THE GENERAL AND THE DIOCESAN SYNODS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1056, 24 December 1862, Page 5

THE GENERAL AND THE DIOCESAN SYNODS.

TO THE EDITOR OF TBJS ITTTEJ/TON TIMES. Sir,—May I beg the favor of your inserting this letter in the 4 Lyttelton Times V The subject concerns that large section of your readers who are members of tne Church of England; and those among them, especially, who took pait either as members or listeners in the last session of our Diocesan Synod. It will be remembered that one important subject of debate was the constitution of church trusts: the question being whether we should accept trustees of church property in this diocese appointed by the general synod, and removable at their pleasure, or adhere to : the system of diocesan trusts which our own synod has from the first been engaged in organising. This question the general synod had tried to determine in their own favor, by passing their new Statute VIII., for the appointment of a board of trusts in the diocese of Chrietchurch.' In the course of the debate it was stated, on the one hand, th4t great hardship would be inflicted on Otago if we did not adopt this statute, and enable

the members of the church in that part of the diocese to have theijr church trusts completed. On the other side, strong exception was taken to Statute VIII., on the grounds that there was an appearance of ambiguity about it and duplicity in the way in which it. was pressed Ou this diocese. One lay member of our synod, stated that, if his suspicions were well founded, the statute appeared to him to be a " little too cleverinasmuch as we were pressed to accept it on the ground of the hardship its rejection would inflict on Otago ; while, in reality, it Was intended by its original-framerS to hold good for Otago, whether we accepted it or not. Under the influence, I confess, of the s same suspicion, I took the liberty of describing the new Statute VIII, as a net, with meshes so contrived that Canterbury might escape by a vigorous struggle,- while Otago would certainly be caught. Such remarks led to some attempts at severe .rejoinders from one or two of the small minority in our synod who espoused the;c^use'of; the ; general synod. We were twitted with showing an ungenerous and suspicious temper. " Will it be believed that news has just come from Auckland informing us that all our suspicions were perfectly just—that the construction which we supposed might be put upon Statute VIII. is, in fact, the true one, and that the statute is intended to hold good for Otago, whether we accept it or no. No one in this province wished to prevent churchmen in Otago from adopting the general synod system of trusts, if they chose to do so. But why did the general synod, or any of its partisans in our own synod, descend to the miserable manoeuvre of pretending that Otago would suffer through us | when it was all along intended that the statute should hold good for Otago, even if rejected here ? We have heard something lately about church discipline, and the expediency of accepting the obnoxious declaration of submission to the general synod contained in Article 30 of the Church* Constitution. I do hope, however, that the display of jesuiticai management I have mentioned above, will make Canterbury churchmen only the more resolute in refusing to place more power than they can help in the hands of the general synod, and in standing fast by the system of diocesan trusts contemplated from the first by our own synod. Your obedient servant, JAMES WILSON.