BISHOPS IN CONGRESS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 244, 8 July 1908, Page 7

BISHOPS IN CONGRESS

TUB ANGLICAN C#o. : ' U'-w ' ADDRESS BY THE I'M ATE. '■ '? - ilph. :• j. : SPECIAL SERVICE AT 'fe&TERBTJRY 'CATHEDIIAkiI ■ TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIAJTION— COrTUIGHT.) -London, July 6. < The Lambotfi Conferenoe qwas opened .in Canterbury Caffaedral, the Mfcther Church of the Anglican There ■ was 'an inft>ressive sorvlice, 4000 Rqrsons being, present. . ■ n stjoi . "»Tho Archbishop of "Canterbury (Dr. David■»on) iu welcoming tho &)'2 dolegates, said that;fhev'er in -.tho:. centuries .. of tKe English Church was thero a gathering fraught with mightioriiissues. ■ ■ ■:■■■« _ There was a°special -communion. service at Westminster Alibey on Sunday fortlif} KpisTho ( Dean of Westminster (Dr. J. Armitagc-Robmsgn) was the preacher. d • »iirti: . '";V •j . •• :np 3HURCH AND MODERN THOUGHT. REUNION DISCUSSED >/ (Rec. 13 am ) r : .::'Jr.f! London, July 7i v „The: Lambetff '"Conftprice is • holding^j'ts. meetings- at Lambeth The prosced- ■ ings are ■■ private. ifio subjects discussed will ! be referred: to committees, who3a reports tho Conference-will . consider-,.later. iWlly, • tho ArchbisliSp ■ of,. Canterbury, in an encyclical letieif; mil-notify'.the. decisions; bishops, .V-'irif'.';.'* :

After 'the ■ Archbishop of Canterbury had delivered his presidential uddrcfis ; ~"thc first subject was. "TheTChiistian Faith in relation Thought, ikientido and philosopliifial." " J / •. In tho afternoonii the , Conference considered the "Reunion yand In-ter-communion : ■ (a); feiscopal i Churches, (b) Non-episcopal Churcfe)s."r< •

HISTORY OF THJ CONFERENCES. • ': lie' Lambeth about.every ten years, its objC&ony to enable tho bishops of the from all. parts of the world <fcjbl jtaift |Cpunsel together on matters of importance i-o tho Church as a "whole. '■ These also tend to conTOlidaW tho various of the Anglican. Church, as ifc'is tho bishops tliaV the. varioiii . and. dioceses are brought into cpntaf,find by-periodical constlltatiotf, tho -leaildf Csf? the church- aVe enabled to -agree ;%n^DmmonVpolioy "on im- • jrortant :• questi^^i^farise : from' time. to time.' -The.'; ecblesl'^tiqal;provinces : reprc-sciit-ed at the will be 'Archbishop of Canterbury,: -and Wales, Scot* lahdj' United States, •South ■ Africa, Australia, - and . -New Zealand, ? besidMj' l .missionary '• bishops - from Africa, • ,ibe Pacific; -Islands, arid'other Anglican bishops ok' New Zealsjd 'ale {present'with the exception 'of th«:Bimafe> (t MBish'op of Dunedin), tui'd tho Bislpp'of Christchurch (Dr. Julius). According vfe aiijangamisnts .'. the • Conference tHis -year Q to July 11, when,'in . precedent, it will adjourn;f£ "a forimght iiri 'order that . ' the Cdnferente, committees', may have full op:piHuhitjAof -flejiberation.. The 'Conference wililreaasemblajpti and will oonclude it's;session'on . •;--- • Subjects, forf DisousslSA? .; iisletter t6 bhelhrehops tho Archbishop ofl:'CauterbU^.'statpi he ;had; given carcfiit poniideiation;-;,tPisibe many,.-; suggestions tfhich Mufifd him'fjoßi; his"episcopal-breth-'ieh. in.allSarts of Hvprld' as .'to. the' subiects up6nf : which , thoughtdesirable they shoiijl deliberate* The following wore ' selected .fcr discussiqufc- ;'. .: , ; ' ' in delation -to Modern Th'Mght;' scientific; and philosophical: X 2. Thofiloral ,\Vitn6«iiOf the Church lti relation to :. (a) -tho 'deteooratio ideal; (b) social andikonomic quSslaims.;

