The side of our work which of course has suffered most severely on account of the war has been Education. This has been the more disappointing because our schools in 1941 had reached quite a high level of attainment and efficiency and there were signs of an increasingly upward grade in education. It occupied an important place in our Conference deliberations in 1941 and 1940. The different Missions which at that time made up the Combined Missions Committee were drawing closer together over the matter of education and were pressing for some very necessary reform on the part of the Government of the old Papuan Administration in its attitude towards it. An arrangement had also been made for an important conference to be held in January 1942, on the subject of education which it was hoped would be attended by all the Missions working in Papua, even including the Roman Catholics, who, up to that time, had not joined in any of our joint mission action. Of course the outbreak of the Japanese war in December made the holding of this Conference impossible, and before the Japanese war had proceeded very long our own educational work and the educational work of other missions received what amounted to almost a knock out blow.

There can be no doubt that the high opinion formed of the Papuan by the personnel of the Forces during the war, was very largely due to the educational work of the Missions. But after a 4 year gap during part of which period school work was, in many areas, discontinued, and in others carried on intermittently, and [133/134] with only native agents, we cannot expect to see the same qualities and high standard in the next generation as we saw in the one which had passed through our Schools in the years before the war.

The whole subject of education, of course, is one which has rightly taken on a new sense of importance in the eyes of those who govern this Territory, as well as in the minds of those who are interested in it in Australia. There has been, in some directions, an attempt to capitalise on the results of previous mission education, and for military and government authorities to claim the whole credit for these, and there has also been a corresponding attempt to capitalise on the misfortunes of the missions in having to face a downward grade in their schools on account of the war and to suggest rather subtilly from this that missionary educational work is unsatisfactory and should be done by Government agents. We cannot help feeling that beneath this attitude there is something fundamentally dishonest and sinister. There is, I feel, little doubt that in some directions it has sprung from jealousy of mission influence over the natives and in others that it has sprung from a preference for secular rather than Christian education and a prejudice against any education which is linked up with the Christian faith or with religion. This attitude began to appear both in Australia and in New Guinea as far back as the beginning of 1943 at the Conference of Pacific Bishops. The Conference took note of the fact that certain specialists had been sent to New Guinea to inquire about mission education in the past and the Conference viewed this step with grave anxiety. These specialists were sent to New Guinea at a time when the school work was at the lowest ebb on account of the war and when the white teachers were for the most part still evacuated and unable to return however much they desired to do so, and the way in which the specialists were going about their work made it impossible to avoid the very unsatisfactory conclusion, that many of them had made up their minds before they came to the Territory and that they had been sent to confirm views [134/135] already held by those responsible for educational policy, views which were not favourable towards Christian education as we regard such.

The Conference of Pacific Bishops foresaw serious results for the native race if education were robbed of its religious foundation and it passed the following resolution which was made under four headings:-

1. This Conference believing that the Christian Faith is the foundation of a true education, which involves training in the good life and development of character, emphatically affirms that the education of the Pacific Races more than ever in the future will require above all a religious foundation. It therefore deplores suggestions which have been made for the establishment of a purely secular system of education for Pacific Races, and it believes that this would be a retrograde step and out of keeping with the present tendencies of Governments in other parts of the British Commonwealth where recognition is being increasingly and publicly given to the essential place of the Christian Religion in Education. It urges Government Administrations to bear in mind that whilst it is not absolutely necessary for native races without a literature to learn to read and write, it is necessary for them to have moral strength and stability.

2. The Conference speaking in the name of the Missions for which it is responsible affirms the earnest intention of these bodies to continue with or without Government support their present educational work and to strengthen and extend this work throughout the areas for which they are responsible. In order that it may do this adequately and efficiently it calls upon the Home Church to guarantee an adequate supply of fully qualified educationalists with a Missionary vocation, who can relate their educational work to the life, outlook, environment, and needs of the native peoples.

3. The Conference further recognises the great importance of the training of native agents--and where Training Colleges are already established it considers those should be maintained by the Missions concerned--and every effort made to secure that both the scholastic and spiritual training given should be of a high standard.

4. The Conference believes that as ultimately the only limit of [135/136] what the native peoples can do is the limit of what we can teach them, the Church must be ready to provide higher educational facilities when and where such advanced stages appear to justify them.

Actually some five months before the date of that Conference I had drawn up an Educational Policy for this Diocese. Some of you may remember having seen it for it was printed in leaflet form. The Resolution of the Conference of Pacific Bishops confirms some of the principles that had been stated in this policy.

It stated first of all our attitude towards education, which is, that we regard it as a most vital and essential part of the missionary work of the church in Papua, and as a primary responsibility. We should ever be seeking to improve and perfect our Educational work and standards, and to bring to that work on our European staff, men and women of character, of spiritual and intellectuals gifts, of convinced missionary vocation, and trained and highly qualified specialists in their particular field, who can in their turn as time goes on develop a more and more highly and spiritually equipped staff of Papuan Native Teachers.

I also called attention to the fact that for the supply of such a band of European workers we are entirely dependent on the Board of Missions and the Home Church, and our ability to fulfil the responsibilities of the present, and to rise to the opportunities of the future depends therefore on the measure and quality of the supply which the Home Church is able to send us. It is dependent secondarily on the measure of financial support which is given to us--not only to maintain such a band of workers, but also to re-equip the Diocese in its educational apparatus, much of which has been damaged by war, and to enable the materia scholastica to keep pace in the future with both the demands for supply and for efficiency.

I then went on to state our aim in education which may be said to be the training and development of Christian Character. For the fulfilment of this aim, sound religious teaching correlated with the life of worship and fellowship within the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church must have a paramount place. Such an aim [136/137] does not prevent us taking our part in the full development of the Papuans along the many and various secular lines of a wide educational policy. Rather does it enhance our power to do so and the value of what we are able to do. Because Christ is the Lord of all life, our aim, as is the aim of the Christian Religion as a whole, is to permeate the secular with the religious, so that all life may become holy.

On the practical side I set out a ten year plan divided up into two periods of five years each, and under the following four heads:-

1. Throughout the carrying out of the Ten Year Plan the Training of suitable candidates for the work of Papuan teachers will be continued at St. Aidan's College, as it has been continued from its inception and even throughout the period of war. Endeavours will be constantly made to make this training not only of a highly spiritual level but more and more proficient on the scholastic side.

2. In addition to the above most important and vital part of our Educational Programme--During the First Five Years our main task will be the rebuilding of the waste places and winning back of lost ground, in other words the building up, rehabilitation, reinstatement and strengthening of our pre-war schools and educational work and standards--together with the starting of new Schools when and where this is possible. During this stage our work must be, for the most part, in the Primary school stages, but we can hope as the period proceeds to see re-established the higher primary stages in some of our schools. We shall all the time be endeavouring to relate our school curriculum to native life and culture and to bring into it agriculture and technical work.

3. During the Second Five Years--besides continuing to advance the General Standards and to extend our schools into a wider area--we should be able to establish and extend Secondary School Centres both for boys and girls with more specialised training for selected candidates.

4. Beyond the Ten Year Period we may look for an extension of higher education for advanced and suitable students.

[138] As I have already said this statement of policy was drawn up and stated at the beginning of 1945 and I see no reason to change my view as to what I then felt was a right programme for us to set before ourselves in the future when the war had come to an end. We may say that we are already working on the lines of that programme and policy.

There are of course many other matters connected with education that need consideration. There are questions of syllabus, methods, aids to teaching and so on. Some light on these things has been given in recent Conferences with representatives of the Government Educational Department but they are largely matters for the teachers to discuss amongst themselves. I feel that my function is to state the principles which must guide our course of action, and that I feel I have done, and that the programme that has been outlined to you is not merely a statement of principles but it is a practical one which takes account of circumstances as they are and as they are likely to be, of the inroads which war has made into educational work in Papua, of its disturbance to the mental and spiritual life of the Papuans and of the present stage of their development. Indeed, I feel it to be the only practical programme possible and one which in itself will call for all our energies and powers. Anything in excess of this would be a vain and idle dream. Indeed, if I may say so, I feel that some of the programmes that have been set out, in what I may call this age of blue prints, by idealists and theorists, as well as by politicians anxious to impress electors, though they may sound far more interesting and attractive, are not really practical, and do not take account of things as they really are.

