1924-03-11 — Page 5

Page

DIOCESAN CONFERENCE.

REVIEW OF CHURCH ACTIVITY BY THE BISHOP.

THE HONGKONG DAILY PRESS, TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1994.

WHERE IS THE CHURCH FAILING? INTERESTING ADDRESS BY THE CHAPLAIN TO THE

FORCES.

THE WORLD'S problem."

BIGGIE STARTS.

should like also to see provision made for a small Diocesan Office; and, revert- ing to the matter of personnel, I"should like to see provision nude for a Diocesan Chaplain, who should be attached to the Cathedral staff, act as Domestic Chaplain to the Bishop and visit the outports. I believe that given a man with initiative

there would be real scope for such a worker. I have often thought there is ample room for a third clergyman. at the Cathedral There are all the travellers passing through, all the different groups of people to be kept in touch with, all the pastoral, preaching and Press work which needs to be done. Out bere in the East I believe that, given that cach man has a man's work to do, we should overstaff rather than understaff, because we have to fice all the complications that arise from furlough and sickness, and because in all good work provision must be made for the maintenance of continuity.

I would also like to see the establish-

The Victoria Diocesan Conference was beki yesterday in the Church Hall of This book begins with a paper by the St. John's Cathedral. It was marked by Bishop of Winchester on the Spiritual the presence of many Bishops of the Responsibility of Empire" in which he Church of England from various parts insists that our problem is fundamentally of China who are to concentrate iu Can the problem of the whole world, damely tan for the General Synod of the Church, is it possible to create a world com to be held from the 18th to the 23rd inst. monwealth consisting of many races, The Conference was conducted in two many antions, many degrees of civiliza. sessions, the first from 2.30 pm to 4.30

tion, yet united in a larger loyalty than and the seeund from 3.13 p.m. to 6:45 anything local or regional, subject to 2.2.

2.“ Rusiness matters occupied an hour ope law, keeping, one pesce ""; and in of the first sessiya, the second hour being which he also quotes the words of Walter meat of a Diocesan Endowment Fund devoted to an interesting discussion on

The Lage, the great American Ambassador, which could be invested and the interest "Where is the Church Failing

on the need for a growing comradeship of which could be used for urgent needs second session was principally devoted to

between the members of the Anglo- the address by Bishop Molony on "What

as they arise. I do not consider that a Saxon race East and West. "As the is meant by a Mission of Help! Do we

world stands," Walter Page says, the rich Church

is necessarily a stress need vue in the Far East

United States and Great Britain must Church, but I am sure that proper finan- work together and stand together. The cial provision makes spiritual officiency. thing, the only thing, is a perfect under- standing between the English-speaking And in this Diocese no real provision bas peoples; that is necessary and that is all hitherto been made for central adminis that is necessary. Possibly the words of tration. Walter Page are an exaggerated state- ment, but I think most reasonable people will acknowledge that they are substan tially true, Later in the book there is no article, a very fresh and vivid article, by the Dean of Manchester, Dr. Gough McCormick, on The Englishman in lo- din." As I read this article it seemed to ne that the problem of the Britisher in India was not unlike the problem of the Britisher in Hongkong or China. Father Waggett has an article on "The Intellee- tual Environment; Miss Higson, one The social application of Christian- ity and the Metropolitan of India a very useful article on "The Mission" of Help" in which he speaks of the scope of the Mission, the preparations made, and in which he also pays a warin tribute to the work done by Miss Higson and the other lady missioners.

THE FIRST SESSION. THE BISHOPS ADDRESS. The Conference was opened with a prayer y Bishop Malony and this was followed by an address by the President of the Conference (Bishop Duppy of Victoria The Bishop said

In y we shall enter upou the seventy; fth year of our story as a Diocese and I aft think that all that has happened since Dr. George Smith was consecrated 14 Canterbury Cathedral on May 29th, 1819, srst Bishop of Victoria with the oversight of all the work of the Church of England in China and Japan, is an encouragement to us to persevere in the work committed to us-in spite of tem- porary checks and difficulties.

For since these early days a Church bax gume into being in China, as we arc reminded this week by the presence in our midst of fifteen Bishops, and Dele gates from ten out of the eleven Dioceses which make up the Chung Hua Sheng King Hui. A Church not wholly inde pendent yet, it is fur, lat well on its way towards independence,

And a Church has come intu being in Japan.

on

COLONIAL CHURCH WORK.

There are other articles scarcely less interesting, but I have not time to refer I would commend this to them now. book for the stady of all interested in the problems cf our Colonial life.

