AUCKLAND DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 10139, 20 October 1894, Page 2

AUCKLAND DIOCESAN SYNOD.

REFERENCES MADE TO TARANAK3 IN ADDRESS.

Tan Auckland Diocesan Synod of the Anglican Church met at Bishopscourt, Parnell, on October 16th, when the President, the Right Rev. Bishop Cowie, delivered an address, in which he referred to Taranaki as follows: —

At its coming session the General Synod may take into consideration some proposed alterations in the boundaries of the three dioceses of the North Island. The General Synod of 1868, at which Bishop Selwyn presided, resolved that " the Province of Taranaki be considered part of the Diocese of Wellington;" provided the Bishop, and the clergy, and lay officers representing the Church members, give their formal assent thereto. For reasons into which I need not now enter, this resolution has been only partly carried out, namely, by making the Tipoka stream, and Stratford, tho common boundary of the two dioceses. It is thought by many of our people that the whole Province of Taranaki should now be added to the Diocese of Wellington ; and I certainly agree with them, much as I should regret the severance of my official connection nrith the clergy and the Church officers of that Archdeaconry. New Plymouth can now be reached by railway in less than two hours from Stratford, whereas it is more than a fourteen hours' journey and voyage from Auckkmd, wasteful of time and money, and not unfrequently very unpleasant. It is many years since a lay representative from the Archdeaconry was abla to come to the Synod in Auckland, and only one of the clergy of the Archdeaconry is with us to-day. The Synod may think it well to express an opinion on the subject.

New Plymouth.— ln March last I had the pleasure of consecrating the new chancel of St. Mary's Church, New Plymouth, which is a great improvement to the building, and has cost £1,500. Of that sum £400 was contributed by Archdeacon Govett, with his usual generosity. Waitara. — In the same month was consecrated tho Church of St. John the Baptist, at Waitara ; of which the site (in the centre of the township), the plans, and a considerable part of the Co3t, were the gift of another generous clergyman, the Rev. Philip Walsh, now the indefatigable pastor, and general counsellor, of the extensive Waimate district. The people of Waitara are to be congratulated on the acquisition of a spacious Parish Hall on a site next to the Church. Such a building seems to be necessary in all our parishes, and in many parochial districts, to enable the clergy and Church officers to de much that is otherwise impracticable, for the social, intellectual, and spiritual good of their people.