The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11. 1830.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 242, 14 October 1886, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11. 1830.

For tha cause that lacks astistuice, Tor the wrong that needs rcni.iUncd, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do,

October appears, in this country, to bo what May is at home—the month for meetings. As we write, the Synod of the Anglican Church and the Baptist Union are in full swing, deliberating on the various questions of interest to their respective bodies. The result is that Auckland at present has put on the appearance of an English cathedral city during a Church Congress. Black coats are ki the ascendant ; it is a time of high jinks for our country cousins of the ministry. They, not sorry probably to exchange-the rough simplicity of tho bush for the cakes and ale of towu life, are playing the rule of the country mouse when he came to pay his respects to his more civilised brother. But the gain is not confined to the rural ministry ; the town clergy will likewise in another way share in it. Next Sunday they will have the satisfaction, in a majority of eases, of yielding up their pulpits to strangers, whilst instead of threatening or soothing or mesmerising their congregations in the wonted Sabbatical fashion, they as listeners have the chance to enjoy or criticise. "Oh wad some pow'r tho giftic gi'o us, to see oursels as ithers see us." We cannot pretend to possess the power thus invoked, but nevertheless we mean to have a shot at one or two things, which may help towards carrying out the poet's dream, and bestow, if they will allow it, a little advice on our brethren of the pulpit. We know that to a good many this statement will seem at least a rash one. 'Ehey regard us rather as a fraternity of the devil than as amongst the elect, but we can assure our sober brethren that we have no more to do with " Auld Clootie " than they have, except in the' form of a printer's devil. But to our- muttons, oi-, rather, to our pulpits. Well, then, what a very foolish system ours is. We expect one man twico at least ou every Sunday in the year to deliver to the same congregation, amid the same circumstances, two sot discourses. Each must be original; it must be eloquent, it must be orthodox—in a word, it must be a work of art." Now, whon one considers how very rare arc the gifts of genius, how few men there are whose imagination can travel beyond the tips of their noses, how few are strong enough to resist the deadening influence of custom and sameness—the mill horse

routine of little life—it becomes at once

apparent that to expect what we do from a parson (we don't use tho word disrespectfully—on the contrary, it is a fine old English term) is, well, an insult to common sense. The very prophets themselves would have grown demoralised amid such circumstances, and have failed to utter the passionate words that have stirred generation after generation of men with their lofty beauty and majestic force. Well, then, here's the first piece of advice which we would utter to the clergy : " For your own sakes," we would say, " as well as for ours," give us more frequently the chance of listening to somebody else ; you would be more appreciated if we did not hear you quite so often; get strangers into the pulpit whenever possible, even th( ugh they may not be altogether of the same way of thinking or the same school of theology. Bui we would go even further. The Bishop, in his Presidential address at the Synod yesterday, spoke with warmth and cordiality of the great need of unity among all the disciples of Christ; let the Anglican clergy, then, have tho honour tof leading the way. Why should .there not be a regular system of interchange in the matter of preaching between the ministers of the various churches 1 Why, for example, should not Archdeacon Dudley give the benefit of his eloquence to the people of the Tabernacle whilst he permitted his brother, Pastor Spurgeon, to charm the congregation at St. Sepulchre's; or the Rev. G. H. S. Walpole might address the rank and file in the Salvation Army Barracks, while General Booth held forth in St. Mary's. We are aware that to many our suggestions may seem Utopian if not ridiculous; but, after all, why should it not be I Preaohing is no sacramental ordinance,

requiring the imposition of hands whether of Bishop or Presbyter. It is something shared in common by ail Christian bodies. Such an interchange would go far to lessen or destroy the armed neutrality which for the most part unfortunately characterises the intercourse of the various Churches and denominations. Jn a great many cases the real cause of disaffection and distrust is simply want of knowledge, and

if we mixed more with each other we should come to realise the truth of the old proverb, that even the devil is not so black as he is painted. No sacrifice of opinions .would be. required at the

hands of the actors in the ecclesiastical transformation scene. On the contrary, each would think just in accordance with his convictions, though good sense and good feeling would, of course, suggest that he should not shock his hearers or trample unnecessarily on their preju-

dices. Meanwhilo wo commend tho suggestion for what it is worth to t1.6 attention of the clerical conclaves, and Shall anxiously wait for results.