The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-03 00:00:00

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2712 cirrazok coNGB.ESS.;

At the meeting of the Congress on Thursday the )dM of
Chester read a paper on Lay Agency in the Church, in
which he set forth very poweifully the arguments in favour
of lay work. Especially were women wanted to help on the
labours of the Church. " Without attempting to define pre-
cisely what is lay pork and what is clerical work, he might
say that they wanted the services of men, on the one
hand, who were less exactly clerical; and of women, on
the other hand, who were more nearly clerical. At present
woman, however useful she might be, was only a volunteer,
without any ecclesiastical sanction. If they could bring the
former class one step onwards, so as to include it within the
ordinary life of laymen, and bring the other class one step
in the other direction—towards the verge of the clerical
office—then he believed they should begin to have some.
thing like what the primitive Church had, and what is
urgently required again in our day.—Mr. Parry, who fol-
lowed, advocated the formation of "communities" composed
of both sexes ; but his remarks were received with disap-
yroval by the body of the meeting. So strongly was their
dissent evinced that the Archbishop had once again to
remind them that "No, no," was a sufficient expres-
sion of their dislike of what the speaker said.—.
Dr. Atkins strongly condemned "unorganised" lay works
and thought the sooner it was supervised the better.—The•
Rev. Dr. Reichel contenc.ed for the establishment of the pri-
mitive diaconate as the best means of organising. The office
of deacon in the primitive church was much more of a lay
office than ours is; in consequence of which it admitted
of being conferred on women as well as men—being
a most important difference; and it was a permanent,
a real, and substantive office, instead of being, as the dia-
conato is with us, a mere step or passport to a higher office.
If the old office were re-established we should get the central
authority by which lay work might be established and
arranged. The female diaconate he especially urged should
be revived. "If, he exclaimed, our people saw in every larger
church numerous deacons waiting on the priest, in order to
assist him reverently according to primitive usage at the
Sacrament, by giving to each communicant the consecrated
elements with the prescribed words, and thus expediting the
service without abridging and thereby spoiling it; catechising
the young; visiting each in his own district, and reporting to
the priest those cases that require his office and his expe-
rience; only sometimes ascending the pulpit when specially
gifted and specially licensed, and specially invited; iden-
tified with the laity in their life and avocations, with
the clergy by the reverent and most useful as-
sistance they could give them, but never occupying a
position of apparently independent authority they
would, I think, conceive a more distinct notion of the real,
difference between the two orders, and entertain justai
views than they generally do of the worth and dignity of
the purely spiritual function."—The cry of " Church in
danger" formed the text of a speech by Earl Nelson. It was
in danger, said his lordship, from infidelity, &c. As to the
subject in hand—lay agency—in his opinion its institution
would do a great deal to enable them to damp the strength ot
dissent in this land. Their Nonconformist brethren would
then have to contend with the lay agent rather than the or-
dained clergyman. They would find that they drew their lay
agents from the same sources from which the Nonconformist
teachers now came ; and it would be the means of opening
up a never-failing supply for the higher ministry of the
Church.--The Bishop of Oxford wound up the discussion.
Ho declared that they had already instituted lay work in his
lioceso, and he hoped it would be carried on. As to
women work he wished to say a few words concerning
those Christian sisterhoods which had been spoken of.
Now, ho thought they laboured first of all under this moss
natural imputation, that they were an attempt in our Re.
formed Church to imitate the nunneries of that Church whiclit
the necessities of the Gospel obliged them to part with
It seemed to him the greatest possible waste of means if
thing itself be a thing of great usefulness to throw it aside
because it had been misused elsewhere. In these sister-
hoods there were things to be avoided. They should avoid
those vows of perpetual engagement made by women,
and the receiving of very young women—almost girls—
into such societies. Now, he thought the primary obli-

gation of a Christian woman was distinctly laid down by the
pen of St. Paul—' Lot the younger women marry." But
when the hand of God has set a woman aside from the work
of family life, if she is encouraged to give her life to the work
of Christ, surely there must be a great gain. It was essen-
tial to the success of this work that they should not bo
taught to do acts of charity and religion for their own irre-
ligious life, but that their religious life was cultivated by
works of charity. They were not to let their females retire
into dark places. Give them a home in which they can,
work—a home with fellows of their own kind and rank,
Let them form themselves into a sisterhood which will give
them an opportunity of going forth to do those works
charity which will be a blessing to themselves and to all

