The first session of the seventh Anglican Diocesan Synod was opened at the Chamber of Commerce this afternoon.

Bishop Nevill delivered the following address:—

Dear brethren of the clergy and of the laity—

Regarding the address to the Synod as an annual opportunity of speaking to the whole diocese as well as to the special representatives thereof, I have been wont to take advantage of the opportunity to touch upon broad questions of principle or of ecclesiastical relation, the recognition of which should operate to deliver us from the cramping and belittling influence of local questions or temporary accidents. Pursuing this plan, I propose, before entering upon the record of diocesan events, to dwell somewhat Upon some necessary fundamental principles, which, though they lie deep down as the basis of our work, are not on that account to be lost sight of, but rather to be discovered as continually approaching the surface in practical bearings of the utmost importance to the very existence of our organisation—just, as the plutonic rocks, which form the very nucleus of the earth, protrude colossal arms in mountain chains and cliffs, which protect the lighter soils from the fury of the elements.

The Church a Spiritual Organisation.

Suffer me, then, on this occasion to remind you of the first great characteristic of the Church, viz., that she is a spiritual organisation—a character which will be so freely acknowledged that I am in danger of being charged with the utterance of a mere truism; but I am not so satisfied that this, her essential character, is always clearly present to the minds of her members; and I am only too well aware that the proper consequences of this fact are far from being accepted or even page break perceived. I wish to point out a mistake into which many fall in the application of those passages of holy Scripture which assert this spirituality, or argue from it as an admitted fact; these passages are habitually applied as though they only had reference to the Church in her supernatural relations and not to her material relations or moral condition. If we are told that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal," perhaps we think of the Church as militant against the Devil and his angels, but forget the world and the flesh. If we call to mind that conquest is declared to be "not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts," we take the conquest as referring to besetting sins or our manifold temptations, forgetting that these words were spoken on behalf of a prince of the ancient ecclesia who greatly needed support amid the very material obstacles which obstructed his building of the temple of God. When Christ said "My Kingdom is not of this world," surely no one supposes that he was speaking of the heavens and the angelic hosts; and if he was speaking of the ecclesia which the kletoi would form upon earth He was insisting upon its essential character, notwithstanding the fact, surely not unknown to Him, that the Church must ever be constituted of physical agents as well as evermore affected by material conditions. I cannot largely unfold, in such an address, the processes by which that which is natural becomes subordinated to that which is spiritual, but the case of the individual member of the kingdom illustrates sufficiently the nature of the whole. Christ's religion, into the fellowship of which we are admitted, is not to be regarded as a mere compact between two more or less independent beings for considerations which induce them thus to combine, but is rather the incorporation of the nature of the one into that of the other, Incarnate Deity being the means of this incorporation and eternal energising Spirit the instrument thereof. Thus of the individual it is said "your life is hid with Christ in God," and it is because thus united with the heavenly Head that we derive power to will and act in obedience to the will of Christ. What is true of the part is true of the whole. What is the mystical body but an aggregation of material bodies and immaterial souls, spiritualised by this mystical union that is betwixt Christ and His Church in the extension to, and penetration of, all by the living and life-giving Christ?

I repeat then, that the essential characteristic of the Church is that she is a spiritual organisation, having indeed relations on every hand with natural and even material things, which natural and material things she is not to despise and reject, but these, though they be rather her accidents than her nature, she is yet to interpenetrate and sanctify.

How wide-reaching, brother clergy and beloved laity, is this great principle to which I have drawn your attention. How constantly, too, it must present itself in the practical details of our work. If the kingdom be spiritual, then must the laws of the kingdom be spiritual, not carnal; and I say this in full recognition of the fact that we are flesh and blood, and that we have to do with such things as title deeds and money—that clergy need support, and that laity are called on for effort and should exhibit wisdom and care. I am no solifidian—I do not put an idle expression of faith in the place of a rational observation of our natural surroundings, and of prudent action in accordance with the same; but I do think this great spiritual institution is in danger if, instead of a bold adherence to her magnificent prerogative of spiritual principles, which reach to the very source of all power and might, she begins to rely upon petty maxims of worldly policy and to feel safe only when hedged about by resolutions and statutes, framed oftentimes to meet the circumstances, real or imaginary, of the moment, whereas those very laws of carnal commandment may themselves, at the next revolution of the wheel of time, become a weakness and a snare. Egypt, in sacred figure, always represents the world, and Israel the spiritual kingdom; and the warning description which God gives of Egypt to Israel is that she is as a broken reed, which, if a man lean thereon, she will go into his hand and pierce it. In like manner, I do believe that when the Church of Christ turns from His law of love and sacred influences to the minutiæ of minatory regulations she is not providing that her body may be rent.

