DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16992, 20 October 1915, Page 5

DIOCESAN SYNOD.

THE OPENING SITTINGS.

The first session of the twenty-second Synod of the diocese of Ohristehurch was opened at Christ's College Library yesterday. Bishop Julius presided, and the following members were present : Clergy—Dean Carrington, Dean Harper, Archdeacons Ensor, Gosset and Jacob, Canons Bean, Burton, Coates, S. Hamilton, T. A. Hamilton, H. T. Purchas and Pascoe, and the Revs H. J. Allen, L. C. Brady, G. 8. BryanBrown,'J. It. Burgin, G. W. Christian, P. J. Cocks, T. M. Curnow P. Dunnage, H. E. East, F. P. Fenda-11, J. F. t'eron, O. Fitzgerald, B. G. I ox, o. A. Fraer, M'K. Gibson, P. B. Haggitt, H. 0. T. Hanby, L. Hard, G. H. Harding, H. G. Hawkins, J. Hay, J. K. Jiewland, S. Hmson, J. Holland, H. b. Jones. P T. Jones, J. A. Julius, W. A. Keay L A. Knight, W. F. knowles, H. S. Leach, C. W. L. \V. M. M'Watters, H. H. Mathias, h, K. Mules, C. G. Gutter, G. B. Nanson, A. H. Norris, C. C. Oldham, W. H. Orbell, S. Parr. E. C. W. Powell, P. H. Pritchett, H. Purchas, A. CI. Purchas, D. Rankin, F. B. Redgrave, P. Revell, J. H. Rogers, 0.. L. Sparrow, Jasper-Smythe, F. N. raarlor, C. A. TobinfE. Webb, JR. Wilford, H. A. Wilkinson, H. Williams, H. N. Wright and H. T. York. Lavty—Messrs W. C. Aiken, H. D. Andrews, G. W. Armitage, H. M. Bannehr, R. Bargrove, D W H. Barhnw, A. Boulnois, C. H. Bridge, A. P. Bridges-Jones. S. Bullock, H. R. Butcher, C. H. Clibborn, E. penharn, M. J. riixon, W. B. Dixon, J. R. Douglass, W. Edwards, C. Ferrier, J. Fox, E. R. Good, T. Gordon, W. Hall, H. J. Hawker, E. G. Hogg, C. E. Jones, O. W. Leete, E. Lord, G. A. M. Macdonald, G. M'lntyre, J. E. March, K. Matheson, W. H. Menzies, J. J. Moore, W. Neeve, J. T. Oram, H. Rigliton, E» J. Ross, J. E. M. Rountree, T. W. Rowe, J. L. Scarvell, E. B. Sealy, R. W. Simpson, H. A. F. Steffens, J. H. Upham, G. E. Way, J. C. Willis and G. F. Wright. • The Bishop of Waiapu (lately Canon Sedgwick, of the diocese of Christchurch), was present by invitation of Synod, and was received with hearty applause. THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS.

In his. opening address . the Bishop mentioned the changes which had taken place during the year and paid tribute to the work done by Archdeacon C. 11. Gossett, who had resigned the cure of Merivale, after many years of active service, and to the great Eervices rendered by the Rev Canon Knowles, who was retiring from the position of registrar after fifty-five years of service in the diocese. He also referred to the fact that- Mr W. Guise Brittan, a valued member of the synod, was laid aside by illness, and to the resignations during the year. The Rev MacKcnzie Gibson had resigned the cure of Sumner for the important work of a chaplain at the front. The Rev S. Stephens, faithfully serving m the remote cure of Kumara, had left for employment in the diocese of Dunedin.

"It is a grief and anxiety to ma," continued the Bishop, "that by reason of the war, it is almost impossible to fill our vacant cures, whether from England or New Zealand. The Rev Frederick Inwood, whose voice is more often heard at the bedside of the sick and dying than on the floor of the synod, has resigned the assistant curacy of Sydenham, and retired from active service as. a parish priest. _ I am thankful that he still holds my license, and will continue his work in our hospitals." ST SAVIOUR'S ORPHANAGE.

