'■'^^;|n^^El ^3^. JP^^^Jrf>^~ / 1^ »» S^ '.^ 1 Tf^; V .u >»^ /. " J^t^W^- ^BB^ii^P o S(^~' ^^•w^ ^^ ■ ''Jf '■^Wt^s'^^ji L_^rm jt^LjBP" '■- -•• M.y5 !; ^ ^^^^^^k^V^fi i:-UMH^ ' i^ln^^VS^^S ^\^ L I B R.ARY OF THL U N IVLRSITY or 1 LLI NOIS ^> i^V',".' ■>'.,'*►'.-'>'. i,"^ ;• •-.'<'. '•:. i'^;!!/..': ' u SOME WANTS OF THE CHURCH ^t f^ome anti ^broati WITH SUGGESTIONS HOW TO SUPPLY THEM BY RICHARD FOSTER " The Church has an enormous work before her .... and the laity (for they are just as much a part of the Church as the clergy) have their share in this great undertaking. .... It is by working in conjunction with the clergy, by working all together, by real, genuine unity, it is in this way, and in this way only, that we can win the great battle before us." From Lord Cranbrook's Speech at the Leeds Church Institute, 9th Nov., i88o. RIVINGTONS WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON ©):(orU anU Cambritise MDCCCLXXXI SOME WANTS OF THE CHURCH at ©ome auD abroali I OFFER the following pages to the earnest con- sideration of my fellow-countrymen and fellow- Churchmen, because I am painfully persuaded that a great portion of our pojDulation is so deplorably '^dthout the means and ministrations of grace that, unless pow^erful efforts be immediately made, on a vast scale, and at the same time with much minute- ness of adaptation, to bring the reclaiming agency of the Church into wider operation, consequences most lamentable to souls and to society must ensue. A great and terrible fact meets our eyes at every turn, and it is this, — that, in all our densest centres of population, by far the greater portion of the people are as yet unreached by the working machinery of the Church, and for want of it are, in too many cases, living a life of utter godless- ness. I do not say that much Church influence is not most beneficially exerted ; on the contrary, I know that it is ; but at the same time I say that A 2 4 Some Wants of the Church in many of our great cities and towns the evan- gelizing work of the Church is not half done, and, further, that it never can be fully done with our pre- sent means. There are not sufficient churches ; there are not sufficient clergy ; nor is there such organiza- tion of lay service as might advantageously supple- ment the higher ministrations of the priesthood. Feeling this, I wish to show, approximately, the nature and extent of the want ; to indicate how it may be supplied ; and to make an earnest appeal to the laity to do their bounclen share in the entire removal of this great reproach. A single glance at the condition of "poorer London " will show how grievous is the need of a great evangelizing effort to save toiling thousands from practical heathenism, and to lift them up and refine them by the influences of the Christian religion. The truth is, that centralization creates religious as well as sanitary difficulties ; and while self- preservation compels us to grapple with the latter, a culpable callousness makes us indifferent to the former, and we fail to be as shocked as we ought to be at the frightful ignorance and indifference, as regards religion, which unhappily abound in many of our closely-packed urban and suburban popula- tions. A few facts drawn from very patent sources will fully show the gravity of the situation, and the urgent need of dealing with it at once, and upon some definite system. At Home and Abroad. 5 One cannot Liit feel the wonderful cliano-(\«^ tliat have taken place within the short period of fifty years. The general introduction of railways, tele- graphs, and ocean-going steamers is altering greatlv the conditions under which we live. These and other causes have had the effect of drawdnor large and ever-increasing multitudes from many of our small country towns and \dllages into the great centres of industry. For example, ''Greater London" (which includes such portions of Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, and Herts as are within twelve miles of Charing Cross) had, in 1831, a j)opulation of about 2,000,000 ; but now it is estimated at 4,500,000 ; i.e. an increase in fifty years of about 125 per cent. London keeps on growing in all directions. Travel by what line of railway we will, there are acres of houses and miles of streets where but the other day were fields and country lanes. That we may realize this the better, let us consider Totten- ham, in Middlesex, which fifty years ago had a population under 6000. Eecently, the medical officer to the Board of Health reported that " from February, 1875, to February, 1880, plans had been approved for 15,500 houses ; and if these are occu- pied as ordinarily computed, the population of the parish ^ill exceed 140,000, almost entirely persons of small means. A later Eeturn increases the number of houses by 2703, making a total pro- spective population of 180,000 ! 6 Some Wants of the C/mrc/i West Ham, in the diocese of St. Albans, and in that part of Essex which has been well described as "London over the Border," is another instance. Fifty years ago it had less than 10,000 inhabitants. Now it has 144,000, and houses in large numbers are being rapidly built. In this parish the Victoria and Albert Docks are situated, and here persons engaged in them, and others employed in the great gas works at Beckton, and in the various industries that abound along the banks of the Thames, have, with their families, taken up their abode, many of their houses being built on what, until the last few years, was marsh land, affording only pasturage for cattle. Of many other parishes similar statistics could be given. I speak more particularly of London, being better acquainted with it than with the provinces, where, however, like increases of popu- lation are daily taking place. ^ It is a momentous question. What is being done for the souls of these people '? The Church is put in trust with those souls ; to what extent is that