Evening star., 1937-02-14
TOWN IS CROWDED
BY0xFORDG GROUP
Remarkable Party Held at
Malvern Attracts
5000.
~ the Associated Press.

SSSSSs
~ the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. February l3.-The
fine old watering place Of Great NAL
vern, England. has just witnessed one
Of the most remarkable parties Britain
has known.
1t lasted 10 days and was attended
by 5000 men and women. The small
town was so crowded that late comers
couldn't obtain beds in hotels. Hun
dreds Of youthful enthusiasts camped
on school room floors at night.
These folk were members of the now
globe oxford group of
practical religionists-those Chris
tian revolutionaries" under the lead
ership Of DR.. Frank Buchanan, the
American clergyman. father Of the
movement. They came together to
discuss ways and means OF further
ing what many believe may be the
beginning of a real -denomina-
tional religious revival in all nations.
The oxford group already Is labor.
ing In more than 50 countries, in
cluding the United States, and marked
results are being reported by workers.
Great strides have been made in Eng
land and on the Continent, especially
in Scandinavia. Denmark Is said to
have been swept from one end to the
other. Newspapers and magazines in
many places are treating the move
ment As q news event OF Importance.
To Turn World Upside Down.
The groupists propose to turn the
world upside down and shake all the
odds and ends of evil out Of its
pockets. Their revolution is based
on the theory that human nature
can be changed. and they say that
II individuals can be persuaded to
do right, nations will do right, since
nations are merely collections OF in
dividuals.
Exactly what Is this much talked of
Oxford group movement? put that
question today to Garth Lean. a young
English graduate Of oxford. who is
one OF the chief workers in the United
States. Here is what got:
You see, 1t Is quite simple The
oxford group Is not a new denomina-
tion or sect. 1t Is simply a company
OF people. drawn from every class and
nation. who are determined at any
personal cost to discover and follow
Gods plan for them and the world.
They know that human nature can
L. ~, oh
man nature lies the one sure hope for
q better world. They come from every
church and revitalize every church to
which they belong.
This results in reuniting Of broken
homes. cleaner business, cleaner pol
itics, and the disappearance Of indus
trial. racial and international strife.
To give q specific example. in 1929 six
young Englishmen of the oxford
group went to South Africa to intro
duce the movement. At that time
there was bitter racial antagonism
between the Dutch and the English
there Some three years later these
hostile units united in coalition gov
eminent and the Manchester Guar
dian. gave the oxford group credit
for bringing the factions together"
Canterbury Comments.
The venerable Archbishop Of Can
terbury, head Of the Church Of Eng
land, summed the thing up this way
in addressing his diocesan conference:
The oxford group is most certainly
L-G- oh iGt
where to do. 1t Is changing human
lives"
The Oxford groupists will tell you
that each one Of them gets daily spe-
cifc directions from God for conduct
in every phase of life. Their religious
aims at . practical application of the
teachings of Jesus Christi seven
day.a.week affair and not for Sun
days alone.
It is the sort Of religion that. once
it is accepted. makes a man so far as
possible put right every wrong he ever
has done-an uncomfortable operation
for the average sinner to contemplate.
1t is the type of thing that impels
man to confess to his wife, and beg her
forgiveness, If he was unfaithful before
he saw the light; and forces him to
pay the income tax authorities the $40
he withheld fve years ago; and makes
him tell his customer that those So
called silk shirts really have a spot Of
cotton in them; and sends him of to
Bill Dee to apologize for repeating q
bit OF scandal about Bill; and results
in his giving I'D his week end Of rest