The Choice of a New Bishop.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume II, Issue 2, 1 August 1911, Page 24

The Choice of a New Bishop.

The appointment of a successor to Bishop Wilson is likely to be .delayed by a lew months. As previously announced, it was resolved at a meeting of the staff at Norfolk Island to delegate the choice to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of S. Albans, and Canon Still. It was supposed at the time that the consent of the whole staff at headquarters sufficed to make the delegation authoritative, as soon as it should have been reported to the Bishops of the New Zealand Church, to which Province the Diocese of Melanesia belongs. Soon afterwards, however, a somewhat enigmatical cable message was received from Bishop Julius, of Christchurch, Acting Prima'e of the New Zealand Church, consisting of the words: " Delegation irregular." This has since been explained to mean that the Bishops of New Zealand cannot accept the delegation of the appointment to England by the staff at Norfolk Island as valid until all the Missionaries m the Islands have had an opportunity of expressing their opinion. Consequently, Bishop Wilson will have to collect signatures to the delegation m the Islands, and when this process is complete, to send them to the Bihliop of Christchurch j who will then oable to England the necessary authority for the delegates to proceed with the choice of a Bishop. There is no reason to think that the opinions from the Islands will m any way differ from that of the Norfolk Island staff, and it is probable that the signatures will be sent m by July. One can see that the New Zealand Bishops are entirely right m principle. When the appointment of a successor to Bishop John Selwyn . was delegated to England, virtually the whole staff was assembled at Norfolk Island for the summer season, and the absence of one or two might be regarded as accidental. Now, however, times have changed ; several of the Staff are rarely, if ever, seen at Norfolk Island, so that an expression of opinion coming only from Norfolk Island cannot properly claim to be ipjso facto, that of the whole body. ,;..'■." —The English Log. .From a recent issue of The Log we learn that an important meeting of the Clergy has been held at Tulagi, m the Solomon Islands, to consider the course of action to be taken, m consequence of the '. resignation of

Bishop Wilson, with regard to the appointment of his successor. It has been agreed by the staff m the islands, and those also at Norfolk Island, to. delegate the election of the Bishop to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of S. Albans, and to Canon Still, a former member of the Mission now m the Home Country. We pray they may be guided to a right choice. Bishop Wilson conducted a Quiet Bay for. the Clergy, and for three days the Conference and its several Committees were m session. . Archdeacon Cullwick has been ap* pointed to administer the Diocese during the vacancy of the See. An address of farewell to Bishop Wilson -was moved by the Rev. B. Paiey Wilson