MEMBERSHIP IN THE NATIONAL CHURCH. [To TRH EDITOR Or TUE
" SpRcrArotc."] SIB,—I think your readers may like to see the following Dialogue on membership in the Church, which I have published in the Seaford Parish 24.1agazine.—I am, Sir, &e.,
"MEMBERSHIP IN CHRIST'S CHURCH AND IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
Q. WHIM, WICE1111, How, AND ON WHAT GROUNDS Was I admitted to the rights and privileges of membership in the Church of England? A. In my Infancy, at the Font, by Holy Baptism, and on the -ground that Christian parents there duly acknowledged me to belong to Christ, applied for my admission on to the Church Roll, and brought with them such additional guarantee for my Christian training (in the shape of sponsors} which our English law requires. Q. WHEN Waenn, AND How did I myself acknowledge and publicly take upon myself (as in Adult Baptism) the responsibilities which belong to and are inherent in such membership, owning myself in duty bound to live up to my privileges as a member of Christ's Church P A. At my Confirmation, when I applied for enrolment on the Active Service List in the Church : by the ancient form whereby in our English Church the Chief Pastors ordain, appoint and commission those sent forward to the front of the Church's far- flung battle-fine; by open acknowledgment of my duty on my part: by Prayer for my equipment for Service by a special anointing of the Holy Spirit), and by 'Laying on of Hands' on their part. Q. Does my membership depend on, or vary with, the amount of strict conformity which I keep up to the rules and regulations for public worship promulgated by the National Church authorities P
A. Certainly not. In the realm and empire of England every man has long been free to worship God according to his own con- science, and no attempt is now made to enforce any compliance in, or attendance at, any prescribed forms of worship. Q. Are any advantages attached to Conformity P
A. Indeed there are. Owing to the pious endowments of our forefathers every child born in England comes into a noble spiritual inheritance. Every village has its ancient House of Prayer and its resident Christian Minister freely provided by ancient endowment (just as in some places a Grammar School, public park, library, or alms- houses) for the free use of the people.
Q. Under what conditions are these freely provided privileges administered, until altered or varied by the will of the nation P
A. Those at present in force and established by national authority are to be found in the Book of Common Prayer. The trustees of the spiritual privileges are the Incumbents; of the material, the Churchwardens. Q. Has not the time come for meeting the ever changing needs, wishes, and tastes of the people in the matter of Church Services, so that they may be duly valued and used by a larger propor- tion of the people P
A. it has. The simplification, the enrichment and revision of the Services, and of the rules and rubrics—many of which have become obsolete—is now being carried on by the direction of the Sovereign. Q. What instances can you give of obsolete rubrics?
A. There are many even in the Holy Communion Service, For example : we no longer require names of Communicants to be sent in beforehand for scrutiny as to their fitness: nor do we move the Table of the Lord into the body of the Church (or the middle of the Chancel) for the Lord's Supper, as the law requires. We use bags instead of a decent basin. We omit the long exhorta- tions, ordered to be used at the close of the Sermon or as introductory to the Rite. Q. If we all thus fail to conform to many Church rules not yet altered by law, what amount of non-conformity constitutes a Non-conformist P A. F,or practical purposes those who profess and call themselves Non-conformists are those who not only neglect the established and provided Services held under national authority at their Parish Church but attend, by preference, other forms of public worship provided by some separatist section of the Church to which they belong. Such people find these more helpful and edifying, at any rate, until the National Church makes better provision for their special needs and wishes.
Q. Have those who generally worship God in Chapel rather than Church lost any of their rights or privileges, as members of the Church, by so doing P
A. No. Attendance or non-attendance at the Church Services is a matter of personal choice. It is always in their power (as with those who 'go nowhere') to return to their MoCher Church 1
and many of them when away from home make a practice of doing so, and value the privilege very highly. Q. Was the rubric at the close of the Confirmation Service aimed at such people ? A. Certainly not, any more than its opening words were intended to make the Service inapplicable to them. Such an interpretation is an anachronism. Until thirty years ago no one thought of so applying it. When it was first attempted, the lead- ing High Churchmen of the day—Archbishops Benson and Maclagan, Bishops Creighton, Stubbs, and Wordsworth—rejected such an interpretation. To use the rubric so is to misuse it, in defiance both of its original intention and its traditional inter- pretation. Q. Does Baptism admit only to such portion of the Church of Christ as is served by him who administers the rite ?
A. No. Our Church does not ro-baptise one who has been duly admitted into the Church by a Priest or Minister of some other Communion.
Q. Putting aside all questions of outward organisation, who are very members incorporate in the mystical body of Christ,' and constitute the (so-called) invisible Church ? A. "rho blessed company of all faithful people,'—all who are united to the True Vine by faith."
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