Bishop's Appeal for New Churches

The focus of the synod was the Bishop's appeal for new churches for which parishes were charged to raise up to £500,000 over ten years. Addresses were made by a representative of the parishes in need of support and by a representative of wealthier parishes that had responded to the call for help.

Were you at the synod that day, can you see yourself in the picture (View an Enlargement). Do write and let us know.

Photo courtesy of Mary Saunders

THE SYNOD OF MARCH 5th, 1958

to which all Parochial Clergy, toget withher [sic] two lay representatives of every parish, and certain non-parochial clergy and others were called by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, as a renewal of dedication to the service of God, especially for the furtherance and success of the Appeal for New Churches; to pray for His blessing and guidance to that end; and to review what had been done and what lay ahead.

Many readers of this Magazine took part in the Synod. This brief account is intended for those who were not there.

The Sheldonian was packed. Those who could not get in were able to hear the proceedings from the amplifiers in the Divin­ity School. The Bishops, Archdeacons and Canons entered in procession through the East door, and took their places on the platform and on either side of it. The Sheldonian was arranged with a platform in front of the South door, immediately opposite to where the Bishop sits at the Diocesan Conference.

After the opening hymn‑ ‘Come, Thou Holy Spirit, come’ prayers were read by the Bishop of Buckingham. The Bishop of Oxford then addressed the Synod, followed by three other speakers representing parishes in need of help, parishes responding to the call for help, and the laity of the Diocese. Each was intro­duced by his own Archdeacon. The Archdeacon of Oxford then spoke as Chairman of the Appeal, and the Bishop of Oxford wound up with a few words, reminding all present of what he was asking them to do when they returned to their parishes. These addresses are summarised in the following pages. After the hymn‑‘City of God’‑the Bishop of Dorchester read the Lesson—I Chronicles 29, 1‑16. Then followed the Prayers of Dedication (printed below), which must have been heard in many churches the following Sunday, when, at the Bishop’s wish, prayer was offered throughout the Diocese for the extension of God’s Kingdom especially amongst the men, women and children of our great housing estates. After concluding prayers, the Diocesan gave the Blessing; and the Bishops, Archdeacons and Canons withdrew in procession.

The cost of the Synod, and of all the preparations leading up to it, was more than met by the retiring collection which amounted to £121 15s.

It was an inspiring occasion, and most heartening to join in worship and dedication with the clergy and representative laity from all parts of this great Diocese.

THE PRAYERS OF DEDICATION

The Bishop. Let us pray to Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, that He will look mercifully upon the clergy and people of this diocese; that He will accept our common desire to bring His Word, His Sacraments, and the pastoral care of His Church to the new populations now living or coming among us; that He will guide and bless the plans made to further this purpose; that He will give to us the spirit of perseverance in prayer, work and generous giving; and that, as our Lord Jesus Christ had compassion on the multitudes who were as sheep having no shepherd, so we may he united in self‑dedication and steadfast purpose to fulfil the mission entrusted to His Church and bear His Gospel to all our brethren.

Let us now keep silence for a space, and then join together in saying the two prayers of self‑dedication.

All. Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified; Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before Thee for all estates of men in Thy Holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation ‑ and ministry, may truly and godly serve Thee; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

All. Remember, O Lord, what Thou hast wrought in us, and not what we deserve; and as Thou hast called us to Thy service, make us worthy of our calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

FOLLOWING THE SYNOD

The Bishop has already gratefully received encouraging letters from a number of parishes telling him, in accordance with his wish, the amount of the self‑assessed target they aim to Contribute before the end of 196o. He hopes, as he has said, to receive similar letters from all parishes between now and Whitsun.

Parishes are riot asked for any formally worded pledge, but for an informal statement of their aim. If it is possible to send an initial contribution at the same time (as some have done), this will be particularly welcome, as it will bring nearer the day when effective help can be given to some of the most pressing projects.

More copies of the poster and of the coloured leaflet may be had on application to the Appeal Secretary, 88 St. Aldate’s, Oxford. The same applies within limits to the green leaflet entitled ‘The Need’, which is printed in full on another page of this issue.

