'It''-. ,i:\ L I B RARY OF THE U N IVLR5ITY Of ILLI NOIS 19. A PAPEE EEAD AT A CONFERENCE OP THE LONDON DIOCESAN ASSOCIATION OF LAY HELPERS. CHRIST CHURCH SCHOOL ROOMS, NEW NORTH ROAD, HOXTON, On Thubsdat, Octobeb 29, 1868. By the Rev. JOHIS^ OAKLEY, M.A. vif:AR OF s. saviour's, hoxtox. PUBLISHED BY BEQUEST. Ec litre IT, RIYINGTONS, WATEELOO PLACE HIGH STREET, TRINITY STREET, (©.tfortr. (JTawtJrilJgr. 1SG8. NOTICE. This paper was read at the first of a series of Conferences to be held this winter in various parts of the Diocese, for the purpose of making known the plan and action of the Bishop of London's Diocesan Association of Lay Helpers. The meeting before which it was read thought fit to request the Committee of the Association to publish it. With this request the Committee have decided unanimously, on general grounds, that it is not expedient that we should com- ply. At the same time, the Committee, on their part, have requested me to print it, in my own name, engaging to take great part of the issue for circu- lation in the Diocese. To this request I have not of course been at liberty to do aught but accede. The paper is accordingly printed exactly as it was de- livered, and is left to plead its own excuses and ofier its own explanations ; with the one aim and hope with which it was written, — that of humbly serving a good cause, and popularizing a practical means to a great and useful end. Its expressions of opinion remain mine alone. J. O. aottljon fliores^an ^s^sJomtiou of i.a|) i^elpers^. President. The LoED Bishop of London. Committee. Beck, Thomas, Esq. BosANQUET, Charles, B. P., Esq. E&ERTON, Hon, Wilbeaham, M.P. Harrington, W., Esq. Keen, T. E., Esq. Llewellyn, Goedon, Esq. Maude, Heney A., Esq. Peaeson, Julius A., Esq., F.S.A. Shaw Stewart, J. A., Esq. Stock, Eugene, Esq. Tait, G. Maetin, Esq. Talbot, J. G., Esq. Wallee, Sir Thomas W., Bart. Waeeington, G., Esq. Wood, Hon. Charles Lindley. Cadman, Rev. William. Caltheop, Rev. Goedon. CoMPTON^ Rev. Beedmoee. Eyre, Rev. C. J. P. Humphry, Rev. W. G. Jones, Rev. Ed. Rhys. Kempe, Rev. J. E. Knollys, Rev. W. F. Erskine. Lea, Rev. F. Simcox. MOORHOUSE, Rev. J. Oakley, Rev. J. Plumptre, Rev. E. H. Wade, Rev. Nugent. Walrond, Rev. M. S. A. Whitlock, Rev. G. S. Hon. Secretaries. Rev. James Moorhouse, 57, Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park, W. C. B. p. Bosanquet, Esq., 4, Brunswick Terrace, Kensington, W. DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION LAY HELP. My appearance as spokesman at this Conference is dne to the accident of my being at present the only Hoxton Clergyman on the Committee of this Associa- tion, and to my being one of its original members. When my brother Committeemen desired me to undertake the task of opening our discussion to-night, I had no choice but to comply. I have to disclaim, however, on the one hand, the responsibility of being supposed to speak ofiicially, in all respects, the opinions of our Committee, and on the other, the pretension of having any novel views or original proposals of my own to bring before you. Between these two attitudes, I think there remains a third which I can usefully take up, by bringing a few plain facts into focus for our consideration, and throwing out one or two practical questions as topics for discussion, and then by laying a definite motion before the meeting. The facts are these. London with its 3,000,000 of inhabitants, audits 484 separate parishes, and its 1000 odd of licensed clergymen, and all the Lay help, and other parochial machinery which A 2 4 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. these represent (and with every allowance for the activity and zeal of other Christian agencies), is in need of every instrumentality that wisdom and charity can devise, and that love of God and love of man can actuate, to enable the Church's efforts to promote the moral and spiritual well-being of the people to keep pace with the demands upon her. I need not go back upon the old story of past neglect. I think we are rather too apt to hug a not very warrantable notion of our own satisfactoriness, or at least of our superiority to the men of other days, under cover of reflections on the eighteenth century. To ignore what our eyes have seen of the wonderful stirring of hearts and wills, and of the well nigh universal awakening to our responsibilities as the Church of a professedly Christian nation, would be the height of ingratitude to Him from Whom alone our best desires, counsels, and works alike come. But I am sure — sure as of my own existence — that it will be much more to the point for us to avoid all such comparisons, and to test our work by our duty, and not by the work of other men ; that there is a real risk, not only of individual self-deceit (that is the common secret of every soul) but of general and organized self-flattery and mutual com- pliment ; that we want, in a word, less noise and more work, to see less parade of the supposed results which can be seen, to know more of the results which evade observation, and which when detected with the eyes of sympathy and respect, one would never think of trying to tabulate and count and prove ; that, in fact, we need the strictest testing of our work, its aims, its methods, its instruments, its effects, to moderate a strange proneness which seems DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. O likely to beset us in these days towards " boasting ourselves beyond our measure." This, however, by the way ; I only venture to make the remark a propos to the undoubted omissions and shortcomings of our ancestors, in order to explain the studied avoidance of the language of congratula- tion and satisfaction in what I have to say to you this evening. The fact, then, of the urgent need of every possible effort to enlighten the ignorant in mind or blind in spirit, to succour the sick in body or in soul, to teach men the faith and hope and love which give a new promise of the life which now is, as well as of that which is to come, I take at once for granted. Like- wise, in this company, I assume that we think divi- sion of labour, where possible, and to a point not inconsistent with independent action, better than the futile concentration of offices in a single person; that we think order better than disorder, organization better than hap-hazard self- settlement ; that we do not prefer the wholesale waste of force, if it can be economized and saved ; and I do not expect to be quite alone if I add that a little more centralization than we now see, either in Church or in State, would be a welcome relief to us from the demoralizing, if sometimes dear, delight of doing every man that which is right in his own eyes. And in the Diocesan Association of Lay Helpers I see something like a recognition of these principles, some kind of protest against these evils ; it affords at least a rallying-point for the ideas of variety of gifts and independence of action, together with those of distribution of power, economy of forces, order, organization, authority. 6 DIOCESAN OEGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. I must now explain to you how it does so; what it has done to this end ah^eady; what it proposes to do, in future, generally, and particularly here, in this district, to-night; leaving a few remarks on the general importance of lay agency at the present moment for the end of this paper. This Association was formed in 1865, by the Bishop of London, as the result of a recommenda- tion in a Eeport from a sub -committee of the Bishop's Fund. Its first resolution was, that " it is desirable to organize in the diocese of London, a body of laymen, of all classes, to assist the clergy." Organization, therefore, is its first idea. It is probable that the leading object of those who first recommended and then created this Association, was to call out fresh lay helpers to do new ivorh, rather than to touch the old workers at all. But it was not long in being brought home to the Committee, that the best way of soliciting further help was to organize, regulate, economize, and methodize what you have. This view of its ob- jects and policy is accordingly made plain in the first " occasional paper " which the Association issued. Its objects are there stated to be, — (a) To call out voluntary help, by making known the kind of work in which the clergy want assist- ance ; and to distribute this agency. {h) To afford all lay lieJ/pers a common centre and definite relationshijp to the Bishop and to each other. It is obvious that this distinctly includes all lay helpers past and present, and gives an office to the Association which can only be completely realized DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. 7 when all tlie churcli -workers of the diocese are enrolled upon its register. The questions connected with this work of making the Association co-extensive with the diocese are many, and haye been repeatedly discussed by the Committee of the Association. The three principal have been and are these : — 1. What are the works recognized by our Bishop as coming within the range of lawful lay help ? 2. What is the kind and form of recognition which our Bishop will give to the various classes of lay helpers ? 3. What is the basis or ground-plan, on which the Association is to be worked ? The third question may be answered in a word, though there may be occasion to return to it. The plan and framework of this Association is to be strictly parochial ; that is to say, no kind of inter- ference is attempted or dreamt of between the parish-priest and his lay helpers ; no directions are, or are to be, given to them independently of him ; and secondly, it is desired to organize the Association upon the basis of parishes, and to make the parish- priest, or some one deputed by him, the local head- centre of the Association, and to work entirely through him, and within his lines of action, upon a plan which I will presently describe. In the words of the Committee, " the Association seeks to strengthen the parochial system." Taking now the first question I put, I will briefly enumerate some heads of work which the Bishop contemplates as coming within the range of the objects of this Association, and therefore as being open to any of its members. 