A History of the English Church in New ZealandPurchas, Henry Thomas
History
A History of the English Church in New Zealand
Purchas, Henry Thomas
Church of the Province of New Zealand -- History; New Zealand -- Church history
One part, then, of Godley's mission was to "capture" the bishop. It was
not long before the bishop captured Godley. The natures and ideals of
the two men were, in fact, fundamentally akin. Simplicity of life, a
self-denying clergy, the spiritual independence of the Church--these
were no less dear to the Canterbury leader than they were to the bishop
himself. There was all the greater necessity for insistence upon them
from the actual circumstances of the colonists. In spite of its
aristocratic patrons, the Association was not successful in selling much
of its land. There was no money wherewith to build the promised churches
and schools nor to pay the clergy. Instead of finding themselves in the
receipt of assured stipends, these luckless men were often reduced to
something like destitution. The trouble had been partly foreseen, and
the Association had tried to find clergy possessed of private means.
Some of the clerical immigrants were thus endowed, and they were able to
render considerable service. But the system was repugnant to Godley. He
found himself confronted with the same problem as had met Selwyn in the
north. To the Association it appeared that such a body of clergy "with
their possession of private estate, and its necessary occupation and
management, would resemble the condition of a large portion of the
English clergy as holders of glebe and tythes." To Godley, on the other
hand, it appeared that such men would be "primarily settlers and
landowners, and but secondarily priests."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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