WAIKATO ARCHIDIAGONAL CONFERENCE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2683, 21 September 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

WAIKATO ARCHIDI AGONAL CONFERENCE.

A mi-.i.ti\-i: of the eluruy and Church <>;:;,■ is I-;' Ihi' Arel) !e:ico:iA- of \Yaik\to was held at Cambridge on Tuesday, the lO'.h ult,, to lii-ri- nutters relating to 'heir I'huirli. Tiiciv "'..-iv present: Veil. An-hd.-aeoii Willis (presiding), Krvri 1;...1n-,TY. Aivamutu : T-igirs, Kainil--1,,11 ; and Kvan.--, IV Aroha. Messrs K X. (' ><c, S!uf!c.-.bur.v ; I , ', liorrell. . Morrinsviih'' : Swarbriek and Salmon, Hamilton : T. Wells, K. C. Dyer, Dr. Moon and I!, W. Dyer, ('ambridg' , . The afternoon se-sioii was held in S. Andrew's schoolroom, when the above! wvv. present : the i.'wning sitting took place in the church, tlu-re hiMiig several more Cambridge ivpre-M.-ntaiivei present. Among tho audience was the Rev. C. 11. Garland, Wosloyan tnini-ter, who append to take great interest in the proceedings, and at the evening Hussion, hi', by permission of the C-miVirnee, t-">k part'in the debate. The proceedings having been opened with prayer, the Rev. Mr Color ""■>* unanimously elected secretary, which olliee he kindly consented to fill. The Archdeacon referred to the loss thev had sustained through the removal of the Rev. Mr Marshall, rind at the same time took the opportunity of welcoming the Rev. Mr Evuns, who would doubtless worthily till the vacancy caused by (he departure of Mr Marshall.

Mr Nwarbrbk, of Hamilton, then delivered an excellent address on church organisation, of which the following is a precis : —Any churchman who has studied Ihe working of the Church in England and of the Church in New Zealand must fuel that while we have enormous advantages on our side, the actual condition of our Church work compares most unfavourably. In fact we have here, not the living progressive Church of England of to-day, but tho (lead unlovable church of 50 years ago; and this deplorable state of affairs is duo to the fact that instead of the grand catholic teaching of the Church of England, we have substituted a narrow sectarianism. The present system of having isolated congregations instead of parishes, with clergymen paying flying visits at uncertain intervals, not only involves a vast waste of power, but leaves tho real work of tho Church unprovided for. Another and radical error of the system is that it creates and fostorsa spirit of selfish Congregationalism which cramps and narrows theClmrcli into mere cliques, who have no sympathy outside their own narrow circle. There can be no efficient Church work until each parson has a clearly dofiued fiold of duty, no that some ono parson is responsible for each man and woman in tho diocese ; and each man and woman has some one parson whoso services they can claim as a riali/, and thin can only be attained by the parochial system : that is to say, tho whole diocese must be divided out into parishes with defined boundaries, each parish being in charge of a parish priest. Reference was hero made to a Wnikato resident who had sent to the Bishop asking which clergyman was supposed to look alter his spiritual welfare, and the Bishop had been compelled to confess that, l,e did not know. Having got a parish defined, the next point is to organise it. As tin. , re is one person representing the clergy, so also there must be one vestry to respect the laity. It is impossible for thu parson to do his work satisfactorily if he lias to deal with several bodies having conflicting views or interests, and idi having :m equal claim on his services. In addition to this central body, there should be a small committeo of, say, throe for each place where worship is held. Those committees should act as churchwardens for their respective places of worship, arrange the services, and each guarantee a sot, sum per annum towards the general parish i'und. The next .step is to organise such local services at various places as .shall give; every parishioner the chance of attending divine service if he so wills. These services should be held in part by the parson and in part by lay readers, the amount contributed to the general fund being iu proportion to the importance of tho locality. Tho speaker contended that there ought to bo at least three times tho present number of services held in tho Wailcato each Sunday, and that at least a down additional places with small congregations of .'JO to 40 could bo gathered together. These small congregations, properly managed, would be a source of vast strength to tho Church, and, in the aggregate, would double the number of worshippers. It is the duty of the clergy to impress on the people a real uiidurdtaiuliiig of the meaning of public worship. No parish can be deenio 1 in a satisfactory state unless the Church be brought home to each man, woman and child in that parish, an a real living power, ami this can only be done by systematic organisation. There can bo no real Church life in tho parish, unions tho p.aison has secured real contact and sympathy with his parishioners ; and iu this ho can call lay help to his aid. Tho lay help must bo done with taet and charity, not taking tho parson's place hut supplementing and aiding him. Such a system would go far to make the Church iu tho Waikato a. lifing reality, and it can bo done. And now as to the ever-recurring money ditlieulty. The .solution of tiii) is to bo found only in ellioi"iit Church work, The speaker said he had advanced no new plan, because it was not needed. All that, is required i-; to carry out the work in the spirit mid on (iiesy.femof the Chur.-h of .England. Mr Swarbriek d'-ilr, with tho subject, at mu.-iderabl.- h n;.-l;i and showed several of the absurdities "of the piv.s.-nt method. Km- in-talien Wh-atawhatu—7 miL-s from I lainilton —is vi-ited by an Auckland el'.Tgvmau ; v.'hih' the Hamilton parson Ins !■", ;,(:.•;,,! aI: Liehfieid, ZQ miles dist in'. lie c ntc.ndcd that by sub-dividing tin , ['iiii-hes as ho recommended, the el'i:ryiuui would be brought into touch with the whole of their parishioners.

