Sydney And Brisbane

Bishop Kempthorne At

r[E Bishop in Polynesia (the Rt.

Rev. L. S. Kempthorne of Suva) preached the synod sermon at the opening of the Queensland Provincial Synod of the Church of England, at Brisbane, on October 18.

Visitors from New Guinea and Fiji attended the opening of the synod, which meets every three years.

On October 9, when preaching at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney Bishop Kempthorne said that education was in the forefront of Church work in the diocese of Polynesia.

Speaking of Fiji, he said that the Indians now exceeded the Fijians in numbers and only about 2 per cent of the Indians were Christians.

“The Church is bringing Indians to Fiji to help in the evangelical work,” he said, and continued; “The French colony of Tahiti has a large Chinese population, and the French authorities are faced with the same problem as we have in Fiji. The future is largely in the hands of the Christians, and the extension of Christianity has been marked by the number of picturesque village churches built in the Islands.”

The Bishop said that in Fiji the

Indians regarded Christianity as a Western idea.”

Bishop Kempthorne has been Bishop in Polynesia since 1923.

IF Mr. E. W. Barltrop, Labour Ad viser to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, is scheduled to arrive in Fiji on November 26. He will visit industrial centres, inspect labour conditions and meet union leaders.