ANGLICAN FELLOWSHIP

Press, Volume L, Issue 14975, 23 May 1914, Page 16

ANGLICAN FELLOWSHIP

BISHOP OF OXFORD ON FTRiST

PRIXCIELES.

j • The Bishop of Oxford, than whom i few authorities in the Established \ Church aro read on all matters eccles- ' iastica] with greater interest, has published a brochure on 'Tho Ban"* of An- : glican Fellowship." Coming as a sej quel to his attitude on tho affair of lvikuyu and his support of the Bishop of Zanzibar, it is of high importance. I After a most scholarly review of the ; faith and organisation of tho Church of ; England, he says:—"These, then, arc ■ tho contentious positions which have to I be maintained if the Anglican eommun- : ion is to hold together, whether in the , mission-field or at home—Q) the reI quirement of episcopal ordination for the regular ministry; (2) the requirement of an episcopally ordained priest to celebrate the Eucharist; (3) the requirement of episcopal confirmation by laying on of hands, or at least of the readi- | ness to receive it where it can he had, ; before admission to communion." < J Kef erring to the proposals for fode- j I ration, he says:—"Do- not let us under- j rate tho difficulty or the urgency of j the situation which has Jed to the pro- ] posals for federation. T>o not let us j forget how tho situation presents itself to those who are in the iield and who see the abundant and splendid fruits ot frankly Protestant missions. But I think tho iir&t/ thing to bo done is to have a frank conference between members of our communion as to what measures—what amount of comity—what amount of federation—we can agree to with some approach to unanimity. Many High Churchmen nowadays are ready to go a long way. . . But these three principles do seem to mc to mean" that tho Anglican communion can never recogniso federation with other Protestant bodies ou equal terms, nor celebrate 'open communions/ nor send its members to the communions of other bodies, j And if this ivS so we must be left stand- I ing apart from any general Protestant federation. For I think we cannot rea- I sonably ask those great Protestant j bodies to go far with us unless wo are | prepared to recinrocat-o on equal terras." Then follows a very "weighty expression in these words:—-"I cannot resist the impression that the Church of England, in particular, has a bad tirno ahead of it. I think its perils are largely due to its refusal of , recent years—a refusal manifested in all classes, movements, and grades of office amongst . us—to think clearly about principles. ... We should reflect upon and stand by and insist upon those fundamentals of faith and practice by ,whioh alone we can hop© to hold together, and within those limits exercise the largest toleration of one another— .'endeavour to keep tho unity of tho Spirit in the bond of peace, , and believing that,, through whatever purging trials, our part of the Church has 'ta special • vocation for tho future and in the whole world." ,