The Bishop of Christchurch.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XVII, Issue 5, 1 November 1926, Page 6

The Bishop of Christchurch.

ON THE 1 ' 'Speaking at the Christchurch Synod m September the Bishop said 'he spoke somewhat' diffidently oni so thorny a question., He had come to ;; N.Z. after a study of, the Constitution expecting ito find' it 'different: rifrdm

what it wa»— -he expected to find a rigid adherence to the rubrics of the P.B. reminiscent of the days of good 'Queen Victoria. He had Veen disillusioned. ' 'My fears were groundless. ' ' By the use of good sense and wise dispositions, he found, the P.B. had not been revised, but accommodated — (the House rocked with amusement at the thrust). He had been delighted rather than appalled to find such good sense, liberty and liberality of .thought m the N.Z. Church. But here was a great and growing Church, whose influence is extending beyond the Dominion to the Mission field. He found it ''tied to an historical corpse." "The United Church of England and Ireland died 50 years -ago and to be tied to a corpse for 50 jears must be a very unpleasant experience. It would seem that the -olfactory properties of the Churchmen m N.Z. are rather blunted, since they Jiave not moved before. ' ' Suppose JSelwyn's great shade had come into that building and found that for reverence for him the N.Z. Church had gone on worshipping this dead and gone thing? It was not the Fundamental clauses that made him greathe lived m an age when disestablishment was unthought of— -valued it more than the highest leaders of -Church thought do to-day. He thought the shade of Selwyn should not be invoked m defence! of his Fundamentals, rather he thought Splwyn would have realised that the circumstances had changed. The Bishop believed revision m N.Z, Was most unlikely. "'Hardly any one wishes to go On tied to the United Church of England and Ireland— -that anachronism must go." (Applause). He saw no reason for a self-denying ordinance tying ourselves up to Mother for fear of doing something foolish, and never doing anything for ourselves. If it Was offered *s an act of loyalty to England and the English Church, he could assure 'them it would not be appreciated m England. The Church or tne man ■afraid of the open door, afraid of making mistakes, never made anything. The men of the next generation would thank them if they faced the situation boldly. "Do the right thing now, and, leave the future to tlod the Holy Spirit!"