8 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. I quote tliem from the second edition of the pro- gramme of the Association, which was approved and signed by the Bishop in the month of Kovember last year. The branches of work are classified as Sunday tvorh, Evening ivorh, Day luorh. I. The first comprises : — (a) Sunday-school work of all kinds, including (I call special attention to this) the work of '' conduct- ing special Morning Services for younger children, also Evening Services for children generally." (b) Bible Classes for young men or children. (c) Visiting the poor for religious instruction or conversation, both at their homes, and in hospitals, or workhouses, (d) Distribution of Tracts. (e) Singing in Choirs ; reading the Lessons ; superintending the seating of the jpoor. (g) Seeking out the unbaptized ; bringing (the unconfirmed to Confirmation) the newly confirmed to Communion, and the poor to church. Two branches of work, which are ranged under the head of Sunday work, are distinguished from the rest by an asterisk, to denote that they require " a special sanction from the Bishop." They are these : — (a) Street Preaching, and similar Mission work; conducting or assisting at Services for the poor in School and Mission Booms, and in the open air. (h) Attending and talcing part in religious discus^ sions among the working classes. This reservation raises the question of the different degrees of sanction to be given by the Bishop to the various kinds of work, and will be referred to again when we come to that branch of the subject. DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION 01^ LAY HELP. ^ But it seems appropriate to remark here on the enormous negative advantage which would be de- rived from the distinct recognition of these kinds of special work — both in the form of preaching and conducting discussion — as a regular and proper part of the Church's work, that laymen may fitly and lawfully do ; while on the other hand, no churchman, none at least who belongs to this Association, may fitly and properly do so without " the special sanc- tion" of the Bishop. What a happy instrument might not this Association be found, if it were really univer- sally brought into aOition in all our parishes, for regu- lating Street Preaching and other Mission work ! and thereby to some extent, of course, of keeping under those lamentable exhibitions of religious egotism, and unseemly profanations of sacred names and things, with which we are too familar in our streets and parks, and elsewhere ; often made by the merest boys, who discover no other fitness for the work than some familiarity with texts of Scripture, a certain amount of volubility, and an apparent capacity for working themselves and other people into that peculiar form of religious excitement and morbid self-consciousness, on which it would be invidious to fasten a single distinctive name, since, in some shape, it is common to all forms of religious profession and belief. II. I resume my recital of the work recognized and sanctioned by the Bishop, under the head of Evening Work. (a) Work in Night Schools or Ragged Schools. ^ I trust sincerely that no reader will suspect me of disparaging Street Preaching by well-qualified men, who would always have my earnest " God speed." It is probable that the preachers I have in view are not always members of the Church of England. A 3 10 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. (h) Management of Clubs and Institutes, Lectures, Penny Readings, and other Recreations. (c) Penny Banks, Clothing Funds, and Libraries. {d) Assisting (as in Sunday work) in weekday services in Churcli, in Choirs, and in the practising and training of Choirs. Under this head, also, another branch of work is likewise reserved for " the special sanction " of the Bishop, and shall be in that point of view referred to presently. It is that of doing the same things on weekdays (with the same sanctions and restric- tions) as may be done on Sundays, in a similar way. The third head of work is described as Day ivorJc, and includes — besides of course the doing of those things already enumerated, in the daytime by those who have the day instead of, or as well as, the even- ing to give to the work, — the following, which for some reason are relegated to the category of Day ivorh. (a) Collecting and Canvassing for Funds. (b) Acting as Secretary to Parochial Institutions, and Religious and Charitable Societies. A general duty is further specified, that of en- deavouring to further the cause of lay agency in the Church, by strengthening the hands of present workers, and seeking to enlist more. This, then, is the sufficiently comprehensive list of lay help which the Bishop of the Diocese recog- nizes as proper for our lay -brethren to render ; and this consequently is the list of the many qualifica- tions for membership of this Diocesan Association. It is probable that I do not address a single person who in some one or other of these capacities is not quaUfied to be enrolled at once, and I trust that DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. 11 those not so enrolled will, tlirough their parochial clergyman or otherwise, enrol themselves forthwith. It will be sufficient to add the general induce- ment to do so, which is so well stated by the Com- mittee, and which, so stated, speaks for itself without further enforcement. " To afford all lay helpers a common centre, and a definite relation to the Bishop and to each other, with opportunities of conference about different modes of remedying the great evils which exist among us.