CLERGYMAN BANNED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 880, 25 January 1930, Page 6

CLERGYMAN BANNED

THE REV. C. W. CHANDLER SYDNEY PRIMATE’S ACTION According to advice received from Sydney an ecclesiastical ban has been placed upon the Rev. C. W. Chandler, formerly assistant Anglican City Missioner in Auckland. Before leaving for Sydney Mr. Chandler offered his services to the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Wright. Archbishop Wright replied, in effect, that if Mr. Chandler had a good job in the Dominion he would be wise to “stick to it.” Mr. Chandler pointed nut that he was not seeking a “good” job, but a useful one. He was willing to take over the “slummiest” of slum parishes, and he asked no guaranteed stipend. All he asked was an opportunity to pursue his social service crusade. When Mr. Chandler returned to Sydcey he bore letters from the Primate

of New Zealand, Mr. W. J. Jordan, M.P., and others testifying to the good work he had performed during his stay in Auckland. Mr. Chandler renewed his application to Archbishop Wright, and he has now received a letter the purport of which is that Mr. Chandler is deprived of his official status as Anglican clergyman in Sydney. This is understood to mean that Mr. Chandler may not perform marriages, administer communion or perform the other offices of an Anglican clergyman. CAUSE OF BAN Mr. Chandler is convinced, says the “Labour Daily,” that his visit to the coalfields —where his address to the miners, by the way, was misrepresented by a section of the Press—is the cause of the ban being placed upon him. If this view is correct, then the action of the Archbishop is an amazing commentary on the attitude of the Church toward a burning social question. Mr. Chandler’s expressed opinions do not identify his church with one side or other of the coal argument; but the action of Archbishop Wright unmistakably places that prelate in the light of a partisan on the side of the coal owners, is the opinion of Sydney people. But Mr. Chandler is not dismayed. He intends to pursue his social service crusade and his Sunday night addresses at the Rialto Theatre will continue. •