PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY TEMPLE PUBLISHING CORPORATION President: GEORGE A. ARMOUR, Princeton, N. J. Vice-President: GUY VAN AMRINGE, 31 Nassau Street, New York Business Manager: EDWIN S. GORHAM, 11 West 45 Street, New York EDITORIAL COUNCIL: Charles S. Baldwin, Ph.D., Professor of Rhetoric, Columbia Univer sity; the Rev. J. G. H. Barry, D.D., Rector of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, New York; the Rev. Charles C. Edmunds, D.D., Professor of New Testament Literature, General Theological Seminary; the Rev. Hughell E. W. Fosbroke, D.D., Dean of the General Theological Seminary; the Rev. Francis J. Hall, D.D., Professor of Dogmatic Theology, General Theological Seminary; the Rev. Arthur W. Jenks, D.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History, General Theological Seminary; the Rev. William T. Manning, D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, New York; the Rev. John Mockridge, D.D., Rector of St. James Church, Philadelphia; the Rev. Ralph B. Pomeroy, B.D., Instructor in Church History and Polity, General Theological Seminary; Chandler R. Post, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Greek and of Fine Arts, Harvard University; Robert K. Root, Ph.D., Professor of English, Princeton University; the Rev. Hamilton Schuyler, Rector Trinity Church, Trenton, N. J.; Chauncey B. Tinker, Ph.D., Professor of English Literature, Yale University; the Rev. Lucius Waterman, D.D., Rector of St. Thomas Church, Hanover, N. H. ONE of the contributions we can make toward the reunion of Christendom is to strive earnestly for greater unity of thought and action among ourselves. There are two ways of bringing this about; and neither of them should be neglected: one is the promotion of greater fellowship and harmony among the various parishes of each diocese; and the other is the development of greater sympathy and mutual understanding among the various members of each parish. In many dioceses the only opportunity for the various parishes to come together is at the annual diocesan convention. That is of little consequence in this connection, for it means only that the clergy and a few laymen from each parish sit next to one another for a few hours once a year and transact routine business. Nothing could be less inspiring or more tiresome than the average diocesan convention. Much more might be done than has been done to expedite business and leave much more time for group conferences and general discussions of the problems which should be of vital interest to every Churchman. There are, however, many ways in which representatives from the different parishes and the clergy of all schools of churchmanship might come together and learn to understand each other, and to increase their respect for those with whom they differ, and perhaps even learn to love them. Such opportunities vary, of course, with the internal conditions of each diocese. There are, however, in every diocese many commissions or boards dealing with missionary, educational, social, financial, or administrative matters, upon which many men of many minds might serve. Why should not these boards include men of all schools of thought rather than simply the one school that happens to be dominant in that diocese? The Cathedral, where there is one, should be made to appeal to all sorts of Churchmen -high, low, and broad. There should be prayer-meetings for pronounced Evangelicals; classes in modern Biblical criticism for pronounced Modernists; and retreats or quiet-days as well as opportunity for sacramental confession for pronounced Catholics. The clergy of all stripes should be invited to preach from the Cathedral pulpit. Every churchman in the diocese should feel that a welcome is waiting for him at the Cathedral; and that whatever his spiritual needs may be the Cathedral clergy would gladly attempt to satisfy them. Then too it might be one more step towards diocesan unity if the clergy of both extremes of churchmanship were more often to exchange pulpits. Each ought to be able to contribute a point of view that would serve as a sort of eye-opener to the parish he was visiting. A "Broad-church" congregation might be electrified by a sermon on repentance by an extreme "Catholic"; while a congregation of "High-church" traditions might enjoy the thrill of a new experience by hearing a neighboring "Broad-church" rector preach on social righteousness. There are, however, opportunities still nearer home for all of us. We may all make a positive contribution to the reunion of Christendom by striving to bring about greater charity and forbearance among the members of our own parishes. Every parish contains people of all sorts: "high and low, rich and poor, one with another." The distinctive spiritual needs of each class should be provided for. Then there would be in each parish every variety of spiritual ministration: prayer meetings, the fellowship of silence, mission study classes, doctrinal instructions, moving picture shows, early communions, high mass, solemn processions, solemn vespers, vespers of the dead, requiem masses, informal mission services, Bible classes, classes in personal religion, meditations, quiet days, and days of intercession. In such a parish each one might learn to have a greater respect for his neighbor's tastes and predilections. All the problems of Reunion exist in miniature among ourselves. We as a Church are so comprehensive as to include