trust fulfilled ? Does the Church follow this popu- lation, planting herself in its midst, and calling all classes to the Water of Life ? As new houses are built for the residence of men, are new temples raised for the worship of God ? I do not ask whether this is not done to some extent. Of course *• See statistics furnished in Appendix I. At Home and Abroad. J it is ; but is the Church carried to the people when and where it is wanted ? In short, is the Church extending in proportion to the population? I thankfully acknowledge that a great deal has been done to spread the knowledge of Christ among the multitudes that abound on every side of us ; and I cannot shut my eyes to the great and noble exertions that have been made by different non- conforming bodies; but, after all, one must feel how totally inadequate it all is to the religious necessities of the situation. Our Lord, when He saw the multitudes (we read),was moved with compassion because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd ; and said to His dis- ciples, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth labourers into His harvest." Oh, how I wish that the thousands of rich and well-to-do Christians who look with such stolid disregard upon the thronging multi- tudes around us, would but catch some of their Divine Master's compassion, and be moved to labour and prayer for them, as the Lord com- manded ! For what He said eighteen hundred years ago is specially applicable to our England of to-day. I have mentioned as examples the two parishes of Tottenham and West Ham. Let us consider these. Tottenham, vnX\\ an expected population of 8 Some Wants of the Church 180,000, has five parish churches and one iron mission church, affording in all accommodation for about 4000 worshippers ; and there are nine clergymen. West Ham, with its present population of 144,000, has twelve parish churches and eight mission rooms ; and there are thirty-one clergymen. Altogether the Church has provided accommoda- tion for 13,000 worshippers. Compare now the Church accommodation of these two parishes with what it ought to be. The Committee of the House of Lords on Spiritual Destitution (1858) considered that, after allowance for the provision made by the Nonconformist bodies for their own people, and taking into account the fact that only a certain proportion of the population can attend divine worship at one time, the Church of England ought to provide in these densely- peopled places for one-fourth of the inhabitants. On this calculation, Tottenham ought to have church accommodation for 45,000 persons. But at present there is room for only 4,000, leaving a deficit therefore of 41,000 seats. In other words, Tottenham requires forty-one new churches, holding 1,000 persons each ! ^ By the same rule, twenty- three additional churches with 1,000 sittings should * If this seems a large estimate for the prospective population of Tottenham, let the reader reflect that Bristol ten years ago had a population not much larger, for which forty-four churches have been provided. At Home a7id Ab^'oad, 9 be provided for the parish of West Ham. At pre- sent it has one ecclesiastical district of 20,000 people, another of 18,800, another of 16,000, another of 15,000, another of 14,200, and so on ; each district under one vicar, aided by one or two (and in one case by three) assistant- curates. Now it is manifest that it is simply impossible within any short j)eriod to build either forty-one new churches at Tottenham, or twenty-three at West Ham. If they were built they would not be filled ; the people would have to be won to them, which would be a work of time. And so we are forced to the terrible conclusion that the great majority of these thousands of people will never become worshippers at our Church Services at all, but will live and die without the blessed ministries of grace which the Church ought to carry to their very doors. In fact, one generation must die without the Church, while the next in succession is being gathered into it. This is very awful, but it is very true ; and it is one of the facts that should move the pity, and kindle the zeal, and stimulate the self-denial, of all who know the preciousness of Church communion, and of its abounding sources of grace. But if we cannot do all that is wanted, at least let us do all we can. If we cannot build these sixty-four churches in these two typical parishes, we can plant sixty-four centres of Church action ro So77ie Wants of the Church by way of beginning. We can mark the spots where churches ought to be ; we can enter into treaty for sites to be reserved, and either given or covenanted to be sold. We can provide a number of earnest curates, who will each take charge of three or four of these centres, and begin by holding services in any room, however humble, that can be got, and by preaching out of doors. If they will do this well and regularly for a time, the people will soon find some temporary premises, which can be licensed for Divine Service, as a first step in Church order. At each of these centres there should be a band of laymen to visit the people, to read the Scriptures, to serve in choirs, to conduct Sunday classes, and, under proper sanction, to hold services. By such beginnings the seed would be sown. It would not be long before some of it sprang up, and in the end a joyful harvest would be reaped. In fact the field must be treated as a missionary settlement, and be missionized in the fullest sense of that word. There need not be a doubt that if a work of that kind were started on a great scale, and well backed by funds to meet the first difficulties, it would attract immense sympathy. Earnest young men, candidates for the ministry, would be glad to go and work in aid of the experiment, and many who could not do that would give their money and their prayers. Turning from these two overgrown parishes, and At Home and Abroad. ii