THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XX, Issue 2218, 13 June 1865, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

(Wellington" Independent, May 27.) Tnrc General Synod of (he Church of Kngland has just completed its third session at C'hristchurcli, having met before at Wellington and Nelson. The session occupied fifteen days of most diligent and laborious working, and was Tory largely attended by delegates from each province of Now Zealand. It has been tho most important of any that have preceded it for many reasons. The Church of England has been for nearly two hundred years without any form of church government, and without any council of its own, like that enjoyed by other Christian bodies. When it was proposed by the Bishop of JN'cw Zealand some twelve years ago, to organise the present system in this Colony, many looked upon the scheme with some little suspicion as novel, and as very possibly illegal. All such fears have long been dissipated, members of the Church of England, as the hirge attendance of Synodism proved, dearly prize this present mode of mutual counsel ; of removing those hindrances to tho right building up of their Church, which must be found iv any system established by fallible men, however earnest these may be in their wish and in their efforts to gain truth. Again, the system heretofore agreed to. and the various laws enacted, were in former years somewhat tentative, and lacked that stability which could only be gained by experience of their suitability to the wants of the Church, and from the confidence attached to them as found to supply an evident need. This confidence is now freely given. Two of the most important of these laws, the .Nominators Act, which gives to the parishioners a voice in the choice of their minister ; the Parish Acts which regulates the ordering of each parish, have been carefully revised and mude more simple in their working. The Constitution deed, tho very basis of the whole matter, had been very carefully considered, and has now the full force of approval of the Synod, tho representative of the voice of the Church of England in this Colony. It may be well to state that the principle idea of this Constitution deed is, that each body of the Church shall have full right in each act of a General and of a Diocesan Synod. The bench of Bishops, the Clergy, the Laity, vote by orders, and no Statute can pass which is not ainrmed by a majority in all these bodies. This plan ensures unanimity, and if any measure is by this means deferred for a while it is clearly better to wait, until perchance in some future session further consideration shall have thrown fresh light upon the matter. The rights of all are thus at once preserved and the unpleasant feeling thoroughly prevented, when a bare majortiy has passed a law all unwelcome to a powerful minority. The session was commenced under peculiar circumstances. The Diocese of Canterbury felt themselves aggrieved by tho action of the Synod with reference to trust property. Before the institution of tho General Synod a very large mass of properties were held by the Bishop of New Zealand alone, as a, corporation sole. The Bishop in divesting himself of these trusts, handed them to the General Synod, with the express understanding that the trustees for each trust should bo appointed by tho General Synod ; that each successive session the action of the trustees would be revised by the Synod, and any irregularity of action be at once checked ; the whole property of tho Church being, as it were, resumed by the Synod and handed back once more to tJio trustees. The Dioceso

of Canterbury wished to separate their trust properties from this action of the Synod, and to retain in their own hands the entire management. They had intimated, plainly enough, that if their wishes were not acceded to, they might separate themselves altogether from the General Synod. After a very earnest debate the matter was settled. It was shewn thrvt property was not the essen- | tial part of the system, but rather a secondary matter. That any Diocese could, if it so : pleased, be thus far independent, and yefc remain united with the General Sjnod for j every oilier purpose. The glad laugh which ; followed the proposal of the president that • in the constitution deed the word property : should be spelt with a small p, showed how readily all accepted the peaceful result, which will in truth inevitably ensue, when elmstian men meet together seeking the glory of God, : and the edilieaiion of the Church. It was pleasing to notice, too, how resolutely any sharp-angled word was at one* put dowii, I and how determined, the Synod was that each grievance should be temperately discussed. Tho result gained has been a thorough cementing of the Church, and a more clear intelligence, that men would not part with a great boon, because some portions of the plan, a stone here or there, was not perchance shaped or polished as some would have had it. A resolution was adopted which certainly did much to gain this end — that while the G eneral Synod kept its hold, as before, of all general church property, the trustees of such property should, once in three years, give a report of its management to the Synod of that Diocese in which the trust was held. One great business of the Synod was tho introduction by Sir W. Martin, of the Ecclesiastical Courts and Offences Bills. These received a most careful revision, and were finally passed by tho Synod, with the understanding that they should be referred back to each Diocesan Synod. Any Diocese caa adopt the Bills or reject them at its pleasure. - Those measures were considered by many of the clergy as a protection to themselves. No office-holder of b\ie Church can be removed from his office, except by the provisions therein enacted, and is protected further from any vexatious charges by a clause requiringthe accuser to give into the Court a bond of not more than £50, as an earnest of his good faith, that he is seeking the good of the Church and not the gratification of his own private enmity. The Diocese of Wellington has already approved of the principles of these Bills, and will, we are sure, gladly accept them in their present shape. The Synod was concluded by a motion of Mr FitzG-e raid's, that it was desirable to seek for moro unity amongst the whole Church of Christ. The debate which ensued was a fitting ending of the business of tho session. Many shewed that unity and uni- | formity were two different matters — that unity could, and would exist, without uniformity when all were agreed together, each in their several spheres of action, to seek tho increase of God's kingdom upon earth. The I acts of the Synod furnished an example of : the truth of this position. There is not uniformity even here, but there has been a most distinct unity established in every point that is fundamental and important. We must wait yet for the conclusion of the -whole matter for uniformity, while all who value faith seek for, and pray for a greater unity in holding that fast against every form of error. A day will be yet when there shall be this uniformity, when each present differing mode of thought, and of action shall be covered over by the glory of that day — when " the earth shall be filled with knowledge of th» Glory of tho Lord, as tho waters cover tho Sea."