First Synod in Chch for 14 years

Press, 7 May 1984, Page 4

First Synod in Chch for 14 years

Ninety-five leading members of the Anglican Church in New Zealand are meeting in Christchurch this week to discuss issues ranging from the text of the Lord’s Prayer to the Treaty of Waitangi.

The forty-sixth Anglican General Synod, which comprises the 12 bishops of New Zealand, clerical and lay representative of the seven New Zealand dioceses, the Bishopric of Aotearoa and the Diocese of Polynesia, meets once every two years to formulate church policy.

This is the first time in 14 years that the Synod has met in Christchurch.

The Synod opened with a traditional service of Evensong in the Cathedral last

evening. The Archbishop of New Zealand, the Most Rev. Paul Reeves, will start business today with an address at Christchurch College, in Waimairi Road, at 10 ajn. Archbishop Reeves is the Synod’s president The business sessions will cover an agenda which includes reports from all areas of Anglican church life and draft bills. Topics include alternative orders of service, ecumenism, Angli-can-Catholic relations, a proposal to establish a bicultural commission to study the Treaty of Waitangi, and the Eloff Commission and South African Council of Churches. The sessions, which will be held in the Allan Pyatt Study Centre at the college, are open to the public.