THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 261, 30 January 1873, Page 5

THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD.

Saturday.

The principal portion of to-day's federunt was occupi d in discussing the report of the Church Extension Committee (which we published yesterday.) The report was adopted j the action of the Committee in sending home for two clergymen sustained .; and it was agreed tjo send for foui addition*lmiuMter#, '

ADDRESSES. ! On Friday evening last, the deputations from the Northern Church and the General Assembly of Victoria addressed the Synod. The Key. Mr Elmsub, from Wanganui. said it afforded him great pie tsure to meet the brethren here, and witness the spirit of unanimity and brotherly love manifested amount the.m. In addressing them, he would leave it to his friend Mr Fraser to deal with the ecclesiastical work going on in tho North, and confine himself especially to the consideration of the principal object of the deputation. tie then at some length explained the cause which origiually led the Northern Church to desire union with that o? Otvgo and Southland. The Northern Church was not actuated by personal motives or the prospect of pecuniary advantage, for, although they were not so weathy as the Church of this Province, they were in comfortable circumBta''ce<. The people were liberal, and a* a rule the cler »y were well maintained. The pe>ple and the ministers wen alike desirous of union, because the present state of thin >s was an anomaly thit should not exist, and because unity would be productive of greater prosperity. He felt satisfied that if both Churches were united they would be stronger, and progress more rapidly in five years than under existing circumstances in ten. The origin of both Churches, their aim and work, were much alike, th ir character and constitution were much the same ; wherefore, then, should they not be joined together? He then proceeded to spe-ik of the ' paucity of laborers in the Colonial Church, the difficulty of obtaining help irom the outside, and the necessity there was for a Colonially trained Ministry. The extension of the l hureh, the forraing of her future character and history rested with the present generation. The responsibi ity, therefore, was great, and no step should be t-tken without great care and deliberation. The Chur.h at present was essentially of the Evangelical mou'd, and that characteristic should be maintained at all costs. There wvre a few slight differenc *s in practice betweeu the Church of the North and this, so far as the use of hymns and the instruments of music in public worship were concerned, but these, after all, were but secondary matters that might easily be arranged. The great aim of both Churches was the spread of Evangelical religion and the continuance of spiritual Church, he therefore limped that the day was not distant when they would be united under one Synod, with Presbyteries as now existing. The Rev. Mr Fraser, from Christchurch aftei alluding to th« pleasure and profit tbe Northern Church bad derived from the visit of the Rev. Michael Watt, and the happiness he had in being present on th ; s occasion, said tj^e aljiane desired was based on other than fin ncial grounds. '1 be L'burch. in Canterbury, was not endowed as this Church was ; still, it was in a healthy condit on, and able to cairy on its work nrosl^rouftly, The rajte of stipend paid the to ministers was liberal, while funds, for Church extension were obtainpd fyeely. On the north side' of the Waitaki, extending to the West Coast, there was one Gburcb, and on the south side, extending; to Southland, there was another } bo h were composed, in a ereat measure, of the same ingredients, both had all the elements of the Home Church, and the desire was that they should coalesce. H> did not see that there were any great difficulties in the way to this being accomplished. On a former occasion he a'luded to the subject, asd regretted that no further progress had been made in the matter. The minor difficulties of church practice, so far as the use of hymns and instrumental music in public worship might be easily arranged [n Canterbury, the matter was left to the choice of the congregations. If any of them desired hymns and instrument il music in public worship, it was granted to them, but in no case was it forced on them. He took this to be the right course to ado t, and so long as the particular desires of any congregation did not interfere with the doctrines or government of the Church, it was better to allow them. The decision, therefore, of the Synod yesterday evening with regard to funerals was a correct one. With regard to the work of Church extension in Canterbury, the Church there had established an as ocintinn, with a fund analogous to tbe Sustentation Fund of this Church, and it had proved of great service in enabling the s ynod to send minsters into country places uuable of themselves to support a minist r. He then referred to the question of education, remarking that, after due consideration, he had come to the conclusion that a system cf seenbr education was best adapted to the requirement tof the people. He knew that the question was still debateab'e, and that a large section of the people held that religious instruction should not be separated from secular in our public gcbqqls. The Church, however, was not in a position to offer both, and as he Government bad deeded to establish a system of secular education only, he thought it would better serve the interests of the people for the Church to yield, and devote its attention absolutely to its special mission. The early Church confined itself | to religions instruction, and b id cata;hi3ts whose duty was to import religious instruction to the young. The Church of Scotland was, he thought, the last that deputed from this practice. If the Church appointed catechus t8 to supplement the labors of Sunday School fceachers, then the difficulty would be met, but affc"r all the mo' hers were the best instructors of rh e young, in religious matters Tbe most important question, however, was how are we fiU our pulpits. The whole matter had boeu surrounded with uncertainty, and will continue to be until we were in a position to provide a Colonially trained ministry. He then described the course pursued by the American Church, and by the Rev. Mr Spurgeon in England, with rei>ard to the education and training of ministers, and expressed his approval of the proposal of tbe Synod to establish a Theological Hall. He wag satisfied that whether the Churches beoame united or not, the Northern Church would help to support the Institution as far a3 it could, by sending down "tudents, whose fees would help to swell the fundq»and enable the managers to maintain an efficient staff of professors. The Rev. Mr Nish, from Victoria, said probably it would be expected that he should say something about the condition and prospects of the Church in Victoria. The popnlation in that Colony numbered about 700,000 souls, and the Church was composed of ab>ut one-seventh of the community. It had been reported, in a New Zealand periodical, that the Church had only about 45,000 worshippers ; but this, he apprehended, was a mistake. The majority of those professing Presbyterianism attended Church regularly ; but there was a considerable number, he regretted to say, who did not. The Geaeral Assembly was composed of 1 14 ministers and 90 elders, and he was glad to say that a large proportion, or about fivesixths of the whole, attended last meeting, and took part in the deliberations. There were ten Presbyteries, some large and some small. That of Melbourne was composed of thirty members, while that of which he was a member and clerk formerly represented three ministers and five congregations, and now mc uded twenty congregations and eighteen ministers. "The congregations were all in a flourishing condition. Most of the ministers 'were provided with comfortable manses, and their stipends were not affected by them. Hitherto the Church had received aid, but that was about to be abolished, and in tbe face # Jty; % A?sem.bly to} instituted