And since these early days Hongkong itself has been transformed froni i barren rocky isand, frequented by a few fisher

en and pirates, to what a Secretary of it is decided that there should be a State at the British Imperial Conference in 1923 has described as the largest sca- port in the world.

of

It is rather more than three years since I landed in Hongkong as the sixth Bishop of Victoria and the charges that I have witnessed seem to me to be a presage the yet greater changes that are to be.

it does not fall within my scope to-day to speak in any detail of the work in the Diocese as a whole but rather of the Colonial work. But before 1 proceed to do this I should like to say that, looking for a moment at the work as a whole, there has bees undoubted progress during the past three years.

year

I

I am aware there have been setbacks too: due in part in some cases to the uurest in the country. For instance, in the matter of Confirmations. In my first eonfirmed 320, last year I confirm- ed only 290. In all I have confirmed 850 since y arrival here. In the neighbour ing Diocese of Fukien the confirmation figuros are very much higher, due in no small measure, na I believe, to a consider ably larger staff of workers.

But though there have been setbacks, yet, on the whole, substantial progress as been made. And I would like to put on record here how much we owe to the elefatigable labours of Archdeacon Bar- welt, whose absence on account of ill. Tealth we all so deeply deplore. It is due to his initiative that three of our Church educational institutions have been erected in this Colony, namely St. Stephen's College, St. Stephen's College for Girls, and St. John's Hostel, and again it is due to him that Holy Trinity College has been erreted in Canton

PROGRESS DEÏNG MADH.

tiveness anu

Mission of Help my hope world be that it will mark a real advaner is the effée vitality, intellectually, socially, and spiritually, of our Church in the Far East. I think the time has come for us to reconsider and perhaps reconstruct one of the Colonial Church work.

There are certain special difficulties that must frankly be faced in our Colonial Church life. One is due to the changing population. In three years here I have seen two Vice-Chancellors of the Univer- one Acting Vice-Chancellor; sity and three General Officers Commanding the Troops in the China Command; while of the six ladies who were originally ap- pointed as Diocesan Secretaries of the V.D.A. only uue, Lady Severa, still re- mains in the Colony.

And, now, to come to personnel. Since last this Conference 'ihet two years ago there have been sundry changes,-The Reverenda J. T. Holman, A. J. Stearn, II. S. Bailey, M. W. Shewell, C.F., and

Mr. Denman Fuller baro left Hongkong. Their places have been taken by the Revs. T. B. Powell, R. J. Northcote, C. F., and Mr. Frederick Mason. Our ranks have also been strengthened by the com- ing of the Rev. G. E. Arrowsmith for St. Andrew's, Kowloon, and the Rev. N. A. Feel for the Missions to Seamen.

|

WHERE IS. THE UHURCH FAILING↑

ADDRESS BY THE REV.

NORTHCOTE CF

J.

The Rev. C. J. Northcott, Chaplain of the Forces in Hongkong, inaugurated a discussion on the subject: Where the Church is failing?" He said:

My Lord Bishop, Ladies and Gentle men-at the Committee Meeting when the programme for this conference was drawn up we took some time deciding what we should call this discusIOL. believe in the end we decided on quits a different title to the one we have got. What we want

we wanted Lo talk about was not so ach the much work of the Church at large. or the Mission field, but in view of the Misen of Help which is to be to English to have a discussion on why so many ng people we thought it might be

conarmed people who are baptised and

Church Our Church are not seen again until

for como they

for marriage or burial. Why is it the Church fails to hold them? I shall try in what I have to to keep strictly to the point which is where our particular Church is failing. I shall try, to avoid the adjacent and

tempting problema of where other Churches are fall- ing, or where the people themselves are falling quite apart from the Churches. But it must be remembered there is a sort of relativity in these things and the p spective of one apart from the others in not likely to be accurate,

Before we can discover where the Church is falling we must see exactly where whe ought to de standing According to ber traditions, the Church of England ought to be standing in the mean between thu two Extremes. The two extremes or opposite ways of presenting Christianity are usually known as the Catholic and the Evangelical.