You will have noticed that the training of native teachers occupies a prominent place in our educational policy. That is because we regard it as a matter of fundamental and absolutely vital importance to us and to the life of the Church in this Diocese that this should remain in our hands.

At the outset we expressed our readiness to co-operate with the Government and with other Mission [sic] in all ways possible in education, [138/139] but that we could not under any circumstances consider surrendering our right to train our own teachers without giving away part of our spiritual birthright and heritage which it is our duty to hold to for the sake of the Church committed to our care.

Before the war we were faced with proposals made at the Combined Missions Committee for a United Missions Training College. This proposal was sponsored at the time by the L.M.S. who were most keen about it. Our attitude was made very clear and the other missions were fully aware of it. Since the war the question has taken on a new complexion by the proposals that the Government put forward of a Central Government Training College. It sounded at one time that this might be pressed so strongly that it would become a condition in recognition of any educational work but our attitude at the outset was firmly stated and was supported by the Roman Catholic Missions which cover considerable ground in the Territory, and I am thankful to say that Government Authorities in the end expressed their readiness to recognise under certain conditions Mission Training Colleges for teachers. A rather subtle suggestion emanated from some source that we should consent to send our prospective teachers to a Central Government Training College on condition that there were Mission Hostels. This suggestion was not acceptable to us, for we felt unable to agree to any step which would mean a diminution of spiritual force in the Church in this Diocese. On the other hand we have made it very clear that we are willing to do our utmost to relate our scheme of training, its syllabus and curriculum to any central scheme that may be urged by the Government and agreed upon by the missions but that we should not be willing or ready to receive at our mission schools teachers trained at a central or Government Institution belonging to another area unless they have also undergone a special period of training at St. Aidan's College. At the moment we have 43 students in training at St. Aidan's College and we consider the material we have is the cream of the north-eastern side of New Guinea and that the products of our College compare more favourably with any [139/140] Government sponsored or any other mission institutions of a like kind.

In connection with this it would seem a suitable time to tell the Conference of the generous gift of £6,000 which has been given by Mrs Ross, sister of Bishop Ash, for the building of a permanent College. This she has desired to do in memory of her son who lost his life in the war in the Pacific and in the doing of it she is animated by the hope that the day may come when a Papuan Priest may go forth to preach the Gospel to the Japanese. St. Aidan's College at the moment of course is not primarily a Theological but a Training College for Teachers. Latterly the training of Ordinands has been undertaken at Dogura under the direction of Bishop Newton. With sadness we are all compelled to recognise that that period is now coming to an end. Sadness I say because of the condition of failing strength which we see in one who has rendered such a long and valued service to the Church in Papua first as Priest then as Diocesan Bishop and latterly in the time of his retirement in this special work for the building up of the Papuan ministry. Bishop Newton's failing health has made it necessary for the present ordinands to receive the greater part of their training at St. Aidan's College and indeed in any long distant view which includes the ultimate building of a permanent college, we must visualise that such a College will have to have two Wings as it were to its life--the definitely Theological part which is concerned with the training of men for the ministry as well as the continuance of that which is dominant at the moment, the training of teachers. The alternative would mean the establishment of two colleges, one a Theological College and the other a Teacher's Training College.

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Medical Work.

Our MEDICAL WORK also of course has suffered considerably on account of the war and we are feeling the effects of the war acutely now in this Department of our work. During the war the loss of our nurses was not at the time as serous a feature to the Papuan life as the loss of our teachers, because the army with its [140/141] immense resources and personnel honey-combed the country with native hospitals and medical posts. These made medical services more available to the native people of Papua than they had ever been previously. There were alas, many evils that grew up around a development that ought to have been wholly good. The Military Authorities took upon themselves to make it lawful to compel natives, both men and women, to enter hospital for the treatment of even minor ailments, and though compulsion in matters of this kind is not really good the principle behind it was the increase of health generally in the villages and the eradication of disease. There were, however, alas, all too many incidents of an abuse of the compulsory powers and the using of them for immoral purposes. It was for that reason that some of the hospitals established by the Military Authorities had a bad name and were viewed with abhorrence by the better minded native peoples. At one time it looked as if there might not in the future be the same need for medical missionary work as there had been in the past, but most of us could foresee that the lavish expenditure of the Military Authorities was not likely to continue under a Civil Administration, and we therefore urged even in those days upon the Church in Australia the continued need for nurses with a missionary vocation to serve the Church in Papua as well as for a doctor. We were not wrong in our estimate, for as soon as the Military Authorities Administration ceased, the greater number of the native hospitals closed down and medical work began to devolve more and more again on the Mission, or else not to be done at all.

I have the greatest possible admiration for the work which has been done by our nurses in the last two years and for the way in which they have laboured under trying circumstances and in days of great difficulties. They have been faced with the same difficulty of course which has faced every department of our work--lack of equipment, for we suffered great losses during the war and on account of the war in the matter of medical equipment. Not only did a whole consignment of drugs from England never reach us but there was of course the complete loss of Gona hospital and of all our medical resources in the North, and there was further, the appropriation [141/142], to use a polite word, in some cases it was looting of our medical supplies at other stations left even temporarily without white missionaries. These deficiencies we are gradually making good. The medical Department of the Civil Administration promised last year to supply us in the matter of drugs to a much greater extent than the pre-war Papuan Administration did, but these promises have not yet found fulfilment, to any large extent. We are told that the reason is because of the difficulty the Government Authorities themselves have had in obtaining supplies and we are assured that it is their genuine intention to help us much more extensively in the future as soon as they are in a position to do so.

That, however, is not the only difficulty that has confronted our nurses. They have been faced in some of our districts with what one may call a reaction to the extensive medical services of the Military Administration. Those who give themselves to Medical missionary work in a country such as this always have to battle against superstition and blind prejudice which die hard in a people with an animistic background and constantly revive their ugly heads even in those who have embraced Christianity. The general disturbances of the war have undoubtedly increased both superstition and prejudice and this in some districts has made our medical work more difficult. Another difficulty which has also been met with has been that many native medical assistants trained under the Military and now discharged and returned to their villages, have managed to bring with them illicitly, supplies of drugs and have in some cases set themselves up as local doctors, and this has in a number of cases had dire results. This evil is one that has been brought to the notice of the authorities and is likely to be dealt with in the future. I feel myself that it is likely that the wave of superstition and prejudice will pass and that we will find people turning to the Mission more and more again for medical aid, and that, not in the very long distant future.

It has been a great disappointment that our efforts to obtain a doctor on our staff have so far failed. It should, I think be a [142/143] matter of earnest prayer that this great need should soon be met. It is now nearly ten years since we had a doctor on our staff, for it was in fact 1938 when Dr. MacGranahan left us.

I think we must take it that the re-establishment of Gona Hospital does not lie within the realms of practical policy. It certainly could not be re-established on its old site and there were some even in the days of its existence who doubted if it was the most strategic place for a Diocesan Mission Hospital. It is well known that under Sister Henderson a hospital has been established at Eroro in buildings left there by the United States Army, and that this has been dedicated under the name of St. Margaret's Hospital. It has proved itself to meet a real need and to draw patients from a wide area both along the coast and inland. It would seem to me that our aim should be to develop St. Margaret's Hospital, Eroro, and to look upon its replacing our former hospital at Gona. That we need a nurse at Gona as soon as our staff has increased sufficiently to allow us to place one there goes without saying, but if we are to be blessed in the future with a doctor the natural place for him or her to make headquarters will be the Eroro hospital. My own view is that we need in this Diocese and in our mission area not one doctor but two. That we need Base Hospitals both in the Northern and in the Southern parts of our Mission area, and that if Eroro is the right place for the hospital in the North, Dogura is the place for the Southern hospital. Most of our mission dispensaries where we have nurses stationed take in-patients and in that sense are also hospitals. Under the devoted work first of Sister Bromhall and then of Sister Rawlings the numbers of patients at Dogura has been so constant and so numerous that the hospital buildings there have been definitely inadequate, and the need for fuller provision for patients here at Dogura where there are responsibilities not only of quite a considerable population on the Mission Station itself, the College, St. Agnes' Home, Wedau and Wamira villages but where cases are also brought out from the mountains and other coastal villages, is obvious and it would seem to me that if my hopes for two doctors could be fulfilled there would also be a resident doctor [143/144]at Dogura. Briefly then our objective would be two major hospitals--one in the northern part of the diocese and the other in the southern with the continuance of our main dispensaries and subhospitals at central stations where we are able to place a nurse.

