DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 250, 19 October 1907, Page 7

DIOCESAN SYNOD.

FIRST DAY'S SUMS.

The session of the Diocesan Synod !W_S continued at St. Mary's Parish Hall,- Parnell, after W went ,to "p'reas yesterday. '.-■_. The'following delegates were present: . Archdeacons Gilder. Cole, Walsh, and Willis. -'".-'■' Canons MaeMurrav ahd Nelson. • The Beys. Beauty, Beck. Boler. Brocklehurst, Boyes, Buckland, Budd, Cleary,. Coaaony, E.M. Cowie, J. P. Cowle, Cubltt, Dobson, Edgell, Evershed, Fa veil, Fisher, Fortune, GUlam, . Hapimana, Harrison, Jecks, Karoo, Karehomav Kirkbrlde, Xiatter, LarMns, 3L,nsh. Macdonald, McWfflfiim, Ma-, son,. Mannsell, ilonckton. O'Callaghan, Parry, Badcliffle, Beeve. Bnarangi, Sedgwick, Smailes, Spencer, Smith, Sutton, Tahuriorangf, Thomas, Yaughan, Walker, Watson, Williams, Wilson, Wingfleld. Tonus-. ■ Messrs Abbott, Armstrong; Eatger, Burton, Calder, Charter, Charton, Clarfe, ClajrClements, Cochrane, Dawson, Dairy, ion-barn, Fitzgerald. Grosvenor. Gliailan, Heather. Hesfceth. Hill, Holmes, Hooker, Hudson, G. Hunt Littler: Nicholson, Oakden, Paul, Pavitt, Philson. Poynter, Hlce, Blehardson r .A_ B. Koberton, E. Eob'S toll r^ s P e iSlit, Sheppard, Taylor, Thompw«,', Tm i kS !, Tyke ' Wr- Wird, Wells, Wooiler, Tates. Several apologies for absence were received. OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. The Rev. H. W. Wilson was elected clerical and Mr. S. L. Abbott lav secretary. Mr. J. H. Upton was elected chairman of committees. The following committees were set up:—Under Standing Order No. 9, Messrs. TV Charter, G. Hunt, W. P. Hay, H. P. Oakden, A. S. Holmes; Under . Standing Order No. 9a, Archdeacon Willis, Canon Kasel- . den, the Rev. Hawkins, Messrs. J. H Upton, Rice, and Willis; Under Regulation 119, Archdeacon Willis, Canon Nelson, and Mr. Brookfield. ST. MATTHEWS SITE. On behalf of the Hon. E. Mitchelson Mr. W. J. Speight presented a petition from the vestry of St. Matthew's stating that for many yev.i= an encroachment on the site of the parish church by a private' person had existed, and the vestry had been unable to obtain redress. The petitioners asked the Synod to refer the matter to a sub-committee so that evidence might be taken so that if the petitioners satisfied them that the encroachment existed, Synod might take such steps as would lead to the restoration of the land to the parish. Notice of motion was given: for the setting up of a sub-committee. GREETING'S. The Bey. G. A. Carver, formerly vicar of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, forwarded greetings and wishes, and the secretary of the Pacific Club, notified that all privileges had. been extended to the Synod, who were asked to "make use of the club as if members. ' -"■ ''-" FXECTIfe-NS. Mr. W. J. Speight introduced a bill amending the regulation of elections in Synod, providing that contested elections shall be made by ballot on the day after nomination. FORMATION OF PARISHES. Mr. Dawson gave notice to;! move:— (1) Whereas- in the Synod held in' theyear 1905 the President-ruled that in the formation of a Parish, procedure must.-be by way of And whereas in the Synod held in the year 1906 the President ruled that in the alteration of the Standing Orders procedure must be by way of Resolution; And whereas the rulings aforesaid appear to be in contravention of the statutes of the Synod; a Select Committee is hereby appointed for the following purposes: (a) To determine whether any irregularities have arisen from the said rulings, (b) In-the event of the Committee determining that irregularities have so arisen, to devise remedies for the same. (2) The Select '.Committee to consist of the following persons:—The Rev. Canon Haselden, the Rev. Canon Nelson, Mr. C. M. Calder, Mr. C. J. Tunks, and the mover. LATE ARCHDEACON WTIddAMS. On the motion of Canon MaeMuixay,.the* Synod placed on record its profound sense of the loss which the Church had incurred through the death of the Venerable Samuel Williams, Archdeacon, of Hawke's Bay. He said the deceased's