THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH-BUILDING ASSOCIATION.
TAKING the whole of England and Wales, accommodation for at- tendance at religious worship is afforded only to a portion of the community ; and of all our counties the Metropolitan is in the worst condition. The total provision for public worship, including not only churches but chapels and meeting-houses of all descrip- tions, is less in Middlesex than in any other English county,—as 17 to 30; and the deficiency, if the expression may be allowed, is constantly increasing. Annually, about 40,000 souls are added to the population of London, by births and immigration ; congrega- tions enough, casting aside infants, for ten or twenty churches. These simple facts speak for themselves. England is a Christian country ; the community is supposed to attend church, at least on the seventh day ; and there is a body which claims to be the Na- tional Church—" the Church of England." In a country thus endowed with a national church, it is a practical absurdity, a gi- gantic sarcasm, that there should be multitudes excluded from public worship by the simple want of room ; and the sarcasm has its sting in the fact that the Metropolitan county should stand the lowest in this particular. The want suggests the supply. On the face of the facts, the "London Diocesan Church-building Society" has a right to public support, and all the more that it proceeds on no exclusive prin- ciples and in no exclusive mode. It is not intended to supersede local exertion, but to assist it. "A plan has been formed," says the circular of the Society, "for raising the sum of 500,0001. by ten equal yearly instalments, in aid of the Society's operations, especially by an appeal to the landowners of the Metropolis ; and such a spirit of liberality has, by God's blessing, been awakened among a few of the chief owners of property, that, exclusive of contributions previously announced, 25,000/. have been already promised by three individuals, and 10,0001. from the Land Re- venues of the Crown." It is proposed to form a hundred new ec- clesiastical districts in places where spiritual aid is most needed. Ultimately, however, the association hopes to see the whole Metro- polis subdivided into parishes and districts of convenient size, con- taining a suitable population, each with its own pastor. In sum, the Society hopes to see the oondition of London such as it ought to be under a national church.
The list of contributions is in itself a guarantee for the spirit of the enterprise. The Queen heads the list with 5001.; the Crown gives 10,000/. The Duke of Bedford, in ten yearly instalments, 10,000!.; the Bishop of London, 50001.; Lord Leigh, a site ; Mr. Hubbard, a church with its endowments; Mr. William Cotton, a site on his property at Limehouse, and a church with its endow- ments. It must be confessed that many recent efforts of this kind have been distinguished by considerable liberality ; and more than one contributor to this list, including the Queen, appear to us to stand there as a guarantee that the utility of the association will not be narrowed by any ungenerous or sectarian purpose. This last, in truth, is a fundamentally important question. Money may be extorted from individuals in the name of London bishops and busybodies, who put themselves forward under the sacred name of religion ; and they may enforce black-mail for con- siderable sums ; churches may be built and endowed,—althongh, before the movements can attain to that stage, any narrowness of motive is most likely to be found out ; and then the fund, with splendid promise, becomes a failure. But besides the extension of budded churches, there is another species of church-extension which clamorously calla for a right understanding. Although we have not churches enough for the population, we have in many cases not congregations enough for the church. In many a parish where neither the Established church nor the Nonconformist chapel could hold the numbers of red- , dents, both chapel and church, especially the latter, are half empty. A powerful style of eloquence may sometimes fill a chapel with a class greedy of excitement, including some who come to enjoy the only kind of entertainment permitted on the Sunday. But it is by desperate physical exertion that chapels are filled, and they remain the exception. There must be a reason for this. It has become the more conspicuous, since a spirit of queru- lous scepticism has manifestly declined. Nothing is more marked than an increase of appeal to religions influences on the part of those who seek to promote science and education in their highest as well as most popular spheres. To speak plainly, the fact is that religious ideas have passed beyond the ordinary level of the clergy, whether in or out of the Establishment; and the true church- extension that is wanted in our day depends upon a better under- standing amongst the clergy as to their proper functions—a broader appeal to the intellect and still more to the heart of the public. Those preachers who have caught the spirit of the age, who can illustrate religious truths with the light of science, or en- force social duties with the light of religion, command the atten- tion of the public. If we had more preachers trained in this manner, we should have fewer empty churches. How much, then, depends upon the spirit in which this church-building is under- taken ! If in addition to the 191 new churches consecrated by the present Bishop of the diocese we are to have 191 more duly fitted up with the internal furniture, we shall advance but one step to- wards the real church-extension. If, on the other hand, the pro- moters of the movement are in earnest, and feel the whole power of their opportunity, they may render the pulpit the true auxiliary of education, and station throughout the Metropolis men qualified to teach the multitude how to think and how to live.
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