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Work Among Women and Girls.

Now I desire to speak about the GUILD OF ST. MARY AND OUR WORK AS A DIOCESE AMONGST WOMEN AND GIRLS. The Guild of St. Mary needs at this time to be revived throughout the Diocese. We all realise the immense value of the Guild--its vital place in the life of the Church here in New Guinea.--all that it has done already for our Papuan women, but we realise also that the Guild of St. Mary in the last few years, like every other part of our work, has suffered considerably as a result of the war. Its leaders had to be away for some time. The wonderful thing, I think, is that in spite of the fact that in all districts the European leaders of the Guild were absent for nearly two years, in most districts the Guild continued under Papuan leadership. That, of course, is the ideal, but the time has not yet come when it can be left entirely under Papuan leadership. It needs the guidance and help of more experienced leaders. There were outstanding instances where Papuan leaders rallied the women and kept the Guild's objects before the women throughout the war. I think the most outstanding example was the way in which, when Fr. Dennis Taylor went back to Gona, he found the Guild revived and the Guild women being banded to-gether by one or two in the Gona villages and they were having regular meetings, for prayers, Bible readings and devotions. The strength of the influence of the Guild in the suffering Gona district was, I believe, very great. In other districts we know it has not been so--there have been many failures and many sad happenings, and those failures, strange to say, seem to have been in the more settled places of the Diocese, where we might have expected the spirit to have been stronger. This was not however altogether surprising for there were many temptations [144/145] and counter dangers. The influence of the war has been terribly upsetting to our Papuan people and it must have been most upsetting to the women and children. They are the ones who have suffered most from the point of view of internal upset and we know too what adverse moral influences were at work in the villages whilst so many of the men were away from their homes and when so many boats with undesirable Europeans--members of the so called enlightened civilisation, were calling at the villages up this coast. I think we can exaggerate what actually happened at that time. I think the number who failed though that adverse influence--directly failed was very few but I think that the indirect influence of it was very shattering to the ideals that our Papuan women had learnt from us and the church here.

The time has come now for us to hold up higher than we have ever held them up before, the ideals of the Guild of St. Mary, the ideals of Christ and His Blessed Mother and His Church, and for calling for a time of renewal of the Guild of St. Mary. In doing that we are only doing what that great organisation the Mothers' Union is doing all over the world. The Mothers' Union Leaders had felt the same about their work as we have felt about our little work here in New Guinea. They had found that there had been inroads during the war, and they decided to call for a year of re-dedication. It was strange that it was about the time of our resolve at Sacred Synod to make this year a year of dedication, of cleansing and renewal that the Mothers' Union members all over the world were being called upon to prepare for this renewal and it is now about to culminate in a great service in London.

I would say a few words about the Mothers' Union, which I know is tremendously interested in the Guild of St. Mary. In 1942 one of the first radios we received was a message of sympathy from Mrs. Manners, the Overseas Secretary of the Mothers' Union who sent a wonderful message from the Mothers' Union Headquarters speaking about their realisation of what the Papuan Church and the Papuans were going through and how they were remembering [145/146] us constantly in prayer. After that I received various letters from Mrs. Manners in which she spoke about the desire of the Mothers' Union Headquarters for a closer relationship with the Guild of St. Mary and that their hope was that one day we might feel that the Guild could become the Mothers' Union in Papua. I was invited when I went to England in 1944 to visit Mrs. Manners at the Mary Sumner House. I went on a number of occasions to the Mary Sumner House and on one occasion I had lunch there with Fr. Bodger in the special lunch room. I had to go back there a few days later as I had arranged to meet a friend there. When I got there I found that the cafe part was no longer there. It had been bombed and that part of the Mary Sumner House had been demolished, but they were still carrying on their work day by day without any intermission. We sat in this beautiful house which had been erected by Mary Sumner, which had no windows, all having been blown out by bombs. The noise of the flying bombs over head was going on whilst I was there and they were carrying on their work for the women all over the world. It was then, or it might have been before, that Mrs. Manners expressed the hope that we would allow the Mothers' Union to give us financial help. I gladly accepted the offer, and it was arranged that they would be responsible for the support of one of our workers of the Mothers' Union. And so it came about that they, as it were, adopted Mrs. Thompson as the representative of the Mothers' Union to be a link between the Guild of St. Mary and the Mothers' Union.

Now, you will be meeting in due course to consider the future of the St. Mary's Guild and I would say no more on that subject, but I would like to say, though I have no particular constructive contribution to make, that we must, of course, regard with tremendous seriousness and conscientiousness this whole work amongst the women and girls. There is no doubt that the weakest link in the New Guinea Church in the last 50 or 60 years has been the work amongst the women and girls. A tremendous and wonderful work has been done in this Diocese for the men and boys and a great deal more remains to be done, but the work amongst women and [146/147] girls is the side of our work that we have got to build up in the next 50 years, without ceasing the work that we are doing for the men and boys. Everyone was very conscious of this great need in our last Conference in 1941. Everyone realises the necessity of an institution for the training of women and girls but until that day comes we must go on with our individual work. After all, individual work is really the greatest of all work. It is only by the winning of individual souls that we are going to build up God's Kingdom. When once a soul has been brought to Him there is no saying how many more may be brought to Him through that soul.

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Extension Of Our Work.

With regard to the EXTENSION OF MISSIONARY WORK AND OUR POLICY THEREIN, I feel that this lies still along the lines that I outlined to the Conference of Missionary Bishops of the Pacific in May 1945 before the end of the Japanese war when I asked the Church in Australia to take note that as soon as the war was over we should wish to undertake a programme of work in three stages as follows:--

1st. The reconstruction and rebuilding of areas in our mission that were devastated during the war.

2nd. The occupation of unevangelised areas within the present mission area.

3rd. The advance into unevangelised areas in the Mandated Territory notably among the headwaters of the Purari and in the Mount Hagen Area.

At present we are still in the first stage and we are likely to have to continue in it for some time to come. The work of reconstruction has been both disappointing and encouraging. It has been disappointing as far as our ability to establish any permanent buildings in devastated areas has been concerned. This, of course, it will be readily realised, has been due primarily to lack of material and transport but two other factors enter into it even if material was abundantly available and also transport. These factors are, first, the economic [147/148] situation and the terrible costliness of everything and, secondly, our lack of a builder or builders. I regard the need of the Diocese for a builder as being one of our most urgent needs for the present and future. It would be good indeed if we could have one or two builders who came to us with a missionary vocation and there is no doubt that we could keep them fully employed for some few years yet to come, but if that is not possible then we must hope that the Home Base in Australia will be able to find one or two suitable builders of satisfactory character who can come to us under contract to undertake the extensive works that need doing.

I will mention but a few of the urgent works waiting to be undertaken as soon as we are able to put building programme into effect:- the building of a permanent mission house at Sangara--the building of a new Rectory and Diocesan Office at Samarai--the rebuilding of the Duvira station--the rebuilding of the mission house at Boianai--the erection of hospital buildings at Dogura and Eroro--the rebuilding of the mission house at Manapi--the renovation of the Taupota and Mukawa mission houses. These are perhaps the most urgent needs of the moment but they are only really a fraction of all that needs doing, for every station probably stands in need of renovation. There is in addition, a general need for repainting but, alas, the Trade Unionists, who rule Australia are not willing at present that we should have paint in this country and so we have to go without it. I might also have mentioned the urgent need for a new Rectory in Port Moresby and the possible need in the very near future of church buildings at Lae or in some other part of that area. I have confined myself to the mission area because as far as Port Moresby is concerned we have hopes that the congregation will itself be responsible, as indeed it is showing itself willing to be, for the supply of the needs of the Church there. Though we have as yet been unable to bring into effect any building programme for the reasons I have already stated, what we may call the real work of reconstruction as far as the life of the Church is concerned, has not been held up thereby but has been continued with a good heart in each district. Our missionaries, for instance, at Sangara have been [148/149] content to carry on in temporary buildings and we can only hope that those temporary buildings will last until permanent ones can be supplied. The vital work of the mission is going on meanwhile. Temporary building[s] have been erected at Gona. The erection of these had already begun under the direction of Fr. Taylor before Fr. Benson's return, and under Fr. Benson's skilful guidance and his well known adaptability they are such that they should be able to stand for quite a considerable period.