^' We come next to the method proposed for the organization of this, large body of lay helpers, and to the steps for distributing such lay help as may first be offered through the Association. On this latter point, I dare say, our Secretary will give us presently an idea, by word of mouth, of the kind of tasks which devolve upon him, and which he so well discharges, as he has already once done in an inte- resting paper, which I am sorry you have not the advantage of listening to this evening. It is enough for me to say that already, through the Association, many clergymen have been furnished with the help which they need, and volunteers have had pointed out to them the sort and place of work for which they were fit and willing. Mr. Bosanquet will for- give me if I repeat an instance he gave us, which struck me, when he mentioned it, as an excellent illustration of the use of such an Association in this respect, and as likely to inspire a similar forward- ness in others. Two young men of good position, in a Govern- ment Office at the West-end, who could of course do nothing in the daytime in the parishes in which their homes were, explained to our Secretary that 12 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OP LAY HELP. tliey had an idle hour for luncheon every day, of which they only wanted ten minutes really for lunch, and that if they could do any good to any body in the rest of the hour, they would like to do it. They were put at once in communication with a neigh- bouring clergyman, and now, for fifty minutes two or three days in the week, these two young men visit a few sick poor in the slums of an adjacent parish. I will add a second ilhistration of the spirit which this Association may elicit, and put to practical pur- poses, though it only came to my hearing yesterday, and had no connexion with this Association. It was the offer of a washerwoman, in a consider- able way of business, to undertake to wash gratui- tously the clothing and bed-linen of a certain number of sick persons in a particular parish, every week. Surely it is something to evoke such a spirit as this ; and this Association will not exist in vain, if it takes merely as its motto the large-hearted sym- pathy of the general and the matron of old : " My heart is toward the governors," and not the gover- nors alone, but toward all the sons and daughters, " of Israel, that ivillinghj offered themselves among the iJeo]jle.'' Eeturning to the point of organization. The list of work has already disclosed a distinction between the workers, which has come to be expressed by the Committee as our outer and our inner circle. For ordinary members of the outer circle, a recommen- dation is now required from any parochial clergy- man, or any two members of the Association, ad- dressed to the Bishop of London, to which a reply is sent under the Bishop's own hand, accepting the DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. 13 offered help with thanks, and annomicing that the apphcant is placed on the Diocesan Register. Thus the Association becomes a great Register of lay helpers, with their names and addresses and qualifications; their present work, if any; or their wants, if unsuited with work to their mind. It is obvious, however, that as this Association spreads, its risk will be the same as that of all over- centralized institutions, if some local organization be not also supplied ; and that is the risk of breaking down at the administrative centre. It is therefore proposed to organize this ma- chinery by parishes and by districts, and I believe I shall carry my fellow- workers with me if I say that our experience in arranging this Conference has shown us that the most convenient districts to take will be the Rural Deaneries. The attention of the Rural Deans has been already directed to the matter by the Bishop, and they are, I believe, about to bring it before their Chapters. Our own Rural Dean has shown his interest in the matter by giving us the use of his church for the Holy Communion yesterday morning. The Committee has ah^eady proposed to obtain a correspondent in every parish, the incumbent or a deputy (I am strongly in favour of the latter plan), and on this suggestion I shall ven- ture to act by proposing that we resolve this even- ing, in order to give a point to our proceedings, — " That the clergy of the Rural Deanery of St. Sepulchre's be respectfully requested to communicate to the Committee of the Diocesan Association of Lay Helpers (either directly or through the Rural Dean ') 2 In reply to a criticism made at the meeting, it may be ex- plained that the proposal of organization into Rural Deaneries, as 14 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. the names of the lay helpers in their several parishes, together with the nature of the work in which they are engaged, with a view to their being enrolled as members of the Association ; and to appoint one of their number as corresponding member of the Asso- ciation for his particular parish." I have little doubt that on this resolution being communicated to him, the Rural Dean of St. Sepul- chre's will consent to be, either by deputy or other- wise, the medium of communication, and the con- necting link between the parishes and the central Association. And thus, if this please the meeting, we shall have done what we can to organize the lay help of the Rural Deanery of St. Sepulchre's ; an example which will, I believe, be quickly followed ^ On the further and more special organization of the "inner circle " of lay helpers, it is necessary to say something, though the question is not free from difficulties, some of them perhaps legal ones. But they must be faced. There are few, if any, clergymen now who are not prepared to welcome the co-operation of laymen to the fullest extent indicated by this Association. But both laymen and clergymen feel alike, that when carried to the point of conducting or assisting in a well as into parishes, was not intended to hamper in any way the freedom of parishes, which will be as free to act for all internal purposes as if no such exterior organization existed, but for the double purpose of lightening the pressure on the central Secretary (who would thus have only 26 instead of 484 official corre- spondents), and of bringing into co-operation with our work the only local organization known to our Diocesan System, that of Rural Deaneries ; but it is manifest that the intermediate organi- zation might be adopted in some districts and not in others. ^ This resolution was unanimously adopted. DIOCESAN OEGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. 15 service, i. e. to pra3ring or preaching in public, it must not be left to individual zeal to make spontaneous offers of sucli help, which the individual clergymen accepts or declines at his irresponsible discretion. It is not jealousy on the one hand, nor ambition on the other, that inspires the cry for* formal and authori- tative recognition of such lay help. It is a just and real sense of the solemnity of the ofl&ce, which at once dictates the acknowledgment, " No man taketh it unto himself." The lay people, in fact, who are able and willing to preach God's Word have come round by another path to feel the power of a truth which has an unpopular name, and to understand that the clergy who have claimed an apostolical succession, — I speak exclusively of the fact of the claim, and of the fact which it asserts, and not of any of the real or supposed inferences from it, — Laymen, I say, have come to understand for themselves the truth which is beneath these words ; namely, the moral value of a sense of authorized Mission from Christ '^, ''How," in a word, they have learnt to ask for them- selves, "How shall I, how shall any man, being what he is, and not being what he is not, presume to preach ' except he he sent V Such is the feeling involved in this question and I can enter no further into it than to say that I am sure that it is just and sound, and that some mode must be devised of meeting it. It is at present under our Bishop's consideration what shall be the form in which the higher ministries of laymen shall be recognized by him. Whether it be * See an eloquent and impressive Sermon, working out this idea, preached bj the Rev. H. P. Liddon at the Bishop of Oxford's Ordination last Christmas : " Tlie Moral Value of a Mission from Christ.^^ London, Rivingtons. 16 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. called an order af readers, or of sub-deacons, or whatever be the name, matters little, so long as we get, and get soon, a formal association with our- selves in the ministry, of the Lay Helpers duly qualified for the work. I know that there are some here who have given more attention to the question than I have been able to give; they will, I trust, speak on this point. I will only point those who have not seen it, and among my brethren of the clergy at least I should think they must be few, to a remarkable and interest- ing paper on this subject, read by the Dean of Chester at the recent Church Congress in Dublin, and fortify myself by quoting and endorsing one or two of his principal practical conclusions. '' Authorized and systematic lay agency, male and female, is needed to a far greater extent than we have it at present. . . . In order to realize what is meant by authorized, I think we want the Bishop's mark upon selected paro- chial lay agents, both male and female. ... I wish to see in our parishes carefully selected and well educated laymen working parochially under the clergy, with the Bishop's formal sanction. I believe that on these conditions they would willingly under- take responsibilities from lohich they would other- wise shrinh, and that work might be wisely committed to them which otherwise, if I might say so without disrespect, ivould hardly he safe in their hands The work to be done by them," he adds, "to be always in co-operation with the parish clergyman, and with the safeguard of the Bishop's sanction, separately given to each such person and revocable at any time ^" ' See Report in the " Guardian" of October 7, 1868. DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. 