THE SERMON PREACHED IN ST MARK'S CHURCH, SHELTON, STOKE-UPON-TRENT, ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5TH, 1875, BY THE RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF ONTARIO. THE SERMON BY THE RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF ONTARIO. "For it seemed good unto the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things."-ACTS xv. 28. WE may with fairness say that these words embody a great principle, because an apostolic one. It is one by means of which the primitive Church settled a serious difficulty that had arisen between two schools of thought in the Church. And the question which was solved by the application of this principle was not a trifling one. It was serious enough to engage the great Apostles St Paul and Barnabas in "discussion and disputation" with converts from the powerful sect of the Pharisees. It became the question of the day. It demanded for its solution a meeting of the first Christian council which decided the subject of controversy on the authority of the Holy Ghost. The council, moreover, perpetuated in a pastoral letter the principle on which their decision was founded-it was this— "For it seemed good unto the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things. There are dissensions and disputations in the Church of England as well as formerly in the Church of Antioch, and he would be a daring controversialist who would deny that the principle which decided a great strife in the one Church, should not be applied for the same end in the other. But while the authority of this principle will be admitted, we shrink from the application of it, though thoughtful men have ever seen the reasonableness of it, and have enshrined it in the maxim, "In necessariis meritas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus charitas." Still it is a hard lesson that is taught us by the Holy Ghost and the Apostles. May this Congress do something towards rallying the Church around this great standard principle, which more than anything else will help to solve burning questions, make the Church of England "rejoice for the consolation," and prove the only sure basis on which "the Church of England and the Churches in communion with her may be drawn more closely together." It is for these reasons that I invite your attention to this cardinal point; for though it is no easy task to select a subject, suitable to an inaugural service at a Congress of brethren representing every shade of opinion, and drawn together by the earnestuess which like a fire burns within them till at last they speak with their tongue; yet I take it, that I cannot be mistaken if I dwell on the first subject for discussion as printed in the "Table of Meetings." It was not by accident that the first subject chosen is, Increased unity in the Church as a desirable object, and how it may be attained. Without detracting from the importance of the other topics to be discussed, let me say that the first in order is, beyond all comparison, the first in the solemnity of its importance. Other subjects that will occupy attention are comparatively of local interest, this is of world-wide interest. It does not deal with the Church in England alone, nor yet with the Church of England alone, but with the whole Anglican Communion throughout the world. The progress of events is making this great subject still greater. Let it not be supposed that I exaggerate the urgent necessity of giving it our thoughts and prayers, because my work for Christ and the Church has been for twenty-six years carried on in a colony and not in the mother country. The fact is, exaggeration is impossible. We do not (thank God) live in a day when the historian's sneer is deserved. The Church of England is not now "as local an institution as the Court of Common Pleas." On the contrary, we live in a day when the English Church is being planted widely and deep in foreign soils, when emigration and love of adventure, steam and telegraphs are at work to spread abroad the language and traditions of Britain. Any moment may introduce us to discoveries which may throw past inventions into the shade, and still further facilitate the spread of our religion. It is therefore the part of prudence to anticipate and provide for a possible future when the Church abroad shall outnumber the Church at home, and take counsel "how they may be drawn more closely together," now when the Mother Church not only outnumbers those in communion with her abroad, but sur passes them in theological learning and a more extensive experience; now, when the children abroad are willing to defer to that learning and experience of the Church at home. The time may come when, through a self-reliant spirit akin to pride, branches of the Anglican Communion may become in some instances dissociated from the Parent Church, or disintegrated themselves-but whether this shall happen or not, depends largely on the exercise of a wise foresight by the Church in the present day. How the Church of England and those churches in communion with her, may be more closely drawn together is, however, but a branch of a much wider subject, the unity of the Church universal. Hence again its great importance. In order to the unity of the whole, we must have a beginning in the component parts. The various branches of the Church must become habituated to the idea of unity, its blessings and its privileges; and a yearning after this unity is an evident and a prevailing feature in every department of Christianity. However varied, and however hopeless, the schemes for producing unity may be, the prayer that it may be effected is almost universal. It was a solemn topic of discussion when, for the first time, the Bishops of the Anglican Communion met for counsel together at the Lambeth Conference. The three great sections of Canadian Presbyterianism have lately been united in one body, and a Pan-Presbyterian Conference has been engaged in the effort of drawing more closely together all the Presbyterian communities throughout the world. The depth of meaning in the Saviour's words, "That they may be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me," is being more and more fathomed, so that the religious instinct of our times is ready to pronounce an anathema on the founders of a new sect. This is indeed an era of strivings after amalgamation on the part of religious organisations, of delegations conveying fraternal greetings from Christians of one continent to those of another. It was the earnestness of a desire for closer union and intercourse, that gave such heartiness to the welcome extended by the American Church to the Bishop of this diocese, representing, as he did, both the English and colonial churches. Now it is our duty not only to ask, but also to answer the question, How is this craving after unity to be met and satisfied? How is this aspiration, springing from the conviction that if ever the world is to be brought to believe that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, unity must prevail, how is this aspiration B |