GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 156, 19 April 1859, Page 3

GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Friday, March 25. Present—3 Bishops, 10 clergy, 33 laity. The minutes of.the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, ARCHDEACONRY BOARD'S. On the motion of the Bishop of Christchurch, the Synod went into committee on the Bill for the organisation of Archdeaconry and Rural Deanery Boards. The following clauses of the bill were, after some discussion, agreed to:— 1. There shall be constituted, in manner hereinafter provided, for the districts of Ahuriri, Wangaxiui, Taranaki, the Bay of Islands, and Otago, Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery Boards, as the case may be; and it shall be competent for the synod of any diocese, from time to time to constitute similar' boards, for any districts to be denned by it within the limits of such diocese : 2. Every Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery Board shall consist of the Bishop of the diocese, or, in his absence, his Commissary, specially authorised for that purpose, the licensed clergy resident within the limits of the Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery, and of not less than one lay representative for every parish within such limits: 3. Every layman qualified to vote at the election of a synodsman shall be qualified to vote at the election of lay representatives in the Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery Board for the parish in which lie resides ; and every layman qualified to be elected as synodsman, shall be qualified to lie elected a lay representative at the Boird of the Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery within which he resided: 4. It shall he competent for the Synod of the diocese to define the boundaries of the Archdeaconries or Rural Deaneries above mentioned, or of others to be hereafter constituted, and likewise to constitute such parishes within such Archdeaconries or Rural Deaneries, with such boundaries as such Synod shall seem, fit, to fix the number of lay representatives to be chosen by each parish, the time and mode of their election, the period for which they shall be elected, and the number of members which shall be necessary to constitute a quorum of any Archdeaconry or Runil Deanery Board : Provided, that until provision be made in that behalf by the Diocesan Synod, the above mentioned powers shall be exercised by the Bishop of the diocese : 5. Every Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery Board shall meet at such times and places as it shall from time to time appoint; but the first meeting of such Board shall be at a time and place to be fixed by the Bishop of the diocese : 6. The clergy and laity shall, in any Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery Board, vote as one body ; but no act or resolution of such Board shall he valid without the assent of the Bishop of the diocese, if present, or if, in his absence, the Commissary, or a majority of either order, shall require that such act or resolution shall be reserved for his assent: 7. Until other provision be made in that behalf by the Diocesan Synod, every Archdeaconry or Rural Deanery Board shall have and exercise such of the powers of the Diocesan Synod as the Bishop of the diocese shall from time to time prescribe. The preamble and title were then agreed to, when the Synod resumed, and the Chairman reported the bill with amendments. DELEGATION OP POWERS. On the motion of Mr. Bury, seconded by Mr. H. Williams, the consideration of this bill in committee was postponed to Monday next. APPOINTMENT OF PASTORS. On the motion of Archdeacon Williams, seconded by Archdeacon Brown, this bill was recommitted to allow the following proviso to be added to clause 8,: — Provided, also, that in certain cases in which it is desirable for the good of the church that changes should be made in the location of clergymen, it shall be competent for the Diocesan Synod to eifect such change: Provided further, that the board of nominators of the parish from or to which the clergyman himself shall have a right of appeal to any tribunal which may be constituted in that behalf by the General Synod. The proposed addition caused a considerable amount of discussion; it was at length agreed to in the following form :—" That in certain cases in which it is desirable for the good of the church that changes should be made in the location of clergymen, it shall be competent for the Diocesan . Synod in conjunction with the bishop of the diocese to effect such change, upon the application of the board of nomination." The House then resumed and the chairman reported the bill with amendments. FORMATION OP PARISHES. On the motion of the Bishop of Nelson, seconded by Rev. J. C. Bagshaw, the standing orders were suspended, and the bill for the formation of parishes was read a first time. Some discussion followed a notice of motion by Archdeacon Brown, to reconsider the terms of resolution 2, on the subject of the appointment of pa3tors, ultimately on a division the notice of motion was received. After some notices of motion were given, the Synod adjourned to Monday. Monday, March 28. Present 3 bishops, 10 clergy, 13 laity. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, Rev. C. Alabaster, pursuant to notice, brought up the report of the committee on tribunals in the form of a statute for establishing Diocesan Courts nnd a Court of Appeal for the church in New Zealand, which, on his motion to that effect, was read a first time. FORMATION OF PARISHES. On the motion of the Bishop of Nelson, V seconded by Captain Fearon, the Synod went into .committee on this bill. Considerable discussion ensued on the first clause