I am not without perception of the kind of answers which might be offered to these reflections; but I pass on, only pleading that they may not be misapprehended. Suffer me, indeed, by anticipation, to make the same pica for that which I proceed to say, for I have not yet done with the application of my proposition. It falls to my lot, dear brethren, both clerical and lay, from some peculiarities which appertain to it, to sow principles which need sowing, though they may not bring forth fruit till after my departure. I think it needful to emphasise as strongly as I can

The True Nature of the Church,

in order that all may perceive for themselves its essential distinction from all mere wordly institutions and organisations. These exist for special objects. Their purview does not extend beyond the particular object, scientific or financial, which they are constituted to promote; the presiding officers of those societies rightly confine their attention to financial or other special considerations. Now, if the parallel be allowed between such institutions as are alluded to by the Church, the true lesson to be derived from that parallel is widely different from that which we are accustomed to see presented for what is the prime object of the Church? If it be a divinely-formed page break institution for restoring men to their allegiance to the government of God, then the very same arguments which make it right for the manager of a commercial institution to present a report to his Constituents bearing upon the affairs in which they are interested makes it right for the priest in his parish, or the bishop in his Synod to treat-it may be deeply and largely and widely—on whatsoever things pertain to the Kingdom of God. But truly, dear friends, this is not all. I dare not say that the parallel, which is too apt to be taken for granted amongst us, is a true parallel at all. If so; what becomes of all that fabric of spiritual and ministerial gifts upon which Christ and His Apostles insist so strongly, and which are Unquestionably declared to be bestowed upon the officers of the spiritual kingdom, as indeed in their measure upon every member of the same? That spiritual rule which St. Paul recognised that he had received, though not from man, he suffered no man to interfere with; and let it be noted that, whatever be the true fountain of authority in earthly government, the source in the heavenly kingdom is heavenly, and floweth onwards from above These are distinctions which we should observe, and which, failing to observe, we are sure to get wrong, and to introduce, a clash of opposing principles, and therefore discord where there should be harmony. This must be so, believe me, because the Church was founded upon the principles I have laid down, and because she has, amid all the confusions of her contact with the world, maintained till now a hold upon those principles and if we in our corner of the spiritual kingdom are to proceed upon another idea, we shall be brought at every point into contact, if not with the canons of the Church, at least with her common law, which goes back directly to the theory of the Church herself. All this, therefore, is intensely practical—nothing can be more so—and for this reason I earnestly beg your unprejudiced attention to what I have advanced. If I have spoken boldly, with a courage which perhaps some will accuse of rashness, it is because these teachings may challenge study, and because there is ground for thinking them required.

The Church Always Democratic.

But I must notice the reply which is sure to be offered to the argument I have set forth. It amounts to this: "What the Bishop has said smacks of a long time ago. It is very likely a true description of the first few centuries of Christianity, but it won't do for modern ideas; and, if the Church does not adapt herself to modern Ideas she will have to go. When learning was confined to the clergy it was all very well for them to be a privileged class, but now that education has made many of the laity their equals or superiors this must give way." I feel sure that such thoughts will find place in some minds.

