CLERGY FOR NEW ZEALAND

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 19

CLERGY FOR NEW ZEALAND

- LONDON, August 11

' As the result of an appeal made at the Teeent Pan-Anglican Congress a number of Anglican clergymen are leaving to •work in New Zealand. The first batch sailed by the Turakina.

CHURCH WORK IN NEW ZEALAND

(Fhom Oub Own Cobbespondent.) * ~ LONDON, June 26. Several papers by New Zealanders de-^ ecriptive of Church work in the Dominion 1^ were written for the information of delegates attending the Pan-Anglican Congress. To a large extent these give an interesting record of what has been done by the Church in New Zealand and for that Church. Mr John Sludholrne. in his paper on "The Work of the Church Among the "White Settlers of New Zealand," writes of the working of the system: '"Such_ is the system of Church government in New Zealand:" it has weathered two severe strains, it has almost uniformly worked ■with smoothness and 6uecess, only a few months ago it 6 jubilee was celebrated, and it can be fairly said to have to tome extent stood the test of time. If the Church Fails in her work it will not at anyrate be for want of organisation ; if her laymen fail to give the Church her due of their time and means, it will not be for want of liberality on her part. She has perforce to look to her laity for her support, but she has in returji given them the greatest possible share in the control of here affairs. " Starting in 1840 under conditions described, the Church has been engaged in one continuous effort to expand *in pari passu ' -with the expansion of settlement ; the result to-day is that every acre from the North Cape to the extreme south of -Stewart Island is, nominally at least, included within the boundaries of some parish or narochial or missionary district, and is ■within the reach of an occasional church service. According to the census last year. fiiose in New Zealand profe c sing to belonsr to the Anglican communion numbered 368. 0C0. - Including Melanesia, seven dioceses have been established." <

Turning to the subieet of Bible in Schools. Mr Studholm-e writes : " For many years the advocates of reliarion in the State Bohoola, including the governing bodies of •lie various Protestant denominations, have combined to urge the amendment of the existing law to- admit of the opening of the schools with prayer and with the reading, without comment, of selected oortions of the Bible. Latterly ih<*>c advocates, generally known as the Bible- m-sehoota party, have restricted their demand to the ve-rv modest one that the auestion be decided by a referendum to the peonle. In spite of this, and also in spite of the fact that the provernine bodies of the different, Protestant denominations have come to an agreement as to the form of prayer and ißbe selected narts of th* 1 "Rible to be used. the movement seems of late years to have lost rather than gained crround -The lukeWarmne6s of the maioritv of Protestant. parents, the fear of the introduction of sectarian Bitterness into the schools, and. mast, of all. the organised and determined opposition of the Roman Catholics (whose , influence is out of all proportion to their *

numbers), are chiefly accountable for the continuance of the present unsatisfactory position." n Mr St-udholme goes pretty fully into the financial position of the clergy, and notes that their present stipends admit of their making no -proper provision for the contingencies of death, -sickness, or old age, and they ever live on the brink of actual destitution for themselves and their families. -?'Th-e Laity," Mv Studholme proceeds, " are entirely responsible for this unsatisfactory position- The present generation has inherited much from the past. All classes of producers are enjoying exceptional prosperity, and the laity, will continue to fail in a plain duty, well within their power to carry out, until they have ensured to every vicar in charge of a cure a stipend of at least £250 the certainty of a reasonable allowance in time of sickness, of grants at death when necessary to hie widow and children, of a pension at 65 of at least £200, and of provision "for the free board and education of his children at one of the best Church schools. In one direction — namely, in the attitude of the more well-to-do class to the Church, — if the outward observance of religion can be taken as a true indication of a man's real views, the Church has lost rather than trained around." The Rev. "A. C. Hoasrins (Christchurch)' was asked by the congress secretary to write a paper in the same section. Mr Hoggins goes at considerable length into the beginnin<^ of orffanisation. referring 1 at the oufcset to the consecration of George* Augustus Selwyn in 1841; he deals with statistics and with the present position of the Church, with its institutions, and with its relation to the State. Under the last head he writes : " Property is held by the diocesan and general synod trustees under the ordinary laws of the Dominion. Nor is there lacking some justification for the fear 1 held by come that the Government, jealous of the possessions of the Chiirch, may seek excuse for confiscation. A few years ago some land's administered by the diocese of Wellington for the benefit of the Maoris were claimed on the ground of non-fulfil-ment of trust — the lands having been originally grants from the Crown. The claim was upheld by the Supreme Court of the Dominion and the property was saved, ab the cost of some local irritation, by an appeal to the Privy Council." " Knowledge, a ' little knowledge, ia more general than in the Old Country — with the usual result. — the half-careless, half -contemptuous toleration, wfhieh Bishop Barxy once said was worse than tha narrowest and most intolerant earnestness, is widely, and becoming more widely, spread. The remedy is an intellectual and devoted clergy. Some few of the clergy have taken high place in scientific research, some by their learning have been able to compel recognition on the eoverning_ bodies of the university- and collegiate institutions. There is much movement of thought in regard to social questions, and some few of the clergy have given attention to thesequestions. But. on the whole, there ii much to be desired in this matter. It has boon growing difficult to get the best men from England." eavs Mr Hoggins, " ami! there are obvious drawbacks in the local training. The clerprv colleges are as veil too small to afford the intellectual and devotional ' atmosphere ' which is so superior to the book-learning which is all they are able to give, and the book-learn-ing itself is. perhaps, n-ecefsarily 6omewhat> superficial."

Turning to another matter, Mr Hoggins remarks: "It may be sufficient to <=ay thati the dying x>ul of the instinct of religious worship amongst a large proportion of the people, and, on the other hand, the continually growing power and influence of the Roman Church, are warnings among other even more serious ones of what may be expected in England should the fighfc for definite religious training in the schools be lost."

Great laughter and a full endorsement greeted the outburst of a colonial clergyman : *' Every curate in England ought to be turned out neck and crop into the bush. He could come back in five years and then get married !" And this led Archdeacon Halford to add that if men did go out to the colonies on the "short-service" system, which had already done and was doiniff untold good, the bishops at Home should play fair with them when they returned. And the venerable archdeacon' proceeded to give instances of what the English bishops did do on such occasions, which drew forth cries of " Shame !" from the crowded benches.

Finally, the Bishop of Pretoria admitted that he had been to see " The Mollusc,"' and that it reminded him of many of the younger elerev at Home. So it was quito clear that the colonies were desperately in need of more men.

The national debt originated in the rei?n of William 111, whose first loan was obtained in 1694-. The sweet girl strolled along the Moc-k,

The cheeky chide remarked: "Ahem !" Not dreaming of the sudden shock

That would reward his .=trateerMn ! The maid remarked, with humour crim :

""Your cough seems Had to-day ! I'm 6ure You'd best take .t.his !" and handed him A bottle of Woods' Great Peppermint Cure.