A PRESBYTERIAN BOOK OF WORSHIP.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12569, 11 August 1906, Page 13

A PRESBYTERIAN BOOK OF WORSHIP.

The recent publication of the Book of Lommon Worship, published 03* author'•y of tho General Assembly of tlie '. Presbyterian Church (North United Slates of America) for voluntary use , ' >n the churches, is a matter of moment, it marks an ejioch in the Presbyterian Church. It ih probably either the bo- ? fining ot" o considerable change in r« , bytr>rL_.n form* of worship, or else v ~; i* n C, -J to a long strnggU>. Some, people i"-' !? *"'■ Church. and midis- ;-, y *wjWi»h«l, havo long a_-ked for such & *'.• * )00 *- : - Some have always opposed it.

In tho General Assembly of 1903 a largo majority decided upon the experiment. A committee of Ministers and Ruling riders was appointed to prepare ' in hnrmonv with the Directory for Worship, a*hook of simple forms and osrvices, proper and helpful for voluntary mo in Presbyterian churches, m tho celebration of the Sacraments, in marrianeF and funerals, and in the conduct of public wor-hip." At tho end of - year, in 1901, tho committee made to 'tlie. Assembly a statement of its principles and methods, and submitted email portions of tho proposed book. Tlio Assembly directed the committee to proceed nlong simitar lmes to its completion. Tho uncompleted book was presented to tho Assembly of VJOo. which enlarged tho commitf* end directs it to revise and complete tlio book, and publish it through tne Board of Publication. Thero are differences of opinion regarding it. Ma ny heartily approve tho movement, believing that as tJic carlv Presbyterian Churches of Craiova, Scotland, and tlio Continent u*ed Mich books of warship, the Church is wiso in returning to their practices, and hoping and expecting that tins Book will provo to ho adapted ami evontually generally adopted for public worship as well as for use in study and family and private devotions. On the other hand, many heartily disapprove the whole movement, lieheving that, the Presbyterian Church has becm. wi*e in fo real* inn* tho practices, in this matter, of tho fathers, and falling in with the manners of tho Puritans, worshipping without the aid of such a book, a.nd tihat a ret mm. to a book is unwise and dangerous, and they expect this bcok. prepared "For Voluntary LVo in -tlio Churches,'' to provo itself the cause of divisioms in the churches as to whether it .shall or shall not be used, and tho forerunner ot obligatory liturpical formality and ooLdness in tlio Ohiurch. at large. JOTTINGS. ■' Tho Rev. E. G. Gangc, a noted English. Baptist minister, has been addressing largo gatherings in Melbourne during a tour of Australia which will bo followed by a visit to New Zealand. Tlio Salvation Army self-denial week in Great Britain has again established a record, tho sum of £73.000. which was collected this year, beating by over £10,000 that of the previous year. It has boon decided to establish, a Presbyterian Social Service Union in* Dunedin. Mr Axekwnsen, till lately in tho service of tho Patients' and Prisoners' Aid Society, has been appointed the etgent of the Union. Gipsy Smith is to sail for America on September 25. Ho will conduct missions in the United States all tho winter, returning to England in February. It lias boon arranged that no hall to hold lesa than 2000 persons -ball bo used in connection with his missions. The Arch Hill section of tho Auckland Methodist circuit has decided upon a forward movement. -Una includes tho removal of the y present church to a> moro e-li&iblo site, and its re-erection as & Sunday school, and tlio building of"a commodious church upon the new section. / A new Methodist church, at a total cost oi nearly £900, has just been opened at Reefiton. The opening services were conducted iby the Rev. T. W. Vealie, the resident minister, and by the Rev. W. Grigg, a former minister of the circuit. ' The srns of society have been smartly hit off by London "Punch" in a letter in which a lady oi fashion makes her excuses for neglecting public worship: "Of course, it does seem sad that 'the West End churches aro empty.' But is it all our fault? Sunday is such an. impossible day for chljirch. About the fullest day of the seven. And, besides, wero hardly any of us in town. If tho services could be changed to a more oaiweiuient day, say Tuesday, when we're all back from week-ending, i'm sure we'd simply roll up, especially if a Reformation sermon were on the programme;" A conference of clergy of crowded parishes in London recently discussed .the Labour Party and Press efforts to relievo distress. Mr P. W. Wilson, M.P., who tlhought there ought to ire Labour clergy, said the Labour members were absolutely incorruptible. It waa a great mistake to suppose- that they were rrudirtant Rationalists. (Cheers.) They worked for the needs of humanity. A speaker having warned the Qunreh. of attempting to patronise the Labour Party, Canon Horsley exclaimed, "W© shall get one in the eye if we do." Tho Rev. Henry Dawson, M.A., secretary of tho Church of England Sunday School Institute, is afraid that as compared with, say, ten. or twenty years sinbo. the calibro of the Sunday school teacher has somewhat degenerated. To-day you do not hoar of three distinguished mem Hike Lords Hathorloy, Cairns, and Selborno taking their place in the Sunday school. One reason for this fact, ho suggested to an interviewer, was the amount of weekend pleasuro trips which wero indulged in- by the wealthier classes, and this had, he thought, affected the Sunday school work. The Archbishop of Canterbury has received tlie following protest, signed by 118,624 Jay members of tho Church of England:—"We, tho undersigned lay members of the Church of England, having learned that it is proposed to legalise the sacrificial dress which was worn during the Mass before the Reformation, hereby declare our determination to resist to tlio uttermost every such attempt to subvert the Reformation Settlement, which would result in the disruption and Tuin of our National Church, and introduce a fresh clement of disunion and strife into every parish." Thero is general testimony among tho Free Churches that year by year the singing at special gatherings, such as May meetings, conferences, etc., becomes more and more hearty. In the Church of Enghund tho opposite appears to be the case. An article in "The Church Times" describes how, a few days ago, a crowded and excited meeting gathered at tlie Royal Albert Hall to denounce tho Education Bill. The audience stopped tho organ recital and called for favourite hymns, which were thereupon sung. But the result, wo are told, was disappointing. It was a "feeble show." The writer proceeds to argue "that in the Church of England congregational singing is a lost art, and he attributes its loss to th* tyranny of the choir and of the organ, and to it-he use oi tunes that havo no melody. Under tho style of "Tho Foreign Legion." a new departure is to be made by tho Wesley in England, in order to help the Wesleyan Foreign Missionary Society. This new activity will unite under one head all tho missionary work of tlio guilds, and will aim at deepening interest in missions among young peoplo by organising missionary reading - circles, studyclasses, and parliaments- by holding missionary meetings, especially in villages, awl by co-operating with guilds in the foreign, field as well as becoming responsible for tlio maintenance of toachers and Bible-women abroad. Each guild will appoint a captain, whoso duty it will be to secure members, and to keep them employed in devotional, literary, social or service work.

