GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Press, Volume VII, Issue 793, 15 May 1865, Page 2

GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Sato-day, May 13. The Synod met at ten o'clock. The Bishop of New Zealand having opened the sittings with prayer, the minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Mr. A. Baker appeared on behalf of the College Grammar School, and requested the Synod to obtain for them a holiday on Monday, so as to enable the scholars to be present at the sittings of the Synod on that day. Mr. Haet moved—"That the next session of the General Synod be held in Dunedin, if by the time of meeting there be a Bishopric of Dunedin constituted, and the Bishop shall have entered upon the duties of his office. H there bo no bishop, the next session j shall be held in Auckland.

The Rev. R. Btjebows seconded the motion

Mr. ___ro would prefer having the next session held in Auckland; that town being the capital of the provinces. Sessions had been held in Nelson, Wellington and Christchurch, and as there was no certainty that a bishop would be appointed to Dunedhv he thought they should hold the session in Auckland.

The Horn. R. Stokes was sorry to find Mr. King suffering from the Auckland endemic: he was in favor of Otago

After a short discussion, the motion was carried.

The Bishop ob Gh_istchu_ch moved—" That this Synod instruct the Bishop of bis ecclesiastical

province to metnjralizc the Authorities of State in England, for the purpose of obtain in ■; f?,,,,. iongQ ~ tho regulations ot the General Syt,... i .... ■•v>i»_H e j v Cuuwo 25 of ilk* Consritulioi i>.v.l, that the nomination of a Bishop shall proceed f rom t j Diocesan Svntvl, arul bo .«an«'tione I by tho General Synod; or pending t!ieir\leci„.m on this matter, that they appoint no BL-hop to any vacant see in the ecclesiastical province, except he shall bo willing to declare his assent to this Constitution." Hq would not occupy the time of the Synod by making any loogthy remarks on tho motion ; it was highly necessary for tho welfare of the Church that the assent of all future Bishops should be obtained to the constitutions, and ho did not think any Bishop would withhold his consent.

The motion was seconded by Da. Mausse-L, and carried without further discussion.

The Rev. J. F. Llotd moved, in tho absence of the Rev. A. Stock —"That the nionibars of this Synod bo invited to send to their respective Dioceses any alterations or additions they would propose in the New Zealand Hymnal for submission to the Bench of Bishops for their guidance in any revision of the present book, to be submitted to the next Session of the General Synod."

The motion was seconded by the Rsv. J. 0. __o« shaw, and carried.

Archdeacon Jacobs moved, —"That the thanks of this Synod are due to his Lordship the President for recommending in his address the adoption of Forms of Prayer for the consecration of churches and burial grounds, and for other purposes. The Synod respectfully reqnest their Lordships the Bishops to prepare such forms, as well as a form to be used at the laying of tho corncr-stono of a church, and resolves that if the same be adopted by the various Diocesan Synods, they shall bo deemed to have t_9 sanction of the General Synod." lie thought it highly necessary that the same forms of prayer should bo used in all the Dioceses, and this was not the case at present. He should like to see an authorised form printed and distributed to all. The want of a form of family prayor was also much felt. He was often asked to recommend ono, and although many excellent editions had been published, it was difficult to obtain a sufficient number of any one to render its use general. Mb. Gbig&s seconded the motion. Dr. Maunsell said that the Yen. Archdeacon had omitted to tell them where the sinews of war were to come from. He had no great hopes of a general form of family prayer being adopted by all Dioceses. Tha form to be used at the laying of a corner-stone was already in tho hands of the Bishops. Archdeacon Jacobs in reply, thought there need be no difficulty about tho expenses. He had no doubt but that his own Diocese would pay the printing in tho first instance, and the other Diocese "would pay their shares when they obtained the forms. The motion was carried.

The Bishop ov Chbistchttkch moved—"That in order to enable the Diocesan Synod of Christohurca to cairy out effectually its power of managing and regulating property held in trust for Churjh pup. poses, within tho diocese (other than the property of the General Synod), in conformity with Clause 20 "of the Bevised Constitution, and in order to bring suoh property within the operation of the Religious, Charitable, and Educational Trusts Act, 1856, it j* expedient to have recourse to the Legislature of ths Colony." ;"That with that view a draft Bill be prepared, to be brought beforo G-eneral Assemblyat the approaching session." " That Sir William Ma-tin and the Hon. John Hall be requested to prepare suoh draft Bill." "That the Hon. John Hall be requestedto take charge of the Bill for the purpose of carrying it througli the Legislature." He stated that this course was necessary-for the effectual carrying out of th» powers conceded to the Christchurch Diocesan Synods. by the General Synod. The thanks of hiß Diooes*',.. were also due to Sir William Martin, for his uniforta ';' kindness in putting them right on all legal matters. T < Db. Donai_> seconded the motion, which 'WB*, carried