unwearied services to the Maori people, his generous benefactions to God's work in all parts of the Dominion, and his munificent gifts to missionary enterprises in all part 3 of the world, were out the outward expressions of a life lived in the faith of Christ, and the whole Church was richer for the noble example of his unselfish life. STANDING COMMITTEE. The Committee reported that the income of the Selwyn Memorial Fund for the year was £ 101 4/10, and the expenditure £93 3/2. The capital now stood at- £2000. The sum of £44 1/- for interest received' has been added to the Home Mission. Endowment Fund, making the capital now £928 4/6. The Country Clergy Endowment Fund had been increased by £18 10/0 interest received, and now has a capital of £459 16/7. The receipts for Home Mission purposes for the year ending Jita.ick 31. (exclusive of the balance of £441 12/3 brought forward) were £883 S/-, or £15 10/11 less than for the previous year. The expenditure was £94S 9/6, or £21S 4/- more than the former year. The Bey. W. H. Edgell was nominated to the Bishop for appointment on the Home Mission staff. There were five clergy licensed for Home Mission Work in the diocese. The committee had felt justified, iv consequence of promises" of financial help from the people, in. undertaking the responsibility for the stipendsof two more Home Missionaries, one; to work from Hikurangi as a centre, the other .to work in Taranaki. Unfortunately owing to the scarcity of clergy, the Bishop bad not yet been able to make an appointment in either- case. The committee ielt. that it was in the direction of au increased staff of Home Missioners that the work in many parts of the diocese will be best accomplished. They had asked the Bishop to obtain such increase if possible. The income of the Country Clergy Fund for the year was £344, or £3S 11/5 more than for the previous year; and the expenditure (not including" last yearns overdraft "of £48 8/10) was £357 2/4 r or £38 8/2 less than during the preceding year. In view Of an overdraft of £61 11/2 on March 31, the committee had only' been able to make the following allocation for- the year commencing July I, 1907, viz.: Waimate North, £15; Howich, £10; Rati Rati, £4a; Inglewood, £10; Oka'to. £10; Russell, £20; Paparoa, £15;. Kamo, £15; Pokeno, Bombay, £10; Pukekohe, £10; Sorthcote-Takapuna, £10; Te Awamutu, £10; Paerba, £7 IQ/-; Waiuku, £5; Waitara, £7 10/-; Huntly, £5; a total of £205,. or £100 less than the allocation for the previous year. The committee desired to call the. attention of the diocese to the fact that for fifteen years the fund known as the Country Clergy Fund had been helping necessitous country parishes to pro-

Vide" stipriids for- their clergy. During that period the Standing Committee had made grants amounting to £4304 8/-. Trie committee feel that country parishes, ■helped by this fund in the early days, were especially called upon to assist the newly-forhred country parishes of to-day through, the .operations of this fund. The Standing-Committee saw no prospect of the demands upon, the Country Clergy Fund decreasing; rather the contrary. The •fact_that -the -Home Mission staff had had to be largSy increased points to the gradual ibririatirivof new country parishes. As, settfements developed, the committee aimed, at provision being made for a resident vicar. TShe minimum provision now" accepted by the- Standing Committee was £200 per anTii-ren and a suitable residence. In the early days of a -new country parish the grant from the Country Clergy Fund frequently enabled the people to provide the minimum stipend. The receipts of the Chaplaincy to Public institutions fcr last year were £304 15/4, or £55 7/9 less than for the preceding year. .The account on March 31 was overdrawn £ 8" 3/9. The committee desired to inform Synod that unless there was some general movement on the part of the diocese towards increased support for this iund from voluntary sources the continuance of the very necessary and important work done by the chaplain may be: imperilled. The voluntary cohtri'batious to the fund for 1906-7 show » decrease of'.'