THE PRIMATE AND UNITY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 111, 7 November 1923, Page 5

THE PRIMATE AND UNITY

VISIT TO THE WESLEYAN

CONFERENCE

(FROSI ODB OWN CORftsspOKDEKT.)

fi V LONDON, 3rd August. The Rev. Dr. J. T. Pinfold (Wellington) has to-day come up from Bristol where lie was attending the Wesleyau Methodist Conference as one of New Zealand s delegates. He took an active part in the discussions.' Dr. Pinfold was of course, very greatly impressed by" the fact that the .Archbishop of Canterbury attended one of the sessions and delivered a memorable address—an event of unique and historic import--s?ce. He had a most cordial welcome i-he Bishop of Bristol and the Dean wre interested in the proceedings, and, indeed, the latter attended many of the meetings. -, The purpose of the Primate's attendance was to further the Lambeth appeal of 1920 for the unity of the Churches, and this he did in a cwefally prepared address, which occupied nearly an hoar m dehvery, on lines somewhat different he said, from those which were expected of him, judging by the many suggestions with'which lie had been favoured from friends, known and unknown He spoko to a packed audience consisting of conference delegates and well-known members of the denomination who were not memßers of the conference. The .president, the Rev. T Ferrier Huhne ; . of Bri.tol, in welcoming the Archbishop, said that was the first time m their, conference that' the -occupant of the chair of, St., Augustine and the chair of John Wesley had ' stood' side by : side. "I believe, your Grace," the president added, "that you and I are being closely watched to-day, and there are those who are wondering what we have got up our sleeves. (Laughter.) I am certain ye have a great deal-in our hearts.". : (Cheers.) ' The Bishop of Bristol said it was absolutely necessary in,,these days that there should be closer understanding and something of our organic union between the Churches. These were not the days, he said, in which to indulge m the outward shibboleths of a diehard ecclesiasticism. (Cheers.) The Chuvch-of England was nearer than any other church to Wesleyan Methodism. - ' '■■■''','"■' THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE. The Archbishop of Canterbury said they were standing at a" juncture which he believed to be the most important in. the history of the-world. The -war had brought about facts of great magnitude and what forces, he asked, could the Church, as one army, muster? The reconstruction of a shaken world could only come about by spiritual effort. No financing, political, or material forces could accomplish' the. healing of the na tjons.. Could the Church of Christ do that work unless by the impact of the "!),i Phalanx of a united brotherhood? •We are the joint inheritors," he declared, "of what has been taught over two hundred years, since John Wesley took his place in the ranks of the Church s ministers. . Fellowship leads is to a sense of the necessity of'trying together, standing together, and striving together now. The Lambeth Conference desired, to deal wjth the needless divisions which existed. It i s for comradeship that I speak tp-day. (Cheers!)' ' Upon the world there had crashed the havoc of the Great War, and in some senses it was raging. still. The'world was not shaken only; it wa s startled into what was capable of becoming a new and stronger life: That new life could only come about in one way. N,o finan.cial or political or material force could accomplish, either speedily or slowly the healing of the nations. The great message of the five Prime Ministers of the British Empire threa years ago explicitly stated that only in the divine purpose for the world "which was central the meßsage of Christianity should we discover the ultimate foundation for the reconstruction of an ordered and harmonious life for all men. That was the problem the statesmen had handed over to the. Church of the living God. "If that bo so, we Christian men have to ask'ourselves what is the proper place and what the proper service to be discharged in the "world in our time by the Churoh as such by the Church, I say, not a mere ag-, gregata of Christian folk scattered up and down the world, but by the society that Christ founded. "It is for union that I speak" ta-day " concluded the Archbishop. "Can the Church of 'Christ do its work unless its impact upon the world be the impact of tha united phalanx, the united pressure, that it can bring to bear? Surely we are led, considering what we inherit in common, to a sense of the sheer necessity of drawing together and standing together and striving now." ' The Primate explained that they were meeting mouth after month at Lambeth in conference with representatives of Wesleyan Methodism and others, and might" God inspire them with that wisdom and understanding for which they were praying. He was thankful for what the Methodist Conference had put on thpir records as to their hearty concord with the' spirit and aim of the appeal. There were, of course, great questions to be investigated. He believed their training and discipline fitted the^hurcheg for united action for fefliV* * BUffeliVS WOrld which J3»ttt died, .tft s&y.e* : (Cheeri. J "