CHURCH AND STATE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 29 March 1930, Page 11

CHURCH AND STATE

PRECARIOUS POSITION

PHASE IN RELATIONSHIP

ASSEMBLY VOTES FOR INQUIRY

By 382 voles to 105 the Church Assombly, meeting at Westminster on sth ; 1-ebruary, passed a resolution rdquestj mg the archbishops to appoint a commission to inquire into the relations of Church and State. Of the 34 bishops . voting, only one-the Bishop of Wor- ! ££%£: E - H - Pearce - c L - & Supporting the motion, the Archbishop fn, *K er .r H ' y ' Dr - Cosmo La "S> PleadeS n -i c .^™ ra . ge to face re «l issues." He said: . Things are what they are consequences are what they, will be, and it is futile to bury jour heads ostrichlike in the sand. _ The Archbishop of York, Dr jW Temple, said: "If the motion'is defeated or postponed the next election and State/ 1 * ° n the ISSUe of Cbun * TERMS OF RESOLUTION ..rP'l fnl . l terms of U»e resolution wore: That whereas, in the words addressed 1928, by Archbishop Davidson, with the concurrence of the whole body of Diocesan Bishops: 'it is a fundamental principle that the Church, that is the bishops together with the clergy and laity, must, in the last resort, when its mind has been fully ascertained, retain its inalienable, right, in loyalty to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to formulate its faith in Him, and to arrange the expression of that Holy Faith m its form of worship,' it is desirable v that a commission should be appointed to.,inquire -into the present relations of Church and State, and particularly how far the principle stated above 'is able to receive, effective application in present circumstances, in /the Church of England; and what legal and, constitutTOnal changes,; if needed in or der to : .mamtain or td'secure its effective, application;; and 'that' the arch. ' ' b ??nops be requested to", appoint a com* mission for this purpose./' ;<The Archbishop of York said:' r<i The -main evil:froiii which 'we ar'e ; at present suffering is that it is radically'bad' foi any society to conduct its life in an uncertain relationship to the law that is supposed to govern it. That'uncertainty does exist. The difficulties With which we are confronted at the jflpiherTt are not primarily administrative—though they are.serious—they are primarily moral." J "conscience Bravely troubled"

It- was held;,by many in the Church that the Declaration of Assent, taken by ' e ™ r .y minister on'his'ordination, involved m the present situation a real measure of dishonesty. "Every time I administer that declaration,"; >he added, "every time I rehieriiber the occasions -—the most sacred in.,my life—when 1 have taken that declaration, my con-' science has been very .troubled.", -The -dilemma of conscience 'arose on' the question of what was laWful authority—a question to which no'answer"commanding, the assent of all Churchmen could be given to-day. There was ten-. sion between what was recognised ■ by convocation and what.was sanctioned by the law of the most unwholesome situation. stand at present," he said, "Church administration is conducted perpetually on the edge of a precipice,.. Wis difficult for you to realise how constantly we are

on the verge of that precipice and how narrowly we oscapo catastrophe" A commission, if sot up, would lake five years to report. In that lime there would bo opportunity for (lie Church to secure order in its own affairs by tlio exercise of its spiritual inherent authority. «

.PRESERVING THE CONNECTION The Bishop of Winchester, Dr. F. T. Woods, said they wero faced with a procressivo secularisation of life in all its aspects. With a departure from Christian faith and morals there, was growing the doctrine of the all-omnipotent Slate claiming to control even the personal habits of its citizens from the cradle to the grave. "Our problem, he declared, "is not to hasten the day of disestablishment, but to ask how wisely and reasonably wo can preserve this age-long connection between Church and State without injury or indignity to either. The Archbishop of .Canterbury said that because he spoke with a greater responsibility perhaps than any other member of the assembly, he asked them to pass the motion. "God knows, he added, "that there are plenty of othei probleirs to engago my own mind and that of the Church without adding to that burden, but it is not the motion that raises these questions; it IS the facts of history to which we have been the witnesses. "I am not prepared to defend the present situation as permanently right. Iho very phrase-extra-legal administrative action—has in history sinister associations. I do not like this Church to bo connected with those associations. Iho situation is precarious. We are walking along a road beneath which aro volcanic forses. At any moment a crack may appear and those forces burst through. At any moment the extralegal actions of the bishops may be brought into open conilict with the pub"l plead with you that we cannot allow the situation "to drift. Many of our present difficulties would not be what they are if at other times we had had more courage to face real issues. Here wo have a breathing space—a time of comparative -goodwill among ourselves. Is not that* the: verjr time to inquire, think ahci po ahead?" , •-.