There have been a good many enquiries about envelopes and boxes which may be used by parishes in their own campaigns for the Appeal. In view of the size of the diocese and the likelihood of a great variety of tastes it has been thought wise to direct parishes interested to the firm of Thomas Leach Ltd., the Clerical Stationers at Abingdon. A gift envelope is being prepared there with a specially designed line drawing and heading. And they now have available collapsible linen collecting purses specially labelled. Orders and enquiries should be made direct to Thos. Leach Ltd., Ock Street, Abingdon, who can supply a quotation and a sample on request. Prices for the envelopes are likely to be slightly reduced from normal, depending on the quantity and the cost of packing and postage. Prices of the purses, including packing and postage, are understood to be 25 for 13s. 6d.; 50 for 24s.; 100 for 44s.; 250 for 102S. 6d.

A very attractive and informative display panel is being pre­pared, measuring about 8 ft. X 4 ft. X 3 ft. It is hoped to place it on view in a prominent position in Oxford during part of the coming summer, and to use it also for display elsewhere to fall in with local arrangements.

THE BISHOP’S ADDRESS TO THE SYNOD,

March 5th, .1958

Brethren of the clergy and the laity, I welcome you to this Synod in which, as I hope, all the parishes of this diocese are represented. The main purpose of our meeting is already known to you and it must occupy almost exclusively our direct attention this afternoon. But before we pass to it, let me say that I believe that this is the first occasion in the history of the diocese on which all the clergy, together with representatives of the laity, have been invited to meet together in one assembly. You will, I trust, regard this occasion as a telling symbol of our unity in one diocesan family, and find in it also, as I expect to do, an inspiration to closer unity for the future, in our prayer, our fellowship, and our whole work in the service of God. We meet in this particular building because our Cathedral Church could not take our numbers.

I have called this assembly in the belief that in an enterprise which depends for its success on the willing co‑operation of all the parishes, some way of direct communication is essential. Only so can the need be clearly brought home to all concerned, misunderstandings be avoided, and a really united and sustained effort set in motion. My hope is that you will go back to your parishes with a full conviction of the reality and importance of this enterprise and a determination to convey that conviction to your brethren in your parish, together with practical information about the plans for the appeal. I ask you to undertake this mission to your own people. That is one part of our purpose in meeting here. The other, certainly no less important, is that we should, on behalf of the whole diocese, solemnly commit these needs, and hopes, and plans into the hands of God, and ask for His blessing and guidance as we offer ourselves to respond to the call which the situation makes to us.

What then is this need for new church buildings, churches, halls and parsonages? One major factor is the flow of new people into the diocese from outside its borders. This flow has been going on for many years, especially at a quickened pace since the end of the war, and we know of a number‑of places in which.there are official plans for further expansion in the next few years which will increase our present population by many more thousands. Naturally the effects of this movement are more obvious in some parts of the diocese than in others. Almost every village has its group, small or large, of new council houses; in the majority of cases these do not call for any new church building programme. But in certain areas the result has been altogether different. A whole new housing area has grown up, providing for anything from two or three thousand, to twelve thousand new inhabitants. Expansion of this kind is most obvious in the neighbourhood of Oxford, in the neighbourhood of Reading, and in the eastern half of the counties of Berks and Bucks. Often it is connected with the establishment of new local industries. This movement is still going on; we know that in certain places new estates will be going up steadily and even rapidly in the next five years. In most of these large‑scale developments the provision of one or more new church buildings is an obvious need.

Our problem is not, however, solely due to an absolute increase of population in the diocese. In some crowded urban areas there has been local re‑planning, leading to a movement of population out from the centre to new estates on the outskirts. In this process a country parish may have become swallowed up into the urban area, with its country church nowhere near the new estates, and in any case quite inadequate for the development of spiritual work among vastly increased numbers.

A third feature of the situation must also be remembered. In a number of places where some expansion was taking place before the war, the policy was adopted, quite wisely, of putting up a temporary church or hall to serve the new needs. These buildings have often fulfilled a most useful purpose as the centre of worship and Christian life during the first stages of growth. Now they are no longer sufficient either in size or character for the district they serve. Further expansion has taken place, and a permanent church or church‑hall , and often a house for a resident priest too, is essential if the work of the Church in that area is to go forward.