17 These conditions, this safeguard in the Bishop's sanction thus given, the London Diocesan Associa- tion of Lay Helpers hopes to afford to the higher order of its associated members ^ Two points in the inner working of the Associa- tion call for a single brief remark. It is a fundamental rule that " once in every year the Members shall have the opportunity of attending Divine Service and receiving the Holy Communion together." United worship, an act of common faith and homage — the assertion of common fellow- ship in Christ, of common membership of Him, and an occasion of common edification, — is felt to be a daily advancing power amidst the distractions of the Christian Church. It especially befits a body aiming at the combination in one harmonious whole, of all the various types of character and modes of work, which are enlisted under the banner of the Cross in this huge diocese. The opportunities of such meeting provided by the rules have been multiplied in practice ; but they have not hitherto been made use of as it was hoped they would be. To-night's gathering gives tokens of improvement, but I do not recognize it as an adequate result. It is still with us " the day of small things." If we are to en- courage one another, and derive the full encourage- ment for ourselves from these united devotions, we must assemble in larger numbers than those which have gathered round the Lord's Table, either at London House, St Lawrence Jewry, King's College, or St. Sepulchre's, Snow Hill, yesterday morning^ * The forms of licence to such lay helpers, already adopted, are given in an Appendix to this paper. ' The small attendance on the latter occasion, is the more to 18 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. If tlie Association goes on and prospers, as I believe it will, I do not see wliy we should not soon assemble in our full and proper strength, and wake the slumbering echoes of St. Paul's (say at 6 o'clock, some summer morning) Avith the Litany, the Nicene Creed, the " Ter Sanctus," and the " Gloria in Ex- celsis," and other hearty and vigorous strains of supplication and praise. 2. It is essential for an Association of religious men for a religious object, that they should keep alive the spirit of devotion and the sense of fellow- ship in their work by united prayer in private as well as in public. " For what are men better than sheep or goats, That nourish a blind Hfe within the brain, If, knowing God, they Hft not hands of prayer, Both for themselves and those who call them friend ? For so the whole round world is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God ^." I think, therefore, that we may venture to ask our Bishop to supply to us some short form of prayer for private use, to be used daily, or as occa- sion offers, as a supplication for God's blessing upon the work and intention of the Association. Thus organized, and thus administered, we should have, I think, a well-nigh perfect specimen of a form of association of which we now often hear the useful- ness extolled, I believe quite justly ; a real and prac- tical guild or brotherhood of Christian workers, founded by the Bishop of the Diocese, and of which the Bishop is the fountain-head. be regretted as the Association thereby missed the thoughtful and animating address of our neighbour and president to-night, the licv. G. P. Pownall, Vicar of St. John the Baptist's, Hoxton. ' Tennyson, " Morte d' Arthur." DIOCESAN OEGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. 19 I have left myself no time to dwell at any length upon general considerations, which must however be indicated in the fewest possible words ; namely, the immense importance at the present time of strengthening our Church's position by bringing out and acting out the truth, that it is of the laity the Church consists, for them she and her ministers exist, by them she must be largely, and in temporal things almost entirely, ruled ® ; that there is a sense of the words in which the clergy are the true lay helpers, — helpers of the laity, — rather than the laity mere clergy helpers. To say this is in no degree to under-estimate the office or the preroga- tive of the regularly constituted ministry, which is the backbone of the Church, nor to ignore their supreme responsibility to Him whose commission they hold, whose "ambassadors" they are, of whose " mysteries " they are the " stewards," whose "sheep" they are appointed to "feed." But it is a warm and deliberate protest against the system which Dean Ilowson has so well described : — " We have trained our people to think that we, the Clergy, are to do all the religious ivorh, and that they, the laity, are simply the recipients of the spi- ritual benefits we are commissioned to convey to them." ^ I venture here to indicate, on my own responsibility, an omission which appears to be made in the scheme of work given above, that, namely, of Lay Superintendence of the temporal Relief of the Poor. It may be meant to be included under the head of Management of Charitable Associations, but I think perhaps it might with advantage be put more prominently forward as a mode of " Help " specially fit for laymen, and one in which it is specially desirable at the present time to engage their aid. 20 DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. And lie then adds, — ** If the Church of England were disestablished to-morrow, it would be thrown out into the country, as regards organization^ in the form of a clerical skele- ton. I take it as a matter of course that its main organic framework ought to consist of an authorized and regularly ordained Clergy; but this is not enough without the sinews and muscles of the laity to con- stitute a living and working body." It is to help in thus clothing the clerical frame- work with these sinews and muscles, this flesh and substance of a living, healthy body, that this Associa- tion exists and works. Much might be said, if time permitted, about