforth to be silenced till the end of all things. A piece of ground will next be marked out and consecrated for the site of the future cathedral ; not with any intention of erecting hastily a building which might, by courtesy, bear that name, but that the remains of those who depart in the true faith may be interred in consecrated ground; and, if need be, that a temporary wooden edifice may serve at present for the offices of prayer and praise. In a country where laboqr is worth three times as much as it is in England, the erection of a choir is to the most sanguine mind as much as, perhaps more, than can be hoped for during the present generation. But whatever is built will be built solidly and substantially, and as our ancestors built.

The ingenuity of the natives in carving is well known ; and it is the Bishop’s design to divert this faculty to the glory of God. For this purpose, the Cambridge Camden Society will furnish working models, of the actual size of Norman capitals, sections of mouldings, ornamental pier, door, and window arches; and these, it is hoped, may be easy for the natives to imitate in the stone of their owti country, which is said to be well adapted for building. One model of a parish church will at present be sufficient; because the churches will be, at first, two hundred miles apart. Norman is the style adopted; because, as the work will be chiefly done by native artists, it seems natural to teach them first that style which first prevailed in our own country; while its rudeness and massiveness, and the grotesque characters of its sculpture, will probably render it easier to be understood and appreciated by them. These churches will, like the cathedral, be built slowly—divine service being carried on in consecrated ground, under temporary sheds erected within the rising church walls; and to every church there will be a distinct and . spacious chancel.

Printers’ Almhouses Fund.-—We understand, that as soon as the committee for. carrying into effect the building of a number of almshouses for the reception of the infirm and decayed letter-press printers, shall have raised the sum of 2,000/., the worshipful Company of Stationers have kindly promised to give them a site of ground for the above praiseworthy object.