taking into our consideration the whole of ''Greater London," we come upon an estimated population of about four millions and a half. It embraces the entire diocese of London, and portions of Canter- bury, Kochester, and St. Albans dioceses. After making allowance for the accommodation for public worship provided by all the Nonconformist bodies put together, it is estimated that there is a defi- ciency of accommodation for 500,000 worshippers ; and probably in all England and Wales the defi- ciency of church accommodation is not less than 1,500,000 sittings, our towns of modern growth being usually badly supplied with places of wor- ship, especially the parts inhabited by the wage- earning classes. "^ It may be said that if this accommodation were provided it would not be used. I fear that this re- mark would be true to a certain extent ; but it only shows how much preliminary work has to be done to make those who are living in neglect of divine worship feel how much they lose. To do this we want the "living voice," men of the right sort to stir the people with a sense of their duties towards God and their fellow-men. In our rural parishes, and in some of our well-to-do large town parishes, the clergy are, as regards numbers, equal to their work. It is in our overgrown suburban parishes that we want more labourers. If we had these * See Appendix, Mr. Procter's Letter. 12 Some Wants of the Church we sliould soon find the people asking for more places of public worship, and cheerfully responding to the call of the gospel. And is it not incumbent on us Englishmen, in return for the material prosperity with which God has so wonderfully blessed this nation, to make every effort to Christianize our fellow-countrymen'? The call upon us is urgent, if only for our own sake. Every day some great crime startles us from our feeling of security. If the National Church is unequal to the work it has to do, what will become of the Crown ? what of the landed proprietors ? what of our lives and property ? But, putting aside all selfish motives, it is our plain duty as Christian men and women to do all in our power to bring our fellow-countrymen to the knowledge of the gospel. For some good reason the Almighty wills that the Anglo-Saxon race should increase so wonderfully that it not only fills our own country to overflowing, but peoples to a great extent our colonies in every part of the world, besides sending large numbers to the United States of America and elsewhere. How important it is that the multitudes who leave our shores, because the country is too strait for them, should take the gospel with them, and by their example and precept teach those among whom their lot is cast the truths of our holy religion ! If we neglect our duty, can we expect God's At Ho7ne and Abroad. 13 blessing? If the true faith be not fully and faith- fully taught, this growth of large population will prove a curse rather than a blessing. For I can imagine nothing more dangerous than to allow millions of men, women, and children to live out- side the sanctifying influence of the Church. As we approach old age, we cannot but look forward to the time when our children shall occupy our places ; and what serious Christian man is there among us who does not desire that God should bless this country, and the Church of this country, in the future as He has blessed both in the past, so that our children may enjoy the freedom and the re- ligion that have been our own happy lot \ It is noAv, at this very moment, that a great effort must be made by the Church of England to extend her work and influence ; and I desire to appeal very earnestly to the wealthy and well-to-do Churchmen and Churchwomen of England to make this oreat effort, and by a well-considered and united exertion to put the Church in a jjosition to cope with the enormous populations of our large cities and centres of industry. In making this effort, be it remem- bered that there is not only existing work to be better supported, but there is new work to be set going : and for these we need men, money, and God's blessing. Our difficulty as to men arises from our inability to pay them. Eventually, no doubt, their congre- gations could supply them with food and raiment ; 14 Some Wants of the Church but at first they must be missionaries supported a6 extra. They will in most instances necessarily be devoted unmarried men, working as missioners under the direction of the incumbent of the parish. Many of them will become incumbents of their districts in due time, but they must begin as curates paid out of a special fund raised for their work. Dr. Liddon, in a letter that has been published, writes : "Humanly speaking, the future of the Church will be decided in our great centres of population." It would be well if young men of well-to-do families could realize the blessedness of a few years of such work in the dark places of our large towns, and if their parents and friends would rather encourage them than otherwise so to devote themselves. I have above spoken of the clergy, but how little can they do without a good body of earnest laymen to back them up ! How much may the laity do in Sunday-schools and night-schools, and in visiting among the poor, in taking part in choirs, and in many other ways ! And what an encouragement it is to the clergy to feel that they have a body of earnest laymen to take counsel with ! I thank God that many men and women are now so devoting them- selves. It is one of the hopeful signs of the times, but many more would be welcomed by the clergy, who, I have no doubt, would be able to find useful employment for those who are willing and able to work. I have had in my mind the desirableness of At Home and Abroad, 15 opening a home, where single men engaged in the city, whose friends reside at a distance, might live, and where they might be instructed in some useful w^ork for the Church to occupy