£l7 17/9. ! The year 1907-8 starts with an overdraft, and after December 31 the receipts from the General Trust Board would be permanently reduced by £30 per annum. The receipts towards the Sustentation Fund had been £65 1/8 from the assessment,. £lff,, from/ donations, and. £10.7/6 for interest. The fund stood at £-271 3/8. -The receipts of the? Maori Mission for the year were £1738 7/II (including £400" from ' the Native Pastorate Fund and 4419 17/6 from the Maori Mission Board), or £226 8/9 more than for the previous year, the expenditure (including the overdraft of £265 6/7 brought forward) was £1878 18/-, or £ 101 12/3 more than for the former year. The overdraft oh March 31 was £140 10/1. The estimated annual expenditure sanctioned by General Synod was £ 1960. Towards this annual sum the committee would receive £400 from the Native Pastorate Fund, and £487 from, the Maori Mission* Board. The diocese was therefore responsible for ar. annual sum from voluntary offerings of £ 1073. The Standing Committee reported that the principles of self-help were growing amongst their Maori fel-low-churchmen. During the year 1906-7 the Maori church people of this diocese, contributed some £600 for Church work. Of this sum about £150 have been contributed by way of increase, from the Maoris themselves, towards the miserably inadequate-- stipends of £60 per annum paid to Maori clergymen engaged in parochial..work. There were at present 16 native' clergy in the work of the Mission of this diocese. MAORI MISSION. The report on the wdrk of the Maori Mission for the year eciing September 30, 1907, stated that the work was under the general direction of the Rev. H. A. Hawkins, Diocesan Maori Superintendent. _Jb.e. committee recorded a year full of hard work by the workers in the mission uncomplainingly done, of financial "anxiety/wonderfully" relieved from time to time, and of progress abundant in inspiring, hope and trust, for the future. The plan of making'senior" Maorr clergy assistant superintendents hi the work had been amply justified; the work of the Rev. Hone Papahia has been of-particu-lar value to the mission. At the same time, the committee were anxious that it might be possible for them very soon to nominate a pakeha. clergyman to the bishop for appointment as assistant to Mr. Hawkins. The very fact of the growth of the mission entailed direct supervision by pakeha clergy to an extent impossible for Mr, Hawkins alone to exercise aa closely as is desired by him. One deacon—the Rev. Makoare Tepana Taurere —had been adveaced to .the. priestaQcdf-.-and it was. to .:adinit;twQ- inenj-now in- training .at Te Ran College, to the diaconate this year. K"ext year the Bishop hopes to advance some more of the native deacons to the order of priests. It was wholly encouraging to be able to report that at present there was no dearth of offers from suitable young men of the Maori race for instruction and training for the work of the ministry among their own people. In many cases these offers of service came from former pupils in S. Stephen's School, Taurarua. The number of these volunteers lead the committee to the conclusion that, in all human probability, the ranks of the native ministry, could be adequately filled by Auckland diocese Maoris. In an increasing number of instances the Maori clergy would be able also to minister to the European people in their neighbourhood. Through; the continued-assistance df the New Zealand Mission Trust Board, another mission house was shortly to be opened, at Paeroa. To it would go one of the mission nurses, with a former Victoria girl; the other mission nurse, with another former Victoria girl, woukL continue at Hukanui. The- committee were contemplating the possibility of establishing another mission house in-the Far North. All over the diocese churches are being cared for and new. or improved buildings were iri contemplation. In nearly every case of church repair and erection, mostv if not all, of the money was provided by the Maoris