DIOCESAN SYNOD. ANNUAL MEETING. Auckland, Nov. 13.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 317, 17 November 1888, Page 3

DIOCESAN SYNOD. ANNUAL MEETING. Auckland, Nov. 13.

The annual meeting of the Diocesan Synod opened to-day with a communion cervice at Sb. "Matthew's Church, Hobson street. The clercry entered the church in procession while the congregation sang the hymn, "My and is Thy Table Spread."" The celebrant was tho Yen. Archdeacon Dudley, anil he was assisted in the administration of the chalice at tho northern side by the Rev. \V. Tebbs, M.A., incumbent of St. Matthew's, whilst* ab tho south side the elements were administered by tho Yon. Archdeacon AVillis and the Rev. C. M. Nelson, M.A., senior examining chaplain. Tho ante communion service was read by the Veneiable Archdeacon Clarke, 8.D., the epistle was read by bho Yen. Archdeacon Maunsell, LL.D.. and the Gospel by the Yen Archdeacon- Govebt, M. A. Of the Bishop's chaplains there wero present tho Revs. Joseph Bates, W. Beatty, M.A./W. Calcler, and G. H. S. Walpole, whilst the remaining clergy vested were theßsxs. R. 0' C. Uriffgs, F. Gould, E. Marshall, E. O'Calln^han, and 1. Richards. The Revs. R. Burrows, S. H. Davies, O. B. Hewlett, J. S. Hill, W. Houlihan, F. Long, and J. Kirkbride were {)rej-enb in the body of iha church, together with a large number of lay'members^of tho Synod and a good general congregation.

BUSINESS MEETING. The Synod met ab Bishop's Court, Parnell, at? 3 p.m. for the transaction of general business. The Yen. Archdeacon Dudley presided in the absence of His Lordship Bishop Cowie, there also being a largo attendance of both clergy and laity. Affcer devotional exercises, the V"en. Arch. Dudley addressed the Synod as follows :—: — Diocesan Synod, 1888. MY Rf.VEREND BRETHREN OF THE CLERGY, My Brethren of the Laity, The second session of ttio twelfth Synod of this Diocese opens to-day, in the absence of its rightful President. Only once before have we met without a bishop at our head, since the tirst Diocesan Synod assembled in Sb. Paul s old schoolroom in 1859. That assembly was presided over by the Bishop of New Zealand, and included among its clerical members the Rev. John Coleridge Fattesou, subsequently fir&c Bishop of Melanesia. Of the members of that Synod only four cl6rgy, namely Archdeacons Govett and Maunsell, and the Reverends Robert Burrows and A. G. Pmchas, belong to our Synod to-day ; and only two laymen, Colonel Haultain and Mr J. A. Wilson, are among our present representatives. We reverence the memory of our faithful predecessors : we thank God for the presence of the \eterans who are still spared to us. In 1868 the first session of the fifth Synod of this Diocese, then still bearing the name of bhe Diocese of New Zealand, was presided over by the commissary of Bishop Selwyn, the venerable and venerated Archdeacon Lloyd ;— the special business being the nomination of a successor to' Bishop Selwyn. who, during his visit to England t^, a ttCHid the" n'r»t Lambeth Conference, had been 'called upon by^ tho highest- authorities in Church and State to surrender his work among as, because he was needed in the mother country. The outcome ol that session was the consecration of our present Bishop, under whom, with the blessing of God upon his sustained zeal and vigilance, tho woik hab grown and expanded to its present dimensions. It i& indeed cause for thankfulness that no question of who shall be his successor is before us to-day ; but that we may hope ere long to welcome him back, refreshed in body and mind by a visit — which, however, he has not allowed to be> one ot much reat — to friends and brethren ill-England. We could all have wished that this session of Synod might have been postponed until his return, when we might have heard from his own lips of the proceedings of the great Conference ot Bi&hops, the words of whose encyclical, read in our churches la>t Sunday morning, miibt ?till be ringing in our ears ; but the law of the Church requires that there shall be one session of the Diocesan Synod at least in each year, and provides for the conductof it in the unavoidable absence of the Bishop; and we should all have been sorr> if, alter nineteen years of steady work among us, his period of absence at the antipodes had been unduly curtailed. I feel sure that I may count upon your sympathy and forbearance, placed as I am by no choice of my own, in the responsible position ot President for the time being of this important assembly, which includes men far more h'rted than I am to hold the office. And I venture to suggest that in the business of this session we chould confine oursehes as far as practicable to matters of routine and of urgent necessity, postponing all else until his Loidship's return. Following the Bishop'? example, I will speak first of our losses and gains. Losses. — In God's great mercy, not one of those who met in this room as members of this Synod twelve months ago has since been removed by de >th. Outside ol Synod members, however, and among our most faithful church workers' in the past, many have been called away from among us whose names must ever be held by us in grateful remembrance : — Frederick jje Jersey Grut, the aged and revered lay reader at Orewa ; William Ckakles Lyon, Colonel of Volunteers'; for many years lay reader, first in the "Waikato, and more lately at the Old People's .Refuge. . Edward T. Wildman, Captain of Thames Navala* formerly member ol this Synod,' the devout and generous churchman to whose liberality and zeal the church of Sb. George, Thames, is so much indebted. And among faithful women who laboured and spent ■ themselves and theirs in the service of love, or were worthy helpers of husbands of like ' devotion, may we nob make 1 reverent and grateful mention of ' Charlotte Eliza Burrows, Fanny Gould, Francis Jack and Alice Glover ? We bless God's holy name for these and all others, 5 His servants, departed this life i6 : His faith and fear, heseechinc" Him to gitfS us grace so to follow' their good examples, that we with them may be par : bakers of the' heavenly kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Two clergymen oh our list ab the' begiiiing of the year** have since left the Diocese — the Rev. J. C. "Wilson, whose last charge was N. 'Wairoa, and the Rev. E. J. Phillips, who J after many 'years of hard work, cheerfully''performed, has obtained^ two years' leave of absence, 1 most of which' time he hopes to spend 'in gaining experience in wdrk in 'England. His good services at' the Hospital and at Sb. Albans deserve more than a passing mention. We shall greatly miss from our Council? Mr H. G. Skth Smith, bo whom, in conjunction with the. Rev. Charles M.'Nei&on, we are indebted for the valuable digestof ourstatutesandregulations now in use ; and I have received notice from Mr R.,C. Babstow that he finds himself- i-elupbantly compelled,' through in^ disposition,- <bo withdraw from his post in'

