Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/203

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LECTURE VII




Growth of Church Life during the Last Sixty Years.




Renewed Life of the Church. Attractive Services. Opposition to changes. Church Restoration. New Societies formed. Ritual Commission. Public Worship Regulation Act. Incumbents' Resignation Act. Dilapidations. Burial Laws. Tithe Act. Clergy Discipline. Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Their work. Cathedral Acts. Episcopal Act. Convocation. Essays and Reviews. Conferences and Synods. Pan-Anglican Councils. Colenzo's work on Pentateuch. Creation of Bishroprics in England. Abroad. Theological Colleges. Voluntary offerings of the people. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners' valuable work. Suffragan Bishops. Church progress certain. Parish Magazine. "Parties" in the Church. The Church differs from Dissent on (1) organization; (2) matters of doctrine. Is the Church Catholic? Church Endowments. The spirit of Dissent and of the Church contrasted. The attitude of the Church towards Dissent. Conclusion.


Last week I traced the history of the Oxford Movement, and to-night it will be my object to show how the Church of England has been benefited during the last sixty years through that Movement.

The Tractarians gave birth to a new spirit in the religious life of our country. I do not think that we can be otherwise