ECCLESIASTICAL UNITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15513, 21 January 1914, Page 9

ECCLESIASTICAL UNITY.

OPEN COMMUNION POLICY.

CHRISTIAN CO-OPERATION.

THE POWER OF ISLAM.

NEED FOR PATIENCE.

By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright.

London, January 19. The Archbishop of York (the Rev. Dr. Lang), preaching at St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday, made reference to the open communion question. He said the conference of missionaries at Kikuyu in East Africa was an interesting and careful experiment in missionary policy in a region where special circumstances called loudly for Christian co-operation- The subsequent act of communion was a mere episode, wise or unwise, for which the participators were responsible. At the same time he earnestly longed for a common Christianity to show a more united front against the surrounding indifference, unbelief and selfishness. There was still, despite all the divisions, a mighty force, latent and waiting to be aroused. Rival to Missions. The preacher pointed out that in Africa the rival to the divided Christian force was the- united and determined power of Islam. Everyone, he said, recognised that Christianity's future in Africa depended, not on the missions but on the native Church, which alone could ultimately preserve it. Hence the effort to create some fabric of Christian co-operation, within which the native Church might grow up and become strong. The Church stood between the great Latin and • Greek bodies on the one side and the various sections of the Protestants on the other. Ties With Other Churches. The Archbishop added that it was needless to remind his hearers of the ties binding them to their Protestant fellow-Christians, but they must also remember there eould be no fulfilment of the Divine purpose in uniting in any scheme that did not include ultimately the great Latin Church of the West and the Orthodox Church of the East, to which they were still bound by many ties of common faith and practice. A satisfactory solution of the problem depended on the tamper of the Churches. The Archj bishop, in conclusion, urged the '< necessity of patience, and empha- ; siaed the example of the two great | Scottish Presbyterian Churches in the search after reunion.