some of their leisure time. I know of a house with good grounds, swimming bath, &c., that might be pur- chased for such an object on moderate terms. It is within half an hour of the city, with trains every fifteen minutes throughout the day. If any Churchman would like to co-operate in carrying out this idea, I shall be glad if he will communi- cate with me. Having considered the want of suitable men, let us turn our attention for a few minutes to the subject of funds. We are told frequently that men of good position in society are much straitened, that it is as much as they can do to live within their income, &c. &c., and yet we see wills constantly proved for large amounts. We also see persons taking foreign travel for lengthened periods for their amusement ; we hear of expensive dresses and jewels, of luxurious entertainments of various kinds, of costly furniture, carriages and horses, and establishments to match. All these things make one incredulous about the badness of the times, so far as this class of persons is concerned : indeed, one cannot help feeling that with the enormous growth of population there has come a correspond- ing increase of wealth, so that God's bounty has really placed within the power of many of us the 1 6 Some Wants of the CImrch means of effecting the very results which we believe He desires. What we ivant is an awakened sense of responsibility in those who have been en- riched. Unless there be this awakening, England's material prosperity will prove a snare instead of a blessing to her. It is not suggested that the things I have named are wrong ; but it does appear very wrong that persons should spend all, or almost all, that God has given them on their own pleasure. Does not God expect a portion to be given back to Him as thank-offerings and free-will offerings ? He does expect it. I am almost inclined to say, as a rule, a tenth ; but it is impossible to fix a standard for each individual. A man with an income of £10,000 a year can well afford to give a larger pro- portion of it than one with £1000, supposing their families are of the same size, and there are no special circumstances in either case. Again, a man with £500 a year without family claims is better off than another with a larger income who has a number of children to educate, and perhaps some poor relations to help. What I would beg each earnest man to consider is this : What is it my duty to give to God and His poor ? and then to act up to what his conscience tells him he should do. I make this remark because I feel that charitable gifts to God's Church and His poor should not be limited to contributions made after " stirring sermons," or from the excitement of a "fancy bazaar," or of a ''ball;" but should be At Ho77ie and Abroad. 17 made upon a system solemnly as in the sight of our heavenly Father, who has given us, His children, all that we possess. If one man feels that he can- not, in justice to his family, give a tenth of his income, others ^dll find that they can give more ; some, perhajDs, a fifth ; and some even more. A prudent shipowner or merchant, before sending his vessel or his wares to distant parts, expends a considerable sum in efi'ecting an insurance to cover the perils of the sea and of ^^. To put the matter on the lowest ground, I ask, Is it not wiser and better that we should lay out a considerable portion of our income in an endeavour to make safe (^dth God's blessing) our native country ? And is it not wiser and better for us to leave our families smaller fortunes, \s\\h the Church in a condition to do her work thoroughly, rather than larger ones, with multitudes around us unleavened by religion ? I cannot help feeling, that unless our feUow- countrymen are thoroughly Christian- ized, our children, or our children's children, run the risk of having sad times in the future, even if we ourselves escape them. Let us who are blessed with this world's goods realize our responsibilities, and determine if we ought not to deny ourselves many gratifications for the good of our native land, and for the sake of those who will inhabit it when we are gone. Let us make up our minds, and then act at once. One person may feel called on to build a church. He will 1 8 Some Wa7its of the Church easily find some dark spot where one is wanted. Perhaps one may be required in a place with which he is, or has been, connected by residence, by owning property, or, it may be, where his work- people live, or where the trades that have made his fortune, or that add to his yearly income, are carried on. It is very pleasant for a man to take up, either solely or in conjunction with others, some definite work. It gives a great interest to him to feel that such a church and such a congregation came into existence through the means or the in- fluence with which God had endowed him. His prayers will ascend to the throne of grace for that church, and for its minister and congregation ! A landowner, whose property is becoming building land, ought, before selling it or letting it on a building lease, to build a church, parsonage, &c., for the people that are about to live on the estate ; or, at all events, he ought to devote a site for those objects. In cases w^here owners of property are unwilling to do this, special efi"ort must be made by Christian men and women to buy sites for churches, mission rooms, &c., where they are wanted, before the land is disposed of to the builder. Others may feel a call to help the Church's usefulness by inducing a number to combine to accomplish what one cannot do alone. Others may be disposed to raise funds for the Ksupport of Church day-schools, and for erecting At IIovic and Abroad. 