the proper spirit of lay co-operation with the clergy, especially in younger men ; the modesty, the teach- ableness, the readiness to follow, not over-eagerness to lead, the willingness to realize the spirit of the relationship of " Father " and Children in Christ Jesus, and not merely to repeat the winning word, the patience and forbearance towards them that are not like-minded with themselves, — whether clergy- men or laymen, — the '' wisdom toward them that are without," that are so deeply needed in the earnest laity of to-day, whether old or young. For it is obvious, on reflection, that many laity must be at least as unfit by nature and education to be absolutely trusted with the entire government of the Church, as some clergymen may seem to them to be. But I think it is at least as much to the point to remark, in conclusion, upon the feeling which finds place more readily perhaps in clerical breasts (though not in these alone, for there are always some lay- men more clerical than the clergy themselves), viz.. DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION OF LAY HELP. 21 that this magnifying, as they think it, of the laity is an innovation and a blunder. The blunder must be proved to be so by experiment, for it has got to be tried. The current sets, nay sweeps, that way. ^^ Lay Help,^^ in council^ in practical administration, even in the minor spiritual ministries, is the unmis- takable key-note of the Church policy of the future. And it needs, I think, no very profound reading to assure us that it is no innovation at all. It is certain that if Catholic antiquity and Christian his- tory assure us of any thing whatever, it is the fact of the close association, the often indistinguishable action, in spite of separable and separate offices and authority, of Priest and People, of Sovereign and Pontiff, of Church and State. And were it even more an innovation than it is, what is that to a mind that has faith in Him, Who made the old, as He is now making the new ; and Who may be trusted to guide His Church by slow, if often painfal, steps round the whole circle of His Truth ? What is it to a mind that firmly built upon the Rock of Faith in an unchanging Person, ''the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever," can quietly and thankfully recognize the working of the Eternal Law, by which, whether you call it Development in the Church, or Progress in the world, — " The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfils Himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world ^" ' Witness the significant and apparently most successful expe- riments lately made in the Diocesan Synods held by the Bishops of Lichfield and Ely. ^ Tennyson, " Morte d' Arthur." APPENDIX. OFFICE OF EEADER. Resolutions unanimously agreed to at a Meeting of Archbishops and JBishojDS, held at I^amheth on Ascension Day, 1866. 1. That it is not expedient to alter the Statute or Common Law with a view of extending the Diaconate to persons engaged in professions or business. 2. That it is desirable to institute an office of Reader ; and that the form of admission to the same be by prayer and delivery of the New Testament by the Bishop, without imposition of hands, and that it be held until the Bishop shall, by an instrument under his hand, remove the holder therefrom. 3. That the office be exercised in any particular Parish or District under the Bishop's Commission, issued with the written consent of the Incumbent, revocable at the discretion of the Bishop, either mero motu, or at the written request of the Incumbent. 4. That the office be unpaid. 5. That the Commission of the Bishop empower the Reader, — 1. To render general aid to the Clergy in all ministrations not strictly requiring the aid of one in Holy Orders. 2. To read Lessons in the Church. 3. To read Prayers and Holy Scripture, and to explain the same in such places as the Bishop's Commission shall define. Form of Licence adopted hy the {late) Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Oxford. A. B., bv Divine Providence, Lord Bishop of To our Beloved in Christ, C. D., of Greeting : We, by virtue of these Presents, give and grant unto you Licence to act as Reader in the Parish of in the County of within our Diocese and Jurisdiction, and do authorize you to render general help to the Incumbent in all ministrations which do not strictly require the Service of a Minister in Holy Orders ; to read Lessons in the Church, and to read Prayers and Holy Scripture, and explain the same in the Licensed School-room at and in such other rooms within the Parish as the Incumbent may appoint. Cottage Lectures to be held in Given at under our hand and seal, tiie da}' of ^ in the year of our Lord in the vciir of our APPENDIX. 23 Regulations for the Appointment and Commission of Reader in the Diocese of Lincoln. 1. The Incumbent proposing to nominate a Eeader is to write to tlie Bishop, stating the name of the person, his age and condition of life, in what place or places he wishes him to exercise his office, and what duties within the limits of the above Resolutions he wishes him to perform. 2. The Incumbent will also transmit to the Bishop a certificate under his hand, that the person nominated is a Communicant, of pious, sober, and honest life, sound in the faith as held and taught by the Church of England, and of competent knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. 