Chruch Discipline Defended.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 35, Issue 6, 1 August 1944, Page 1

Chruch Discipline Defended.

"With this statement I totally dis. agree. I am always displeased when members of our own Church disparage her; but I maintain, that to speak of the lack of cohesion and disciplined order m the Church of England is to make a statement that is not true." Said the Rt. Rev. C. A.„ Cherrington, Bishop of Waikato, m his charge to the Waikato Synod when m a vigorous defence of the Church of England he took strong exception to a paragraph m an article under the -title of "Myth and Papal Rome" m a recent issue of the Auckland Diqtcesan Gazette. The paragraph read "Such a system (i.e.; the Roman Church with its Papacy) must always appeal to tidy-minded people who are dismayed by the lack of cohesion- and disciplined, order which are to be found m a contrasting system like that of the Anglican; ; Coinmunion." Continuing, His Lordship said:— The Church of England has always stood for freedom. Long before the Reformation it was for that for which she stood; and she not only fought for freedom for herself, but was through many outstanding prelates the Champion of freedom for the nation. And there has always been room m her for men and women of widely differing opinions; indeed those opinions Jiavje often been labelled "heresy" m such notable men as the father of present Archbishop of m his Essays and Re-

views, the late Bishop of Oxford m his Lux Mundi^ the late Bishop of Durham, Dr Hensley Henson, and the well-known Modernist, Dr Major, formerly Vicar of this, town. All of them have been "absolved from the charges brought against them by more maturely considered judgments. It is because of this freedom that

our Church has been for long rejiftwned as the most learned Branch of the Christian Church; our scholars are m the front rank. V And m this Church, so compre- " hensive and so wide there have been able to exist m friendship and accord, the varipus so-called parties—

I prefer, to call them bodies of men who are attracted or helped by various aspects of the truth/ some^ times so much so that they are m- / clined to forget that there are others:* — -so that at one time you had High Churchmen, Low Churchmen and Broad Churchmen/or at another Catholic Evangelical or Modernists . Bound by ties of fellowship '.' and loyalty to the Church of Ehgland of which they are proud to be members. Their loyalty to the New Testament, the four great Councils of the Church, the Apostolic Creeds and the Book of Common Prayer is sufficient evidence of the cohesion of the Church of England. „ -— .■ And you can only judge of this cohesion fully as you move .about m different parts of the Church of England; wherever you go you find it the same, whether m the Church at home, or m the Dominions or m the Missionary Dioceses, it is m evidence quite clearly. Our parishes cohere m the Diocese, our Dioceses m the Province, our Provinces m the English Church as a whole. Normally, representatives of every Diocese of it, meet at a great Conr / ference at Lambeth^ arid though the discussions of that Conference have . no binding force m the way oflegislation, yet the findings of it hayfc great weight m the years that follow each Conference. . It was my lot for five or six years to move about regularly and freely m a large Diocese of 600 parishes: I was/called upon to minister m very varied parishes/from those which

used the full ritual allowed m the Church of ISngland to those which still wore the old-fashioned .. black preachers' gown to preach m. But all of them used the same New Testament, used the same Creed, the same form of words and services of the Book of Common Prayer and alf owned allegiance and counted themselves part of the same Diocese. No Lack of Cohesion. Really I fail to see any lack of cohesion m the Church of Eingland. We may find it more marked,, m. a Province such .as this with its code of Canon Law, its regular meeting of General Synod, duly elected by all the Dioceses, than m the Old Country. There of course the Canon Law, and laws of; custom are much older and therefore perhaps not so much ..noticed, , but there is, .no , lack of cohesion for all" that.' The Church of England is one all over the world among the people who compose it. ' And where is the lack of disciplined order to which the article m question refers: — Let us start with the discipline of the Lay members of the Church. . - .^ Every person who enters the Church either m person or -by proxy has to swear allegiance .to the Ghurch> by way; of accepting the Apostles' Creed. "Wilt thou be baptised m this Faith? That is my desire." And this is the discipline that •has been imposed on everyone wishing to be a ' member of Christ's Church since the dawn of Christian history and very nearly m the same words. And m our part of the Church this • discipline is ratified by the fact that every confirmed person (and the unconfirmed are not full or real members of the Church) has to ratify his former oath and swear allegiance again m the solemn reply to a solemn question — "I do." Three times a year at least, every Churchman must present himself at the Sacramentjof Holy Communion. And most stringent rules are m force with regard to ex-communication of the repelling from Communion by a higher authority of those deemed to be unworthy of it. This is strictly and regularly carried out m the Mission Field; and from time ' to time m other parts of the Church. Form, ex-communication, however, is replaced by the fact that an unworthy person usually ex-communicates himself. "Sacramental Confession. We must" remember that our part of the Church recognises the importance of the individual conscience, and that a great deal of what m other parts of the Church is enforced by rules, the keeping of which is not difficult, m our part of the Church is left to our honour.

