The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1928 THE ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 484, 13 October 1928, Page 8

The Sun 42 WYNDHAM STREET, AUCKLAND SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1928 THE ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL

FROM the mounds and marshes by the banks of the Tiber rose an Imperial City and the glory of St. Peter’s. Many-hned St. Mark’s, the cathedral which was in many senses the political as well as the spiritual heart of the great Venetian republic, lifts its domes and arches from what once were barren sand-bars in a corner of the Adriatic; and the golden hall and cross of St. Paul’s carry their gleaming message across such a London as might give the old Thames, with its memories, reason for infinite b ewilder ment.

It is a far call from Rome to the Antipodes, from the tides of Venice to the tides of the Waitemata, and from Ludgate Hill to Parnell Rise; hut there is a parallel between the dream of the faithful who built the famous old-world cathedrals and the vision of Bishop Selwyn, who made the selection of a cathedral site one of his first tasks when he came to New Zealand.

Selwyn is dead, but his work lives on. The face of the land has been changed since the distant day when he surveyed the harbour from the spot he chose for the site of the first cathedral; but fresh hope of the fulfilment of his plan is conveyed in Archbishop Averill’s address to synod this week. Proprietorship and purpose of the land set apart by Selwyn are now clearly defined. It remains for the structure to be raised.

It is not to be expected that even the most optimistic Anglicans will hope to rival the architectural standard of oldworld cathedrals, but it will at least he hoped that somethingbetter than new-world standards will be set up on the crest of Parnell, and it would be wiser to defer building than to let a hurried plan interfere with the finer conception. To serve its highest purpose a cathedral must he a noble and uplifting example of beautiful architecture. Being that, it is somethingmore than a place of worship. Its spiritual grace is a symbol of the true beauty of holiness, a perpetual inspiration to the intellect and to the faltering spirit of man. The building fund which is to provide for the Auckland Anglican Cathedral has not advanced very far. It stands at £1,051, which is virtually a negligible figure, and bespeaks the need for some strong appeal to the community. The Church is unfortunately disqualified from adopting those methods which seem most effective in raising money in these enlightened days. It cannot set about making “drives.” It can he neither cheap nor spectacular. Even the more sober method of collecting at a street corner would not help it very much. It has not the assistance of the free labour given by the devoted craftsmen of another age; and it is to be hoped that it will never descend to the hysterical principles adopted in America, where cathedrals, hotels and picture palaces may be jammed together in one great skyscraper, with “Salvation and Six Per Cent.” forming an irresistible appeal to the investor. Lacking these aids, the Church in New Zealand must rely on quiet and unobtrusive generosity. But a wider knowledge among the people of the origin and purposes of the cathedral project will attract a stronger stream of contributions. It will not be the work of days or years, hut of generations. Great cathedrals of the past were the work of successive builders. St. Paul’s was begun in 1675 and not completed until 1710. Many of its subordinate features came even later. ; Reims Cathedral, started in 1211, did not tower to its full majesty untiL 1448; and the marble tracery of Milan, though started in 1386, did not attain its final splendour until 1805, when it was completed to the order of Napoleon. So there is historic precedent for the policy adopted for the new and impressive Liverpool Cathedral, part of which was recently consecrated. The rest is yet to come. According to the Archbishop, the same wise course is to be followed here. Other generations of Anglicans in Auckland will be able to contribute to the majestic pile of the future. But the inception of the noble task should not he deferred. The present generation has a responsibility it cannot ignore.