ANGLICAN SYNOD.

DIOCESF/OF NELSON.

The session of the Anglican Diocesan Synod was, opened in the Diocesan Library yesterday afternoon. The Righb Rev. Dr. Sadlier, Bishop of Nelson, presided. There were also present the following members:— Clergy: Bishop Mules, the Rev. Dr. Weeks (Dean of Nelson) Archdeacons York (Blenheim) ana Kempth'orne tßrightwater), Canon Wollstein (Ail Saints', Nelson), Canon Smith (Rotherham), Canon Dart (Wakeneld), Revs. A. H. Heron (Havelock), C. F, Saunders (Kaikoura), J. F. Coursey (Westport), F. A. Tooloy (Granity), G. A. Crqssman (Wairau Valley), W. W. Bedwell (Spring Creek), F. Quintrell (Picton), A. Berryman (Motupiko), F. J. Ferry (Surburban North), F. J. Daynes (Takaka), A. J. Can- (Richmond), and A". T. Milgrew (Beef ton). ! Laity: Messrs ■ Wilson Heaps (for i CnthodYal), S. H. Strong (All Saints'), C. H. Coote (Brunnerton), 0. W. PittsBrown (Reefton), F. H. Richmond (Cathedral), F. C. J. Cockburn (Cathedral), 77. J. Maclcay (Cheviot), W. York , (Murchison), W. ThoriT.(Richmond), C. F. Faulkner (Motupiko), A. B. Hall (Waimea .West), G.\ E. C. Saxton (Granity), A. P. Seymour (Picton), J. B. Harrison (Amuri), D. S. Evans (Ka-j ramea), G. Dodson (Suburban North), G. A. Edmonds (Denniston), A. C. Maginnity (Reefton), Huta Pa'aka (Wakapuaka* and Whangarae), C. de Vere roschemaker-Shute (Wairau Valley), A. J. Mills (Spring Creek), 1\ A". Irving (Seddon and Ward), H, S. Fredericks (Picton), A. R. Davidson (Collingwood), A. C. Strachan (Ngatimoti). Leave was granted to Mr G. W. H. Cawte on account of illness. The pipsidenc called attention to tne presence of the Deputy Mayor (Cr. T. Pett't), representing the Mayor, wno was unable to be present • tne Yen. Archdeacon Watson, .of St. Peter's, Wellington, who is to preach at the Synod service this (Wednesday') evening; the Rev. "W. Bullock, 'general secretary for New Zealand of the Church of England Men's Society; and the. Rev. F..H. Spencer of the British and Foreign Bible Society. These gentlemen were welcomed and provided with seats on the floor of the House. _ : The opening prayers were read Uy < Archdeacon Kempthorne. j THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. I The president, in his address, referred to the conclusion of the war, and said that in the providence of God they now bad a reasonable expectation of peaceful years. He went on to speak" of his share in the work of the Church among the New Zealand boys m England and elsewhere, performed. under a commission from the Primate. He expressed his admiration for the chaplains sent to the front by the Chxircb, and, in this connection, said* he had come to the :ich'nito conclusion 1 that if social work in all its modern developments was necessary to an army there should be, as, indeed, there iiad been, special officers and men appointed by the authorities For that purpose. The chaplain should take his share, but he must not be compelled to divest himself of his ,! Function as a minister of Christ in order . to do it. From the Christian stand- ' point, one of the most encouraging fea- . bur.es of the war had been the. way in yhich men of undisguised Christian faith j md character took tile lead. It was an , unquestionable, permanent, stubborn • tact that under their leadership .we won : the war. Men of this character were . tvot confined to the leaders at' Home. ( New Zealand had reason to be proud of . such leaders as General Sir Andrew Rus- [ sell, General Sir Edward Chaytor, and ', General Richardson. As to the men, it | was quite impossible for anyone who vad ; not see things for himself to form any , id_ea of what our.boys suffered and per- \ formed. On the subject of diocesan matters the Bishop said:'— ITI must now direct , your attention to matters affecting the ■ reconstruction of the diocese. In the : place of our ever-lamented friend, Mr ', A. E. Hedges, who laid down his lite : in the war, Mr J. Williams has been ap- . pointed diocesan secretary and treas- . urer. For over three years Canon Dart ', has acted in this capacity but now as Mr Williams is becoming daily more ac- ' customed to the work his attendance at ( the office is becoming less imperative, and in a little while it will cease. Befere that time comes I want to express ray thankfulness that" in a moment of ' crisis God had given to the diocese a clergyman who had had snch business training as to be enabled to take over the duties of secretary and treasurer, duties which, it may be well to remem- ■ ber, are becoming more and more intricate every year. How Canon Dart has had the physical and mental strength to i care for his district and to attend to the Diocesan Office I do not know. It , is true that God gives ns strength according to our daily need, but I can-; uidly. confess that at one period I was ■ afraid that Canon Dart woufd break : down. What he needs now is a good holiday Wherein to refresh himself after the ordeal. I tender to him my most unfeigned thanks for his loyalty and for the great personal service he has given to me. And while saying this I must add that the thanks of the Bishop and Synod are due to the district of Wake- i field .for" the patient and unselfish manner it has spared its~ clergyman to do this work. During the whole; three years not one , word of complaint has reached, me from the district, which, in my experience, is a record under such circumstances. For Mr Williams and ' bis work I crave your sympathy and courtesy. A diocesan secretary or anyone who acts in such a capacity can never be highly popular. His relations to us all are those of business, and < it is in our power to make those relations easy or very troublesome. Another appointment, for which the Bishop is responsible, is one that I am sure will meet with your approval. Mr A.' C. Maginnity succeeds his honoured' father as ihe Chancellor of the Diocese. I At the beginning of the war.We were counting on eight candidates for the re-

