LIBERTY FOR CHURCH

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 900, 18 February 1930, Page 7

LIBERTY FOR CHURCH

ENGLISH CLERGYMAN’S OPINION “DISESTABLISHMENT COMING” “Personally, I think that the disestablishment of the Church of England will come in the next 25 years.” The Rev. G. S. Thorpe, M.A., rector of Lydford, the largest parish in England. made the above prediction on the Ulimaroa this morning. "The Church of England has got itself into an impasse,” he said. “It v ent to Parliament to ask permission to alter the Prayer Book, and Parliament has twice refused. but the Church new finds it impossible to carry on its spiritual work with hands tied behind its back. The result is that the Church will have to be granted greater liberty or complete disestablishment.” Mr. Thorpe continued that in his opinion disestablishment would come in 25 years. There was an increase in the number of clergymen of the Church of England who were in favour of this. If the status of the Established Presbyterian Church could not be obtained, he thought that the Church of England should be entirely free as far as its spiritual work was concerned. “One of the things which is bothering us all is that we find it impossible to carry on our spiritual work under the present bondage of the old Prayer Book.” continued Mr. Thorpe. “That w-as acknowledged by the Government Committee which went into the question in 1906. It was stated then that the old Prayer Book did not meet modern requirements—it was 300 years old.” Mr. Thorpe said that the parochial clergy were hoping, as a result of the Lambeth Conference, that they would be . * ree to concentrate on the spiritual work in their parishes without further controversy, and with as little central demands as possible on their time. Since the war there had been too much rushing to committee meetings and similar work, with, the result that the clergy had little time to visit the homes individually. “The only thing which will make the Church of England as strong as she used to be is the quiet, persistent work of the clergy in the homes of the parish,” he concluded.