This in bare outline is the situation confronting the diocese. There has been, and will be for some years ahead, an inflow of new population; there has been some re‑distribution of existing population into new housing estates; temporary church buildings must in some parishes be replaced by permanent and more adequate structures.

Of course, the general need for new churches has been known in the diocese for a long time. Some of the needs have been already met by local and diocesan effort; other projects are provided for or well in hand. Since I became Bishop three years ago, I have myself consecrated or dedicated three new churches in new housing areas and three dual‑purpose halls. But three years ago it was already clear that our diocesan resources for these needs were almost exhausted. At that time it was hoped to raise a large capital sum by way of loan to provide some assistance for the most pressing projects. The credit squeeze killed that proposal. At the same time, new plans for population increase were coming into view and it was as plain as ever before that local effort could not shoulder the whole burden of providing a new church or hall, without substantial assistance from diocesan funds. The Church Commissioners have helped us for some years by an annual allocation for church extension, but apart from the fact that this money can only be used in areas where certain conditions are fulfilled, their grants are intended to supplement and encourage diocesan effort, not to make it unnecessary.

In this situation it seemed essential that we should make a thorough survey of our probable needs over the period of the next ten years and begin some new planned effort to meet them. This survey was made, and last June I was able to tell the Diocesan Conference that, as a result of our enquiry, it was estimated that new buildings would be required in the next ten years in more than 30 parishes and that the total cost would be about half‑a‑million pounds. That is the basis of this Appeal which we are finally launching with prayer and self‑dedication at this Synod to‑day.

Now it is not suggested that the church people of this diocese can or should raise the whole sum required, even over a period of ten years. We can continue to expect steady help from the Church Commissioners in the future and we shall in due course approach institutions and firms, in the diocese and hope to enlist their support for our attempt to supply pastoral care for the people who serve them. But it is my confident hope that half the total sum over the whole period will be raised by parochial effort, that is, the local effort of the parishes in which the needs exist, together with the contributions from the other parishes which have no need of new church buildings for themselves. As you will hear in more detail presently, we plan to spread this parochial appeal over stages in the ten years.

The parochial effort is basic to the whole enterprise. We cannot approach firms and institutions, or even press the Church Commissioners to increase their ‘Support, until we have sho wn that the Church in the diocese has braced itself steadily and seriously to supply, so far as it is in its. power, the spiritual needs of our new housing areas. Are we convinced that this responsibility does lie upon us all? Is it the serious concern of the whole diocese, clergy, people and parishes?

Since the Appeal was announced, I have occasionally heard it said that some of our existing churches are half empty‑why then build new ones? I hope that this objection does not need a detailed reply. If there is a half‑empty church in a particular place, it is no answer to the problem of providing for the needs of a new estate in some other part of the diocese. Where new churches and halls have already been built, they are being well used; they have become new centres of spiritual life; there is plenty of evidence of that. Experience also shows that we can expect to find a supply of energetic and capable priests who are willing to face the challenge of work among newly‑settled people. A more serious point is made when it is asked why the people in the new areas cannot raise the money to build their own church or hall. We do indeed expect them and the mother parish in which the new estate stands to make their own contribution. They have certainly done so, wherever church buildings have already been provided, sometimes by quite magnificent giving. But it is altogether unrealistic to expect the new estate and the mother parish to raise the whole sum required for a new hall or church by their own unaided efforts. People on these new estates come to live there as strangers to one another. They begin with no sense of belonging to a community of any kind, and even those who have been faithful members of the church in the place from which they have come, cannot work together until the Church in some visible form comes among them, shows its interest in them and helps to provide a building in which they can gather for common worship. We can hardly expect them to raise money until effective Christian leadership and instruction has begun its work among them.

