SILENT TONGUES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 118, 21 May 1938, Page 12

SILENT TONGUES.

CHOICE OF BISHOP. WAIAPU EXHORTATION. " DEFEND US FROM SNARE." (By Telegraph.—Special to " Star.") NAPIER, this day. New procedure which is in use for the first time in New Zealand is being followed in the election of a bishop to occupy the see of Waiapu in succession to the late Bishop H. W. Williams. The Waiapu Diocesan Synod is now meeting to choose a nominee for office, and its selection will be followed by the submission of the name of the nominee to other authorities. The Rev. E. M. Cowie, who is acting as Commissary of the Primate of New Zealand, Archbishop Averill, in the matter, yesterday gave Synod a full explanation of the new procedure and received from him an exhortation for the faithful discharge of iU respon sibility. Of Vital Interest to Bishops. Mr. Cowie pointed out that the constitution of the New Zealand pro\ince has always maintained that the election of a "bishop is not only the concern of the particular diocese electing him, but is also a matter of "ital interest to the Bench of Bishops and the province as a whole. He pointed out that the original constitution requires that the name of the person nominated by any dioccsan synod shall receive the approval of the General Synod, if it happens to be in session, or, if this is not the case, of the majority of the diocesan standing committees, with bishops at their head. "Unfortunately," the speaker said, "this was practically a farce, as the name of the person nominated did not jto to th' standing committees until the nominee -iad accepted the bishopric, when it was well-nigh impossible to act upon an adverse vote if one were given. "Under the new canon the Commissary appointed to preside informs the Primate of the name of the person nominated by the Diocesan Synod, and his Grace then inforips the bishops. If a majority of the latter approves, he then, submits the nam© to the standing committees or to the General Synod, if it in session, and it is only after the bishops aa a body and standing committees have agreed by a majority that the nominee of 'synod is offered the see by the Primate in the name of the whola province. "Despite Questioning of Friends." "Those whose names you will be called upon to consider may not be asked for their consent to such consideration, as this course would make them, if by chance they consented, candidates for the office of a bishop, a position in which no right-thinking man would willingly place himself." Mr. Cowie exhorted synod members to "keep disciplined tongue* in this matter despite the questioning of friends and those nearer to u«, and the blandishments of pressmen." After stressing the need for resisting any temptation to disclose the name of the synod's nominee, he concluded: "May I ask you to keep before your mind* not only the needs of yoiiir own diocese, but also those of the province as a whole and the far-reaching importance of nominating one who will bring spirituality, learning and leadership to the Bench of the province in these supremely difficultdays." Mr. Cowie recalled that a wise leader of the Church whose advice had been sought in a similar task in 1934 had i said that the great danger of a synod called to elect a bishop was what psychologists call mass emotionalism. "May God in His mercy defend us from this snare," he concluded.