CRY OF THE CHURCH.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 54, 27 November 1907, Page 7

CRY OF THE CHURCH.

RITUALIST INROADS.

iNEfW ZEALAND FOLLOWING THE SAME

PATH.

"ECCLESIASTICAL MUSIC HALLS."

Bt TELEGEAFII—MESS ASSOCIATION"—COrYMOHT.

/ Sydney, November 26. Tho annual report of the Church of England Association deplores the decadenco of church attendance, tho love of pleasure, tho permeation of schools and .colleges with the so-called now theology, and urges that the churches have become transformed into ecclesiastical music halls and organ recitals.

Solo-singing and tricky advertisements' arc, according to tho report, tho order of tho day, while the simple, plain evangelical service i-. put in the background. Ritualism, too, ha? become a-very'real and great danger in England, and the number of ritualistic institutions in tho shape of convents and sisterhood/ is so great that it would incline one to think that England was a Roman Catholic country. . South Africa is also .strongly permeated with this ritualistic craze, and New Zealand is said to be following on tho same line?, while it has a strong hold in the Commonwealth. Clerical autocracy is dragging the Church of England down,

VIEWS OP BISHOP WALLIS.

In answer to questions by a Dominion reporter, as to his views on the matters referred to in the above cablegram, the Anglican Bishop of Wellington (Dr. Wallis) said he did not regard any of the evils complained of as seriously, affecting the Church in New Zealand, and considered the report a wild exaggeration. -The Vicar of St. Paul's (Rev. T. n. Sprott) shared the sume view, and attributed the decadence of churcli attendance to the spirit of indifference so widely prevalent, allied with the gambling spirit of the age.

STATEMENT BY DR. GIBB.

, The Itev. Dr. Gibb, of St. John's PresbyteriaruChurch,.when asked for his opinions on the subject, said:—"lf one half of this is true, things must bo in a bad way with the Anglican Church , ill New South Wales—perhaps with all the churches. - Very recently, at the meeting of the General ■ Assembly of my own church, jeremiads were quite the order of the day.' It is easy to exaggerate. Earnest v men are always under temptation to think that no past day has been in so deplorable a condition us tboir own day. But I do not think that matters are so unhappy with us in"~New Zealand, and very certainly a large part of this criticism would be inapplicable to tho Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. I am not capable'of estimating, and it woiild not bo niy business to estimnte, how fnr the report is warranted concerning Anglicanism either in Australia or the Dominion. . I know, of coiirse—who is there that does not—that the, love of pleasure is spreading at a great pace; that the horizon of the multitude seems to be more and more bounded only by things seen and temporal. At tho Assembly, I had my own jeremiad to , utter about'the'unresponsivoness of the younger generation to the spiritual and eternal. But I repeat it is easy to exaggerate, easy to see the past in a rosy hue, nml to regard the present through an atmosphere of lead. Of one thing I am certain, and that is that people can bo got to go in large numbers to churches where there are no music hall performances and organ solos; but where sermons lasting from half-an-hour to forty minutes are the regular thing. If a man has a message, the people will listen today, if not as eagerly as in an earlier time, yet with hopeful eagerness. It is, however, true that the day -of slovenliness, cither in the preparation .or delivery of sermons is past, and a good thing too.' It may be a question how far sermons and church services lead to decision of character, to decision especially in relation to the claims of Christ. Sly own experience is that it is not difficult to interest men and women deeply in the question of religion and the Kingdom, of God;, but it is very, hard to bring them to the point of a definite stand. And yet one must not complain too much. The ranks, of the membership in full'communion are being steadily , " l reinforced •by fresh recruits.-' You will say this is a very balanced opinio'n. , ' I sccilr to deny as much as I admit. But how can.onc.be perfectly certain in relation to these things. Conjteniplate one series of phenomena, and you would become an.incorrigible pessimist., Look as exclusively at another series and fyrni will be a boundless optimist. The. only thinp I am positively certain of is that Christ lives and reigns, and that through all these confusions, and fallings away, and revivals, His kingdom will come, must come. My deepest conviction is that 'the world must one "day come to the feet of Christ, and the motto for a man who believes' that is and must bo .'Work and despair not.'" ' .

The Church of England Association mentioned in the cablegram is evidently a Low Church society. A few weeks ago a number of representative New South Wales clergymen signed a circular with reference to the ritual quotation, with a view of promoting closer union between churchmen belonging to different schools flf thought. They also made certain suggestions in the direction of agreement in regard ,to disputed points of ritual, such as the "Eastward position" at the celebration of the Holy Communion, and the Ornaments Rubric.