ANGILICAN JUBILEE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 315, 30 September 1908, Page 6

ANGILICAN JUBILEE.

IC SIRVICE AT ST. PAUL'S. ir . •t " i- A lETROSPECTIVE SERMON. Minister from all parts of tho diocese, and choirs of 111 the city and suburban churches, took pari in the service of praise held in 10 St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral last evening to comn mcmorate tho jubilee of tho Anglican diocese of \ellington. Tho combined choirs, u about I'2C voices in all, under the direction n of Mr. R; Parker, mado the musical service 11 ono to be long remembered. Tho Venerable L ~ Archdeacm Fancourt, who is tho only member of ife first clergy remaining in tho diocese,, ras not sufficiently recovered from his rcceni illness to preach, but he pro--0 liounced Hie Benediction at tho close of tha i- service. Tie preacher was the' Rev. J. Jones, d of Lower Hutt, the senior minister in tho diocese a:ter the archdeacon. There wa,s a e crowded -iongregation. a \ 3 ' THE SERVICE. Tho seivico opened with the processional hymn, "Fhy Hand, O God, has Guided," sung to Sullivan's Coronation tune. Can. t tides wcro sung to Hopkins in F.. Tha f second was "O God, Our Help in Ages i- Past." After the third collect, Stainer's ■ Diagnificcnt anthem, "Awako, Awake, put ' u" ? ly Strength, O Zion," was finely sung t by_ tho combined choirs, the quartette parts =! bcm S tiken as follow:—Mrs. B. Wilson, soprano; Miss Marsh, contralto; Dr. Fyffe. 1 tpnor; aad Mr. P. Hockley, bass. ' During t the offertory "Wb are Ambassadors," out or : Mendelssohn's "St. Paul," was sung by Mr. :1 JJohertv and Dr. Fyffe. Then followed, with ; hue effect, the To Doum, Smart, in F. Tho - processional hymn was "Now Thank We All i Our God. ' Mr. Laurence Watkins, Mus. 3 5 aC-, n a 2 • Fyffo were at tho organ, and ,p, ?F° playi?d a P aean b y Basil Harwood. - Ihe Rov. W. Ballachey, hospital and prison i- . cll ?.plam, read Ihe first lesson from Exodus 0 xviii, and the Eev. T. H. Sprott tho second lesson, from Revelation i.. The Rov. A. W. 1 H. Compton (Mangatainoka) intoned the ser^ 9 VICO. | 3 • THE SERMON. . The Rev. J. Jones preached from I Sam- • uel. vii, 12, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped r us. He stated that last year, in-obedience 5 to a direction of tho General Synod, was observed the jubilee of the Church of which . this fliocese vas a part, dating it from thp f time of the ligning of the Church coristitu- . tion in June,' 1857. Following the lead thus > given they vero. now, in accordance with a ' resolution of the Diocesan Syuod, observing 1 the jubilee pf tho. diocese,-' dating from tho , consecration of its first bishop on the festi--1 val of St. 'Michael and All Angels, 1858. The preaclwr sketched briefly the early his- ; tory of- th« -Anglican _ Church in New Zealand with regard to its relationship to the . Mother Cotmtry. Referring to the late BisI hop Abralam, the jubilee of whose conse- ! cration wis being celebrated, ho expressed regret thlt Archdeaeon Fancourt could not address tAc congregation that evening. The Archdeacon might have told them, from his own personal recollections, of Bishop Abraham's i»ble and dignified, yet genial and attractive presence, nis. accurate and extensive /scholarship, and his arduous and self-denying labours. When Bishop Sehvyn invited 1 him to New' Zealand, to take charge of the'college at Waimate, ho was occupying a/most important and influential position at Eton, and his prospects of success and ligh position in the English Church were imost promising. Ho was Archdeacon of Waitomata when he was chosen for the new ,< bishopric of Wellington. Soon after signing tho Constitution' on June 13, 1857, he left for England, where he was consecrated as Bishop of this diocese, his friend, Edmund Hobhouso, another of the Selwyn circle, being at tho samo time consecrattll for Nelson. Tho consecration took place at Lambeth Chapel. Roforring to''the early history of the diocese, tho preacher said:."There ,was!at first some doubt as to which chunjli should be regarded as the cathedral. Tho .General Synod of 1859 had mado use of St. Paul'a (a. building then stauding nearly in.front of the present site of the museum). • It wis romoved in 1866, and is now the mortuary . chapel in the Sydney Street Cemetery. It was in this plain and unpretentious building that the first consecration of a bishop in New Zealand took place on tlio fourth Sunday in Lent, 1859, when William Williams became the first- bishop of Waiapu. The first diocesan synod in the samo year mado use of St. Peter's Church, bu,t subsequent synods returned to St. Paul's. The questiomwas finally, sottled by the erection of the church in which ' wo are now assembled, which wa3 consecrated on Juno 6, 1866, provision being made for its iiso for cathedral purposes when required." Coming to present times, the preacher referred t<j Bishop Wallis as ljavinc; "brought us into renewed and closer touclf with tho Mother Church and its manifold activities, "'which will protect us from the narrowness which the following of any ono school of thought or action, however good in itself, has a tendency to produce. Through him we feel tliht we share in tho broader lifo of the whole Church, and gain a more practical appreciation of our Catholic position." Tha futuro would bring now problems' and difficulties, and thou they would .find their,bestencouragement in tho knowledge that hitherto tho providence of God had always raised up tho men, and indicated the meaps to copo with difficulties. And; thus their jubilee became to them what its name indicated, a time to praise God joyfully for the great things lie had given them in the past, and to take heart and encouragement with regard to the future. "I