Fr. Gill with his ingenuity had gone some way towards the construction of a temporary headquarters at Dewade, when the most unfortunate cyclone hit his station last December and demolished much that had been done, and made it necessary to start all over again.

Archdeacon Gill has drawn up a reconstruction plan for the Mamba District which has my full approval. This includes the re-establishment of Duvira as the headquarters of the Mamba District. But the rebuilding of that station will be a tremendous undertaking and one which will be beyond the power of the Archdeacon now at this stage of his life. It calls therefore urgently for a younger priest and our hopes for the future are that we may see established at the mouth of the Mamba again a Mission Headquarters for those River Districts with a young priest in charge and a nurse and a teacher, for it cannot be gainsaid that the weakest link of our educational work lies in that northern district where there has never yet been a European teacher to direct educational work and where there have been very few College trained teachers. Fr. Gill himself is fully conscious of this need and has urged it upon me. I wish I could supply it immediately. The difficulties are increased particularly as far as education is concerned as well as in general mission work because the supply of mission helpers formerly trained at Duvira as mission boarders under Archdeacon Gill's unique and intensive mission technique dried up when the war came to Papua.

It lies heavy upon me also that we ought, as soon as ever it is possible, to have white missionaries at Ambasi. I was deeply [149/150] touched by the earnest entreaties made to me by Ambasi people in my visit to them last August. Ambasi was one of the first stations to be opened out in the northern part of the Diocese and it was there that our pioneer, Fr. Copland King, spent so many years. When I first came to the Diocese there was a native priest resident there--Fr. Stephen Mairot--but he died during my first month as Bishop and since that time, now a period of over ten years, the work at Ambasi has depended upon native teachers with such visits as the European or native priest 25 miles away at Gona could give. There is a considerable population in the coastal villages and Ambasi gives entrance also to inland parts hardly touched at present by the Mission. Requests have come to us from some of these inland parts for the establishment of the Mission.

We have much cause to be thankful for the spread of the work both in the Sangara and the Gona Districts. It is altogether wonderful how this work has extended since the devastating blows that the war dealt. Whilst before the war Sangara had but one out-station there are today 12 and nearly 2,000 children on the school rolls, the Sangara school itself having between three and four hundred children. The educational work of the Diocese is probably being most effectively done at the moment in that area where both Mrs. Taylor and Miss De Bibra concern themselves not only with the work in the large school at the central station but with the work of the out-station teachers whose programme is mapped out for them week by week and who are brought in at regular intervals for refresher courses or periods of work at the head station whilst others go out to take their place.

The standard of education at Gona before the war was a very high one as is witnessed by the standard of the students we have had at our College whose schooling dates back to those days and I think that we must agree that the claims of the educational work of the north are very great.

Then there is Isivita where there is also a school of more than 300 children and there is obviously a need--a need that we felt before the war but had been unable to meet--for Isivita as soon as [150/151] possible to have not merely a European priest but a nurse and a teacher.

The need of Sefoa is one that hardly needs to be stated for I have already referred to it.

I could go on to speak of the need for a European teacher at Mukawa and Manapi and Boianai as well as the need there will be shortly at Menapi of a nurse and of a teacher at Taupota. Such a survey as I am giving of our needs cannot also exclude the feeling that Fr. Jennings has that the work of the Church of a district such as that calls for the energies of a younger man than himself and one in better health who could set him free to do that work which he feels still called to do in the years that remain to him of life--translation work for the benefit of future generations. These that I have mentioned are only some of our needs. I have made no mention of the need of engineers, agriculturalists or other technicians and specialists. I have had in mind our evangelistic needs but you will readily see that though we must go forward with faith I am not optimistic that these needs will soon be met. As far as the north is concerned, next year it is likely that the present missionaries in charge of three of the main districts will be away on furlough. Any new priests that we may have will be required to fill gaps. It is even doubtful then whether there will be sufficient to fill all the gaps. It is essential that furlough should be taken for health reasons apart from others. We cannot go forward as we should until the Church at Home is able to send us the workers that we need and with the workers sufficient financial resources to maintain them, and the work that they will do, and that brings me shortly to the subject of finance. We cannot be content with confining ourselves to our present stations and districts, we must be more and more going out among the heathen to preach the Gospel If we are not able to do this work ourselves in person we must be training native evangelists and sending them out. Indeed it would seem that if we are to reach the untouched areas it must be by native evangelists sent forth and going out from the head stations of [151/152] each district in the name of Christ and His Church. The need for this is urgent and we must give it primary attention.

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Finance And Reconstruction.

In turning now to the subject of Finance I must disillusion immediately the minds of any who may think that we are better off now than we have been in the past. The position is exactly in the reverse. Though, as was made known to you, the Board of Missions last year gave us a substantial increase in our grant and generously gave all that I had asked them, we have not been able to pay our way during the last twelve months and our expenditure has greatly exceeded our income. The reason for this, of course, is the exorbitant cost of living in this Territory which is hitting us in every direction so that our income will only go about half as far as it did before the war. Thus even with our increased grant we are worse off then we were before the war.

We have always in the past aimed at paying our way--not letting our expenditure exceed our income in any one particular year and hitherto we have succeeded in doing so, even in the thin and lean years when our grant which had been formerly _12,000 was cut down to _8,500, and even in the years when it was raised only to _10,000. It is perhaps somewhat ironical therefore that the year when the grant has been higher numerically than it has ever been before should be also the first year when we find ourselves having exceeded our income up to the extent of _4,000 to _5,000. There are reasons for this and some of them very good reasons and of course the period in which we are living and working is an abnormal one and we are being farced with extraordinary expenses in the re-establishment of our work, but it will be clear to you all that we cannot continue at that level, and there will have to be, therefore, drastic economy. We cannot afford to run into debt. We have never done so in the past and we must not do so in the future. In the providence of God we have been able to meet our deficiencies this year through the extra money that has come to us from England. [152/153] We cannot look for a continuance of contributions from England on this high level. The position is that we have received from England accumulated funds that had been built up during the war when it was not possible to send money out of England to us in New Guinea. It has been therefore providential that this money has been available for our very heavy expenses during the past year.

We have still to undertake our major reconstruction work. For that we have setaside our war compensation money as well also as special contributions that have been given for this purpose during the war and we shall hope for aid from the A.B.M. Reconstruction and Advance Fund which has already helped us generously in some matters that we have undertaken. It is highly doubtful though whether there will be sufficient for all work that ought to be undertaken, but this lies on a separate footing. What we are concerned about at the moment is what may be called the Annual Budget, the expenses incurred in the running of our mission stations. It will be necessary for us to return to our pre-war system of putting each station under an estimate and making it a matter of honour that that estimate shall not be exceeded. It is only in that way that we can keep ourselves solvent and make the best use of the limited resources we have for the building up of Christ's Kingdom in this land. It is disappointing for you, I know, and my heart goes out to you in sympathy if it is not possible for you to have all that you desire and probably that you ought to have for the efficiency of your station and for the adequate carrying out of your work. But we must adopt an unselfish attitude in this matter and remember that if one station exceeds the proportion that is allotted to it, it will limit our capacity to extend the work of Christ in other areas. I am saying this without knowledge whether the Board of missions will feel able to renew its grant to us this year on the same level as last. Last year's increase was intended to meet an emergency situation and it was able to be made because of the increased contributions to missions in Australia. If the Board, when it meets in July, finds itself unable to do so and has to return to the former much lower level of grants, then we shall have to face a [153/154] drastic cutting down of our work and a shutting of the doors for advancement.

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Conferences With The Administration.

