The Henson Journals

[35]

4th Sunday in Advent, December 20th, 1925. Ordination.

It is almost terrible to ordain men to the Christian Ministry in the Church of England as matters stand now. What is the outlook for them? What meaning do their pledges and subscriptions carry? What will orthodoxy mean twenty years hence? What rôle will be left to the clergymen in England then? What will the situation of the incumbent have become when the revolution of status and system which the Enabling Act has effected has disclosed itself fully? Disestablishment and Disendowment cannot be postponed much longer, and when the last restraints of the National Character have been removed, and the clergy have been reduced to a naked dependence on the laity for their incomes, what measures of independence will remain to them? The intellectual decline in Ordination Candidates may be a merciful preparation for the fortunes which are reserved for them. Will the Church of England in 1960, when the 4th centenary of the Elizabethan settlement will be celebrated, be ready to thank God for that experience, or to make an act of abjuration, and return to all that therein it renounced & cast aside?

[36]

Take a deeper & longer view. If Religion be integral to human nature, and if Christianity be the true type of Religion, then it cannot be the case that the World will ever outgrow Christianity. If Christianity be inevitably tied to some social expression, then a Christian Church will always be needed. And some organization requiring some official ministry will always be necessary. When, having found ourselves compelled to make these assumptions, and having a genuine desire, if it be rightly possible, to take our place in this world as defenders & exponents of Religion we survey the situation into which we are born in this time and place, is it reasonably possible for us to avoid the conclusion that we may best secure our object by taking Orders in the Church of England, which, if judged by its history and official standards, is the freest and fairest Church in Christendom. And, then, besides all these general considerations, there are all the personal pleas which stir the heart & the sway the will. Of these, the force & validity can be appraised only by the man himself.

[37]

The weather was abominable – slush, snow, shifting & vehement winds. The water in my bath was barely Laodicean, & my chimney smoked persistently!

The Ordination in the Cathedral was attended by a very scanty congregation, only a small gathering of the friends and relatives of the candidates. Clayton's sermon was relevant, interesting, and not too long. There was a curiously egotistic note running through it, almost compelling the hearer to interpret autobiographically every allusion to difficulty, unfairness, and failure. The music, as usual, was most helpful. I hope, and think, that the men found the service devotional & heartening. Jimmie walked in from Spennymoor in order to attend the service. Unwin brought his father, a little, middle–aged, rather deaf incumbent from Shropshire to see me: & Simmonds came to my room to say Goodbye, an attention which pleased me.

J. G. Wilson did not attend the service. I called on him, & found him fairly cheerful.

I attended Evensong in the Cathedral, sitting in the Throne with my chaplains, Clayton & Shaddick.

[38]

I went through the list of clergy in the diocesan calendar, striking out the names of those whom I knew to have ceased to on the working list, and marking those of the non–parochial clergy. I found that the net total was only 362. There are 268 parishes in the diocese, so that the assistant curates have fallen below a hundred. Seven deacons were ordained in the course of this year, and some assistant curates have come in from outside the diocese. Even with these additions the fall in the number of working clergy is considerable. Eight incumbents have disappeared from the list, & these include some of the very best.

I. T. Brown preferred to Northallerton

A. W. Chute preferred to Magdalen College, Oxford.

C. E. Little. died.

T. J. McKitterick. resigned on ground of health.

R. H. Talbot. preferred to a church in Portsmouth.

E. L. Tayleur preferred.

T. J. Watts. resigned.

Graham White. resigned to go to Mission Field. There are no evidences of any Ordination Candidates for next year.

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