MISSION TO MEN.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 725, 26 January 1910, Page 8

MISSION TO MEN.

THE REV. H, S. WOOLLCOMBE. AN INTERESTING CAREER. The following interesting sketch of the career of the Eev. H. S. Woollcombe, the Head of the Oxford House,' Bethnal Green, who, as organiser of the. Church of- England Men's Society, will give ad-dresses-in Wellington on Saturday! and Sunday next, appeared in a recent num-; ber of "The .Treasury":— '' - : It,is a quarter of .a century now since the publication of that heart-moving book,' "The ,Bitter Cry," sent a thrill through, the thinking men and women of To most people it was.a revelation that, within. sight of St. Paul's Cathedral and bordering the: centre of the world's rich-commerce, there should exist such a mass of millions, who were existing in a life apart; whose living was often insecure, whose homes were one-room tenements, to, whom religion and higher sides of life were almost entirely unknown... At once it was realised that something other, than , alms . and money was needed; that. here was' an alien England,. separated-by a gulf from the richer and cultivated closes,.an England that was growing- by ' leaps ,'and bounds, and; as it grew became worse. • One speedy result was' the holding of meetings at Oxford and Cambridge with a .-new of appealing to the sympathy and enthusiasm, of those classes for whom most is' done, to whom much has been given. The appeal—especially at Oxford —was not made in vain. There followed the establishment of : the Oxford House at Bethnal Green, the then Warden of Keble ■ College" and'' present Bishop of Southwark being 'one of the ' ' moving spirits. The problems of poverty, of unemployment, of irreligion, have not been mastered in this quarter, of a \ century. They, have been, satisfied. Energy has been thrown into the examination of; special conditions.' , Education, charity organisations,, field preaching, intercourse between - classes and: masses have done much to promote sympathy and better feeling. Yet the need is as great as ever, and the call for self-sacrificing work. • •

Head of Oxford House. Itia no small'thing to have been called' upon to succeed such men as Father Adderley, Canon Henslev Henson, the; present; Bishop of. London, and the ltev. Bernard Wilson. : The position of "Head of Oxford", calls for quite special and rare qualities. There must be an abounding sense of the magnitude of the opportunity and the special weapons which are to be used. There must be a personality whioh attracts and employs undergraduate and '• postgraduate 1 enthiis; ia'sm, and which also can draw/ sinews of . war from . the rich in ■ the West End. If 'no one ever excelled Canon Henson 'in. debate with Atheists,] 'Agnostics, and Freethinkers in the public parks, no one ever equalled, the Bishop of London as "Head in-appealing to Oxford and Mayfair. ....'v.-,.

. Into, the thick.,of the..work : .wentMr... Woollconibe thirteen years ago: first' as a layman at Oxford House for a year, •then for sii years as curate at Stepney; for the last seven years at Oxford House again. It is known that the Bishop of London offered him, the parish at St Dunstan's, Sfephey," some time ago, .but Mr. Woollcomb'a. felt that ..he ought '.to widen; his experience. ;■ "Histenure ,io)',; office 1 was' marked by considerable consolidation of 'the work. In the first place, one thing_very clearly brought; home i is. the old Church. principle that ' the jialvation of mankind is not : worked"invgToss but.in detail. But if any lasting impression/is • to. be made upon ,a' character i'i.t . muist be by. careful tending it. through critical, stages. A boy who- has once been brought into touch : with .humanising- ■ influences must, not be allowed ever to drift away. -■■ The : irifen's . clubs , in. Mr. '. Woollcombe's. time; became'more, and more .the further stage of- tho boys' club instead of . being.; sop-, arate, -unconnected- organisations.- The. result was a growing body .of loyal sup-; porters intimately bound up with one another in esprit do corps and proud" of the traditions of tho "House." • • • You must.have,>let'us say, .a particular kind : of temperament :for .work—, buoyant,' sangvino.-'/impressibloi-.v 'There is .the anxiety. ofvorganisatipns;, and- finance; but" it; must not interfere .with [the. 'crispidowrirightnessi.of'.y_ouf : -,fid-: dresses, to men. There is the murk' and dense crowdedness of the' surroundings, the- oppressiveness of: tho human—it will only make such an one dwell,more upon gleams of the divine. The manifold, complex; distressful problem and. puzzle of it. all is • beyond the statesmen and • the legislators and the wisest brains of. the nation; .then "the faith • and -energy, and; unshrinking devotion of believers must again,: as in time gone; proolaim that tho solution is still; the-same, the power of unlimited self-sacrifice,. and , love.-. Mr. Woollcombe is/endowed with this glorious energy, this unswerving, faith, this buoyant nope, this untiring love,' this guileless sincerity; holding the secret - it would seem, of perpetual youth in spite of tho -burden and the - sorrow, and; the care; able to,, transmit to others . the "strength of his;attractive sympathy. ; .:.....

The Men's .Society. More striking than most organisations whiclj have come to. -.'the, front in-the last , few years, is- the, Church of England Men's Society. Engineered by the' Archbishop of-.York and the Kot. Gordon Saville, /it ..has. introduced „a connexion and . intercommunion between \ English dioceses,- a, sense of, corporate' unity . in' scattered ;individualß,/ an. atmosphere' of energy, and-a sphere of work which has quickened many a parish. . As was seen, it rhas been: found a 'singular success in Bethnal. Green. But the Pan-Anglican Congress .'has ushered -in a new : era of •world-wide Church in an ship.Not' only: mnat the Province of lork be more olosely linked with Canterbury, but' Montreal and ' Melbourne .must react" to the. same co-ordinating force. One result of the :'great- offering "made in' St. Paul's, July 1908, was' the suggestion 'that ' a 'certain, proportion should be .set-aside as a nucleus for advancing missions of. hdp, to . distant, -It was. soon' seen that Australia, the inspiier of that Congress desired to have, visitors , from the centre. New Zealand Bishops were prepared ■ with a. mandate and money to promote such a mission. The Archbishops of Australia invited the t-hen Bishop of Stepney to be present at the ' Perth Church, Congress of next October, and then to preach in the principal (jities. He consented to make the.' tour with/the. intention of advocating the establishment, of. the C.E.M.S.' in Australia. :. As head of the Province of York he : could notgo. On resigning the Headship of 'Oxford House after Easter Mr. Woollcombe joined t]ie headquarters. staff of ' the C.E.M.S., and in due course, started on a- visit to the - whole ,Britishworld—; Canada, Africa, India, Australasia—in the interests of this society. After the conclusion of his New Zealand-mission he will proceed to India, spending eight or nine months there before visiting the dioceses of ./South -Africa./- Three years ■will, be devoted to his tour.

To sum. up: tliosiß who. are well qualified to. judge see these results of .Mr. -Woolleombe's "Headship" and take them as augury; the establishment of a; branch of the C.E.M:S. seventy., strong ' and an average attendance- at men's .services. of over three' Hundred' every: Sunday; the. identification of the "House" with the neighbourhood, as-shown by. his being elected a member of the Board of Guardians, a manager of the L.C.C. enormously popular with tochers," and a welcome visitor- at workhouse and. infirmary; ' It. is claimed,- that; .ha is an equally good- speaker - to'.- very various types of audience, to undergraduate and cabinetmaker, alike, t That he is • abnormally full of -and hope, and inordinately proud of being a Devonian j that prayer meeting, parochial mission, Christian Evidence platform in Victoria Park, or Mission in Wonderland has equally tried his mettle and not found him wanting. There is nothing he has which he will not need to the very last ounce in representing the Church 0} England Men's - Society in the larger world of.- our- scattered brethren.—A. G. B. West. . - -