ADDRESS OF HIS LORDSHIP THE BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND TO THE DIOCESAN SYNOD.

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1552, 2 March 1861, Page 7

ADDRESS OF HIS LORDSHIP THE BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND TO THE DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Auckland, February 19th, 1861. MI Dear Brftuerm,-- ■ I shall not detain yoti long on the present occasion by any lengthened exposition of our duties, hzcausq our Synodical action has now become an established system, the principles of which arc becoming every day more and more generally understood. Wo have met together in prayer and at the Holy Communion to seek for light and counsel from above, and this is our ground for hope that, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we shall be enabled to have a right judgment in all things. We may seem to seek for wisdom in the multitude of counsellors, but all of us alike depend (or guidance upon the one All-wise Counsellor. This thought ever present to our minds will give to our meetings their own distinctive character. They will not savour of the rivalry of man with man, or of partv spirit, or of desire for pre-eminence. Meeting in the spirit of prayer, we shall not he tbmpted to indulge in much speaking. Each one of hs will deliver his opinion in (He plainest; fewest, and amplest words. We shall wire little tor the leases itnd flowers, if we can but And the fruit. ; Thc sirriplc object of our meeting will he the search aftey Iruth; truth of principle and motive, and truth in woul and d °lhavo already pointed out the peculiar character of the Diocesan ns compared with the General bynod. The verv name of Diocese is our lesson. It implies the distribution to every one according as he has need. The duty of our Synod is to provide for all the household of God; as ii faithful steward giving to them their meat in due season. Its influence must pervade the whole Diocese. It must go from parish to parish, and from house to house; every family, every child, must share its regard; it must minister to all, to young and old, to rich and po >r, to those who are afar off, aud to those that are nigh. The charm of our work will be in its pastoral character; not dry details of laws and regulations, but spiritual and lively sympathies with the daily joys and sorrows of our brethren in Christ. . , . The further steps which will be necessary on the present occasion to carry on this work with greater completeness of action, may be briefly laid before you,

I. —ELECTORAL SYSTEM,

You are aware that your whole Electoral System is at present provisional, resting mainly on the appointment Of the Bishop,guided only by a series of recommendations from the Committee which sat in the lastscssion.but hot yet regulated by law. It will be necessary to enact a law to regulate the mode of election, both for the General and the Diocesan Synod. It has been proposed that both elections shall be held at the same time, i.e., in the last quarter of the present year. The General Synod is to meet at Nelson on the sth of February, 1862, and the election of lay and clerical representatives ought therefore to be completed before the end of November, 1861. It has been re commended that the Synodsmen should be also ’ elected to serve for three years, in order that the General and Diocesan Synods may begin and end at the saihe time. I scarcely think it possible to improve upon our present mode of conducting the elections. The nature of our work requires a combination of the greatest freedom and publicity' with the least excitement and noise. By registering all the qualified electors in the Parish or District Book, and taking caic that a voting paper is forwarded to each, we give to every member of the Church the free power of recording his ▼ore, without loss of time or other inconvenience. Wo obtain the votes of the most distant settlers as readily 'as those cf the residents in the towns. 1 hose who like to meet to consult upon the choice ot candidates, have full liberty to do so. Every elector has an equal right to require the name of an eligible candidate o tie entered upon the voting paper, or without any such entry he may record his vote for any communicant. The voting papers afford the means of the most effectual scrutiny in the event ot a disputed election. Thus men of retiring and quiet habits may record their votes, or be elected to serve as representatives or Synodsmen, while those who prefer a method more resembling that of the State, are at liberty to hold public meetings for the nomination of candidates, provided that it be understood that the result of these meetings is in no way bmding upon the general body of the electors. The object is to ascertain as far as possible the free and unbiassed wishes of the electors, and I know of no wav better than tbe present for the attainment of that object.

u.—CONSOLIDATION OF HOARDS. You will receive a careful Report from a joint committee of the Boards for the maintenance of the Clergy, and of Home and Foreign Missions. I will not anticipate the details of that Report, but I understand the substance of their recommendation to be, that the whole Domestic work of the Synod shall be confided to the Standing Committee of the Diocese, to be invested for that purpose with the necessary powers for discharging the duties assigned by the lost Diocesan Synod to the Board for the maintenance of the Clergy, and to the Home Department of the Board of Missions. It is proposed to entrust the Foreign Branch of the Board of Missions to a separate Board.

111. —MELANESIAN MISSION. As the Report of the Joint Committee will enter fully into domestic details, I confine myself to the subject of the Board of Foreign Missions. In constituting this on its now basis, 1 trust that wo shall not fail to express our thankfulness to Almighty God for the signal blessing which be is about to grant to His Church, in the consecration of a Bishop for the spiritual charge of the Western Islands of the Southern Pacific. Of the person elected to that office I need say nothing, as he has lived and moved among you ; and his designation to the Melanesian Bishopric has not been the act of the Metropolitan and Suffragan Bishops of New Zealand alone, but of all churchmen acquainted with him, and interested in the work, both here and at home. The Diocesan Synod at its former session, urged the importance of expediting this holy work. The present Synod is hereby invited on Sunday next to witness its completion. The future work of your Board of Foreign Missions will be carried on in communication with the new Bishop. With heartfelt thanks for many private and many public contributions to this branch of my duty, I now resign in his favour ray interest in those prayers and alms, which you will continue to offer up for the conversion of the heathen.

