CHURCH UNION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1342, 20 January 1912, Page 4

CHURCH UNION.

By the adoption of the basis of union with the Methodist Church, the - Primitive Methodist Synod, which has just concluded its annual Conference, has made an important step in the direction of a very desirable goal. . The decision of the Conference will have the hearty support of an __ overwhelming . majority of members of both of the denominations immediately concerned, and the movement will be followed with sympathetic interest by thousands of people belonging to other religious bodies who are thoroughly tired of the waste of energy and dissipation of resources caused by the present competition and rivalry among innumerable separate and independent societies, all working for one great common end. The union of the Methodist Churches in NewZealand is not yet completed, though it is now highly improbable that ■anything will be able to prevent its final consummation at an early date. A jjood many years ago the fust step in the way of Methodist union in this Dominion was taken when the Weslcyan Methr odists, United Methodists, and liible Christians joined forces and formed what is now known as the Methodist Church. The Primitive Methodists also took part in the negotiations, but eventually decided to'stand out until the larger Methodist body had separated, as far as KPYBnumm* m tram fcfcto,

Church in Australia. It was generally understood that the movement for the completion of Methodist union in New Zealand.had only been postponed, not abandoned, and after some further negotiations representatives of tho two bodies met in AVellington in June last, when, after careful consideration of all points of difference, a basis of union was agreed upon, there being practical unanimity on all material questions. This basis has now been adopted by 1 hc_ Primitive Methodist Conference which has just been held at Christclnirch. The Methodist Conference will meet at Auckland next month, when the basis of union will form part of the business to be dealt with, and there is every reason to believe that it will be almost unanimously adopted. It will then have to be submitted to the various quarterly meetings of both Churches for confirmation, and the final step is expected to be taken in 1913, when the Conferences of both bodies will meet separately (probably in Wellington) in order to receive the reports of the quarterly meetings. If these reports are found to be favourable to the terms of union the Conferences will by formal resolution complete the movement. Tho members of both Conferences will then, it is underdcrstood, meet as one body, forming the first united Methodist Conference of New Zealand.

In order to bring about this happy result both parties to the union are no _ doubt giving .up some things which they hold, dear, but the . gain to the two Churches and to religion in general will far outweigh any sacrifices that may be necessary. The name of Primitive Metfiodisi, around which has gathered many noble and tender associations, will disappear from tho list of New Zealand Churches when the work of union is completed, and one can understand how keenly the older generation. who have borne this honourable title all their lives, will feel the change. But they will be Methodists still, for the united Church will be known as the Methodist Church of New Zealand, and though the smaller body niay lose its distinctive name, it will not be simply swallowed up in the larger organisation. It i ; not a question of absorption, butj as speakers at tho recent Conference stated, tho Primitive Methodists are uniting with a great Church i?i ordti to form a greater Church. Neither party is deserting its principles, but they arc both freely entering on equal terms into a newly-created Church, because they feel that by doing so they can do their work more efficiently, and because the readjustment of forces consequent upon union will have a stimulating effect upon Methodism.

Until comparatively recent yeais the spirit of disintegration had been doing its unhappy work throughout Protestant Christendom, ancl the pitiful results of this process of disunion may be seen at a glance in the census returns regarding the religions of the people of New Zealand. It is amazing to find that this young country, with little more than a million people, should contain considerably more than 120 different sccts, and it is with a feeling of relief that one turns away from this story of rivalry and separation to dwell upon the efforts which are now_ being made in all parts of the Christian world in the cause of reunion. Only a few years ago the two Presbyterian Churches of New Zealand became one, and an effort is now being made to bring together the two great Presbyterian Churches in.Scotland. Negotiations in Canada and Australia for breaking down the barriers between Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists have been started, and as far back as 1888 the Bishops of the Anglican Church • announced the terms on which they would be prepared to consider the question of union with other Churches. Not long ago a remarkable letter on the need for unity, addressed to the ministers of all the Christian communities in England, was signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and by leading representatives of the Presbyterians, Primitive Methodists. United Methodists, Congregationalisms, Wcslcyan Methodists, Baptists, and Methodist. New Connexion. The letter put forward the following statements, which the writers believed all Christians could make their own

That our Lord meant us to ba one in visible fellowship. . .. > . That our existing .divisions hinder, or even paralyse, His work. That we all deserve chastisement, ana need penitence, foi' the various ways in which wo have contributed to produce or promote division.

That wo all need open and candid minds to receive light,/and yet more light, bo that, in ways wo perhaps can hardly yet imagine, we may be led back towards unity.

In the United States also there is a growing for unity which is already taking practical form in a movement for uniting the Methodist bodies of that country, which, in the opinion of an eminent authority (Dr. Lewis), would do more than any other one thing to promote world-wide evangelism and start a missionary crusade that would set the Methodist world aflame with a new zeal and a new hope: "We may pile up," says Dr. Lewis, "our. missionary contributions as we will, but as long as we separated brothers of the sstmc household continue to refuse the opportunity and the importunity of reconciliation, the very altar will cry out against us: 'Go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.' " All these facts give reasonable ground for the hope that the process of separation has reached its limit, and that the tide of Christian tho'.ignt is now flowing steadily in the direction of a reunited Christendom, which will find rbom for, and be enriched by, each aspect of. truth to which its component parts have borne special witness. To the individual, ,vho has but a short time to live, the. work of reunion may seem painfuliy slow; but to the Christian Church, wl.-'ci! is probably still in its infancy, time is not- such an urgent consideration; and it would be most unwise to fore? on hurried and ill-considered alliances before the time is ripe. Too much baste might end in disaster, and bring about a great set-back from which the cause of reunion would take generations to recover.