RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17460, 22 May 1922, Page 9

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

RECENT DEBATE IN ANGLICAN SYNOD. In his. sermon at the Cathedral Inst evening, Canon Wilford, who recent!} returned from the General Synod at Auckland, dealt at length with the debate in Synod on the education question. The preacher said that education was one of tho most important subjects which came up for discussion a.. Auckland, and as most of the work there was done in committee, he thought r as well that tlie congregation s^ou know something of what took place, was proposed and seconded in nO ,. that the (Jhurch should resign a claim to teach its children and ask t those State teachers who had n availed themselves of a c<mt>ci<yjc clause be requested to give religious struction to the children m. school hours. The debato was taken in committee, when an amendment was a once moved. The mover urged Sj t 0 have nothing to do with a motion which robbed the Church of the opp tunity of doing its most ' m P o "*r work. He called the attention of tlie House to the fact that the >st three general Synods had asked Ui no - certain way for a right of entr - v ' , he wanted to know what had occurieJ to make tho Church change her m • Could it be shown that a . demand the. Chure/i had made should bo f? 1 after nineteen centurigs ot wo™. From the l:egiming to end the mo 3 speech had beon a counsel of « eS P^ r ; 'Hie Bible iu State Schools campa W* had brought with it tremendous- difficulties. Tho mover was seeking tlie easiest way. out of them. ,® u ivn , | easiest course was generally the . The mover of tho motion ha . opted the policy of peace at ai yP' > and such a policy had had able result of warping ns J u^g ITl f ht The great majority of Synod it absolutely necessary to have nothin o to do with the original motion. Continuing, Canon Vul j is the Church's primary duty to teac her children. AVe cannot say th«> * our work and then deliberately hand it over to others, sucli action would at once give the lie to our ci '[ • ' ' I come now to a further question, seems to be springing up a d es re part of some to approach Puriuiment o this subject once more. I c<oul< 3 , party to going to Parliament for a I have just described. 1 could not e\ en bo «i silent spectator. I fcl ' louW h<n 'r to work against it. The ol the people is changing. It we e on now and tnlce all the opportunitie*poor as they are-tliat we have of tenching the children to-day, in three or four years' time wo shall get all th.it want. But take half now, and >ou would drive some of your keenest voxel's away in despair. I want to remind this congregation that those .who ai e working hardest with the children the present time are also those who could not even dream of accepting any

compromise. . ._ But I do not believe that the time is Tipo to start a . campaign of any sort. It seenie to mo that to approach I ar ~ linment nt the present time with any kind of petition would be but a waste of money, energy, toil, and effort, it would give rise to bitterness, acrimony, and lieartadhe. It would rend New Zealand frnm top to bottom. _ It wouiu be uselessly taking the Church into the political arena. It would take her from, lier pastoral work. ■ It would unspiritualise the lives of many or net agents. It would make her stink in the nostrils of men whom otherwise she would soon be able to help. • This would not matter if we could gain our object—nothing matters where the souls of the children, are concerned. But the Government is not likely, to listen to a Church which has not yet shown that it is in earnest. We made our request some few years ago, and were • refused'; What have, we done since? How have we gone to work to show New Zealand that , our _ whole heart was in the petition which wo made ? Here and there there Ivnve. been noble efforts to readh the children, and there are many in this present congregation \ylio have done their, Utmost.. We have an Archbishop of New Zealand who has given up naif his income for them. But it has not been so throughout the length and breadth of the land. It may truly be said that the .Church niado her request, was re fused, and then sat down and did noth ing. The need now is not to go to the Government to tell them what we tolil them a feiv years back but to let this Dominion know that there was real anxiety behind our demand by showing them a Church which is at the present time u?ing every opportunity and making others of reaching the children. The present facilities, bad as they may be, should be used to the utmost. Church schools, at whatever ■ cost, should be started in our more important centres. ~ . .' The Church

at Home lias shown the English people that it is ready to sacrifice everything for the children, and what, my brethren, is the result? That in a I tentative scheme lately put out by .the English Minister of Education provision is made for .denominational instruction in every school of the land. The. Church inEnghnd has shown for years that she would not be content with lesß, but she has shown it by' unexampled activity and unprecedented self-sacrifice. It is only along the s«me road that tho Church "in New Zealand can march to victory. And this the General Synod recognised when, after asking the Bishops in conference w'ith other religions bodies and representatives of the State school teachers _to -try and find a method of teaching which would at once be acceptable to all parties (and amongst these parties must be reckoned a large number who will lie content with nothing which does not contain some form of right of entry) and at tho snm© time make it possible to use the State school teachers in school hours—it went 011 to. call on the Church of the Province:

(1) To make; the.best possible use of all present facilities and try to organise a band of voluntary teachers who will share with the vicar tho work of teaching in backblock and other schools rait of school hours. (2) To bui'd Church schools wherever this is possible. (3)' To rouse its people throughout the length and breadth of tho land to fealiso the importance of the task and ti leave no unturned in feeding the lambs of Christ's flo^lc.