DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 125, 24 October 1874, Page 3

DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Friday. October 23. The President, took the chair at 4 p.m. DIOCESAN CLERICAL PENSION FUND. I. Kcv G. I. Oholmondelkyui >tf«d—1. That it is desirable that offertories and collections bo made in all parishes and parochial districts throughout the diocese in aid of the Diocesan Clerical Pension Fund on one Sunday in each year, to be appointed by the Bishop for that purpose. 2. That, the proceeds of such offertories and collections be considered as capital to be invested for the benefit of the fund. Eev Canon Dudley seconded the motion. After a short discussion, the motion was put and negatived on the voices; Rev Mr Cholmondeley called for a division, which took place as follows : For the resolut ; on—Clergy : 3. Laity : 4. Against the resolution—Clergy: 15. Laity: 13. The motion was therefore negatived. DIOCESAN BOARD. The Rev Canon Cotterill moved— That the Synod proceed to the election of the Diocesan Heard. The motion was agreed to. The following names were then proposed— Clergy: Very Rev the Dean, Revs H. B. Cocks, W. W. Willock. W. B. Paige, B. A. Lingard, G. J. Cholmondeley. Liity : His Honor the J«dge, Hon J. B. Acland ; Messrs Donald, Harman, C. O. Bowen, G. L. Lee, Hamilton, and H. J Tancred. A ballot was taken for the election of three clergymen and three laymen, which resulted as follows : Cle<gy : Very Rev the Dean, Rivs W. E. Paige, and 11. B. Cocks. Laity: His Honor the Judge, Hon J. B. A. Acland, and Mr C. 0. Bowen. SELECT COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. It being five o'clock, the Synod proceeded to the order of the day, viz, the election of the Se ; ect Committee on Religious Instruction. The following gentlemen were proposed, the committee to consist of eight, inclusive of the mover :—Revs W. W. Willock. H. C. M. Watson, H. J. Edwards, E A. Lingard, C. Men-ton, J. Pieston. H. J Wills, 0. Bowen, Hon J. B. A. Ackland, his Honor the lJudge : Messrs Malet, Walker, Hawkes, and G. Gordon. On a ballot, the following were declared elected : Revs W. Willock, E. A. Lingard, H. 0. M. Watson, and H. J. Edwards ; his Honor the Judge, Messrs Walker, Acland, and Malet. The Ven Archdeacon of Wesland, as mover of the committee, is a member of the committee ex officio VOTING AT PARISH MEETINGS. Rev G J. < 'HOLMONDELEY moved—1. That this Synod is of opinion that no person should be entitled to vote at any parish meeting, unless he shall have subscribed a declaration of Church membership at least two months previously. 2. That it is desirable that such alteration I e made in Statute IV of the General Synod as will give effect to the above resolution. The reason why he had brought this matter forward was, that, in his own parish, twentyfive persons out of thirty-three who voted in a particular way, had only signed the register just before the opening of the meeting. He trusted the Synod would carry the resolution. Mr W. Graham seconded the motion. The Very Rev the Dean supported the resolution, as he thought the time had come when such a restriction should be imposed ; as at present it was open to any person to whip up a certain number of parishioners, who had never taken any interest in church matters, when any question came up upon which there was any great expression of opinion, thus swampiug the regular communicants of the church. On the motion being put, the President declared the ayes to have it. A division was demanded, which took place, with the following result. For the resolution — Cleigy 5 Laity I 4 Against the resolution Clergy 9 Laity 10 The resolution was therefore lost, as there was not a majority of both ordeis for the resolution. DIOCESAN COURTS AND COURTS OF APPEAL. The Hon J. B. A. ACLAND moved— That in consequence of Statutes Nos 9 and 10 of the General Synod having been brought into force throughout the Ecclesiastical Province of .New Zealand, the resolutions on diocesan courts and courts of appeal, and on number of assessors adopted by this Synod in 1868 and 1871, have become inconsiste it with the provisions of those statutes, and be therefore expunged. The resolutions of the Synod, staiing that it was not advisable to adopt the statutes of General Hyaod, having become inoperative by the Htat'iites being brought into force, it was iipci'saaryto expunge them. Dr Donald seconded the motion, which was as/reed to. CHURCH WORK EXTENSION COMMITTEE. Kev 1 A ON Cotterill moved — 1. That the Synod proceed to the election of two clergymen and five laymen, as members of Hie Church Work Extension Commit ee. 2. i h it the Synod proceed to the election of the Diocesan Education Committee. 3. That the Synod proceed to fill up vacancies in the Cathedral Commission. 3A. That the Synod proceed to elect commissioners, in the place of the four commissioners who shall retire, by billot. The motion was agreed to, and the following nominated Revs W. E. Paige, Pember, Edwards, and Lingard. Laity—His Honor the Judge, Hon J. B. A. A-dand, Messrs W. (3. Brt«taii, A. Slater, A. Blakiston, 0. R. Blakiston, J. H Twentyman, J. G Palairet. On the balhit. the following were elected— Revs E. A. Lingard and W. E. Paige; his Honor the Judge, Messrs A. F. N T . Blakiston, 11. Slater, and W. G. Brittan, j-m. CATHEDRAL COMMISSION. The Rev Canon Cottkrill moved that the Synod do proceed to fill up the vacancies in the; Cathedral Commiss ; on. The Very Rev the DEAN moved, as an amendment, that the Synod ballot out of the original twelve four, who shall retire in accordance with the statute. The amendment was negatived, and the original motion carried. The Synod then proceeded to ballot for three members to fill the vacancies, and the following were proposed, viz . —The Very Rev th" Dean, R<-vs E. A. Lingard and 11. J. Edwards, Hon J. B. A. Acland, Messrs Packer, H. J. Tancred, A, B.akistou, and P.Uauiner.

