BISHOP OF WELLINGTON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 265, 9 November 1936, Page 6

BISHOP OF WELLINGTON

WARM WELCOME EXTENDED INTEREST IN DOMINION SINCERE DESIRE FOR SERVICE. OPERA HOUSE GATHERING. Making his first official visit to the Diocese of Waitotara, the Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev. St. Barbe Holland, M.A., was greeted with a warm reception by members and ministers of the Christian churches of Wanganui at the Opera House on Saturday night. His Lordship arrived in Wanganui on Saturday and is on a confirmation tour embracing the Wanganui and Taranaki districts. Archedeacon J. R. Young, of Christ Church, presided during the reception and extended a warm welcome to the Bishop. The Mayor of Wanganui, Mr. W. J. Rogers, extended a welcome to the Bishop from the citizens of Wanganui. The Bishop’s fame, he said, had preceded him and everyone had boon happy to read of the warm welcome which had been accorded him on his I arrival. His Lordship had brought a very fine reputation to New Zealand from the Homeland. He wished His Lordship to Jcnow that the great church to whidh he belonged played a very great part in the civic life of I Wanganui. A welcome from the clergy of Wan- I ganui and surrounding districts was conveyed by the Rev. C. W. Soloman. of St. Peter's Church, Gonville. Mr. C. P. Brown, one of t'.e church wardens at Christ Church, expressed the pleasure of the laity in having the Bishop in their midst. He pointed out that, the first mission station was established at Otaki a 100 years ago when Wanganui was in the diocese of Kapiti. The first mission station at Wanganui had been set up a few years later and he could now point out the cave at Putiki where the Rev. Richard Taylor used to study. Pastor G. S. Fretwell welcomed the I Bishop on behalf of the Wanganui Ministers’ Association. He expressed the association’s fraternal greetings • and hoped that His Lordship's visit would be a happy one. The relation- I ship between the Anglicans and the other churches was a very happy one; the ministers met to discuss various matters and although there were certain differences of opinion they were all united for the extension of the fellowship of God. Canon W. G. Williams, chairman of the Wanganui branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society, then took the chair. The “Old Hundredth" was then sung by the audience led by a combined choir under the baton of Mr. J. Emmett. The prayer was offered by the Rev. H. Beggs and was followed by a lesson read by the Aev. L. H. Ker. Before addressing the audience on William Tyndale, His Lordship expressed his appreciation of the welcome which had been extended to him. The welcome was just the right type to put a newcomer on his feet and make him feel up to the work that he had come to the Dominion to undertake. The Bishop said that in every sense of the word he wished to become a New Zealander and to associate himself with the needs and inspirations of the Dominion. Daily he was becoming more convinced that New Zealand was a nation in the making and it was his sincere desire to associate himself closely with the growth of what he believed would become one of the great nations of the Commonwealth of the British Empire. It was only by throwing his heart and soul into his work that he could faithfully serve these islands and the people who lived in them. He was really going to serve New Zealand with all the powers that *God had given him. A. the conclusion of the Bishop's speech, the choir sang Jackson’s “Te Deum," Kipling’s “Recessional" and “Jerusalem,” the gathering concluding with the pronouncement of the Benediction.