Synod. I regret to "state fchab the Rev. F. H. Lonu has found it necessary, in consequenco of an obstinate throat affection, to announce his intontiqn of shortly withdrawing from fcho activo work of the ministry. Tho Rev. George Avtkens, having become disqualified from visiting country districts on horseback through a serious accident, has been transferred to Kawakawa and Russell. The Rev. P. S. Smaulfield resigns tho charge of Ellerslie at the end of the year, in order to give more of his time to tho assistance ot Mr H. Percival at the Church of England Gramma t School, ParneU, the number of scholars at which, it is gratifying fco learn, is increasing. Among lay readers, Mr Alfred G. Govjiit (also helpful to the Row i. Richards in Sundayschool work in St. Mark's parish) has left the Diocese ; and Mr L. P. Robin has joined the staff of tho Melane&inn Mission. Our Gains. —Turning to our gains, wo shall heartily welcome among us the Rev. W'm. Hooper, D.D., for many years, in connection with the Church Missionary Society, in chaigo of training colleges at Allahabad and at Lahore. T>r. Hooper has, foi some time past, given most valuable assistance fco Archdeacon Willis in the Cambridgodistrict. The Rev. WM.JRorEK,M.A., Worcester College, Oxford, ha\ ing settled at \Vaiukn» has proved a kind and useful helpor to thf Roy. N. D. Boyes in that distiict. The Rev. Chaul.es Cookerton, ordained at the beginning of tlie \ f ear, has since regularly ministoted to our people at the Hospital and tho Refuge, dividing his Sunday^ between St. Alban'b and ohe Kumeu and Holen^ville districts. Before his departure the Bishop »vas enabled to fill up t»\o \ acmeies. in the ranks of the Maori clergy by the admission of "the L\.i:vb. ILuik Re^ETI tIITKATKRE and HnilhV.lNl RoiMillli Pakkata to the order ot deacons, while by the oidination to the priesthood ot the Ui:v. Cecil A. ToiUN, of.Paparba, in January last, and of the Revs. Koule Dale Bovks, of Waiuku, and Alexakdkk EisuubJi, of Coromandel, on St. Michael and All Angels' Day (this last ordination being taken by the I'rimate), three districts hitherto served by deacon curates "\\ere provided with tho full ministrations of the Church. The Rev. H. S. Da vies has been licensed to the assistant curacy of Dovonport, with special charge of Takapuna.

