NEW ARCHBISHOP OF N.Z.

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26662, 22 February 1952, Page 6

NEW ARCHBISHOP OF N.Z.

ELECTION TO BE HELD NEXT MONTH

GENERAL SYNOD IN CHRISTCHURCH

Next month the General Synod of the Church of the Province of New Zealand, commonly known as the Church of England, will * meet in Christchurch for tlws first time for 21 years. Its most important duty will be to elect a new Primate and Archbishop to succeed the Most Rev. Campbell west-Watson, who retired last year after 10 years in office. In the 95 years sihce the Church was established by the first constitution of 1857, there have been seven Primates —Henry John Chitty Harper, Octavius Hadfield, William Garden Cowie, Samuel Tarratt Nevill, Churchill Julius, Alfred Walter Averill, and Campbell West West-Watson. From 1868 to 1922 the head of the Church in New Zealand was known as Primate, the first to hold the office being Henry John Chitty Harper. In 1922, by a statute of General Synod, Churchill Julius became the first Primate and Archbishop. In England, as the Church of England is the established Church, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are appointed by the reigning Monarch on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. In New Zealand, however, a Primate and Archbishop is elected by the three orders of the Church—bishops, clergy, and laity—all of whom have an equal voice in his election. The electoral procedure is governed by a canoq of General Synod which corresponds to a Parliamentary statute. General Synod is regarded as the Parliament of the Church of the Province of New Zealand, the Diocesan Synod being the Parliament of a diocese. It represents more than 650,000 adherents of the Church of England in the Dominion. General Synod consists of the bishops of the seven dioceses in New Zealand, the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Bishop in Polynesia and the Bishop of Melanesia, the two missionary dioceses which are associated with the Church of the Province of New Zealand. There are also three clerical representatives for each of the seven dioceses and four representatives of the laity in each diocese. The bishops of the missionary dioceses can appoint two clerical representatives and two lay representatives., First Election When this church Parliament of 63 members meets early next month —its meetings are held every three years—it will elect a Primate and Archbishop in Christchurch for the first time. Previous elections have been held in Auckland, Dunedin, and Nelson. The first step in the election will he the moving of a motion by the senior clerical representative, the Ven. G. H. Gavin, Archdeacon of Taranaki which will be seconded by Mr W. J. Girling, Of the Nelson diocese, senior lay representative. Archdeacon Gavin will move that at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 1952, Synod do proceed to the election of a Primate and Archbishop. When the motion has been adopted, Synod will be closed to the public at the time stated and a further motion will be moved by the same representatives, requesting the Bishops of the Province to nominate one of their number to fill the office of Primate and Archbishop. Then the bishops will meet separately behind closed doors, and will select their nominee by secret ballot. Their votes will be counted by the Provincial Secretary (Mr L. H. Wilson) who will communicate the result to a member of the house of clergy appointed by the president of Synod, who will be the senior bishop, the Rt. Rev. W. R. Fitchett, Bishop of Dunedin, and also to a member of the house of laity. This part of the procedure will be dependent on the passing of a bill to be considered by Synod before the election is held.

While the ballot is taking place the clerical and lay members of Synod will meet in separate rooms behind closed doors and the nomination of the bishop will be made known tq them separately by their appointed representatives. Then the clerical and lay members will vote for the nominee aye or no. At this stage the clergy and laity have the right to reject a nomination made by the bishops. The results of their voting will be communicated to the Provincial Secretary, who will convey them to the Bishop of Dunedin. Bishop’s Nomination If it is found that the nomination by the bishops is confirmed by the votes of both houses, the bishop so nominated shall become Primate and Archbishop, and the senior bishop present, other than the elected bishop, will announce the result to the full Synod. The orders will assemble separately in the Provincial Council Chamber, the clergy on the right of the chair and the laity on the left. The bishops will return, and before the announcement of the result of the election is made the public galleries will be opened again. If the bishops’ nomination is not confirmed by Synod the same procedure will be followed again. Should the second nomination not be confirmed the senior bishop will inform Synod that no election has been made. He will then become Acting-Primate until General Synod shall have elected a Primate.

Only once in the history of the Church has the nomination of a bishop been unconfirmed by General Synod. This was in 1904 at Auckland when a different procedure was followed, the Primate, as he was then titled, being elected by the ballot of Synod. After three ballots there was no majority for any one bishop, and the senior bishop, the Rt. Rev. S. T. Nevill, Bishop of Dunedin, became Primate, an office he held until he resigned in 1919. The bishops present at Synod then were the Bishop ot Auckland (the Rt. Rev. M. R. Neligan), the Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. C. Julius), the Bishop of Nelson (the Rt. Rev. C. O. Mules), the Bishop of Waiapu (the Rt. Rev. W. L. Williams), the Bishop of Wellington (the Rt. Rev. F. Wallis), and the Bishop of Melanesia (the Rt. Rev. C. Wilson). One of the scrutineers was Archdeacon A. W. Averill, who himself was elected Primate and Archbishop in 1925. and is now living in retirement at Timaru, aged 87. When the result of the election is announced next month the senior bishop other than the Primate and Archbishop, the senior member of the order of clergy (Archdeacon Gavin), and the senior layman (Mr Girling) on behalf of their respective orders will each tender their congratulations and good wishes and express the loyal support of their orders. Synod will then adjourn for a short period to allow all members to tender their good wishes personally to the new Primate and Archbishop. When Synod resumes the Primate and Archbishop will assume the presidency, and an historic ceremony will have ended.