DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 736, 28 October 1876, Page 3

DIOCESAN SYNOD.

Friday, October 27. PETITION. MrH. N. Nalder presented a petition from the vestry of Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton, praying that the Synod would take the necessary steps to enable them to sell the site of the present parsonage. The petition was received and read. SYNODICAL DOCUMENTS, Very Rev the Dean moved the Standing Committee be requested to direct the publication, among the documents printed in the Appendix to the Synod report, of a form of terrier or inventory of church property and furniture, for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out of clause 25 of the 4 Instructions for the guidance and information of ministers, churchwardens, &c,’ which provides that such a document shall be kept in the vestry of every church.” Yen Archdeacon Wi'lock seconded the motion, which was carried, CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS, Mr Hanmer, moved —“That the recommendation of the Sub-Committee appointed by the Standing Committee to consider the best method of conducting elections, be adopted. That to prevent delay in the appointment of members of Committees, the President may declare the numbers of members of the Synod voting in each order for the persons proposed.” Rev Canon Ootterill seconded the motion, which was agreed to. REVISION OF STANDING ORDERS. Mr Hanmer’s motion respecting the adoption of the recommendations of the committee appointed for the revision of the standing orders was postponed until next sitting day. ALLOWANCE FOR HOESEKEEP. Rev P. T. Opie, moved— 44 That it be a recommendation to the Church Work Extension Committee to vote £ annually to every clergyman in the diocese in charge of a cure who is compelled to keep a horse, and whose stipend is not equal to the minimum named in the financial regulations.” Rev J. W. Stack seconded the motion. Rev W. B. Paige rose to point out that last session a resolution identical with that now proposed by Mr Opie, was carried by the Synod. Rev B. A. Lingard thought it would be much better for Mr Opie to withdraw his resolution, and allow the matter to go before the church work extension committee, to consider the payment of country clergymen’s travelling expenses, including their expenses in attending the meetings of Synod. Rev W. H. Cooper suggested to Mr Opie that the last words of the resolution commencing 44 and whose stipend” to the end of the resolution be omitted. The Very Rev the Dean moved—That the words 44 such snm as they may be enabled to afford” be inserted after the words 44 to vote,” striking out the blank for the sum. The amendment was agreed to, and the resolution as amended agreed to. DISAGREEMENT OF INCUMBENTS AND PARISHIONERS, Yen Archdeacon Harper moved — 44 That it be a recommendation to the General Synod to give the necessary effect to the following resolution;— 4 That whenever it may appear to the Bishop of the diocese that in any parish circumstances have arisen which preclude harmonious action between the incumbent and his parishioners, and that such circumstances are not provided for or contemplated by the statutes Nos 9 and 10 General Synod, entitled the Ecclesiastical Tribunal Statute and Ecclesiastical Offences Statute respectively, it shall be lawful for the Bishop to summon a committee as hereinafter provided, to investigate such a case in such manner as may seem best to them ; and if it shall be decided by them that the said incumbent should resign his cure, it shall be lawful for the Bishop to declare such cure vacant. The above mentioned committee to consist of four members—namely, two of the clerical and two of the lay members of the standing committee of the diocese, who shall be selected for the purpose by the Bishop.’ ” In England, he believed, it had been held that a beneficed clergyman held his position equivalent to that of a freehold, unless he committed some grave offence against the ecclesiastical laws or the laws of the country. This idea had also been preserved throughout the statutes passed by the General Synod, in which the clergyman was legally protected except in specified cases of breach of ecclesiastical law. It had been held that the statutes of the General Synod were not complete and required very considerable