Archdeacon Willis said lie was prepared to hoar something very dreadful from Mr S.varbnck, but In; must say lie was very niu'.-h obliged to him for I»i-: address ; for, though In; did not agree with the whole of it, it would set. them all thinking. H<e;mld almost wish .Mr .Swarbrick was a I arson, fur they all recognised the fact that he was a splendid organiser. The great diliioulty was to get a perfect par,son ; l>iit there were also other difficulties tfi contend against, such as did not exist in Kngland —viz., churches and parsonages ro build, and a multitude of other things that were already provided in the Old Country. He had known the one vestry system tried l.otli in Auckland and at Cambridc"'. ami in both case? it was a failure, i'eihaps it was their own faults, but he had tri"d many of the things advanced by Mr Swarhrick, and they were in many catc.-f failures.

Mr Wells thou-lit if the plan was !,'ood in principle ir. should not bo [ill on one side. The present stile of Church lito was no credit to anyone, ninl if the present method was lint a success they should fry some other pi in. Tint p.-irson was Vim guide and organiser, and if there w/ih jio " <jto " in liini he uiiiM nof uxpp.(;(; to find it "in his flock. Speaking of his own clergyman, \v. thought his onorL'ies were mis-directed ; !],• tiir-ii lo do 100 much in his twentyfour hours by himscK instead of having a little bind of helper.-- around him. Look at. th'' Solvation Army ; they devote their whole I inn: In , I hi; people ; every - 1 hin.'-r el.-e ::ocs l,y the hoard. Jf the parson could nor tret tli" people by preach in:/, he must. ,nlo;,t, som" other method ; he iiiii-t come hand to hand with them. Til-re w.h no other way of surmounting the diHiculty.

The K'V.MrKvam did not think the piiri-h'.s weru in such a deplorable state, in a new country things moved slowly, and ho believed Ihe country, Church life, and other life wiiru gradually developing, The .'[liiitual life wanted to be inbiied by our Lord, lie did not think the services won; us bail as Mr Swarhrick would have them loii'.ve; be believed in having good sin;;iiiL', etc., and malunjr them as attrac-ti:-r ;in po.'.>il.l", but li.; ijiou.ylil, if they were shortened thy congregations would

increase. Personally, lio w.is grateful to Mr Swarbrick for tho address.

Mr Cox said the one ve.-try prinoiplo would not work in a large district ; tho outsiders would not attend tli«j meetings, lio thought tlio ulcrt'y should gi-t mure l,iv assistance.

Mr llurrell stated tint small disHrfs wo.ild have tho c:ue of 111,) puisf. If.had not tho slightest difficulty in r.-ii.siusr their quota of the parson's .-lipend in liis ilistriiit. There should undoubtedly lio someone appointed whu would m-quaint, Ihe clfit/ytiii ri of all cases of sickness, e'e, and lie quoted a (mso where the par-

sun lrid unknowingly passed a house in which a person was dying, because he hail not boon kept well informed.

Mr K. W. Dyer did not think Mr S'.varbriek'.s plan would work in New Z'Niland, they were not sullk-iently advanced. What Mr Wells had termed the iiiilifFerr-ntism of tho laymen was the cause of the trouble resisirdinsj iiumey. ff llit; clergymen depended upon thi'ir stipend for their livelihood, as icost of the Svw Zealand ones did, how could they get along without, it. Jle was afraid Mr Swarbriok'.s plan contained too inue-h theory and not enough practice.

Dr. .Moon said the cleryineu must endeavour to get tbo laity to put the iudiitorentism on one side.

Mr li. 0. Dyer thought Mr 3warbrick took a pessimist's viow of the matter. The indilForentNm was not only in the Cliur.ili of England, but, was growing in the youth of all denominations. Id was Iho general tendency of the age, and was not to be combatted by theoretical organisations, but by practical work. He objected positively to some of Mr Swarbriok's statement*, and to the vagueness of others. The Rev. Mr Boler supported Mr Svvarbrick, and said the present condition of things was preeminently unsatisfactory. He believed lay help was the key to the whole matter.

