NEW CHURCH IDEAS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19996, 13 January 1927, Page 6

NEW CHURCH IDEAS.

A RECTOR BUTS A BUS. TAKING PEOPLE TO SERVICE A PENNY FARE EACH WAY. Two remarkable innovations in church life were witnessed on a recent Sunday, one in the heart of the West End of London, the other in an isolated and wideflung East Anglican parish. A Norfolk rector has purchased an omnibus, in which he fetches his flock to church, and, when service is over, takes them home again, not stopping to change out of his cassock. A penny a head each way is his tariff. At the Wesleyan Church, in Manchester square, the pastor gave his congregation a chance to "get tneir own bacK, and answered from the pulpit the questions his listeners, at his invitation, put to him. "Who is going to churen on the parson’s bus? A penny all the way.” One hears the slogan in the scattered hamlet of, this lone Norfolk corner, where a virile young Cambridge man, the Rev. H. W. Benson, is, in the language of Crockford, “Rector of Brettenham, with Rushford and Shadwell."

A Daily Chronicle correspondent writes: Mr Benson’s bus came into operation, ns it were, on Guy Fawko’s Day. 1 have been in it; in fact, I helped to push it from its grassy ruts on to the firm road, and I saw with enthusiasm, that it was a beau tiful bus. When it arrived at Rushford, the entire population turned out and cheered. Small wonder, tor it is sky-blue, with nice springy seats for 16, and christened "The Rover.” It is a Ford bui looks heaps better than a Ford. Also it is a blessing, inasmuch as it is practically the one link with civilisation as the worci civilisation is here understood. “WHAT A JOLLY BUS-LOAD.”

“To-night 1 attended service in Mr Benson’s church, at Brettenham, and then, with practically half the congregation, was driven by the rector along the moonlit roads. What a jolly bus-load we made. Londoners herded miserably and suspiciously in their red buses should have seen us and heard us as the rector, still in cassock, guided us over loaf-carpeted roads to our very doors. “Now and then we stopped at a thatch roofed home or at the crossroads, and one or two would leave us, beaming geniality and greeting that is alien to. London busrides.

“Mr Benson’s bus is merely one of his ideas for breaking down the barriers of village isolation. Ho got it on November 1, and used it on November 5 to the delight of this part of the country. He literally drives his people to church, and they love it. He has enrolled three volunteer drivers to help him, and the bus, on Saturdays particularly, fills what is popularly known as ‘a long-felt want.’ “No longer do women of Rushford and Brettenham stumble four milps each way to do their shopping, and get back home heavy-laden, tired, and often wet through. The parson’s bus, 4d to Thetford and 4d back, has saved eight or nine miles of irksome foot plodding. Mr Benson has been here 18 months. He came from Sydenham, where life is a little brisker, and he is hoping much of ‘Brettenham with Rushford and Shadwell.’ MR BENSON TELLS THE STORY.

“People roared with laughter when I said I meant to buy a bus,” said Mr Benson, “but it has proved a really bright idea. In these scattered parts it is not easy for folks to get to church. But now, when I preach at Rushford, the Brettenham people come, and when I am at Brettenham, the Rushfordians join in. I make them pay—a penny each way—for I think it is good for people to pay. If they want a bus for any outings, such as whist drives in other villages, it is theirs for about two-thirds of the standard price. “We have no village life here worth speaking of, and the bus has brought a new point of view. We are in touch with things now. To help people with their Christmas shopping I am driving the bus to Norwicn in the second week in December, and to Bury St. Edmonds next week. This bus is helping to smash up what Norfolk is strong in—the isolation of their villages. People are beginning to move more freely among the people of other villages.” QUESTIONS TO THE PULPIT.

Something novel in church service was successfully tried at 'the Hinde Street Wesleyan. Church, Manchester square, when the Rev. A. Gordon James dispensed with a sermon, and in place of it invited members of his congregation to an open debate and conference on problems of the Christian religion. “If you are in doubt or difficulty, or honestly believe that the Church is mistaken or insincere, come and state your case. You will be treated with courtesy and respect,” was the printed invitation he extended. Elaborating the idea in a few remarks from the pulpit, Mr James said: “I want to ask you to talk to me instead of listening to me talking to -you. One disadvantage about being too outspoken from the pulpit is that it is not fair to the hearers to slate them thoroughly when they have no chance of replying. This experiment is the opportunity for the other side,” a remark that set the whole congregation smiling. Members readily accepted the invitation to ask questions and give their opinions about the shortcomings of religion, and finally the closure had to be applied. Young men and middle-aged women were the most persistent questioners, while girls and young women were completely silent or sent in written questions. There was a dramatic moment when one women fervently declared that this intimate form of service had brought Christ nearer to her than ever before.