WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25932, 12 October 1949, Page 6

WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

ADDRESS BY BISHOP BELL

The necessity for a Christian approach to the problems of the world was emphasised by the Bishop of Chichester. tlie Right Rev. G. K. A. Bell, when he spoke last evening in the Civic Theatre on the work of the World Council of Churches. He is chairman of the central committee of the council. Mrs Bell spoke on the work of reconstruction in Germany. Both speakers were introduced by the Primate of New Zealand. Archbishop West-Watson, and were given a very attentive hearing by an audience which almost filled the theatre.

The days and years after the war hed brought the British people face to face with an ordeal different from, but no iess severe than, that of the war itself, said Bishop Bell. The release of the atom bomb had opened men’s eyes to the catastrophic character of the world situation. Bertrand Russell had stated the problem in a nutshell when he said in the House of Lords: "The problem that confronts the world is whether a scientific so-

ciety can continue to exist.” There was a possibility of another war and of the complete breakdown of modern civilisation. The only hope of recovery was through Christianity. The world had got itself into such a mess since the close of the war partly because the war mentality had continued after the war had ceased. The rulers did not apnly Christian directives to policy. The chuiches had the supreme responsibility of helping towards the recovery of the world from its stupendous ills. Bishop Bell said. The movement to bring them together had been going on at an ever-quickening pace, and had culminated in .the Amsterdam conference last year. If the churches persisted in their united action. the debt of mankind to them would be incalculable. He hoped the churches in New Zealand would lake a more active part in the World Council of Churches, and in the work with which it was involved. Mrs Bell spoke of the scenes of destruction she had seen in Germany during a visit in 1947. when she led a delegation of British women on work of reconstruction. The oeople in England thought that they knew all about bombing and the consequences of bombing, but when she went to Germany she found that they did not. said Mrs Bell. She described the work being done under difficult conditions by Christian organisations in the country to help the people. A vote of thanks to the speakers was moved by the Rev. Raymond Dudley. Christchurch secretary of the National Council of Churches. On the pktform were the Rev. H. 1,. Wilkinson (Moderator, representing the Frosbvterian Church), the Rev. Raymond Dud’ev (Methodist Church), the Rev. L. J. Boulton-Smith (Baptist Church). Dr. Tvrell Baxter (Church nf Christ). Mr W. Wilkinson <ConChumh). Maior (Salvation Army). Mr P. Thorne 'Society of Friends), and Mrs A. K. Warren. wife of the Dean of Christchurch