THE BISHOP OF WAIKATO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20690, 9 October 1930, Page 16

THE BISHOP OF WAIKATO.

Sir,—Mr. Snell has discovered a mare's nest. There is no reason for supposing the E.C.U. and the C.B.S. to be secret societies, or of possessing secret lists of members. They are both perfectly open in their work and propaganda. The prayers and devotions used by the C.B.S. can' be purchased without restriction. The services of the Order are held with open church doors to which all and sundry are free to attend. Mr. Snell should substantiate his claim. It is a great pity that an organisation like the C.8.5., which has done so much, especially among the youth of the eastern and south-eastern "slums of London, for the lasting benefit of the Church, should be criticised by .Mr. Snell, -who apparently knows nothing whatever about it. J. C. Daly. Epsom.

Sir, —It is quite evident (hat your correspondent, the Vicar of Waiuku, intended in his last letter to administer to Mr. Archibald and myself a smashing blow, and so put an end to the controversy in the press. The more this gentleman writes the more apparent is it that he knows very little of what has taken place in the presence of the Bishop of Waikato. Had he been in possession of all the facts he would have known that I, and others, who aro only doing our duty in fighting for our rights in the matter of upholding the teaching of the Reformed Church and the Prayer Book of 1662, have not at any time deliberately gone behind the bishop's back, in expressing our opinions and entering our protest. Mr. Morris tells your readers that my attack upon the bishop, when ho was 12,000 miles away, is an outrage on common decency. I would remind Mr. Morris that Bishop Cherrington. on the eve of his departure for Lambeth, told the people of Waikato through the press that he had spent three extraordinarily happy years in the new diocese of Waikato. Soon after his arrival in England he tells the world, through tho Church Times and other London papers, that ho had been persecuted in his efforts to begin to teach the Catholic faith in the new diocese of Waikato, and further, he appealed in one instance at any rate, to the children of a poor parish for their prayers and pence for his struggling diocese of Waikato. Considering that tho Waikato diocese is well filled with interested church people, who are, or were, as keen, able and willing ti> support their church as any diocese in New Zealand, what does Mr. Morris think of the bishop's action as above stated? Further on in his letter Mr. Morris conveys the impression that the 59 Articles are a mere incident and really not of much importance as far as the teaching of the Church is concerned. The general opinion of most people who are interested in the Reformed Church is that the doctrino of the 39 Articles is the very stronghold of England's Church and nation. Mr. Morris tells us that the Anglican Church has never lost that ancient and universal custom of prayers for tho dead. In this connection I would point out to your correspondent that prayers for Iho dead were introduced in tho 1549 Prayer Book, and an attempt was made to retain them in the book of 1552, but tho revision committee in no uncertain terms refused to allow it and they have for good and obvious reasons never been reinstated. Claudelands. F. A. Snell.