GENERAL SYNOD.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 16, 20 January 1910, Page 8

GENERAL SYNOD.

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND. ASSEMBLED AT WELLINGTON. Once in every eighteen years the general synod of the Anglican Church assembles in Wellington. There are six bishoprics in New Zealand, and as the synod, which meets only once in each three years, has to assemble by turn in each cathedral city, piere is an eighteen years' interval between the meetings in any one city. The deliberations of the synod are to be held in the Masonic Hall, Wellington, this afternoon, and on subsequent days. The list of members is as follows: — The most reverend the Primate, the Right Eev. the Bishop of Auckland, the Right Rev. the Bishop of Christchurch, the Right Rev. the Bishop of Nelson, the Right Rev. the Bishop of Waiapu, tlje Right Rev. the Bishop of Wellington, the Right Rev. W. L. "V\ illiams, Yen. Archdeacon W. Calder, Yen. Archdeacon W. N. de D. Willis, Rev. Canon G. Mac Murray, Yen. Archdeacon 0. H. Gossett, Rev. W. W. Sedgwick, Rev. H. E. Ensor, Yen. Archdeacon G. W. York, Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Rev. E. H. Strong, Rev. J. R. Dart, Yen. Archdeacon D. Ruddock, Yen. Archdeacon H. W. Williams, Rev. J. Hobbs, Yen. Archdeacon C. C. Harper, Yen. Archdeacon J. A. Jacob, Rev. T. H. Sprott, Very Rev Dean Fitchett, Yen. Archdeacon Richards, Yen. Archdeacon H. G. Gould, Rev. W. J. Durrad. ' The laity is represented by Mr. C. John Batger, Mr. W. J. Speight, Mr. 0. J. Tunks, Mr. J. H. Upton, Mr. H. D. Andrews, Mr. W. C. Bean, Mr. v* G. Brittan, Mr. W. Hall, Mr. A. T. Maginnity, Mr A. DO. Bayfield, Mr. J. J. W. White, Mr. W. S. Hampson, Mr. J. B. Fielder, Mr. J. H. Sheath, Mr. J. N. Williams, Mr. T. Tanner, Mr. W J. Birch, Mr. J. Martin, Mr. R. Wilberfoss, Mr. J. W. Henderson, Mr. C. H. Statham, Mr. W. B. Scandrett, Mr. A. Washer, Mr. W. S. Cochrane, Mr. R. G. Coates. The forerunners of the general mission are the Rev. Canon Pollock and the Rev. H. A. Kennedy. SERVICE AT ST. PAUL'S. SERMON BY 1 BISHOP OF WAIAPU. The opening ceremony in connection with the synod was a divine service at St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral, at 11 o'clock this morning. The service began with the singing- of a processional hymn by the choir, "One Church, on© Faith, one Lord," as the bishops and ministers moved up the aisle, to the appropriate places in the chancel of the church, each provincial bishop leading the clergy of his diocese. The various bishops participated in conducting tie services, and the sermon was preached by the Bishop of Waiapu, who took for his text the 6th, 7th, and Bth verses of the First Chapter of .the Acts of the Apostles. Dwelling upon the fact that the time for the appearance of the Father in his power was not for man to know, he besought his hearers to so model fheir lives and their actions that some advance of the world towards the time of fitness would be ensured. There was, it seemed to him, sometimes a disposition in the church and amongst its members to place aggrandisement before the wider aims which they should take ; the church would advance ih the degree thai it rose above self-seeking and worldly am 1 bition. It had been said that our educational system, and the increased love of pleasure had produced a vanity and outlook that had placed religion at a discount ; but after allowing that there was some foundation for these assertions his lordship said that they of the church should go a little deeper into the matter, and realise that the world wanted a church that was a reflex of its Head. Did they, as a church, consider properly their own weaknesses? Were' they not sometimes hard-hearted where they should be soft-hearted? was there not need for them to sink their personal likes and dislikes? In a reference to the church ritual, his lordship asked if they were to go on forever admiring the language of the prayer book while the people perished for want of a more suitable instrument for the expression of their feelings ; should they continue to fight with the weapons of the' seventeenth century against the antagonistic forces of to-day, or ' would they make use of the power they did posses? If they waited until "everyone" agreed that the time for change was opportune they might lose their chance for e^er. PRIMATE'S ADDRE.SS, CHURCH GOVERNMENT. \ — At the opening of synod this afternoon, The Primate, the Most Rev. Dr. Nevillj at Dunedin, delivered a lengthy address. He referred at the outset to the resignation of Bishop W. L. Williams, of the See of Waiapu, and the election and consecration of the Yen. Archdeacon Averill, as his successor. "The new bishop," he said, "is not one who has to be accepted on trust on the recommendation of others who have, perhaps, after all, but little intimate knowledge of our circumstances and needs; he is one who by some years of devoted life and able administration in our midst has gained our esteem and confidence, and won for himself a worthy name. For myself, I rejoice greatly that those with whom the selection primarily rested did not look beyond the ranks of our own priesthood to find a man fitted to preside over them and to nurture their Church. It is well known also that Archdeacon Averill did not stand alone among our clergy in suitability for, the episcopal office, and I take advantage of my position to say that I regard the self -restrained, orderly, and religious manner in which everything connected with the nomination and confirmation of the Bishop of Waiapu was conducted as affording a conspicuous illustration of the value of our ecclesiastical system, and the propriety with which it was carried out." CONSTITUTIONAL. He also referred to the motion which was brought before the last general synod, and which, had it been carried, would have been tantamount to a declaration that the so-called Fundamental Provisions of the Constitution were nonfundamental and alterable, and since that time a resolution has been carried in the synod of the diocese of Wellington which expresses the opinion "that the unalterable character of the provisions in the Constitution, called funda mental, is injurious to the best interests of the Church." CHURCH FREE TO ACT. Ho traced the historical evolution of the Church on this question, and then proceeded to give his own opinion. "I think," he said, "that in the abstract the Church in any country in which the component elements of a Church are present in sufficient numbers for organic purposes — viz., a body of lay members with the clergy in all their orders — she tan proceed in freedom to formulate regulations for orderly self-government with no further reference to outside authority than appertains to her civil relations, in which respect she is amenable to tho law* of the country itself. Such vi Ski the recognised, poajtie&.of the

