ANGLICAN SYNOD

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20989, 18 October 1933, Page 3

ANGLICAN SYNOD

SECOND DAY'S SITTINGS

DISCUSSION ON YOUTH WORK j REPORT The Anglican Synod had a busy day yesterday, most of the afternoon sitting being taken up with a discussion on the report of the Bishop's council on youth work. In the evening the report of the foreign missions council on the missionary work of the diocese was discussed, and interesting addresses on missionary work in China and Fiji were delivered. Bishop West-Watson presided. City Mission Report. The report of the Christchurch City Mission stated that the staff of the three institutions still numbered well over 100 At St. Martin's House of Help, Antigua street, 17,536 applications for food, rents, medicines, fares, removals, clothing, boots, filing, furniture, etc., had been granted. The committee had to thank donors whose gifts had enabled them to do so much. It was good to note the happy relations that had existed with the successive managers and the stalls. The city owed much to these managers, all voluntary workers and retired civil servants. The winter was notable in reliei work because the business men came in for the first time to ease the situation, which was rapidly becoming serious, if not dangerous. This they had done and done well. One of the very special bits of work they had been able to do had been to help to find suitable diets for sick folk, nursing mothers, and babies. It had been very hard at times; but they could see the benefit now in the smiling, healthy children, and the happier mothers and fathers

Mrs Berry was still in charge of the Citv Mission jumble shop, and she had 24 regular and six occasional helpers. The sales had dropped considerably owing chi?t!y to fewer garments having been given to be sold, or remade or remodelled to sell. The takings amounted to £330 13s 2d, as against £4(54 6s lid last year. The average a week was about £6 10s. Out of that rent and other expenses had to be paid. There was not much left to go towards the cost of running the men's guest house, which averaged about £8 a week to run. At the Men's Guest House during the year 10.208 beds and 20,905 meals had been provided. In all, 554 different men had been through the house. The report was received.

Church Institutions. Archdeacon P. B. Haggitt moved: "That this Synod urges all church members to regard it as a duty to support the institutions of their own church." in support "he said the purpose of the motion was to call attention of the people to their church institutions and to plead for their more generous support. Every church institution stood for some social need, and they believed was the outcome of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Every one of those institutions involved a good deal of thought, time, and effort on the part of their leaders. Those leaders had a very strong claim upon the support of church people, and that, very often, they did not get. There were some people who gave really more than they were able, but there were others, and it was a much larger band, who did not give the support they should Most of the institutions were very heavily taxed and most of them were inefficient because they were not adequately supported. Several speakers supported the motion. The Bishop, in conclusion, commended the institutions of the churches of the people and agreed with Archdeacon Haggitt that lack of support was often due to the people not being acquainted with the work of the institutions. The motion was adopted. | Youth Work. A motion standing in the name of Mr Li. F. de Berry dealing with youth work read:— "(1) That Synod expresses its general approval of the principles enunciated in the report of the Bishop's council on youth work. "(2) That in conjunction with the Bible Class Union, the services of a specialist in work among men and boys should be secured for the diocese to advise and help where needed, | and that additional organisers be ap- | pointed for young people's work. I "(3) That the diocesan board of education be instructed to give effect to I such recommendations of this report las may be agreed to by Synod; and | that the board make adequate proviI sion for such financial aid as is neces- | sary to implement these recommendations."

Mr de Berry said he would put forward a plea for support for the greatest of the church's institutions in the province of New Zealand. There were so many attractions that tended to draw young people away from ancient loyalties and so many things that were competing with the church for the loyalty of the young. So much enthusiasm and so much self-sacrifice were snown for those things that there was a distinct challenge to church people to show a like enthusiasm and a like self-sacrifice. The committee had set out to show the task of the church at the present time, and it believed that new methods were necessary in all aspects of work among the young. Sometimes it was felt that the church had failed to give young people the opportunity of expressing that creative urge that God gave them in the work of the church. He was sure the enthusiasm of the young people could be aroused if the right methods were adopted. Mr de Eerry expressed regret that so many parishes had neglected to acknowledge the communications, and the questionnaire sent them. The Duty of Everyone. The work, he continued, was not merely for the clergy; it was work for everyone, but the laymen had a right to look to the clergy for the inspiring, bold lead which the clergy alone could give. He expressed appreciation of the work that was being i done in the Sunday Schools of the I diocese under difficult and adverse

circumstances. The church, too, should encourage the social gathering of young people of both sexes. That, he thought might help to solve a great number of the problems that were exercising the minds of the people at the present time. Coming to religious instruction in public schools, Mr de Berry said that splendid advances had been made in that direction. Some of the clergy, assisted by groups of men and women, were doing really excellent work in that way. He also thought that the church should work among university students. Some of them knew what was being done in other places, and that was an aspect that Synod could not allow 1o pass by. He concluded by saying that the • great demand at the present time was for leadership, and if they could get that they would be right. There would then be no looking back, and the diocese would be setting an example to the whole of the province of New Zealand.