revision at some future session of the general Synod. [Hear, hear. | They had now to consider whether any circumstances would arise which, though not able to be legally defined, would still cause a want of harmonious action between the clergyman and his parishioners. A clergyman might possess incompatibility of temper, or might without being guilty of grave or gross dereliction of duty, yet have neglected his parish. They might also have the action of the parishioners interfering with harmonious action between them and their clergyman. The resolution, if carried out by the General Synod, would in cases like this bring a gentle pressure to bear upon the clergyman and cause him to resign. It would also protect the clergyman from the exercise of the power of the purse by the parishioners to an unreasonable extent. Theirs was a voluntary Church, and of course they could not ignore entirely the power of the purse; but still he thought that it would be much better that the decision should come from the Bishop and not from the parishioners, by whom the use of this power was one not contemplated by their Church laws. The matter had, he was aware, many points of view, and he knew that the consideration of it would require very careful and close study at the hands of the Synod. His idea was that the action of the proposed committee should not be official or legal, or at any rate would not bear this character on the face of it. He fully believed that the carrying out of this resolution would be conducive to the peace of a parish, and would prevent the possible occurrence of scandals, arising probably from very small causes. It also protected the clergyman from the stigma on his professional career that he had been thrust out of his cure by his people, when such a state of things might have arisen from a very small matter, and one in no way reflecting upon the sound doctrine or earnest work of the clergyman. He would not say any more now, but would simply commend it to the earnest consideration of the Synod. plause. J Rev R. S. Jackson seconded the motion. In his opinion, however, it would be better to make the Board of Nominators the committee. [“No, no.”J Well, that was his opinion. He had long been of opinion that some legislation in this direction was necessary, and to [carry this would shew the lay members of the Synod and the members of the Church, that the Synod had not neglected this matter. Archdeacon Willock said he sympathised heartily with the laity in the position in which they were sometimes placed. He, however, would like to suggest some amendments in the machinery so as to make the matter of enquiry private, so as not to become matter of newspaper notoriety and a scandal to the Church. The resolution provided that the Bishop should only interfere when matters came to his knowledge. Now he thought that there were cases in which there might be dire offence given to all members of the Church, but which would not come to the ears of the Bishop. Now he would propose as an amendment the insertion of words —making the initiation of proceedings to proceed from two-thirds of the male communicants of any parish addressed to the Bishop. [Hear, hear.J The Bishop could then investigate the matter, and, if admitted, the clergyman could resign, and then there would be an end. If the charge were denied, then the matter could bo investigated as proposed by the Archdeacon. He had at one time thought that the Board of Nominators would be the best committee, but when he came to consider that probably there might be a portion of them interested as accusers, he relinquished that idea. The right body, he took it, to investigate the matter was the standing committee, who would then relieve the Bishop of the suspicion of winking at any practices. He had fixed the number of the standing committee necessary to decide on the case at two-thirds. His two points were that the matter should be commenced by a memorial from two-thirds of the male parishioners. He had excluded ladies, because they were rather peculiar in their ideas as to their clergymen ; and secondly, because they might not be able to. exercise that reticence which, on such a subject, was necessary. He would move as an amendment, that after the words “ that whenever it” to strike out the words “may appear to the Bishop of the Diocese,” and insert the words “ shall be represented to the Bishop of the Diocese in a memorial signed by not less than two-thirds in number of the male members of the Church being communicants, resident in the parish and after the words “for the Bishop to summon ” to strikeout the words “ a committee as hereinafter provided,” and to insert the words “ Standing Committee;” after the words “may seem best to them ” to strike out the words “ and if it shall be decided by them ” and to insert the words “ and if it shall be decided by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the Standing Committee also to strike out the last part of the resolution after the words “ declare such cure vacant.”

The Very Rev the Dean seconded the amendment, and sympathised greatly with the views expressed by Archdeacons Harper and Willock. He sympathised also with parishioners who were placed in the position of having good grounds to disagree with their clergyman. The complaint, he felt, should come from the proper source, viz—the parishioners, and when they found two-thirds of the male communicants signing a memorial, there would be grave grounds for interference. It seemed to him that by this means the best solution of a painful case would be arrived at without scandal to the church or the parish. Another view that he took of the committal of the investigation of the case to the standing committee was that if the matter came to a Court of Law they would have a recognised body to put forward as having investigated the case. Besides this it relieved the Bishop from the slightest chance of accusations of favouritism. For these reasons he thought it very desirable that the Synod should adopt the amendment proposed by Archdeacon Willock. Rev W. H. Cooper moved the adjournment of the debate to 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday next. This was one of the most important debates of the session, and he thought that ample notice of its coming on should be given to each member of the Synod. He begged to move—" That the debate be adjourned until Tuesday next, and that it be made an order of the day.” Rev Mr Cholmondeley seconded the motion.

On the motion for adjournment being put, The President declared the ayea to have it. A division was demanded, which took place, with the following result: — Ayes. Noes, Clergy ... 14 J Clergy ... 10 Laity ... 13 j Laity ... 15

The motion for adjournment was consequently lost. Mr Malet (a quarter of an hour having elapsed since the former motion was put) moved —“ That the debate be adjourned, and made an order of the day for Tuesday.” Rev Mr Oholmondeley seconded the motion, which was carried. LEAVE OF ABSENCE, On the motion of Mr Russell, leave of absence was granted to Mr Belfield for the remainder of the session. On the motion of Mr Acland, leave of absence was granted to Mr L. Harper. ORDERS OF THE DAY. On resuming, the Dean moved the second reading of Bill to amend Diocesan Statute for regulating the formation of parishes and the appointment of parish officers No 4, 1866, amended, 1875. Yen Archdeacon Dudley seconded the motion. After some discussion the motion was put and agreed to. The Synod then went into committee, Mr G. L. Lee in the chair. The chairman drew the attention of the committee to the fact that the Bill as printed was complicated. Several members expressed their inability to consider the Bill in its present form. After some discussion the Rev mover withdrew the Bill on the understanding that it should be brought up in another form, and progress was reported with leave to sit again. On resuming, Mr Malet moved the second reading of the Bill to amend Statute 111. The hon Mr Acland seconded the motion. The motion was put and agreed to, and the Synod went into committee to consider the amendments. The Bill was reported in committee, the Synod resumed, and the chairman reported progress, and obtained leave to sit again. Notices of motion were given, and the Synod adjourned until 4 p.m, on Monday.