; : ;3,;Sujply>nd.Train&g of, Clergy. . / •>>. ;', 4.',, li'p"eign Missionsirr(a) Tho. growth of the Chirch :on • racialr{aid.. national - lines :- 2. Africa; 3.'Aiherica; (b) Correlation and cooperation, of rinlSsionary .agencies. , ; j'S. -jfeunion and WiiiKCommunion.—(a) Ep- . ißCpp;l,OhurchM|.{b)iNon-episcopalChurches. 6. .Organisation within ' the Anglican Com-Kublon.^-'ta) : A\ cental consultative" body; (3), a tribunal of;refe^nce; (o) the relations rt Primates and Metropolitans in the colonies' and.elsewhere;to';tiie See.of' Canterbury.; i.d) the limitations/ijf' tlio authority, of : . a Olocesan Bishop. , : ' -/ATI * Interchange of Service 'at Home and Abroad.—Temporary'i-foreign service cau- >! tioiiary ; 'regulations; Colonial Clergy Act. . 'B.'Prayer-book Adaptation and Enrichment, (a) -Rubrics, Text, jfjectionary; (b) Quicunqllo.Vult. - • , 9. The conditions requisite to tho Due Administration of the H^ly'Communion. ,: 10. Marriage. iProblfms.'—'(a) Divorce; (b) prohibited degrees ; , artificial restriction on population. , -v..

.11. , Religious. lEduqation in Schools. I : '12. Ministries of Healing; 1 (a) The unction ofjthe sick; (b) faith,-lCcaling and "Christian Science"- • • ■/ 13..Report of the-Committee on Communities arid Deaconesses.q ■

.Resolutions will alsol bo moved on international peace; Sundajtoobserv&nce';. the opium question. . . ;>» .:•• ;.. . . . - - '■ - The First Three Conferences.

}The first of a sferiijs 6f decennial conferences of ■ Anglican bishops', at .Lambeth' Palace took place in September-jind 1867; under. vthe; presidency Archbishop Longley. It was brought ,about by a resolution of the. Provincial .Synod of tne Canadian Church two years earlier in favour of a general -council of members of the Anglican Communion in all quarters of the world, f and an appeal frqrn the Canadian bishops for a general meeting bf-.jfche Anglican episcopate,- and addresses of tne,two,Houses of tho Canterbury. Convocation'upon the subj®t Jbf • that resolution s and appeal. The wiole jpumber of bishops-then ataoiinted to 141, and' 76 of these..'attended theconference.;.''At I its' close an a'ddress to tho faithful was isstted dealing with'general principles of the Eqith. ; i ->.Tlio second : Conference was held in July, 1878; during the _prjjnacy of' Archbishop Tait; again .on' the ; initjative,'of the .Canadian Ohiirch. One hundred bishops attended, and tta.result of their deliberations/was put forth in-an official letterttincorporatirig .the five reports of committees'of the Conference which had been adopted by the whole body. Among! thb subjects treaty' were' tho mutual relations of ; missionary 6 bishops "and 'missionaries of different branches of the Anglican Communion acting in tlig'same country,', the West Inclian dioceses anjl their proposed combination into a provinra, and the. introduction of nfew'forths of ritual and novel practices and teachings.on'the;subect of Confession. '~ Tho tbird Liimucth Conference was hold iii-July,: 1888, tradfr tli'6 presidency of Arch-bishop-Benson. -Invitations' wero sent to 209 ''archbishops,/bishops metr6politan, and either bishops of tho Holy Catholic Church, in full communion ,2 with tho Church of England, having supenritendonco over dioceses, or lawfully commissioned to exercise episcopal functions thertin;" and it was actually attended by 145. Tho resolutions which were passed, and tl}o reports of!the committees were published' as appendices to an Encyclical Letter, wj/ich summarised tho resalts'of its deliberations.' Among its decisions may bo noteij'tho following:— ; That inasmuch as tho Book of Common Prayer is not the* possession of one dio- \ tiekj or province,'hut of all, and a.revision in one pbrtidri. of the Anglican Communion ' must thoreforo •be extensively felt; this Clinfergijce.is of opinion that no particuhjjf,' . potion of the Church .'.'should undcjjt.akeorevision without seri- ' : SS

