THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1896.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10124, 6 May 1896, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDA Y, MAY 6, 1896.

Tub institution of a Church Congress the tirst session of which was opened last night in this city, is an incident that should be viewed with interest, not only by members of the Church of England, but by the members of every Christian denomination in the colony. Thp business proper of the regular Church Courts being of a specific nature, the opportunity is not there afforded for adequately discussing subjects of a general nature that have an intimate bearing on the welfare of the -Church, and on its relation to the circumstances and incidents of the times. The freedom of a Congress unfettered by conventional rules gives the advantage of eliciting the views and sentiments of laity and clergy in such a manner as must lead to a better under-

standing of points of difference that may be possibly existent, and to completer harmony of action in all the undertakings in which the Church may be engaged. On the other hand, the wider scope of discussion to which such an iuiormal assemblagn lends itself is likely to embrace many matters of equal concern to all other Christian denominations, and will have a tendency to make of the Church of England, as the leading religious denomination of the country, a oentre of interest to the other religious todies, and a source of many concerted efforts for the promotion of religious work. The subjects chosen for the discussions of the first Congress seem to have been admirably adapted for this Catholic object, for there is not one of them that is not of precisely similar interest to the ministers and members of every other religious denomination. The possibilities and the limitations of the reunion of the Churches, religious education in the home, in the Church, and in the school; biblical criticism; the question of the relation of the Church to politics, to

commerce, to social, and national life; and the question of the neglect of public worship, are all subjects in which the whole community, in as far as it is in any way affected by a desire for the influence of religion on life, must be concerned, and the discussion of these themes by thoughtful and able men of the Church of England can be followed with a personal interest by members of every Christian communion.

The first of these subjects which formed the piece de resistance for last night's deliberations was the question of the re-union of the Churches, and it was placed in hands that were well adapted to doing it justice. Rev. Mr. Beatty takes a comprehensive view of every question with whioh he deals, and illuminates his subject with rare ability and eloquence. Last night was no exception to the rale. The subject was handled with delicacy and tact and though tho conclusions were non-committal, and could hardly be Baid to have advanced the subject materially in the direction I desiwd, the speaker admirably defined the limitations of Christian Union and pointed out what could and what could not be attained in the present condition of things. In an exhaustive review of the history of the Church he traced its origin and growth, and described its mission, and maintained!

< its capacity for effecting changes in its organization and non-essentials based | on the precedent set in the proceedings 1 of the Apostolic founders of the Church I as narrated in the Acts of the Apostles* [ But he • did not give encouragement to the idea that Christian Union was to be effected by frittering away the distinctive features of either polity or organization, and had no tolerance for what might be called undenoniinationalism in the Churches. In a ward Mr. Beatty does not favour the idea of the possibility of organic union, but rather of union in spirit and in operations, and he made a telling point in the expression of his belief that when the time has fully come, and stress and strain are upon the churches, and the necessity of union will be found to be vital, it will be the recognition of the real union actually existing, rather than the creation of any artificial form of union that will take place. When that time comes the churches will not really break down their lines of demarcation and merge into one; but they will have an overwhelming conviction of their being actually one in Christ Jesus. In the comparison which Mr. Beatty drew between organisations that were, like families and nations, divine societies and voluntary associations that owed their origin to private action, or a common theory of opinion, or some new discovery about church government, it was of course the ecclesiastic that was speaking. But Mr. Beatty breathed the fullest spirit of catholicity in relation to all the separated brethren, and gave the fullest recognition of the seals to their ministry in the work they were doing for their common Lord. It seems probable that the lines laid down by Mr. Beattie as to the re-union of the Churches have more likelihood of being realised than those of the more sanguine, who may hope that the time will come when all differences, even in outward form, between the Churches will be sunk. The spirit of fraternity that has manifested itself among nearly all the Christian denominations in later times is one of the most interesting phenomena of the nineteenth century. I One of the pleasantest incidents of last night's proceedings was the reading of a letter couched in the most fraternal terras from the Administrator of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, expressing a wish that he could have been at the Congress to express his sympathy with the consideration of the subject of the re-union of the Churches i Nobody probably believes in the possibility of organic union with the Roman Catholic Church on the part of the Protestant Churches, in face of the unbending and impossible conditions which are put forward by that Church as indispensable. But the manifestation of such a friendly spirit as this, and as that breathed in the overtures of His Holiness Pope Leo XIIL is in very striking contrast to the brutal hatreds between Roman Catholics and Protestants that formerly were such a scandal to Christendom ; and one can hardly help thinking that it points to a time when Popery and Protestantism under the "stress and strain" of which Mr. Beatty speaks as coming on the nations, may yet work hand-in-hand together in mutual confidence and genuine sympathy, in the common defence of Christianity, and in the promotion of the religion of their Common Sav our.