were under the spiritual and ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of Nova Scotia (who was also their Bishop). Unfortunately, what happened was that over the passage of time the island became identiﬁed as an Arch deaconry administered under the Diocesan Synod of Nova Scotia (Prince Edward Island became an Arch deaconry in 1860) and became thought of merely as an administrative unit within the Diocese of Nova Scotia, rather than one associated with the Diocese of Nova Scotia through a jurisdictional association with the (shared) Bishop of Nova Scotia.

As it is true that the Bishops received their power of authority and jurisdiction over the church in the colonies from their Letters Patent, it is also undeniably true that the Synods in these colonies derived (and still do derive) their power and authority from the Bishop of that Diocese. Synods possess no intrinsic power of their own. The Act of Incorporation of the synod of Nova scotia, in fact, contained the restricting phrase "Nothing in this Act shall extend to abridge or eﬁ'ect in any way...nor shall extend in any manner to confer any Spiritual Jurisdiction or ecclesiastical rights whatsoever upon the said Synod or their successors."222

As the preceding paragraph is true, it is also a fact that Diocesan Synods hold no jurisdiction or authority to deal with matters of Church doctrine. This must be dealt with at the level of the House of Bishops. Likewise, the Diocesan Synods have no jurisdiction or authority to deal with matters concerning the division or expansion of the boundaries of a Diocese. These matters must be dealt with by the Provincial Synod.

The power to deal with matters of church doctrine was intentionally withheld from Diocesan Synods because of a fear that separation from the Church of England would lead to a fragmentation of the colonial church and a loss of its essential catholicity. The demise of the Church of England as a functioning member of the Anglican Communion could only be prevented by each Diocese diligently maintaining "the ﬁxed doctrinal, liturgical forms of the

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Church of England and its Apostolic orders .

During the annual session of the Diocesan Synod in 1894 questions arose as to whether the Province of Prince Edward Island legally formed part of the Diocese of Nova Scotia. As Father James Simpson (Priest Incumbent of St. Peter’s Cathedral, Charlottetown) felt that it was expedient to remove all doubt over the question, he framed a resolution calling for the Synod of Nova Scotia to "take such steps as shall make P.E. Island an integral part of the Diocese of Nova Scotia". The delegates to Synod immediately recognized that

222. Act of Incomration, April 29th, 1863, Diocesan Synod of Nova Scotia. 223. Hankey, The Reverend Dr. W. "The Inns & Limits of Spiritual Authority".

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