THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 July 1930, Page 8

THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE.

If Imperial unity can be fostered'by interchange of opinion the present year should witness much progress towards that ideal. It will see the meeting of the- conference of Imperial statesmen, one of Press representatives throughout the Empire hag already been held, a foregathering of economic experts is also promised, and in the realm of ethics there is the meeting of ecclesiastics of the Anglican Church known as the Lambeth Conference, which is now sitting. The church conference is even wider than the Empire in its scope, for it includes representatives from the United Statesj and from the nature of .its deliberations there is everything in favour of the widened borders of its representation. Though primarily a meeting of one of the many churches in Christendom, the conference, has become something greater than a sectarian event. It represents world-wide effort in ethical affairs, and while many of its deliberations will be of a more or less domestic nature, the decisions of such a conference are bound to have their effect upon the life of the nation. To many the most important characteristic of recent Lambeth Conferences has been the proposals and suggestions for wider church unity. Apart from the ecclesiastical phase, co-ordination of ethical work is a matter of importance to those to whom is entrusted the destiny of the Empire, and it seems obvious that anything which remwes disunion among these who are working w T ith a common aim must be for good. Whether further unity can come through formal agreement is for the churches themselves t-o decide, but what is beyond question is that the Lambeth Conference is one of the most important of the Imperial gatherings in this year of grace.