On the ballot only one member was found to have received a majority of votes in both or lets, viz, the Hon J. B A. Acland. The ballot was then taken for the election fif two members, those nominated being—The Very Rev the. D<.'an, Revs Lingard, Edwards, and Cocks, Messrs Pratt, Packer W. D Wood, W Pratt, aud P Hanmer. On the ballot there was no election. Ultimately the Very Rev the Dean of Christchurch and Mr W. D. Wood were elected. 'I he following were ballot ted out, viz, the Dean, Rev Cotterill, Messrs Acland and L. Harper. Ultimately Mr Malet moved that these gentlemen be re-elected, which was doDe. AMENDMENT OP INSTRUCTIONS. The Rev E. A. Lingard moved For le-'-ve to bring in a Bill to amend the '• Instructions for the guidance auel information of Ministers, Churchwardens, &c," as follows : 1. In clause 20 (a) after the word "parish" in the third line, to insert the words "in seeing that as far as can be the parishioners are accommodated in the church." 2 Tn clause 34, to omit all the words within brackets. 3. Jn clause 35, to omit the words " or in their absence one of the vestrymen." The first alteration he proposed was with a view of the vestry, as well as the churchwardens, seeing that the people were seated in the church. The object of the other alterations was to do away with certain anomalies occuring in the instructions. The Rev F. Pfmber seconded the motion, which was agreed to. Leave was given, the bill read a first time, and the second reacting and committal fixed for Monday next. DIOCESAN STATUTE, NO 3. Hon J. B. A. Acland moved— That the following Bill be read a second time, and considered in committee : Bill to alter and amend Diocesan Statute No 3 foi regulating the election of svnodsmen. Whereas it is expe-dient to alter the representation given to certain districts in schedule B, Be it resolved — That the district of Geraldine, including the country between the Rangitata river and Timaru parish, be entrled to elect two synodsmen In the place of one, as at present provided. That schedule B in Statute 3 be altered accordingly. At last session of the Synod, a similar motion was referred to a Select Committee, considered by them, and postponed until the whole schedule was considered by the committee. He thought, however, the Synod would give a different decision, the more so as Geraldiue had the greatest number of registered church members iu the diocese. Besides this, the district was a very large one, and to show the interest taken in the work of the Church, he might say that there were five Churches, besides several other places at which service was held. This state of things was due to the energy of the Rev Mr Preston, and yet there was only one synodsman, while Lyttelton with only eighty church members had two synodsmen. He hoped the Synod would consider the question, and see their way clear to grant another synodsman, to which he thought they had a fair claim. The Very Rev the Dean seconded the motion. He might explain for the information of Mr Acland and the Synod that he was wrongly informed as to the action of the committee. The commitb e, as such, expressed no adverse opinion to Geraldine having another synodsman ; what they did do was to postpoue the consideration of the whole question until this session of the Synod. Rev Mr Preston said that he desired to say a few words on this question. The district had grown very largely, having seven schools, and shortly to be ten, while he had to do duty in five churches, besides other places. The clergy had so much to do in their districts that "it was almost impossible to say whether they could get up to the -ynod ;. therefore it was only right for the fair and'equitable of every part of the diocese that they should have more lay representatives. [Hear, hear.] He considered two representatives for Geraldine was none too much, inde;ed he would like to see three. He also hoped 10 see the Synod hold a meeting in the southern portion of the province, so as to see. how the Church work had gone on. [Hear. hear.J Mr Walker energetically deprecated the system of registration, as being one that would place very g'-ea 1 . difficulties in the way of the members of the Church of England recording their votes. He also opposed the increase of lay representation. The motion for the second reading was agreed to, and the Bill read a second time. On the motion of Mr Acland, the Synod went into committee on the Bill, Mr Blakiston in the chair.

