A Bishop's Suggestions.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume VIII, Issue 12, 1 June 1918, Page 92

A Bishop's Suggestions.

■The Bishop of Tasmania delivered an important arid striking charge; to his Diocesan Syhod : last month. 'He pleaded for more definite ■■ ■ Church teaching both to children and adults, Confirmation at an early age • and 'the restoration ' of the' Holy Eucharist to its proper place as the centre of worship. With regard 1 to this subject he said;^- 1 " The weakness of oiir; present system is obvious. A well-known Londpn priest said during 'the South African war: '"-How many of those dear lads who are starting out to die, if. necessary/ for England, are going out m the strength of the Sacrament's ? The awful question to be driven home is that/ as far as England is concerned, the Sacraments are lost, and I challenge 'any clergyman, layman, or bishop m the whole of England to say that he can m any sense be satisfied with the method m which the Sacraments are received m England to-day." Have we improved since then? Listen to these words of the Bishop of London: "The Church has 1 to repent of ; one > signal "■ failure shown us by the war. The Church has not ■ failed altogether. She has not failed m teaching the Church- catechism; her sohs m glorious, : numbers have shown their readiness to die for their country^ but where she has failed,, and we are' bound to face, it j is m bringing home to the manhood: of the nation the sacramental religion, as outlined, m the Prayer Book." ..Later, he adds: "I was struck by the experience of a chaplain m Egypt, m regard to the men m his brigade. They had seen a Communion service for the first time m the- desert' and had asked why should they not participate. After that hundreds wanted to' be prepared •for* confirmation." Notice those words, "They had seen a Communion service for the: first time m the desert)" and yet these were largely our own men, brought up under our system^ - \\ . ■ . Is it not true that "the great mass even, of : Church-goers simply ignore

the one distinctive act -of .Christian worship- altogether, ahdisatisfyi their conscience by 1 attending at Mattins and Evensong, and listening to sermons ? What they have never seen or joined m/ they have learned to "forget. ' ' iOf course 1 the remedy for : this failure will > lie i greatly -in our teaching,- but the Holy Communion itself will be a- better teacher than the best of 'us. Make it the iprincipal service of -the day | ; the : .people's service, meant not ; for -. :the few,' but, for the whole body of • Christian '■ and you will find it will soon explain itself and- justify itself. : : ■ : ■ ;