As you are aware, two important Conferences between Government and Mission Representatives have been held in Port Moresby, the first in October of last year and the second in May of this year. The first was really intended to be an Educational Conference. In 1945 Archdeacon Thompson and I interviewed Mr. Ward, the Minister for External Territories, in Sydney on Educational questions that were causing us anxiety at the time, such as the continuance of Mission schools, the training of teachers, the imposing of Pidgin English as a lingua franca in Papua, and other matters. On all these matters Mr. Ward gave us full satisfaction and assured us we need have no further cause for anxiety. He further promised that as soon as a Director of Education had been appointed he would instruct him to call an Educational Conference with Mission Representatives both in Sydney and Port Moresby. A Conference of Missionary Bodies was held in Sydney in the middle of last year, attended by the Chairman and Secretary of the Australian Board of Missions. The Conference in October was the fulfilment of the second part of Mr. Ward's pledge as he himself told the House of Representatives in his speech on May 7th. The Conference however took on a wider survey and included many other subjects besides that of education, such as medical services, agricultural developments, plans for the Reconstruction Training Scheme of the Commonwealth. The Conference was most remarkable because of its full and complete representation. Every mission working in the Territory of Papua-New Guinea was represented. It was therefore historical because it was the first time that any such united gathering of mission representatives had been held and it was also important because all the Government Departments were represented by their Heads. At that first Conference the Government seems anxious to lay its cards on the table and to tell us of its plans for the [154/155] development of the country, and particularly for the uplift of the native peoples. We appreciated this and a real desire seemed to be manifested to work together with missions in the highest interests of the natives of this Territory. A number of promises were given by which Missions would be aided in their work. In the time between the two Conferences these promises have not all found fulfilment, though some of them have, but the Government itself had been faced with great difficulties in the carrying out of its plans and these difficulties were explained to us at the Conference held recently in May and we were assured once again of the Government's desire to do all that it has expressed its intention of doing. The Conference in May was less about education than about other matters. There is no time for me to enter into the many matters that we discussed. There was much frank speaking which was all to the good, because difficulties on both sides were openly shown and it is better that this should be so in the hope that it may lead to mutual understanding and a fuller co-operation. As you have already heard I have asked Fr. Bodger, who was one of our representatives at both conferences to speak to you about the ground covered at the conference and to give you an opportunity for seeking further information by questions if you so desire. Sister Rawlings was also present for some of the sessions at the former conference, and at the second conference our other representatives beside Fr. Bodger and myself were the Rev. H. Palmer, Rector of Port Moresby, the Rev. D.J. Taylor and for the earlier session, Mr. Eric Wood.

The Administrator of the Provisional Government of Papua New Guinea, Colonel J.K. Murray, visited us last year. I have had quite a number of opportunities of getting to know him and apart altogether from questions of policy, I feel that we are fortunate in having a man of such character and ability. He has shown a marked friendly spirit towards us and towards the missions of this country and I know that he is anxious to work in friendly co-operation with us and to give us all the help that he can. I know further that he appreciates the work of missions and realises that the particular contribution that they have to make in the realm of character [156/156] and morals is essential to any plan for the betterment of the peoples of this territory.

Before I leave this subject I would say that our policy as a Mission and a Diocese is and always has been to work in fullest co-operation with the Administration of the Territory in all and every matter affecting the best interests and highest welfare of the people of this Territory and to give it our loyal support along the lines of our principles and convictions. This policy we try to carry out in our individual and provincial relationships with District officers and other Government representatives in our respective areas.

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The Sacred Synod.

The most outstanding event of last year, 1946, was the meeting of the Sacred Synod. This was held during our Anniversary Week. I had hoped to have been able to have both a Conference and an Anniversary last year, but as time went on it was obvious that our transport position made a Conference, which would have involved the transportation of the women members of our staff as well as the men, quite out of the question. It was also quite impossible to visualise the holding of an Anniversary commemoration on the same lines as we had been accustomed to have it before the war. That is to say, with Church Councillors and village Delegates from the different districts as well as the native clergy and teachers. Br. Mr. Warren's hard and wonderful work in connection with the mission trawler, the "Mirabuka", later called the "St. Lawrence", and his success in putting this into commission and bringing it down from Lae, delivering it to us in Samarai in June, made it possible for us to carry into effect the modified form of the Anniversary commemoration that I had had in mind. That was a gathering at Dogura of all the Clergy of the Diocese, both white and brown, and all the Papuan teachers. Though the trawler was not yet properly fitted out and there would be many more months work to be done on it before it could be in full running order, it was felt that it could be used for this purpose [156/157] first before that work was undertaken. I had a feeling that the Diocese at that stage in its history needed above all else the gathering together of the clergy and of the teachers and that much good might come thereby for the future of our work. I am afraid those who had to travel down from the north had a grueling time both in their down and up journeys through bad seas, but even more so through the unreliability of that time of the trawler engine. Nevertheless, we feel that the gathering that took place was worth while. Quite a few of the clergy and teachers had not seen Dogura and the greater number of their fellow workers since 1941. It was therefore a joyful reunion for them. The actual Anniversary Commemorations were full of thankfulness for God's wonderful providence towards His Church and for His deliverance through the years of trial. The Conference held with the Papuan Clergy and teachers showed a much deeper understanding and readiness to accept the difficulties involved in the carrying out of their vocation in these days, than we had expected to find. The difficulties were frankly put before them and there seemed a genuine desire on the part of all to do their best to face them in the spirit of true service for our Lord and His Church. Bishop Cranswick, who was with us at the time, took a Retreat for the white clergy which was helpful for them, and as has already been mentioned the mission trawler was dedicated under the name of "St. Lawrence."

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Cleansing And Renewal.

That however, which really made that week a momentous one in the history of the Diocese and one which may, I feel, in future years be looked back upon as a turning point, was the meeting in the Cathedral of the Sacred Synod of the Bishop and his clergy. The Sacred Synod opened with a Celebration of the Holy Communion with special intention for the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit and from that we proceeded straight to our deliberations after a further invocation of the Holy Spirit and the singing of the Veni Creator. From the very first it seemed that we were being vouchsafed not merely a deeply realised sense of His Presence but a light [157/158] and guidance and a showing of the path that He would have us as leaders of His Church to tread in the days to come.

I have already mentioned the Resolution that the Sacred Synod was led to make regarding the commemoration of our martyrs and a day to be set apart for this each year, in the future. There were also many other matters of importance dealt with. Some of these will be brought before you by the Rev. R.A.B. Nicholls, the Secretary of the Sacred Synod. But the decision to which we seemed to be led most clearly, and that without any previous planning, was to make this present Christian year a year of Cleansing and Renewal in the life of the Papuan Church. It was obvious that the urge to take up the Jubilee Challenge of "New Guinea--all of it for Christ", was foremost in the minds of the members of Sacred Synod but it was equally clear that all felt that there was a prior need before we could proceed to this major advancement of the cause of Christ in this land, and that was a revival in the Papuan Church and in the villages that are already Christian. There was present in our minds the thought of the inroads that war had made not only upon the material side of our life in the destruction of mission stations and church property and in the loss of equipment but much more seriously in the spiritual sphere in the souls and minds of our people. There had been the general contamination with evil that war never fails to bring. There had been sad individual cases of people failing under the stress of temptation. There had been, it is true, much strength and many incidents of wonderful witness but there had also been a weakening of spiritual standards and moral ideals. In the face of God's abundant mercies and loving kindnesses showed towards us in preserving His Church in this land from extinction, it seemed that the Holy Spirit was leading us in His Name to call all Christian people to seek from our Lord first a cleansing for their lives, and then a renewal and rededication. With this cleansing and renewal there would go, we hoped, a revival of spiritual life and a strengthening of faith. We were aware of ominous signs in some districts not only of an increase of moral failures but of general indifference and apathy, of an increase of materialism and what seemed in some places almost to verge on apostasy.

[159] This period of renewal would call for evangelistic efforts made within the circle of the Church itself--a new preaching of the Gospel amongst the baptised--concentrated instruction in the faith to revive those whose faith had become shaken or disturbed by the things that had happened around them or by outside influences, and it might be that this would mean the preaching of missions or other evangelistic efforts within some of our mission districts by the priest in charge of those districts himself, or by one of his brother priests from another district, or even by calling in the aid of Christian leaders from other lands. We are now more than half way through this year of Cleansing and Renewal. Whilst I am sure it has been occupying a special place in our thoughts and prayers, and, I think, there are signs of a deepening of the spiritual life in many directions, and there has been a revival in some of those districts which were causing us most anxiety a year ago, yet there as been little practical effort made to make his year an outstanding one in the history of spiritual development. That may or may not be a good thing. It may be that the real work of revival lies along the path of making the Church's ordinary day to day work more real, rescuing it from being merely a carrying out of routine and impregnating it with the life of the living Spirit of God. It may be that this is the path that we have been meant to pursue, rather than that of any special or temporary efforts which may then die down again. Our year of cleansing and renewal was to be a year of preparation for a definite advancement after that time was over, and a real concentrated attempt to preach the Gospel to the heathen and to extend Christ's Kingdom in areas which we have, so far, hardly touched.

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The Diocesan Jubilee.

