Dean Walker bade farewell to the congregation of Holy 'Irnity Church on aster Sunday morning, when he preached the following sermon, taking 4s his text John 21, "Jesus therefore sad to them' again Peace be unto you: as the Father has sent me, even so send 1 you." He said:—The first thing that I must do this morning is to give expression to the regret we all feel that our Bishop was prevented from performing the Institution service. As you probably know, he has sailed for England in order to attend the Lambeth Conference. Nevertheless I must confess to a certain pleasure in having been commissioned by him to institute my successor in office, as Dean of this Church. The incident illu: trates in a peculiar way the coutinuity of the ministry of the Church.
After His resurrection our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the Apostles and in the words of my text said "Peace be unto you: as the Father has sent me so send you." In these simple words we find the whole rationale of the Christian ministry. It is success sive, progressive, but yet abiding. It is successive. Jesus was sent by the Father, and as He was sent so did He send His apostles. They in their turn sent others as they themselves had been sent; and so we come down to this Easter Day, when my dear friend and brother is sent by the Bishop to be the minister of this cou gregation. And we humbly b2 lieve that the risen Lord presented Himself to His Churei on the first Easter Day and gave them the Blessing of Peace, is he: to-day by representation and will give us the same blessing.
The ministry is also progress rive. We brethren are servants of succession. We live in a worl! that is always "passing away." The happy thing is that with all the movement there is progress. When John the Baptist had word brought to him of the success of the ministry of Jesus he said "He must increase, I must decrease" and that this is a general truth and not one only applicable to the Christ and His Forerunner is shown in the words of our Lord to His disciples, when Ho taught them that the works that they should do would be greater than those done by Himself. It is in this spirit that I would take leave of you. my people. Change is uncomfortable and parting is sad, but for your Church the future is pregnant with greater works.
Again, the Christian ministry is abiding' as well as successive and progressive. "As my Father hath sent me." From this we learn that the Messianic mission was divine—
"So send I you" from this we learn that the apostolic mission was alone divine. We mav therefore perceive that the whole business of laying of hands at ordination, and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.