LOSS TO CHURCH

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19503, 9 December 1937, Page 6

LOSS TO CHURCH

OUTSTANDING SERVICES AUCKLAND APPRECIATION "The Church on earth is the poorer for his passing," stated a motion carried by the standing committee of the synod of the Diocese of Auckland, expressing appreciation of the work of the late Bishop of Waiapu, the Rt. Rev. H. W. Williams. "His counsel and insight in matters concerning the constitution of the church and its government, as embodied in the legislation of the general synod, has been of the greatest service to the church," added the motion, which was proposed by Archbishop Averill.

The remainder of the motion was worded as follows:

"The standing committee desires to record its thankfulness to Almighty God for the wonderful gifts of learning, of counsel, of insight so richly given by Him to his servant, and, for the benefit which the exercise of those gifts has brought to the church in this land. It is mindful of the services of the late bishop in the field of learning, and more especially in the preservation of the Maori language, as shown in the revision of the Bible and in the dictionary which bears his name.

"The passing of the bishbp marks a unique fact in the history of the church—the call to the episcopate in the same diocese of members of three successive generations of the same family, the first Bishop William Williams; his son, William Leonard Williams, the third bishop; and Herbert William Williams, son of the third bishop, who became the sixth bishop. "To the bishop's wife and family

the committee offers its heartfelt sympathy and prays that they may each and all be sustained by Almighty God in their sudden bereavement; and to the church people in the diocese of Waiapu in their loss."