CHRISTAIN ORDER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 79, 17 July 1942, Page 2

CHRISTAIN ORDER

"ONE GREAT GROUND OF HOPE"

WORLD-WIDK CHRIISTI AN FELLOWSHIP The great part likely to be played m thi? post-war world by the missionary enterprise of a world-wide Christian fellowship was stressed by Dr. William. Temple in the sermon which he preached on the occasion of his enthronement as Archbishop of Canterbury a iew weeks ago. After saying that the secular movement of the world was not toward peace or mutual undertsanding and appreciation, Dr. Temple w?nt on: "But there is another side to the picture. As .though in preparation for such a time as this, God has been building up a Christian fellowship which now extends into almost every nation and binds citizens of them all together in true unity and mutual love. It is the result of the great missionary enterprise of the last 150 years. This great new fact of our time makes itself felt apparent in world conferences such as in the last 20 years have been held in Stockholm, Lausanne, Jerusalem, Oxford, Edinburgh, Madras, and Amsterdam . . . Here is one great ground of hope for the coming days—this world-wide Chris-

tian fellowship, this ecumenical movement, as it is often called." If there is. one man better fitted than another to lead and inspire such a movement it is Dr. Temple, according to many authorities. Describing his enthronement in a recent issue, the American magazine 'Time' said that "the ceremony was more than a Church of England occasion, just as Dr. Temple is more than a British religious leader. He . ... is the nearest thing to an acknowledged leader that world-wide Protestantism has had since the Reformation. He made, history by being- the first Primate ever to invite non-Anglican churches to send official representatives to his enthronement. Churchmen came from 17 countries and from 22 different communions. And according to Sidney Dark, cxcditor of the English 'Church Times' while the new Primate has a deep regard for the Catholic heritage of the English Church, he is also deli nitely persona grata with the nonConformists, "and where lie leads a great many of them will follow. Ha goe> to Canterbury not so much from York as from Malvern (a re-* lorence to the Malvern Conference of 1941). He is entirely committed to the Malvern programme, and is too big a man to go back to it."