CHURCH PROBLEMS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 960, 9 March 1917, Page 6

CHURCH PROBLEMS.

BOLD CRITICISMS. AN OUTSPOKEN BISHOP. The following question was ad« dresed to each Diocesan National Mission Council (says an English exchange):— Why is the Church throughout England and this diocese not that effective spiritual force and moral witness that it is meant to be? The reply from Lichfield Diocese, which has been drafted by the Bishop of Lichfield, with the help of the Bishop of Stafford and others, expresses the opinion that the judicial machinery of the Church is unworkable, that the endowments ol the Church need radical adjustment; and that the position of bishops as peers of the realm with the big establishments they have to keep up, and the large incomes those establishments require, are a real stumbling block.

Without destroying their indepcn« dence, it should be possible to re> move bishops and clergy who arfl incompetent or unwilling to do their proper work. The lack of representative government is certainly a stumbling block to many of the best working men. The laity must havo more responsibility with regard to services.

"A great deal of atlention should] be given to revision of fixed traditions," says the report. "Many parish churches have run into grooves. Why, for instance, should it be considered necessary to intone all the prayers and why should nol the lessons be read in a clear, natural, and audible voice? The Church's chief failure seems to be in discipline, evangelisafion, and teaching. Without destroying the reasoned liberty -which is characteristic of the Church of England or imposing on it a narrow rigorism or a rigid uniformity of ceremonial, ii ought to be possible to set some limits on the self-willed individualism which recognises no authority but its own arbitrary' interpretation of Church doctrine, law, or tradition. The Church ought to know its own mind with regard to the boundaries of doctrine, order, or ceremonial within which varieties mag be allowed.

Dragooned to Service.

"As to the children, the Church must cease to dragoon them to attendance at services in which they cannot take an intelligent interest. ' "The Church, as a whole," the report states, "has not taken an active part in lighting social ills. The world of organised labour believes that the Church is on the side of the 'privileged' classes. While this is to a great extent untrue, there are a vast number of church people who do not even attempt to understand * the aspirations of labour." It could not be God's will that selfish luxury should co-exist with sordid poverty, or that boys should be thrust into the blind alley occupations which gave them no prospect of self-respecting manhood. Bad housing, abuses with regard to the employment of women and children, and the waste of infant life were evils which we ought not to tolerate.

"It is not for the Church to produce a programme of reform, but it is the business of the Church in the spirit of her Master to stir sluggish consciences, and to inspire men with the insight, the sympathy, and the courage which will lead to better things. We do not advocate that the Church should preach and practice justice and brotherhood for the sake of gaining favour with the labouring classes. It is not the business of the Church to seek popularity with any class, but we are sure that when we have arrived at a larger and more sympathetic outlook and have really claimed the sovereignty of our Lord over every part of our common life we shall have removed one great obstacle fo progress."