piemshment of the ministry. Three; have been ordained; one of tTiese, the Wqv. J. A. Jermyn, is still on active, service, and two ordained men and one: layman who did not pass the military: tost aro working in the diocese. Of thel four who enlisted two laid down "their' lives in battle, one has decided not to| continue his, studies, and one. Captain ] A. J. F.irnell, 'is now finishing Ms course \ for ordination at St. John's College,; Durham. Five clergymen went on ac-j tive service. One of these, the Rev. j R. IT. B. McCombie, who served in the; Ambulance Corps, died of wounds re- •■ ceivecl in the battle of Le Quesnoy. I to that engagement I saw him; several times When he was-oh duty. He ■whs very happy in his work and had earned.the esteem not only of the officers ■ but of his fellow-soldiers. On behalf of the diocese and myself I communicated our sympathy with his mourning rela- ; tives in fche Old Land. T«'o of the ': chaplains returned some time ago. The I>ev. J. F. Coursey is now happily [ settled as vicar of Westpcrt, but Canon iTaylor's health was so seriously impair-1 od that he could not venture upon work in this most difficult cli''CPSo. He is vn\y engngcdin the parish of St. Peter, We ran nnlv vi"- !■•> finpriJture from us with genuine regret and with the prayerful hope that his VTiicnie, iri.rtfi may' be available in the Clmrc-'i militant 'for many years. . The Ihiv. Q. .1. ,H. Dobson, M.G., and the Rev. J. A. Jermyn are expected in Ney Zealand very 'shortly. Added €o .this Iflc^n iwn o-'iv v^sr'.iT"". two plnrp-v-Inieii, the Rev. J. A. Bogers and the

ißev. H. B. W. White have beeli cloing | special service in military camps. Mr, j Rogers has returned, but Mr White is : still employed in this work. Two clergymen, the Yen. -Archdeacon Grace and the Rev. A. J. S, Seaton, have died, and two, the Rev. R, de Lambert and the Rev. N. A. Frioerg, have left the ■diocese. It will thus be seen that out of thirty-six fellow-workers in 1914 six are dead, four are no longer in the diocese, and four, nave yet to return. Before passing on, I'desire to, call the attention of members of the Synod-to Title A, Ganon.ll., which was passed in the General Synod held in Nelson in ] 913. Since that date the right of the Bishop personally to make appointments has ceased. I mention this 'because even some of the 'clergy are still under the impression that the Bishop has certain appointments in his own power. This is not so. All appointments for almost seven years have been made by the board. The Bishop has his responsi(bility as the chairman, but a majority of the board must give its consent before any appointment can be made. Mr Coursey's appointment to Westport has been mentioned. The Rev. F, Quintrell has been appointed to the Parish of Holy Trinity, Picton, and the Venerable Archdeacon York to Blenheim. The acceptance of the parish of Holy Trinity, Greymouth, by the Rev. A. J. Carr will open up some very serious questions in.l the district of Richmond and Stoke. We are hoping very shortly to welcome the Rev. H. A. Haslam, the Rev. H. Warren Austin, M.A., ancl the Rev. F. Pring Rowe. Mr Austin will assist the Dean at the Cathedral, and Mr Pring Rowe will be instituted to the parish of All Saints. Canon Wollstein, who has been acting as locum tenens for the Rev. J. A. Rogers, hopes to return to his labours at Spring Creek towards t&o end of the present month. In every detail Canon Wollstein has proved himself a loyal, faithful, and diligent parish priest. HiR work for missions has always ranked among the best in the diocese, and I feel that I cannot permit him and Mrs Wollstein to return to Marlborough without expressing to them my thanks as Bishop and how highly'l have appreciated their work in Nelson. Bufc there are many of our districts still unsettled. Cheviot, Kaikoura, Seddon, Suburban North, Reefton, and Granity are temporarily filled; and the Grey Valley, Runanga. and Murchison are still yar-ant. Very soon as we receive additional assistance Tve hope that permanent appointments will be made. In the meantime the future is not without anxiety, but if we meet our anxieties with faith, and courage they will soon disappear." Thero was not much use in making an appeal to the whole diocese, proceeded the Bishop, if a large number of tlieir districts had no permanent ministers and some had none at all. That was the cause of the delay in the appeal for the new Cathedral. * Certain preliminary arrangements had been made, and when the proper time came a forward movement would eventuate. By the time Synod met again, he anticipated that teaching 'would have begun in the proposed school at Blenheim. After pointing out that the rise in the stipends of. the clergy was due to ihe Home Mission Fund, the Bishop remarked that the fund must not be regarded as an endowment, and said it would be very unwise if clergy and people depended"upon it as such., In .the interests of the fund the best servi<s| that could be rendered would be to create aii ambition in, the assisted districts so "to increase the local contributions for'stipend purposes as to decrease the claims upon the fund. Before many years had passed, he hoped there would be in this diocese a sustentation fund such as that in the Church of Ireland and such "as was now being formed in the Church in Wales. 'Iti a reference to missions, the Bishop called attention to the regulations as to collections, and said the following rules would be helpful to those who wished to make things easier for their fellow workers:— _ "1. No special appeal for other missionary organisations must be made on fche statutory days—the-first Sundays in February, May, August, and December. It has come under my notice that the statutory Sundays have been set aside in faJvour of other efforts. This is a distinct breach of the law of the Church in this diocese, which every clergyman and churchwarden has promised to obey. I should deem it a calamity if I were compelled to take order on this question or to dissociate the diocese from any effort for the Kingdom of God; but the Holy Spirit js-'tke spirit of order, and I must insist on the observance of the law until the law is altered. "2. While it is impossible to control fche wishes of private donors who send their contributions direct to the headquarters of any mission, yet thej' shoniu be encourased to send " siir-Ti contributions to the diocesan secretary for transmission. In no other way can the diocese have knowledge of what is contributed. Where this knowledge is notobtainable the missionary reputation of the diocese suffers. "3. All money raised for missionary, purposes whether raised by missionary; unions. Girls' Friendly Society, or Sunday schools, should bo paid to the churchwaidens for transmission to the diocesan secretary. Such money should not be sent from a particular locality to the headquarters of the mission concerned. In the new era upon which we are entering the observance of these simple rules will help considerably in the well-ordering and in the disci"p?ine of the diocese-" ; In commending the C.E.M.S. and the Rev. Mr. Bullock to the Synod" with the warmest sympathy and good wishes, the Bishop said he was looking forward with hope to the time when they would have in every parish and district a body of men who had made their creed a reality and were desirous of sharing that reality with others. On the motion of Dr. Weeks, seconded by Mr Maginnity, the President was thanked for his address, and thankfulness to God was expressed for his safe return to the diocese. Sessional officers were appointed and various reports presented. The President -intimated that this year he did not intend to appoint any sessional committees.

