Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Anglican Diocese Of Auckland

Anglican Diocese Of Auckland. The population of the Anglcian diocese of Auckland is estimated at 80,000, and the yearly offerings amount in the aggregate to about £9000, but the total annual receipts from all sources are £17,000. In the city the stipends of the clergy average £350 per annum, with a house. The stipends of the country clergy are in many cases supplemented by grants from the Country Clergy Fund, and contributions from town congregations. Maori clergy in priests' orders receive £60 a year, with house, made up by grants from the Church Missionary Society. The stipend of the Diocesan Missionary is paid out of the Home Mission Fund; he gives his whole time to visiting outlying parts of the diocese where there are no resident clergy. There is a diocesan clergy pension fund subscribed to by the clergy and by the parishes. The bishopric endowment consists of £11,500, and land estimated in value at about £4000; the bishop's stipend is £660 per annum. The bishop's house, known as Bishopscourt, was built by the first Bishop, Dr. G. A. Selwyn, in 1863, on a very beautiful site of four acres purchased by him in 1842. It stands about 200 feet above the sea, and has an extensive view over the harbour, and beyond it, as far as the islands of Kawau and Little Barrier, and Cape Colville. The Cathedral library is attached to Bishopscourt, and contains a large number of valuable theological works, including the best editions of the Greek and Latin Fathers. Many of these books were presented to Bishop Selwyn by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and by school and college friends of his, such as Mr. Gladstone and Lord Selborne. The chapel forming part of Bishopscourt is of much interest, and was the place of meeting for men and women interested in missionary work in New Zealand or the Islands of Melanesia, in the time of Bishop Selwyn and Bishop Patteson. Close to Bishopscourt there is a beautiful and extensive estate, which was purchased by Bishop Selwyn as the site of a Cathedral and of buildings connected therewith. At present the Cathedral Building Fund is about nil. Since 1870, more than eighty new churches have been crected in the diocese, including small Maori buildings. The active clergy number about eighty, including natives. The church property includes the Maori school, St. Stephen's, Parnell, with an endowment of over £500 a year; the Parnell Grammar School estate, with £200 a year; St. John's College estate, yielding £1250 a year; the Melanesian Mission estate, with an income of £2000; and the general church trust estate, with £500 a year. Once a year the diocesan synod meets in St. Mary's Hall, Parnell, and consists of the Bishop, licensed clergy, and elected lay representatives. The diocesan offices are in the Victoria Arcade, Mr. Cochrane being diocesan secretary.