SYNOD.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XXI, Issue 15, 1 November 1931, Page 2

SYNOD.

It is, perhaps, not without significance that Synod closed its first session after the earthquake with the singing of the Te Deum, an unusual ending to its proceedings. There was indeed much for which to be thankful. The new church had just been consecrated, standing within the foundations of the beautiful old Cathedral. The session had been held in the restored Synod Hall, a possibility which a few months before had not even been contemplated. The harmony and fellowship which had always characterised its members seemed to have been deepened by common adversity. A hopeful outlook on the future was illustrated by the fact that the quotas for missions, increased by £366 to meet necessary expansion in the Mission Field, had been accepted by the parishes without a single protest. A sincere and deter-

mined effort had been made to extend the spiritual activities of the Diocese on the one hand to meet the need for religious education among children in the country districts', and on the other to develope the social work of the Church Army among those hitherto out of touch with the life of the.. Church. This note of thankfulness and courage was struck at the opening of Synod in St. John's Church on October 15th, when the Bishop delivered his charge. It was a wonderful service, and the rolling out of the men's voices in Merbecke's beautiful setting had been an inspiration. As one entered the Church one was amazed at the beauty of it, all the interior work having been carried out with the utmost taste, and, above all, by the homeliness of it. One marvelled at the atmosphere until recollection came of the love and sacrifice that had built up and beautified the old Cathedral, and, above all, of the courage and faith that at the time of the earthquake had triumphed so signally over the fear of death. The building itself was new; only in imagination could one find again the Cathedral's stately pillars and splendid arches, the long mysterious windows filling the building with red and purple tones, and the soft note of green where the climbing Virginia creeper pressed its exquisite face against the windows, representing the same gentle approach of Nature to her Maker as when the patient animals stood wondering about the Infant Saviour of the world. But the spirit behind the old Cathedral, enshrined in a building not made with hands, could now be felt in the Church of St. John. One felt at last that the pall of misery which had hung so heavily over everything had been lifted, and that the benediction of God had fallen upon Napier. The brass lectern, many of the old mural tablets, the East window, reaching almost to the roof, which was to have been erected in memory of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Coleman, and which so fortunately escaped the earthquake, and, above all, the familiar figure of the Dean, preserved the memory of the older building. THE CONSECRATION SERVICE. On Synod Sunday the consecration of the new Church took place. The Bishop, attended by his Chaplain, Archdeacon Maclean, was received at

the west door by the Clergy, Churchwardens and some of the principal members of the congregation, where & petition was presented to him asking that the Church should be consecrated. On the petition being read aloud the Bishop consented, and after a few words of prayer, entered the Church, the procession following him. Here the key of the Church was handed to him, and the Bishop prayed for peace "to this House" from the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. He thenproceeded to the altar, upon which he laid the key, Psalm 24 being sung as the procession advanced. After a space for silent prayer the Veni Creator (Hymn 157) was sung, all the congregation kneeling, after which the Bishop prayer that God wpuld fill "this House . . . with everlasting light, adorn it with heavenly gifts, make it a haven for the tempest-tossed, a place of healing for those that suffer, a refuge for the sick, and a , house of defence against all our enemies." Then the Bishop, with the Vicar and Churchwardens, proceeded round the Church. At the Chancel steps he asked for God's blessing upon those who should there be confirmed or joined together in Holy Marriage. At the Lectern he prayed that the reading of the Holy Scriptures might be heard with meekness; and at the Pulpit that the true Word of God might ba loved by the Church, and both preached and believed. At the Choir Stalls he prayed that God would uplift the hearts of those who led the praises of His people; and at the Sanctuary steps for those who should there receive "the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ." After consecrating the Altar for "the celebration of the Holy Mysteries, wherein we show forth the perpetual memorial of the most blessed Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ," he dedicated a beautiful East window, a representation of the Nativity, in memory of James Henry and Hanna Coleman, which had been designed for the old Cathedral, and had notarrived in Napier until after the earthquake. After asking that God would hallow all those things used in the service of the altar, the Bishop prayed for the divine blessing upon priests and people; and then, seating himself in his chair, before the altar, ordered the Sentence of Consecration to be read. After this had been done he signed it, and ordered it to be

