ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAI.

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 11

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAI.

j OEDTNATION SERVICE. I An ordication service was held in Sb. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday morniDg last, when Bishop Nevill admitted three students of Selwyn College to the diaconate. The ser- ; vice wes throughout of a very solemn and ; highly impressive character. The Bishop was I assisted by the Very Rev. Dean Fitchett, Canon j Richards, and the Rev. O. 5. Bowden, examining chaplaiD, who presented the candidates. The lit-any was sung by .the Rsv. H. Brooke. The music of the communion service, with which the ordination service is incorporated, j was Stainer'B " Service in F," which was very | carefully and reverently sung by the choir. i The offertory was a sweet anthem by W. H. I lYIorJc, " If ye Jove Me, keep My CommamJ- ! meets." The three newly admitted deacons J pre Edward S. Wayne, who was selected ro | read theGo3pfl, and whose destination is Nor- | foik Island, where he is to work under the Bishop of Melanesia ; Francis C. Latter, who is to be licensed in the Diocese of Auckland : and Gerard W. Davidson, who is appointed j Jtfsistsn 1 ; curate to the Vicar of Queenstown i in this diocese. I The Yen. Archdeacon Robinson preached the dedication sermon, taking as hia text the words " Your tervants for Christ's sake," 2 Cor., iv, and 5. The discourse was one of much power and eloquence. At its commencement f the preacher said : Our solemn service ' to-day, dear people of God, is not without a special significance. It; is not many years sine 3 Selwyn College w&s inaugurated in this city as j a training school for candidates for holy orders, ] and it is saying no less then the truth to affirm ■ that it has already more than justified its exist- ' ence and proved itself by God's blessing a real I benefit, not alone to the students who have gone | forth from its walls qualified for the ministry of j church, but to the diocese at large. But now ' there are evidences cf expansion. To-day the i chief pastor of the church admits to the diacon- ' ate three men who fcave been trained in our j diocesan college, and of these- three only one is | intended for work in this diocefe, another is ' chosen for a post of work in tbe North Island, j and the third goes forth to labour in Norfolk ' Island, and will probably before long be a j missionary to the heathen in the islands of- the i Pacific. I venture to say that while it would not be good that the bonds which bind to ou: , diocese those who are trained amongst us for ', the ministry should be at all weakened, ib is well that our corporate interests should be j large, as this helps us to realise the larger | brotherhood of sympathy and reciprocal cc- , operation which finds exercise in the disposition to bear the burdens of the whole body. Every ?uc'a development of ministerial activity, as it mutt be a cause of pleasure and thanksgiving to our bishop, owing to whose exertions chiefly Selwyn College exists, so it should also be a cause of gladness to all those who have at beart the welfare and progress of the church in New Zealand. Suffer me to say that it should also stimulate us to aid the work of Sflwyn College in tvery possible way — by strengthening the hands of. the bishop and those who with him are exerting themselves to provide the needful supply of clergy for this diocesß and to secure their due efficiency. Surely it ia not too much to hope that the small I debt which rests upon this institution will j speedily be extinguished, so that it may be more closely associated with this cathedial as the centre of diocesan organisations. I venture ' to hope, Also, that before long an increasing | number of young men will be found j willing to devote themselves to that ' which, though it is in some respects the j hardest and certainly the least profitable | i'rora a merely worldly point of view, is the i noblest work that earth can show — rhe setting j ! foifcb God's glory and men's salvation through j j th« ministry of Christ's Church. No doubt '< tLerc are in these colonies Eeveral causes which , conspire to check rhe growth of any impulse in j ! this direction, even where the natural bent and i disposition might seem to suggest aptitude for ! tt clergyman's life-work ; but these influences, ' (hough not easily counteracted, are neb | insurmountable. Let us pray God that thera ; may be found enough of the s-pirit of self- j'acrifice to induce earnest and godiy young men to offer themselves to the bishop for the service of the sacraments, as recruits for the church army, ready to consecrate to the Lord Jesus Christ their bodily vigour, their intellectual gifts and capacities, the loving enthusiasm cf v.tieir hearts — ready to become the servants of* men for Jesus's sake. Then, indeed, we ph-ill ! secure that domestic interest, if I may so cail j it, in the work of the church ainongsb us, which • is one chief sourca of strength of the church in England, though as yet it is lacking amongat us here ; and as regards Selwyn College, "the promise of the present will be surpassed by the achievements of the future." The preacher then dealt with the question of "the duty and effice of deacons," and urged upon those who were about to be ordained the need for guarding against two popular errors of the present day. The first was the error of supposing that all ministers of God are very much alike, and can all discharge very much the same duties, only differing as oce is older or more learned or more eloquent than another. On the contrary as the church plainly declared, "It is evident unto all men diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient authors, that from the Apoßtles' time there have been thes<j orders of ministers in Christ's church — binhops, priests, and deacons—each plainly distinguished, each filling I its own place, and discharging its functions for the body of the faithful." And be&ides thesa the church had from time to time devcloued amocg lay people other subordinate miniebrica, i and given commission to her willing children fro do soma appointed work for the txidy, and cf i *heza ministries there was core need at the I , eei-ifc time. I'iie second wor. to wLi«b hs relucted

j was the mischievous" mistake of supposing that i the cla'mg of the ministry were made at the ' expense of the people ; that to exalt the ministerial effiee w&s to detract from the rightful position of the laity. This arose from a total misconception of the mutual relations of Christians. He could not enlarge upon the question now. Let it be enough to impress again upon them the analogy between tfce natural and the spiritual body. The j ower to perform ocr( am acts and functions was lodged in the body as a whole, but those acts could only be performed by means of certain organs or members, which God had given for the purpose. So in the church, ministerial acts were the acts of the whole body, but ib was simply impossible for all together or each for himself to perform those acts ; therefore the faithful were bound to make uao of those whom God had s«t in the church for that purpose. They could not, without iojuring the body, without iuEultingthe great Head of the church, refu°e to employ the divinely-appointed minisiers of Christ; nor could they, without harm to themselves and to the whole body, or without contempt of Him, make for themselves other and new ministries of their own choosing. He was sure they would not hear so niuca talk /.bout "priestly assumption" and the like if Christians would only remember that whatever God's ministers do they do as the organs and servants and representatives of the whole body ; and that the gifts given by ordination, whether to bishop, priest, or deacon, are bestowed nob against the body, but for the body : for the use ot all, for the service of all, for the edifying of all. The remainder of the discourse was mainly addressed to those who were about to receive ordination at the hands of the bishop, and had special reference to the duties they would be called upon to discharge, and the manner in which those duties should be fulfilled. The Yen. Archdeacon concluded as follows : — " Aad you Christian people here present, when in a few momenta the bishop calls for your prayera, and silence is kept for a ehoifG space, you will in all earnestness commend to God those who are to be made deacons and evoke His gift of grace to enable them as ministers to do that which they promise, and to fulfil that which they resolve. And whiie we entreat God tor these Hia servants, who seek His special gift, let us remember that we, too, in our several vocations and ministries are servants of Christ and of each other. For His sake, therefore, let us pray Him to leave us nob destitute ot His manifold gifts, nor yet of grace to use them always to His honour and glory ; that Ha will keep us in the true faith and preserve us all in the unity of the church till we all arc called to jive an account of our vocation and ministry in the day of Hl3 appearing."