RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1491, 13 July 1912, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

PRESBYTERIAN RE-UNION,

MEETING OF THE SCOTTISH ASSEMBLIES.

HISTORIC DEBATES. "I will not cease from mental fight, .Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till ive have built Jerusalem In Scotland's green ami pleasant land."

Tuesday (May 28) was an epoch-making day in the history of Presbyterianism in .Scotland (says Uili "Weekly Scotsman"). Momentous debates on Church . Union were simultaneously taking place in tho Assemblies of the Church of Scotland and of the United Free Church. Both parties must have felt that they were making history. The atmosphere without corresponded to that within tho Assembly Halls-that of warmth and geniality. Nothing proclaims- a. great day in (he Assemblies so quickly as the galleries. The galleries in both Assembly Halls were glowing with summer raiment, and thronged to their utmost capacity. Above the chair of tho United Free Church Moderator hung a brilliant bouquet of flowers—at least, it had that effect. Tho Auld Kirk disdains such innovations—tho bright uniforms of his' Grace and suite supplying the note of colour,

CHURCH OP SCOTLAND.

The veterans were greeted with a cheer as they entered the House. Dr. William Mair, radiant with unfading youth', flitted here and there, full not only of the passion for' Union, but also of a passion to keep everybody right. But what a changed Assembly! Two new clerks sit at the table—and Dr. Paul and Dr. Simpson occjip.y the seats of the mighty. '■ Seldom has the House been more crowded; seldom, has it beeu filled with so great a sense of expectancy. It was a day of great triumph for Lord Balfour of Burlcigh, and for the Union movement of, which he is the lender. Last year the report was submitted by Dr. Norman Macleod—"clarum e f venerable nomen"— and tho memory of him was tender in many « heart, recalling his beautiful presence and his tender pleading for unity. God buries the workmen, but carries on tho work. The spirit in which Lord Bnlfour submitted the report was (hat of a man. deeply in earnest—a man who is greatly concerned for the glory of Christianity and the good of his countrymen. It was the' speech of a Christian statesman. He showed how this movement liad its roots in tho past, and how at last abstract questions.had to give place to a practical policy. Thcactionof the Committee inprintirtg and publisliingthelfomornnduin had been justified by results. Union was to bo achieved by the way of spiritual freedom, and the national recne;nition of religion. "Tho Church shall 'be as national as we can make it, and as tolerant as that is possible," lie declared, amid loud applause. One point which greatly amused the Assembly was an illustration of tho fact that there are no differences of doctrine between the two negotiating Churches'.' - ' There nre differences between individuals in each Church. "For example," exclaimed Lord Balfonr, "were Professor Cooper and Mr. Benjamin Martin living at the time of the Council of Nicaea. they would be competing n= to which of them would second Athanasius." At winch,'• Dr. Cooper twirled bis skull cap, and wreithcd his face in smiles. Lord Halfour closed a noble speech with a noble appeal to the Churches to bury the dead past, and to gird themselves to the task r.f how to find a way of Union which would not involve an injustice ,to honest men. For thirty-nine years Lord Balfour Iras been a member of Assembly; thirty-SBven years have passed since ho took the first step towards Union. Tuesday (May 28) was a crown to his work.

, ~ A Great Orator. The Assembly is looking at preseilt for a leader: to.take. the. place of Dr. Mnclobd. There is'no need for tho Assembly .to search, for the leader is there'. Dr. Wallace Williamson, who seconded the'deliverance, has already a strong .hold on the affections of the Church, and that hold he greatly strengthened by a powerful speech. Dr. Williamson is the orator of the General Assembly. He has also the oratorical gifts—a Voice of prea,t resonance that vibrates to every breath of feeling , , deep emotion, and a cift of inv-agination-that enables him t(i-utter his thoughts and feelings in living words. "God overrules divisions-for good; but divisions are not good," he exclaimed. He showed how Scotland could not. go on ns it was doing, and "Scotland will not allow us to go on as we are." He showed that there were for the Church two , policies only—Conciliation for the sake of peace, .■Hid comprehension for the sake;of truth. He showed' how Union would mean the reestablisluncnt of the, territorial principle Fo dear to Chalmers, and how it would thus meet the needs of the country. The Assembly had then reached the height of enthusiasm. The passages were blocked with ' men .standing far up the hall.' But another atmosphere invaded the hall when Mr. M'Callum—shaggy, grey, rotund, waving his arms, and crying out now and then like the seabirds along Loch -Etive—moved a harmless motion. But Professor Cooper interested the Assembly far more when ltf spoke to his minority report. Dr. Cooper is a figure that appeals to the imagination. Ho turns the whites of his eyes to heaven; lie twists liis skull cap; when Lord Bali'our interrupts him he shuts his oyes. ami peers at the interrupted through the closed lashes, his face suggestive, of tho'meekness of the early martyrs. Rut the Assembly watches the man—lmt does, not listen. • In the end all the amendments were withdrawn, and the report of the Committee was adopted, amid a, scene of great enthusiasm.