men.
At the afternoon sitting the Bishop of Killaloe occupie
the chair. The first subject of discussion was "The
American and Canadian Churches; their organisation and
practical working." Dr. F. Churchill, in the absence of
an American bishop who bad been invited to attend,
gave a long description of the organisation and
management of the Transatlantic Churches. The
special feature was the position of the laity, who
found in representation the real bond by which they
were connected with the work of the Church, and felt an
active interest in it.— -The Rev. S. Gibson, Archdeacon of
Montreal, read a paper on the subject, giving a historical
sketch of the American episcopate. He said the Churches
in Canada and the United States were as independent
of the mother Church as .they were of the State
from which they had been separated by the civil
Government. —Lord Oranmore, who said he attended as
a deputation from the laity, then spoke. His presence
suggested an expectation that the Irish Church question
would in some way be introduced , and it was not disappointed.
He referred to the history of the " clergy reserves " in
Canada, and contended that there was no analogy
between their appropriation by the State and " the
proposed alteration in our own Church." His argu-
ment was embodied in the following passage :—" Canada
bore no part in the national legislation, and paid none of
the national debt, and until the Parliament of Great
Britain was prepared to grant to Ireland this position,
there was, he thought, no analogy between the two countries.
There was no analogy between the ecclesiastical condition 4
of Canada and Ireland, for the same power which con-
ferred the property of its Church upon the former country
withdrew that property in 1855, whereas the property of
the latter had been vested in it not for 300 years only, but
for 1,000 years. The Clergy Reserve Fund in Canada
was taken away by a combination of different societies
jealous of the Church's position and power. On the other
hand, the circumstances under which it was possible the
Irish people might be deprived of the Church appeared
to him to be three in number : first, a universal
insubordination to all law and order, and desire to upset
existing institutions; secondly, the disruption of the Church
in Scotland, since when the people of that country had
shewn a dislike to all establishments, and connected mem-
bers of the Church of England with those professed mem-
bers who nowadays are so much attracted towards the
Church of Rome ; thirdly,the fact that evangelical principles
still lived in England, the great body of the Dissenters then
being addicted to the High Church party and to the doctrines
of the Church of Rome." The Bishop of Cashel observed
that there was one feature in the Church in Canada which
gave him hope, and that was the introduction of the lay
element into its administrative department.—The Rev.
Dr. Reeves read a paper on " Convocation and Diocesan
Synods in England and Ireland." A discussion ensueg
in which all the leading points of this most agitate&
subject were brought out. The Rev. Canon Trevor
thought a great want of the day was the diocesan synod,
The Dean of Ely expressed similar views. The Rev.
J. H. Blount, amid interruptions, advocated the implicit
obedience of the clergy and the people to the bishops.
The Dean of Cork, who closed the debate, stated two
remarkable facts : " That in the last nine or ten
months, during which the Irish Church has been
passing through a struggle unparalleled in its
history, nearly every religious body in Great Britain
has had the kindness to meet together, and to discuss
our future and our present, and to make this or that
recommendation concerning us, with the one single and, I
venture to say, singular exception, under the circum-
stances, of the Irish Church itself. (Hear, hear.) Neither
in Convocation, nor yet in provincial synods, nor yet in
diocesan synods, nor yet in diocesan conferences, how-
ever limited, or however private, have the clergy—not
to speak of the laity—of this Church yet gathered
together, in numbers however small, to offer to their
bishops their thoughts or to receive from them theirs,
except in public charges which we have gratefully heard
in visitations. This is one fact. The second fact is, that
from this has arisen a most odious and injurious imputa-
tion both upon bishops and clergy, which I have heard
again and again in England, ' Oh ! you bishops and clergy
in Ireland are taking things exceedinely easy. Your life
interests are secure, and you do not trouble yourselves to
stir in the matter.' This is utterly untrue, but nevertheless
it is, unfortunately, natural. I have now to relate a very
brief narrative. About twenty years ago a ship, sailing
from the port of Liverpool to that of Derry, was caught in a
sudden and perilous storm. The first mate, who might be
described as a kind of marine vicar-general to the captain,
rushed forward officiously, and in order to save the ship
from the inconvenient fears and inquiries of the passengers
who were in the cabin, he threw over the cabin a heavy
tarpaulin, and the result was that there was not a sound
heard from the passengers—that the ship, with the cargo,
money, and goods, reached the port ; but she reached it
with the passengers dead." The Dean applied the moral
of the tale to the circumstances of the Church in Ireland,
and pointedly observed that it would be better for the
clergy to attend to the passengers than tfQ the good§ in tile
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