Mr de Berry then moved the first part of his motion, and this was seconded by the Rev. R. de Lambert. ' The Rev. J. R. Hervey disagreed with certain parts of the report and urged that children should not be segregated, but that they should be encouraged to attend church with their ciders as a means of inculcating habits of worship. That, he thought, should be put in the forefront of the work. Disagreement with Details. Canon H. O. T Hanby moved as an amendment that the words "principles enunciated in" be deleted. Generally he supported the principles, but he disagreed with some of the things contained in the report. He was not prepared to swallow the whole of the principles as, for instance, that new times demanded new methods. He thought Synod would approve of the general principles. The Rev. T. M Curnow seconded the amendment, not because he disagreed with all the report, as he thought it was an excellent one, but because he disagreed with certain things mentioned in it. ♦ iS S a n ?• Parr said ne did not think that Mr Hervey's objection really applied because certain services such as Matins and Choral Eucharist were not really suited to children, though some children had been taught to like them.

Mr J. Studholme expressed the opinion that the lack of religious educatl°n. in S|ate primary schools was a decided drawback to the work of the Sunday schools. He thought the increase in the teaching in State ™ ls ™, s <?ue largely to the work of the Bible m State Schools League Educis. 10 lhc councii ° f Reli^io - Atmosphere of a Service. Archdeacon F. N. Taylor paid a ee bU V° t , he , WOrk 0f ti? e Knit* tee. He said it was not the conductnig of a service that counted but the atmosphere that surrounded it. Where were the children put in the church Th»™, y ?li s were sun S ? he as ked. There were different ways of presenting a service. One was to present it was « uite unsuited to children, but there was another way of making an honest attempt to meet their spiritual needs. There was onlv one place to teach children to swim and that was at the water, and therefore he contended that children should be encouraged to attend church. He went on to say that there was a serious omission in the report and that was that there was no mention, with one tiny exception, of church day schools. It seemed to him to have been very pointedly left out. Mr de Berry said he was quite prepared to accept the amendment and the first part of the motion was amended accordingly. Mr H. E. Morgan thought Synod was wasting time discussing the report unless there was some chance of unanimity being reached. Immediately the report was brought down however, objections were at once raised. What was the use of submitting the matter to a committee unless they were prepared to accept the report. The Rev. H. M. Cocks spoke in support of work being carried out among university students. The debate was interrupted by the arrival of the time of adjournment. Foreign Mission. The annual report of the Diocesan Foreign Missions Council was presented by Mr G. Stening, who moved its adoption. The report slated that the diocese raised £3591 for the year ending June 30. All hough that was £369 short of its quota, it was encouraging to note that the Christelmrch diocese raised a bigger proportion of the amount allotted as its quota than did any other diocese. Seventeen parishes reached, and in some cases exceeded, their quota, whilst many others nearly did so. On the other hand, a considerable number did not apparently make any real effort. The parishes that succeeded were mostly those that had adopted some systematic method of giving. The board at its annual meeting on August 23 thought it unwise to reduce I its budget requirements, as it considered the amount asked for last year to be the absolute minimum required to carry on its existing obligations. The Christchurch diocesan total was the same as last year's, and the majority of parish totals had been unaltered. The committee confidently looked to every parish to endeavour to reach the sum asked for. Mr Stening said that on the whole the results were most gratifying, but there were some cines which did not realise their responsibility in foreign mission matters. The motion was seconded by the Rev. W. J. Hands, who spoke of the work the missionaries of all creeds had done in Fiji and ot.ier Pacific groups. Work in China, Miss B. Tobin, who was on furlough, said that she was stationed in the interior of China, far from the beaten track of tourists. There were many million Chinese in the district and there were only 20 missionaries. The growth of the national feeling in China meant that much of the authority had to be handed over to the Chinese. She knew that there was a great need for workers in nearly all mission stations, but at her station there was need for a doctor, a nurse, and two more women workers. Since coming

to New Zealand she had been told that there were suitable women available, but there were not sufficient funds to send them out. She appealed to members to assist the mission to obtain more workers and to make it the subject of their prayers. The motion was adopted. Financial Regulations. A bill to amend the financial regulations regarding parish loans and the grant to the Diocesan Board of Education was read a second time and put through the committee stages. The third reading was made an order of the day for to-day. Pension Fund. Mr E. G. Hogg's bill to amend the Pension Fund regulations was read a second time and progress was reported on the committee stages, the time of adjournment having arrived. Leave to sit again was granted. The Synod adjourned till 2.30 p.m. to-day.