ANGLICAN BISHOPRIC OF WELLINGTON.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1071, 9 March 1911, Page 5

ANGLICAN BISHOPRIC OF WELLINGTON.

REV. T. H. SPROTT ELECTED. PROCEEDINGS AT THE SYNOD. ADDRESS BY ARCHDEACON FANCOURT. The Anglican Synod of, the Dioceso of Wellington assembled in special session yesterday afternoon with tho object of electing a bishop to succeed Bishon Wallis, who has resigned. After' a sitting that lasted until a lata hour last evening, the Synod decided to offer tho vacant See to tho Rev. T. H. Sprott, M.A., vicar of St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral, Wellington. The meeting of the Synod commenced at 3.30 p.m. in the Sydney Street Schoolroom. Evidently the importance of the occasion was iully recognised, for clergymen and laymen to tho number of over ono hundred had come from all parts of the diocese to take part in the election. The Ven. Archdeacon Fancourt, who presided in his capacity of Bishop's Commissary, opened the prbceedings with the following address A Solemn Act, "Brethren of the clergy and the laity:— "Wo meet to-day to perform tho most solemn act that the synod is ever called upon to perform, and tho sense of a heavy weight of responsibility rests upon each of us. The election of . a bishon is fraught with such tremendous conscquences to tho diocese and to tho Church at large that we approach it almost in" I fear and trembling, relying only upon the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us in all our counsels and deliberations, that we may be led to a right choice of ono to bo Our bishop. Wo meet also under circumstances that sadden the hearts of us all. The bishop who has served the Church of God so '-well for the past sixteen years has resigned tlio See of Wellington solely by reason of ill-health, while still comparatively youus, and—to those who do not know—vigorous. f He himself has explained tho circumstances. I need say no more concerning them. He is in our midst still. The diocese will doubtless find an occasion on which to give expression to its feelings, and the synod to place on record its appreciation of the bishon and of the services that he has rendered to tho Church. This only will I say : that to me personally, who have been so closely associated with him fnm the very first to the present time, the bishop's resignation means more than' I can utter in words, An Urgent Call. And noiv, to pass on to the very serious object of our meeting. That object is to make provision for fulfilling the vacancy in the Bishopric that is soon to occurthat and nothing else. I have requested the members of Synod to attend at this special session—at the earliest, date at which I could well call you together after tho receipt of the Primate's authority to take this, step—at some inconvenience, I fear, to members, and especially to the clergy, just as Lent lias commenced, partly because tho term of years for which the Synod is elected expires shortly, and it is most undesirable that a new Synod should be elected while an appointment of one to bo Bishop is in abeyance, and' partly because it is desirable that this diocese should bo left without a Bishop for as short a time as possible. The mind of the Church on this latter point is fully expressed, I think, in Title A, Canon 1, Clause 11, which directs that fhe Primate, when he has received the consent of the Bishops to the resignation of a Bishop, shall forthwith direct the commissary of the resigning Bishop, appointed under Title B, Canon 2, Clause 16, to convene tho Synod of the, diocese with regard to the former reason that I gave for oalling the Synod together immediately that I had authority; it is highly desirable that on the next ordinary session of the Synod provision should bo made-jiv our acts, as has been done by tho Synod, of the diocese of Waiapu, for a Synod whose term of years is expiring, to continue bu, where a.vacancy in - the Bishopric lias occurred, until such time as the election of one to fill the Vacancy lias l>con completed. "I will now direct your attention to the provisions in tho canons whereby our proceedings in this special session are regulated. ' Tho Archdeacon at this stage quoted in oxtenso tho provisions on the election of a Bishop. . . ,

Determining Procedure. "It will be necessary for us, as a first step in our proeeediugs," tho Archdeacon continued, "to determine the manner in which the ballot shall be taken, and to decide upon what course of procedure shall bo adopted before a nomination or nominations are made in Synod. I regret that several members of the, Synod are unavoidably not present, through absence or illness or other cause that makes it impossible for them to attend. I now ask you to join with me in grayer to Almighty God that He will give us a right'judgment, and lead us by His Holy Spirit to appoint him whom He has chosen to be our future Bishop." At the close of his address, Archdeacon Fancourt moved that tho following rule of procedure, drafted by himself, and approved by representatives of the clergy and laity to whom he had submitted it, should .be adopted: "The. president shall announce from the chair, immediately before the poll is taken, a name or names o{ a clergyman or clergymen who havo been duly nominated. It only ono shall bo nominated, each member ot tho Synod shall write on a slip of paper the word 'aye' or 'no.' If more than ono nomination is made, each member shall write the name of the clergyman for whom he votes. The two secretaries of Synod and two others, one clergyman and ono layman, shall collect the papers from each order, withdraw to another room ro count tho votes, and report to the president the number of votes given to each clergyman by each order, and whether any one clergyman has received a majority of votes in each order."