I am aware that some Clergy at Home have gained an easy popularity by asserting that as the age is democratic, and each year yields its tribute to the power of the people, therefore the Church must trim her sails to become democratic too. I differ from such persons in this, that I hold that the Church always has been, in the best sense, a democratic institution. The end of her being is the highest good for the greatest number. Every reader of history knows that even in the darkest days she was the best friend the people bad. The question really is as to the arrangements for the attainment of the end in view and the principles upon Which those arrangements are founded and if you allow that the arrangements and principles of which I have been speaking are scriptural and primitive, we have surely warrant for believing that the highest welfare of the people will be best attained by faithful action upon the same lines. Then as to the relation between clergy and laity being so much affected by the advance of education in modern times, there is much false reasoning and misapprehension on this matter. There was, no doubt, considerable disparity between the laity and clergy in the Middle Ages as to educational acquirements; but if we go further back this inequality to no small extent will disappear. The page of the profane historian shows us the social condition of those amongst whom the Christian Church was planted, and the pictures which display an almost luxurious wealth of the products of art, and science, and literature, a scarcely yet exceeded attainment of oratorical power, forensic ability, and spirit of philosophical inquiry in those Grecian and Roman cities which were the cradle of our religion; and when we remember that St. Paul could report from Rome that his converts were chiefly those of Cæsar's household, I cannot think that it was on account of any social or educational inferiority that the power of voting in the ancient Synods of the Church was limited to the superior orders of the ministry. In a former address I pointed out that the ministers of the primitive Church must have been quite as dependent upon the free-will offerings of the people for their support, and the carrying out of their work, as they are now in such a diocese as ours. I proceed to add that I believe that the laity were then as nearly the intellectual equals of the clergy as they are to-day. If we observe, then, a reverential abstinence from the exercise of their power it must have been, I think, at the first at least, a self-imposed abnegation arising from their recognition of the diversities of charismata which were bestowed upon the many members of the one body.

Status of the Laity.

The lay members of the Church in all colonial dioceses have been encouraged, as we all know, to exercise an equal voice, both deliberative and definitive, with any page break other order. This has never been so before in the history of the Church, and the call to the laity to exercise their voice, is now almost unanimous throughout the Anglican communion. The change is but of yesterday, and I think it speaks volumes for the right feeling of the laity that such a change has brought with it so little of a revolutionary character. They have had no special training—indeed the most magnificent field of study open to mortal minds, known as theology, has been of late looked upon by most laymen with suspicion, or avoided as positively injurious—a result explicable only upon the hypothesis that they have come to regard as theology the narrow definitions and warped conclusions of certain modern systems instead of finding in theology the length and breadth and depth and height of a knowledge which passes knowledge, a science which is at once the mother and sum of all sciences, and which even the great Stagirite, heathen as he was, recognised as queen of all. I repeat, this world-wide introduction of the lay vote is absolutely new, and were the laity in a carnal spirit to push to an extreme the power they possess without the study and devout preparation such responsibility demands, there would be infinite danger to the more delicate, but nevertheless vital, structures of the spiritual body and consequent injury to the functions of the same. Nor does the danger stop here. It sometimes happens that the clergy themselves, moved by the laudable desire for the sympathetic co-operation of the lay brethren, are tempted to put aside, if not altogether to surrender, points with which they suspect what is called the lay mind is not in harmony. I am quite sure that this is wrong. I repudiate all distinctions of kind between the lay mind and the clerical—"For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body, and have been made to drink into one Spirit"—the difference is only of degree, and, if I may allude to myself for a moment, having in my past career received credit for enlisting to a more than usual extent the intelligent co-operation of my lay people entirely on the lines of our Church's teaching, I may say that it was always by recognising this truth. I am always hurt when I hear any talking about "conciliating the laity." I think the laity have a right to feel insulted by such language; it argues that we think that they can never be anything but "carnal and walk as men." The right thing to do, O consecrated priest, is in private and tender communication to display, as Christ to Nicodemus, the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, which it is given you by office and opportunity to know. I have seldom met with anything but gratitude, and sometimes with an almost awful solemnising of whole man—as these things begin to possess the mind and spirit, such will grasp them with that trembling yet glad avidity which proves that the fountains of the great depths of the soul have been broken into, and the truths of God's unseen world in their Wondrous relations have entered into vital power and all-adjusting influence.

Dear friends, I hope my meaning is sufficiently clear to all. I trust my words will give offence to none; nay, let these words sink down into your ears. I have prepared this part of my address with care and almost on my knees. Many will think there is but little in it, and that all might have been comprised in a few sentences; yet, I will ask you not hastily to dismiss these words: the principles involved will bear on many a motion which now or hereafter will be brought before the Synod. And I will add that should any desire, as I hope they will, to enter more fully into the study of the Church, her character, and powers, they may get much help from books already to be found in the small theological library: which I have founded, and which, I trust, will before long be located in Dunedin, but which until that time may be obtained by application to myself.

