The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-01-06 00:00:00

CHURCH REFORMS.

The Bishop of Carlisle Dr. Harvey Goodwin) has Wined a
Pastoral Letter to the clergy of his diocese, giving a history
of the work oi the accent year of his episcopate, and describ-
ing and commenting upon recent acts of ecclesiastical legis-
lation. With regard to the future, Dr. Goodwin says :
" I believe it almost certain that legislation will be
attempted upon several subjects affecting the Church
in the approaching Session of Parliament. It is Iwo-
liable that, with approbation of the Convocations
of Canterbury and York, an effort will be made to
give legislative sanction to some or all of the re-
commendations contained in the fourth and final
report of the Ritual Commissioners. Some of those
recommendations are of comparatively small import-
ance, but ethers are of a very different character.
The subject is under careful consideration by a
Committee of Convocation in both Provinces, and
I th4nk we may safely trnst that nothing will be
done without the most complete ecclesiastical sanc-
tion. Possibly an attempt may be made to give the
Cathedrals the power of altering and amending their
statutes. If this be done wisely, it will be very much
for the benefit of the Church. As one who has been
intimately connected with the Cathedral system I
have long felt that the position of the capitelar bodies
is a very unfair one ; they ale tied by old Statutes and
modern Acts of Parliament, which they cannot
change, and they have no power of adapting their
regulations to the wants of the time or to the peculiar
circumstances of their particular cathedraL The
result has been that the Cathedrals have been a source
of weakness rather than strength to the Church.
This is much to be lamented, andl shall welcome any
well-considered charge which will put them upon a
better footing. The question of clergy discipline—
in other words, the reform of our Ecclesiastical Courts
—is certain to be introduced early in the Session, and
may, perhaps, be settled. Then there are the Paro-
chial Councils Bill, the Private Chapel Bill, and the
Burials Bill—perhaps others--so that the number of
ecclesiastical questions likely to come forward is not
small. May tied grant that nothing be done which
shall be contrary to the interests of true religion ! I
feel strongly that with regard to the whole question
of ecclesiastical legislation we have, tinder God, the
matter in our own hands ; if the clergy and laity of
the Church of England be only united In their views,
reasonable in their demands, and steady in their co-
operation with each other, it is quite impossible that
any obnoxious measure can be made law. This is
one reason why I am so anxious that our Diocesan
organisation should be complete and harmonious; if,
as I suggested at the last meeting of our Conference,
each diocese had its conference, and the Archbishop of
each province had the means of submitting any im-
portant Church question to the whole of his province
through the several conferences, and no gathering up
the views of Churchmen upon any proposed scheme
affecting the Church. it seems to me that aggression
would be rendered difficult, if not impossible. It is
unpleasant to have even to speak of aggression, and it
would be much more satisfactory to be able to regard
the Church as militant only with respect to those
spiritual enemies—sin, worldliness, unbelief, and the
like—to which everythii.g that is good must be in a
condition of permanent hostility. But the active steps
which are being taken for the express purpose of
destroying the present position of the Church of Eng-
land make it imperative upon those who regard that
positicn as a source of blessing to the country, to do
their best to maintain it--hence we are compelled to
have 'Church Defence' societies, and our condition is
something like that rd those Jews who re-built the
walls of Jerusalem, having a teal in one hand and a
weapon in the other."