Lav Reamers. — Lay readers' licenses have, after the usual applications*, been issued to Mr Helyar Weddbrburn Bisiior, for Mongonui ; to ]\lr Langiiam Geok(.e Weall Godden, for Taheko ; to Mk Cii\RL,ts Gkosyexok, for Kawakawa; to Mk Braisax,ox D. O'Halloran, transferred from Kuan akawa to Whangarei ; to Mr Henry MoNTuojrhßY S MjMox, for Hamilton. The stall of lay readers at the Hospital and Refuges has been reinforced by the addition of Mn Edwin Cox and Mk Dr vffix.

The Primate. — The most important event of the past year, ecclesiastically speaking, has been the visit of the most Rev. tiii: Pkiaiate, who, in his 85th year, tecen u ly bereaved of his wife, and immediately after hnlctine an unusually long pension of the Synod of his own diocese, came cheerfully to us to perForni -\aiious episcopal duties in accordance with his oromise to our Bishop. It was a matter of deep thankfulness to those brought into contact with His Lordship during his visit that except in the matter of slightly-in-ci eased deafness they weie able to detect no signs of failing vigour either in mind or body ; and we may hope that in fyhe" "well-earned retirement upon which he will shortly enter, his bright example and niatuie wisdom will be available to u^ tor many year- to come.

St. Maky's. — The first poition of the new church of St. Mary's, Pakni;l,l, having been completed and opened in June last, vason September 30th duly consecrated by the Primate. By airangemcnb wish the Bishop, appioved at last session of the Synod, this church is for the time being to be used as the Cathedral chuich of the Diocese. The people of St. Mary's and the whole Dioeene ate to be congratulated upon the handsome and commodious building of which they now possess the first instalment ; and many will even be glad that the material it, kauri pine, and not stor.e ; regarding the church as a fit vi«iblc expression before lutnre generations of our thankfulness to God for His great natural gifts to us in this country ; gifts to which, since the h'rst clays of our occupation of it, we have been so largely indebted.

Qtuvii Buildings. — A new church lias been erected and opened ab Marakktf, in the district of Paparoa, in the charge of the Rev. C. A. Tobin. The churches at Hknui in the paii«h of Archdeacon Gove,tt, and at Helexsville, Kaipara, have both been enlarged and improved. A new chancel is is beinc^ added to the church at Bombay, in the district of thoKov. E. •). Macfurland, and an enlargement, of the church at Pukkkohb i* spoken of. A new parsonage and cemetery chapel have been erected at Otauuhu. Some of the ecclesiastical build in^rf are not insured : and in cti-e& in which assistance towards the election lias been obtained from the S.P.U.K., neglect of this precaution amounts almost to a bleach of faith. While dilapidations come after, the payment of insurances should come, one would think, even before the clergyman's stipend in the order of precedence to be observed in dealing with the ordinary income of a parish or district.

i Statistics. — The Dioce&an statistics for last yeai , when compared* with those of the previous year, will show a falling off under some heads, especially the financial ; although not to so great an extent as 1 feai we must expect to Hnd in the statistics for the present year, when completed. In a large measure this may be accounted for. by the long continued and severe depression under which almost all institutions in the' country have suffered alike. Times like tho.se we have passed and are passing through, are eminently testing times ; and if only there is granted to us some of the heroism of true taith,' and we can recognise in them a summons to more than ordinary circumspection, self denial, mutual forbearance, and cheerfulness, the ultimate, happy issue of the trial cannot be doubtful. It is tho codntry clergy who feel the stress of these times most .seveiely of all ; and in their faithful persistence in duty under difficult; circumstances, they claim our respectful sympathy. We must look round carefully and see whether by any retrenchment, — Diocesan", parochial, or private, we can help them more. Whenever it is possible to do so, it would seem to be our;, duty'to'take steps s to' raise a Diocesan Endowment Fund .of adequate dimensions with special referenco to our poorer cures, j The S.P.C.K. assisted t a number of 'our parishes and districts in i raising local endowments in the early days ;' it is not unreasonable to think that they miglit be willing to do something towards a"diocesan fund now. But ib is evident ! that the bulk oi'teuch afund must- be raised; by ourselves. The hope has been held ouj> of bequests ior this purpose, but the want is pressing and immediate/ The future of religion in the country (as is recognised by other bodiet) depends, largely upon what is done to-day. Th 6 hardest and least*remunerative of all i work is the making up of ai rears. >i > ■

