The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-10-08
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
CONVENTION OPENS
Large Gathering of Bishops and Layinen
Met in st. John, the Divfine, Church
in New York To-day.

New York, Oct. s.-One hundred and
thirteen bishops and nearly 600 laymen
gathered in the Cathedral Of st. John,
the Divine, to-day for the opening ses-
sion of the triennial general convention
of the Protestant Episcopal church. The
morning session was set aside for the
opening procession, the sermon by Right
Rev. William Lawrence, bishop of Mass
achusetts, and musical program.
OF lis members of the house of bish-
OPS, only two were absent, Bishop Gar
rett of Dallas, Tex, whose advanced age
prevents his attendance, and Bishop Hall
of Vermont, who is ILL.,
Suggestions for changing the corpor-
ate name of the church and revision of
the constitution, with reference to mar
riage and divorce, were among the mat
ters of importance, with which the com
vention will deal
At the outset, Bishop Lawrence said
he wished to strike the note struck by
the general convention in 1880, wllich
sent forth to the church a message con-
tanning this dominant paragraph;
1--WE should endeavor to throw our
selves into the actual breathing world
around us, and speak to the living pres
ent rather than to the dead past. We
should seeE to know the needs Of our
country, the tendencies, dangers, exi-
gencies of our times, to what God calls
lis in His Providence, what traces OF
His guidance and direction we can dis
Germ in past history, and whittier He
points us now
The bishop pointed out the advan-
tages Offered by the independence of
the church in the United States, and
by the fact that laymen sit in its coun-
ellis.
Religion" he continued, "is at the
foundation of education, first. last and
always; it gives vitality, depth and
harmony to the whole character. So
far as the teachers and the scholars in
our schools are religious and come from
religious homes, there will be an atmos-
phere of religion in the schoolroom.
With, however, the variety OF races,
faiths and no faiths, represented in the
children of our public schools we may
put the thought of definite teaching OF
the Christian faith in the schools out
of our minds. 1t cannot be done and
il ought not to be attempted"
Iblt HAERtStlDli bittt tJlf uAltitHh
nominations send religious teachers to
the schools and Mt certain hours, under
a voluntary system, give children, sep
arated according to sects, their religious
was set aside as unable to
meet the situation. While he expressed
high respect for the parochial school
system of the Catholic church, Bishop
Lawrence declared his opinion that its
worth was limited.
why should we cling to the fetish
that religion must be taught under the
same roof or in the same room with
and arithmetic he asked
"The church of this day and country
the conditions of the day
and country, must marshal to her serv-
ice every instrumentality at hand. par
ants and the home, the press and litera
ture. the playground, an hour OF a
week for Sunday, various forms of
schools, correspondence, public worship,
the pastoral work, the parish, the do
cese, the department, everything, and
in large and statesmanlike way plan
for and press through not one system,
but many systems of religious educa-
tion, yes, and spiritual culture without
apparent system that will reach and up
build all sorts and conditions of chill
dren in Christian faith and character" !"