Containing the Dioceses of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, Waiapu, Wellington, and Melanesia. By Henry Jacobs London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1887.
The following statistics of this diocese have been kindly supplied by the Right Rev. the Bishop, whose communication bears the date of September 14th, 1887:--
Church Population of the Diocese.--This, including Maories, is approximately 76,232, according to the last census, taken in March, 1886. This does not include those designated "Protestants," and not otherwise defined. The Maories are estimated at 18,850.
Offerings for Church Purposes.--The weekly offerings of this population amounted last year to about £6,500. A considerable sum in addition was collected for church building.
Stipends of Clergy.--Our town clergy generally receive a stipend of £400 per annum, with a house. [423/424] In this sum is included, in some cases, part of the interest of a parochial endowment fund, which at present yields £300 a year. The stipends (in no case exceeding £300 per annum) of the country clergy are, in many districts, supplemented by small grants from our Home Mission Fund, of which the receipts last year amounted to £900, contributed mainly by our town congregations in two half-yearly Sunday collections. Our Maori clergy, in priest's orders, receive £60 a year, with a house. The stipend is made up of a grant from our Native Pastorate Fund, supplemented in several cases by a grant of £25 from the Church Missionary Society's New Zealand estate. The Native Pastorate Fund, consisting, to a great extent, of contributions from the Maori congregations, yields at present £600 per annum. The majority of these contributions have been made since 1870, the year in which, at my suggestion, the Maories of the north began to give weekly at the Sunday offertory. In addition to the annual grants made from the Home Mission Fund towards the maintenance of the more poorly-paid country clergy, the stipend and travelling expenses of an organising clergyman (working under the bishop's direction) are paid from the fund. This clergyman spends the whole of his time in visiting parts of the diocese in which there are no resident clergy; and the result is that none of our people can now say that they are entirely without the ministrations of clergymen.
Diocesan Clergy Pension Fund.--We have a diocesan pension fund, to which the clergy pay £2 a [424/425] year each and the surplice fees of their parish or district. The Synod has directed that there shall be a collection for this fund on one Sunday of every year in all our churches. The income of the fund last year was £700. Part of the interest of the fund may be given in pensions to the widows of clergymen. We have not at present any clergyman receiving a pension from the fund. The benefits of the fund belong to the clergy of the dioceses of Melanesia and Waiapu, as well as to those of Auckland.
Bishopric Endowment.--This consists of £11,500, and land estimated at £3,350, the bishop's stipend being about £900 per annum. For the first ten years of my episcopate it was much less. Out of the £900 the bishop has to pay travelling expenses, amounting to not less than £100 a year, to keep up an expensive establishment (servants costing £5 a week), and to pay a secretary and clerk, whenever he employs such assistance.
Number of Clergy.--In 1870 there were twenty-four European clergy in the diocese; now there are sixty. In 1870 there were five Maori clergy in the diocese. I have since ordained twelve more. Three of this number have died this year, two having been accidentally poisoned by eating unwholesome food, and the third having died (on September 9th) of consumption.
New Churches.--Since 1870, sixty-nine new Churches have been built in the diocese, varying in size from St. Sepulchre's, which will hold 1,000 people, to small Maori buildings, that will hold l00.
Church Property.--Our Maori School, St. Stephen's, [425/426] Parnell, has an endowment, which yielded last year £500. The Parnell Grammar School estate produced last year an income of £200.
The benefits of the following estates, which are situated within the diocese, are, in some cases, not confined exclusively to it, in others not partaken of by it at all, namely:--
1. The St. John's College Estate, which last year yielded a revenue of £1,250.
2. The Melanesian Mission Estate, which produced last year an income of £2,000.
3. The General Church Trust Estate, the revenue of which is at the disposal of the General Synod, yielded last year the sum of £500.
Native Church Boards.--Every year since 1872, we have had a meeting of our native Church Board (or Boards), in accordance with the provisions of Title B, Canon III. The board consists of the bishop, the licensed clergy of the district, and lay representatives from the same.
Church Institutions.--We have a Women's Home, which was established by Mrs. Cowie in 1884, and in which nearly 100 women have now been helped. It is under the management of a committee, consisting of three clergymen and three ladies, of whom Mrs. Cowie is one, and she is also the superintendent of the Institution.