I Home Mission Fpnd. — Unfortunately,* the matter of most immediate concern to its at this 1 moment is the mnkirig up df 'the arrears 'in our Homo Mistion Fun'cl. The .Standing Committee, which' ''administers

this fund, has foi' sometime pksbjfound itself in the painfu^ position of having (in the oxpressive words of tho Aich bishop of Canterbury) to break tho bread of thecpun- , try clergy into smaller and smaller fiagments, and is now, face to face with a large deficit. Upon whether or no we make up the deficit,.it depends whether tho frervices of the Home Mission clorgyman, whose value it is difficult to over-estimate, and tho miserably small giantsnow allocated to tho various country district?, are to bo continued after the end of this year. Wo shall all remember our Bishop's parting roquost to us, and to the members of tho church throughout tho Diocese, " That you will do, your utmost to provide Die clergy ministering to our people iu> the country with at least a decent maintenance." We shall no doubt arrange for MJme.form of public reception of His Lordship when) with Mrs Cowio and his falnily, he returns to u,s in January. I can hardly imagine anything more gratifying to him under thd circumstances, or anything moieappropriato as coming from l ' us, than^the announcement that th© nuclotts of a Diocesan Endowment Fund, with spqeial reference to the poorer cures, had been formed ; a'nd that tho Home Mission deficit had '- been cleared .off, and the balance was, no\y,pn, Uie. rurhb side. i '" v

Pknmon Fund. — Among reports of trustees and of Committees that \v\il lio laid btfoie us, one particular report' w ill demnnd our most careful attention— that coritaimifg a schemo for le-modolling .the^ Pension Fund. The Utmost pains have been 'be-, stored upon this scheme ;ljy f »Mr Speigh'6 and Mr Raw] ings. I'hey rightly* conceive that a sound and adequato- pension and assuranco system wiU not only ( str'en^then Diocesan fiuanco, but will al^o 'help laV^cl}' in the direction of Diocos'an "discipline. 1 During tho last year three grants' Have been made to.fcdmporatily invalided 1 elcrffy'mon " out of the emfergeney branch of the Pension Fund ; the recipients in every case, curiously enough, being subscribers of le&& than 5 years standing:. . The aid thus* obtained has proved most timely. '

Bo.akd of Theological Studies.-- ; The Synod will bo gratified to learn that six candidates from this Diocese, including three 'present and two formor students bf St. John's College, have passed the examination for their respective grades under the Board of Theological studies forthisyear. Mr Downer has passed successfully in Grade IV., and becomes the second Sfc. John's College student entitled to wear thetheological tippet authorised by tho General Synod ; the iirst to obtain that distinction having been the Rev. St. Clair Tisdall, M.A. , now a missionary in India. Tho Rev. N. D. Boyes has passed in the first divi-ion of Grade IV. The "Rev. C. Coukbrton lias passed in the first class of Grade, 111. Mr G. C. Small has passed first in the first class of Grade 11., and gains the General Synod exhibition of £30. Mr John Youxo, our 'ay readus at Fitzioy, Taranaki, and the faithful helper of Archdeacon Govett, has passed in Grade 11. and Grade I. simultaneously ; and Mr C. A. Tispall has 7 passed in Oracle I. we' cannot but be gratified at those successes, feeling, as we must, when we discern the signs of the times, how important it is that our clergy should possess, not only genuine humility and indomitable energy and wide-reaching sympathy and a fair measure of genera) culture, but also a definitencss of personal faith strengthened and buttressed by sound theological Icnow--ledge.

Thanks. — My own heartfelt thanks, and the thanks of the organising clergyman and of the Diocese are duo* to those clergymen and laymen, not a few in number, who, often at considerable inconvenience to themselves, have fallen heartily into arrangements necessitated by the Bishop's absence, and by sickness among the cleigy, and other causes during the past; year. Some of the clergy of the dioce&o not in charge ol parishes have cheerfully undertaken almost as many pteaching engagements a-> the parochial clergy, to the gioat benefit oLall concerned. I must aUo expicss my coidial thanks to the Diocesan Secietary and hi& assistant, for the leady way in which they ha\e helped me during the period of my responsibility.