preserved among the muniments of the Diocese. He then, by virtue of his sacred office in the Church of God, declared the Church to be consecrated under the name of St. John the Evangelist, to the glory of the ever-blessed Trinity. The Celebration was taken by the Rev. R. T. Hall, Vicar of Otane, and the sermon preached by the Venerable Archdeacon Maclean. THE SERMON. The Church of St. John, he said, standing new and fresh among the ruins of Napier, preached its own sermon. It was a city hard hit in hard times. It had been overwhelmed with sorrow and suffering, and had seen ruin staring it in the face. What waa its great need? A big grant from the Government? A rise in the price of wool and butter? Those things would bring help where help was needed, but they did not, and could not, supply the first need. "The first need actually, really practical," he said, "is expressed in this new little church and the new Presbyterian Church a few yards 1 away, standing indomitably under the shadow of the ruins of their new big ruined church. These new churches stand together for the great fact that what we need first of all, if Napier is to live again, is God; they stand for the undefeated witness to the everliving faith, in the strength of which men can rebuild the essentials of a good life." A great deal, he continued, rested on those- who served and those who used that church, for it lay with them to give it the meaning and the value of the truth behind its building. In it must centre that effort which was most of all needed in the land to-day — the effort to put the worship of God back in its true and essential place. "We live in a time when many, even among professed Christians, look upon worship in church as an optional thing, to be indulged in if you feel like it, but not at all necessary. That is, I am sure, only a surface opinion built on personal slackness and on an experience of services that have not seemed to them real acts of worship. You can test the real mind of the church easily. In a growing country district directly sufficient Christians have moved in to be conscious that there is the beginning of a Christian community, what is the first thing

they say to express their religion? The first thing is : 'We must have a service,' or 'We must build a church.' "Here in this shattered parish, what by common consent was the first essential to rebuild its effective Christian life? It was to rebuild the church. And these things are so because at bottom we are conscious that the natural expression of the reality of our religion is that we should worship God together. The Lord Jesus did not train His disciples 1 separately. He called them out, away from their work and their homes, that they might learn and experience Him together; not learning only from Him indirectly, but learning directly from Him and also learning of Him indirectly through each other." Christ/he went on, did not leave His adherents to practise His teacfiing in isolation. He gathered them into a brotherhood, gave them one supreme service of worship which was in its essence a service of fellowship, and made the great gift of the on© Spirit to the one brotherhood gathered together. "This modern heresy, that worship in church is an unimportant, optional thing, is in flat contradiction to the teaching of the. New Testament. It lies with us who hold that clearly to express it clearly and to rest our conviction on the deepest, truest ground, namely, that our first duty and our first need before any works of charity or social service even, our first duty and our first need is the worship of God. "But if we are to restore worship to its true place in our common life there is a clear and definite responsibility laid on us clergy and on laity who take an active part and an active interest in our church services. We must make our own services real acts of living worship. Our services 1 must not be the faithful performance of a familiar routine; they must be living worship, and a living thing is full of change. We should be prepared to welcome that natural change and development which is the normal expression of life that is really alive. "We must concentrate on making our services real acts of worship; that those who share in them may go away feeling above all else that they have had an experience of God, and that to achieve this everything else must take second place. "If we are to make a real effort

to supply what our church life and our national life need, I am conviced, more than anything else it will ask of us and specially of you and me, my fellow-priests, a strenuous endeavour so to live in God's presence that we may be open to His guidance. We who are priests have this terrible responsibility: that by our slackness or ignorance or indifference, or timidity in the face of ignorance we can virtually kill every act of worship in our parishes. We must seek God with our whole heart, desiring only His glory and asking for His wisdom and guidance. If we will do this with all our hearts we need not fear the result. "Here in this church on the day of its consecration I would ask your prayers for those who will minister here, for the clergy first, our brethren on whofn rests the heaviest responsibility, for the vestry, the choir and all who work and worship here, that they may so wholeheartedly seek God that He may be able through them to make this house truly a house of His presence and that so God's children may be able to find here the blessing He desires to give. "Thus may this humble church find its glory, and if we will have it so, we can echo the words of Haggai about the new little humble temple among the ruins of Jerusalem: 'The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts, and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts.'" THE EVENING SERVICE. The dominant note at the evening service, when the Church was once more filled to over-flowing, was one of thanksgiving and hopefulness for the future. The preacher was the Venerable Archdeacon Chatterton, whose sermon we hope to publish in our next issue.