TARANAKI BISHOPRIC.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 December 1920, Page 6

TARANAKI BISHOPRIC.

ARCHDEACON MACMURRAY'S VISIT. As reported yesterday, a meeting of those interested in the formation of a Taranaki Bishopric was held 011 Monday evening, when Archdeacon MacM'urray gave an address 011 the subject, lie said the proposal to establish a Bishopric of Taranaki, with its seat in New Plymouth, was one of very great importance to the church and to the nation. The community had made grea.t material progress, it had increased in wealth and population; he was pleased to notice evidence of its progress in educational and intellectual directions. Had its moral and spiritual progress kept pace with its advance in other directions? The safety of civilisation depended upon its moral and spiritual progress not falling behind material and intellectual progress. The Church of God, in its widest sense, was the great agent in providing that mora! and spiritual force needful for the safety of the nation —and in his judgment if the Church of England failed in this respect the result would be calamitous to the whole nation. It was necessary that the Church of England should be efficient for her great task—and she could not be efficient under present conditions. Ah Episcopal Church without a bishop could not be efficient. We expected our bishop; to be men capable of dealing with the big problems of the age; we expected .them to be acquainted with the literature, of the day; we expected them to be capable business men and good organisers; we expected them to preach two or three sermons on each Sunday in such a way as to inspire the church with high ideals and noble purposes; we expected them to be Fathers in God to all the clergy and laity within their dioceses; we expected them to rival in activity the commercial traveller in travelling the whole country holding confirmations, etc, etc. In short, we expected them ,to combine in one man the gifts usually found in half a dozen men; and without giving them time to rearl or think or pray, we expected them to carry nearly the whole burden of ,the ta9k of pushing forward the work of extending God's kingdom. The diocese of Auckland was 3G5 miles in length—it was a physical impossibility for a bishop" under present conditions to do more than barely touch the community. The creation of the Diocese of Taranaki would place in the midst of the citizens of New Plymouth a man who would be a leader in many movements of an important character, but specially in the direction of bringing mora! and spiritual influences to bear upon all social questions. Living and working in a diocese of moderate size it would be possible for him to help those who turned to him for counsel in moments of mental or moral perplexity —a man of wide knowledge, kindly temper, and simple disinterestedness of purpose, who would win the confidence of those who needed trustworthy guidance. The opportunity now lay before the people of Taranaki—in his opinion if it were not now seized the whole scheme would be dropped for a generation. Tf the people of Xew Plymouth did not show zeal and self-sacrificing interest in the proposal, they could not expect anyone else to take it up. He believed they could carry out the scheme—there was 110 doubt but that they should carry it out—the only question was had they the will to do it. He was unwilling to believe that the people of Taranaki w:re so absorbed in the material progress of the community that they had no thought and no care for the things which would make for spiritual, progress, and he trusted tl'.at this movement would have the hearty support of all who called themselves Church of England.