The BrsHOP or Ch_i_tc_t3_oh moved — "That the thanks of this Synod be given to R. Esq., for hia kindness in granting the use of "tlw Hall for the sittings of this Synod during the present? -/ session." He had had to make tho best provisionh» '• could for the Synod, and Mr. Symington had genet?-- - ously placed the room at his disposal, and he wishedthus to thank that gentleman. The Hon. R. Stokes seconded tbe motion. He bad . much pleasure, as a visitor, of recording his thanks not only to the proprietor of the Hall, which was admirably adapted for their purpose, but to tho - Diocese of Canterbury for the manner in which they had carried out the arrangements in connection with, the session. ' . . \ '. Mb. Dut-ON moved—l. " That the application,of the Waimea Trustees for power to exchange fire V. acres of land, being part of Section 85, Waimea ' East, for two acres in the village of Bichmo_d,"bei_g part of Section 25, Waimoa East, be granted." - 2. "That the application of the Nelson Diocesan Trustees for power to sell ton acres of land at . Motueka, and to apply the proceeds in the purchase r< . of other equally valuable land elsewhere, be granted, provided that the proceeds of _!•*:> sale be expended as proposed by -the Trnstee-V'v 3. " That a portion of land in the Waimea _rt_V ~; containing 9a. 2r. 13p., now held in Trust by the' Bishop of Nelson, he transferred to Trustees reooip<- ~~ mended by tho Synod or Standing Committee of Diocese of Nelson." '_ ;_.; f/^ , The Rev. J. C. Bagshaw seconded the motion. ■* -^ Mb. Dutton explained the facte under which -Wt,V' powers were desired, and the motion was carried. - This Xt v. Br__ow_ moved—"To call attention oi mc Synod to the question of Sy_o__4|s| expenses, with a view to ascertain how Buch exponsefJ|| are to be met." He could not on the moment vvhat their exponscs were likely to be, but they be something considerable. The items would printing, firing, paper, &c. There was a balance }*tfs-j hand from the last Bession of about £10, and amount received at the offertory of St. PaolVj jfjgy? £910s Bd. • >, Hss The Bishop ob New Zealand principal part of the balance left from the last had been expended on printing in Nelso - a . He s_out£l|lj suggest that an estimate of the expense, a be draw- U&<o--and. that each Diocese should pay its 'proportion. ' vi_i Rev. R.BttbboWs thought that £65 would cdv»f,<?? all the expenses. Ho did not fcr ft fc present rrbatf-i'% the bill for printing would be. , . - k *J« Mb. __izQeba_d would surest to the Synod no more printing than riete._ny nec essary here, ad it would be found cheaper to have ii in Auckland. . The suggestion of the Metropolitan was agreed tor * 1 -a-'"*^

Rbv. J. T. Lloyd v 10 vea—-" That-Standing Orde& No. 2_ be suspended, in order that the Bfll forc&OCi formation of parishes and defining the dtttiwop Parish Officers be read a third time and passed." t'jfif The motion was agreed to, and the Bill waß.br6ogW| up and passed. '" ,'tsaj

The went into committee to consider #i> Bill relating to retiring pensions for- dergyn__> ■*?£ widows and orphans of clergymen, -j| In the proviso to the second clause, the words \?s that behalf" were struck out, and the words: *|f such committee" substituted. ;, }Mjjk Iv Clause 4, the word "Committee" war attwjgj tnted for * Board," and the words " or s_per_a-*ip inserted after the word "invalid." ! I|§| In Clauses 5 and 6, the words " C«n__l were substituted for " Pension Board." , r ; 33| Clause 7 was amended by striking, out " salary" in the fourth line, and inserting "f^^^fe Causes 8 and 9 were similarly amended and 6, and the following provita added: — u l__viaJto that in the Diocese of Waiapu the fees , native marriages shall be appropriated to ments of annual contributions for the men to the Cenfcraljßoard. The surplus* if _ayjl»Sfig paid to the Central Fund.'' _4r# Clause 10 was amended by striking out **«>#& and the insertion of " £100." J3 fSl In Clause 11, the words " and _?§ serted after the word " England" in the tiuiß SM^T Clause 12, the words "Central Pensk&MJ*!££ mittee" were inserted in place ofTenvonWm^Ar^^f

Illljga---I_, in the third line, the word " Comin place of" Boards ;" and in the the word "Board" in place of "Pension Pof motion were postponed until nest > Synod adjourned to 10 o'clock on f) OTICES OV MOTIOK. .^^^gjjfciin-Gerald — ll§lfi3H__i——'Svnod recognises the restoration of the ;§|||lf2f_-> Christian Church as one powerful object ; Jlßl-M-Si«« efforts should he directed." Synod requests the co-operation of the SSsSmW^Z-e gjnods in the above object, and reP' will take such steps as may seem to to ascertain how far the various remay be inclined to respond to the expressed, and by that means the ristian Church in New Zealand may day restored. And this Synod reDiocesan Synods will report fully hops to _iis Synod at its next meet- — that the thanks of this Synod he given *Il_i_t _-_d- who have so hospitably entertained the %r3B&» of this Synod." f- j g» T l_E.__-t— i" *«Kb niove the suspension of standing orders, to other business to be passed through ft|ffl-ir stages."