The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-10-23 00:00:00

The BISHOP of ELY on CHURCH WORK.

The second visitation of his diocese by the Right
Reverend the Bishop of Ely commenced on Tuesday
at Great St. Marl; Church, Cambridge, with the
celebration of the Communion Service by the Eish
There was a large assembly of the clergy and laity.
After the Nicene Creed, the names of the clergy were
nailed for the deaneries within the Cambridge centre,
and the his lordship praceeded to deliver his charge.
Afti r disposing of matters of mere local interest his
lordship said
It might he thought that tue greater conferences had only
talked, but they had brought men of all minds together, and
had made a beginning at least for better organization, in
which the English Church was so markedly deficient. This
nrgazatstion should he carried out not only in the diocese, in
the seinlegeonries, in the rural deaneries, but especially in
the various periz.;.es. Nothing would give such strength and
iffiluence to the paitor as if he was to gather all
the earnest and pious elearehrnen round him, work
with them, and set them to work. A Church which works
by its clergy alone is scarcely a Chtuath at all. The
clergy hitherto have themselves worked and given, hot
they have not taught the laity to work and give. The Ely
conference led to speaking of the Lambeth conference, in
whieb there was one undivided ft cling, as there was one un-
broken utterance for the true Christian Catholic faith, and
against all attempts to water it down by rationalism, or
to render it turbid by nitramontaine novelties. The pre-
sent year will be famous for the disestablishment of the
Irish Church, and the 5004m003 of a council at Rome
by the Pope, claiming a right to cita all Christendom by
his supreme authority. I have detained you (said his
mashie; no long upon local details, that I coast re-
serve the consideration of these more general question;
for other centres of the diocese. It is my intention then to
speak of the Irish Church, and the effects it may have
on the English Church, on the blessings of a national ac-
knowledgment of the Christian faith, and maintenance of
the Church, and on the need of union and deci•ion, if we
mean to retain these blessings ourselves. I propose
to consider the question, Can we attend the Council
at Rome r —to enter bite soma of the threatening
dangers from scepticism at home and abroad—to speak of
the yearnings of many hears for union among f•!iristians
—either on a new hrsis altogether, or by submission to the
Roman Patriarch and re-abswption in the Western Church.
You will perhaps anticipate that however earnestly union
into he desired, aimed at, and played for, I can only conclude
that these solutions of our difficulties are not likely to he
successful, or to lead to lasting peace. Must we, then, en-
trench ourselves in our isolation? Heaven forbid! We may
be unable to go over at once to the C mtinental Churches, or
to unite ourselves to dissenting bodies. But we have the
advantage of standing midway between them, and may he the
means, under God, of one day uniting them. We are both
Catholic and Evangelic, and if we will be patient we may do
much. Impatience is a great danger. No sound and lasting
work is done hastily. But though we must wait we
must work. There is a great work field among our poor
who are sadly alienated, not only from the Church but
front all religion. We must throw ourselves fully and
boldly among them—open our churches to them, adapt
our sermons and services to them. Intemperance is
a monster evil with them and our disunion puzzles,
distracts, and so alienates them altogether. With re-
gard to Dissenters we must not sacrifice truth, we should
,do all we can to win them, acknowledging our
own faults rather than pressing theirs. If we look
hack at the primitive Church, which was the great guide
in our own Reformation, we shall find there a stronghold of