Svvarbrick, and said the present condition of things was preeminently unsatisfactory. He believed lay help was the key to the whole matter. In reply Mr Swarbrick said lie had been somewhat misrepresented by several of the speakers, but, nevertheless, the whole of his suggestions had been practically borne out by one or another of them. It would be an easy matter to define the parish boundaries; and he felt convinced that no goo.l would be done until that was accomplished, and plenty of lay help provided. The archdeacon suggested they should, at future sittings, endeavour to fix the boundaries. The afternoon session closed with a vote of thanks to Mr Swarbriek for his able address, and the whole of those present were invited to tea at the parsonage, where they were joined by several ladies. The Evening Session. The evening ses-ion was held in S. Andrew's Church, and was prefaced by divine .service, tho liev. Mr Evans delivering a .short but very able sermon, the number attending being much larger than at the afternoon meeting. The subject of Christian Unity was then introduced by the Rev. Mr Bolor in an able; paper, mention being made of tho fact thai there are 2JO sects of professing Christians. Regret at this state of division -,vas expressed by all the speakers at the Conference, but tho belief that in tile face of common foes, a tendency towards re-union had of late shown itself was also generally expressed. The reader of the paper laid particular stress on the divine promise that thoro should eventually be one body. The Chairman, in his speech, quoted the Most Rev. l)v. Knox, Primate of the Irish Cii u roll, who in addressing the General Synod of that Church at its opening in April last, used these words: "Let us oy every means in our power, by thought, by word and by deed, cultivate Christian fellowship, brotherly love and friendly relationship with the Protestant rclii'ious bodies now separated from our Communion. This is our duty and our privilege as brethren in the fellowship of the Gospel, under one Shepherd. But in the language of the encyclical letter (of the Lambeth Conference), "we must not be unfaithful stewards of the great deposit (intrusted to us." We cannot desert our position either as to faith or discipline ; or, as the Bishop of Durham says, " We cannot surrender for any immediate advantages the threefold ministry which wo have inherited from Apostolic time?, and which is the historic backbone of the Church." Of toleration and charity. Dr. Knox, when addressing the General Synod, and refering to the prosecution of the Bishop of Lincoln for so-called ritualistic practices, also said : " What sadder sight could there be than to see a Christian bishop torn from his diocese, arraigned before an unwilling tribunal, at the instigation of unknown and irresponsible parties. Ido not hold the extreme views of that earnest prelate, the Bishop of Lincoln, nor adopt his practices, but I sympathise with those who deplore this scandal, and the narrowing down of that Jcatholic toleration, which our Church's formularies admit, and under tho shadow of which, from ag , : to age, since the reformation, loyal churchmen have lived and loved and worked together in the selfsame Church without holding the dead level of uniformity." The Chairman adduced, as evidence of the drawing together of the various schools of thought the deliberations of tho English, Colonial and Aniecicau bishops at Lmnbeth, and quoted the four resolutions drawn up by them as follows, which contained all they considered essential for the Anglican Church to uphold :-1. Tho Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as "containing all things necessary to salvation," and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith. 2. The Apostles' Creed as the baptismal symbol, and the Niceue Creed as tho suflicicnt statement of the Christiiin faith. li. The two Sacraments ordained by Cbiist himself — 8.-iptixiti and tho Supper of tho Lord—ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution, and tho elements ordained by Him. 4. Tho Historic Ei,i<eopate, locally adapted in the .methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the uuity of His Church. The doctrinal points of severance between the Anglicui Church and the most important Protestant bodies were shown to bo extremely small.

Mr Wells urged the necessity of constantly keeping (he subject of unity before U5 as a goal to bo striven for and one that our children might see reached.

A visitor, the Rev. Mr Garlar.d, Wesleyan minister, was desirous nf speaking on this sulijiict ; and being cordially invited to do so by the conference, said that the points of difference between tliu Anglican Church and the Wesleyan body wore infinitessiiral. On further discussion the fact caino out, tli.it the real difficulty between the respective bodies lay in the view takeu concerning the validity of the ordination of Ministers. The Anglican view, that the Church derived its foundation from iibove, and hail been maintained to the present time in unbroken eontiniiuity, was Hpoken to by Arehdeaoun Willis and Mr Boler ; while Mr Evans, of To Aioha, pointed out that the Protestant Church was derived without break from the primitive divinelvappoioted Church, and that the errors and additions of Homo had, at the Reformation, been repudiated by her.

Mr Swarbrick, in an ablo speech, plead.d against undue precipitancy, in .striving for unity, as likely to defeat the object in view.