I have a feeling that we shall not have accomplished our full aim at the end of this year and that though we are already seeing advancement in some areas and can hope to see more and more as time goes on, yet we shall not be ready at the end of this year for [159/160] the plans of advancement that were in our minds at Sacred Synod. It seems unlikely that Sacred Synod will be able to meet now before the year has expired, though it may do so shortly afterwards, but I have it in mind that we ought to continue our time of cleansing and renewal for another two, or three, or even four years. 1951 will bring us to our Diamond Jubilee, the 60th Anniversary of the coming of the pioneers and the beginning of the work of the Church in this land. I am inclined to think that we should extend this period of renewal into a total period of five years, to end with our Diamond Jubilee in 1951, and that we should use the next four years for a concentrated effort for a revival of spiritual life in the Papuan Church--a cleansing and renewal of individuals in all districts, and that this should be a preparation for taking up at the time of our Diamond Jubilee of that which we had hoped to do at our Golden Jubilee, but which the war frustrated, of an advancement to the winning of this land--"All of it for Christ". It may be that before the four years of preparation have expired we shall see signs that the spirit of God has been working so powerfully in our midst that we can actually enter upon that more definite advancement earlier. If that should be so it would be a cause for thankfulness. In any case, the having of our main objective in the next four years a true revival within the Papuan Church itself will not focus all our attention upon ourselves and will not preclude the extension of our work in the districts and beyond them, where and when opportunity offers, even as it has not done so in the first year of renewal. Part of our work in these five years--the first five years, we may say, after the war--will be, of course, the seeking out of Papuans with vocations not only as teachers but as Evangelists, concentrating upon them and seeking to influence and train them for the work of Evangelism, so that when our Jubilee comes we may have a strong band of native Evangelists ready to go forth in the name of Christ to win the heathen for Him.

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Diocesan Organisation And Constitution.

I want now to speak upon the subject of Diocesan Organisation. St. Paul's Day, January 25th next year, will be the 50th anniversary [160/161] of the consecration of the first Bishop of New Guinea, Bishop John Montague Stone Wigg. It will be, therefore, the Jubilee of the formation and establishment of the Diocese of New Guinea in contradistinction from the Jubilee in 1941 of the coming of the Gospel and Church to Papua. The Diocese of New Guinea will be, on January 25th of next year, 50 years old. It was formed as a Missionary Diocese in the sense that it was formed for the carrying on and development of Missionary work in New Guinea and for the building up of the Church in that land.

A Missionary Diocese is not one whit less a Diocese than any other--the legal definition of a Diocese being a district or area in which a single Bishop rules the Church. A Missionary Diocese however does differ from dioceses in the Home Church in two respects. First, it is not self-supporting but dependent, either wholly or partially, on other parts of the Church for its maintenance and resources, and secondly, in that it is less fully organised, and consequently a fuller measure of responsibility falls upon the Bishop personally. And he is not able to share and delegate his authority, where such authority can be shared and delegated, as fully as can a Bishop in the Home Church. The reproach is sometimes leveled at Bishops of Missionary Dioceses that they are autocrats following what is called the Monarchical principle of the episcopate, and that they glory in being and doing so. In theory, in the early days of a Missionary Diocese it may be inevitable and unavoidable that a Bishop of such should be an autocrat and have to rule his Diocese on the Monarchical rather than on the Constitutional principle. Whether Bishops of missionary dioceses actually like doing this or not, can be but a matter of opinion in which those who express opinion, especially those who are outside the Diocese, do so sometimes without being cognisant of all the facts and of all the circumstances; consequently their expressions of opinion are not always correct. But certainly I do not think it is likely that many Bishops of Missionary Dioceses would wish to see such a position perpetuated. They may feel that the circumstances and times of the growth of that part of the Church over which they have been called to rule make it necessary [161/162] for them to continue to carry this specially heavy burden of responsibility for Christ's sake, whose burden it really is, and for whom alone they carry it. But I think that these Bishops of Missionary Dioceses will be keenly looking forward to the first signs of the coming of a day when they can share that burden with others--it may be with some of their presbyters, and perhaps also with some of their laity. For some Bishops of Missionary Dioceses it may be they can see such a day will not come in their life-time, or during the time of their episcopate and I think that (though there may be exceptions) the reaction on their part will be a sign of disappointment. Let us hope also it will be accompanied by a new offering of themselves in surrender to our Lord that they may continue to have strength to carry their burdens. If on the other hand it should be otherwise, they will rejoice, not because it will ease their own personal load of care, but because it will be an indication that the young missionary church is advancing towards maturity. I hope that you will not (and I do not think you will) designate me as an autocrat in the derogatory sense of the word, even though the powers invested in me are autocratic in their essence. I have never desired to be so and I shrank very much inwardly from the great responsibility when it first fell to me. And from the first I have had in mind the need for gradually evolving the machinery of a permanent Diocesan Organisation and I have given much thought to the matter.

I do not think that it is necessarily incumbent upon us that a Diocese such as this, concerned with a young and growing native church, should necessarily develop in its organisation upon the exact lines of an Australian Diocese. More and more as I give the matter thought I see that it would be impossible for it to be so, not only now, but as far as one can see into the indefinite future. For instance, the kind of synods that have been formed in Australian Dioceses would present difficulties in a Diocese such as this more particularly in the matter of lay representatives, for the Church in this Diocese has not only its missionary responsibilities but its responsibilities also to its European members. It is important that the European members [162/163] should realise their fellowship in the Diocese as well as the Papuans. But under the Australian system they would have little or no place in such a synod, except in Samarai and Port Moresby they would be outnumbered in any representative system of election. But here one has to remember that the system that has evolved in the organisation of the Australian Church is not necessarily the same as that which is to be found in other parts of the Church; it is for instance quite different from that in England. It would seem therefore that the true principle of growth in this matter is that each part of the Church has to evolve its own system by which the authority of the Bishop is delegated and shared with the rest of the church in his Diocese, and that that system is one which fits most appropriately into the setting and circumstances and needs of the Church in that particular part of the world. Those of you who have been here during the whole course of my Episcopate will remember that right in its early days I took two definite steps in the direction of Diocesan Organisation. Right at the beginning of my Episcopate at the time of my Enthronement I had a meeting of all the clergy of the Diocese. This was apparently the first time that a Bishop of the Diocese had been able to meet all his clergy in council both European and Papuan at the same time. Hitherto it had not been possible owing to the fact that at the time of the Conference all the Papuan clergy had not been at Dogura, and at the time of the native Anniversary when the Papuan clergy were there the European clergy were not.

It was after this that I resolved to call the Papuan clergy in to share with us in the Diocesan Conference. I explained my reasons for this in my Conference Address in 1938, the first Conference over which I presided. I stated as follows:- "It seemed to me that it was a matter of great spiritual importance that I should be able to meet and take council with all my clergy together. I could only do this by calling in the Papuan clergy at the time of what had hitherto been known as the White Staff Conference, or by calling in the white clergy at the time of the Native Anniversary. The latter course might be difficult and inadvisable as at that time the Papuan [163/164] teachers are also away from the stations."

I considered also that if we take as we do the step of admitting Papuans to the priesthood and thus entrust them with the greatest of all responsibilities we must also admit them to a share in the councils of the Church of which they have been made by their ordination spiritual leaders. Our ideal is the building up in the course of generations of a truly native Church in Papua as a part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. The native Christians will find it easier to understand this if they know that their own clergy are sharing in the responsibility of that building up, and the native clergy themselves will be helped to realise the fulness of the responsibility which is theirs. I felt moreover that it should help deepen our unity as fellow workers with Christ in the building up of His Church in this land. I pointed out further that I was doing this in spite of the fact that the Conference was concerned with matters which were more likely to be of interest to the white members of the staff than to the Papuan Clergy, since they covered subjects both connected with the Diocese and with the wider church of which the Papuan Clergy have little knowledge or understanding and that their limited knowledge of English would prevent them following fully all the proceedings of the Conference, but it felt it valuable that they should realise that there are many problems in our own Diocese which the white members of the staff have to face and solve in order that Christ's Kingdom may go forward in this land.