"

THE CATHOLIC PRESENTATION OF

11

CHRISTIANITY,

شین

The outstanding feature of the Catholio prewatation of Christianity is the emphas is laid on the Church and the Sacramenta whole truth, and there is no assurance The Church is represented as holding the salvation outside ter. The duty of those who belong to her ia to believe in her, to put their whole trust in ber, and if they do what the Church tells them the Church guarantees to bring them to the place where they would be. The public worship of the Catholic centres for the most part And while I speak of personnel I should around the Holy Communion. It is the one service ordained by Christ himself, also like to say how much we owe to the work of my Commissaries in England, It is not only the historie but the natural the Rev. H. St. B. Holland (shortly to be meeting place of Christine poopla An installed as Canon, Vicar and Sub-Deanother point stressed by the Catholics is the of Conventry), Canon Lavers Kemp of duty of Sacramental onfession. Through Manchester, the Rev. R. W. Howard of it the Church keeps an eye on the indivi Eton College and the Ror. L. G. Man dual lives and difficulties of her children. nering, M.C., Vicar of St. Matthew's, Brixton.

28 NEW WORKERY

As I look back over the three years I have been here, I find that our ranks have been reinforced in all by twenty eight new workers, six are clergy, two doctors, three nurses, one choirmaster and organist, sixteen lay educationalists (ten being women). Of these twenty eight workers three have left, two on account of ill-health, the third Mr. Bailey for work in the neighbouring Diocese of Kwengsi-Hunga. In a considerable num. ber of cases we owe these new workers to the initiative of my Commissaries in England..

Most of these workers, it is true, are for missionary work, but my firm convie- tion is that as the missionary work is strengthened so it will strengthen the Colonial work and the strengthening of the Colonial work will react on the mis- sionary.work.

U

I expect to be on leave from April till January and during my absence I have asked the Venerable Archdeacon Barnett and the Rev. H. Copley Moyle to act as my Commissaries.

THE FUTURE.

THE OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY IN HONGKONG. Another fact that has to be faced is that "Sunday is undoubtedly looked upon as a general holiday for sport rather than as a day of worship. Young men, and women. too, coming out here ob serve that only minority go to Church; they say little about it, but it affects the

And now as we face the future with all life nevertheless. While I any this I ita boundless possibilities for expansion ought also to say that I do not for a there comes to my mind the figure of that moment consider that the European in intrepid traveller General Pereira press the Far East is less religious than the

ing on and on along the borders of European at home. Then, too, there is Tibet, and as he journeyed there travel a lack of social life in the Church-it mayling out into the Great Beyond. It seems be that this is provided for so amply in"

to ine that if this spirit of hope and pur- other directions that there is not felt to

pose nad uufliuching steadfastness is he a great need for it here. also. I am

given to us we have the chance of doing not clear about this, but of this I am

work here which may well challenge all sure that we ought to endeavour to build

our powers. And, after all, the one basis up a more corporate life and that we can

for all spiritual advance is prayer. No do by team work what can never be advance that is worth anything can come accomplished by purely individual effort."

in any other way. Therefore let us keep the vision and press on. The big man THE WOMEN'S WORK. And in aur Church, as a whole progress I am sure is being made. When I return Thea too I would like to see the needs something big to measure himself to England I do not expect to find things strengthening of our women's work. In against and he will have no quarrel be- where they were four years ago when I a day when there is a woman Secretary cause his task is big. But what he pits was there fast; and if I wore to visit the of State we may well ask ourselves whe against the odds that oppose him is not different countries of the world and ther women and wollciently represented himself but the immeasurable might of examine the Church.life there I am sure in the Executive Councils of the Church God and in quiet confidence he can afford

to be patient and to wait. I should have to say the same: thus For instance, in the case of our own everywhere, in spite of mach apparent Cathedral might there not be established failure and glaring limitations, there is as a brat step a Women's Advisory Coun- life and the development which comes of Iife.

·

I do not think that the situation we have to fact is to be met by any merely static habit of mind. Hope is the true temper of life and we must face our work with hope. It seems to me that the Church of England bas always left room for dévelopment; in its essence it refuses to be static though often it has lagged behind.

..

eill The women of Hongkong are doing much, but I believe that there are avenues of service still open to them and that given the right loadership there would he a due response.

And I would like to take this opportu nity of thanking those laymen who sa generously give their service as members of the different Church bodies and on the governing bodies of our differont educational Institutione Their help

means much.

THE CONSTITUTION. The members of the Conference then considered the proposed constitution and standing orders of the Victoris Diocesan Conference were circulated. stitution was explained by the Rev. IL C. Copley Mayle and its adoption was proposed by Dr. Earle.

