BISHOP AVERILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 80, 27 August 1914, Page 4

BISHOP AVERILL.

WELCOMED TO NEW PLYMOUTH. TARANAKI -DIOCESE QUESTION TOUCHED ON. The parishioners of St. Mary's aasMiblcd at St. Mary's Hall last night to welcome Bishop Averill, of the Auckland diocese, ion the occasion of his 'i.- t visit to New Plymouth. The proceedings took the nature of a social, and were presided over by (Rev. A. H. Colvile, vicar of St. Mary's, who, ir. a brief speech, introduced Hie Lordship In apologising for the absence of any m iterialism in the shape of supper, he stated that the ladies lof 'the pariah had hi-; t very busily engaged during the past week in preparing necessaries for the soldiers who were going to the front. Mr. D. Hutton, .people's warden, the'; welcomed his Lordship, expressing the hope that tihe church would, in hia time, make great progress and that he would always have the eaimcst and loyal support of his people in the district. The Auckland diocese was no-w the largest and certainly the most important :>i this Doiminion and _ was greatly in-roasing •every year. This corner—Taranaki—was one of the Most interesting parts, both from an ecclesiastical 1 and historical point of view. Referring to the early history of tho marish, Mr. Hutton said that Bishop Selwyn paid' his first visit to New Plymouth in 1842, having endured the hardship of walking all tihe way from Wellington. It was on October 30th of that year that the first "Church of England service was held here., in a little wooden building near Oniric street. On that occasion tihe site of tha future Church of St. Mary';; was selected. In November, 1843, Bishop Selwyn a«ain visa'ted New Plymouth to induct the first minister, Rev. fW. Bollard, and shortly afterwards the first church was opened at Te Henui. In 1845, the foundation stone of the present Olmiroh of i St. Mary's was laid, and in 184(5 it was I opened for public worship. Che church | then was 60 feet long by 30 feot in j width, now forming part of the present I nave. The cost was about £llOO, of I which Bishop Selwyn contributed £250. I When it wag considered that the popuj lation to-f the whole district in those days J was only just over 1000 souls, it would ! be agreed (that it was a wonderful work for those early settlers to undertake. I New Plymouth, he considered, was inI teresting from an historical point of / view, for it was around here and in this J district that the Maori Wars raged for so many years, and naturally the district was severely hampered,by the unsettled tilmies of 'those early days. It was •most er.miTagang at the present time for both the Church and the nation to receive constant proofs of the loyalty and affection of the Maoris towa r ls those whom tfhey once fought so bravely. ' On behalf of St. Mary's parish and the surrounding district, so rich |in memories of the past and with such great possibilities for the future, i't save thorn tho greatest pleasure heartily to" welcome his Lordship, and they sinceriely trusted that he would be able to t>iv tnanv visits to this part of the diocese. Mr. J. Paton, vicar's warden, also tended a. warm Relcom » to his Lordship. Archdeacon Evans briefly addressed ) the gathering in a -humorous vein. Bishop Averill, in returning thanks, said that circumstances attending l his visit t»r> Taranaki had been very favorable throughout. Tho roads had been good, the weather had leen fine, and hi,s reception everywhere most cordial. Dealing with the question of the diocese, he saiil that he knew that, for a considerable time .past, there had been a desire that this should form a separate ] diocese. He felt, too. that the time must come, withi the genera! advance c-f the North Island, when another diocese would have to be formed, but if it was to rc'Uwi the Wellington diocese, and be. of advantage to the. Dominion and to the work of the Chuimh as a ;whole, i'; would have to (be a large diocese" like Waiapu, and not a small one .as somi-e people expected. He naked them, to look at the question from this noint of view, and not from a parochial standpoint. He could not, of course, at present, say where the boundaries would extend, because as the railways progressed, the configuration of the country was altered. The matter, he warned them, had to be dealt with by the General Synod, which was a conservative body. H? thanked the New Plymouth people for the support they !h!ad given to the missions. and that,' he considered, was the true test of the reality of _ the religion of any congregation or parish. Ho was glad 'to see that 'they had done their duty in tihe past, and hoped that it would prove an incentive to do more in the future. There had been various questions before, but the war.hod obliterated thcml all. The Bible-in-State-Schools uuestaon had been honorably withdrawn, as it -was a more or less contentious subject, but- it. would be brought forward later on. He reminded them that on Christmas Day they would have to celebrate the MaTsden centenary. It had been decided to appoint an organism" secretary to raise a fund for tho extension of the Ohurch in the province, but that was now in abeyance, , as it was impossible at present to contribute largely to anything but the war and patriotic funds. They must remember that Christmas Day was the aumversary of t-lie landing of tho T«.ov. Mawden, and thb introduction of Christianity to New Zealand, and if it was imnossiblc to celebrate 'it with outwnr display, they could yet celebrate, it with inward thanksgiving. He then referred at length to the war in a feeiing sip(»M, which is reported elsewhere, and in concluding, again thanked them for the welcome extended to liim Rev. A. H. Col vile apologised for the i.ee of Mr. J. S. MoKellw. \ i leasant musical (prolamine was submitted during the evening, glees be contributed bv the choir, solos i><Mr. R. Hill-Johnstone, and a pianoforte solo by Miss Hirst. Mr. Reurad played the aiecompaniments.