Church in England in Anglo-Saxon, and even in Norroan times. The laws of Ethelred testify to this, and the several charters of the early Norman kings reaffirm it. William the Conqueror's letter to the Pope is emphatic enough on the point, notwithstanding his oblieation to the Papacy, and that Pope Hildebrand was the hardest man to deal with on such a aubject. The renewed charter wrested f-rom King John states at its very first declaration that "the Church of England is free" ; it was felt to be necessary to put this article in the forefront since the King had just subjected the Church to the See of Rome. In the abstract* then, the Church in New Zealand or Australia is free from all external control, and being itself inherently free, it is a wrong to its own nature to declare that it "shall have no power" to do this or that. In other words, the so-called Fundamental Provisions, being formed on false premises and misconceptions, are themselves invalid, and may be regarded as null and void, and those who have subscribed to them in all good faith are ipso faoto free from the obligation of a declaration which they had no povrer to make. NO NEW PRINCIPLE. • "I do not," he continued, "profess to be laying down anything new. The principles I have put forth are essentially those which we acted upon in 1880, when we assumed as a church our distinctive name, but recent discussions seem to make the reassertion of these principles necessary. A resolution which is commended to our notice by the Diocesan Synod of Wellington, to my astonishment and regret, goes so far as to ' pray the, General Synod to secure, by Act of Parliament, the right of comflete self-government for the church.' am bold to declare that we already possess that right, and that if we did not it would be in the highest degreo wrong for a spiritual society to apply to a secular government to confer such authority, and 1 even with regard to the safe possession of our property, I myself see no reason for applying to the legislature for action upon a matter in which there is surely now no apparent danger. . . . . I dismiss this constitutional question with the remark that it is one thing to recognise and claim to the full our autonomy, but quite another to take any action upon it, unless such action is urgently required. It is a good many years since most 'of us discovered our actual position, and I do not think we have suffered any great inconvenience from the conservative disposition we have shown." MAORI MISSIONS. . Because of its unworkable nature, his lordship suggested that it would be well to rescind the canon which constitutes the Maori Mission Board, and to throw the duty of supporting, the work among the Maoris upon the dioceses, as was done in the case of the Melanesian Mission, without any formal organisation other than might be devised by each diocese to ensure the promotion of the work. He suggested that it be a recognised' function of the Archdeacons in each diocese to see that something was done for missions in every parish of their archdeaconry ; if possible, by a small band of missionary collectors as well as by a Sunday offertory. EVANGELICAL ASPECT OF CHURCHWORK. Speaking under this heading he said there never was a time since the earliest epochs when the divine spirit was moving so vitally over the chaotic elements of the moral and spiritual world. "We have no jealousies on the spiritual side," he said. "We warmly greet our brothers in Christ, and we gratefully thank them for undertaking all the inconveniences and toils of such lengthened travelling, rewarded only by the hope that they may impart unto us some spiritual gift. All the Bishops gladly throw open their dioceses, and the clergy their parishes, in the earnest hope that so it may be." "UNION OF CHURCHES. In conclusion his Lordship referred to the encouragement of intercourse with the Orthodox Greek church, and to the new political conditions of Turkey, which were full of hope. The question of union with Presbyterian and other non-Episcopal churches presented greater difficulties 'than that of intercommunion between parts of the church which had been separated by what might be called accidental, or, at all events, removable circumstances. "Even differences of doctrinal statements are less permanently operative than those of ecclesiastical constitution, and this largely because changes in the former category are less generally observable than altered action in the latter." In conclusion, he said :—": — " It may in general be allowed that unions of widespread bodies should not be consummated in small areas without consultation with the authorities in' wider spheres, but I do not think the universal consent of the authorities ol the negotiating tooclies need be required. If the whole church, say in Australasia or Canada, were happy enough to come to agreement 'with the authorities of a denomination in such an extended area, perhaps independent action might be justified." A missionary meeting under the auspices of the Synod will be held in the Town Hall to-night.