Methodist Synod Hears Church Union Report

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30839, 26 August 1965, Page 16

Methodist Synod Hears Church Union Report

The recent statement by the Joint Commission on Church Unity would strengthen those who were negotiating, and had shown the public what progress had been made, said the Rev. R. G. Bell when he reported on the commission to the North Canterbury District Synod of the Methodist Church held in St. John’s Church, Bryndwr. Last week the commission, representing the Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian and Congregational churches, and the Associated Churches of Christ, said that there were adequate theological grounds on which the churches might proceed to the preparation of a basis of union. The statement. “The Faith We Affirm Together,” which had been confirmed by the commission, was an extremely fine piece of work, Mr Bell said. It contained in condensed form the essentials of the Christian faith. In discussions on baptism

there had been a major breakthrough. Women Ministers

Commenting on the question of women ministers, he said, “It is quite possible that the matter will be left in abeyance for the united Church to decide.” There was no need for everything to be decided at the present stage in negotiations, he said. Various questions could be dealt with once the churches were united. If the ministries were unified, the proposed mutual laying-on of hands was not meant in any way as a criticism of a minister's previous ordination. By the ceremony he would be empowered to fulfil his ministry in the united Church. Lay celebration of Holy Communion was quite a problem, and had been referred back to the appropriate committee for further study, he said. However, the commission had felt that the Presbyterian Church’s system of elders had great value, and some form of lay eldership within the united Church was possible. Local Schemes On the local level, the Methodist church union committee had given general approval to several proposed schemes for joint action, Mr Bell reported. “At Porirua East and at Halcombe the Anglican, Presbyterian. and Methodist churches are immediately involved. At Wairoa (Hawke’s Bay) and Mangapapa (Gisborne) joint action is confined at present to Presbyterian and Methodist churches, and at Tokaro (Palmerston North) to the Churches of Christ and the Methodist Church.” In the Wellington and Nelson circuits schemes for the establishment of union parishes had been approved bydistrict courts, and approval from the Conference was being sought. “Reports from other districts also suggest that the movement for closer co-opera-tion and joint action at the local level is beginning to snowball,” Mr Bell said.

Tribute To Minister A tribute was paid to the work of the Rev. A. W. E. Silvester by the chairman of the Methodist Church in the North Canterbury district (the Rev. H. C. Matthews), at the synod being held in St. John’s Church, Bryndwr. Mr Sylvester, who comes from Tai Tapu and was accepted as a candidate for the ministry in 1924, will retire at the end of this year. From 1935 to 1952 he worked in the Solomon Islands. During the war he was associated with Australian Naval Intelligence and United States and New Zealand troops, the United States Government awarding him the Medal for Merit in recognition of his services.

For the last five years Mr Sylvester has been in charge of the New Brighton, South Brighton, and North Beach Methodist Churches, and has acted as chaplain at the Burwood Hospital. “Mr Sylvester has given outstanding service,” Mr Matthews said. “He will retire with the regard and affectionate esteem of ministers and officials throughout our North Canterbury district.”