men of such radically different types as Dr. Floyd Tompkins, Dr. Slattery, Dr. Percy Stickney Grant, and Dr. Manning. A unity that can include such men ought to be able to include everybody. The real question is: are we really brethren, and can we dwell together in unity? If we are, then the prospects for the unity of all Christian people are indeed excellent. The Perils of Hatred NE of the reasons why the visit of the Archbishop of York has been of immense value is that he has taught us all how to speak of the war without venom and bitterness. A truly Christian spirit of charity has permeated all his addresses. When he did say anything critical of our enemies, it was in a kindly or humorous vein, as when he remarked in Carnegie Hall that the German navy was in a position that no self-respecting navy would care to be in. Our ears have grown weary of vindictiveness and hate. Even Christian speakers, who ought to know better, have often spoken venomous and bitter words. Some of our clergy have harangued the public in a manner that would lead no one to suspect that they were ministers of Christ. As a result there is spread abroad everywhere a subtle, pervasive atmosphere of hate. Like the treacherous gas introduced by the Germans into modern warfare, it poisons the very air we breathe. Doubtless it is one of the chief causes for the decline of zeal and enthusiasm now so noticeable among Christians of every name. From every direction come complaints of sparsely attended services, church guilds and societies forced to disband, churches compelled to close their doors for lack of support, and decreasing contributions for the missionary cause. The love of many has indeed waxed cold. It is painful to think how many unworthy communions are being made by people whose hearts are filled with hatred. The Prayer Book Exhortation gives us due warning: "Amend your lives, and be in perfect charity with all men: so shall ye be meet partakers of those holy mysteries." The temptation to indulge in hatred is a very subtle one, which assails all of us in such times as these. We need to pray continually for grace to overcome it, for the grace of charity, "the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before" God. We do not mean by this that everyone should join that coterie of select spirits who profess to see good on both sides, and who violently condemn the evil on both sides. Such people are so exalted with spiritual pride that they are too superior to be of any practical help to the nation in this hour of need. Neither do we mean that everyone must be a pacifist. We mean simply that it is our Christian duty to love our enemies. We may hate the principles for which they are fighting as much as we like; but we must never permit ourselves to hate any of God's children. Moreover we must remember that love is not a weak, spineless virtue, which lets everybody do as he likes. "Love is strong as death." Parents who love their children must sometimes forcibly prevent their having their own way. We know that God loves us all, but we are told that "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." And so to love our enemies does not mean to allow them to trample on the weak, and violate neutral nations, and loot and steal wherever they may wish to go. It is quite consistent with doing all in our power to frustrate their nefarious schemes. Laymen in Distress T HERE are not a few laymen in the Church who are continually being upset by something they have read in the Church periodicals. An item of news perhaps, or an expression of editorial opinion, or a book review, or even a published sermon of a bishop, and forthwith they write to the publishers and cancel their subscription. Or they continue to read the paper, nursing a grievance. The weekly Church papers are apparently the chief plotters against the tranquillity of the layman; although the monthly magazines are not without sin. No doubt The American Church Monthly, before many months have gone by, will be held responsible for some such acts of cruelty. We are not going to take it upon ourselves to address any words of rebuke to the editors of our weekly contemporaries. Of course we could give them much splendid advice as to what sort of a paper a Church weekly ought to be. That, however, is not our function. We do venture, however, in all humility, to suggest to the timid laymen who are so easily and frequently upset, that the Church papers are not an infallible expression of the mind of the Church. They are not a sort of Anglican papacy, which serves up for us every week a batch of infallible pronouncements. Moreover it is well to remember that in all ages of Christian history, controversy has flourished in the Church; and that violent difference of opinion on questions of faith and morals and policy has always been an evidence of life rather than death. It is conceivable that occasionally the shocking thing that one has read may be true, even though contrary to what one has always believed. It is barely possible that the spiritual pastors and masters, whose memory one reveres, may have been mistaken in some points of their teaching. Learning something new is often a painful process; for it causes a violent jolt in one's cerebral ganglia. Perhaps the sensation of mental and spiritual pain so often experienced by readers of Church newspapers and magazines is simply a divine call to deeper study and investigation of the subject in question. |