Welsh Journals

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against disestablishment was doing more harm to the Church than disestablishment itself would do. The anxiety and unrest produced by the continual struggle against the ever present menace; the diversion of energies, which ought to have been devoted to religious work, but were expended on political agitation; the refusal to consider the most pressing reforms for fear of appearing divided in the face of the enemy, were all, in the judgment of the writer, proving most injurious and detrimental NOT having had the opportunity of perusing a full report of the Church Convention held at Cardiff recently, and being moreover an outsider, although a sincere well-wisher to the Epis- copal Church of Wales, it scarcely becomes me to pronounce very definitely upon the present crisis in its history. But I may safely, and do most willingly, assure our brethren in that Church of the hearty sympathy of the Free Churches of Wales, and our honest desire for their continued and increasing success in the Principality. The resolution of our South Wales Association at Aberayron, October 2nd to 4th, only voiced what we generally feel-North and South. There is abundant room for us all to work har- moniously together. We will march separately, but strike unitedly at the powers of darkness in our beloved land. We are led to hope that the holding of the Con- vention, and its decisions, are a proof that Church- men in Wales are now prepared to accept Disestab- lishment as an accomplished fact and that they will ultimately accept the whole Act as it stands, making no further effort to negative the conclusions come to by Imperial Parliament after repeated discussions. It is clearly proved by your contributor, Mr. W. Llewelyn Williams, M.P., in your October issue, that the Church has benefitted largely by the War. Why, therefore, re-open this irritating and painful question of Endowments, etc. ? The soreness of the Disestablishment contro- versy is fast healing; and if our Church friends generally shew the courage that really possesses many of their best men, and frankly accept the con- ditions imposed by Parliament, then indeed, we shall see a happy time in Wales When the boys come home." As a convinced and pronounced Free Churchman of now over 40 years' experience and observation, to the spiritual life of the Church. The writer hopes, like many others, that the Church will now rise to its great vocation as a purely spiritual society, the Body of Christ, based on the holy sacraments, and will approximate more and more to those early Christians in the catacombs of Rome and in" upper chambers in Antioch, who continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in break- ing of bread and in prayers." J. A. Loval-Fraser. I have no doubt that the Episcopal Church has a glorious future in Wales, if it trusts the people, and develops its work upon national and democratic lines. There is great and pressing work to be done in the immediate future within our own borders: National sins to be conquered and driven out, national aspirations to be realised, and a higher spiritual level to be reached. This we cannot hope to accomplish without the hearty co-operation of the Episcopal Church. For it is quite evident that it has a clientele to appeal to which it can more success- fully reach than we Nonconformists (as we were called) dare hope to convince. Speaking generally, the landed gentry, and the great majority of the moneyed classes, are members of their Church. And surely they will rally around their beloved Mother Church, and honourably support it in all its efforts to win the people for Christ They can- not, and will not, suffer their spiritual leaders to lack anything that they can give them. We have trusted our members and in spite of their comparative poverty, nobly have they supported us-as our his- tory amply proves. The richer members of the Episcopal Church in Wales will do so as well-if not better-when the appeal is made to them. We have a great deal to learn from them, especially in giving more prominence to the devotional aspect of our public worship and shall gladly profit by their example in this direction. And they too can learn something from us, by securing a more efficient pulpit power and spon- taneity. Thus, when standing on the same level, and marching shoulder to shoulder, shall we pro- voke one another to good deeds "-as Paul puts it. H. Barrow Williams. Moderator of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist General Assembly..