The Church in Social Reforms.

White Ribbon, Volume 5, Issue 54, 1 December 1899, Page 3

The Church in Social Reforms.

Extracts from a read by Aliw*rt Spicer, M.P., of London, at the International Coun cil of Congregational Churches, Boston .J I need not linger on the necessity for social changes. We are none of us satisfied with the existing state of things. We long for the day when there shall be more equal opportunities for all to exercise their powers, and to live their individual lives to the best advantage. We are also aware that, whatever our personal attitude may be on these social questions, these questions are with us, and with us to stay — they cannot be evaded. The last fifteen years have growingly witnessed a new voicing of the wants of the people thatcan neither lie silenced nor misunderstood. Kach year sees an increase in the demands that are made in many directions. Amongst others, for a system of national e lucation that shall fit every boy and girl for undertaking the work of life ; the popular control of the drink traffic; shorter hours of labour ; greater protection to be afforded by the State for the worker ; better homes for the people ; suitable provision for the aged poor; and a living wage. Assuming, therefore, the necessity for changes and the justification of the people in asking for them, the qu stion that I have to try to answer to-day is: What part our Churches should take in the movement ? In what direction can help be best rendered ? And in replying to this I would quote two passages from the pens of two very different men. In the

preface to the volume which contained an account of the work of our first International Council, our late revered friend and President, Dr Dale, used these words : “The Church should create in its members an eager desi r e to lessen the sorrow, the suffeiing, and the injustice, as well as the sin of the world ; but it is not yet clear to my own mind that the Church, as a religious society, should take part in political, social, and econocal agitation.” And in a recent number of the Mansfield College Magazine , our friend, Percy Alden, the respected warden of the Mansfield College Settlement, wrote: — “ But before long the great maj )rity of the religious teachers of England will have to face the question, 4 What is my relation to the labour movement and the organised workers of the country, and how far am I justified in insisting only on spiritual truths and neglecting the hard facts of social environment ? ’ . . . The religious man who thinks cannot escape the social problem It follows one as closely as the black Care of the Roman poet. It is seated close behind us, it never quits us, and it never will quit us until Christianity is not only preached but applied, until we have learned the lesson that man is his brother’s keeper, not merely from the spiritual but also from the economic point of view. The duty of the Church, it seems to me, is v ry positive ; it has not come to destroy, but to fulfil; its policy is a constructive one ; it must have a clearly understood and defined moral tone for politics, for industry, for poverty, and for all the social inequalities and miseries of the age.” Surely, in these two utterances, there is a good deal of agreement. They each insist upon the duty of the Church as a whole to make its influence felt on all the questions that affect the social weli-being of the community, as well as upon the truly sympathetic spjrit in which that work should be undertaken.

Now, are we doing all we can in these two directions ? There are many outside our churches who tell us plainly that we are not doing so ; that in our Church life we are willing to nelp one another ; that we are prepared to do something for the spiritual advantages of our fellowmen at home and abroad ; that on the soci il side we are also prepared to help in the direction of charity, but that we are unwilling to interest ourstlves in trying to solve soeial questions by remedie which pr -

pose the application of justice rather than that of charity. I am bound to say that I think we are not altogether guiltless in this matter, either in the pulpit or in the pew. I ask the religious press to utilise some of their ablest writers in keeping their readers correctly informed on social subjects, and to throw the weight of their great influence on the side of those changes that will make for the greatest good of their fellowmen. I ask my fellow-employers to realise the trust that has been committed to us, and use it as stewards of our Lord and Master to whom we must render our account.

I ask my fellow-members to consider how much we can all do to further the right solution of these difficult problems, for in my deliberate judgment upon the right attitude adopted by Christian men and women on social questions will largely depend their gradual and successful solution without the accompaniment of bitter and painful episodes, and may we learn more fully that “ whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister and whoever would be first among you shall be servant of all.”

One other point: Have we, as churches, done what we could in calling forth the personal service of the members of our larger churches for the working class districts of our towns and cities ? Some of our churches have done something, and our settlements are also helping nobly, but might there not be groups of churches united for similar purposes ? There are many with insufficient strength to do much alone, who, if united with others, might accomplish great things. In this way we should open channels for personal service that would afford an opportunity for many of our members to come into personal touch with those who are feeling the pinch of existing conditions.

I ask only that our churches may not put aside these questions from their thought. 1 appeal to our ministers to give some portion of their time to the consideration of social reforms, so that when the occasion demands an utterance they may make it with knowledge coupled with sympathy.