"Of the things of which I have spoken this is the sum." "If we live in the spirit"—kingdom, "let us also walk in the spirit"—rule. Framing and using our canons and resolutions in this light, they will be to us rather helpful directions than penal enactments or irrefragible laws; not that a decision of the Synod may be lightly set aside—on the contrary, in the view I have put forth every such decision becomes invested with a weight of sacred obligation, which can never belong to any penal law, and that though the subject-matter of the regulation appear to be very secular or of trifling importance, it is surely on this principle that the first Synod brought in the sacred name of the Holy Ghost in the decision of such a matter as the eating of things killed strangling or of blood.

This recognition of our spiritual character should greatly solemnise our action and purify our motives, and it should cause each order in the Synod to accord due honor to the other as invested with some special qualification for the benefit of all; and if the laity hare now been asked to come and use their gift, surely they will never try to secularise the Kingdom of God, but rather to spiritualise themselves. It is the whole Church which has asked them to come and which welcomes them as parts of the spirit-bearing body. Thus acting together, without suspicion, without covert desire of one to curtail the authority of another, but "of one accord, of one mind," we shall regain the influence as we regain the spirit which animated the primitive councils of the Church—an influence which was never greater than when she had no power to enforce her law other than the power of obedience to the law of love. This is the testimony of the Abbé Fleury, and with his description of the ancient Synods I close this part of my address. He says: "They were religions acts, and those who took part in them were page break guided by the will of God as read in His Word and exhibited in the simultaneous practice of the Catholic Church. There was neither struggle for pre-eminence, nor unfair advantage taken of opponents; modesty of opinion was accompanied with deference for the thoughts and spiritual experiences of others; the wisest counsels were honestly sought and loyally carried into practice. Mutual respect as a bond of union gave to such assemblies an immense force. The placita of such counsels easily obtained the force of law even beyond the limits of legitimate authority."

A Year's Retrospect.

I now turn from considerations of Church polity to a review of our diocesan history since my last synodical address, and, by the Divine goodness, I am able to do so with no little satisfaction. The year has, indeed, been one of much anxiety, from reasons too Well known to all; but, if the strain has been great, self-denying effort has hitherto proved equal to the task. It would be something to say that we have not lost ground; but I am devoutly thankful to be able to say more. There has been a distinct advance both in the extent of our work and in the solidarity of it. I desire to draw your attention to some of the evidence upon which this remark is founded. Since last we met I have not only been able, as usual, to visit all the settled parishes and parochial districts, but to go in careful detail round the very outer verge of our population. I visited from house to house the inhabitants of Orepuki, on Te Wae-wae Bay, in the extreme south-west; afterwards, in the course of four days spent in the saddle, I called upon all the members of our communion in and around Otautau, and, crossing over into the Waiau Valley, did the same at every house in Feldwick, and visited the stations near the Takitimo Mountains. On the north, inquiring in a similar manner at Wanaka, I found that a decided majority of the people there claimed to belong to our Church. I was subsequently able to spend a night at Duntroon on the Waitaki, and another at Livingstone. At this place I was met by the Rev. H. J. Davis, who, with great courage and no small trouble, led a horse for me twenty-five miles over the difficult pass under Mount Domett, known as Danzies Pass. Accompanying Mr Davis back again over this pass, I was able, at Naseby, to resume my ordinary work. At all the places have mentioned a great desire was expressed for the visitation of a clergyman, and at not a few of them I held services which were well attended. The results of my inquiries, and of the canvass for support which I set on foot, justified me in breaking fresh ground at Orepuki and Otautau, which I attached to the cure of Riverton; and from reports with which I have been recently furnished those portions of the Riverton charge appear to be fulfilling the promises made.

