JUBILEE OF CHURCH OF PROVINCE OF N.Z.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13485, 11 May 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

JUBILEE OF CHURCH OF PROVINCE OF N.Z.

BT THE REV. CAXCOT HASELDE.V. i

• The jubilee, -which we are to celebrate 011 . June 13, of this year, is the 50th anniver- > sary of the day upon which the constitution • of the Church of the Province of New Zea- : land was put forth by the conference of i bishops, clergy, and laity held at St. Ste--3 phen's Chapel, Judge's Bay, Parnell; for 1 it was on June 13, 1857, that this great . event in the history of the Church in New 7 Zealand took place.' f To understand the jubilee we must know » something of the events of the 50 years ? previous to 1857, and to appreciate" the r observance of the jubilee, we must know f something of the events of the 50 years i since 1857. Just 100 years —that is, in 1807—the 3 Rev. Samuel Marsden, the chaplain of the . convict station in New South Wales, went 1 Home to England and told the Church Missionary Society of the bright, intelligent 3 Maoris of New Zealand, who came to Sydf ney in whaling ships, and in whose welfare . he had already taken a deep interest. He } persuaded the Church Missionary Society j to send missionaries here. Marsden thought i at that time that the only. way, to chris- » tianise the Maoris , was by. introducing some 1 of the useful arts among them. According--3 ly, two good men—Mr. William Hall, a i shipbuilder, and Mr. John King, who was . acquainted with flaxdressing ; and agricul--1 ture —were appointed as catechists; and 1 they sailed in 1807, with Marsden, for Syd- ! ney. Among the crew was the Maori chief, > Ruatara, who became the great friend and 3 helper of the missionaries. After Marsden's c arrival at Sydney lie found that difficulties i and delays had to be overcome before he ] could go to New Zealand, and so he sent ? Mx*. Hall and a Mr. Kendall, who had joined - the mission, without him. They stayed a 3 short time at the Bay of Islands, and then [• returned to Sydney, taking Ruatara and s five other chiefs with them. At last, seven . years after Marsden's visit to England, i* Marsden, Hall, King,, and Kendall arrived in the brig Active, and on Christmas Day, " 1814, Marsden preached the Gospel in Rua--3 tara's village, on the spot which is now ' marked by the Marsden Cross. Soon after t he returned to Sydney and left three cate- - chists to their work. - In 1819 the Rev. John Butler and Mr. • Kemp arrived, and: established the missionJ ary settlement at Kerikeri. But the mis- : sionaries became so disheartened that they ; actually advised the giving up of the misi sion altogether. This would most probably : have been done, but' the Rev. Henry Williams arrived in 1823, and this truly great ' man became at once the leader of the mis--5 don party and was acknowledged by the t Maoris to be a real chief. ! In 1826 arrived the Rev. William Wil- ! liams, who became the best Maori scholar, 5 and was afterwards Bishop of Waiapu. i In 1836 Bishop Broughton, first Bishop ; of Australia, paid a visit to New Zealand, > and was accompanied by Mr. Had field, afterwards Bishop of Wellington. In the same j year came the Rev. Dr. Maunsell, after- . wards Archdeacon of Auckland. The mis- . sion to the Maoris, now flourished, and the Maoris were Christians. ; ' In 1842, Bishop Selwyn, the great master- ! builder of the Church in this land, arrived here, and the Maori r mission continued to i flourish and a large white population to : settle in the country. The missionaries had , no official position with the white, settlers, and Bishop Selwyn had to organise services • and lay the foundation of Church of New i Zealijcd,; His. . -headquarters y were in Auckland', from whence he travelled-all over. New : Zealand,-and even to Melanesia. v , , ' In 1855 the Rev. J. C. Patteson came and, 1 in 1861, was' consecrated Bishop of Mela- ' nesia. In 1856 Bishop Harper was elected Bishop of Christchurch. In the year 1857 > there were two bishops in New Zealand Selwyn and ' Harper —and the Church was ■ organised and many churches erected, and ■ all the spiritual work of the Church was '< going on very well. Five years before this • public meetings had " been held in all the settlements of New Zealand to consider the " General principles of a Constitution for the i Church in-New Zealand," and so, after years of prayer, thought, research, and consultation, on June 13, 1857, the conference as- ; sembled at St. Stephen's, Judge's. Bay, Par- > nell, consisting of Selwyn (Bishop of New Zealand), Harper (Bishop of Christchurch), i the Revs. Henry Williams, William Wil- > liams, R. B. Paul, A. N. Brown, 0. Had- ■ field, C. J. Abraham, G. A. Kissling, and > J. Wilson, and the laity, Messrs. Stafford, Whitaker, Tancred, Swainson, Haul tarn, •Prendergast and Hirst put forth the con- ; stitution,- and solemnly declared and estabi lished certain great principles and provisions for the ruling and guidance of this : Church of the Anglican Communion. Of this important and wide-extending historical event we are going to commemorate the jubilee on Thursday, June 13. ; .j3iow I want a few minutes in which to i mention leading events since that great occasion. • In ' 1859 the first general Synod was held, and met in Wellington. Since then the general Synod has met every three years, and on some - special occasions. The diocesan Synods have met every year. , The dreadful Maori war of 1861-62 did unspeakable harm to the Maori mission, the i effects of which are felt to the present day. But the Church grew on and increased. In 1841 the diocese of New Zealand was constituted by authority in England. In 1856 a portion of it was constituted by. the Church here, as the diocese of Christchurch. The other diocescs were constituted in the following order: -Nelson, 1857; Wellington, 1858; Waiapu, 1859; Melanesia, 1861; and Dunedin, 1868. It was on October, 1868, that Bishop Selwyn left New Zealand for the last time, and what remained of the diocese of New Zealand after Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Waiapu, Melanesia, and Dunedin had been cut off was, in 1869, constituted as the diocese of • Auckland, and Bishop Cowie was elected bishop. • , ... The work of God has grown and spread all over New Zealand. It has had its disappointments, its throw-backs, its almost failures. When good work has been going on steadily, 'and as fast as was consistent with healthy growth, it has been stopped to try some new method, with the resultthat the work has been hampered, progress delayed, and the toilers for the Church's good have experienced heart-ache for the work they so much loved. When we think of the marvellous growth and the wonderful prosperity of the colony, we may be doubtful if the work of the Church has been in proportion. But the fact remains that to-day we have grand churches, excellent parish halls, and commodious vicarages ; that we count our communicants by thousands; that in this diocese alone there are nearly 8000 Sundayschool scholars, taught by over 600 teachers, there are 68 clergymen and 168 lay-readers; and that the total receipts for all purposes ' connected with the Church are about £39,000 per annum. And this fact is beyond dispute, that to-day we are members of a 1 Church which has a splendid constitution ■ and an organisation which is unrivalled for • excellence in the Anglican Communion 1 throughout the world, and our Church laws ] and regulations are being copied by our brethren even in the Church in England ' and in many other parts of the world. In ' the general Synod of Brisbane Bishop Frods- 1 ham, one of 'the ablest bishops and men in 1 the Southern Hemisphere, spoke of the < Church of New Zealand as "the best orga- ' nised Church in the Anglican Communion ( throughout the world." . ( We have a right to be proud of it. Mas- J ter-builders in the service of God laid its ' foundations, and men of the highest cha-J i 1 .11,: l. 1 Inhnnmfl nnmi ■

