THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1921. CHRISTIAN REUNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17853, 6 August 1921, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1921. CHRISTIAN REUNION.

A year has passed since the Archbishops and Bishops of the Anglican Communion issued their noble "appeal to all Christian people." It is a fitting occasion to look back and to estimate what progress has been made towards the realisation of the vision of a " church genuinely catholic, loyal to all truth, and gathering into its fellowship all who profess and call themselves Christians." No one who has given the subject honest consideration will expect to find many milestones in a year's record of Christian reunion. As the Archbishop of Canterbury said in addressing the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland there are no " short cuts," and it is in the rash enthusiasm of " short cuts " that the chief peril lies. Yet the eye of faith will discover many encouraging symptoms. It is no small thing that the Archbishop of Canterbury should go to Scotland to address the general assemblies of the two great Presbyterian churches of that country and thar, he should be invited to preach in St. Giles' Cathedral, the scene of Jenny Geddcs' revolt against the liturgy. It js a sign of the times that no appeal for Christian reunion ever had better reception than that issued from Lambeth Palace a year ago, and it is perhaps most significant of all that the ideal placed before Christendom is all-embracing. "We had in view," said the Archbishop of Canterbury, in explaining the Lambeth appeal, " not solely our home differences and schisms, but Christendom as a whole. That means, as one great section, the Church of the Historic Last, with its taproots deep down in the earliest centuries, its life dim and unfamiliar to most of us. yet capable of new sympathies which may surprise us all. Witness what happened in Geneva a few months ago. And, more difficult far, the historic West. We have never ceased to make it clear that we can enter no portal of fellowship which has ' sub- j mission' graven on its lintel—sub-1 mission to what would be unendur-j able because it is untrue. And no ! path which we could possibly tread upon a reconciliation road is at present even dimly in sighU Yet 1 dare not hold it inconceivable that in the Providence of God a truer light may some day dawn. So our vision cannot rightly, with regard to either East or West, take a constructive shape which would for ever render such approach even in the long last unthinkable."

As an expression of the new spirit abroad in Christendom the Geneva Conference on Faith and Order, referred to by the Archbishoo of Canterbury, deserves more attention than it has received. The attendance stamped it as one of the most significant ecclesiastical gatherings ever held. Eighty churches and between 30 and 40 nations were represented. Anglicans, GreekOrthodox, Old Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Baptists, and others were there. In their theological beliefs there were many divergencies and even apparent contradictions. But, according to the official report, the conference was one in its spiritual fellowship. " Life touched life, nation touched nation, the spirit of the East held communion with the spirit of the West as perhaps never before." No attempt was made to minimise the enormous difficulty of the task set before the conference. " Our journey," admits an official review of the conference, "is a long one. Christians have taken more than a thousand years to reach the far country of disunion | where they now dwell. We cannot return home again in a moment." Yet the conference was not altogether barren. Certain proposals, which are described as sane and strong, were made by the Orthodox (Eastern) Churches touching on cooperation and fellowship and they are to be taken into consideration. What the outcome may be it is difficult to predict, but it is easy to agree with the authors of the | conference when they say it has! become "a fact of history, a hope! and a vision."

Perhaps a majority of laymen will prefer i<j estimate progress by specific movements for the union or incorporation of independent churches. Such a test may not always be the best, because the spirit of unity is more important than the forms of union, but it is at least practical and yields distinctly encouraging results. To start at'home we have in New Zealand the promise of a union between the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches. This corresponds very closely to a movement which is taking place in other Dominions. In Australia the plan of union includes also the Methodist Church. The scheme has been approved by the several church courts, but the Presbyterian General Assembly has not felt justified in taking immediate action, and it is probable nothing definite will be done till next year, though in the meantime co-operation is recommended in various spheres of social and spiritual work. In Canada the same three churches have reaffirmed a basis of union which has been shaping itself since 1911. In principle, union was affirmed before the war, but action was deferred. As legislation is necessary to ratify the transfer of church properties, the actual adjustment will probably not take place within three years. In England the followers of John Wesley—the Wesleyan Methodist, the Primitive Methodist, and the United Methodist communions—are attempting to adjust their differences. In Scotland a very significant movement for the union of the two great Presbyterian bodies, the Free and Established Churches, promises a happy issue in the near future. As a preliminary a Bill has been prepared and is now before the House of Commons removing ail

statutory restraint on the liberties, rights, and powers of the Established Church in matters spiritual. The passage of this Bill, with a satisfactory adjustment with regard to endowments, will remove the last obstacles to union. The streams of spiritual life are converging in Scotland, long the land of schism, as elsewhere, and if the Lambeth vision is still distant, it may at least be said that the spirit of Christian unity continues to grow and its expressions become increasingly manifest.