ANGLICAN CHURCH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22710, 24 October 1935, Page 16

ANGLICAN CHURCH

DIOCESAN SYNOD YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS The third session of the. twenty-third synod of the Diocese of Dunedin was continued yesterday in St. Paul's Schoolroom, Bishop Fitchett presiding as chief administrator of the diocese. STANDING COMMITTEE. The following Standing Committee was elected for the ensuing year:—Dean G. C. Cruickshnnk, Archdeacons A. C. H. Button, J. D. Eussell, L. G. Whitehead, J. A. Lush and the Rev. W. A. Curzon-Siggers, Messrs A. H. Allen, J. T. Dawson, W. E. Earnshaw, F. W. Knight, A. T. Newman, G. R. Ritchie, and L. Deans Ritchie. MOTION OP APPRECIATION; Canon Small moved—"'That synod place on record its appreciation of the zeal and devotion with which the Right Rev. Isaac Richards served for so many years in the diocese, first as warden of Selwyn College, then as parish priest, and for 14 years as bishop. It is pleased to learn of the improvement in his health, and trusts that he may enjoy many years of rest in his retirement." The- mover and Dean Crnickshank, who seconded the. motion, both paid a tribute to the late bishop. The motion was carried. PENSIONS BILL. The second reading of a Bill, introduced by the Rev. W. A. Curzou-Siggcrs, to amend the Pension Fund Statute, was taken and the Bill passed through the committee stage. FUTURE SYNODS. It was decided, in accordance with a suggestion made by the bishop in the course of his presidential address, to appoint a Select Cpmmittce to consider the character and meeting times for future synods. CARE OP PROPERTY. The following motion was brought forward by Archdeacon A. C. H. Button: —" That the bishop be respectfully asked to instruct the archdeacons to direct vestries and church committees as to their responsibilities in regard to the care of vicarages and church properties generally." In support of the motion, he said that in one parish an orchard had been destroyed to enable a farmer to grow turnips on the ground. The bishop said he thought the fault lay to a great extent with the vicars, who were too apt to regard the vicarages as their own property. If they were to consult their vestries on all occasions when they wished anything done, they would undoubtedly receive more sympathetic treatment. He mentioned the case of a vicar -who had made a hole in the wall of a room so that he could look into the next. Archdeacon Lush said that there were many vicarages which were in very poor condition. He had a great deal of sympathy with the vicara who had to live ni such places. "You can go into some towns," he said, "look around, and the best looking house you can sec will be the Presbyterian manse. Look further, and the most dilapidated house will be the vicarage."—(Laughter.) The motion was carried with the addition of the word "vicars" after the word "direct." . GENERAL CHURCH FUND. The Rev. W. A. Hamblctt moved the second reading of a Bill to amend the General Church Fund Statute. The Bill, as placed before synod, stated: "The present method of obtaining from parishes and districts income for supplementing the stipends of clergy makes no provision for changing conditions in parishes and districts; and the charges are based upon the-church collections only, of the years 1924, 1925 and 1920, and other classes of receipts applied to the same purposes as the collections are not taken into account; and this causes the charges to press unduly heavily upon parishes and districts which used the * envelopo system' and relied principally upon what is called 'direct giving' in those years." The chief clause was as follows: "Clause 0 is hereby amended to read: ' Each session of synod shall fix an amount to bo supplied by the parishes and districts for the income of the General Church Fund, and each parish ami district shall be required to pay in quarterly instalments the same proportion of that amount as it is required to pay towards the general expenses of the diocese under Statute X, such quarterly payments to be remitted to the diocesan registrar on Septembor 30, December 31, March 31 and June 30 in each year.' The Rev. C. E. P. Webb asked if the mover were prepared for the whole matter to stand down for 12 monthß in order that it might be discussed by the vestries. Mr Hamblett said he did not think it was necessary, and lie was not prepared to let the matter stand over. After a lengthy discussion in committee, the matter was held over to enable Mr Hamblett to confer with other members with a view to redrafting the main clause. ST. HILDA'S COLLEGE. Mies Blackmore, principal of St. Hilda's Collegiate School, addressed the synod on the working of the school. The numbers of pupils were going up steadily, she said, and the roll number was now only six below that prior to the slump. The boarders were about the same, but they wanted more. She went on to detail the school activities, with special reference to such organisations as the dramatic and debating clubs. She thought their main difficulty lay in the fact that it was a church school. It was not easy for girls of different natures to become good parish workers, but she hoped that they would learn to have a practical religion. Special concessions were made for the daughters of clergy, and she made an appeal for efforts to be made to bring in other pupils to balance this. The school had been through a crisis, Miss Blackmore continued. This was a Presbyterian community, and they had the problem of mixed marriages which resulted in failure to got the support they should from Anglican parents. The need for a definito link between the church and the girls oh the different parishes was emphasised by Miss Blackmore. She said she was sure that if she had the moral and prayerful support of all the clergy this would be of great value. The bishop referred to the difficulties Miss Blackmore had to encounter in her work. He spoke of her request that the clergy should pray for the benefit of the school, and said that it was no use praying unless they were prepared to do something as well. Mr A. IT. Allen spoke of the hard task which Miss Blackmore had had to face in conducting the school through a very difficult period. He was sure that whatever success the school had had during the past few years was due to the very able way in which she had carried out her duties. He asked that the church should extend to her the help she had asked for. If this were done St. Hilda's would soon be in a stronger position than ever before.