PRAYER BOOK CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 52, 24 November 1928, Page 8

PRAYER BOOK CRISIS

“GREATEST SINCE REFOR-

MATION”

Dominion Special Service.

Auckland, November 23.

“We do not wish to interfere with the inner workings of other churches, but we feel that the present conflict over the Anglican Prayer Book is a question that cannot be viewed as the private business of that Church. It concerns the purity and progress of the Gospel itself,” stated the report of the Protestant Principles Committee, presented by the Rev. A. S. Morrison to the Presbyterian General Assembly. “The new Prayer Book has been twice rejected by the House of Commons because of its markedly Romanising tone, especially in relation, to the reservation of the Sacrament and the assimilation of Holy Communion to the Roman Mass. Among the evangelicals of the Church of England, and among the Protestants of the world, there has been much thanksgiving to Almighty God for the results in the House of Commons.. That result proved that a large and vigorous body of opinion, both in and out of Parliament, was still strongly Protestant, still devoutly attached to the Gospel in its simplicity, and still strongly adverse to insidious efforts of Romanisers. It is surely fitting that in this great crisis—one of the greatest since the Reformation itself—we should express our sympathy and unite our prayers on behalf of the evangelicals who are seeking to thwart an Insidious and determined saeramentarian propaganda.” The report was adopted, and ministers, Sunday School teachers, and Bible class leaders were appealed to to employ fitting opportunities to teaching the principles of Protestantism.