The hours of sitting were fixed as from 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., 2.30 to 5.30. and 7.30 to 10 p.m. ■ The President introduced Bills (1) to amend the Parishes, Parochial Districts and Vestries Act, and (2) for the better ordering of and giving effect to the legislation passed by the Synod. On the motion of Archdeacon* Kempthorne, a resolution was passed regarding the appointment of members of the Wakarewa School Trust Board, and authorising the board to borrow a sum not exceeding £2000 from the Nelson Diocesan Trust Board for the purpose of effecting improvements in the property. On the motion of Mr Pitts-Brown, it was'resolved that a committee be set <up to in/iii;to into and report upon the adequacy or otherwise of. the stipends paid iii the diocese. ; Certain r (solutions in connection with ', trusts w."1:1;' ■passed. ' ; The Roy. "Mr Bullock gave an ad-' : <?re=s "■> the work of the Church of England A en's Society, in which he mentio'"v] that he had gained an noI quaint jirr" with New Zealand condi- ' i.vvis t.hrrsugH being associated with "v<nv Zoalondors at the front. One oi "":v developments cf the war had been n closer definition of the ideas and ideals of men, and there was now a greater recognition of the importance of ideas,' rf right ideas, and especially of.i'Chv-Ft^i'ku^s. 'Tin C.ILM.S. faced the question of what was meant by fnilKfnl churrhmanship. It sought ta

day life, and desired that its mqmocra . ; should take part in the social life> of, ; the community as Christian men.- Ihe al.terations in the. constitution of the society, were to come before a coufpronco ■ for ratification. In tho new badge tho cross would be contained ma circje. symbolising the imprinting of the teaching of the Oross upon vie world. After a free discussion, it was resolved, on the motiqn of the Dean, seconded by Air l'itts-i .i wn, Ihn t this , Synod, having regard to the new and worthier constitution of tho C&..ai.0., respectfully requests the President formally to invite tho ltev. W. Bu 10.-X to visit the diocese for purposes oi organisation." , The Synod went into commiLteo and ficalt with the ivpoa «f l-ho Standing Committee. . Tho following notice cf motiun were crJYCII , ° The Rev. O. A. Cr^.^man Lo nnvo, "aoat in Lho opinion ol t'nb tvnod tho holdinp of parochial missions should be ; "^TTatthis Synod considers it the duty ■ of the clergy to teach the apphcatioirof tho Christian Faith to seem 1 and muustrial practice." The Yen. Archdeacon iorkto mo\c, "That this Synod ri ymphthises with Miss Mary Biniey in her lonely ami arduous work as tbachor ol tho Muoii School at'Qkoha, and ro^mtnen Js Unv a companion ot assistant be provided toi ■her." ■