You may therefore think it strange that this time I have not called in the native clergy to attend our Conference, particularly as they have attended every previous Conference during my Episcopate, but in that same Conference Address I went on to explain the real reason why I was calling them in at the time of Conference. Quoting from that Address again I said as follows:- "A deeper reason than those I have mentioned prompted me to this decision. It is that in my opinion the right way for a Bishop to govern his Diocese in spiritual matters is through consultation in Sacred Synod with his clergy. To do this he must meet his clergy frequently, and normally once a year, [164/165] in council after solemn prayer. I regard this of far greater importance than the question of the New Guinea Clergy attending the White Conference. It would serve this purpose as well if sometimes I was to reverse the procedure and call the white clergy in at Anniversary time, though on the whole I think that the joint gathering at the time of the Conference is the better and will be the normal. Which it is does not really matter. What does matter is that the Bishop should be able to meet his clergy in synod."

So you will see that the real object of the step that I then took was the formation of a Sacred Synod which I believe to be following ancient historical and Catholic custom by which a Bishop governs his diocese in consultation with his presbyters. I claim therefore that that was a very definite and important step in the Direction of Diocesan Organisation. That this matter of Diocesan Organisation was very much present in my mind as long ago as 1938 you will see if I quote again from my Conference Address of that year which I find expressed what I have just said to you.--

"I have been considering the question of the constitution and organisation of the diocese. The Diocese at present has no constitution and is therefore strictly speaking an autocracy with all responsibility falling upon the Bishop. Constitutional organisation in a missionary diocese such as this presents many difficulties and it seems to me that theoretically it must continue an autocracy for some time to come except in certain defined spheres. For instance any ides of a Diocesan Synod which controls under the chairmanship of the Bishop all the affairs of the Diocese, such as is familiar in the Australian dioceses is quite out of the question here at present and will be probably for many years to come, if it is ever desirable because of the difficulty of the representation of the European and Papuan laity. But the more ancient and Catholic conception of a synod consisting of a Bishop and his clergy is quite possible now. There are a number of missionary and other dioceses in the Anglican Church where a synod of this kind is established."

I then went on to point out that whist it might not yet be possible [165/166] to give our Sacred Synod a constitutional basis it was possible to bring it into being and make it an active force in the life of the diocese, and then as time went on in years to come for it to be given a legal authority and for its powers to be widened. I stated as follows:-

"Such a Synod to be properly established on a permanent basis with due authority and power needs a constitution and the extent of its powers defined. My own idea is that its powers should be limited to spiritual matters in the diocese, such for instance as matters connected with the administration of the Sacraments, the Ordering of the Services, the Rules for discipline, directions for penitents, regulations regarding Holy Matrimony, the care of souls and matters of this kind that the Bishop thought it well to bring before his clergy. Rules and laws passed in synod and afterwards promulgated by the Bishop would be most sacredly binding upon all priests in the Diocese.

["] That is the kind of Synod I contemplate. The other administrative work and management of Diocesan business in a diocese such as this would continue as I think it must do to devolve on the Bishop and any officers he may appoint to assist him in that work, with the Diocesan Conference as in the past being a consultative body as also in a sense the meeting of the native delegates at the native Anniversary. At those meetings matters connected with the welfare and work of the Church are discussed and resolutions moved, upon which the Bishop may if he thinks wise act or if a spiritual matter refer to the Synod. I am not prepared yet to establish such a synod on a permanent or authoritative basis. I wish first to seek further information regarding the practice of other missionary dioceses which have established such synods. I may even find that circumstances make it unwise to establish such in this diocese yet. But though I am not yet establishing a Synod there is nothing to prevent me meeting my clergy in synod, in other words in council. A Bishop can call his clergy to meet him in synod any time he wishes to take council with them on a mater or matters concerning the spiritual welfare of the Church in the diocese, before he makes a [166/167] ruling. Whether or not in the future a synod with certain defined powers is set up, it will be my practice to meet my clergy in synod normally once a year to consult with them on spiritual matters connected with the Diocese and to give them an opportunity of bringing before me matters upon which they feel a ruling from the Bishop is necessary. Such a synod if it has not legal authority will certainly have moral authority."

I have already spoken about the meeting of the Sacred Synod last year. Then the possibility I visualised in 1938 that some time it might be more convenient to hold this at the time of the Native Anniversary instead of at the time of the white staff Conference came about. As I have already said it was not possible to have a staff Conference but it was desirable to have a meeting of Sacred Synod, and so I departed from our usual custom and called in the white clergy as well as the Papuan clergy to the Native Anniversary. With the meeting of Sacred Synod having been held so recently there was not the same need for it now and as Conference on this particular occasion was concerned with many matters which would not have been of particular interest to the native clergy they have not been called in on this occasion. I have it in mind to call both European and Papuan clergy together again in January for a further meeting of the Sacred Synod.

We have therefore now, we may say, three established Diocesan bodies. There is the Diocesan Conference which consists of the white staff and which sometimes the native clergy are invited to attend. The Conference has also its standing committees dealing with special sides of our Diocesan life such as education, medical work, literature and publications in native Languages, native customs and their relationship to Christian teaching and finance. Then there is the Papuan Church Conference or Oga Tara which consists of all our native clergy, teachers, evangelists, Church councillors and elected delegates from each district. The white clergy are not normally members of this conference but they may on occasion be invited to attend. Then over and above these two bodies there is the Sacred Synod of the Diocese consisting of the Bishop and his [167/168] clergy when all the clergy of the diocese both European and Papuan in perfect equality sit in council with their Bishop.

At the same conference in 1938 I took one more step in the direction of organisation by establishing two Archdeaconries in the Diocese. In connection with this I said:- "An Archdeacon is an officer of the Bishop appointed by him and holding office at his pleasure to assist him in the administrative work of the Diocese. He exercises a special jurisdiction over the territorial area of his Archdeaconry with the right of visitation and advises the Bishop regarding the welfare of the Church in that area and brings to his notice matters which may need his attention or judgment and on occasion he acts as the Bishop's Deputy.

["]The Archdeaconry of the Mamba will consist of the mission area from the Mamba to Wanigela districts and that of Samarai to the Mukawa district with that part of the diocese which lies outside the mission area. My decision regarding this has been formed less from the need of visitation of the respective areas than from the fact that it is valuable that in the north and in the south of the diocese there should be some one knowing the Bishop's mind who can speak and act for him with authority. Cases arise and have done so where advice or decision is necessary and where there is not time to communicate with the Bishop when it would be an advantage if someone in authority was available. It is better that the one who is called upon to act for me should have the definite authority to do so.["] I further appointed certain chaplains, the Rev. John D. Bodger as my Diocesan Chaplain and at subsequent conferences I appointed an examining chaplain to assist me on matters of testing of ordination candidates, the Rev. A.P. Jennings and the Rev. O.J. Brady, and I appointed the senior Papuan priest as Honorary Chaplain to the Bishop.

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A Cathedral Chapter.

I now feel that a further step in Diocesan Organisation should be taken and I am proposing the formation of a Cathedral Chapter. [168/169] We have the distinction unlike a considerable number of Dioceses in the Anglican Communion of having a permanent and consecrated Cathedral and it is therefore I feel fitting and proper that our next step in Diocesan Organisation should be centred round our Cathedral. I have had this in mind for some time as a further step towards the creating of machinery for the organisation of the church on a Diocesan basis and towards the eventual working out of a constitution for the Diocese and putting all on a legal basis. I was considering it all in my mind shortly after the time of the consecration of our cathedral but the advent of the war in the Pacific made it impossible to pursue any such ideas for the time being in the face of a situation which made it doubtful if any of us would survive and whether both our new and consecrated cathedral and the diocese might not for the time being go under. As by the mercy of God we have been preserved and our cathedral also and the number of our priests is now increasing and as this is a time for planning and building for the future, I feel that it is not inappropriate to begin to put into effect some of these plans and to hope that they may be for the glory of God and for the good of the Church in the future.