ously considering tho possiblo effect of suoh .. action on other branches of tho Churoh, .■■•■■.'

Home Reunion. ; This. Conference also drow up tho famous four articles on tho subject of Homo Reunion, which aro. sometimes callod tho Lamboth'Quadrilateral. Tlioy had been, substantially adopted'two years previously by tho Hon so of Bishops in tho General Convention of tho American Church, and woro embodied in tho following declaration: — That in the opinion of this Conference, tho following articles supply a. basis on • which approach may bo, by God's bless- : ing; mauo towards Homo Reunion:— ' ' (a) Tho Holy Scriptures of the Old and - -New' Testaments, 'as- "containing all ' things necessary, to salvation," and : as boing the rulo and ultimate standard of •faith. ' V .. ' ;' • " . _ , (b) Tho ; Apostles' Creed as the baptis-. mal symbol; and the Niceno Creed as the .' 'sufficient/ statomont of tho Christian faith. .- v ' (c) ,Tho ; two Sacraments ordained byChrist Himself—Baptism and tho Supper 1 of tho Lord—ministered-with unfailing us? of Christ's words of Institution; and : 0f,.-fcho elements ordained by Him. • v (d) Tho- Historic Episcopate, locally ...- pdapted; in the methods of' its adminis'tratiori to th'o varying needs of the na- ; ; tions and peoples called of God into the i;.' unity of-His Church. [organisation.-' Archbishop Temple presided over tho next Conference, which was -held at Lamboth Palace in July 1.1897, after tho celebration of tho completion of the sixtieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria, at which 194 bishops wero present. • The desirability of similar conferences being held at intervals of about 10 years was affirmed, and-' it- was recom-, . mendod that' a consultative body should- be •formed, to which resort might b© had, if dosired, by tlioi national churches, provinces and oxtra-provincial dioceses of the. Anglican Com.munion, either'for information or. for advice. Tho, C.onferenco recorded satisfaction at tho i progress -of provincial organisation since its formal commendation to tho Anglican Com-' munion in tho official, letter .of 1878, and hoped that it .might bo carried further, as Circumstances ' permitted. ; And : recognising the almost universal custom in tb'e Western Church of attaching tho title of Archbishop to tho'rank of .metropolitan, tho assembled prelates expressed the opinion (a) 'that the. revival and extension of the custom 'among' themselves was justifiable and desirablo; (b) that it was .advisable. that, tho adoption "■ of such a titlo should be. formally announced to the bishops of the various Churches and provinces of .the Communion with a view to its general recognition, and. (c) that the archiepiscopal or primatial titlo might be taken from a 'city or from a territory according to the discretion of tho province concerned. Attendances. The following table'of-invitations and at,tendances at tho Conferences furnishes a striking evidence of tho growth of the Anglican Communion during the last forty and also. of tho increasing desire of the' Bishops to. be' present'; at' tho. deliberations:— 7

§ jj ' -2 V : rt a x 3 ' ; A- ■'■■■■'1 -si 11 <| II ■ * ■' .*■ '3 a M ".2 ■;- ki '.EH<J ' 6a 1867-' .. ..." k .. lit 76 29 19 ' 28 1878 ... . ... 173 100 51 19 30 ' 1888' ... ... , 211 145 . 63 29 53'. 1897 ... ... 210 191 - '75 49 . 70 1908', ... ... 320; 252 100 4 56 s 88 s •• 'Acceptances up!to Slay last.