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Show CHURCH UNITY TO BECOME MORE THAIJJHEORY Joint Commission Calls on Episcopal Church to Prepare Pre-pare for Conference Calling upon the Protestant Episcopal Episco-pal church to support plsns mads for the world conference on faith and order or-der at which an effort will be made to achieve the beginning of Christian unity, the joint commission on ths world conference today made public Its report to the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal church, according ac-cording to information received here. -It Is now the duty of this church lo practice what It ha preeched through the general convention for twelve years," says ths commission's report, "and to take the lead In Inaugurating In-augurating the local conferences which are proposed, Unleea thorough preparation prep-aration le made beforehand, the meeting meet-ing ofthurldcoofsrrnrs will be barren. "The churches, and especially this church as the originator of the movement, move-ment, must be thoroughly trained In the conference method. In order thst their delegstss may not only give to the conferenoe their personal experience experi-ence In that method, but be supported by the whole strength of their respective respec-tive churches. Otherwise there Is dsn-ger dsn-ger that at the world conference there will be reurh repetition of hlgh-eound-Ing and meanlngleaa platitudes, or hssty snd dogmatic asssrtlons provoking. provok-ing. Inevitably, equally haaty and sectarian sec-tarian contradict loo a. and then the last state of a divided Christendom may be worse than tha firaC OUTLOOK HOPIFUL. As hopeful portents for ths future ths commission points to the continued con-tinued pro arena of efforts for partial reunion In various parts of the world, referring to the advanced stage of the negotiatlona between the Church of Scotland and the t'nlted Free church of Scotland, the agreement of the Congregational, Con-gregational, Methodlat and rresliyter-lan rresliyter-lan rhtirthee of Canada to unite, the progreaa toward union of the same churches In Australia, while la both countrlee the Church of England has entered the negotiations. Kfforts for reunion between the Northern and Southern bodies of ths Baptist, Methodist and Prssbytsrian churches of the I'nlted States are being be-ing continued, and there la a noteworthy note-worthy movement in the Eastern -ctessir-ofths Hungarian Reformed church In America tiT union with the Protestant Episcopal church. Men-lion Men-lion la made, also, of the enthusiasm of hla Holiness Meletlos. archbishop of Constantinopls and ecumenclal patriarch pa-triarch of the Holy Orthodoi Eastern church to bring about reunion at once among the Kaelern Orthodox, old Catholic Cath-olic and Anglican churchea PROSELYTING AGREEMENT. The commission referred to ths efforts ef-forts to obtain a general agreement among the ehurchee to cease proselyting proselyt-ing and for rloaer cooperation for missions mis-sions among non-Chrlatlan peoples. Ths Holy Orthodox Eastern church hss urged the promotion of . closer friendship among the churchea. Including In-cluding the acceptance of a uniform calendar for the atmultaneoua celebration celebra-tion of the great Chrlstlsn feaste and the aettlement of the question of mixed marriages. Ths commission reported thst sines September 11, I'll, the dste of the lest report. additional cooperating commleeiona hava been apointad so thst there ars now seventy-eight churches represented in the world conference con-ference organisation. Of the preliminary prelimi-nary conference at Geneva In 1!0 the report says: "Ssventy autonomous churchea from fifty nations wsre repreesnted offlclsl-ly offlclsl-ly or unofficially, and In addition a number of persons wsre present aa friendly observers. Greatly to our regret re-gret there were no official repreeenta-tlvea repreeenta-tlvea of the Roman Catholic church , present, although two or three Roman 't'athnllra were there as Individuals and -"have since published sympatkaUa reports." , |