"You may remember," the Bishop proceeded, "that, in my < last address, I quoted a legal opinion which had been obtained to the effect that the synod could not take over the control and management of St Saviour's Orphanage, or make a loan for the erection of its buildings. The synod thereupon appointed a select committee, to confer with the council of St Saviour's Guild. That committee reported, and a resolution was passed requiring the standing committee to set up an orphanago sub-committee to deal with all questions arising in connection with orphanage work, and care of children in the diocese, and to co-operate with such other persons arid bodies working for the same end as should seem desirable. In accordance with this resolution of synod, a strong sub-committee was formed, which added to its numbers in the usual way. Thereupon St Saviour'b Guild placed itself in close cooperation with the committee. A very capable secretary was found in Mr H. Bighton, who has given himself to the work of raising the necessary funds with great ability and success. ■*.. 1 . " The times, are difficult. The claims upon the devotion and liberality of the people are many; but they have leaVned to give as they have neveJ given before. The Suildmg fund, which has been raisea at a steady average rate of about £SOO a month, now stands at some £4500. An excellent site for a boys' orphanage has been purchased in Timaru, and the foundation stone of the new block of the girls orphanage in Richmond will be laid tomorrow. It was felt that the membership of St Saviour's Guild was so much confined to the city and neighbourhood of Christchurch that it did not represent the diocese. The guild has therefore thrown open so widely the doors of its membership that; un ess they make objection, it includes all members of synod, and all subscribers to .its funds, whether for bunding or maintenance. This makes the guild practically diocesan, and should serve to allay those local jealousies so common and so injurious to the social health and wellbeing of this country, and which we speoiaUv deprecate as to the spirit of Christ and His Church." The Bishop dealt with the question of patronage at some length and outlined a nlan for dealing with present difficulties. the WAR "We met last, year just after the h-vttle of the Marno. The advance on Paris wi decked. We thought ,t the beginning of the end Surely .Germany , walcome to the extreme limit of her oredir munitions and men A year, fas passed by, and the great war goes on! Tl* might of Germany seems inexhaustible; fighting on our fronts, she holds her own, with Austr,a, almost against the rest of Europe. - With all our resources, vrf lave made but liiile. way.. Our tfenow fleet stands sentinel in the North Sea, and maintains in the commeroe of the Empire and her Allics. Our gallant heroes have held their own in Flanders; our own sons from Australia and New .Zealand hnve guarded the banks of the Canal made good their landing in Galupoh, and maintained it with The French have more than upheld the honour of their country; and Russia, with a patient courage beyond all praise, has borne, m advance and masterly retreat, the fiercest conflicts of the war. , ~ " For the most part, there is no great, change in our position. The night- w long, and there is no glimpse of tha coming day. It is a year of many disappointments, and chief among them surelv this: that such a war is possible in the twentieth century. I am thinking speciallv of the Christian outlook; that a religion so full of hope and n*o-

mi 99 should land us here. In truth it is but one of the disappointment! whioh meet us every day, arresting thought, whichever way we look, and.l am not «uite sure whether we have any right to bo disappointed. We made no preparation for the war; our army was small and we reduced it on the eve of battle; our munitions were exhausted after a few works' struggle. We made our navy strong, but we wore strong in nothing else, and our enemy, by forty rears of sacrifice and preparation, was ready to do battle with the world. To my thinking, our success has been wonderful, beyond all that wo had any right to expect. BY WHAT RIGHT?

"But tho disappointment of which I speak is not so much that of failure in war, but of the war itself. Is there any hope for us if. after nearly twenty centuries, the Christian nations are involved in a death struggle? In answer to this, let me ask another question: By what right does a half-pagan society claim the fulfilment of Divint* promises? If the devotion of the primitive Church had been maintained, it were another matter. Yet evn the primitive Church was disappointed. 'Not a few of the Epistles of the New Testament wore written for the comfort and guidance of mon who had found disappointments, led upward and onward by illusion. Tho promise of peace in the davs of the Messiah is a characteristic feature of th? Old Testament. In many glowing passages w* read of peace on earth centred in Jewish restoration. But these hopes were material, gradually becoming more spiritual,, yet never wholly freo from the things of earth. Even in the New Testament tho hope survives as of a peace to be brought in by the catastrophic return of the Son of God.