3. He will also supply the Bishop with the names of two or more Com- municants who are ready to testify to the character and fitness of the proposed Reader, should confidential inquiry be made by the Bishop, who may also, in any particular case, if he sees fit, by himself or his Chaplain, examine the person proposed touching his faith or his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. 4. The Bishop, when satisfied, will name a time and place for the admission of the Reader, which latter will usually be either the Bishop's private Chapel, or the Church of the Parish or District in which the Reader is to exercise his office. 5. The Bishop will issue his Commission in the form following, which has been agreed upon for the purpose : — John, by Divine per- mission. Bishop of Lincoln, To our well-beloved and approved in Christ, A. B., Greeting. We do, by these presents, grant unto you our Commission to execute the office and perform the duties of a Reader in the Parish of C, within our Diocese and Jurisdiction, on the Nomination of the Reverend D. E., Rector [or Vicar] of the said Parish ; and we do hereby authorize you to read the Holy Scriptures and to explain the same to the aged, sick, and impotent, and to such other persons in the said Parish as the Incumbent thereof shall suggest and direct ; [to read the appointed Lessons in the Parish Church, and also] to read publicly in [the hamlet of P.] [or in the School-room of G.] such portions of the Morning and Evening Service in the Book of Common Prayer as we shall ap- point and direct, and after such Service [to expound some portion of Holy Scripture to those assembled, or] to read such godly Homily or Discourse as by the Incumbent may be judged most suitable and edifying. And we do hereby notify and declare that this our commission shall remain valid and have full force and authority until either it shall be revoked by us or our successors, or a fresh institution to the Benefice shall have been made and completed, at and after which last mentioned time it shall be competent for an application to be made to us or our successors for a renewal and continuance of this our present Commission and authority. And so we commend you to Almighty God, whose blessing and favour we humbly pray may rest upon you and your work. Given under our hand and seal this day of &c. &c. The Licence given hy the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. Charles John, by Divine Permission, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, To our well-beloved in Christ Greeting : We do, by these Presents, grant to you, of whose faithfulness 24 APPKXIMX. and competent knowledge we are well assured, our Commission to execute the office and perform the duties of a Eeader, in the Parish of within our Diocese and Jurisdiction, on the nomination of the Reverend and we do hereby authorize you to read the Word of God and to explain the same to such persons in the said Parish as the Incumbent thereof shall suggest and direct, to read the appointed Lessons in the Parish Church, and also to read publicly within the of such portions of the Morning and Evening Service, in the Book of Common Prayer, as we shall appoint and direct ; and also to read and explain some portion of Holy Scripture, or to read such godly Homily or Discourse as the Incumbent of the aforesaid Parish may approve : And we do hereby notify and declare that this our Commission shall remain valid and have full force and authority, until either it shall be revoked by us, or a fresh admission to the Benefice shall have been made and completed : And so we commend you to Almighty God, whose blessing and favour we humbly pray may rest upon you and your work. Given under our hand and seal, this day of one thousand eight hundred and sixty The Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol has also drawn up an office for the admission of a Lay Reader, " to be used in the private chapels of Arch- bishops or Bishops." The Form prepared for use in the Diocese of London {hut, under circumstances, not definitely adopted). Archibald Campbell, by Divine Permission, Bishop of London, To our beloved and approved in Christ A. B. of Greeting : AVe do, by these presents, give unto you our Commission to act as Reader in the Parish [or Parochial District] of within our Diocese and Jurisdiction, on the nomination of the Rev. C. D., Rector [or Vicar] of the same, and do authorize you to read Prayers and to read and explain the Holy Scriptures in the School thereof, or in such other rooms within the Parish [or said district] as the Incumbent may approve, and generally to render aid to the Incumbent in all ministrations which do not strictly require the service of a Minister in Holy Orders, and we hereby declare that this our Commission shall remain valid until it shall be revoked by us or our successors (whether mero motu, or at the written request of the Incumbent) or until a fresh admission to the said benefice shall have been made. And so we commend you to Almighty God, whose blessing we humbly pray may rest upon you and your work. Given at under our hand and seal this day of in the year of our Lord 18 THE END, GILBERT AND RIVIT^OTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOIIN'S SQFARE, LONDON.