The Crisis in the Church
14-10R four months the correspondence columns of the Spectator have testified to the interest which our readers take in the revision of the Prayer Book, and the letters which we have printed under the heading, "The Crisis in the Church," form a symposium of every point of view held in the Church of England. Several correspondents have written to us asking us to sum up the discussion in view of the fact that the Prayer Book Measure and the Deposited Book will be laid before thc Church Assembly for its final approval in July.
If the Church Assembly passes the measure- it will go before the Parliamentary Committee, and if they consider it in order it will " lie upon the table " of the Houses of Parliament for forty days, and if no question is raised, the Order will be signed by His Majesty the -King. While the measure is " lying upon the table," probably in the autumn, the Houses of Parliament may discuss it. Parliament cannot make alterations ; it can only signify its acceptance or rejection of the proposal by voting " Yes " or "No." There seems to be little doubt that the revised Prayer Book will be approved by the Church- Assembly by a large majority, despite powerful opposing forces among the extreme Evangelicals and the advanced Anglo-Catholics.
From the standpoint of the detached layman who plays no part in Church controversies, one of the strongest arguments that the Bishops have performed their task with great skill lies in the knowledge that they have dis- pleased the extreme left and the extreme right, and have rallied behind them moderate opinion. The suggestion has been made by some critics that a wise course would be to proceed with the greater portion of the new Prayer Book, but to leave the Service of Holy Communion as it is ; from this advice we strongly dissent. Such a course would be cowardly and would leave the chief difficulty unsolved. As was to be expected, the main controversy has raged round the changes in the Eucharistic Service, and the majority of the letters in the Spectator have concerned themselves with the exact nature of the 'onseerated Elements ; this dispute, as a correspondent minds us, has taken place over and over again during he last half-century and follows a well-worn path.
When the Archbishop of Canterbury made his speech n the revised Prayer Book to the combined Houses of (Invocation, we wrote : "Tire whole work of revision as to our thinking been wonderfully designed to maintain mity without exaCting an irksome uniformity," and we xpressed the hope- that the Church of England would c true to her traditions and make the crisis a "pledge c peace instead of a cause of war." Nothing has een said in the interval to make us alter our opinion: Ve believe that the new Prayer Book will be of great enefit to the Church and "make for an organized and Iberal unity." As the Archdeacon of Chesterfield has 'it it, our aim should be :
. Diversity without Division, Unity without Uniformity, Discipline without Servility. •
It has been satisfactory to notice the way in which any Broad Evangelicals and Broad Catholics have Ink their personal opinions for the common good, and it ottld be ungenerous not to admit that many Broad hurchmen have made concessions in accepting the '°rninendations of the Bishops as to Vestments, Prayers F the Dead, and Reservation of the Sacrament for the tek- They have done so largely because they hope that e reforms agreed to will be final, and that the new rubrics will be enforced. As to the question of finality, no further revision so drastic and far-reaching is likely to occur for another two or three generations at least, but it is difficult to see what further pledges could be given. The Houses of Convocation cannot pledge the acts of their successors a hundred years hence, and it would be futile to ask them to do so. The general view is that there will be no further revision for many years to come, and we must leave it at that. Practice alone can show us which of the two Canons will meet the needs of the great majority of Churchmen. Opinion may have become so crystallized in another generation that universal acceptance of one Book of Common Prayer will be feasible.
Evangelicals who have made concessions must remember that many Anglo-Catholics also, not at all extreme, find great though not insuperable difficulty in the alternative Canon, which they describe as " a departure from Western usage," and for many of them it has been an act of definite surrender to agree to a measure which so completely forbids " any organized devotions before the Blessed Sacrament." We believe that discipline will be enforced in a way unknown to our generation, because rubrics and regulations agreed upon by the Bishops and sanctioned by the Church in 1927 must have a different, indeed a vastly greater, force than rubrics passed in 1662, and we recall with satisfaction the fact that the next item on the legislative programme of the Church Assembly is a revision of the whole system of Church courts.
Most of the letters we have published have been concerned with the exact nature of the result of the consecration of the Elements, a point on which the Church of England has always refused to decide, as the Bishop of Hereford reminds us. Our correspondents have either belonged to what is commonly called the " receptionist " school or to the ranks of those who hold the theory of the Real Presence, and in dealing with such matters we are approaching the very heart of the Christian religion and our finite minds must not expect to probe these great mysteries. The chief glory of the Church of England is its all-cmbracingriess, and we can rejoice in that fact. When we kneel at the altar during the Holy Communion it is not for us to ask exactly what our neighbour feels in that supreme moment of Worship. Each individual may surely accept the comfort and peace "his own heart draws from this beautiful and simple act." Nothing more valuable has been done during the controversy than recalling to mind the words of Hooker on the subject :— " What these elements are in themselves it skilloth not. It is enough that to me that take them they are the Body and Blood of Christ. What other cogitation need possess the mind of a faithful communicant than this, ' 0 my Cod, Thou art true, 0 my soul, thou art happy ' ? "
If there is ambiguity in the words of the Church Cate- chism it is not for us to seek to remove it. We can interpret the implication according to the dictates of our own individual conscience :-- "(1) Q.—How many parts are there in a Sacrament! (1) A.—Two: the outward visible sign, and the inward spiritual (2) Q.—Wgrace.hat is the outward part or sign in the Lord's Supper ?
(2) A.—Bread and Wine, which the Lord bath commanded to be received.
(3) Q.—What is the inward part or thing signified ? (3) A.—The Body and Blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the " Lord's Supper."
There are, of course, many serious problems confronting the Church of England, not the least of which is the present lack of young men corning forward for ordination, but despite these difficulties we believe that she is stronger to-day than at any time since the Reformation. The spirit of the Oxford Movement has undoubtedly been one of the contributory causes to this quickening of spirit. The beautiful services held in so many of our churches to-day are proof, if proof were needed, that the austere puritanism of the seventeenth century does not suffice for our present needs. Twentieth-century utilitarianism demands spiritual food of another nature to that offered to our ancestors three hundred years ago, and that is the underlying justification for the revision of the Prayer Book. Each one of us, whatever our individual interpretation of the cardinal mystery of our Faith, can help on the cause of unity and brotherhood within the Church by loyally accepting the recommen. dations of the Bishops and by taking to heart the words of Jeremy Taylor :— " Dispute not concerning the secret of the mystery and the nicety of the manner of Christ's presence. It is sufficient for thee that Christ shall be present to thy soul."
Previous page
