NEW BISHOP

Grey River Argus, 26 May 1938, Page 11

NEW BISHOP

DIOCESE OF WAIAPU. METHOD OF SELECTION. NAPIER, May 21. The election of a successor to the late Bishop of Kaiapu (the Rt. Rev. 1 H. W. Williams) occupied a special session of the Waiapu Diocesan Synod all day yesterday. The pro-, cedure of electing the new bishop was outlined by the Rev. E. M. 1 Cowie (of Auckland), the president of the Synod, in an address at the' opening of the session. . | The session opened with a service in St. John’s Cathedral, and the business of Synod occupied members all day, the session being continued in the evening. UNDER NEW CANON. “The constitution of our province has always maintained that the! election of a bishop is not only the concern of the particular diocese, electing, but also a matter of, vital interest to the Bench of. Biijhops and the province as a whole.” said Mr Cowie. “A special)

interest attaches to this election of a Bishop to the See of Waiapu, inasmuch as it is the first occasion on which that work will be carried out under the new canon. | “Under the new canon the commissary appointed to preside, informs the Primate of the name of the person nominated by the Diocesan Synod and His Grace then informs the bishops. If a majority of the latter approves, he then submits the name to the standing committee, or to the General Synod, if it is in session, and it is only after the bishops, as a body, and the standing committees have agreed bj' a majority .that the nominee of the Synod is offered the See' by the Primate in the name of the whole province. STRAIN ON RETICENCE. “I am sure that we all agree this is a far soupder and more logical way of doing things,’’ the president continued, “but it imposes a very much greater strain on the honourable reticence of a very much larger body of men. Those whose names you will be called upon to consider may not be asked for their consent to such consideration, as this course would make them, if by any chance they consented, candidates for the office of a bishop, a position in which no right-thinking man would willing-] ly place himself. | “May I ask you to keep before your minds not only the needs of your own diocese, but also those of the province, as a whole, and the far-reaching importance of nominating one who will bring spirituality, learning and leadership to the Bench of the province in these supremely difficult days.”