The Indianapolis journal., 1886-11-04
PHILLIPS BROoKs.s PLAIN TALK.
He DenOunces the Tendency to- ExcIusiyenesi
at the Recent Episcopal Convention.
Boston Specal

at the Recent Episcopal Convention.
Boston Special.
The Rev. Phillips Brooks preached yesterday
before a large congregation HIS sermon, for the
most part, was review of the proceedings of
the General Episcopal convention in Chicago
1t will attract attention. Mr.. Brooks said he
recog nlzed 8 tendency which has shown itself
distinctly In the last convention, which he
wished TO speak about with great plainness.
He said in part There is, doubt in
church today tendency, and it has shown
itself distinctly in this last convention, to mar
row It's conception of its life, and instead of
thinking OF itself as one composite part of this
great multitude which makes up the church
life or our America, to usurp to itself
to certain exclusiveness, superiority which
really amounts to q certain monopoly of the
claims or that which must appeal to all the
Christian Church in general This desire has
declared itself In that which has been mooted
for some time, but which has not come to any
really strong assertion of itself until this last
conventional desire to change the name of our
Church.
In this convention 1t has been so strong that it
has claimed the convention for itself The one
thing that characterizes that convention that
gives 1t Importance and significance, is tho effort
made upon the part of one portion and resisted
upon the part of another portion to
claim a name for the church
here, not to know it longer as the Prot
estant Episcopal Church, but to know it
as the church of America, or the Catholic Church
in Am erica, or the American Catholic Church;
to call 1t by some name which shall distinctly
declare for it that which was asserted in regard
TO it, that it and it alone was constituted the
true legitimate church Of Jesus Christ in The
United States of America
1t perfectly conceivable that it might be as
desirable to change the name of church as of
any body. the name of church has no pecu-
liar sanctity attached to it. No doubt there was
something accidental and temporary in the way
IN which the name was given to our church when
it was first founded, and it might be thought
well. simply as question of taste to give to the
church name which should better declare
the life that it was living and the work that it
proposed to do, not in any way declaring a
changed conception of the life which it was liv-
ing or the nature which it bore II that had
been the question there might have been sort
OF aesthetic discussion, discussion of the sound
or sylla6leS but never one 80 deep as that the
proposed change led to. There are but two con-
ceivable ways in which our church could stand
before this country and claim that she was the
Church of Christ in America What are those
twof 1t might be that our church might be so
preponderant among the other denominations of
Christians. that she mghL be large and
absorb so tremendous aggregate, that the
work of the Christian life in this country was
under her direction; that so much of missionary
labor is performed by her that everything else
was comparatively insignificant; that there were
simply one side few outlying borders in which
strange people did strange things, but that the
was done by this Episcopal church of ours. If
that we're so. then. perhaps, merely for the sake
of representing that fact, it might be well
enough. though do not think it would be very
we'll even then, that we should call ourselves
that which in fact we should be-The Church of
Amerca-the church which really was doing
the work here in the United States Now,
man pretends that that is so. No man pre-
tends that onr Episcopal Church is really doing
anything like such preponderating work rs
hnR hn nfNyf ~ oHn
that. Respectable, more than respectable, is
the work she is doing work that her children
rejoice in and delight to help; work so large
that one may we'll give his life to its forward
ing; but. at the same time by the side of the
other great denominations of Christians in our
land, work that is comparatively small 1t is
poor business, unless driven to it by some such
argument as this. to compare figures and statis-
tics, and see which children of the Father all of
whom ara doing His work so mperfectly, are
doing it little better, When, driven by sucn
argument, we do compare statistics with sta
tiStics, we find that our Episcopal Church is but
the seventh or eighth body in the whole great
multitude of American Christianity; it is not
possible for us to assume this position. It it not
possible for ns to take place the great nu-
merical church of America. There are multi
tudes of people who hold that, as from the time
of the apostles down bishop has always been
coDsecrated by bishop until to our present Bish-
op of Massachusetts there has come a distinct
line of succession. administered by the di-
rect touch of hand upon head In di-
rect generation after generation there has
come commission to administer the Christian
gospel in this land which belongs to no man
who is outside of that concession; that every
minister standing in the pulpit of the Episcopal
Church gets his right to preach from the fact
that he has been ordained by bishop who
stands in linear succession to the APOSTLES, who
were licensed to preach by Jesus Christ himsef2
false theory. There is no line in our Prayer
book, there is not word in any of our formulas
which declares any such theories 1t has always
been something that has been held by indi-
viduals, theory that has recommended itself
to certain classes and kinds of minds, and
theory which many and many ministers and lay
men in the Episcopal Church have thoroughly
disbelieved. tell you freely and frankly
never could receive ministry which seemed to
me to have its sanction there. I never would
oficiate in one if believed that in officiating
declared my belief in the exclusive right of those
who were thus consecrated, and so unchurched
and turned out of the ministry the great multi
tude of God-serving men who doing His
work in other denominations than ours.