BISHOP OF AO-TE-AROA

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10712, 9 October 1928, Page 3

BISHOP OF AO-TE-AROA

CONSTITUTION OF OFFICE. TRIBUTE TO BEIY. F, A BENNETT. ‘ ’ _ D . In hijs addretss to the Synod of the diocese of Waiapu, the Bishop. Die Rt, Rjdv. W. W. S'edgwick, had the following to, say concerning, the Maori Suffragan Bishop: “It is not necessary for me to go into details of the movement that has led fo tlio passing of the Statute to provide episcopal supervision of the Maori race. The legislation ;of 1925 is in the memory of all, when the Bill known* as the Maori. Bishopric Bill was passed forming the Diocese of'A o-te-roa._ Last General Synod repealed this Bill, and a Statute to provide _ episcopal Supervision for the Maori race was enacted in its'- stead. The Statute is briefly this—the constitution of the office of a Suffragan Bishop tot the Bishop of Waiapu with, the title of Bishop of Ao-te-roa. to be nominated hy the Bishops of the North la hind, the person so nominated to be a member of the Maori race, That the Biishop shall hold office under tlio hand and seal of the Bishop of Waiapu and shall have episcopal supervision of the Maori race in this diocese, also in anv diocese the Bishop of which shall have given him under his hand and seal a commission thereto. There are other details which I need not go into here. “Before any nomination it was necessary that provision should he made for an adequate stipend, a suitable residence, and a reasonable travelling allowance to tlio satisfaction of the majority of the Bishops of the North Island. Those provisions have been complied with. Tlio Maoris throughout the diocese have lesponded to the call that was made upon them with promptness and enthusiasm that is much to be commenced, and I would take this opportunity of expressing to them our appreciation of their .ready response, and ol the generous grant from the H. and W. Williams Trust which has enabled the project to be carried out. “On August 14, the Bishops of the North Island met in Wellington and nominated the Rev. F. A. Bennett, Mission Priest of Kohupatiki and superintendent of the Hawke’s Bay Mission District to be Bishop of Ao* te-aroai. In making this nomination he Bishops had 1 one end in viewthe choice of a man whom they believed God Himself would choose fo r this high and sacred office. OFFICE OF GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY. “It is an office burdened with grave responsibility and which none dare seek for himself. I know that) our brother can be assured of your sympathy and your prayers in the difficult, responsible and arduous work that lies before him. I would warmly congratulate our Moari brethren on one of their own race being call- 1 ed .to this high office in Christ's Church. It marks the commencement of a new era in the history of t 1 ’' Maori Mission. May the Maori Bishop be a rallying point of .the tribes, a welding together of the fragments that have broken away, and the building up of the Mission into a solid whole. Unity is not only strength, it is life; and if the Consecration of a Maori Bishop can bring about closer unity and so present an undivided front against the enemies of the Gross of Christ, this act of the General Synod of 192 S will go down to history as an act of great import ana value. “The Bishop of Ao-tea-roa _ will have a seat in General Synod with a right to speak, and may vote as i clerical member thereof, if he. is duly elected representative of the Diocese qf Waiapu, or of any other diocese.. “1 would in conclusion _ speak or my own personal appreciation of theappointment cf the Rev. Frederick Augustus Bennett, as my co-adjutor i/ii the Maori a mail of inaiked gifts—gifts that, in .the past, have singled him out as a leader. Whenever assigned a leading place in the de’iberations of his people he has tilled it with modesty and with ability. He has in a marked degree those gifts of speech and oratory with which his race is richly endowed. But he has more than this, he has, spiritual gifts which will enable him to fill the high office io which he has been unanimously called, the spiritual supervision of the Maori race, with acceptance and distinction. From many quarters, both Maori and pakeha, have come expressions of satisfaction and approval at Ins appointment. May He who called him to this high office give our brother, wisdom, guidance, and strength m hig great and responsible work.”