themselves. Further, the Maoris paid for the general expenses of each church. The totally inadequate stipends of the Maori clergy in charge of settled districts. (£6O per annum) had been increased this year -by trie Maori people themselves to £70 per annum. There was some substantial ground for hope that next year would see a further slight increase. The committee would remind the public that the Maori people themselves were contributing some £600 per annum towards the support of their clergy, the maintenance of their churches, and so forth. GENERAL TRUST BOARD. The General Trust Board reported that owing to the decrease in the receipts from cemetery fees, the Board had found it necessary to inform the Standing Committee that after December 31, 1907, the grant to the Chaplaincy Fund would be reduced from £150 to £120 a year. The Board instructed Mr. Goldsbro' (architect) to prepare plans for. a permanent See House to be erected on the present site, and Mr. Harrison (surveyor) to set off allotments for leasing on the parts of the Bishopscourt estate fronting Manukau and -B.~George*s Bay roads, aid a portion of tne estate fronting S. Stephen's I road. The estimated ~ cost of a new See House was £ 50tf0. "Without the fur-, I ther assistance of trie rents accruing from the allotments proposed to be leased, the Board had no mean 3 whereby such necessary expenditure might be incurred. A report from the Medical Officer of Health had made the Board the more desirous of speedily erecting & new See House.' Should the Board succeed in its present plan, it purposed entrusting

tie more valriabre portmri .of the books in the Cathedral. library to the custody of the trustees..of S, .John's College, to be placed in the Kinder Library at the College. Securities were* satisfactory. Mortgages, to thevaliie oiiEioOdhad been repaid during the year.. Repaynieiits of loans in bond amounted to- £708, and loans to the extent of ■£ 1125 had been granted. . .' '"" ■'■'■ -.' X. " ;..' | . ;;-"- -S.- . - ■ The trustees of S- John's College reported'that* the- General. Endowment Account shows a debit balance of £431 12/8, or : £143- 7/6 less than for the previous year. The burials for the year at-Pu-iewa Cemetery were 232, as against 219 for the.previous year.' Tlse receipts were £702 7/6, and: the expenditure was £669----2/8. During the .preceding twelve months' the receipts were .£675 17"/6, and the expenditure was £502 13> r . Tie balance to credit on June 30, 1907, was £'327 12/3.- The trustees had approved of plana prepared by Mr. Geo. S. Goldsbro' : for permanent buildings for the college, including provision for the Kinder Library, at an estimated cost of £6000. CLERICAL'PESfSIOISr BOARD.. ' The Clerical Pension Board, .reported that under -the Widows' and,. Orphans' i Fund, the Board had deuided thatr the term {orphans of clergymen) shall apply to. chfldrfn under sixteen years of age only. Regulation 5 read: "The bishop of each diocese is respectfully "requested not to license a clergyman to a cure when either he or the. parish fails to recognise the Pension Fund system, as an integral part the diocesan economy by becoming "subscribers thereto. The Board recommended that the bishops of the-dio-cese of Auckland and Waiapu apply the provisions of.this regulation to.assistant of parishes to the extent of; the minimum pension, at-,least, as -well ,as to vicars. For tho year eriding June 30, 1907, the was -£2779 3/7, and trie capital had" been increased?, by £1779 13/3.... .The. total capital of the fund was now £33,365 16/6.- From the Number I. Ciergy Sick Fund £129 has been paid in pensions, and- £100 19/6 in grants-in-aid From the Number n. Clergy Pension Fund £ 100 had been paid to one claimant. From the Number HI. Widows' and Orphans' Fund fourteen grants had been made, s) the value of £189 3/. From the Supplementary and Reserve Fund grant 3to the amount of £155.1/6 had been made; and from the Blandy Trust (Waiapu portion) two grants amounting to £32 10/ had been made. 112 clergy and 60 parishes were associated with the fund. — '