The Henson Journals

[192]

Friday, March 26th, 1926.

I spent the whole morning writing to Canon Streeter and the Bishop of Liverpool with references to the letter which 4 Oxonians intended to send to the Times on the difficult subject of Clerical Subscription. They want the Bishops publicly to say that disbelief of the Virgin–Birth and "physical" Resurrection shall be no bar to the Ordination in the Church of England. This seems to me hardly a fair demand: & certainly I could not concede the point without important qualifications.

After lunch I motored to Barnard Castle, and attended a meeting of the school governors. They civilly re–elected me to the chair. Bircham made himself as offensive as he could, but I ignored his rudeness, & he went off "with is tail between his legs"! After tea I returned to Auckland.

Phillip Strong who is about to leave the diocese in order to take up work in Leeds, came to see me. He is a good lad, and the kind we want in this diocese. I ordained him both to the diaconate, and to the priesthood in the chapel here, & I had built hopes on his service in the diocese, & now he takes wing for Leeds.

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