RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2109, 28 March 1914, Page 7

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

MISSION TO UNDERGRADUATES GREAT MEETINGS AT OXFORD. BISHOP GORE AND MR. MOODY. Throughout this week tho Bishop of Oxford nas- been holding a mission for undergraduates in tho University Church of St. Mary's (writes Norman H. Smith in tho "Christian World ). That old . and historic building lias seen many memorable scenes in past days— tho trial of tho Protestant Bishops: tho funeral of Amy Robsart, Robert Leicester's wifo; the preaching of John Henry Newman. It has held crowds of many kinds and many minds. In more recent days, however, it is safe to say that St. Mary's has, witnessed no such series of deeply significant and effective gatherings. The men have come in great numbers, and havo filled the church throughout the whole "octave." Newman in his greatest days never had such crowds as these.

, It. was clear that there wore always present a very large number of devout and sympathetic men. They sang the hymns with obvious fervour and sincerity.*, It was interesting to r.ot-c, by the way, that tho, hymn specially printed for tho mission, and frequently sung was a -simple Pilgrim _• song by John Bunyan. The University as a whole had been weir canvassed by selected "scouts," and although the mission was intended to be "domestic"— for members of the Anglican Churchit certainly appealed, to a large number of Free Churchmen. The Bishop's fairuesvof iniiid «»> applauded by all. He was true to his own convictions, but he pressed very lightly on the more highly controversial points, e.g., confession to him is a part of his religion, and a good and useful means of grace, but ho would not enforce it on anyone. Some Free Churchmen thought his doctrine-of the Church was excellently "Congregational," and, many of them felt that they could accept practically all his teaching if liberty were granted to them to denno certain words and phrases in their own way. In, the matter of Disestablishment—which came in quite incidentally—the Bishop certainly found warm sympathy'from Free Churchmen. In principle, to him tho State establishment of religion is a dangerous drawback ,to tho truest well-being of tho Church. So, from night to night, he has calmly, lucidly and incisively declared the Gospel of Christ in unmistakable terms and with impressive sincerity."Witt what result 'i Certainly the spiritual vision of hundreds of men hab been clarified, and large numbers of "confirmed" Ahglicanß have been reminded Very effectually of their confirm (nation vows. ; Probably a handful of Free Churchmen may have been won over to tho Anglican Church. But the best and most lasting results are no doubt hidden', but will, in the long last, Be made manifest. Throughout tho week the doorstep of the Bishop's lodgings in High Street has been thronged ■by men anxious to secure his direct and personal advice.

This Mission has recalled to eome of us the visits of Mr. D/L. Moody to the English Universities—a full generation ago. The contrast between Bishop Gore and D. L. Moody is very great.' It seems .curious/ that theso two, men,, .alone during the recent past should have appealed to the University as a.w'holo in a definite mission. Plenty of preachers, of ob«rse ; ..thojr. s y pices .• and obtained, wonderful ; :i results,-.'-T; rbut■ their missions ' have . been on a partial or less complete scale. As ono who was an undergraduate at Cambridge when Mx." Moody: made'his. fir-st visit in November, 1882,-the present writer is .in some degree able to realise how tremendous was tlio spiritual effect of his simple preaching.'. Unlettered and unbeneficed—a man of the typical :New England farmer ■. in eight brief days, mad© an impression on the life, of Cambridge wTiich has never been lo'st. And what he did at Cambridge lie repeated in smaller proportion at Oxford immediately : after. In modern

literature we got very emphatic and unexpected testimony 'to this in the writr ings of Mr. iA. C. Benson and Mr. W. J. Locke —both of them Cambridge undergraduates at that time. . Dr. Gore has come to his own Oxford—with all the prestige of an' Anglican prelate and a great and solid reputation for both learning and piety, and he assuredly has proved himself a mission-preacher of the fir it order." His results no doubt will be of a very different type from Mr. Moody's, but both preachers had the same Gospel to proclaim—with many and great minor differences—and both havohad their reward. . I

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. ' , LATEST AMERICAN STATISTICS., ■The latest returns of Church" membership in the. Waited States of Amerioa show a total .of over thirty-seven millions out of a total population of ninetyfive millions. This proportion strikes us as high (says the-"Cnristian World")' far, we recognise, than' the proportion in the. British Islands.' 'The eight leading bodies mako tho following returns: — Roman Catholics 13,099,534 Methodists 7,125,069 Baptists' 1 5,92-1,662 Lutherans 2,638,722 Presbyterians ............... 2,027,593 Disciples of Christ ........ 1,519,369 Protestant Episcopalians . 997,407 ' Congregationalists.. 748,340 Compared with .the previous year, the Methodists have the highest increase' with 220,000, while the Roman Catholics are second with 212,600 new members. The Baptist growth is rapid—64,ooo in the year. The London "Daily Telegraph's" cabled message states that "fad" religions are not half so numerous in America as they ; wero twenty years ago.

PRACTICAL DIVINITY, " WHAT IS BEING DONE AT YALE. Three recent gifts, amounting to about £70,000, have brought the endow-, ment of trio Yalo Divinity School up to £240,000, in addition to thus making it tho wealthiest institution of the kind in America. Dr. Charles It. Brown, the Dean of the school, announces, howover, that even this total is only half of what is needed to carry out his plans for the development of a university school of religion of the broadest character. He intends immediately to organise a department of social service for men who wish to become probation officers, juvenile court officers, and workers in social settlements and other charities. Students_ in; this department will receive instruction in problems relating to pauperism and labour disputes, among other subjects. Special attention will also be given to the training of missionaries who wish to preach a more sympathetic,, moro practical, and more dynamic gospel than was proclaimed fifty years ago.