RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1192, 29 July 1911, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

LABOUR AND CHRISTIANITY, A KKMARKAULE CHANGE. A contributor to tho London "liceord" says:—"There is no more significant or rumiintic chapter nf modern history than Hint which tells us of tin- complete change of Iho leaders of the Labour parly towards Christianity.

" '1 have travelled round the political movement and tho humanitarian movement,' s-nid .Mr. Lan.sbury, 'and I have (ravelled back again to where 1 Marled; to this, namely, mat there is a ("Joel, that lie is the. I'atner of tho Universe, that .Ivsua Christ was tho fion of Almighty Ucnl, and because fie came- and became Man all mankind is sacred; every man, woman, and child is of value. 1 want tho men and women in tho Labour movement to realise- that wo have got to have that Power behind us.'—The 'Commonwealth,' July, 1010.

"In Mr. Keir Hardie's words, 'On tho Continent Socialism and atheism were, once practically synonymous; but now tho idea of the Power behind Nature, of a something beyond Death, is permeating the entire Socialistic movement.'

"And Jlr. Arthur Henderson says, 'With all our reforms we need the spirit of Regeneration, which makes men and women new creatures in Christ Jesus. We must come to the life-giver. Wo know men changed from drunkenness and cruelty into good characters. How? By getting an Act of Parliament through tho House of Lords? liy passing a resolution in the borough council? No; but by bringing the lost soul into contact with the livinjc Christ.'

"So say .Mr. Will Crooks and Mr. Philip Snowden, and others \vl\o have battled with Iho hard facts of life, and scon tho best intentions stultified by the perversity of human nature. And we cannot read this testimony without feeling how far we have travelled from the days of Bradlaugh and Tom Paine.

C.E.M.S. MEETING IN MELBOURNE. The annual meeting of the Church of England .Men's .Society, ilioceso of Melbourne, was held at tiie Chapter House of St. Paul's Catlledral on July 15. Tho council meeting; was held iu the afternoon. The report stated that tho number of branches loruicd to date was 50, and tho nu'inlx'rship was about 1100. Parochial organisation in many districts had been improved by means of the society. The establishment under the society's auspices of tho committee for welcoming oversea arrivals at the beginning of 1911 had amply justified the hopes expressed in tho previous report. From January 1 to June 30 upwards of 1100 Church of England immigrants had been welcomed personally by tho lay agent, Mr. IV A. Kay, given advice and assistance, and commended to the various parishes in Victoria where they will reside. Tho finances were satisfactory.. Notwithstanding the great amount of pioneer work that Imd been done, there was a credit balance of over .£45. In the. evening there was a general conference, the feature of which was tho enthusiastic demand for a church house in Melbourne embracing offices for the C.E.M.S., and a small' hall for meetings, a club with temperance refreshment rooms, billiards and concert room, a temporary halting place for oversea immigrants and inter-State visitors, and about twelve bedrooms to bo always available for moderate- charges. An address on the work of the society was delivered by Archbishop Clarke, lie referred to tho necessity of securing a house as tho headquarters of tho society. _ , TII3 conference adopted a resolution calling on tho executive to draft a scheme, for submission to another conference early in 1012. All the speakers agreed that tho C.E.M.S. could not shoulder the entire burden and that the corporate diocesan funds of tlio church and portion of tho endowment provided by the St.. James's property must be freed for this puYpose. Tho total number of members nt present enrolled in tho C.E.M.S. , is 111,000, and there are only two short of dflOi) branches of tho movement in nil parts of the British Empire. Sixty new branches have been added during 'the past niimth, including twenty-ono in Australia, three i:i Africa, and two each in New Zealand and India, with the remaining thirty-one in England and Wales, and four new federations. Tho kh'.n of the laymen's response to the Church's call to service is being caught up just as readily abroad as it has been nt. Home (says "The Guardian"), and this, is duo iu no small, measure, to tho untiring energy of the l!ev. H. S. Wool]combe, who is now'lnking a lengthy rest after his tour of nearly two years.