The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-03-13 00:00:00

THE BISHOPS AND THE CLERGY.

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The following very important Declaration has been issued
by the two Archbishops and twenty-four of the English
Bishops : •
- "Lambeth Palace, March 1.
"We the undersigned Archbishops and Bishops of
the Church of England, under a deep sense of the
duty that rests upon us of endeavouring to guide those
committed to our pastoral charge, desire to address
some words of counsel and exhortation to the clergy and
laity of our dioceses in the grave circumstances of
the present time.
"We acknowledge, humbly and thankfully, the
mercies vouchsafed by Almighty God to the Church
of England. By His blessing on the labours of
the clergy and laity, our Church has of late been
enabled in a marvellous manner to promote His
glory and to advance His kingdom, both at home
and abroad. If we judge by external signs—the
churches built, restored, and endowed during the
last 40 years; the, new parishes formed in that time,
especially in our great towns and cities; the vast sums
of money voluntarily contributed for the promotion
of religious education ; the extension of the Church
in the Colonies and in foreign countries, including the
foundation of more than b 0 new Sees ; the great in-
crease in the number of persons of all classes who by
prayers and labour assist in the work of converting
souls to Christ—all bear witness to the zeal and
earnestness of the clergy and laity of the English
Church, an earnestness and zeal which we rejoice to
know is by no means confined to any section or party.
.We may humbly trust that the inward work of the
"Holy Spirit of God in the hearts of men—a work
which he alone can measure—has been great in pro-
portion to these outward efforts.
"While, however, we thankfully recognise these
abundant mercies and blessings, we cannot but
aeknowledge with sorrow that serious evils disturb
the peace of the Church and hinder its work.
"One of these evils is the interruption of the syrre
pathy and mutual confidence which ought to exist be-
tween the clergy and laity. Changes in the mode of
performing Divine service, in themselves sometimes of
small importance, introduced without authority and
often without due regard to the feelings of parishioners,
have excited apprehensions that greater changes are to
follow; distrust has been engendered, and the edifica-
tion which ought to result from united worship has
been impeded. The suspicions thus aroused, often, no
doubt, unreasonable, have in some cases produced
serious alienation.

"The refusal to obey legitimate authority is another
evil in the Church at the present time. Not only has
it frequently occurred that clergymen fail to render to
episcopal authority that submission which is involved
in the idea of episcopacy, but obedience has been
avowedly refused to the highest judicial interpreta-
tions of the law of this Church and Realm. Even the
authority which our Church claims, as inherent in
every particular or national Church, to ordain and
change rites and ceremonfes has been questioned and
denied.
"We also observe with increasing anxiety and
alarm the dissemination of doctrines and encourage-
ment of practices repugnant to the teaching of Holy
Scripture and to the principles of the Church, as de-
rived from Apostolic times and as authoritatively set
forth at the Reformation. More especially we call
serious attention to the multiplication and the assi-
citrons circulation among the young and susceptible
of manuals of doctrine and private devotion, of which
it is not ,too much to say that many of the doctrines
and practices they inculcate are wholly incompatible
w,ith the teaching and principles of our Reformed
Church.
"Further, we feel it our duty to call attention to
the growing tendency to associate doctrinal significance
with rites and ceremonies which do not necessarily
involve it. For example, the position to be occupied
by the minister during the Prayer of Consecration in
tne Holy Communion, though it has varied in different
ages and different countries, and has never been
formally declared by the Church to have any doctrinal
significance, is now regarded by many persons of very
opposite Opinions as a symbol of distinctive doctrine,
and, as such, has become the subject of embittered
controversy.
"We would seriously remind our brethren of the
clergy Of the solemn obligation which binds us all to
be ready to yield a willing obedience to the law of the
Church of England, of which we are ordained minis-
ters, and to recognize the necessity of submitting our
own interpretations of any points in that law which
may be considered doubtful to the judicial decisions of
lawfully constituted Courts. We, the clergy, are bound
by every consideration to obey the law when thus-
clearly interpreted ' • and to decline to obey when.
called upon by lawful authority, is to set an
example that cannot fail to be most injurious.n!
in its influence and effects. We are convinced.,
that the number of those who would refuse
such reasonable obedience is small, and that the
vast majority of the clergy and laity of the Church of
England are thoroughly loyal to its doctri and disci-
pline. We fully re th