In committee, Rev Canon Cotterill moved—" That the district of Malvern Hills bo altered in Mche >ul«> B to " Malvern, one Synodsman," and " Burnham, one Syne>dsman." The motion was agreed to.

Mr \cland moved—" That the representation of Geraldine be increased to two Synodsiue:i from one as at present. The Rev J II Wills opposed the creating of my further seats, he thought the lay element was large enough, if t'hurch membership was to be the test, Ashburton was fairly entitled to claim another synodsman. Mr W G. Brittan, jun, would support the morion. He might say that if carried, he felt sure the district would scud a representative man. [He>ar, hear.] At present the statute was a perfect farce, as un ier it there were a number of ;i dummy " synod - ra ,.,,—[Laughter]—that was persons who teally had no interest iu the district which tie represent'd. but who simply sat to make up the number of synodsmen. He objected to <he test being applied (jf the number of registered church members, as if this were done several parishes would not. be entitled to the number of representatives'they had. The parish of Riccartou for instance, woulei only be entitled to an inrintesinal part of a synodsman. The Rev C. Bowen supported the proposition, and he might say that he was quite in accord with Mr Walker, as his opinion was strongly oppoied to the system of registration. He held that, all member* of the Church of England should have a vote. The Very Rev the Dkan thought that, as the system* of registration had been adopted by the General Synod, and therefore, he hoped that all won!-! loyally endeavor to carry out the provisions of it. Messrs Stedman, Allington. Hassal, Gordon and the Rev Mr Stocker having addressed the Synod,

The Bill was reported to the Synod, with amendments. The third reading was fixed for Monday next.

INSPECTION OF PARSONAGE HOUSES. The Rev E. A. Lingard asked whether the several parsonage houses in the diocese have been inspected during the past two y ears f ,t> /-• The Diocesan Secretary (Rev G. Cotterill) said—l find that reports on the state of the parsonage houses were called for by the Standing Committee on Nov 26th, 1872, but with very little result. I believe that onlv two reports were sent in, viz, from Heathcote and Cust. I will call the early attention of the Standing Committee to the matter, and I have no doubt that steps will be immediately taken by them, so that a report on the state of each parsonage may be laid before the Synod at the next annual session. , On the motion of the Rev Mr Lingard, the question and answer were ordered to be entered on the minutes of the Synod.