UNITED FREE CHURCH. ■ Tlie,spirit of great earnestness and solemnity in which the Churches are addressing themselves to Hk> question of union was very marked in the United Free Assembly. The type,of Hie ancient f'ovonnnters is more noticeable on the Hound than in the Volbooth. It was with earnest piety that the fathers.and brethren sang, "Be-liold how good a thine it is . . '. . in unity to dwell." Dr. Young addressed the House in a manner worthy of the. highest traditions of Seottis'h Prps> bvterianism. The qurstion before the House was not the approval of the Meniorandum, hut the approval of the step taken by the Church of Scotland Committee in its preparation, and the obligation which now lay on them was to Rive the Memorandum deliberate and sympathetic, examination.' The 'Memorandum required most c-nreful nnd searching examination. There, might be twenty-five or more meanings of the word ■■ "Recognition." Dr. Young gave a long exposition of the relation of the Church arid State ill Scotland from 1507 onwards. .As an indication of how tlie minds of many are working, bv.fftrj the most interesting statement made by him was a declaration that, keen, uncompromising Voluntary as he wns, he was suro they should need to leave imrenealed certain statutes, tho practical effect of which was to warn tho Tiritish King and the British Parliament that they must not ignore nr intrude upon or interfere with Scotland's exercise of the spiritual freedom gained for it by the Refarmers. Tt was in the most earnest tones flint T>r. Young n\mle this momentous de■clamtion. nnd with liis li.md solemnly milifted. This is exactly tho position of (lie Church of Scotland'—everything contrary tn the freedom of the Church to l>s repealed; everything else left unrepealed. Dr. Young, however, stumbled when he described as ridiculous caricatures the views that the Church was weak, and its work marred by rivalry and jealousy, when three or four men are doin.? the work of one. If Dr. Young read the interim reoort. with 'its grave and clear statements of lnw the work _■ of tlie Churches is hindered bv our divisions, he would realise that no description of these evils can lie scarcely a caricature.

Irish to enter Scotland—the atmosphere in which we speak of dissenters. Speaking" of tho problem of Church and State, ho declared that as a Churchman ho did not care an atom what tho State, thought of the Church; but that as a Christian cdtizen ho wanted to nee something that meant definite and practical recognition of the Church by the State. It is a re markablc fact that a layman, Buch as Sir Andrew Frasor, can raise the question ot union to the level of high spiritual issues .as no minister can. The debate after (hose two great (speeches' entered on a dreary period. Professor Orr moved ah addendum in "no spirit of hostility." Mr. Aitehison, Fnlkirk, moved another'amendment of no vital importance. It wna left for Dr. Watson, Dundee, to annul tho ancient war-cries. His phrases sounded archaic and alien to the oars. The "ignoble prestige of Established Churches wa.% one of his phrases. Dr. Watson was seconded by Mr: Walter Brawn, whose pulpit in tfdinbnrgh has been mado notorious by tho declarations of Professor J. A. Paterson uttered therein regarding the Church of Scotland Memorandum:— "I will not thus betray my Lord." Mr. Brnwn is a worthy disciple of Professor Paterson. From these -wastes the debate nus rescued by the Hev. A., N. Bogle, Dr. Wells, Dr. Forrest, and Sheriff Orr. Mr. W. D. Lowe, W.S., declared that tho spirit of the Church of Scotland proposals gave them everything they asked ; in 1843. In tho end nil tho amendments were withdrawn, save Dr. Watson's, and he received 13 votes. Thirteen has ever been an unlucky 'numbori No man: in Scotland has melded a more beneficent influence on, these negotiations than Dr. Henderson. He shares the triumph of tho Assembly's decisions with Lord Balfonr of Burleigh. If he did not intervene conspicuously in the debate, yet it is tho power, of tho man which has carried this movement bo far in tlwi United Fiee Church; find tho debates of Tuesday (May 28) and their results aro rosy with hope, for the future triumph of the movement for union.

