SUNDAY FUNERALS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 795, 16 October 1929, Page 7

SUNDAY FUNERALS

> SYNOD SUGGESTS FEES BUSINESS OF CLOSING SESSION “Most emphatically there should be a charge for Sunday I funerals,” said the Rev. VV. E. Lush, speaking at yesterday's session of the Auckland Diocesan Synod. I I | “fjpHERE are people, and generally they are not members of the ; Church, who Insist on holding funerals | on Sunday, however much they inter- | fere with the work of the clergy. I 1 have no hesitation In accepting a fee j ; from such people and using the money ! I in some church work.” j The discussion followed considera- j j tiou of a bill to revise the statutes, i standing orders and regulations, one j clause of which dealt with tees for ! marriages and burials. It was proposed that there should be no charge for burials on week days, but that a fee of 10s should be charged on Sundays at the discretion of the officiating clergyman. Several speakers were of opinion that no charges should be made, but it was pointed out that the levying of the charge was at the discretion of the clergymen concerned. Canon C. H. Grant Cowen said that undertakers frequently included the clergyman’s burial fee in their accounts, but that the clergyman seldom saw it. Mr. J. Hogben: I am afraid that no resolution will stop that. The clause was passed. Ou the motion of the Rev. E. E. j Bamford, it was decided to consider the question of appointing a qualified inspector of Sunday schools for the diocese, his duties being to inspect the work of the children and to assist in the training of teachers. The Rev. H. K. Archdall said the experiment had been tried in other parts of the world, and the Church in every j case had been well repaid for the money it had invested. The desirability of erecting a synod hall, cathedral library hall and diocesan offices on the site of the present Bishopscourt Library. was stressed by the Rev. P. S. Smallfield. Considerable discussion ensued, many members holding that the question of site should be left open, as it was not yet certain that the cathedral would ultimately be built on the ground opposite Bishopscourt. Eventually a motion was passed affirming the desirability of a synod hall and cathedral library hall, and a commission was appointed to investigate the whole matter, to obtain the advice of an architect, and to report to the next meeting of synod. Synod closed last evening after a long list of notices of motion and many bills had been passed.