and
e
ne anu -
y co,gmze .e difference between
unity and an overstrained uniformity, and are well
aware that our Church is rightly tolerant of diversity,
within certain limits, both in opinions and practices.
Ve would not narrow in the least this wise compre-
nsiveneSs ; but liberty must not degenerate into
;ence and self-will; as fundamental truths must not
a explained away, so neither must those clear lines
ie obliterated which separate the doctrines and prac-
dces of our Reformed Church from the novelties and
corruptions of the,Church of Rome. _
' ," We live man age which prides itself on fititiefti
of thought and emancipation from the control of
authority. In every portion of Christendom men are
inore disposed . than ever to run into extremes of
'Opinion and practice. While, on the one Mild, ftmda-
,mental -truths Are increasingly neglected Or 'denied,
'Vain: attempts, on the . other, are.. maeleoin.' many
quarters
,41,„ialeet this infidelity by ;-the. revival; Of,
811peistitigu2s, -
~ . -. ..
'Undirthese grave circumstances,' we , solemnly
charge you all, brethren beloved in the Lord; to culti-
vate a spirit of charity and mutual forbearance, laying
aside dissension and disputes which must islie not in
the victory of one Party over another, bu in' the
triumih of the enemies of the Church and," itideed, of
those who are enemies to the faith of Christ. We:
'ekhort the clergy not to disquiet their nongrega- ,
thins by novel practices and -unauthorised cere-•
monies, aud to discountenance, those who seek to in-
troduCe them. We entreat the laity not to give way.
to •sgspinions in regard of honest efforts to !omote
the more reverent worship of Almighty God i loyal
conformity with the. rules of the Book or/ Allmon
Prayer. Surely this is not a time . for e. ;•ement
but rather for drawing closer together ti bonds'
between the clergy and their ,parithiuners, when vice,.:
ignorance, infidelity, and intempefance are calling for)
united prayer and united effort on the part of nli•who-
hold the faith of Christ crucified and love and serve .
Him as their ,Common 1,9rd,5,1,/ a)1 I ,
"Let us all then;'hoth clergy and laity,_ be faithful
to the 'doctrine arid discipline of our Church, founded
as they are on Holy Scriptures i ccordano with
the tea Ching, and. practiceid p 'r '..itive Church. ,
We entreat all whom ou dB .. : y reach t 4 strive
together with us in prayer to Almighty God, that as ,
there is but one Body and one Spirit, and one lope of
ling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptis :steel
and Father of us all, so we may beneefort 'be sillof one heart and of one soul, unitedirl one holy bond m
of truth and peace, of faith and charity, an ay
with one mind and one mouth glorify 'God, tlirsg&i..
Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
• ..7.
"A. C. CANTAIJR, "W; C. TETERBORO CFA,'"
"W. EBOR, "0. LINOOLN, '
IV.L.riDIcILqN, "ARTHUR C. BAT-
‘-E. Ef.- W INTON, • WELLS,
A. LANDAFF, "F. ExoN,
R. REPoN, "HARVEY CARLISL
J,OHN T. NORWICH, "J. F. Oxox,
J. C. BANGOR, . "J. MANCHESTER,
H. WORCESTER, "R. CICESTER,
eh_ Tw.GLOCESTER AND "J. Sr. ASAPH,
BRISTOL, "J. R. ELY,
WILLIAM CHESTER, "W. BASIL ST. DA
T. L. ROFFEN • " HORACE SODOR
G. A. LICHFIELD,
J. HEREFORD,

PS,
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