New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-22
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CONGRESS.

| The utterances OF the Eplsc0pal Cnurcn Coh-
gress. which met in Washington this last week
will naturally command wide attention. The
Church Congress is itself an interesting factor
in the religious movement Of the age, for, like
its elder sister the English Church Congress, it
has grown out of that spirit OF investigation ana
unrest which is to-day at work in all the Chris
tan Churches not even excluding the venerable
Church of Rome. Not that there is anything
unchurchly' or heretical in the Church Con-
gness far from it, On the contrary its leaders
are thoroughly loyal to the fundamental prin-
cpes of episcopacy and have not the slightest
desire to stray outside the limits of its tolerated
opinions. But they are men who see more clear
". perhaps than their fellow churchmen the
complex and pulling tendencies of the age, and
the necessity ON the part OF the Church OF ad-
iusting itself to the times. Like the authors OF
that famous book, "Lux Mundi," who are per-
sonally stanch High Churchmen, they would not
minimize the doctrines OF the Church. but would
rather present them in such way as to make
them a vital force in solving the problems OF
modern lfe With this end in view men of all
schools of thought are invited to say their say,
honestly. fearessly, and frankly, even though
their views may not wholly square with the
current thinking of average Episcopalians. This
has resulted in making the Church Congress
very fair index of the real tendencies OF the
Episcopal Church, which often fail to find any
adeauate expression in it's formal legislative
bodies.
And the meeting just ended gives us an ex-
cellent idea of some of these tendencies. There
was, for instance, the exquistely beautiful open
ing sermon Of Bishop Brooks, which was plea
for vital religion that would have equally de-
lighted St. Francis Xavier and John Wesley.
So long as such sermons are preached in Church
there need be no fear that it will die OF formal
ism. And that the tendency toward more
earnest spirituality indicated by this sermon is
strong in the Episcopal Church to-day will be
admitted by all who are acquainted with its
practical work.
But there is little likelihood of spirituality
running into mere petsm in the Episcopal
Church. judging from the papers and addresses
on the topics discussed. The utterances on these
topics were characterized by a mOdernness Of
| thought. and by broad recognition Of the ex-
| listing conditions Of life that would have ex-
| posed their authors to an ecclesiastical martyr
dom fifty years ago. For example, the writers
| on "Theism and Evolution declared their be-
| lief in evolution, much as they would have de-
clared their belief in any other commonplace
| fact. as a thing not even to be debated; and
| one of them went 50 far as to
saw that life may have originated by
means Of spontaneous generation. The discus
sion on Socialism showed that the clergy and
laity of the Church are carefully studying that
perplexing subject, though it also showed that
| they have as yet come to no clear conclusion
a. regard to it. will probably be many yeas
before Christian sociology attans to the dignity
| of science but these speakers indicate that tho
| Episcopal Church, in common with all the
| Churches, is feeling its way toward a solution
| of this great problem.
| In the discussions on parish and mission work,
the relation of the clergy to politics, Catholic
and Protestant tendencies in the Church, and
| personal religion, there was dscernbe a strong
desire to make the machinery Of the Church
practically effective Indeed, we might say that
this was the keynote of the Congress, and there
fore of the Church, SO far as the Congress repre-
sents it, And it is a most hopeful thing for the
| Episcopal Church that this spirit is becoming
dominant. For il indicates that instead Of
haughtiy standing aloof from its Protestant
brethren, it is striving in common with them, 20
bring the essential principles of Christianity to
bear on the problems OF the age.