SPIRIT OF SELWYN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19509, 13 December 1926, Page 12

SPIRIT OF SELWYN.

HIS VISION AND PURPOSE.

GROWTH OF THE CHURCH.

PRESENT-DAY PROBLEMS.

[BY TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL REPORTER.] HAMILTON. Sunday.

Much early New Zealand church history was recalled by Archdeacon MacMurray in : his sermon to-day at the consecration of the first bishop cf Waikato. The preacher had been most happily chosen for the task, because more than any other single individual he had been responsible for bringing the new diocese into existence. He took the text used by Bishop Selwyn for the first sermon delivered by him after his arrival at Auckland in 1842.: Psalm 139, verses 9 and 10, "If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me." The preacher spoke of the appropriateness of the text after Selwyn's long voyage to the world's end under the white wings of the sailing ship that had brought him. It was fitting, he said, that Selwyn should have used it in making an avowal of his faith that God would uphold him. It was impossible for him not to have contrasted the Homeland, with its cathedrals and innumerable churches, and this new country in which there were almost none.

Church Built "In Faith and Hope." Yet in his sermon . Selwyn had said "the only difference is that ours is a church built in faith and hope, a church of which we see nothing, but believe everything, a seed now hidden in the ground, but one which wo trust will grow up into a great tree." Archdeacon Mac Murray placed that day's consecration in its historical setting and traced the growth of the New Zealand church from the arrival of Marsden in 1814 to the advent of Selwyn, the subdivision of New Zealand into dioceses and the establishment of the church's work in Melanesia. After the consecration of the first bishop of Waiapu, he continued, the great Maori War broke out in Taranaki and spread to tho King Country, practically through the length and breadth of what was now the Diocese of Waikato.

It was brought to a close five or six years later, but it had wrecked the church's missionary work from Taupiri, in the Waikato, to Parihaka, in Taranaki, and left a spirit of smouldering resentment, which' made missionary work among the Maoris quite hopeless for 33 years after the outbreak of - the conflict. He could remember when than 30 years ago two Maori priests, Nikora Tautau and Taimona Hapimana, were sent to endeavour to open a door for the Gospel in the King Country and what tremendous difficulties awaited them in the task. Inspiration o! the Church.

The day before, *as he had driven through the village of Otautau, and had seen Nikora's cottage and the cross erected in memory of his successor, Hori Maihi, they had been witnesses to him of the vitality of the church that had inspired such splendid adventurers of the Cross as these three men.

"To-day," continued the archdeacon, '"the first bishop of Waikato will be able to travel from Taupiri to Parihaka through a very beautiful country, in which townships! have sprung up as if by magic, meeting only prosperous settlers and loyal Maoris on the way." Referring to the event's that led up to the formation of the new diocese Archdeacon Mac Murray said the great area comprising it and the present diocese of Auckland measuring 365 miles from North Cape to the south of . Taranaki had been under the charge of one bishop, who had been overburdened by the task. In spite of the Church's growth, thei'e had been no change in ilis organisation as far as the North Island was concerned since the creation of the diocese of Waiapu in 1859. . .

The matter had caused great concern to the clergy and two years ago the Auckland Diocesan Synod passed a motion asking the general synod to sanction the appointment: of a bishop suffragan of Auckland. It. was admitted that the appointment was undesirable unless it proved absolutely necessary, but the synod could see no other way out of the difficulty. Lesson from the Laity.

The motion was carried, but without enthusiasm. The next day, at a conference of the lay members of. synod, the representatives of Hamilton suggested that the parish of Hamilton should assign a portion of itis endowments to provide funds for a diocese of Waikato. * The synod, after considering the proposal, dropped its. earlier resolution. "The laity," said the preacher, "taught us clergy to faith in God and to see Selwyn's vision of a, vigorous and progressive Church being .realised. They called upon us to speak to the Church ot God that she should go forward, dependant upon God's guiding and leading hand. That was two years ago, and today we are assembled to witness the consecration of . (he first Bishop of Waikato. As we look back on the troubled course, of the past century we can onlyexclaim, 'What hath God wrought* and, thanking God, take courage to face the problems and difficulties of to-day." The Difficulties of To-day.

These problems and difficulties were different from ifchose of Selwyn's days, but they needed to be dealt with by men possessing Selwyn's vision and purpose and his power derived from whole-hearted dedication of self to God. The Archdeacon assured the bishop-elect that the hand l that had guided Selwyn would lead and guide him also. He spoke of the •work that remained to be done in overcoming the indifference of the age, but declared his conviction that the world had never been :so widely influenced as it was to-day by the life and love of Jesus Christ.

"The Church in New Zealand is looking to our brother to bo a leader in a vigorous and aggressive Church," continued the Afehdeacon. "We believe that the hand which led and guided Marsden and the early missionaries to New Zealand and Selwyn and Patteson, and those who followed after them, will not fail our brother in the great task now to be laid upon him. He may be assured of our keen and profound sympathy with him in his sorrows and difficulties—:|ind human sympathy does helpbut. better still, he may be assured of the infinite sympathy and succour of our Lord and Saviour."

Addressing the bishop-elect in conclusion, the. Archdeacon said: "We clergy and laity tender you, sir, a respectful and cordial and an affectionate w : elcome. We pray the Lord prosper you. We wish you good luck in the name of the Lord."