THE CHURCH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4228, 8 October 1874, Page 3

THE CHURCH.

BISHOP NEVILLE'S ADDHESS TO THE ANGLICAN SYNOD OP OTAGO. The following is a summary of the address of the Bishop to the late Synod at Dunedin : He felt highly satisfied "with the successful working of the Board, of Theological Studies. As a matter of course, those who had studied in the Universities at Home would be always welcome ; but they would be received only in exceptional cases. His commissary in England wrote word that graduates would not come out, as curacies in England were good and numerous. He was therefore anxiou3 to establish a system both of training and examination that would secure well-qualified ministers He might have preferred "Divinity Professorships in connection with our University ; but failing that, tutorships or theological colleges at the chief centres, and a Board of Examiners appointed by the General Synod could efficiently carry on the work. He considered a body .should be appointed to co-operate with himself in organising a Divinity School, in order to arrange the order of study, its duration, and other details. Mr. Penny was in a position to impart systematic instruction. He intended all students to pass the Board examinations before being considered eligible for deacons' orders, reserving to the Diocesan Board the right of presenting the names of candidates educated elsewhere. Although he would recommend to students the New Zealand University course, it should not be a sine quit noii. The supplementary report of the committee hinted at the possibility of restoring the deaconate to its original and permanent character. To the loss of that arm of the Church's ministry, he' attributed the estrangement from the Church of the middle and working-classes at Home, for it was virtually lost when only these were admitted deacons who would in a few months be advanced to the presbyterate. Although for pastors and teachers, sound learning and piety were essential, Christ's Church was not founded merely for the highly-educated, but for the training of human souls. No doubt there were dangers to be guarded against, and one under the voluntary system was the insufficiency in number of ministers compared with the people. The work really required more deacons than presbyters, and the latter naturally looked to becoming the head of a parish, a position to which a deacon was not eligible. If each parish priest in Dunedin had deacons working under him, there would be a probability of following immigrants to their homes, who are now lost sight of. In his parish in Staffordshire, nine or ten deacons found work. In using the word "permanent," he did not wish to be understood that deacons shoidd not advance. They might go up higher to whom the call should come. He had replied to the General Synod, in answer to a question regarding missionary collections, although his conscience was not quite free on the matter. The Macedonian churches contributed to the pioneer work of the Church out of their poverty, but that could not be said of the Church in New Zealand. Resolutions on the subject had been passed both by the_ General and Diocesan Synods, relating to New Zealand, the Melanesian Mission, and the thinly peopled districts of the Dioee3e. To the3e the claims of 4000 Chinese should be added. To harmonise those resolutions, he would restore one which had fallen into desuetude, and devote the offertory of the Epiphany or the succeeding Sunday to missionary purposes, the amount to be divided in fixed proportions between scattered members of the" Church and missions to the heathen. To secure this end, he would advise the appointment by the Synod of a secretary for missions. The Bishop concluded by a few general remarks on transactions within the Diocese. He mentioned that a Chinese convert had been baptised, after instruction, by the Rev. M. Penny. Since the last meeting of the Synod, he (the Bishop) had travelled 921 miles within the Diocese, visited eleven parishes, held six confirmations, in which eighty-four candidates were admitted, and in the course of his travels had made inquiries preparatory to further organisation. He had also conducted divine service and baptised in several outlying places. At Lawrence, assisted by the Kevs. R. Coffey and G. P. Beaumont, he ordained the Rev. J. Dewe to the presbyterate, as subsequently the Rev. W. N. Leeson in the Pro-cathedral Church of Dunedin. Mr. Nichol and Mr. Tnson had been licensed as lay readers for Campbelton and Gummie'a Bush respectively. He had recently organised as a parochial district Balclutha and its neighborhood, together with Clinton, to be placed under the charge of the Rev. C, F. Withey, and his correspondence with clergymen on behalf of two other districts, specified in his last address, was likely to result in appointments being made thereto ere long. The parishioners of St. John's, Invercargill, desired to have the district formed into a rural deanery. He had informed them he would refer the matter to the present meeting. of the Synod, at which he requested a representative from Invercargill to be present. The B,ev. T. J. Smith, of Queenstown, having an offer of preferment at Home, had resigned his charge. He was about to proceed to Lancashire, and he (the Bishop) hoped his Now Zealand experience would prove of advantage to the Colony. Holy Trinity Church, Port Chalmers, and a small one at Shiel Hill, near Anderson's Bay, had been opened for divino service during the year, and six others were either now in course of erection or projected.