CHARACTER OF FAMILY LIFE

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28157, 21 December 1956, Page 2

CHARACTER OF FAMILY LIFE

Changes In Last Century

BISHOP WARREN SPEAKS TO MOTHERS’ UNION

The change of character in family life in the Diocese of Christchurch during the 100 years of its existence, was described by the Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. A. K. Warren) when speaking to members of the Christchurch Diocesan Mothers’ Union at a diamond jubilee festival, held yesterday at Bishopscourt. In Queen Victoria’s reign, families were nearly always large ones, he said. The first Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. H. J. C. Harper) and Mrs Harper had 15 children, and when they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1879, they began the day with a thanksgiving service and celebration of Holy Communion.

“During the afternoon, here at Bishopscourt approximately where vou are now sitting, the Bishop and Mrs Harper entertained between 500 and 600 friends who came to offer their congratulations,” Bishop Warren said. “In those Victorian days, admittedly, family life was somewhat different from what it is today, but in thinking of the more obvious differences, we may easily overlook the most significant one. Those were the days when the whole family gathered for family prayers and the reading of -God’s word. They would gather, too, on occasions round the piano to sing hymns. Religion as a topic of conversation was a natural one, and it was discussed without reserve. We must, however, in passing, admit that there were those who' treated it with a measure of hypocrisy. “Pendulum Has Swung’* “But now times have changed,” said Bishop Warren. “The very subjects which they discussed around the family table quite naturally and openly are today regarded as not quite the topics for ordinary conversation. Today, people seldom talk naturally about God. On the other hanti, there was a subject that the Victorians would never discuss—that is the facts of life. Today, by contrast with the Victorian age, the subject is regarded as a perfectly normal and healthy one for discussion in the family circle on appropriate occasions. The pendulum has swung. “While the Victorians were reserved about the facts of life but talked freely about God and religion, now we have changed the emphasis, and are shy about talking about God, but do not fail to instruct our children on physical matters which we look on as being necessary for them to know about as they grow up. “Now another change is taking place.” Bishop Warren said. “During the last five years, as I have gone around the diocese from parish to parish, I have become increasingly interested in and concerned about the training of the rising generation, the boys and girls on whom the responsibility of the future of our church will rest. I want to feel that I have the whole-hearted co-operation of the Mothers’ Union in sharing the inspiring task of teaching their children the facts of our faith.”

In the name of the diocese. Bishop Warren thanked the Mothers’ Union for all that it had contributed to the growth of the church in Canterbury. “With the help you are giving in every parish, and with the stress which you lay upon the teaching of the facts of our faith in the home, as used to be done in former generations, I feel sure that we may face the future with courage and with confidence,” Bishop Warren said.