ANGLICAN SYNOD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23005, 7 October 1936, Page 7

ANGLICAN SYNOD

DIOCESE OF DUNEDIN The twenty-fourth s"nod of the diocese of Dunedin was continued in St. Paul's Schoolroom yesterday. Bisnop Fitchett presiding. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT The report of the Standing Committee was presented by Mr W. E. Enrnshaw as follows: The committee issued a reminder to parishes and parochial districts to the effect that whereas clerical members of synod have both travelling expenses and hospitality provided. lay members only receive travelling expenses, and in the opinion of the committee, parishes and parocial districts should be responsible for the boarding expenses of their lay representatives at- ' ending synod. Diocesan Office Board.—The committee appointed Ven. L. G. Whitehead and Mr J. T. Dawson as their representatives on the Diocesan Office Board. Messrs A. H. Allen and G. R. Ritchie were appointed by the Trust Board, and Mr W. E. Earnshaw by the Pension Board. During the year, since its constitution by synod in 1935. two meetings of the Diocesan Office Board have been held. In addition to dealing with routine matters concerning salaries and hours the board agreed that the office work of the Church Envoy should be done in the Diocesan Office. The apportionment of the costs of the Diocesan Office was as follows: Trust Board, two-fifths of gross costs, provided that the total charges ol the Trust Board did not exceed 7 per cent, of the trust income received, Pension Board, General Church Fund, and Orphanages £BS per annum each, Missionary Committee £ls per annum, balance from the assessment. Election of Standing Committee.—A suggestion was received from the diocese of Nelson that the Standing Committee of the diocesan synods be elected every three years instead of every 12 months as at present. The committee is in agreement and a suggested amendment will be brought before synod for consideration to-mor-row. . , , Woodlands.—The committee approved the raising of a loan to erect a building for use as a church at Woodlands Diocesan Endowment Fund.—l he committee reappointed the following sub-committee: - The Dean. Archdeacons Whitehead. Russell, Lush and Button, the Rev W. A. Hamblett (convener), Messrs J. T. Dawson W E. Earnshaw. and G. R. Ritchie. General Church Fund Grants.—A sub-committee appointed for the purpose reported that grants must be paid to the vicar concerned. In the case of assistant curates it is desirable that the grant be part of the stipend arranged and not supplementary to it. Vestries should make the necessary arrangements for seeing that unemployment tax is not paid twice oyer Elections and appointments were approved as follows:— Anglican Orphanages Committee (1935-36 -Dr fe. H. Williams (chairman), the bish op. Messrs C. W. Rattray, G. R. Ritchie. S P. Mirams, W. C. Talboys, WE Earnshaw. Mesdames C. W. Birch, S. Batchelor, E. Hazlett, Miss C. Graham, and the Rev. J. N. Thompson (ex officio); Diocesan Missionary CommitteeArchdeacons J. D. Russell. J. A. Lush and A. C. H. Button, the Revs. F. V. Fisher and W. A. Hamblett Messrs J. Beecot, J. G. Butler, J. T. Dawson W D. Jenkin and A. T. Newman. Parish and District Boundaries.—ln order to make various necessary adjustments in the boundaries of parochial districts the Board of Nomination was appointed a Boundaries Commission to report on the matter. As the result of their proposals the following changes were , ultimately made:—The parochial district, of Roxburgh—Tapanui ceased to exist; koxburgh and Miller's Flat were added to Tuapeka; Clydevale-Greenfield-Tua-peka Mouth have been transferred from Tuapeka to Balclutha; Dipton has been transferred from Winton to Waimea Plains District. With the object of ultimately forming an assistant curacy to Gore Parish a new district has been formed consisting of Tapanui and Waikaka, Riversdale and Waikaia (from the VVaimea Plains District and Clinton from the Balclutha District) This new district is temporarily under the charge of the Rev. C. M Newton. The following alterations have also been made:-Wyndham and Fortrose have been combined: Warrington has been added to Port Chalmers; Ravensbourne, Leith Valley and Middleman* have been combined for electoral purposes. Winton and Otautau have been combined. „. _ Bishopric of Wellington.—The committee approved the nomination of the Ven. H. St. B. Holland to be Bishop of Wellington. m^ Casual Vacancies Fund.—The committee authorised the formation of a Casual Vacancies Fund in order to provide for the carrying on of services during changes, sickness or other absence of the clergy. Parochial Nominators.—Notice of the appointment of parochial nominators was received from the following parishes:—All Saints', Dunedin, Caversham, Dunstan, Gladstone, Gore, In: vercargill. Oamaru. Roslyn and bt. Kilda.