CHURCH AND PEOPLE,

THE POSITION IN ENGLAND TO-DAY

For the second year (says'the-"West-minster Gazette") itho statistics of the various Protestant Churches in England and-Wales have been collected, hi every case the figures are official'and-specially obtained for flie "Westminster Gazette, ,, and thanks are duo to the secretaries'of the Churches and other organisations for the courtesy with which information has ;been supplied. Variations may here end there bo noted in comparison' "with information in certain Year Books,. but the aim of the. present compilation is to give only such %<ires as; relate .to England anil Wales. The reason for this limitation will be obvious to all intelligent ,observors. No attempt is made to compare the totals of the Established and the Iree Churches. For. one reason ,this; is impossible, as the Salvation Army, according to its well-known. rule, does not publish statistics of its membership, and therefore tho Free .Church/ totals would bo incomplete. More, important still, tho main object of tho compilation is-to afford Tellable data for a religious, elbcktaking rather than an acrimonious and invidious census. .The points at {issue aro (I).whether organised Christianity in Eng•land and Walos is progressing or declining; and (2) the extent to which the ordinary church, services and Sunday School teaching are appealing to our increasing population.

"A Discouraging Deduction." •'.'' 'In answering these questions, thp- statistics supply a discouraging .-deduction'.' Organised Christianity is not progressing to thosamo extent as the population. The numbers of communicants,. biinday' scholars, and teachers in , the Anglican Church again slidv an increase. But-unfortu-nately, a further shrinkage is observable in the statistics of the Free- Churches. As a eet-off to'these,facts it is argued, that the religious spirit in the- country is, in greater evidence than at any recent period in our history, as illustrated..j>y works, of social' amelioration- aiid'-by 'certain recent legislation, but that aspect of religious life is not now under discussion. ■Nouco'nformity I ,isrfailing r tp.jl;eep],3ip. l )ts numbers of pledged adherents,' who, by professon' of'faith, are admitted!!'to , the privileges and responsibilities of Church life. Many explanations are offered for this disincliuaton to' become 'members.' The Brotherhood Movetnent and the Adult Schools-so it is stated—probably enrol many men who might otherwise join one or other of tho Churches. But no reliable data at. present. exists, on this point. .'' ■ ■ ! '. Kecurring decline on the part of the larger i Free Churches—continued in tho caso of Wcsleyan Methodism for six years —has induced pessimism in' some quarters, whilst in others there is a. disposition to ignore tho lessons contained in the figures. Hecent events, however, ■ indicate a • new spirit. Especially on the part of the younger leaders in the Free Churches there is.:inanifest a. keen desire -to ■ institute an inquiry that will prove both.discriminating and' searching' into various aspects of Free Church life. Conjecture and hasty generalisation cannot" solve one of thp most difficult problems before,the I'ree Churches. ' ,■ ■ ,; ' .' , ' In addition to the Salvation Army,-it is impossible to secure statistics concerning the Plymouth Brethren aud the Unitarians. ,

Church of England. Starting first with'the Church of England, the statistics published bv the Society for Promoting .Christian Knowledge/ which are official, being collected under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, are as follow for tho last three years:— ■ ' 1908-9.' 1909-10. ■ 1010-11. Communicants 2,231,753 2,283,044 2,342,153 Sunday scholars 2,494,227 2,518,918 2,5G0,GG7 Sunday teachers 212,712 215,351 217,509 Bible, classes (males)' 345,297 352,*!41 346,981 Bible classes (females) ... 313,952 324,020 330,505 Conformations 243,457 239,543 254,283 Baptisms (in- ; flints) 501,931 575,590-589,880 Baptisms (riper years) 15,918 15,691 17,113 According to. tho methods adopted by the Anglican Church, the communicants are counted,at Easter. As compared with the previous year, an increase is shown *:. of 59,109, which is so far satisfactory. Last' year there were 254,283 confirmations, and the addition, therefore, represents roughly about 25 per cent, of the total for the' year. Even allowing for. deaths, sickness, emigration, etc., the disparity is somewhat large. According to- the 'figures slightly over a quarter-of a million persons were confirmed in the Church of, England during Inst year, whilst the increase of communicants nt the Easter communions .was less than a fourth of this large total. What is the explanation for these significant' figures? Or, to go further and examine the number of baptisms, it> is seen that on an average for toe .nasi- three years 600,000 infantsand others have' been baptised according to the rites of the Church of Eiiglahd, and yet for tho eauio period the confirmations are just above 250,000, and the increase of communicants on the previous year less than 00,000. Why this shrinkage from baptisms to confirmations, and from confirmations .to colnmunicants? ....•,.'". Much more .encouraging are the statistics of the Church of England in respect to Sunday scholars and teachers. In each department there is seen an upward tendency, which is'due*to tho increased attention now being paid by. the bishops and other lenders in tho 'Church to tho importanco of this branch of Christian agency, to tho mental or-uii>mont of the teacher,, and also ; the scientific organisation of the school cm its educational side. There are many indications that' the Anglican Church is more alivo to-day to l.ho value and necessity of the Sunday school than probably at any other.period of its history. .;.■ '.',