The War and Unity | Page 7

But
we ought not any of us to regard means, however they may commend
themselves to us, and however sacred and dear their associations may
be, in the same way as we do the end. There must always be the
question, which will present itself in a different light to different minds,
whether particular means, even though men may have been led by the
Holy Spirit to employ them, were intended for all time. Moreover there
are points in regard to the earliest history of Church organisation which
remain obscure, in spite of all the labour that has been expended in
investigating them: for instance the exact relation of different ministries,

of the functions of different officers, to one another, the exact moment
when the orders of ministers which proved to be permanent appeared in
this or that important Church, the part which any of the immediate
disciples of Christ had in their establishment, the ideas which at first
were held as to the dependence of the rites of the Church for their
validity upon being performed by a lawful ministry. Upon these matters,
or some of them, it is possible for honest and competent inquirers to
hold different opinions. But no such doubt hangs over that End which
was also the Beginning, of the Church's life, that conception of what
she is, or ought to be, as the society of those who confess the Name of
Jesus Christ, and who are His Body. I insist upon this because I think
that amid discussions on the origin of the Christian Ministry, the
significance of that more fundamental question, namely, the right
conception of the Christian Church, is apt to be too much lost sight of.
About this, though men still do not, they ought to be able to agree, and
it should be our common inspiration, both impelling us and guiding us
in seeking our goal.
We need it to impel us. The obstacles to the reunion of Christendom at
the present day are such that a motive which can be found is required to
induce and sustain action in seeking it, whenever and wherever the
opportunity for doing so presents itself; such a motive is to be found in
a deep conviction of the sacredness of this object, so that our eyes
maybe kept fixed upon it even when there appears to be no opening
through which an advance toward it can be made, and there is nothing
to be done save to wait and watch and pray. But in order also that the
result of any efforts that are made may be satisfactory, it is necessary
that our minds should be under the guidance of a great and true idea,
and that we should not simply be animated with the desire of meeting
immediate needs. These are the reasons which I think justify me for
having detained you so long over the consideration of the fundamental
conception of the Church which is rooted in the Christian Faith itself as
it first appeared and spread in the world.
I will now, however, before concluding make a few remarks on one
part of the complicated problem of reunion facing us to-day. The part
of it on which I desire to speak is the relations between the Church of

England, and the Churches in communion with her in various parts of
the British Empire and in the United States, on the one hand, and on the
other English Nonconformists, the Presbyterians of Scotland, and all
English-speaking Christians allied to or resembling these. It will, I
think, be generally felt that this is a part of the subject which for more
than one reason specially invites our attention. There are, indeed, some,
both clergy and laity, of the Church of England, though they are but a
very small number in comparison with its members as a whole, whose
interest in the subject of the reunion of Christendom is mainly shewn in
the desire to obtain recognition for the Church of England, as a portion
of the Church Catholic, from the great Church of the West. But in view
of the attitude maintained by that Church there appears to be no
prospect of this and nothing to be gained by attempts at negotiation.
Endeavours to establish intercommunion with the Churches of Eastern
Christendom may be made with more hope of success. Indeed there is
reason to think that in the years to come the Church of England may be
in a specially favourable position for getting into touch with these
Churches and assisting them to recover from the effects of the War, and
to make progress; and Englishmen generally would, I am sure, rejoice
that she should undertake such work. But the question of the duty to
one another of all those bodies of English