OXFORD MOVEMENT CENTENARY.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20907, 14 July 1933, Page 12

OXFORD MOVEMENT CENTENARY.

♦ SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS. SERVICE AT ST. MICHAEL'S. The special services in commemoration of the centenary of the Oxford Movement were continued at St. Michael's Church last evening, when solemn evensong and a procession were held, the Ven. Archdeacon Taylor being the preacher. The other clergy present in the sanctuary were Dean Julius, Canon S. Parr, Canon H. Williams, the Revs. K. Schollar, C. W. I. Maclaverty, and F. R. Rawle, and the vicar (the Rev. C. E. Perry). The service concluded with an imposing procession, headed by thurifer and cross-bearer with banners and lights, servers* choir, and clergy taking part. When all had seemed dark, here and there some faithful soul had been granted a vision, said Archdeacon Taylor. So it had been in England 100 years ago. It would be difficult to exaggerate the low state of the Church of England in the middle of the eighteenth century. The evangelical movement grew up strongly, yet by 1830 most of that impulse had become exhausted. Then at Oxford there had been a group of young men who had set a high standard of devotion. Keple, Newman, and Pusey had all had -their vision, and a great deal of that vision had since come to pass. New life had been given to the corporate sense of the church, there had been an extension of the episcopate at Home and abroad, an increased use of the sacrament and veneration for it, and a general enrichment of worship. This new thought, of God as the God of beauty, had been accepted in some degree by nearly all Christian people to-day. Probably not more than six churches in Christchur.ch had not been affected by it. The difference between the simplest Methodist service, and the elaborate service at St. Michael's was only one of degree. The great lesson of the centenary was that church people in the present day should look forward with hope and resolution, and endeavour to do their part as others had done theirs —to make the vision splendid and perfect.

After the service a short meeting was held in the Darish hall to inaugurate the New Zealand Church Fellowship. The objects of the fellowship were explained as being to uphold and promote loyalty to the Catholic doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion, and to promote unity within that communion, with, as special objects, the provision of more clergy, the suDport and provision of church schools, the dissemination of Catholic literature, and the promotion of retreats. All communicants of the church were eligible for membership. LIFE OF WESLEY. LETHARGY OF THE CHURCH. The life of John Wesley was the subject of an address given by the Rev. J. F. Feron in the Christchurch Cathedral on Wednesday evening, as part of the Catholic revival celebrations. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Church in England had fallen into a lethargic stupor, and the average Christian did not bother at c3l, said Mr Feron. It was at this time that John Wesley came. He was ordained after leaving Oxford, and when he returned there in 1729 he found that his brother Charles had founded a small society, th 6 members of which were known by various names, including that of Methodists. Wesley's main work in the new movement was done after his return from America, when he carried on an extensive evangelistic campaign throughout the whole of England, Eventually he found the Church of England closed to him, and he then began to preach in the open air. Soon he had stirred the whole of England, and he spent the next 50 years constantly travelling, always preaching, putting up with persecution, but never complaining.

Wesley had been blamed for leaving the Church of England—a thing he did not do—and for starting a society. But it would be much fairer to put the blame where it really belonged—■with the Church of England, which v/as so deadened that its clergy resented any infusion of life into it Wesley was undoubtedly a man used by God in a lethargic and declining country to bring back spiritual life and inspiration could still be derived from his tradition.