IV. NEW ZEALAND. In the midst of the sorrow and anxiety which we must all feel in the present state of our relations with the New Zealand race, it will be a great comfort to us all to be able to welcome to our Synod two Native Deacons, who have been ordained m the past year. There are now one Native Priest and six Native Deacons ordained to the Ministry of our Church. I repeat with increasing thankfulness, the words o my opening address to the General Synod: “Through this furnace of temptation, as in our own schools and colleges in England, God’s elfbsen servants are being trained and proved for the ministry of His word. The very same cause which fills our hearts with fear for the many, strengthens our confidence m the stability of the few.” Our native schools were never more prosperous and hopeful than at the present moment. In compliance with the instructions of the General Synod, 1 have appointed the Board of Native Education as the trustees of the estates held in trust for the maintenance of the native schools. The numbers of scholars and other particulars of the native schools at St. Stephens, Kohanga, Tanpiri, and Utawhao, will he laid before you. I need not enlarge upon the benefit which these schools have derived from the devoted services of the clergymen by whom they are auperintowdah

! V,—ILLNESS OP ARCHDEACON KISSLINO. I lay on the table a letter from Archdeacon Kisaling full of the spirit of Christian co-operation, arid explanatory of the reasons, too well known to us all, which will deprive this Synod of his valuable services. yi. —l also lay upon the tablecopies of three important documents which have been issued by the Standing Commission of the General Synod, viz.. The Ecclesiastical Tribunals Bill, The Ecclesiastical Offences Bill, Instructions to Trustees. It will be necessary that you carefully examine these, in order that the Representatives of this Diocese may be prepared to take their parts in the very difficult and important discussions which these documents will occasion in the General Synod.

Vll. —HYMNAL. The Committee appointed at the last Diocesan Synod have worked most diligently in compiling a selection of Psalms arid Hymns, which if! under the revision of the three Bishops now iri Auckland. The selection lids been pointed to facilitate examination.; and copies ciin be furnished td members of the SyUod.

VIII.—-PENSION BOARD. It is with great pleasure that I report to the Synod the favorable commencement of the Clerical Pension bund. The sum of £4OO, being the accumulation ofChurch hj ees and due on the Archdeaconry Fund, has been invested as the nucleus of a capital which I have no doubt will rapidly increase. Chief Justice Arney has most kindly accepted the office of. Secretary. The Clergy of this Diocqse b a ve, generally expressed their willingness to contribute the annual sum of £2 as proposed by the resolutions of the last Synod. • Our. pwn Board being thus organised, it will bo well to communicate without delay with the other Dioceses, and invite their co-op-eration, A Committee of Correspondence for tins purpose was appointed by the General Synod, and has full power to act at once.

IX. — TRUST riIOI’EUTIEB. The subject of the recommendation of Trustees will require your consideration. With the exception of the appointment of the Board of Education to lie 1 mstees for the Estates of the Native Schools, nothing has been ,\ o m in this Diocese in the matter of the transfer of Trusts. Iri the Dioceses of Wellington anil Nelson nearly all the C'b'ureh have been transferred to Trustees recommended by tKp, JDictQsa'n Synod and appointed by the General Synod, or by the Standing Commission.

x .—INTERPRETATION OR STATUTE. The decision of the Synod will be required on the question, whether the augmentation of Income according to the scale fixed by Resolution of the former Diocesan Synod, was intended for the benefit of Clergymen already in charge of Parishes, or was intended to take effect only in the case of new agreements between the Clergymen and his Parishioners. On this point the opinion of the Standing Committee is at variance with mine.

XI,—‘STANDING COMMITTEE

t contiucnd to your most careful consideration the statute for the appointment of a Standing Committee. TJic members of that body have shewn their sense of responsibility by punctual attendance at all appointed Meetings; but the powers vested iri them by the Statute arc so limited, that they have scarcely been able to act. A more definite connection with the Bishop also seems to be required. The proposal to vest in them most of the powers of the two Boards has already been mentioned, and has my cordial approval. XII. ENDOWMENT HOARD.

The state of the Parochial Endowment Trust requires your consideration. Most of the old Trustees have left the place, leaving a power of attorney in the hands of Mr. Reader Wood to act for them. But it is most desirable that they should surrender the Trusts, which

they ure willing to do, if they can be legally freed from all further responsibility. As the money is not held under any Deed of Trust, there is a difficulty in the appointment of new Trustees. The among us of Bishop Abraham, one of the Trustees, will much facilitate the transfer. Something must bfe done speedily. ... I will now request you to decide the question ol the time and place of Meeting. In conclusion, I commend you to the blessing of that Holy Spirit who was given to guide us into all Truth. Through him may we conduct all our deliberations in a spirit ot counsel and brotherly love; and may that mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus.