PROTESTANT CHURCHES

Hokitika Guardian, 19 November 1929, Page 2

PROTESTANT CHURCHES

STRONG PLEA FOR UNION. “My conviction is that the time has arrived when a combined committee of the Anglican Presbyterian, Congregational and Methodist Churches should lie set up to frankly face the present impediments to union and explore the road by which a cultivated communion and co-operation may load in the direction of ultimate unity.”

This declaration was made by the Rev. U.. D. I’atchett. chairman, when ad dress in? the Wellington district synod of the Methodist. Church. “Beneath the surface of Church life to-day there is a strong undercurrent of conviction in favour of a closer hood of union, between the churches,” said Mr Patchett. “This conviction is particularly strong among the v lunger generation. Those who have come into the Cli'-rcli since the war are more alive to the folly and futility of a divided Church than their fathers wore.

PRESSURE FROM .WITHIN “For many years a number of the churches in this lmnd have been marching along, converging lines. They Irve been gradually drawing nearer to cue another in both spirit and. pr-cticc, so that corporate union miiy be regarded as sooner or later both natural and inevitable. The vital cpicstion is what should be the response of church leaders to this pressure from within. Should they be content to leave so important an issue in the lap of the future, or should thev rise no to greet it and seek to guide it into wise channels'?

“We believe that it is a Christian duty to foster and develop .tile idea and ideal of unity on everv side. There are indications that the time for a timorous policy is past. The religious journals of Great Britain are full of -a frank .and -fearless dis r mission on this question in all .its bearings. The road to ,a larger unity lies been solidly -nhved by the unions which have already been effected. Donominationalism of the old intolerant type is dead, and it is time its legacy. to the world was decently buried.

THE ANGLICAN POLICY. “The approach of , another Lambeth conference, which will meet in the clearer light which the .previous discussions have shed upon this subject, leads us t<v hope, that some, definite policy of approach "From, the Anglican side may be evolved. - As. far as, this Dominion is concerned, it does not seem an idle dream that a far larger Church union than has yet.been accomplished should be within the compass of Christian statesmanship. We do not look for a dramatic overthrow of the walls of divisions, but wo do believe that, those walls are capable of being breached at many points.

“Intercommunion between clergy of the Anglican Church and the ministers of other churches is a common practice in some centres both here and of pulpits has also been occasionally arranged. Surely it is along the lines of an official sanction to such practical demonstrations of oneness that all progress towards union can best be made. Ignorance of one another has been one of the chief causes of continued separation. The broadcast of church services is, therfore, an important factor in breaking down old prejudices.

DIFFERENCES ‘‘LARGELY

ILLUSORY.”

“What a saving Church union would effect in men and money. Hon efficient a united Church could be in overtaking such pressing problems as the religions (education of the young, the carrying of the ministrations of the Church to sparsely, settled districts, and the development of a more worthy and comprehensive missionary programme which "the open door in many lands demands. What noble witness for Christ such a union would present to this modern world. “After all, the thing's which divide the churches to-day are largely illusory, Take one instance. For long centuries the churches have been divided upon the question of the apostolic sanction for their special form of Church order. Was the Apostolic Church of an episcopalian or presbyterian or independent form?’’