WELLINGTON SYNOD

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 170, 5 July 1911, Page 8

WELLINGTON SYNOD

BISHOP SPROTT ON CLERI- ; CALISM. Wellington, July 4. ; Touching upon one phase of the* general mission of last year .Bishop j Sprott, in his presidential address, at the opening of the Synod to-day. said: —“I have said that the mission evoked a widespread response. . One class in the community seems; to have been found less responsive - than many had hoped would be the case. I mean the artisans of the cities. The cause of this has been ' found by some in the lack of sympathy on the part of the local , church with the social and political aims and aspirations of this section 1 of our fellow-citizens, and the clergy have been advised to give ; more serious study to social prob-< lems. Ido not myself undertake I to compare the irresponsibilities to the mission of the artisan class with ; that of other classes. Irresponsive persons were found in all classes. Nor do I undertake to say whether the alleged lack of -empathy existin fact. But the advice that we ; should seek to understand the social problems of our age and country I think excellent, and I trust that, as far as possible, we shall act upon it. But I think a word of warning, not to the laity but to the clergv. may not be out of place.” The speaker added : “We hear much in these days of clericalism. The term is not always understood by those who oftenest use- it as a term of,

opprobrium. But. rightly under-i stood. clericalism is an evil thing. Ministers of religion arc yielding to ' clericalism when they imagine thatjust because they are ministers of, religion, and apart from any qualifications of serious study and competent knowledge, they are entitled magisterially to decide what is the right and what is the wrong solution of complicated social and political problems. When ministers : o* religion so act they only compro-; mise religion by identifying it in men’s minds with some certainly imperfect and possibly mischievous policy, and they incur a just re-; sentment by makincr claims unsus- ; tamed by any adequate equipment of knowledge. To be consistent they must hold and maintain that Christian principles are applicable and ought to be applied to social and political problems. The application in detail was often a matter of huge complexity and difficulty. ”