Diocese of Waiapu.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 10, 1 April 1914, Page 131

Diocese of Waiapu.

The following address was presented to the Bishop by the Commissary on the day following the Service of Consecration. Napier, Febifuaty 23rd, 1914, To William Walmsley, Bishop of Waiapu. My Lord, I have been asked by the Standing Committee to welcome your Lordship on behalf of the Diocese and to convey to you an assurance of our loyalty and affection. We are fully aware of the burden which we have placed upon you m electing you as our Bishop, and we are grateful to you for your acceptance of that burden. The office of a Bishop is everywhere one of much difficulty and of the gravest responsibility ; while m addition to these cares of a general nature each Diocese provides its own peculiar difficulties and problems. The Diocese of Waiapu, founded m 1859, was originally a purely missionary one, and the first four Synods were conducted m the Maori tongue. The addition, m 186S, of the Province of Hawke'fe Bay introduced a considerable Pakeha element. This European element now predominates but the missionary character of the Diocese is by no means lost. The condition af the Church among both Pakehas and Maoris is one of rapid change. Towns are springing up, settlement m the country is spreading as never before, Church life among the Maoris is becoming consolidated, and increased opportunities are being opened up for reaching the nonChristian Maoris, while the changed conditions call urgently for steps to be taken m the gradual fusion, without loss to either of the English and Maori portions of the Church. These important facts provide each their serious problems demanding wise solution, and the brunt of the work will fall, My Lord, upon you. At the same time we realise that you look for, and are entitled to our co-operation, and we are ready to do our part. That part consists^ m the first place of earnest prayers' to Almighty God that He will grant you strength and wisdom for

the task, and further m placing ourselves at your disposal m working out your plans for the furtherance of His Glory. HERBERT W r . WILLIAMS. Commissary.