THE INWARD PEACE,

" The idea, so prevalent among ourselves, of a millennium, brought about by some orocess of Christian evolution, by whioh. in the course of ages, wars shall cease, and the lion shaJl lie down with the lamb; has no warrant in Holy Scripture. Christ is the King of Peace, but it is tho peace within Ho gives, even' as Ho has said: '" Thesp'thing"** I have snoken unto you, that in Mo ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation.' War bolongs to the nature of things in this world, and is as inevitable as earthquakes. Peace Societies and Arbitrations may. do their gallant best, all honour to them, and they will postpone the inevitable outbreak for a score of years, until one nation is ready, and another unprepared. It is conceivable that the nations of Western Europe may lose the arts of war, reduce their armaments until nothing remains of them, and, like th-* Morioris of tho Chatham Islands, chant their ancient war songs, having forgotten the .meaning of them, and await the coming of a warlike race which shall devour them up.

THE MEN OF GOD,

"The promises of God are fulfilled, not in a world' peace that shall reduce the nations to imbecility, but in the. men of God, who, doing their duty to their God and country, step forth even into the wild confusion of the battlefield, stayed and comforted by the peace of God' that passeth understanding. ' I have just received the Holy Communion,' writes a ■ young trooper, ' and it has bucked me un for to-morrow.' And to-morrow he died. It seems to me that there is neither hope nor promise of world peace, and that it is the business of the Christian to pluck good out of the evil. Why is not all war waged after the German fashion? I 'answer, Because, directly or indirectly, war has been influenced by the spirit of Christianity, andthat Germany has returned to the religion anu spirit of the Hun. The Christian needs no soug of hate. He gives his life, or takes the life of another, but there,is no hate in it. . So theu, one of the greatest na-. tions of the earth has ' run amuck,* and for the rest, the war-path is the only 'way of peace.' Until the madman is bound, all talk of peace is mischievous. Peace must not bo ' made in Germany.' COMPULSION.

j " While Lord Kitchener is silent, it is certainly no business of mine to venture an opiuion on tho question of compulsion. All of us. could wish that it 'were possible to supply the men and' win the war, on a voluntary system. i But the Emp-.ro is not doing its best, and until it does there is little hope of victory. We cannot be too thankful for the spirit of sacrifice manifest throughout tho Emnire, and not least of all in New Zealand. The people have given their sons freely, and they are not weary of giving what else they have to give. Of course, there are some, both here and at Home, who are making money by tho war. No taxation can touch them more than it touches others. They must be left to the divine judgment of degradation.

WAR FUNDS. " I wish we could devise a better coordination of the funds which are being raised, and that a strong naud could be kept on the innumerable special' funds wh.ch, with the best of intentions in the world, are being exploited. I wish, however, that it were possible to raise the sums required without demoralising the nation. I am no strict Puritan, and' would be the last in the world to put discouragement in the way of those who are working so heartily for the Empire. But I believe that it is* possible to raise the money without recourse to unworthy methods, which, however successful for the moment, will fail in the long run, and leave an unholy trail behind thorn. After all, it is not only the sacrifice, or the amount of sacrifice, but the spirit in which it is made, that will count in this war. It is the 6iipreme business of the _ nation at such a time as this to cultivate a ncble and Iclcy spirit. DUTY OF THE CHURCH.

