GIFT TO AUCKLAND CHURCH

Taranaki Daily News, 3 December 1930, Page 4

GIFT TO AUCKLAND CHURCH

VICEREGAL GENEROSITY. . IDEAL OFrOBBISTIAN UNION. 1 A munificent gift, intended as a perniau’ept witness to the ideal of Christian reunion, has , been made to St. Am dvew’s Chuych, Auckland, by the’ Gov- 1 ernor-General, Lord Bledisloe, and Lady Blefiisloe. The gift consists of » sl Jy er f phalice and paten, both of a size befitting ( a large church. The chalice bears the following inscription: “To the glory oi God, anfi in humble appreciation of the J movement in Auckland toward the reunion of the Christian Churches, Whitsuntide. J 930-” Upon the other side are engraved the names of the donors, ‘’Ultarlpa and. Elaipe Bledisloe. j The origin of the gift is of iptbiest. At the beginning of last June all the principal religious denominations in Auckland, with the exception of the Roman Catholic Church, joined in a week of services, and other gatherings to ceje- ✓ hratn the 1900th anniversary of the desreiit of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. There, was a free exchange of and d great united service -was hem in , St. Mary’s Cathedral on Friday, June 6, when the Rev. Dr. C. H. Laws, principal of Trinity Methodist College, was the preacher. On Whitsunday, June 8, the culmination of the week, Lord and Lady Hledisloe attended a celebration of Ho y Gojnmupipn in St, Matthew e Ohuro i. His Excellency noticed that owing to the lai "e number of communicants it was net-essarv for the celebrant to replenish the contents, of the chalice and say the words of consecration afresh. 1 then occurred to him .to present the church with larger communion vessels than those it already possessed, _ and

to make the gift a witness to the ideal of Christian reunion, of wlueb go much had been said during the week- that had - In pursuance ef this plan, i? Her Excellency joined, Hord Bledisloe immediately sent an order to the Ar.ificer’3 Guild of London for a ehalwe and nateii of beaten silver, large enough for the needs of some 250 communicants. Tho vessels recently arrived in Zealand and have been received Their Excellencies by the YlW_Pt »>• Matthew’s, Canon C. H. Grant CowenBoth are splendid examples of: the sil versmith’s art and worthy of the bfigt ti-iditions of English church plate, winch extern 1 back to medieval times, Tfib chalice is of the traditional shape, with an octagonal base and stem. The only ornamentation consists of filigree wor upon the lower part of the surface of which is enriched by the nun-removal of the hammer-marks. The paten is of commensurate size and peiCowen ’ has written to Their Excellencies, expressing the WanK3 of himself, his officers and panshoners for the gift, find adding the hope that the donors may see Christian reunrn accomplished fact in their own litetUSt’. Matthew’s possesses two sets of communion plate in silver, at .cap on and possibly both tn ? s - tr! foundation of the church in 18 f- 3 ‘ npriph is the second oldest in Autklan and is junior only to St. Paul’s, which was established in 18IL