The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-30


 done, or even contemplated.
 line of cleavage between the leaders of the organized church and the mass of its membership. The great distinction of the former ceased to be that they were exceptional witnesses of the truths of the gospel, and came to be associated with their official position. They were pIasel above the mass of the people. separated from them in their own and the peoples view, by the grace of ordination; and as this grace of ordination was held to imply progressive bestowed of Christly au- thorty and Christly illumination, the one original plane of Christian duty and re- sponsibiity was succeeded by four-the lowest occupied by the laity the one above 1t by the deacons. another above that by the presbyters, and still another above all the others by the bishops The natural result. as I have said, followed delegated to the lowest plane of Christly privilege the mass of the laity accepted for themselves the lowest plane of re- sponsibility; concluding, not altogether without excuse, that. as the orders above them had been singled out for peculiar bestowals of grace to those orders be- longed peculiarly, if not exclusively, the duty of aggressive striving for the trimph of the Gospel, as well as the duty of medi- ating between Christ and their relatively unprivileged brethren. That this natural and inevitable result of the sharp division between clergy and laity has been disas- trous to the work and welfare of the church from the second century until now is abundantly evident; it has meant practically that all down the ages the cause for which the church exists the winning of the world to Christ. has been served here and there by one man, in- stead of commanding as 1t would have done everywhere the active service of hundreds, men and women, if the origi- nal democratic conception of spiritual dis cipeship in the church had not been overborne by the hierarchical idea of spiritual privilege and authority. The world must long ago. I think, have been made a Christian world, if the spirit of the church's first century had been kept alive through subsequent centuries: If, all along, as when the apostle swere bearing their witness to Christ, those who were called Christians had continued to bear each his witness as he was able. if that fatal rise of an autocratlc hierarchy had never been; if the laity had never adopted the chilling and deadening idea, that 1t is always their business to follow and never to lead in the army of redemption
 Present Day illustrations.
 we Uteu Hpl dDDtdl lp uiSloly past lbi illustrations and confirmation of what 1 have been saying; it is illustrated and confirmed by history present, and right at hand, in which we ourselves are taking part This parish Is not what it ought to be- and Is not doing what it ought to do and what is true of this parish is true of all others of which I have any knowl- edge; and the failure of each to be and do what 1t ought is accounted for more h,rt iS fo bo, 1,vo pth tbop haps by all others combined; namely the effect upon the laity who make up each congregation of the sharp line of division drawn between them and the clergyman who ministers to them in the pulpit before the altar. and elsewhere.
 What is this effect? Speaking generally, and not overlooking the attitude of ex- ceptional laymen and laywomen, l answer the paralySing conviction on the part of the great body of the communicants of every church, that they are at liberty to be passive Christians, If they only help to see to 1t that the church have the benefit of the zeal and energy of one ac- tive Christian. the paralysing conviction that they employ rector. in order, pri- marily. that they may be served, rather than that he may be with, them as their friend, counsellor helper and take to him friends, counsellors, helpers in the service of Christ in the doing of good, the reali- zation of ideals, that are their good and their ideals as well as their rector's. and no more his than theirs-the paralysing conviction. that virtually the whole bur den of responsibility for the welfare of the church-the size of it's congregations the warmth of its services. its increase in membership it's missionary activity its financial condltion-should properly rest upon the shoulders of one man-who as- suredly is not living up to the obligation of his position as he should let there be ill-success at this end, or failure at that!
 It ceases to be wonderful that the numerous churches in every town or city (there are eight with large mem- bershps within five blocks of where I stand) do not accomplish more in tho way of elevating the moral tone of the towns and cities: do not from decade to decade abolish . single prison: do not