The con

"THE EVANGELICAL PRESENTATION.

do

In the Evangelical presentation of Christianity emphasis is laid chiefly on the word of God in the Bible. The Church to the consists of those who have found their salvation in Christ Jesus. They to not see the secessity of the orders of bishops, priests and deacons, and they description

They believe extemporary not encourage forms and ceremonies of any prayer rather than set forms of printed based on God's individual guidance of prayers. A great deal of their faith is the individual soul. Now both the

Catho ic and the Erangolical methods have been and still are pushed to extremes the other side seem ridiculous. They have both at times been so disgusted with euch other that they have been blind to each other's good, and blind to the fact that extreme teaching of any kind has the effect. of making bigots, rather than saints,

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TEX IDEAL OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. The ideal of the Church of England has been to take the middle cours The mead between the two extremes." The middle course is always the best course But it is the one most criticised, the most dangerous, and the most difficult to keep. We may in the main be including all that is good and true on both sides, on the all other hand we may be leaving out that has any meaning on either side. Ta take examples. It is quite posible in our Church to be so indefinite about what the

such

960- entirely differ- Church is, or to teach ent things in our different Churches, that the average person loves the sense of the corporate life of the Church, and

and in consequence does little to support it. In the same way our teaching about the Holy Communion is most paradoxical. We al ways speak of it as the chief service, but more often than not treat

as the least important. We expect always the small. est congregation, and the average person who comes with the multitude on Easter Christmas day has only the haziest idea As for confession,

Wo of its significance. frankly we have been frightened of it. have always beard so much shout its fan- gers that we have not dared to explore its possibilities.

There are those who are glad that the Church of England is not particularly definite about her Sacramental teaching, -butt

During the three years I have been in that concern the welfare and progress of culties philosophy of their time with

holdance at the Evangelical strong. no less disconcerting. For one our regular Church thing very few of our people read the Bible regularly. Perhaps they feel they cannot lay their hands on the Bible swear their sheology on its literal interpretation with at any rate the same conviction, as their grandparenta could. Not that they

doubt

its

the tion. But the discoveries of critics, The meeting went on to consider the

the continual advancement of knowledge. constitution in detail and adopted it with especially with regard to the beginnings slight amendments. The purpose of the of life, have made people realise that those Conference, the standing Orders atte, who wrote the Bible wrote the truth, in- is to take counsel and action in matters deed, but they wrote under the same

of.

the same human limitations, of the the Church of England in the Diocese."

The Bishop of the Diocese is to be the" which men always have been encumbered President and the Conference is to con and always will be ancumbered, in their sint of all clergy of the Church of England efforts to translate what the spirit Bulth resident in the Diocese and, lay repre- into the language of their age,

Thea

Evangelical use of extemporal sentatives of the various churches. The Conference is to meet at least once a prayer which can be so truly beautiful and

Dover

ver found in our publia cera year and elect annually a standing com- helpful, mittee of twelve members.

vices. And a prayer meeting in a Church I have been reading recently, a book

is certainly not a common occurrence. entitled "India and the Church," being lege; a residence for the senior Chaplain names to form the standing committee Again, the experience of conversion, of impressions of the members of the Mis- an In-Patients biock for the hospital at for the ensuing year and these were elect being saved, which Evangelicals make sion of Help. The book is published by Yunnaniu; St. Stephen's Church en-ed as follows Mr. M. E. F.. Airey, Mr. such a point of, and to which they refer the S.P.C.K.

larged; the Chapel at Macab renovated; J. Dyer Ball, Dr. Earle, Mr. W. L. Patin conversation, is a thing we are very What one of the missioners writes is and St. Andrew's Parochial Hall, Kow- tenden, the Een. Mr. H. E. Pollock, Sir shy about. Perhaps we have heard foo that if they had started the Mission with loon, enlarged We are hoping ahertly Claad Severn, Prof. L. Forster, Mrs. often the experience of God battered out the experience they bad gained by the to 269 created new buildings for the Pollock, Lady Severn, the Iler. J. B. Lee, of all meaning by noisy boastings of end of the mission it would have been to Diocesan Boys School, St. Stephen's the Rev. G. H. Lindsay and the Bev, empty-minded men, the great gain of their work.

I College, and St. Paul's Girl' School, FLC. Copley Moyle:

(Continued on page 7).

The main subject that is to occupy us to-day is the consideration of where our Church has failed; and of the question whether we shall plan to have next year, or the year following, a Mission of. Help much as they had in India a year ago.

I am confident that the consideration of such subjects can do nothing but good because a right understanding of a situs- Lion a frst step towards effective pation.

Hongkong the following buildings have been erected' dedicated, or donated :-The Cathedral Hall dedicated soon after my arriva and already proving so great a boon to our work, the Church of Our Saviour, Canton, where we hope also Boon to have a Parochial Hall and House for the Chinese clergyman in charge, a new building for St. Stephen's Girls' College, a new block at St. Paul's Col

Dr. J. H. Sanders proposed twelve

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