The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-07-04 00:00:00

,;tottcbrtoge Obserber,

SATURDAY, JULY 4th, 1885

:TEE CHURCH AND THE PEOPLE.

'No goad Englishman—and by good English-
man,we here mean to imply the man who is
a true son of his country. joyfully owning
allegiance to the favoured land of his birth,
anal proudly hononriti4 her Constitutional
institutions—denies to the Church its mead
of reverential. respect. It may be that he
himself is personally attache i to some o eof
the many excellent -religious or moral bodies,
,which, 'each working in its own chosen
groove, zealotisly seek tc accomplish the
same grand end which the Church of Eng-
land has ever in view, the evangelisation of
Vie people, the holding ont to the masses of
the Grand Example of -right and purity.
Nevertheless, as a sympathiser with every
is-L4oeiation for the spread of truth,y our Chris-
tian of 'England of to-tiny, be he never so
strong a Dissenter in minor matters of doc-
trine, looks with affection and high regard
. to the Church' as by law established as the
leader of the faith and trust of the land,
the central ground of the country's creed,
. the type and rallying point of the love of
- right and common purity of principle which
- in the essence and spirit of this mighty na-
tion, the greatest and best the world has ever
. seen. It is England's . practical observance
. of the principles promulgated by the Church
•• thatlhaa enabled her to gain the pre-emin-
, ince she enjoys; it is her continuance in the
Up national regard of those pions tenets, -which
..
_ . a true religion teaches, that empowers her
- to maintain her position, loved and yet feared
by other States; loved by those who, with
our own land, according to- their lights, seek
to run the race of right, feared by the
peoples who yet shape their actions on a
groundwork ef error or wrong. It is because
• 'the Established Church occupies this posi-
tion in the hearts of the people, that nominal
Nonconformists, as well as those who rank
themselves as Churchmen, watch every
Movement of its leaders and guardians with
,anxious care. - Truly the great body of Eng
lishmen, in the fullest sense of the term, are
' n touch with the Church ; and the attitude
Az t
i, the Church's rulers and governors is that
a body increasingly sdesirous of keeping
and cultivating their hold on the people.
Such a condition of things augurs well for
both Church and people, and the hearts of
those above the bitterness of dogmatic differ-
ences are rejoiced to see it. This Catholic
Apirit was. well manifested by the head of
: the Church of England on Tuesday at his
.Diocesan Conference. The Primate recog-
' iiiiild iliii.adyancement of the times in some
!:-41eigh`tY words, the outcome of mature
'.. thought, and displayed in his utterances the
(-eager longing which the Church has to ac-
! mmodate itself to a world of widening
osou-
ght, without being at all sullied by the
<
"agencies it adopts. As the archbishop well
. said, the Church is not in danger—the old
cry now no longer carries fear with it; and
itit-were in danger, as lie sagely added, the
•klitli would be with the Church's leaders.
,X Church embraces in a firm and unbreak-
able grail) sections of every class of the
people. That grasp it is endeavouring to
-strengthen, seeking constantly to deepen its
hold on the consciences of the Men, women,
and children of England by putting forth
with renewed vigour efforts to raise the na-
tional moral level, and by striving to still
*Sand loremost to assert the laws of temper-
ance, purity, and manliness. All this, too,
in no spirit of opposition to other Christian
. denominations • ardent only to be first for
right', sake. ' No factious antagonism is ex-
hibited' by true -ad.herents of Episcopalianism
Jo their Dissenting brethren; and happily
one is on the other hand displayed by those
actuated by motives of real religion who yet,
from various causes, are found congregating
without the walls of the State Church. This
18 really a grand and far-reaching Evangeli-
cal Alliance. The staunchest supporters of
the Church do not presume to claim for it
perfection' ; and those who would hinder or
I' p,)ose reform in its action because well-con-
sideredimprovements would add to the Es-
titblished faith advantages over other organ-
isations. with the seine ends in view are cer-
fainly enemies of the common cause. You
lianiaut possibly increase to too great an ex-
tent a power for good. The Archbishop of
Canterbury again hit the mark . when he
isverred•that we are living in the committee
period. This is, indeed, the epoch in which
men are wont to take counsel together.
There is needed a house of laymen to con-
sult with Convocation on matters concern-
ing the welfare of the Church, and on sub-
jects requiring legislation. Those who
mingle day by day with the world, and have
the' interests of religion and morality at
heart, have qualified in the school of experi-
*nee for aiding the deliberations of the clergy
tasters and people may work with advant-
See together in formulating plans for the
Material as well as spiritual welfare of the
masses' . each and all of whom are parish-
ioners of the universal parish to which the
Church has accepted a ministry. The Chuch
Istil4 doubtless, be 'wised; it need not there-
* become more worldly. The bodily wants
a men must have attention, morality must
be fostered, virtue encouraged where vice
reigned rampant, squalor combated, all this
preparatory work carried on wisely and with
unwearying diligence ere the Good Seed
comes to be sown. • Such a programme has
not in the past been disregarded; in the
future, aa the Primate in his plea for fuller
and stronger lay assistance foreshadows,
means of-this material character will be more
energetically ar d zealously employed. So
the popularity of the Church will surely ex-
tend, and there will be less of the stony
ground for the clergy to lament and fear.
And every argument which is good in the
direction of -advancing The interests of the
Church of England holds with equal force
for digestion by the friends and workers of
other Chiistain denominations. Indeed, the
concentration of effort on the common work
of Evangel:sation would leave no time for
the discussion of differences in the articles of
belief, and tend to overthrow the low and
unsightly wills which separate sections of
the true and Catholic Church. and hasten on
the time when *e_shall cease to be styled
Episcopalians and Methodists, Baptists, Con-
gregationalists, Friends, and what not, and
all seek to stand' under the broad banner of
Christianity. .