19 additional school accommodation where needed. I have had some experience in school matters, and I must say that the religious instruction given in the Board schools is unsatisfactory to a Churchman ; and that the care of the young assistant-teachers and of the pupil teachers is anything but what it should be. The members of the Board have too much to do to look after indi^ddual schools ; these are left to local managers, who rarely take any deep interest in them or in the teachers. The super- vision of the parish clergyman must not be dis- pensed with in our elementary schools, especially in the matter of the religious instruction given to the pupil teachers, who in a few years will take their place as head teachers of our Church schools and Board schools. I would say very earnestly, By all means keep up our Church schools where it is possible to do so. Before concluding my remarks on gifts of money, let me add that it appears to me that our first duty is to the parishes in which we dwell, and in which our trades or our land are situated, or in which our clerks and workpeople live. Then we should look beyond our parishes to the wants of the diocese, or dioceses, ^ith which we are connected ; and then we should consider the claims of the whole Church at home and abroad. If we have any difficulty in making up our minds what to do, let us ask the Bishop of the diocese in which we reside or with which we are connected, or the committee of the B 2 20 Soine Wants of the Chtirch Diocesan Society. For the diocese of London there is the Bishop of London's Fund ; and for that por- tion of East London which is in the diocese of London there is the East London Church Fund, administered by the Bishop of Bedford and his council. For the diocese of Eochester, there is the Eochester Diocesan Society; for that of St. Albans, the Bishop of St. Albans' Fund ; and almost every diocese has its fund under some designation or other. I may be told that I, a layman, have said already too much on the foregoing subjects ; but some of the lessons I have been taught by laymen have had a great effect on my mind, so I hope that my words may have some influence on others. It is now many years ago that my dear friend, Eobert Brett, wrote a book with the title. Reflec- tions^ Meditations, and Prayers on the Most Holy Life and Sacred Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The preface contains a passage that has often recurred to my memory, and I give it in the appendix. One day I was in the office of a well-known city man who has now gone to his rest. He spoke to me as follows : " When I came first to business I went into a banking-house as clerk at a salary of £40 a year. I resolved when I received it to devote one-tenth to God, and I have continued to do so all through life." My good old friend, who At Home and Abroad. 21 was about eighty years of age when he gave me privately, and in all humility, this account of his early resolution, added, " I have never had reason to regret it." My impression is, that when he became wealthy he did not limit his gifts to a tenth of his income. If I have at nil succeeded in })roving that the times we are living in are serious ; if I have at all succeeded in pointing out that the harvest of souls is plenteous, but that additional labourers of the right sort are wanted to gather it in, and that large gifts of money are required for the pay of those labourers, then let us earnestly consider their claims, and pray fervently for an abundant outpouring of God's grace upon the people of this great nation, and upon the Church of this great nation, that they may rise to the occasion. But let prayer be followed up by action. Let definite work be undertaken, and let bishops, clergy, and laity labour at it, and stir one another up con- tinually till it is completed. And let not the present state of Church opinion hinder this work. Surely it is time that disputes between Churchmen of one school and those of another school should cease, and that all earnest men should unite to fight against sin, and ignorance, and indifference. Here is work for all, of whatever school of thought they may be. We must pray as well as laljour. The gos])eLs 22 Some Wants of the CIm7'ch tell us that our blessed Lord directed His dis- ciples to pray those words which we call the " Lord's Prayer ; " and that at another time He told them that the harvest truly was plenteous, but that the labourers were few ; and He directed them to pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into His harvest. The Lord's Prayer is constantly used in our public services and in our private devotions, and it contains the prayer, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done ; " but does not our Lord's command to pray that more labourers may be sent to gather in the harvest require from His Church a special prayer for that object \ and should not that prayer form part of our Church service to be used whenever we meet for public worship ? The rulers of our Church have not been silent, nor have they sought by their utterances to ex- aggerate or undervalue the gravity of the present crisis. The Archbishop of Canterbury spoke thus to a London congregation : "Who that lives in this metropolis does not know that a great danger of the age is the separation that exists between rich and poor^ Who does not know that the marvellous increase of population which has taken place in London, and which has made the bounds of the metropolis now to contain four millions of human souls, has rendered the difficulty of bringing rich and poor together greater than it ever was before] The rich fly to the pleasant suburbs, or enjoy the princely squares j the poor, pushed from their old habitations At Home and Abroad. 