The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1956. Centenary of the Diocese

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28157, 21 December 1956, Page 12

The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1956. Centenary of the Diocese

A notable occasion in the history of the Church of England and the Province of Canterbury occurs on I Christmas Day, which will be the hundredth anniversary of the enthronement of Henry John Chitty Harper as the first bishop of Christchurch. Letters Patent constituting and defining the boundaries of the diocese of Christchurch, and appointing Dr. Harper to be the first bishop, had been granted by Queen Victoria in July, 1856: in August, Bishop Harper was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and he arrived at Lyttelton on December 23. His enthronement on Christmas Day, 1856, officially brought into being the diocese of Christchurch

The settlement of Canterbury was conspicuous «'n the nineteenthcentury history of the Church of England because efte Church for the first time took an active part in colonisation. Previously the Church abroad had grown “ bit by bit, the “ limbs first and the head after- “ wards Canterbury, in the words of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, was to be “a Church of England colony”. In its first publication, the Canterbury Association said: “The Church “of England is now doing that “ which her sons complain, not with- “ out reason, that she ought to have “ done long -• go; she is sending “ forth a segment of her own body—- “ a complete specimen of her

“ organisation—which may perpetu- “ ate the preservation of her “ doctrine and discipline among “ nations yet unborn It proved impracticable to maintain Canterbury as an exclusively Anglican settlement, as had been intended. But the influence of the Anglican Church was dominant in the religious and educational life of Canterbury’s early years. And the Church had a full part in the minds of the settlers. Their devotion to the Church knew in their homeland gave men and women strength and inspiration in the new land.

As years went by, the dominance of the Anglican Church in Canterbury’s life lessened; the Anglican Church happily and rightly came to share with other denominations in ministering to the spiritual life of the community. Those who have feared that the Anglican Church was failing to keep pace with the times have been gratified to notice in recent years invigorating influences at work within the Church to bring the Church fully into the life of the people, and particularly to notice the attention being devoted to young persons. But with everything taken into account, the harshest critic could not fail to pay grateful tribute to the Church of England in Canterbury for its hundred years of spiritual, educational, and social work. Its graceful Cathedral, standing in the very heart of the province, is an enduring reminder to thousands of persons that the Church of England in Canterbury has indeed abundantly enriched this province.