The healrfch of the Rev. S. J. Garlick, superintendent Methodist minister of the Hutt circuit, has not for _otne little time been robust, and rest and chango havo been advised. Accordingly, Mr Garlick leaves next week-on a three months' holiday for Australia, with every hope that the visit will prove effective in promoting complete restoration. The Bishop of London, presiding at tho annual meeting of the London Diocesan Home Mission, said they had built 214 churches in forty years. But for the Home Mission Fund and the Bishop's Fund a million and a half of people on the outskirts of London would be pagan as far as the Church was concerned, though h© admitted the good work done by the Nonconformists. Canon Hensley Henson, at a ston<v laying function in connection with tho Congregational Central Mission at Claremont, Pentonville road, spoke with warm-hearted approval of such, enterprises. Dealing wit_i denominational distinctions, he remarked tbat ho cbeerved that as class barriers broke down and class ideals grew faint, tho intense denominational antipathies which marked off one Christian den am in at ion from another, had a tendency to fade away. He was disponed to think that the fiame causes might lead to the same results. The denominations had to learn tihat if they would live they must become Evangelical, and if they would succeed they must becc-mo Catholic. The Christian Church, ho thought, had been too much concerned with its own Christian life, and had forgotten tho groat crowd outsido. That mi*, sion was a great proof that ono of tho great Churches in the country had realised what other churches had realised, that a Christian Society did not dosei*ve its nanio unless it was treading in the Master's steps by going into the poorer partis of the city. "