A Cathedral Chapter consists of a body of Canons presided over by a Dean. In a missionary Diocese and, indeed, as far as I can see, in all the missionary dioceses of the Anglican Communion as in the greater number of other dioceses, the Bishop of the diocese is the Dean of the Cathedral. Under him is a Sub-Dean, who is usually a residential Canon, and there are also other Canons who need not be residential, that is to say, residing in the vicinity of the Cathedral. The number of canons is variable in different dioceses. Strictly speaking the word Dean comes from the Latin word decanus--one who presides over ten people, but, in the practice of the Church, in some cases a Cathedral Chapter consists of less than ten and in some cases more. Of course in the old established Cathedrals, a Cathedral Chapter is concerned primarily with the government of the Cathedral, but in a diocese such as this, that is entirely unnecessary. Cathedral Chapters, however, are also concerned with certain Diocesan matters if their constitution so empowers [169/170] them. These Diocesan matters are matters which are delegated to them by the Bishop, or in which he looks to them to act towards him in an advisory capacity. It can, therefore, and very often does, in a missionary diocese, take the form of a Bishop's Confidential Advisory Council, representative as far as possible of the whole diocese both territorially an departmentally. In the constitution that I am drawing up for the chapter I am taking the Diocese of Uganda as a model. My intention is that the Chapter should, as in that diocese, concern itself with certain aspects of the life of the diocese such as, for instance, the maintenance of the ministry, questions of vocation and the development of these, the spiritual life of the diocese, that the Chapter should be a stimulus to the clergy in spiritual matters and in the encouragement of theological study, that it should promote the education of the young, and promote and organise almsgiving, that it should be the head, centre and stimulus of the Church work whether pastoral, theological, and educational in the more settled portions of the diocese or pioneer and missionary in the less developed regions. The members of the Chapter have certain rights, privileges, and duties in the Cathedral Church of the Diocese. The former consist of a stall which is assigned to them and which they occupy on special ceremonial and diocesan occasions. The duties are not onerous and in a diocese such as ours consist of being ready to preach in the Cathedral or take part in services when required.

I propose to constitute the Chapter as follows:- It will consist of myself as Bishop of the Diocese and Dean of the Cathedral Church. The Rev. John Dewhurst Bodger as Sub-dean of the Cathedral since its consecration in 1939 and Diocesan Chaplain who will now also be a Canon Residentiary. Bishop Newton whom I appointed to a Canonry in the Cathedral in 1937 as Episcopal Canon. The two Archdeacons will be ex-officio members of the Chapter and have the rights and status of Canons in the Cathedral. There will be also three other Canons--The Rev. Oliver John Brady, M.A. Principal of St. Aidan's College, the Rev. Arthur Proust Jennings Th.L. both of whom are already my examining chaplains, and the Rev. James Benson Th.L.

[171] In addition to this I feel that a missionary diocese such as ours can be strengthened in its councils by representatives of the Home Church and with this in view I am appointing two Honorary Canons from outside the Diocese, both of whom have already rendered the Church in this Diocese great service. I have asked the Rev. M.A. Warren, the Secretary of the A.B.M., and the Rev. W.G. Thomas to accept Honorary Canonries of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, and I am glad to be able to tell you that they have both accepted. It is obvious that it is seldom that they may be able to be with us, but they will be constantly assisting us in other ways and by their council [sic] from Australia and I think you will agree that it will strengthen the Church's life in this Diocese to know that we have this special close relationship with them and that they are though not living amongst us members of our fellowship.

The Chapter will therefore consist of besides myself and the two Archdeacons, an Episcopal Canon, A Residentiary Canon who is also the Sub-Dean of the Cathedral, three Canons of the Diocese, and two Honorary Canons living outside the Diocese.

Though I have felt it appropriate that the present Sub-Dean of the Cathedral and the Principal of St. Aidan's College should be Canons of the Cathedral it is not intended that Canonries should necessarily always go with these offices, nor that the present number of Canonries should necessarily be maintained, nor is there anything to prevent the number being increased, if it was thought that the Church would benefit thereby. Further it is not intended that Canonries necessarily be awarded for long service in the diocese though it may often be that long service and special contributions required by the Chapter may be felt to go together. Such is undoubtedly the case with Fr. Jennings and in the case of Fr. Benson I think we must all feel that he has made and making a contribution to the life of the Church not only in this Diocese but in the wider Church. And further, I felt that it was appropriate that one of those appointed to Canonries should be representative of the Church in the north. It should also be noted that the Canonries are held only during the continuance of service in the Diocese unless special [171/172] circumstances in an individual case should warrant otherwise. That is to say, that if a priest who is a member of the Chapter and Canon of the diocese leaves us his Canonry lapses. You will notice that the Constitution of the Chapter is at present entirely European. It is not my intention that it should continue to be so always. It is not inappropriate that it should be at its inauguration even as the Church in its early stages in this land was entirely manned by European leadership but I shall hope at an early day, or as soon as I feel the right time has come to have Papuan representatives on the Chapter.

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Appointment of Chancellor And Registrar.

There are two other appointments that I would like to announce to you. I have asked Mr. Justice Ralph Gore to become Chancellor of the Diocese of New Guinea. The office of Chancellor is the highest office that a layman can hold in the church and it is held by a member of the Judiciary. There is not much at present that a Chancellor would be called upon to do in the Diocese. At the same time I feel that when we have a loyal member of our Church as a Judge of the Supreme Court it is right and fitting that he should occupy the honoured post, and I know that in doing so he will render to us whatever help we may ask of him in the legal sphere as well as in other directions. The Chancellor is an ex-officio member of the Chapter even though it may be very seldom that he is able to attend.

I am also appointing the Venerable A.J. Thompson, Archdeacon of Samarai as Vicar General and Registrar of the Diocese. The office of Vicar General is one that only comes into special prominence during the vacancy of the See. The advantage of a permanent Vicar General is that if the See at any time was suddenly or unexpectedly voided there is automatically somebody who is immediately responsible for the administration of the diocese until a new Bishop is elected, Consecrated, and Enthroned. If there is no permanent Vicar General in a case such as I have mentioned of the sudden voidance of the See there is also no power in the Diocese to appoint a Vicar General and it falls upon the [172/173] Metropolitan of the Province to do so, and this in the circumstances in which we live may well cause a period of awkward delay and inconvenience. The Vicar General therefore is one who takes over in the case of the voidance of the See. He does not automatically by virtue of his office during the temporary absence of the Bishop of the Diocese take charge. The Bishop is required each time before he leaves the Diocese for a period to appoint a Commissary. It is my intention to appoint Archdeacon Thompson to act as my Commissary and Administrator during my absence in England next year and it is the duty of all members of the staff to give to the Commissary the same loyal support as they would give to the Bishop himself, for he is acting in and on behalf of the Bishop during his absence.

The office of Registrar is not one that is necessarily held by one in Holy Orders. In most Dioceses the office of Registrar is held by a layman. Actually a great deal of the Licensing and Registration work is work that I am compelled to do myself as I travel about the Diocese, but as in Australian Churches the man in charge of the Diocesan Office is usually called the Registrar, this means that a certain amount of correspondence on general church matters comes to every Diocese addressed to the Registrar, it seems suitable that Archdeacon Thompson who is in charge of our Diocesan Office should be regarded as the Registrar of the Diocese. This is particularly so in view of the fact that I have already said that Registrars of Australian Dioceses are not concerned with the particular work of the Registrar but with the more general work of administration.

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Conclusion.

This must bring to an end my long address. I am conscious that I have had to spend a great deal of time in talking about the past but I have done so deliberately because I believe that the events of the past six years have been such that none can fail to see in them the Hand of God at work not only in each of the incidents recorded [173/174] but in guiding and directing the whole course and life of the Church. For the sake of the future I feel that we could not adequately face our tasks in the present or view those that lie ahead of us in the future without a vivid realisation and thankfulness for the background that God has given to us and the foundation upon which we are called to build henceforth. Though I have spoken much about the past, much that I have said has been extended into the present and also into the future, and I have in some cases outlined to you in some of our major works, such as that of healing and teaching, the course that we must adopt. I am very conscious however, that much more might be said, that you might have expected perhaps a more practical lead than I have given you. I have already stated that I feel that it is my task at this stage to state principles. We have been dealing with principal things in our conference. We have been viewing our future policy in the matters of education and medical work and in other directions. All that is to the good and as it should be but we must not forget that there is an over all policy which must dominate our life and work and that is that we are here to win souls for Christ by every possible means and in winning souls not only do I mean the spirits of men but I mean the bringing of lives--Papuan lives, European lives--into living contact and union with Him who died for us and for them and who lives and reigns that we and they may be united with Him--that he may reign in us, and to win them for Him in their entirety body, soul, and mind. That as He gave all for them, so they may be brought to give themselves--their souls and bodies--all that they are, and all that they have to Him. That, my brethren, is our over-all-policy, that is our great objective. That is what we are here for. That is what we must seek to do ever more certainly, and we must never cease from doing it.

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