ANGLICAN SYNOD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 243, 15 October 1931, Page 3

ANGLICAN SYNOD.

OPENING SERVICE.

THE PRIMATE'S ADDRESS.

DIFFICULT TIMES,

The third session of the twenty-sixth Synod of the Diocese of Auckland opened this morning with a service at St. Mary's Cathedral, Parnell. Archbishop Averill in his presidential address referred to the salient events in the affairs of the diocese since last Synod and touched on several important questions of the day. Referring to the financial depression he said that if times had been better he would have liked to see a definite step forward in the promotion of the first part of a permanent cathedral for Auckland in order- fittingly to mark the centenary of the arrival of Sehvyix in 1542. He would also have liked to ask Synod to concur in the appointment of a dean for the cathedral, but in view of the hard times he had decided to abandon the project for the time being. Financial Difficulties. In spite of strenuous efforts the diocese failed by £368 to reach its allotment of £3240 for the Board of Missions. The total deficiency was over £2000, and the Melanesian Mission was the worst sufferer, as it would have over £1000 less.

The past year had been exceedingly difficult owing to the financial and industrial depressioh. Church people were, no doubt, suffering, but the work and "witness of the Church must be maintained', even when times were out of joint, for faith and trust in God were the only real antidotes to depression, and the only real tonic for drooping spirits: The central fund could not possibly meet any further claims upon its limited income, as subscriptions had fallen off considerably, and many of the existing grants had had to be reduced. There were, however, some bright -spots in the cloudy sky. The diocese had responded nobly to the call for help for the sufferers in the Hawke's Bay earthquake; hospitality had been extended to the girls of the Hukarere Maori Girls' School, now located in the old Richmond Road Orphans' Home until their own school at Napier was restored; and good work had been done by the City Mission, tlm Dock Street Mission, the Girls' Friendly Society, and the Order of the Good Shepherd' in helping the unemployed find suffering. t

It was a matter of regret that it had been necessary to cut down the salaries of the teachers in schools and the workers in social institutions, but they had nobly responded. Pressure on Central Fund. It seemed inevitable that some at least'of the comparatively new parochial districts would have to cease their independent existence and be absorbed into neighbouring parishes or parochial districts. The policy of dividing,large districts was right in principle, and the standing committee naturally hoped and expected that the divided' districts would "rise to the occasion" financially and otherwise, and not become a permanent burden upon the central fund. When the capital of the central fund was trebled, or even doubled, and when clmrch people realised the tremendous importance of the fund to the extension of Christ's Kingdom the diocese would be in a much happier position. At a time like the present it was well to remember the keynote of the Archbishop of York's sermon at the opening of the Lambeth Conference —"God reigns." Church people must continue to pray for the country, for the nation, for the Empire, and for the world generally, that men's eyes might bo opened to see and realise the things in life that really mattered, and that they might conform their ideals and standards of living to those things.