THE CHURCH AND THE YOUNG.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20197, 27 March 1931, Page 19

THE CHURCH AND THE YOUNG.

TO THE BOITOB Or THB PBXBB Your anonymous correspondent, Country Member of Synod," who so lavishly accuses me of .inaccuracy, himself. steps off with the wrong foot by accusing me of being a member of the Diocesan Synod. lam not a. memßer the Synod, but I ,follow its' proceedings with more interest than I fear people do. After this somewhat unpromising start, he professes to be amazed that I did not know of the existence of certain very old diocesan trust funds which could be devoted °nly to their original purposes. I am, however, aVare of the existence of these trusts. lam also aware \ that there is such a thing as legislation, and that dicoesan authorities, including the Church property Trustees, have several times availed themselves of it to vary the terms of them. Hence it is absurd to say that the diocege simply "could not" devote any trust funds to other and (as I think) more useful purposes than those they were originally intended tp serve, * After all, certain facto are clear. While the children &re drifting away in thousands because of the lack of an adequate and efficient system of instruction, the Church can, nevertheless, complacently vote £15,000 for Bishopscourt,. £9OOO for a new organ, and £}ooo a year for music alone in the Cathedral, from trusts which, had she been fully alive to her responsibilities, she would have taken steps to have varied , years ago. The fact remains that' many people feel that there is something very wrong obout all this, and 'and no amount of explanation will' convince thorn that is not. - . Your correspondent says there are 15,000 Anglican children in the diocese, pf whom 5000 are receiving no religious , instruction. How ara 1 these figures . arrived at? According to the Dio-' cesan year book the averagfe attend- ~ ance of Sunday school scholars is under 5000. Where are the oth?r 5000 getting their religious instruction f I regret I do not understand the application of-the word "pampered" to children lor whose religious education something better than the usual miserably inadequate proyision has been made} tut-1 would point out that the • children themselves contribute nqarly £BOO a year in fees towards their -- "pampering." , "Why not teach the Biblet asks your correspondent. Certainly. Only do* not let us delude ourselves into imagining that • we shall thereby .tnake . people religious. Mere knowledge of the facts of Scripture will not neees- - sarily make anybody a Christian, I am\not aware of any special blessing being pronounced on the mere possession knowledge, however detailed and accurate., A good deal more ' iban mere Bible reading is necessary ; if. children are to grow up in the fear and nurture of -the Lord. Failure to realise, £his lies at tha-root of . the weak,, - nesa of much & the given • in Sunday spools and elsewhere. . Another correspondent informs us that 148,772! chllareit in 1926 were attending Sunday schools. When, we know how these flgurea were arnved at we .shall in a position to .assess . them at their proper value, y saya the Church is of iff-. 5 Sunday aohool to. of; ■*. is *ci auary inywlan oAtse Rrder of import children attending *hwg • Mt Af whatis going pnl , lu S/iFt AH# W? tortw*. ° no % the imltk o# concentrating on Sun-, fay iSis ia -CfcwJ - ufc13^75^585? k ' 4 W a d ® b e at ® ti' I «.■£ SSv'.** S. I controversial subject Michael's, wp° tasted Ww #O , ?n SS3glhßt-«(f'W?f'« t> r0 * J -fr 4 sf I?**,?*®* 8 ' S ? election of lay representa- - ijiVe? » lg i «|*|4w f the varyr- : ■.'»' e rLSfn r *^ re «° B »»'« ; Zf'yZ ■ o «.Vnii\he actual figu^ B * only for tbe LS 30th,. 1928, 19g9/a»d ««f the yea* ending expenditures were:' $ Soao.^t^fttthew'BiXi ftltthe £ISOO, So myt'Wya# " between £lWQ^.jnd' * r:r and m * " { ' for the deficit to

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back beyond, the three years I have takoli, amounts to from £IOO to £2OO. Of course, this does not matter if we accept the concluding statement by "A Member of the Board" that money does not enter into the question at issue! I, however, would venture to ask, Do the laity of the parishes in the Diocese agree with this, and is this the policy they wish to have carried out in Synod by their representatives?— Yours, etc., A COUNTRY MEMBER OF SYNOD; Leeßton, March 26th, 1931. :