several funds not hitherto required. A portion of tin Stite aid for the next five year 3 wouM be dsvotcl to the establishing of a loan fund to assist congregations to build chnrches. For instance, a congregation with L4OO would have the privilege of borrowing L 400; free of interest, to enable th m ro build a church The loan woull be repaid in ten annual instalments of »L4O. A widows' fund hid also baen established through the indefatigable eff »rts of the Rev. Dr. M'Donald. It now .vnounted to L 1 4.001, but it was proposed to increase it to L2O, 00. Thirteen widows and nineteen children were participating in the profits to the extent of L7ot>, ani although that sum looked small, they were enabled, with tbo assistinc?of the congregations, to live comfortably on it. An' infirm mm seer's fund hul also been estiblished. Ministers were formerly require Ito contribute L 5 each per annum to the funl, anl persons at their ordination now paid '.20, or five annual instalments of L 5. The f ind now amounted to L5,00:l, but it was not proposed to draw on it until it reached double that sum. A Theological Hall had been established, with a library of 3,600 volumes. The curriculum had hitherto been administered by four ministers, but now it was proposed to appoint one professor and one tutor, and three other professors, when there were funds sufficient to endow the chairs. It was also proposed to establish six scholarships, of the value of LSO, to bo hold for three years. Two scholarships only would be competed fo- in each year. The stipends were now derived from the pew rents an I collections at the church doors. The collections varied from L 35 a year in some country churches to L 953 in soma of the towns ; while tfie pew rents varied lietween L"is and L 670, The stipends ranged from MSO t » LBOO. There were only two cases where two colleagues re-eived between them LI6OO a year. Tt was now propose.! to form a Sustcntation Fund, and that the minimum stipend should be L3OO. He then referred to the New Hebrides Mission, remarking tba^ the relation of all the Ohurohes with that mission should be more clearly defined, It was a m fcter to be earnestly desired, that there should be no misunderstanding between the Churohes and the faithful men who were now doing their work so well amon* the island* of the Pacific. Still he failed to understand why the missionaries hal removed the head-qnart-TS of the Dayspring from Melbourne to Sydney, anl taken the agency from Dr M 'Donald, without consulting the churches. The matter hid been referred to Scotland, and he hoped thit nothing would occur likely to have the effect of alienating the affections of the people from the mission. He concluded by warning the Synod aga'nst hasty or over legislation, remarking that the Church ify Victoria had sufferedJrom the evil of excessive legislation. "There was a disposition on the part qt Presbyterians to legislate on every trivial matter, and thus cramp the liberty of the individual. He thought, th°refore, that the introduction of a little Congregationalism would be beneficial If the proposal of Messrs Kirns ie and Fraser to partition the North and Middle Islands into two Synods, with consid rabje latitude of action, union might be effected easily. Importance ought to be attached at all tim°s to matters of faith and general principles, but the carrying out of details, with regard to administration and forms, might be left t" the congregations,