23 in our midst, move off to suburbs of their own. How im- portant that we should impress upon our minds that we are all one in the Saviour, and that this oneness can only be practically maintained by some vigorous efforts on our part to overcome the difficulties which separate us from one another! The poor j^cirii^hes must he assisted hy those ivho are better off" The follomng emphatic language was also lately used by the Bishop of Peterborough : " The one great object of our time, before which all others fade into insignificance, is this : Eound about church and chapel, impartially indifferent, or impartially hostile to both, he the masses of our great town population .... for ^vhom life has no higher, no better meaning than that of a daily struggle for the means of a joyless existence, uncheered by the hope of a happier hereafter, undignified by the consciousness of divine descent and heirship of immortaUty. What can the Church of England do for these? these masses on Avhom, in their fast- growing might, some are looking with timid fear and others with sinister expectation ; but on whom the Church should look only with yearning and affectionate desire, as her truest wealth and her most precious Catholic heritage — this tangled, trodden, earth-soiled harvest into which the Lord has sent her to toil and reap. Can she gather this *? Can she so enlarge her barns as that they shall hold this ] " My reply is, Yes, if Churchmen will be faithful to their duty. It is to stir them up to duty that I have put together these plain, earnest, and heartfelt words, which, in the hope of some good result, I humbly commend to the conscience of my readers, and the blessing of Almighty God HoMEWooD, Chislehurst, January , 1881. APPENDIX I. The following letter, from the Rev. J. M. Procter, the Secretary of the Bishop of St. Albans' Fund, contains statistics which are important in the consideration of the subject before us : "Basildon Eectory, Eillericay, " Essex, December J^th, 1880. "Dear Mr. Poster, " When you showed me the proof of your pamphlet on the Wants of the Church, you mentioned that it was your wish to add to it an Appendix containing some statistics respecting a few of the most important and populous dioceses of England. " I have lately obtained the following facts, which fully bear out your views and statements. They have been collected either from those most competent to furnish them in each diocese, or from printed and official sources. " I will commence with the three metropoHtan dioceses of London, Eochester, and St. Albans, first mentioning that in all my calculations I shall assume the standard for church accommodation adopted by the Committee of the House of Lords on Spiritual Destitution (1858), that, after making allowance for the provision made by the Nonconformist bodies for their own people, and consider- ing the fact that only a certain proportion of the popula- tion can attend divine service at one time, the Church of England ought to provide in populous places for one- fourth, or twenty-five per cent, of the population. And 26 Some Wants of the C/mrck. in calculating the proportion of clergy to tlie population, I shall take the usual standard of 2,000 as the number to whom one clergyman is able to minister at all adequately. " In that part of the diocese of London which is included in what is called by the Eegistrar- General the ' Inner Eing,' there appeared to be in 1878 a deficiency of 214,000 church sittings. And it must be borne in mind that, in addition to this deficiency, there are many large and popu- lous parishes which, being in the " Outer Eing" (where the population has had an average growth of fifty per cent, in the past ten years), are not included in this calculation. " Church almanacks state the present proportion of the clergy to the population in the diocese of London as 1 to every 2,400 souls. By this it would appear that 218 additional clergy are required. It must be remembered, too, that the clergy are not equally distributed according to the population, but that often the largest staffs of curates are found in the rich and less populous West-end or suburban parishes. "In the diocese of Eochester, which now includes the southern and south-eastern portion of the Inner Eing of the metropolis, it appears that 98,000 church sittings are required in the metropolitan portion. Including the country portion, the average population of a parish is 5,000, and there are only 535 clergy for a population of a million and a half. Each clergyman has an average charge of 2,800 souls, 215 additional clergy being required according to the standard adopted. Two parishes have a population exceeding 30,000 ; four more exceed 20,000. " Passing now to the ' Outer Eing,' where the population of London flows over the river Lea into the county of Essex and diocese of St. Albans, there is a still more remarkable growth of the population on the great water frontages of the Thames, the Lea, and Barking Creek, and in the suburban districts of Walthamstow, Leyton, Leyton- stone, kc. This is the district, part of which was formerly Appendix, 2 7 known as ' London over the Border,' and is included eccle- siastically in the deanery of Barking. The population has grown here from 73,500 in 1861 to 114,000 in 1871, and to 224,000 at the present time ; this last increase being double the rate of the previous decade, and equal to an increase of 100 per cent, in ten years. Nor can this growth be wondered at when it is remembered that this district contains the great extension of the Victoria and Albert Docks, the Beckton Gas Works, and the works of the Great Eastern Eailway at Stratford. There are only 69 clergy labouring among 224,000 souls ; and the Church only provides accommodation, in churches and mission-rooms, for 28,598, or for a little more than one- eighth of the population. So that forty-three additional clergy are re- quired, and upw^ards of 31,000 additional sittings. " But the calls on Churchmen are not less in other places besides the metropolis. " The Bishop of Lichfield, in a recent appeal, states the immediate wants of his diocese at forty new churches, seventy -five mission chapels, fifty-one additional clergy for mission districts, fifty-seven parsonage houses. He also mentions that there are 249 benefices with incomes of less