Whereas in or about the year 1830 a number of persons of certain religious convictions constituted the religious denomination commonly known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as originally organised in the State of New York, United States of America, and thereafter established and constituted as a church body and fully organised in Salt Lake City, State of Utah in the United States of America, and elsewhere (such religious body as so constituted and established being hereinafter referred to as the Church):

And whereas in the year 1854 two members of the Church, being the Elders Augustus Farnhan and William Cooke, came at the request and with the approval of Brigham Young, the then President of the Church, to the then Colony of New Zealand as missionaries on behalf of the Church and undertook as missionaries the teaching of the doctrine and beliefs of the Church in New Zealand, and in due course of time there was established and constituted a branch of the Church in New Zealand, but more commonly designated a mission by the members of the Church, and for furtherance of the work of the Church in New Zealand there was acquired in the name of one Joseph F Smith, of the City of Salt Lake, State of Utah in the United States of America, the then President of the Church, a certain parcel of land in Queen Street, Auckland, upon which was erected a chapel for public worship after the manner and in accordance with the usages and beliefs of the Church, and also other lands were from time to time acquired as sites for chapels and homes for officers and elders and generally for the purposes of the Church in New Zealand:

And whereas the said Joseph F Smith died on or about 19 November 1918, and letters of administration cum testamento annexo of his estate in New Zealand were granted by the Supreme Court of New Zealand at Auckland on 21 February 1921, to one George Shepard Taylor, then residing in the City of Auckland:

And whereas it being desirable to constitute in New Zealand a corporate trustee in which could be vested all property both real and personal then held for the purposes of the Church in New Zealand and all property real and personal subsequently for those purposes acquired, Heber Jeddy Grant, Charles Wilson Nibley, George Albert Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, Stephen L Richards, Richard Roswell Lyman, and Melvin Joseph Ballard, being officers and members of the said Church, and all residing in the State of Utah in the United States of America, and acting at the request and with the consent and approval of the First Presidency as the governing authority of the said Church, filed in the Supreme Court of New Zealand at Auckland on 9 May 1921, a memorial executed pursuant to the provisions of the Religious, Charitable, and Educational Trusts Act 1908 (New Zealand) and obtained as and from 9 May 1921, incorporation of the Board and thereafter the said parcel of land at Auckland and all other lands then so vested in the aforesaid Joseph F Smith were, at the request of the said Board, by conveyance and transfer duly executed by the said George Shepard Taylor (and with the recital that all such lands and premises as so previously vested in the said Joseph F Smith had been purchased with the funds of the Church) conveyed or transferred to the Board and all property subsequently acquired by or for the Church in New Zealand has been duly acquired by and vested in the Board:

And whereas the incorporation of the Board was not, as far as can be ascertained by search and inquiry, preceded by the execution of a declaration of trust specifically declaring the trusts, powers, and authorities of the incorporating trustees and the Board, and that, apart from the general recognised trust for the religious, charitable, and educational purposes of the Church in New Zealand, there exists, so far as diligent search and inquiry can ascertain, no declared trusts regarding the said lands and funds so vested in the Board and subsequently to the incorporation acquired by and vested in the Board:

And whereas since the incorporation of the Board the governing authority of the Church has provided extensive funds for the furtherance of the work of the Church in New Zealand, and these funds have been placed at the disposal of the Board, and have in large measure been employed by the Board in the purchase of many properties comprising chapel sites, homes for the officers of the Church, hostels, colleges, temples, and for the general purposes work and extension of the Church in New Zealand:

And whereas, in view of the inability to locate or discover any declaration of trust declaring the trusts upon which the Board now holds the real and personal property vested in it and the trusts upon which property real and personal subsequently acquired or vested in the Board is to be held, it is desirous that the said trusts be declared, that certain necessary provisions be made to the constitution of the Board, that appointment of the existing trustees be confirmed, that provision be made for the appointments of successive trustees, and that certain essential and necessary powers be conferred upon the Board and that other administrative matters be defined.