For example there is m the Prayer Book a list of days and seasons to be observed m various ways, either by rejoicing or fasting and abstinence. But we are not told how to observe these various days: That is left to. ourselves. We are told to fast, we are not told how.' Again Sacramental. Confession is provided for m the Book of Common Prayer. But the question of whether we use that means of grace, when or how often, is; not laid down — that is left to us. . There is no such rule, again, as that we rimst. attend Divine. ; Service every. Lord's Day. Provision' is made for us to do so by the special passages of Scripture appointed for our use; but no more than , that. And the fact that we are left so free by our Church m this and other matters makes for a depth of spiritual life that cannot be obtained m any other way. We go. to Church because we wish to do so; we receive Holy .Communion, because we know that spiritual help is given to us thereby; and there cannot fail to be far riiore reality m carryirig out these duties than if ~we were ordered to do so, so often, and if our religious life were regulated by rules and regulations. Self discipline is always far more valuable, though J agree, far more difficult to maintain that discipline imposed from an outside authority. I have said many times and I say it again that the life of a wellinstructed English - Churchman will bear comparison anywhere with that of a member of any other part of Christ's Church or of any other Christian body. Nor can we say that there is a lack of disciplined order among the Clergy.- We have to take very searching and, solemn vows at -Sur ordination, varying m the Order, to which 'we are ordained. We are bound unless hindered by. sickness to say the Service of Morning and Evening Prayer daily and when m charge of a Parish to say * these services m Church, signifying the fact that we are doing so bys. the ringing of a bell. We all have to take the oath of cannonical' obedience to the Bishop and to declare our adhesion to the Book of Common Prayer and consent to the 39 Articles every time . we take up a fresh appointment. Declaration of Obedience. And m New Zealand, m common with anyone else who holds any office m the Church, paid or unpaid, we sign a declaration of obedience to General Synod, which means that we also accept as binding the Statutes of our own. In large Churches, where there may be many Deacons and Priests we are to receive Holy Communion every Lord's Day. In England, we are to conduct Divine

Service and preach twice every Sunday; and though m New Zealand we cannot always do this m our Parish Church, we certainly do it m our parishes at large. We are to read the Holy Scripture m the authorised version and to use the words of the Prayer Book of 1662 and none other, except as shall be ordered by lawful, authority, e.g., prayers special occasions ordered by the Bishop of the Diocese. And we are all of us trusted that we will do this.. Neither a Bishop nor even . an Archdeacon is a factory inspector nor any other sort of inspector. He is to inspire and exhort rather than to command or insist. At the same time just as a wise teacher knows perfectly well what the behaviour m his class-room is (having eyes like a mule, that can see sideways,' both ways as- well as m front) so a Bishop know? perfectly well how things are going on m a parish without any drastic questioning or unworthy spying round. Arid the Bishops are under discipline also. None of them may intrude m another Diocese, -even if he be asked to preach, he does not do so without, by courtesy if, not by obligation, asking permission of the Diocesan to whose Diocese he may be invited. None of the Bishops, .after matters have been discussed at Episcopal meetings would wittingly go outside what has been decided, m any important matter; nor would any make such regulations m his Diocese, which would offend the general feeling of the rest of the Episcopal Brethren. And both Bishops and Priests always have to remember that they are Bishops and Priests m the Church of God. They may be called for the time being to this or that portion of a district m the Church; but their local position must >not blind them to the fact that they are ministers of a far larger body than their local position would imply, important though that might be, but have a loyalty and responsibility to the whole Church of God.