than £200 a year, of which thirty-six have a population exceeding 2,000. "The diocese of Manchester ranks next to London in point of population, which in 1871 was 1,893,542, and at the present time is probably 2,200,000. The church accom- modation of all kinds is 382,961. In the last ten years seventy-six new churches have been consecrated, but still 170,000 additional sittings are needed. The Bishop appeals, in a recent pastoral letter, for a fourfold increase of annual subscriptions to the Diocesan Church Building Society, and the Diocesan Board of Education. The clergy number 752, or 1 to nearly 3,000. About 350 more are required. There are sixty-seven benefices under £200 a year. " The newly-formed diocese of Liverpool has a population 28 Some Wants of the Church. estimated at 1,250,000, being, next to London, the most thickly -populated diocese in proportion to its area. There are only 197 churches and chapels -of -ease, holding 157,600. The church accommodation is scarcely sufficient for more than one-eighth of the population, and according to the usual standard would require to be doubled. The number of clergy is 326, or 1 to 3,830. Their number also requires almost to be doubled. It is thought that the population since 1871 has increased by 360,000 ; but it appears that only five additional churches and seven- teen additional clergy have been provided during the last four or five years of that period. "The diocese of Eipon had in 1871 a population of 1,357,063, which is probably now increased to 1,500,000. The total church accommodation is 287,023, and the clergy number 748. In this diocese great progress has been made, both in church building and in providing additional clergy. The bishop stated at his late diocesan conference that he had consecrated 141 churches in the twenty-four years of his episcopate ; and since 1836 the number of the clergy has been doubled. The influence of Dean Hook in the great town of Leeds, and the long earnest episcopate of the present bishop, who took up the work so well begun by Archbishop Longley, have, under God, no doubt much to do with this success. " The Bishop of Durham, in his recent address to his first diocesan conference, stated that the population of the county of Durham has increased in the twenty years between 1851 and 1871, from 391,000 to 685,000, and mentioned that one of the largest and most thriving towns in the county, West Hartlepool, was the growth of only half a lifetime. Although six new churches have been consecrated each year during the past four years, and the bishop expects to consecrate ten more by the close of this year, yet there is only church accommodation for one-seventh of the popu- lation, about 114,000 additional sittings being required. Appendix. 29 " From the above statistics respecting eight of the most populous dioceses in England, it would appear that nearly 900,000 additional church sittings are required in them. The number of additional clergy needed, in order to provide one for each 2,000 of the population, is 1,175. But when we consider the unequal distribution of the population, and that many of the parishes are small country ones, a con- siderable addition must be made to this calculation. "Probably in the whole of England and Wales it would be no exaggeration to assume that 1,500,000 ad- ditional church sittings are required, and 2,000 additional clergy, if the Church is really to carry on efficiently her great work of seeking and feeding souls. It is impossible that, as a rule, the clergy can supply the means, since in many cases their incomes are already far too small. Indeed, among other things for which money is required, an important item is the augmentation of poor benefices, of which there are in England and Wales 3,800 under £200 a year. " Nor should the clergy be left alone, as they now often are left, to collect money for all these various wants. I often hear the sorrowful regret from some incumbent or mission curate, overweighted both in body and spirit with the care of souls, that time is taken up and energy expended in providing funds for their various wants, which should have been reserved for tlie spiritual duties of their holy calling. " There are, however, many hopeful signs of better things. And when the coming Census shall disclose a few months hence, as it assuredly will, an astonishing increase in the great centres of the population, we may trust that, with God's blessing, the laity, no less than the clergy, will realize the anxious, immense, and yet blessed work which lies before the Church of England. " I am, dear Mr. Foster, yours very sincerely, "John M. Procter. " R. Foster, Esq." APPENDIX 11. Extract from the preface of Mr. Eobert Brett's Reflections, Meditations, and Prayers on the Most Holy Life aiid Sacred Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. " If we cannot promote the cause of Christ's kingdom by the influence of weahh and station, we must do it by whatever means lie in our power; for we can no longer cherish dreams of ease and self-indulgence, when we consider that life of unremitting toil by which our Holy Eedeemer wrought our salvation, and exhibited to us His boundless love for the souls of men. We shall feel, indeed, that were we to devote all the energies of our souls to His service, it would be but a very inadequate acknow- ledgment of the infinite obligations we owe to Him, who has redeemed us from death and hell, and by His own blood has purchased for us all that is precious to our immortal souls. What can be more humbling to a Christian than the conviction that so much of his time and strength is devoted to his own profit and pleasure, whilst so little is given to the service of Him to whom all is due ? In bygone days we read of apostles or holy priests going forth almost singlehanded to assail the powers of hell, and by the simple energy of Christian love and the might of sanctity, through the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, they shook idolatrous kingdoms to their very foundations, and firmly planted the Church of Christ amidst the most hostile nations. Whereas, in these days of self-indulgence, we see our altars thronged with com- municants, who in that blessed mystery eat the bread of Appendix. 