It will be seen from the statistical record which I append to this address that I confirmed during the year 253 individuals, which makes the total number confirmed by me in this diocese exceed 2,000. As to the clergy, one, the Rev. T. L. Stanley, has left the diocese. His genial bearing and generous conduct ensured his having many friends. Several of the charges held at various times during the fifteen years of his work here involved considerable exposure and hardship, and his name will always he associated with a loving care and refined taste lavishly bestowed upon any church and its surroundings placed in his custody. The Rev. H. J. Davies, who greatly needed rest, has been allowed to visit England; and the Rev. J. D. Knipe, M.A., is acting as his substitute. Besides having advanced the Revs M'Kenzie Gibson and F. W. Martin to priests' orders, I have received six clergymen into the diocese in the course of the year, which gives us an increase of five for this year, and of fourteen since my return to the diocese at the end of 1879. Of these clergy it may not be invidious to mention that the Rev. F. G. M. Powell, M.A., was selected by a commission in England for the parish of St. Matthew's; and that the Rev. T. Lloyd Keating, M.A., has, by his past services to this diocese, insured the welcome back to a seat in the Synod which I am sure will be fully accorded. I have been able to effect, with the consent of all concerned, certain modifications of districts, in virtue of which the Rev. J. Hobbs has recommenced clerical ministrations in Tapanui; the Rev. W. Ronaldson has exchanged Green Island for Mornington; and after Christmas, Cromwell, which has depended for some time past upon the very praiseworthy exertions of the lay reader (Mr E. H. Logan), will receive assistance from the clergyman to be placed at Clyde. With regard to Tapanui, I may add that at my last visit I made arrangements for the systematic gathering of subscriptions, as well as revived the action of the ladies' guild; and, as a result of these efforts, I have been led to believe that both current expenses and past liabilities, however incurred, will be duly discharged.

The negotiations for the appointment of a clergyman to Milton and the districts connected with it are not yet completed, but may be so in a few days. I held a private interview with the members of the Vestry of Milton last week; but there regains a point upon which it will be necessary for me to consult the Standing Committee.

Our instrumentalities have been augmented by the opening of two churches for Divine service during the year. Within three days of each other I dedicated the small church of the Holy Saviour, at Mataura, in the district of the Rev. Mr Hobbs, and "The Place of the Heavenly Assembly," at Puketeraki, within the cure of the Rev. Mr Sotham. These churches were practically free from debt—the former entirely so; and the latter was so in effect, as before the dedication I received the pledge of my excellent friend Mr Thomas Pratt, M.H.R., page break that he would hold himself responsible for what remained. The occasion of the opening of this church for the Maoris was a most interesting one, and many Natives came from a great distance to be present—some as far as from Timaru. Mr Wynter Blathwaite, at great expense and labor to himself, kindly acts as lay reader for this church, and also for the one at Moeraki. I have spoken thus far of the extension of our work and the agencies for carrying it on, but I ventured to say that the past year had witnessed not only the expansion but solidification of our enterprises. In a most true sense, indeed, these ideas are not so distinct as might at first sight appear, for surely every additional clergyman, church, or school-house—such as the one ere long to be opened in St. Matthew's parish, of which I should like to say more—all these, I say, are most valuable contributions both to the extension and solidification of our work; even the acquisition of sites for churches, such as the valuable ones lately acquired at Riversdale and Fortrose—the one by gift, and the other by purchase—are, so far, additions to our strength. But confining our attention to the financial aspect of the question, there has been a good deal accomplished in the course of the year. The Diocesan Trusts Board reports the paying off of outstanding liabilities on general expenses account, and that the income of the general clergy maintenance fund has increased; and I am myself able to inform you that there is scarcely a parish or district in the diocese in which special sums have not been raised since last we met for one purpose or another, and not unfrequently for the reduction of debts upon fabrics. The fancy fair contributed in no unimportant measure to this end for our City and suburban parishes, the total release from debt by this effort being L1,093. Several of these parishes have also still further reduced their indebtedness by the less public means. The exceeding liberality of Mr Ritchie and some others has enabled me to claim the grant from S.P.C.K. which was made to St. Martin's Church in the North-east Valley on the usual conditions of thus freeing the church and its site from debt. L415 was the sum raised on this account. There still remains an encumbrance, however, upon other portions of that property. The mortgage upon the little church at Ravensbourne also fell due a few months ago and the money was demanded. I am thankful to be able to say that through the kind exertions of Mr Porter and others that money (L400) was paid off, and much more satisfactory arrangements made. Many outstanding accounts of that church have been discharged, and the improved attendance and offertories, notwithstanding the pressure of the times, has relieved my mind of anxiety as to the future of that enterprise.