Sunday School Board. -The report of blii& Board has to do with a matter of vital concern tons. lam in deb ted to the "Herald" noticeof a sormon to Sunday School teachers recently preached by a respected Wc?leyan minister, tor an incident I will quote in this connection : — Whon Daniel Webster asked Thomas Jeffer&on, the American statesman, what was to be the salvation of the" American nation, the statesman replied, " This nation, if it is to be saved at all, will be saved by teaching the children" to love our baviour." The roport itself conveys no adequate impression of tho amount of loving labour expended in the endeavour to improve our Sunday-schools, by the Secretary of tho Board,' the editor of the " Sunday-school Lessons" and those who have compiled them, and the oxominers in the Bishop's prizes examinations, now arranged for undov the auspices of the Board. I much deplore our inability through financial poverty to retain the services of the Inspector. " ?

Ckriktery Board. — The report of this Board confesses to a most unsatisfactory state of things in connection with the payment of the chaplain to the Waikomiti Cemetery. Considering the' number' *of funerals troxn the Government iribtitutions, taken by the chaplain, might we not ask the Selwyn Memorial Fund „and the Diocesan Trust, <3ach to contribute pomething towards that clereryinah'fc stipend'"? '•*' Sblwy^'s Memorial Fun n. — An allowance at the x-abe of £60 per annum has been madeof this Fund from January Ist, towards the stipend of the clergyrfian minisfjewng 1 a.t, the Hospital md 'Reftige':' this alio r wance terminates with the Bi&liop's return,.

Thk Native Ciidrch.' — The v Synod Will be glad to hear' that" Archdeacon Clarke has consented to read us a paper o,n the work of God among our Maori .brethien ,: during the past year. «,

Mblakesian Mission. —It is a long 1 tune 7 since- we have heard <irom Biflhop Selwyn.. When laso heard of, he had been suffering from bronchitis, bub was getting better in the warm weather of the "Islands." Tho .Rev. p John' Palmer, ! writing on. October sth , from - Norfolk Island, was expecting the Southern /Cross in<a week,* when she. would leave again for her third trip of the season almost immediately, fcaki )g him, he hoped, to meet the Bishop in the Bank's Islands. Both staff and scholars were fairly well. We may hope to see Bishop Selwyn in the course of a fewnveeks on 1 his way to the General Synod; -arid to hear, irorm his own lips of tho present state off the Mission work-. • , ■> , i

■Genebaiv SYNob. — The : General Synod' meets in Dunednr on 1 February J3bhi' We' shall look forward to its proceedings with much interest."-' • Upon"' this Synod will devolve the responsibility of electing ' the ' new Primate. The question of the 'future' location of St. John's College will com6'before its members; upon thi& subject our Bishop will ' Have had the advantage of 1 personal conference wifch Mrs Selwyn, the widow of j the Founder, and Bishop Abraham and Mr Blackett, important benefactors of the College. Our Bishophaso'xpressed thehopethat this ' Synod will make regulations, for the 'appoinem'ont of hpn6rary Cathedral canons j and it seems possible ' that a mea'surd may ' be brought forward to facilitate the sever-

ance, w|tjiouj} ! 'reproach on. eith'er 'side! 'of rola^ibas' ! ' between ' jjastorfe' * 'ap'd parishes >f nofc in ; .sympathetic ' accord, jntb the 'di'spussibn of all subjects ttiab'maV be brought forward Vefmay hope that m'ucn vigour and freshriess Mill be imparbed by fclie pi*es6Y»'c6 of*fouv'Bf pur Biisho'ps, ju^b re- { turned from a visib' l&'bho Old World, and ■ from intercourse and exchango of "idbas i wibli brefclircn'from every parb/of the globe. In comparison wibH the subjeefcs thab, bho General' Sy^od'AVill I 'have tjo'deal wibh, the matbersbhajbdemand ouiVdfcb'enbion'trjay'feccm small and ol'limibed interest ; but we shall ' b ( 'car in mind' that nothing that contributes J"b the glof-y^of God rind to fehe (i better serv ling of Him, irt his vocation and ministry, by the, humblest;of His 'human children, is srruill in Hidl siMib "by Whose Spirib bho wholo'bd'dy of tbp Church is governed anil sanctified,'"' " '■'",