3 1 life, the food of angels, and profess their oneness with the Lord Jesus, and yet His kingdom languishes amongst us ! the energies of His Holy Church are crippled for lack of money ! our populous parishes are almost destitute of churches ! and our people grow up in ignorance and sin ; yea, in downriglit heathenism ! Whence this monstrous anomaly, this apathy and unfaithfulness toward God? For if such mighty works have been accomplished by one regenerate soul, what power could stand before the little army of communicants, to be found in most of our parishes, if eaeh vjere faithful to his j^rofession / "With the holy men of old Christianity was no mere abstraction or empty theory, but a living j^oiver, which transformed and energized every faculty of the mind, and ever} power of the body. Tliey realized the force of those solemn words which we so often repeat, " Here lue offer and 'present unto Thee, Loed, ourselves, our soids and bodies, to he a reasonahle, holy, and lively sacrifice unto Tliee." And they lived as they prayed. They meditated day by day on the holy life, the boundless love, the wondrous humility and patience of the Sox of God, until their hearts glowed with ardent love to Him, and burned with inextinguishable zeal for His glory, and the salvation of souls for which He endured the agony and cross. And surely if we thus daily and devoutly dwelt on the holy life, and bitter passion of our Lo^dng Eedeemer, we too should disdain all thoughts of self-indulgent apathy, and should go forth animated mth holy love and undying zeal, to bless our fellow-men. Let us make it our business to ascertain in what ways we can do God service, and build up His Holy Church ; and then, with the resistless energy of renewed hearts, let us resolve, " For Zions sake vjill J not hold my peace, and for Jerusaleriis sake I will not rest, U7itil the righteousness thereof go forth as hrightncss, a7id the scdvation thereof as « lamp that hiuiieth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, ami all kings thy glory" (Isa. Ixii. 1, 2.) For the whole country there are the following admirable societiei, which I earnestly commend to the liberal support oi the Church at large, xor they aie under the immediate supervision of our Archbishops and Bishops ; and_ as so many of our country parishes and dioceses send their surplus population to our large towns, in many cases situated in other dioceses, these societies may well be made the channels for the gifts of those who do not ilnd many local claims on their charity funds : The Society for Promoting the Employment of Additional Curates. Office, 7, Whitehall. The Incorporated Church Building Society for Helping to Build and Repair Churches. Office, 7, Whitehall. The same Society's Fund for Helping to Provide Temporary Churches and Mission Chapels. The National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Church of England. This society not only helps to build day-schools, but assists largely in supporting colleges for training masters and mistresses. Office, Sanctuary, Westminster. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. (See note A.) Office, 19, Delahajr Street, Westminster. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. (See note B.) Office, Northumberland Avenue, Charing Cross. Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London, in his charge of 1838, said: "I mark these societies more particularly as being framed in strict accordance with the principles of our ecclesiastical polity, and as being under the efficient super- intendence of the Bishops of the Church." The following excellent societies have been established since the date of the above-named charge to meet undoubted wants of the Church : St. Andrew's Waterside Church Mission for Sailors, Fishermen, and Emi- grants. Office, 36, City Chambers, Fenchurch Street Station. (See note C. ) The Additional Home Bishoprics Endowment Fund. (See note D.) Office, 7, Whitehall. The Ordination Candidates' Exhibition Fund. (See note E.) Office, 7, Whitehall. Note A. — As so many of our fellow-countrymen with small means have to emigrate to our colonies and other foreign parts in order to earn a living for themselves and their families, is it not the duty of the Church at home to send them help in spiritual things 1 Many when they go out have as much as they can do to earn a bare livelihood, and they need churches and clergymen to keep them in the good old paths. The S.P.G. is a channel through which our countrymen may be helped in this way, and it needs a much larger income in order to carry out this work effectually. NoTK B.— This, the oldest of the Church societies, established in 1698, not only publishes Bibles, prayer and other books, and tracts for the promotion of religion and morality, but makes large grants to various Church works at home and abroad. NoTK C— As we are a great nation of traders, and our ships carry our merchandize to and from every part of the world, we have a solemn duty towards our sailors. We must endeavour to Christianize them, as they represent our nation in every port. The work of missions to our sailors and emigrants has been well commenced by the St. Andrew's "Waterside Church Mission, but it wants to be better known and better supported. NoTK D. — With the increase of churches and clergy, the need of more Bishops in our more populous dioceses is greatly felt. NoTK E.— The Ordination Candidates' Exhibition Fund has for its object to assist in supplying the necessary education to suitable candidates for Holy Oiders who would otherwise be unable to obtain it. 'im