CARRS LANE PASTORATE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1419, 20 April 1912, Page 9

CARRS LANE PASTORATE.

THE REV. S. M. BERRY ACCEPTS,

The Rev. Sidney M. Bcrrv, M.A., lias nccepted the pastorate of "Cnrrs Lano Uiaiiol, Birniiiigliani. The interregnum between Dr. Jowctt's departure and his sueeo.-sor'.s appointment lasted just about a year. Mr. Berry's decision was cabled to Dr. Jowett in New York, nnd nt tlio eveiinig service on Sunday, March 3, tho cablegram was read at t'arrs I/ane: "Session nnd Church send heartiest congratulations and prayerful good wishes.—.Towett." Mr. Berry, in his message of acceptance, stated :— "I-have given my earnest thought nnd prayer to the call sent to mo by tho Church at Carrs Lane, and I have coino (o tho conclusion that it is my dutv to accept it. 1 must honestly confess 'that I liavo arrived at that conclusion with a good deal of reluctance. The greatness of (ho Church's traditions and tho rare distinction of tho men who liavo occupied its pulpit have made ,mo feel how utterly unequal I am to the task of entering worthily into their succession. And although J liavo been naturally sensible of tho honour of tho invitation to become the minister of Cans Lane, I have been far more deeply conscious of the great responsibility that it involves. I have shrunk from accepting that responsibility, and if I had consulted morelv mv own feelings I should liavo refused without any hesitation at all. But I have come to see that such an issue ought not to be decided by human shrinking and fears. And while I have felt theso in their full force, I have felt, on the other hand, a clear call of God in the invitation that was sent to mo," To his own ncople nt Chorlton-cum-Hnrdy Mr. Berry made his announcement in a statement which was substantially the same as the letter to Carrs Lane. He added: "This is neither the time nor the occasion to speak of what it costs me to sever tho ties which bind us together as minister and people. Those ties liavo been wonderfully close during the three years that wo have been together, for it is' just throe, years ngo to-day that I cammenced niy ministry nt Chorlton. You liavo given me the joy of ministering to a loyal aud united people. I cannot pretend that I am leaving you because my work amongst yon is finished. It is not finished, nnd had it been the will of God I should have been content nnd happv to continue it. But I have felt the 'call to what, without any hint ofAdisparageinent, I can call a larger sphere of service, and that summons I have felt that I must obey." NEW PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS AT EDINBURGH. A PRESBYTERIAN ELDER. Professor Edmund T. Whittaker, M.A., D.Sc, P.R.S., Royal Astronomer of Ireland, who has been appointed Professor Chrystal's successor in the Chair of Mathematics in Edinburgh University, tho most lucrative mathematical or astronomical post in tho kingdom, is a Presbyterian. Trained as an Anglican,'he was ordained an elder in St. Columba's Presbyterian Church of England, Cambridge., where he also served Westminster College for a timo as Hon. Bursar, nnd ho is at present an elder in Rutland Square Presbyterian Church, Dublin. Professor Whittaker is connected with Edinburgh through his wife, the daughter of tho Rev. Thomas Boyd, M.A., Wimbledon, formally years Scottish secretary of the London Religious Tract Society, and grand-daughter of tho late Sir Thomas J. Boyd, F.R.S.E.. chairman of the Scottish Fishery Board snd ex-Lord Provost, of Edinburgh. Educated at Manchester Grammar School, Professor Whittnkor graduated at Cambridge as Second Wrangler nnd First Smith's Prizeman, and wns elected a Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College. v IIe, was elected,a Fellow- of tho .Royal iSpciety at the early-age of thirty-one, and'ho; is now a meinber'of'that society's ''Council. Professor Whittakcr has published two volumes on Advanced Mnthomatics and a History of .'Ether and Electricity, which have circulated wi.lely in learned circles, and also a number of original memoirs embodying the results of his mathematical nnd physical researches. CHURCH TEST FOR DEGREES IN ' DIVINITY. , :- ' • CAMBRIDGE PROFESSORS' MEMORIAL. The five Professors of Divinity in the University of Cambridge—Dr. Swete, Mr. Bethuno-Baker, Mr. Burkitt, Mr, Barnes, and Dr. Stanton—have presented to tho Vice-Chancellor a memorial expressing their opinions that the conditions whercbv divinity degrees appear to bo restricted, to clerks in holy orders in tho Church of England should bo removed nnd a declaration of assent to the formularies of tho Church of England before admission to theso degrees be no longer required, Tho memorial sets forth that originally the degree of Doctor of Divinity conferred authority to teach, but it has long ceased to be regarded as having this effect. If the requirements reform! to were abolished degrees in divinity would bo held simply to afford evidence of the proficiency in theological studies, which is their chief value at present. From among members of tho University who do not belong to the Church of England and who nave graduated by means of the Theological Tnipos or other triposes, some have attained to distinction in theological studies, and there may not improbably bo an increasing number of such instances as time goes on. These men are at present debarred from obtaining from thoir University the appropriate recognition of tho work they have done. The memorialists therefore ask that steps should bo taken by tho Senate to effect an amendment of the statutes governing the subject so as to carry out theso proposals,