THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND MEN'S SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1307, 9 December 1911, Page 9

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND MEN'S SOCIETY.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN LONDON. The Church of England Men's Society opencd its annual conference in London on October 25. The society, which now numbers over 112,000 members, and is still growing, might well bo called the Imperial Church Society, savs the. "Church Tillies," for wherever the English Church is planted branches are continually being formed, and it must be grUifying to the leaders of tho society that its growth has been so phenomenal'. In issuing their twelfth report (he council say that the .society has reached

and passed.a critical stage, and they are thankful that, the work has grown' and spread so quietly; without any undue advertisement, or flourish of trumpets from platform or in tho Press; 7g; branches have been opened in various parts of tho Empire during the last 12

month-, and against (his' increase 2li branches have bi>cn closed. Tho report proceed?:— "Last year in regard to the subject of divorce, petitions signed by and on behalf of nearly ;!fl.oi|i) member were presented 1. 1 the floyal Commission by the general secretaries. Tho council proposes to take similar action this year in

regard t,i (hi- suppression of the practice "t arranging football ami other spell."' meetings on (!«>d Friday. Negotiations wilh tho h'oolhiill Association on this subject have shown (hat greater weight will attach (u the representations of a deputation backed up bv hundreds of resolutions than to isolated protests sent up by individual branches. At tho samo lime, members of brunches should ho on their guard against, coming to hasty conclusions on important matters without adoquale information, and due study and careful reflection."

A very useful part of tho work of tho C.l'...M>. in the. colonies has been tho welcoming and earing for members and oilier Ciuirchr.ooplo from the Mother foiintry, a,,,! ), y t \.ri* nmms (!l0 ( | is . |s . Irons leabgo of Churchfolk from their .Mother Church when they find themselves in a strange land, Iras been somewhat averted.

J he financial statement is a satisfactory one, as on nn income of ncarlv .£OOOO there is a balance, of ,£100; but with such a growing organisation the expenditure for administration must necessarily increase.

Long before the time of mooting thoro was a kind of gathering of the elans in and about the Church House. The inva.sicn of nearly IMO men is not an every day occurrence, From every dioceso camo delegates,'and to add the"necessary colour to the proceedings, members of tho "thiii'red line,' from Aldershot and other camps, were dotted about the great hall, Tho Archbishop of York, on entering tho hall, was received with long and continued rounds of cheering by tho vast audience, upstanding. The proceedings opened with the Creed and Lord's Prayer, and a great impression was made by tile intense silence observed when the chairman asked for the invocation of tho Holy Spirit on the deliberations of tho conference.

After the clerical secretary had read messages of goodwill from Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada, Captain 'Watson told the meeting that another 1000 members had Itton added since tho annual report was printed. The president, in calling upon Canon Simpson to oiwn (he discussion, asked that it should be "brief, bright, and brotherly." No resolution was to bo adopted, and C.'.nou Simpson dwelt upon the necessitv of keeping up a high standard of quality of membership. He said, they did not want any branch of the C.F.M.b. to bo one of the honorary members, and he felt that there was a need of regularly purging the roll of all those who failed to kerp up Ihe obligations of tho society, even though its membership decreased. Let all members realise that they were evangelists, and were not'members to bo evangelised, for Ihey did.not want members who required to be worked upon, but members wlio worked. The heart of the movement was' tho prayer meeting, and from such good would come to Iho members as well as those outside their circle.

The rule of the society, ho maintained, was too small to be of much strength. The Holy Catholic Church said that hoi members' must be present every Sunday, at the great service of Sacrifice—the most splendid 'service of the Church—and he believed that their weakness was found in so many members neglecting to observe this great rule. Another speaker thought that a weakness was Iho lack of devotion to our Blessed Lord in tho Divine Sacrament, and he hoped to see the dav when in every Cathedral a C.E.M.S. chapel should bo dedicated, where, like the Guild chapels of old, the members could resort for prayer and spiritual refreshment. Tho Rev. \\. J. Waldron said, in face, of such a gathering it could hardly bo conceived thai: there were any weaknesses in the Church of England. Other delegates continued the discussion, and the Archbishop in bringing the afternoon to a close, said it was a sign of strength when they did not fear to tackle and consider the weak points of their methods and by looking their faults in the face, it showed.that they were out for honest and spiritual reality.

A large and enthusiastic assembly subsequently attended tho civic reception at tho Guildhall. Nearly 1300 invitations were sent out, and Iho,Bishop of London and the Archbishop of York had no light task in welcoming each member. Tho Bishop of London extended to tho delegates the welcome of the diocese of London mid -honed they would have tho time of their lives. The C.E.M.S. was an asset of tho Church, and it had saved them from tho narrow parochialism of "my parish, ihy organ,' my pulpit, mid my mission hall."' It had given a great corporate witness (o this belief in their religion and an encouragement to the whole of the community, a corporate witness that they were not jelly-fish Churchmen, and he had told the Lord Mayor that in receiving them that night he was receiving a body of men who would leave their mark upon the national life. The Lord Mayor said that in a memorable year of office not tho least happy event to him would bo that memorable night ox the C.E.M.-3. reception. He was amazed at hearing of the growth and strength of their organisation and the time and energy of such a body was wanted in the civic life of the country. There were nearly 1200 communicants at the corporate Communion at St. Paul's Cathedral on Thursday morning October L'G, and to facilitate the delivery of the Sacred Elements to so largo a "body of men, two temporary altars were erected, properly vested and furnished, in tho north and south trap.septs. The Archbishop of York celebrated at (he high altar, and after the consecration- two solemn processions brought (ho Sacred Elements down the Choir to the altars at each side of tho Dome, so that tho men were receiving at three altars simultaneously; a sight probablv unprecedented in the present St. Paul'?, but one which, it may be hoped, is (o be repeated many times in the future.