Anglican Orphanages.—The committee approved the expenditure of capital on the erection of a sun-rpprn as a memorial to the late Mrs J. M. Ritchie and additional buildings for the better working of the homes. Vacancies on the synod roll were filled as follows:—Oamaru. Mr S. M. Taylor: Tuapeka, Mr J Simpson; Anderson's Bay. Mr A. J. Gall: Wmton and Otautau, Mr W Grieve. Tapanui, Clinton, Riversdale, Waikaia and Waikaka were constituted one electoral parochial district, and Mr F. W Knight was appointed the synod representative. The following notifications were received:—Balclutha byelection, Mr B. T. W Owen was returned as synod representative. Parochial nominators, St. Matthews Parish and St. Martin's Parish. The report was adorjted. DIOCESAN PENSION BOARD The report of the Diocesan Pension Board was submitted by Mr Earnshaw as follows:-The Rev. W H. S. Hine on proceeding to the Diocese of Christchurch left his interest in the fund. Rev. C. W Foreman and Rev. C. J. G. Samuda both left the diocese and withdrew their interests. Rev. A. Wingfield retired on pension. Revs. F. L. Irwin. R. Newcombe, and VV L. S Harbour have joined the fund, all as from January 1, 1936. Mr W. E. Earnshaw was appointed to represent the Pension Board on the Diocesan Office Board The pensions paid for the year were: Clergy, £584 8s 2d; widows, £347 17s 4d- children. £ls;—total, £947 5s 6d. Rev A Wingfield has been added to the pension list as from March 1,1936. Through death the Rt. Rev. Isaac Richards and Rev H. S. Bishop have ceased to be pensioners, and their widows are now in receipt of pensions. Subscriptions paid during the year were £894 16s lid and £l6B paid in advance:—total, £1062 16s Id. There were no arrears at June 30, 1936. Withdrawals and refunds amounted to £l3O 17s 6d. The capital account of the fund has been increased by £442 14s (surplus of income), £75 18s 2d (accident and sickness fund income), and £25 (donation) bringing the total at June 30, 1936 t 0 £24,540 5s sd. Interest on investments for the year amounted to £873 16s Id. The capital account of the fund now stands at £llBB 3s Id, having been increased by £75 18s 2d surnlus from the income account. The report was adopted. DIOCESAN TRUST BOARD The report of the Diocesan Trust Board stated, inter alia:— Capital accounts have been increased by bequests and transfers from the diocese, the Diocesan Pension Board, and the Orphanages' Committee of approximately £I2OO and the total now administered by the board is £122,075. Th* 5 New Cathedral Fund has been increased bv a legacy of £IOO from the estate of Sir James Mills and decreased by £6l from the capital of the Harrop estate (held by the Public Trustee) owing to the income being insufficient to pay life interests New church birlding funds show an increase from £2206 to £2294 The accounts have been rearranged to show trust capital accounts, accumulating funds, new church building funds, and income accounts. Investments are extremely difficult to obtain all trustee securities being only available at a premium.

Sound mortgages are readily taken up by investors who are not subject to trustee legislation. The report was adopted. EVENING SESSION FIRE INSURANCE BILL Mr Charles Wilkinson moved the second reading of a bill to provide for the establishment of a diocesan fire insurance department, and said that it was only necessary for him to establish the principle and ideals of the bill. The idea was not a new one, for it had been established in other dioceses. The Wellington Fire Insurance Board and fund had been in existence for eight or 10 years. A similar organisation had been more recently established in Nelson, but in Canterbury an insurance scheme had been in operation since 1892, and was now on a very sound basis, having been so successful that not only did it have a reserve fund of £SOOO, but had also transferred from £15,000 to £16,000 of the profits to stabilise and enrich the Pensions Fund. The bill which he was presenting was something new, for Canterbury Diocese did not carry out its scheme under a bill. To establish a fire insurance board a sum of money was required, and to obtain this a fire insurance association, under the Mutual Fire Insurance Act, could be formed. If the suggested board could not see its way clear to work the scheme under the Act mentioned, it could establish a fund guaranteed by guarantors. In Wellington the diocese obtained 10 guarantors of £SOO each, and it was agreed that when the reserve fund reached £SOOO the guarantors should be released. The Wellington fund now stood on the verge of £SOOO after eight or 10 years. In the same diocese it was proposed to devote the surplus profits to any church or charitable purpose which the diocese might approve.. In the bill put forward, however, it was suggested that anv surplus might be devoted to the erection or rebuilding of churches. If the bill was put into effect, and a reasonable reserve fund was built up, the board might have a sufficiently large surplus to assist in a rebuilding programme. The motion was seconded pro forma by Archdeacon Button, who said that although the synod might not adopt the whole scheme, he suggested that it should not be turned down, but that it should be referred to a special commission to report to the next meeting of the synod. Mr D. Cuthbertson expressed doubt that sufficient business was offering in Southland to warrant the formation of a fire insurance board. He thought that a special committee should be empowered to investigate the position. Dean Cruickshank urged the lay members of the synod to give the clergy every support in the consideration of the bill, concerning which he felt most unhappy. It would mean that they would be compelled to insure not only that their church buildings but also their musical instruments, and in addition he felt that it would be dangerous to put all their modern buildings under a fund which m eight or 10 years could only reach £SOOO, as was the case with the Wellington fund. He was convinced that there were grave dangers in the bill, and he asked that the laymen should give the clergy the benefit of their advice on this important matter. At the present juncture he himself was hostile to the bill. , , , After several synodsmen had questioned the wisdom of adopting the bill in its entirety, an amendment that the bill be referred to a commission to report to the next meeting of the synod was moved by Mr E. G. Bond, and carried. Bishop Fitchett said he was anxious to see synodsmen, especially laymen, bringing in bills. He thought that Mr Wilkinson deserved the thanks of the synod for the work he had put into the bill, and he hoped that they would see many other bills introduced by Mr Wilkinson and other synodsmen. The following commission was appointed to investigate the bill:—Messrs L. Deans Ritchie, C Wilkinson, E. G. Bond, John Simpson, and A. F. Cheyne. CONTROL OF CHURCH PROPERTIES The Rev. W. 'A. Curzon-Siggers moved the second reading of a bill to amend Statute 111, "The Regulation of Parishes' Statute," and said that this bill was framed to tighten up regulations governing provisions made for the supervision of alterations or additions to any church property, and to regulate the issue of faculties. After several members had spoken to the bill, synod went into committee to discuss the various clauses, and when synod resumed the third reading of the bill was adjourned until to-day