The record-union., 1898-07-24
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed In the Sec
tartan Press.

May we not hope that the Church Of
St. John the divine will be the beginning
of a new era?" says the Catholic
Champion" P. Ed of the Guild Of St.
Ingatius. THE hitherto small and
perhaps narrow branch Of the Church
Catholic, which has been known for a
time as the Protestant Episcopal
Church, by Gods goodness may soon
come to full sense of her great pow
ers and her blessed destiny. Her men,
bers are Americans, not unasslmllated
foreigners. They have pushed their
way far through the envelope of Pro-
testant darkness and restriction which
a few generations of ancestors be-
queathed to them, and this great ca
thedral is one of the fruits of the ire
sstibie spring time. 1t is yet unripe
1t may be blasted. But New York
churchmen, and American churchmen
generally, ought to resolve to make sure
that it shall not be a failure. or even
be delayed, through their fault. The
whole church is vitality interested. Many
of her members have felt for n long
time that a cathedral ought to be the
center Of every diocese. They have
acted on their belief and done what
they could. The small church has had
small cathedrals, and the truth # the
principle has been so far proved that
now the large church of New York,
and its large minded Bishop, have felt
that it must have a large cathedral
The next thing will be not only that all
dioceses and all Bishops will know that
they ought to have cathedrais, because
they cannot do Gods work properly
without them. but also that they viii
never be satisfied with an apology for
a cathedral"
The Scottish Guardian recently
with the kind of candid criticism that
comes only from true loyalty, devoted
an article to what it called the impO-
tence Of Anglicanism. Ii cOntrasted
the manly independence of sectarian
organiza tons in the British colonies
with the spiritless want of Initiative
that characterized the Anglican COM
munon. Why was it, it asked. that
in the one case the typical characteris-
ties of the English race We're present
to the fullest degree, while the efforts
of the church were feeble and half
hearted? After a careful scrutiny"
says the New York "Churchman" (P.
Ed, 'it discovered the secret. The dis
cOvery is nothing new, but the way of
putting it goes to the bottom Of the
whole trouble. The lack of initiative
rests with the lay people of the church.
They are not trained TO understand
their relation to her corporate life. AS
the Guardian says, Anglicanism has
an apostolic ministry, which is a great
thing. There is one thing greater--an
apostolic laity, with an apostolic stan
dard of faith and duty. Parishes are
flourishing, churches multiplied: SO do
mestic statistics would point to a tri-
umph But it is a triumph that is so
far distant from the goal distinctly
worked out for her that it ought to be
disguised, not fouted about in the face
Of those who are intelligent enough to
see its futility. AS a matter of fact
weakness in missions is a counterpart
TO weakness elsewhere. When the
church does her duty TO missions, she
will also do her duty more effectively
and more successfully at home. By
doing what she ought to do in Asia,
Africa, and in the isles Of the sea. she