CHURCH TEACHING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 258, 14 October 1932, Page 12

CHURCH TEACHING

EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG PRESENT INTEREST IN RELIGION NEED OF A GREATER DEPTH. The Bishop of Waiapu (the Rt. Rev tl. Williams) deals extensively with the subject oi church .teaching in his annual report to the Diocesan Synod He points to the importance of the various aspects of religious instruction tor young people and indicates that interest generally m religion requires development to a greater depth. The report states:— “The religious education ot the young is of vital importance if the Church is to maintain her existence, and this work is being done mainly by our Sunday Schools. In ideal conditions there should be no necessity for Sunday Schools—parents would all, as a matter of course instruct their own children in the principles of the faith —a duty which was strictly enjoined on the parents in Israel. But we have fallten far from that ideal, and too many parents are unequal to the task —they need instruction themselves —and Sunday Schools have been evolved to supply the deficiency. “And the task set to our Sunday Schools is a very heavy one. Children come, a few with little, most oi them with no knowledge of the Bible, and much time is taken up in imparting this knowledge, building the foundation on which the religious education is to rest. We hope for better things when Bible Reading in Schools shall have received legislative sanction. But we must not rest too much on these hopes. Parliament has so often dis appointed us; and at best, the bill offers us very little. Its main advan tage will be the removal of the ban which our education system appears to place upon' reading the Bible. An interesting commentary upon the folly of this policy, from a purely educational standpoint, is supplied by the fact that in a large number of our secondary schools, which are not subject to this foolish restriction, the headmasters, of their motion, make a short Bible reading, followed by prayers, part of the daily curriculum.

BIBLE IN THE HOME. “To return to the bill, all that we shall get when it is passed is that the children may acquire a limited acquaintance with the Bible. To be oi any real value this must be supplemented by at least a recognition of the Bible in the home, with, if possible, the reading of a short portion daily by the parents and children, together. Parents, who profess to be Christian, are doing irreparable harm to their children if they hand over the whole of their religious instruction to others. The psychological effect of parents sharing their religious interests with their children is of the greatest value. But we have, as 1 have said, reached a condition of things in which many parents lack either the ability or the inclination to help their children in this way, and therefore we must fall back on the Sunday Schools. After referring to the problem of organising Sunday School work within the diocese and pointing to the need of a central diocesan organisation with the possibility ultimately of developing a provincial centre, the Bishop proceeds: — “This building up of a satisfactory Sunday School organisation is a matter which requires immediate attention. But we must not stop there. There are other departments of religious education which must not be neglected. CHURCH ATTENDANCES. “We constantly hear friends of the Church deploring the fact that attendance at church services is not what it should bo—and endless discussions take place as to the reason for this falling off, and the measures which are necessary to counteract it. The phenomenon is the more remarkable from the fact that there are not wanting evidences that there exists at' the present time a very widespread and deeply seated interest in religion. I am not going to attempt here to discuss this question in all its bearings. It is far too complicated, and the factors involved are ex- : u’edingly numerous. But there is one e,-hich is closely related to the subject i we arc now discussing. “In many cases persons have become ■ areless about attendance -at church services because they are not interest--d. The fault does not lie solely w; I he services, or in the way in which ' they are performed; but many people

unfortunately attend service in church simply because they have been accustomed to do so —it is a habit, and, like other habits, may be changed. If the habit has been re-enforced by knowledge it will be far more stable. In most of our personal activities we are not satisfied to follow the old routine simply because we have been in the habit of doing so. We like to know something about the matter in hand, its history and the niceties involved. “In business and in recreation people are seldom content to show ignorance. But it is not so in religion; even the most faithful and regular churchgoers know very little about the origin of the services they attend, or of the Church history which has affected their development. There are very few of our laity who could be called instructed churchmen. It was not always so. LAITY’S RESPONSIBILITIES. “I said a little while ago that interest in religion is to-day very widespread. But at present it does not seem to carry people further chan a readiness to talk on the subject and to criticise. The interest requires to develop rather more depth, so as to lead to a desire to know more about the subject. The acquisition of this knowledge will increase the interest to an astonishing degree. There is an ample literature dealing with the subject; the inquirer will only need, to begin with, a little guidance in his reading. “I have dwelt at some length on this matter, as I consider that we are in danger of drifting perilously near to disaster. Our Church constitution vests the government of the Church in synods—general and diocesan. And in these synods the laity have a definite place—a fact imposing on them a heavy responsibility. An Act was passed in 1928 under which the Church in this province is free to undertake revision of the Prayer Book without waiting for the initiative of the Church in England. If such a task should be undertaken the laity will have to take their part in giving effect to what may be done; and surely it is playing a solemn farce to ask them to do this when they have no knowledge wherewith to guide their votes —mere likes and dislikes should not decide a question such as this. VICAR AND VESTRY. “In speaking of the laity, I am not for a moment imagining that we clergy are all as well instructed as we should be. The duty of study is laid upon us by our ordination vows. But I fear few of us will claim that we are fully discharging this duty. I know that the matter has been taken up by clerical meetings in this diocese, and that the priests are endeavouring to stimulate one another to greater activity in this direction. There is always, of course, , the difficulty of time; this applies to laity as well as to clergy, and here clergy and laity can be mutually helpful. I do not think it will be possible for laymen who may wish to begin a course of reading such as I have suggested to do so without help from their vicars—nor do I think that the vicar will be able to find time to give the necessary help unless his laity come to his assistance and relieve him of some of the duties which have been put upon the vicar.

“There must be mutual help. Vestries in many parishes have got into the habit of expecting the vicar to do everything. All the business of the parish belongs to the vestry. The vicar’s duties are spiritual, but one of these spiritual duties consists in seeing that the vestry does its work. If the vicar is freed to do the work which is properly his he should be able to find time to read himself, and to help in guiding the reading of faithful men and women in his parish who wish to learn more of the reasons for the faith that is in them.”