THE CATHEDRAL. Mr Malet moved—"l. That a Select Committee be appointed to consider the advisability of disposing of a portion of the Church property to meet the demand for Church accommodation in the Diocese, and to further the completion of the Cathedral. 2. That the Committee consist of the Very Rev the Dean of Christchurch, the Rev Canon Cotterill, the Rev W. W. Willock, Mr W. H. Lane, Mr C. R. Blakiston, Mr L. Harper, and the mover." He would ask the leave of the Synod to add the words "or of raising money by loan or otherwise" after the words " Church property." He did not intend to make any lengthened remarks on this subject, as he thought that it was inadvisable to take the discussion on the motion for the appointment of the Select Committee. [Hear.] That should come when the report of the Select Committee came up. Mr Mountfort seconded the motion, which was agreed to, with the amendment proposed by Mr Malet. Mr C. R. Blakiston then moved— That in view of the desirableness of expediting the building of the Cathedral, the Diocesan character of the work, and the difficulty of obtaining sufficient funds for that purpose by means of public subscriptions, this Synod is of opinion that the Church Trust Estate should be used as a means of raising by loans or by way of mortgage a sum of £ to be expended in the furtherance of the work. The interest on such loans to be met by subscriptions given with that object. He wished the Synod, if this passed, to allow the resolution to go down to the Select Committee. At present, they had commenced the second contract, to meet the cost of which, they had only subscriptions and a grant from the Church Property Trustees. The former was made up of deferred and conditional payments, and could not be looked upon as furnishing a fund of any very appreciable value. The position was simply this, either the work must stop, or it must be carried out from a fund raised out of general church funds. The Cathedral, it was felt by many churchmen, was a diocesan work and should be undertaken out of diocesan funds, therefore, the subscriptions were not coming in so freely as could be wished, An article in the Lyttelton Times of that day, clearly pointed out that the church had a large estate, and that, out of this, the cost of erecting the Cathedral should be met. It seemed to him that this article would be the means of deterring many from subscribing. They could not allow the building to remain unfinished, that would be a disgrace, and he thought that a sum of £IO,OOO could be raised in the way he had pointed out without interfering with the rights of those who had already advanced the money on the security. As to the interest, amounting to some £7OO, that he thought might be met by promissory notes given by churchmen, to the extent of say £I4OO, extending over a period of ten years. He knew that so soon as it was seen that the cathedral was really going to be finished, that'it was to be a free church open to all, churchmen would come forward at once and give their promissory notes. He would not detain the Synod any longer, but would simply move the resolution standing in his name.

The Ven Archdeacon Harper asked Mr Blakiston whether he intended the Synod to carry the resolution or simply to refer it to the committee.

Mr Blakiston said he intended to move that the resolution be sent down to the committee.

The Rev W. W. Willock said that he felt that it was not necessary for him to go into details beyond saying this : that the estate was mortgaged to the amount of some £IO,OOO, and he felt that the Synod should, if adopting Mr Malet's or Mr Blakiston's resolutions, see that the position of the de-benture-holders was not jeopardised either by allocating some portion of the property or by creating a special trust. He desired to point out that in the building of the parsonages in the districts, each district cost some £I2OO of the corpus of the estate; and he felt pretty certain that the trustees would not be able to spare any money beyond their engagements. They were pledged to the expenditure of some £I7BO, and he had only some £1750 lis 9d iD hand. The land was all let, except some seventeen sections in Christchurch, and some beach sections about which he did not want to say anything, and about which he hoped no one would ask him. The Rev C, Bowen said he thought the words of Mr Willock should have weight with the Synod, but still, he thought that the resolution of Mr Blakiston should go to the Select Committee. He thought that while a number of' gentlemen had contributed liberally, the work would have progressed very slowly had they been obliged to depend upon voluntary contributions alone. With regard to the Church Property Trust Estate, he might say that he looked upon it that this was iu the way of the building of the Cathedral, as there was a general and wide-spread feeling that the Church Trust property should be utilised in the building of the Cathedral.

Mr hoped that before coming to any decision the committee would carefully examine the subscription list laid on the table.

His Honor the Judge Raid that he took it, that it was very creditable to the clergy that no opposition had been made to the motion of Mr Blakiston by the clergy, though their stipends were liberally supplemented from this fund.

Kev Mr Chooiondeley said that he was an opponent of the resolution of Mr Blakiston, because he felt that this was not the best use that could be made of the Church Property Trust', and if they pursued that course

he believed they would be doing a grcvious wrong to nine-tenths of the diocese. He regretted to see tlie article in the Lyttelton Times of that day, because he felt that it would prevent the subscriptions coming into the cathedral. He felt sorry to be in the position of opposing the motion, but he felt that if they appropriated these funds at all they should spend it in the erection of churches in outlying districts. [Hear, hear] Mr G. L. Lee pointed out that the motion was simply for the appointment of a Select Committee to consider the subject. [Hear, hear.] Last session when he voted for the £SOOO to the cathedral he was under the impression that aid was given towards building churches. If he had known that this was not the case he should have decidedly voted in an opposite way. [Hear, hear.J He was most strongly opposed to the resolution, because the churches, especially in the country districts, could not be erected without assistance, and he felt that the Church Property Trustees were bound as much to assist the erection of the churches in the outlying districts as to assist in building the cathedral. Rev W. H. Cooper moved as an amendment, that Mr Blakiston's motion be deferred until after the report of the Select Committee on the stipends of the clergy was laid on the table. The present state of things was this, that the clergy, through the Church Property Trust, were being called upon to contribute to build the Cathedral, while the laity took a very cheap way of obtaining it. So soon as money was required for anything, they went to the Church Property Trust and took £IO,OOO here and £SBOO there. It seemed to him that they were getting into the very prevalent notion of the colony, viz, borrowing and mortgaging without the slightest chance of repaying. It was proposed to pay off the interest by subscription, but what about the principal ? Was that ever to be paid off? He could not see how it was to be done. Rev H. C. M. Watson seconded the amendment. It was only right that the question of the stipends of the clergy should be settled before alienating the property of the church to build a Cathedral.

