UNION OF CHURCHES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19170, 9 November 1925, Page 13

UNION OF CHURCHES.

RESULT OF CONFERENCES.

THE ORDINATION QUESTION.

STATEMENT BY FREE CHURCHES

At the annual Assembly of the Federal Council of the Evangelical Free Churches of England the report of the Joint Conference at Lambeth frith representatives of the Church of England was discussed. The council considered that it was desirable to bring to a pause the conferences which have been taking place, but it desired to make clear that such suspension of formal meeting at Lambeth is not to be taken to mean any rupture in friendly relationship, or any closing of • ae door against union. In a statement issued by the council the main positions regarding faith and order which have been explored by the Joint Committee are recalled as follows : "The large measure of agreement between the Churches concerned on vital and fundamental matters of faith is to be recognised, valued and emphasised. On the strength of this alone the Free Churches declare their readiness to join with their Anglican brethren not only in moral and social, but also on religious and evangelical work wherever possible. "On the issue of polity the Joint Committee was agreed that an episcopacy not of its present character, but of a 'constitutional' character, should be an essential element in the order of The United Church, place being "similarly" given to elements of presbyterial and congregational order as equally essential. This proposal is to be taken not in one part of it only, but in its entirety. Matter of Becognition. On the matter of recognition—regarding which the /Free Church representatives have from the first meeting at Lambeth desired some declaration of the Anglican view—special note should be taken of the following statement made by the Anglican representatives in their Erst memorandum on the 'Status of the Free Church Ministry.' "It seems to us to be in accord with the Lambeth Appeal to say, as we are ]>repared to say, tnat the ministries which we have in view in this memorandum, ministries which imply a sincere intention to preach Christ's Word and administer the Sacraments as Christ has ordained, and to which authority so to do has been solemnly given by the Church concerned, are real ministries of Christ's Word and Sacraments in the Universal Church. "This explicit and considered recognition of these'non-episcopally ordained ministries as (a) evangelical, (b) sacramental, and (c) not schismatic but within the Church—whatever further questions as to the extent of their "authorisation" may be subsequently raised—is to be welcomed: and. if its significance is fully recognised and if practical effect is given to its teriris. it should mark a stage in the whole discussion between the Anglican and the Free Churches, and it will prove a valuable basis for further progress if and when/conferences are resumed." The statement proceeds:—"lt must, however, be observed that, on this subsequent question of authorisation, the Anglican representatives seem still inclined, despite the 'declaration above quoted, to insist that Free Church ministers accept oidination —at least in the form known as sub-conditions —at hands. The Free Church representatives on the Joint Committee intimated that there is, in their view, little or no prospect of this being accepted by any non-episcopal church. With this view the council agrees; and it takes leave to say that it would deeply regret if the fortunes of the Lambeth appeal, so far as non-episcopal Christendom is concerned, were finally bound up with a proposal so unconvincing and so unpromising as that of requiring the ordination to the ministry of Christ's Word and Sacraments in the Church of men explicity acknowledged to be in that very ministry. Anglican Church's Difficulties. The question of authorisation must be answered by some other means than ordination. It is therefore to be noted with satisfaction that the Anglican memorandum does not exclude the alternative method of a commission which shall be (a) mutual and (b) unambiguously not an ordination. This is the line which is being followed wherever to-day union between Churches is being achieved. It should, however, be recognised that on this question the Anglican Church has peculiar difficulties to consider, and the issue is one which, therefore, is not to be pressed to an immediate decision. In conclusion, the council, reviewing the whole of the conversations which have taken place records its assurance that these conferences have done much to bring representative members of the Churches concerned into closer fellowship and to a. better understanding of each other's position, and, further, that they have prepared the way to further progress toward ntiitv in the future. To avoid any misunderstanding, it may be well to state that the discussions have been in no sense negotiations' for reunion, but have been intended simply to elucidate the meaning of the Lambeth Appeal, and to indicate on what lines reunion, if desired, might possibly be effected.