" In conclusion, let me speak of the special duty of the church in relation to the war. The first is prayer. The war is a war not so much of things as ''of ideals. Our armies are but the expression of spiritual forces. Behind the noise'of guns and the cries of battle is the true conflict in the silences of the spiritual world. The church has her part in this, and prayer is her most potent weapon. It is natural enough that, after the first shock of war, men. will slackon prayer. Hands that were lifted up at first are fallen down; who knows with what loss of life and power? My brethren of the clergy, 1 b'd you to* maintain your Services of Prayer and Intercession, to make them frequent, short and attractive, and to encourage by every means in your power a spirit of prayer among your people. .JOINT SERVICES.

" Further, lot mo say a word in regard to what are known as joint services. It is not lack of charity that makes me dislike them, but a hatred of sham and inconsistency. In the case of Church parades, it is sometimes impossible to avoid or unwise to refuse them. But, and especially in the case of memorial services, which, alas! will ba more and more frequent, such joint services are neither necessary nor desirable. A memorial service should be very solemn, very sober and restrained, and, if possiWe, said in the churches. I need scarcely beg you to show the utmost sympathy and kindness to all who are in dist'-ess; to go out of your way to meet their wishes, and to subordinate lesser claims to the preatnr duty of comforting those who are in sorrow. CHAPLAINS. "One other duty remains to us, and that is, the supply of chaplains to the field and base hospitals, to the <vinps and to the front. I have already expressed my grave dissatisfaction > nil our attempted fulfilment of this duty. It does not arise from any lack of t on

willing to offer themselves for this service. Whatever may be the en uses, I shall not discuss them now. You * ill have an opportunity of doiig so in v->ur | morning conference to-morrow. But, after all, our business is, not to discuss a past which is beyond mending, but to see that ■wo do our best in tho days to como. Our young men, strong and_ lusty, pass through our camps in their thousands: they" go from quiet I homes to risk their lives in battle; they go to fa»2 yet greater perils in | Trentham and in Egypt; at least 60 per -.cent of them belong to us. Is it not our bounden duty to see that tho wisest and most experienced of our clergy shall go with them, for warning, counsel and encouragement; to minister to them the consolations of religion, and to bring the Blessed Sacrament to the bedside of the dying soldier?

"T hare said what I can; not all I could have wished, for the task is too great for me. God be with you, and guide your deliberation to His glory."

THE SYNOD'S THANKS

The Dean moved the thanks of Synod to the Bishop for his address, and that the Synod should ask the Bishop for leave to print the same. He also moved the thanks of Synod to Caaion Burton for his sermon preached in the Cathedral the previous evening. The motion was carried. AN AMENDING BILL. On the motion of the Rev S. Hinson, leave was given to introduce a Bill to amend the Clergy Widows and Orphans Trust Fund Regulations by removing or relaxing the restrictions on annuitants thereunder, and the Bill wag read a first time. The second rending of the Bill and its consideration in committee were made an order of the day for next day.

INTRODUCTORY BUSINESS

The hours of sitting of tho ,Synod were fixed as follows: —Day sittings, from four to six o'clock p.m.; evening sittings, from 7.30 to ten o'clock (unless otherwise ordered on motion without notice) on every day except Saturday and Sunday. It was resolved that at its rising that day the Synod should adjourn until 7.30 p.m. on the following day to admit of the members in a body visiting St Saviour's Orphanage, for the purpose of laying the foundation stone of the new buildings. Mr C. Hastings Bridge was elected permanent chairman of committees for the Synod when in- committee, Mr Thomas Gordon was elected clerk of committees, the Rev H. E. East was elected clerical secretary, and Mr Wilfrid Hall lay secretary of the Synod. On the motion of the Bishop, the Church Property Trustees were authorised to place at the disposal of the Bishop a sum not exceeding £IOO from the surplus revenue of tho. bishopric estate, to be applied in making provision, by means of persons appointed by the Bishcp as diocesan officers for that purpose, for the Sunday and week-day duties of invalided clergy and of other clergy in need of such help. A Select Committee was appointed to consider tho appropriation of the Church Trust subsidy, consisting of Canon Burton, the Rev Haggitt, Messrs E. J. Ross and E. Hogg, and the Rev J. N. Taylor. The Synod then adjourned till 7.30 the following day.