The rule, as detailed, having been approved, Archdeacon Fancourt said tho next, thing to determino was when the Synod should go into committee, There could be no discussion in open Synod upon the merits of candidates. It would be highly unseemly that anything of that kind should occur. The best way would be to go into committee at once, before any nominations whatever had been mnde. The Synod could then go quietly to work, and, if need be, into trial ballot and the like. The Synod resolved accordingly to go into committee. At four o'clock an adjournment was made for half-an-hour, in order that photographs of each order might be taken for presentation to Bishop Wallis. RESULT ANNOUNCED. After sitting for an hour in committee, tho Synod adjourned for two hours at 5.30 p.m. The committee session in tho evening lasted from 7.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. At eleven o'clock tho Synod resumed in open session. , The chairman of committees (Mr. W. F. Jacobs) reported that tho Rev. T. H. Sprott, Vicar of St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral, had been elected. Mr. Sprott was the only person nominated. Steps wero immediately taken to notify tho Bishopelect, who had withdrawn as soon as his name was mentioned in committee, of tho result of the election. Tho Synod then adjourned sine die. In the event of Mr. Sprott declining to accept tho bishopric, tho duty would devolve upon tho Bishop's Commissary (Archdeacon Fancourt) of again calling tho Synod together, so that another election might be held, MR, SPROTT'S CAREER. A DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR. Mr. Sprott was born at Dromore, County Down, Ireland, and had a very distinguished career at Trinity College, Dublin. He won the Hebrew prize in 1877; took the B.A. degree in 1878; Divinity Testimonium (first-class) and Church Formularies Prize, 1870; and took the M.A. degree in 1882. He was ordained dcacon in 1879 and priest in 1880 in the diocese of York. _He was in charge of Holy Trinity, Kingston-on-llull from 1879 to 1882; St. John the Evangelist, Waterloo Road, from 1882 to 1880; St. Barnabas, Auckland, from ISSfI to 1801; Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Auckland from

1888 to 1891. 'ITe was appointed Vicar of St. Paul's, Wellington, .ill 1892, and Lxoiiiiiiint; Chaplain to the Uisliop of Wellington in 1895. , Mr. Sprott has not allied himself with any particular party in the Church, but may be best described as a Broa'l Churchman, who is also able to recognise and sympathise with all that is best in the High Church and Evangelical schools of thought. Ho is fnv from being a ritualist, yet lie knows the value of ritual m its . proper place. Besides attending to his parochial duties, Mr. Sprott is deeply interested in outside matters concerning the public weal. The Citizens' Institute claimed him during its period of existence as a prominent member, and it was on occasions favoured with admirable papers from his able pen. He has always taken a great interest in educational matters, and is well known throughout New Zealand as the leading exponent of modern thought in its religious aspects.

AN APPRECIATION. One of the oldest clergymen in the dioceso of Wellington gives a very interesting appreciation of Mr. Sprott as a man, a scholar; and a minister of the Church. Referring to his work of clergyman, the writer says:—"ln the supremo tragedies of personal and domestic sorrow lie is facile princeps, going to the bottom of things—the only real consolation —with rapid comprehension and intuitive sympathy." "Intellectually, Mr. Sprot is a head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the province. His intellect is not of a ci)ld and hard nature, but is infused with pathetio feeling as Of one to whom the great tragedy of life is always present in the background of his thoughts. ... Ho is above shibboleths, because he lias a much broader horizon and a deeper insight into things." "Mr. Sprott is an organising mind with a strong will, and would make definite plans for diocesan improvements, discerning. and giving his mind to the crucial points. He is essentially a leader of men. He took the .lead in the Synod almost from the first, without any immodesty of pushing. He would soon be a commanding and inspiring leader of the diocese, and, indeed, of the province; and as far as politics enter into the duties of a Bishop in regard to education, etc., he would command—indeed, he does now—the respect and attention of those without. The Church at this present time wants daring in her leaders to get out of conventional ruts, to cease preaching to a generation that has been already entombed and to seize tho opportunities of the moment before they are gone. The nudacitie* of Newman and' Liddon were broverbial in their day. Like Paul they turned tho world of conventionalities upside down. Mr. Sprott, too, has the daring of genius that, through its intuitive uerception of times and occasions is nearly always successful; with rapid insight to pevceivo the forces of the new and all that is precious old; like . the man in the parable that brought forth out of his treasures things new and old; which miffht indeed be the motto of Mr. Sprott's book."