OPENING OF THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN NEW ZEALAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 22, 25 January 1877, Page 1

OPENING OF THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN NEW ZEALAND.

I - • ' - Nelson, January 25th, 1877. ' ; The Session of the General Synod was opened at four o'clock this afternoon, iri tlie Provincial Hall, when the Most Rev. tne primate delivered the following address : — My Beloved Brethren, Bishops, Clergy, and Laity— ] I cannot open the proceedings of this Synod without adverting 'to tlie great loss which, we have sustained by the resignation of;theßi^tfiev. William Wiiliatns; late Bishop of Waiapu, al ois Winch, will "be. severely felt hot only by the Diocese to which, he administered, but by tlie whole Church of this Province. ';-".'■'' : "',' ' ~ It was on Christmas Day, in 1814, that die Missionaries of our ' Church: held their first service in these Islands, and for more than; 50 years of those which have since elapsed, our brother Ms been identified with the work and progress of the New Zealand ; Church: first, with his companions iri the Ministry, as a' missionary airiong the native inhabitants, and for the last 17 ye&rs M' .he chief Pastor of one ofthe six Dioceses into which the colony has been divided. His "consecration to his office signalised the first meeting of bur General Synod; and was memorable moreover as being the first consecration of a Bishop s6_einn_sed iii the Church of Australasia. And so it has been gjven : to him to witness the gradual growth of the New Zealand Church, from its earliest days : when the foundation was laid, in the conversion of some '. few of the native population, ui-til it had assumed the proportions and responsibilities of a fbjiy organised Provincial Church, and like a goodly tree which had taken root in the land, was spreading forth its branches far afid wide, offering its shelter alike to the native race, and to thousands also of his own race and country, to whom on his fii-st arrival here New Zealand was almost an unknown land, or only associated in their minds with Savagery and cannibalism. At each meeting of the Synod, six in number, he has taken his p\ace among us, as one of our most trusted and valuable counseUprs, bringing to the work of , it the wisdom, experience, and d !S*» 01 _. 0 ? a n g frkd soldier of the Cross; and nothing but the conviction of his absolute inability to fulfil the requirements of Jiis office in accordance with his own sense of duty would h kve led p his resignation of it, and his absence from us on this occasion. It has pleased God to call this servant from his work, and while' yet in this wofld, to a state of inaction, yet of thisWe may be certain, that so long as he has any power of thought and prayer, his interest in our proceedings arid in the Hew Zealand Church will continue unabated. -T^',?.y?^ °f his Diocese has met since his resignation, but as yet hb decisive steps have been taken (none et least of which I have received official information) towards filling up the vacant See. It will indeed be no easy matter to do so, because the Diocese seems especially to require a Bishop well acquainted with the language and customs ofthe native population; how estimated as amounting to 17,000, and nearly all of theim, members i .of our communion. It is by them moreover that such small endowment, as already exists has been provided; in the increase of this, no doubt, we may look with some confidence to, the exertions of those who are settled among them.