the structure. Its constitution declares and : establishes that we must hold and maintain the Doctrine and Sacraments of Christ as received by the Church in England, and we ; have no power to make any alteration in the authorised revision of the Bible until the same has been accepted by the Church in England. It provides that the general Synod shall be a governing Dody, and every act of the general Synod must have the consent of a majority of the bishops, the clergy, and the laity before it can become jaw. It lays down what we call 32 provisions for the order and guidance of the Church, and they are wise and good provisions. They have stood 50 years, and it looks as if they were going to stand, with such slight alteration as is of small moment, for many a 50 years to come. Our heritage is a noble one, our history is inspiring, our outlook is full of hope. We stop for a brief span in our work and look back to the efforts of the noble labourers on one memorable day £0 years ago. We have arrived at our jubilee year. It is proposed to commemorate June 13, 1857, on June 13, .1907, by (1) special celebrations of the Holy Communion; (2) by a public meeting at which speeches will be delivered on the early history of the Church and the early national life: (3) by gatherings of children in the parish halls of the different parishes, when illustrated lectures shall be given (4) uy special services to be held on Sunday, June 16. at which special sermons on the jubilee will be preached; (5) by making" offerings of money at the services and meetings, which offerings will be for women's work in the mission field. These offerings are to form part of the thanksgiving offering from the whole of New Zealand, which it is proposed to present on the Holy Table in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, at the Pan-Anglican service, on June 24, 1908. Towards this thank offering every Church person in New Zealand " will have an opportunity during the next twelve months of contributing. At the Pan-Anglican Congress every bishop who possibly can will be present. It comes immediately before the Lambeth Conference, which is held every ten years. This is a brief sketch of Church history, which it seemed to me"was necessary to make, in order to understand and to appreciate the observance of our jubilee next month. I hope I have said enough to show that it is worth while to take up the jubilee observance with energy and whole-hearted-ness. ' ' / • i The Sunday-school teachers will no doubt take part in every meeting. But their work will be particularly to make the children's gatherings successful. The set of 74 slides, which I owned and used to illustrate my lectures on the history of the Church in the diocese of Auckland, are now the private property of the. Bishop; - but his lordship offers-to lend them if I will do the lecturing to the children. I think the teachers should soon begin to talk about the jubilee to their classes. This will create interest, and the lantern-lecture will, I hope, make them feel and remember that they belong to the Church of the Province of New Zealand, a Church to be thankful for and proud of, a Church founded and built up by great men, men -of consecrated lives, men who were true servants and soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. . v r. •. ' '