The Labor enquirer., 1885-04-11

produce q religious revival here; for the
word mission, as used by the Roman latho-
lies, and now BY the Eplseopalians, means
substantially what is known among the
Baptists and Methodists, for instance, as a
revival.
The Roman Catholics have often had such
missions in New York, conducted by mem
bers of religious orders who devoted them
selves more specifically to the work of propa-
gandisrn. They have also been held in Lon
don oflate years BY clergymen of the Church
of England, one for Eastand West London
having been concluded only recently. But
the mission next Advent will be the first un-
dertaken by the New York Episcoralians.
Special services, Of which prayer, praise,
preaching, and personal exhortation are the
main features, will beheld simultaneously in
many places morning, afternoon, and even
ing, with the object OF calling souls to re-
pentance and faith, and deepening the
spiritual life of the faithful ..
But this mission is organized more particu-
larly to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood
between the rich and the poor; in other
words, as an. attempt to bridge over the
widening gulf between them. The leaders
in the movement, at the head of whom is
Bishop Potter, lament the evils of >what
they call ''class churches" churches for the
rich and churches for the poor, and this re-
Viyal is for the purpose of showing that
Christianity is for all men alike, and offers
for all consultations and imposes duties which
soften the hardships of the struggle for ex-
istence, and happily and peacefully solve the
social problem with which Socialists and
Communists are now wrestling in spirit of
hostility to the church.
Nor can it be denied that what these secular
agitators are working for will be fully ac7
cOmplished whenever the commands OF
Christ are obeyed by the world. The broth
erhood of man will be established and Chris
tian communism will prevail. But before
that day comes the whole constitution of
society and its whole machinery must be
changed, for civilization cannot now be said
to be established on Christian basis. The
laws of trade violate the Christian rule, and
instead of working for each other as for
themselves, men are engaged in contest in
which the strong succeed and the weak go
to the wall. Even the duties to the vassal
which feudalism imposes on the lord do not
bind the modern capitalist in his relations to
the laborer Each side gets the most and
gives the least it can.
The poor, too, have become more and more
estranged from the Protestant churches
especially. The Protestant community in
New York which pays heed to religious SER
vices is chiefly composed of more or less
wel-to-do people. 1t is true that much
missionary work is done among the poor,
but Professionalism has been losing its hold
on their hearts. Thev feel that they are
treated as class apart, and that the rich
churches condescend to them under the
pressure of the plainest obligations of their
professed faith, but practically keep them
out of their exclusive temples of worship,
which they cannot enter without being re-
minded of the material inequality between
them and the mass of the congregation.
Many churches have almost no 0ther poor
attendants than those they support espe-
cIally for the purpose-the professionally
poor of the parish.
This mission will be undertaken with a
view of dispelling that lack of sympathy and
of awakening the rich and the poor to a due
sense of their reciprocal obligations and their
brotherhood in the church of Christ. But
what does that mean except Christian COM
munism? Is the church ready to begin at
once to set in operation the long-negl lected
princi Dles proclaimed by its Head and prac-
tised by His early disciples and their imme-
diate followers?
If this mission means that the Episcopal
Church, under the lead of its Bishop, is
about to start on that road and will not
diverge from it next Advent will be forever
m6morable-N. Y. Sun.