Rev E. A. LiNGA-KD said it was a pity that Mr Blakiston should have mentioned £IO,OOO, as he had frightened the Synod. He trusted that Mr Blakiston would withdraw his resolution and allow the committee appointed on Mr Malet's resolution to bring up the report on this subject perfectly free and uufettered.

Rev W. W. Willock hoped the Synod would not pass Mr Cooper's amendment. He was opposed to Mr Blakiston's proposition, though yielding to no one in the wish to see the Cathedral erected.

The Very Rev the Dean pointed out that it would be inconsistent in the Synod to post-pone Mr Blakiston's resolution after ahving granted Mr Malet's motion, Rev Mr Cooper obtained leave to withdraw his amendment. He simply proposed it as the strongest possible protest against the alienation of any part of the Church Property Estate. The President said that he hoped the committee would consider the question that £I6OO had already been granted for provision for additional cures, and that as well as this he hoped to bring down recommendations for four more cures—[hear, hear] which would have to be provided for out of the Church Property Trust Estate. Mr Blakiston's resolution was then put and a division called for, resulting as follows : —For the resolution : Clergy, 10 ; Laity, 8. Against the resolution :Clergy, 10 ; Laity, 16. The clergy being equal for and against the resolution, it was lost, there being no majority.

STIPENDS OF THE CLERGY. Rev W. H. Cooper moved—1. That a select committee be appointed to consider the present mode of raising funds for the payment of the parochial clergy, with special view to the inadequacy of their stipends. 2. That the committee consist (by the permission of the Synod) of the Ven Archdeacon Harper, Canon Cotterill, Revs Lingard, Paige, Wills, and Watson, Hon J. B. Aclacd. Messrs Walker, G. Brittan, Alington, Malet, and the mover. Rev \V. E. Paige seconded the motion. Rev Canon Cotterill said that he wished to make a short statement as to how the Stipend Fund was working. The Judge had said that the stipends of the clergy were not regularly paid, but he could assure the Synod and the Judge that the clergy were paid within a month after the quarter was due. The rev gentleman then quoted a number of figures to show that during the past four years the stipend average had increased from £220 to £2BO. Rev W. E. Paige contended that Canon Cotterill's figures were liable to mislead, as they classed town and country together, which was unfair, as it conveyed the idea that the country clergymen were better paid than they really were. The motion, after some slight discussion, was put and agreed to. addition to financial regulations. Rev Canon Cotterill moved — That the following addition to the Financial Regulations be adopted a 3 reported to the Synod, read a third time and passed— All grants to cures are conditional on the residence of the clergymen within the limits of the cures, except in special cases where permission for non-residence has been given by the Bishop. The motion was agreed to, the resolution read a third time, and passed. GRANTS FOR CHURCH BUILDING PURPOSES. Rev J. Harris Wills obtained leave to withdraw the following resolution : That in the opinion of this Synod it is desirable that, if any further sum of money is available or can be raised by the Church Property Trustees for Church purposes during the next year, that grants be made from the said sum of money towards the building of or the enlargement of churches within the Canterbury block. Leave was given, and the resolution was withdrawn. ELECTION OF CHURCH PROPERTY TRUSTEES. Kev W. W. WILLOCK moved— That the Synod proceed to fill up those vacancies in thejChui'chPropertyTru9tees,caused —two by the retirement of the Very Rev the Dean and the Rev W. W. Willock, by rotation —the third by the resignation of the Venerable Archdeacon Wilson. The motion was agreed to. Rev Mr Cholmondeley moved— That the jVery Rev the Dean of Christchuich, the Rev W. W. Willock, and Mr T. M. Hasaal be elected to fill the vacancies. Rev Mr Cholmondeley was speaking to the resolution, when Mr Alington called attention to the state of the House. After notices of motion had been given, the Synod adjourned to 4 p.m, oil Monday,