CHURCH AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2884, 23 September 1916, Page 6

CHURCH AND WAR

SERBIAN MEMORIAL SERVICE. ' THE PATHOS OF WAR, A memorial service for the British and Serbian soldiers, doctors, and nurses who had fallen in defence ot their country, was held.in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, on July 7. j Before the commemoration of tho dead came a welcome to the living; before the "praise of famous men," greeting to the children who are now tho hope of Serbia) the seed of her race. In the dim light of the crypt one saw sonic three hundred striplings and boys (the flotsam and jetsam* ot war, mostly orphans, all oxiled and friendless) drawn up in close ranks betwoon the pillars. To- the onlooker tho quiet endurance of thoso young faces, tho still unchildlike patience, the heads bent (in some cases drooping) forward under an unseen load— all these were pitifully suggestive. The sturdy Scouts, of the Lord Mayor's Own, who were grouped on tne other side, and were to act as escort later in the day, gavo by contrast a totally different impression of unspoilt young life and development under happy conditions. 'But with all this poignancy of contrast one can yet upon those very indications of tenacity and endurance, upon tho unconquered hope (through six centuries born and reborn), which Serbian memory has wrested from defßat, oven upon that boyish alljsne«\ for work and play with ]Dnglish youth, build a new and bappier Serbia. The Archbishop's welcome to these boys was clause by clause'into.tho musical Serbian tongue, so that ail could follow, it closoiy. " It was a simple, direct welcome to tho great Christian Church in the heart of England, full of a fatherly kindnosß, which could not have failed to penetrate the medium of translation. The service which followed was on lines which are becoming sadly familiar to us, hut had marked characteristics of its own. The (Archbishop's opening address lifted the'congregation in such r, way into the gigantic area of race that the service became at onco an expression of national, and notOnercly individual, grief, sympathy, aspiration j England and Serbia, and more than they, prayed together.. . It was' Engi land, an'd Serbia, Russia and France— and hot alone men-of this day and gen&ration—who sang the Contakion of fie Departed, "Thou only are immortal, 'the Creator and Maker of man ,• but we are mortal, formed ol the earth, and unto earth shall wo return " But' to some the crowning movement of that strange service came when—-at it appeared to the congregation spontaneously—after theorganhad 'ceased playing the voices of the men and boys of young 'Serbia, took up tho plaintive, half-savage air and sang, unaccompanied, seyeral verses of their national song. As it died away, the English took up their own—hearty, robust, stirring, and unimaginative. And the.echoes met and blended under the dom* of St. Paul's.Y.M.C.A. AND THE CHURCH. INVIDIOUS COMPARISONS DEPRECATED. Mr. A. K. Yapp, general secretary of the British Y.M.C.A., has made an official reference to certain controversial statements comparing the work of. the churches with that of the Y.M.C.A. "The Association,"-he says, "has hot the slightest sympathy with those who say the'churches have failed to grasp tho spiritual opportunity brought by the war, and that the Y.M.C.A. has seiced it. The.success-of the Y.M.O.A. is in itself tho success of the church. The money which has enabled- -it- to carry out its greats programme, of. work amongst the men of the Army and Navy.'has been, in the "main supplied by church members. Its leaders are loyal to their churches, and its opportunity is the opportunity of the church. Chaplains and clergy and • ministers of every creed have-thrown themselves heart and soul into the work of the Y.M.C.A. . . V There are bound to be difficulties ahead,of us, and the causes of friction are not likely to be few, but our position as an Association is'clear—we| must stick'to our own job, avoid overlapping, and ever keep before ' us' certain main facts that should, guide our actions. The .chap? lains must by courtesy, bo given, the right of way in.our huts.' We must let them see that we welcome their co-operation, and that we are ready to help them in every way we can. The wise and tactful secretary can : often enlist the help of a chaplain as a fellow-worker for_ the T.M.C.A.. We must avoid clashing with the work of chaplains and ministers, and see that our work is administered on truly interdenominational 'lines. Mr. W. H. Shipley in a letter to the -"Christian" World states:t-As a worker of the Y.M.C.A.'. at the.;front, may I be, permitted to-say that, .while recognising the magnificent enterprise and high ideal with which the Y.M.C.A. rose to the occasion and seized the unique opportunity, vnt, I am sure the general secretary would' agree that the, work, could not\ have been done without the assistance of men who, in a very special way, represent tho Church of Christ., I have had the privilege of meeting. some, fifty voluntary workers out here at the base and at the'front, and of these thirty are ministers: I do not know .what theothers are; some I know to, be theological students, and others active church workers'; but Ido know that at least thirty are men released by- their churches at some real sacrifice to serve v the men at the front. My knowledge.of the staff is confined to the Inßt two months, but I suggest | that if, this proportion of ministers is maintained there is no need to lament that the Y.M.C.A. is doing the work of the church—srfirie might' even say the boot is-on the other I prefer to think it is a sensible and useful co-operation.-A GALLANT LIEUTENANT. A private.who.was at. his side hasdescribed how gallantly Lieutenant (Acting Captain) S. M. Bickersteth, West Yorkshire Regiment, -fifth son of the Vicar of Leeds, fell in action on July 1. "Every officer of the regiment was killed, wounded; or missing, but all that was left of the splendid battalion hung ,on to the line. It was a glorious day, the sun shining, and as each successive wave of-men was sent over Lieutenant Bickersteth was walking up and down with a cheery word for them all. They knew well enough what they weje going out to, but no one wavered. When tiie time came for Lieutenant Bickorgo himself, 'Come oil, lads,' he cried, and, responding to his heroic cheerfulness, the last nian leapt out of the. trench. Later on'the private, being wounded, crawled . to Lieutenant Bickorstoth's sido for permission to return, who, in the midst of the fire, wrote him out a -chit and signed it. Immediately afterwards a shrapnel, struck him in tho back of the head, and a second- later another -bullet passed through his head, killing him instantly." THE JOY OF A GREAT CAUSE. Lieutenant Henry Whitaker Coombs, Northumberland Fusiliers, .who died of wounds near Albert on Sunday, July 2, concludes his last letter, written on June 30, just before the great advance, as follows:—"C am awfully happy. There is freedom,in this life how that it reaches the culminating point. Thero'll be times of mortal fear,' I doubt not, and Horror. But bolow( all this there is the joy of a groat cause, tho honour of the conflict, the gladness of comradeship, and the nearness of God." Lieut. Coombs was tho only son of the Rev;-A. H. Coombs, an English Baptist minister. -