BISHOPRICC OF DUNEDIN.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3224, 13 June 1871, Page 3

BISHOPRICC OF DUNEDIN.

*— CONSECRATION OF TUB HEW S. T. NKVILL. Tlio ceremony of consecrating the Rev. S. T. Xevill to the episcopal charge of the see of Dunedin took place at St. Paul's Church on Sunday, 4th June. At 8 o'clock, morning prayer was said by the Rev. X, G. Edwards. As early as 10 o'clock persons had assembled at the door of the church, but tho public were nut admitted for another half hour, during which between 200 and 300 people were waiting without. The arrangements throughout were excellent, ticket-holders on]) 1 being admitted until shortly before the hour for the service commencing. The result was satisfactory in tho extreme, overcrowding and confusion being altogether avoided. By ll o'clock the church was well filled, seats placed down the aisles being also occupied, but we nevertheless noticed several empty seats in various parts of the church. At four minutes past 11, a procession consisting of the churchwardens, the clergy, and the Bishops in attendance, advanced up the nave of the church, the choir and congregation rising and chanting the 122 nd Psalm. The ante communion service was read by the Primate, the Bishop of Nelson reading the Epistle, and the Bishop of Waiapu the Gospel. Tho Nicene Creed followed, and after it as the Introit, Hymn 214 (Hymns ancient and modern). The Bishop of Wellington then preached an admirable and appropriate sermon from Titus 1. 0 — " For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee." In the course of his remarks the right reverend gentleman said that it was evident from the Scriptures that Christ had laid down the broad rule that whoever believed iv him should be saved ; and to this rule all forms and modes of church government must be subordinate. Pie (the Bishop) also reviewed the appointment of the various officers of the church by the apostles, according as the necessity for them arose; first deacons, then higher order, consisting of elders, and then the highest order, consisting of bishops. It was worthy of note that the word translated "elder" and the word " presbyter" were the same, and the word " priest" was also a contraction of the same term. The word " bishop" was jscd to signify a person holding the same office, but during the lifetime of the Apostles at least, it was chiefly applied to persons having charge of Gentile churches, as, for example, Timothy at Ephesus, and Titus in Crete. In fact, so long as the Apostles lived, bishops were only appointed to supervise district churches not easily accessible to the Apostles themselves. With regard to the charge made by some that the Episcopal priest hood was a sacerdotal one, the Bishop said that a such a statement was altogether erroneous. Indeed, it was a remarkable fact that throughout the New Testament the word " priest" was never once used in a sacerdotal sense, i c., as one offering sacrifice ; nor was the word " altar" once used in connection with the Christian religion. These facts must be regarded as striking proofs of the inspiration of the New Testament. The real office of the Christian minister was that of pastor and teacher, and he held from God his commission to proclaim the Gospel, to baptise, to rule, and to guide ihose committed to his charge. At the end of his discouse the Bishop addressed a few earnest words to the Bishop elect, who had, he said, been brought to this country by a series of remarkable coincidences, and who had not come here with a view to undertaking the office to which he wa6 about to be consecrated. The Bishops of Wellington and Nelson then took the Bishop elect, vested in his rochet, and presented him to the Primate, the former Bishop saying in the usual form — " Most Reverend Father in God, we present unto you this godly and well-learned man to be ordained and consecrated Bishop." The Primate then demanded the mandate for the consecration, which, nol being the Queen's mandate required by the rubric, was a form drawn up by the Chancellor of the Diocese The oath " touching the acknowledgment of the Queen's supremacy" was

omitted, and instead of the " oath of due obedience to the Archbishop," the following was read by the Bishop elect : — In the name of God— Amen. I, Samuel Tarratt Nevill, chosen Bishop of the Church and See of Dunedin, do promise and profess all due reverence and obedience to the Primate of the Provincial Church of New Zealand, and to his successors, The Primate then, offer giving the exhortation, read the Litany, inserting the proper suffrage and special prayer. Then, sitting in the chair, he addressed the usual questions to the Bishop-elect, who replied in a low voice, which was barely audible in many parts of the church. In the question — "Will you maintain and set forward, as much as shall lie in you, quietness, love, and peace among all men ; and such as be unquiet, disobedient, and oriminous, within your Diocese, correct and punish, according to such authority aa you have by God's Word, and as to you shall he committed hj the Ordinances of the Realm ?" the words it allowed were omitted. Then, the Primate, standing up, offered up the short prayer imploring strength and grace for the Bishop-elect to perform the vows he had just taken on him. The latter having put on the rest of the Episcopal habit, knelt down, and the " Veni Creator Spirilus" was sung over him After the prayer which follows, the Primate and Bishops placed their hands on his head, the former saving the words appointed to be said at the imposition of hands. The silence in the Church at this moment was almost painful. The Primnte Ihon presented the newly con secrated Bishop with the Bible, and the service shortly afterwards terminated. The Communion Service followed, in which the Bishop of Dunedin, with the other Bishops and members of the congregation, communicated. — " Otago Daily Times."