To speak of more distant parishes. The Rev. Mr Gifford has collected L200, and therewith paid off the debt which remained upon St. Luke's parsonage, Oamaru, and efforts are at this time being made to reduce the debt of L650 upon the church. The liberal gifts of Mr William Fenwick, Mr Teschemaker, and others will, it is expected, shortly supply us with a new church at Maheno free of debt, greatly to the comfort and, I trust, advantage of the energetic clergyman of the district—MrCruden. The Rev. Mr Dodd has again distinguished himself by enlisting the earnest support of a poor population, and thereby paying off the remainder of the building debts of the churches of St. Mark's (Balclutha) and St. Peter's (Clinton), in addition to which the mortgage upon the parsonage has been reduced by L200. One-half of this was the gift of a lady in England obtained by Mr W. F. Pillans, and the rest the proceeds of a bazaar in Balclutha. Another debt which has been extinguished during the past year is that of L300 upon the church at Winton. This had remained ever since the erection of the church, which owed its existence to the kindness of the late Sir J. Richardson, and had been a constant source of trouble and anxiety. I feel very grateful to Mr Robson, who acted as my church officer, and to the many others whose spirited conduct has brought about the very desirable result I am able to record.

Of the results of the bazaar at Gore held last week for the reduction of church debts I am not able to speak, and of the one to be opened at Port Chalmers this week for the same purpose I can only say that I know that a considerable number of persons are interesting themselves in it in such wise as to deserve support. There are, I am well aware, many less conspicuous parochial efforts, such as concerts, sales of work, and collection of subscriptions by which no in-considerable amounts have been obtained; but reckoning only those of which I have spoken it is safe to say that the indebtedness of the diocese upon its machinery has been reduced during the past year by the sum of L2,500.

I cannot forbear making special mention under this head of improvement of our properties of the very valuable and long-continued voluntary labors of Mr Finch, of Milton, to the church grounds of that parish. Besides having converted the churchyard into an attractive garden, Mr Finch has trenched and planted with trees and flowers a broad belt all round the glebe which adjoins the church. Nor is this all; he has skilfully drained the glebe land itself, carrying the trenches at the outlet to a depth of 6ft—this would represent a large sum in money, and is the contribution of a working man. Milton is distinguished for the gratuitous assistance of the parishioners. Nothing in the church needs to be paid for page break but the kerosene; but Mr Finch's work strikes me as the most remarkable example I have known of what can be effected by but one right-minded and devoted man.

Conclusion.

In concluding these remarks I have only to say that I have been somewhat more explicit in the details of parochial work than is usual in a bishop's address, because nothing short of a statement of facts was likely to correct a mistaken view of our position which has gained some currency. I feel greatly tempted to quote from my address to the Synod of 1879, when I had to face gloomy predictions of the "collapse of the diocese" which had prevailed during my absence. We have had nothing but bad times, commercially, since then; but by God's gracious aid we have filled the then vacant cures and made progress all along the line. God forbid that I should err, even by one word, of over statement. I know well that for some time certain of my clerical brethren will find it difficult to maintain their ground; but I once more say that the "spirit of despondency has a worse effect than the hard times themselves, and that the right course is for a special appeal to be made to those who can give special aid to tide over a time of trial rather than that the clergy should be almost encouraged to retire from their charges." I have recently had to act on those words, spoken in 1879, and have been loyally and most liberally met.

In conclusion, there is, I think, but little need for special legislation at this meeting of our Synod. The schedule at the end of Statute No. 1, which has reference to the electoral districts and the number of members which each should return to the Synod, needs revising; and there are some inaccuracies in the statute for defining the mode of election to the General Synod. If the Synod were to express an opinion in favor of the casting of our statutes into the more convenient form of canons, arranged under various headings, I think gentlemen might be found willing to prepare such a rearranged code of our legislation for the approval of the Synod at a subsequent session. The action taken by the General Synod in this matter is, I believe, every-where acknowledged to be an advantage in the direction of simplification.

2. "That the president be respectfully requested to forward this resolution to the Bishops of the other dioceses, expressing the hope of this Synod that the different diocesan Synods will co-operate in a similar direction."

Dear Brethren, in the confidence of a father I have spoken. Now let us proceed to act together as a family, nay rather as one body; and as such, in the name of Jesus Christ our Head, let us "be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."

Amen