as to the manner in which application should be made, and the number of persons necessaiy to make it, and whether it should be necessary for the parishioners to guarantee a reasonable or sufficient sum for the maintenance of the clergyman in order to have a parish constituted; ultimately the clause was agreed to, after some discussion, as follows:— "1. Any number of members of the church who may be willing to elect their own officers, to erect a church, and to contribute to the support of a pastor, may, on application, through the bishop, to the Diocesan Synod, be recognised, if it think fit, as a parish, and have territorial boundaries assigned to it by the bishop." The following clauses were also agreed to, after some discussion, as follows, — "2. For every such pariah there shall be two churchwardens taken out of the communicants of the parish; one to be appointed yearly by the minister, the other to be elected yearly by the parishioners. "3. In every parish there shall be a vestry, which shall consist of the two churchwardens, and of not less than three, or more than ten communicants, elected yearly as vestrymen by the parishioners. "4. The minister shall be the convener and chairman ex ojjicio of the meeting, and have a casting vote and no other: if there be no minister, the churchwardens shall convene the meeting. The House then resumed, and the chairman reported progress and asked leave to sit again. BELEGATION::OS' POWERS BILL. The Synod having resolved itself into committee for the consideration of this bill, Mr. Swainson, assumed that the committee was now satisfied that there were certain powers vested in the General Synod, which would need to be exercised in the interval between the sittings of the Synod, and that it would be necessary to appoint some .tribunal duly authorised to act when the Synod was not in session. They had also now some idea of the general nature of such powers. As he had stated on a former occasion, the Constitution gives to the Synod the power of appointing trustees for the property held in trust, —of filling up vacancies amongst the trustees, —of revoking or cancelling their appointment,—of directing the sale and exchange of the trust property,—of prescribing the mode of investing the proceeds, &c. They had also, the power of giving their assent to any special trust subject to which the Donor, &c, might desire to convey property to the Synod. Under the provisions of the Statute for the organisation of the General Synod, piovision was made for altering the time fixed for holding the general elections by some board or tribunal to be constituted for the purpose; and also of convening special meetings of the Synod. Being satisfied that some tribunal would have to be constituted for exercising these and other powers of a like nature, the practical question for the consideration of the committee was, what should be its nature and composition? It was obviously inexpedient that nowers of so important a nature should be vested in any single individual: but it was equally true that by increasing the number, responsibility would be proportionally diminished : it seemed desirable, therefore, that its standing commission should be composed of a limited number, and, in order that they might readily be brought together, of persons living within a reasonable distance of one another. As the main business of the commission would be to appoint trustees and to direct the management of the trust properties, and as nine-tenths of the property was situated in the northern province, the committee could hardly arrive at any other conclusion than that, for the present at least, the commission should consist of persons living in the neighborhood of Auckland. The bill proposed that the commission should consist of five persons, with power to any three of them to act. With respect to the particular individuals to be appointed fur t »c purpose, he had ventured to •snffg;i st the names mentioned in the first clause of the bill. It was obviously proper that in the exercise of some of the powers proposed to be delegated to the commission, the metropolitan should have a voice ; the name of the metropolitan of New Zealand was therefore proposed to stand at the head of the commission. To represent the clerical body Archdeacon Kisslinsf was named; be had been a member of the conference ; be was conversant with all the proceedings for carrying into effect the provisions of the constitution ; he was well known throughout the northern diocese, and he was now personally known to the members of the Synod. D>'. Martin, the late Chief Justice of New Zealand, wis very generally known throughout the country, and was as generally respected. Mr. Tancred had been elected a member of the Synod ; hft also bad taken part in the framing of the Constitution ; he was specially known in the diocese of Canterbury, and w some degree^ in almost every settlement in the colony. Captain Haultain was a member of the Synod, and now personally known to all the members ; he was generally known, too, in the north, and, as a member of the first conference, had taken an active interest in giving effect to their proceeding. The persons to be appointed members of the commission should be persons as far as possible known to and respected by, not only the members of the Synod itself, but to church members throughout New Zealand ; he had no object in suggesting their names but to aid in securing the appointment of a commission who would have the respect, and confidence of the. country, and, instead of opposing any amendments, he should be most happy if a commission could be named which could more certainly secure the accomplishment of that object. The consideration of clause 1 was deferred, and the next clause was, after some discussion, agreed to as follows :— Whereas by the Church Constitution it is provided that all property to he conveyed to the General Synod, or to trustees on behalf of the General Synod, shall be held upon trust as therein mentioned, but subject to any special covenants or declarations of trust imposed by any founder, donor, or testator, or other benefactor, and which shall have been assented to by the General Synod, or by any other board, or other person or officer authorised by them in that behalf: Be it resolved that the assent of the said commissioners to any snch special covenants or declarations of trust shall be as valid and effectual to all intents and purposes as if such assent had been given by the General Synod : Provided that the said commissioners shall not act in such behalf during the period when the General Synod shall be assembled for the despatch of business : The following clauses were also discussed and agreed to :—■ And whereas, by the said Constitution (Schedule Sec. 1, 2, and 3) power is given to the General Synod to appoint in manner therein prescribed trustees for the property to be held in trust for or on behalf of the General Synod,—to cancel and revoke such appointments,—to appoint other trustees,—to direct the sale or exchange of such property—and to direct the investment of the proceeds _of any such sale or exchange: And whereas it is necessary to provide for the exercise of the said powers, when the General Synod shall not be ,in session: Be it therefore resolved that, subject to such directions as the General Synod may prescribe in that behalf, all and singular the powers aforesaid may be exercised by the said commissioners as occasion may require. Provided always that such powers shall not be exercised by the said commissioners during the period when the General Synod shall be assembled for the despatch of business: And whereas, by the "Religious, Charitable, and Educational Act, 1856," provision is made for the vesting of freehold and leasehold property, to be acquired by, or on behalf of, any religious de- ' nomination in trustees and their successors for the time being, and the old continuing trustees—if any jointly ; or if there be no old continuing trustees, ! then in their successors for the time being wholly chosen and appointed in the manner provided in ' that behalf, or if no mode of appointment be pre- 1 scribed, or if the powers of appointment be lapsed, '. then in such manner as shall be agreed upon by 1 such denomination or body constituted to represent them: and it is also provided by the said recited act that every such choice and appointment ' of a new trustee shall be made to appear by some ' deed .under the hand and seal of the chairman for (. the time being, of the meeting at which such £

choice and appointment shall be made, and shall be executed in the manner particularly described by the said Constitution (sec. 27) that the General Synod or any board or commission constituted by the General Synod shall, for the purposes of the said recited act, beseemed to be a body constituted to represent the branch of the United Church of England and Ireland: Be it resolved, that for the purpose of filling up the vacancies which may from time to time occur in any^ body of trustees appointed by or under the authority of the General Synod, the said commissioners shall be deemed to be a body duly constituted to represent such branch of the said church. "The Synod then adjourned to Tuesday.