But there is another important point to take into account. The church cannot afford to be a late‑comer where a large expansion of housing is taking place. Delay in supplying spiritual ministrations in these new areas is disastrous in its results. If the Church does not appear on the scene visibly and effectively until people have been settled there for four or five years, a great opportunity is missed and the work for the future is gravely hampered. We must therefore look and plan ahead. We must be ready, as a diocese, to give help with the provision of the necessary buildings in the early stages of the development of a new area, wherever the need for them is clear and certain. This is essential strategy, if we really care for the work of evangelization among the people who have settled in these new homes.

Some of us may have felt a little impatient of the call to make this great concerted effort for the sake of large numbers of people, many of whom have flowed into the diocese from outside. If so, I hope it is a mere passing mood which has disappeared on reflexion. We Christian people should think of this situation, not as a daunting problem, but as a challenge and an opportunity. The Appeal is for the provision of buildings‑churches, halls and parsonages. But our fundamental concern is not with bricks and mortar. It is not even a question of prestige, of putting the Church on the map in these new estates with a fine and imposing place of worship. A church building is an important visible witness of the desire of the Church to be among the people and serve them; so far as our resources allow, we shall try to make the new buildings worthy of their sacred purpose. But the Church of God exists not to be glorified but to minister. ‘ We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord.’ Our concern is with people and their need of the Gospel. If our own membership of the Church means anything to us, we shall know that these people heed, as much as we do, the faith and life of the Church and a building in which they can gather for worship and instruction. Many of them are young married couples with small children. We ought to welcome this open field for evangelization, with the opportunity to bring into the full life of the Church, not only individuals, but ‘Whole families. As the Church in this diocese, we have a direct responsibility for all the people living within its borders, unless they have declared themselves the active members of some other religious body. We should be grievously disloyal to our Lord’s example and His commission to us, if we merely waited for these new communities to come to us. We must go out to them with the faith, the worship and the pastoral care of the Church.

In starting this Appeal I have been acutely aware that a number of parishes have recently had to raise large sums to repair their own parish churches; some still have this task in hand. I constantly admire the way in which quite small villages, as well as larger places, have gone about this work of putting their own church in good repair‑the church which they have inherited from the generosity and foresight of earlier generations. We realize that the circumstances and burdens of parishes differ very widely in this and other respects and so we have asked each parish to asses its own contribution to this Appeal in its first stage to the end of 1960. I believe that this challenge to a self‑allotted task will be met in a free and generous spirit.

May I add one important word about the relation of this Appeal to the whole range of Christian giving through the parishes. Clearly this Appeal must not succeed at the expense of work to which we as a diocese are already committed. The parishes respond most faithfully to the call for the annual quota; this response is as urgent as ever, and must not in any way suffer as the result of the new Appeal. The missionary work of the Church overseas will still make its claim on us and it is one we cannot put into a secondary place. For some years now the Laity Challenge Fund, with its devoted band of workers and supporters, has been raising annually a generous sum which is vitally necessary if we are to maintain the stipends of the clergy at the present minimum. I can tell you to‑day that the committee of the Laity Challenge Fund is now planning a move forward to make possible a really substantial increase in the minimum stipend. This is a movement of a responsible body of lay people in the diocese who believe that the present minimum must be raised. After much consultation., they are going to put out a scheme for planned giving by which they expect to reach their target and bring a muchneeded improvement to clerical stipends in the diocese. The cause and the plan deserve the fullest success.

I have spoken of this and the other permanent commitments of our parochial and diocesan finance because the Appeal for New Churches must be seen as a special call to be integrated with these commitments and not to be a competitor. This may well mean that in the next few months our people, the whole body of our church people, will be moved to reconsider the basis of their Christian giving. I see some welcome signs that this is already happening with a great deal of lay support and initiative behind it.

Some parishes have already written to tell me of their determination to support the Appeal. I am much encouraged by this, as also by the good response made to my personal letters to some individual lay people, which has given us a start of £10,000 in gifts and promises.

Let us face steadily this call which has come to us and go forward with our plans for meeting it, all together, with a good heart, trusting that God will guide and bless our efforts to bring His Gospel to our brethren in the new housing areas. I look to you who are present here to‑day to carry the call home to your own people in each and every parish of the diocese.

CANON RANDOLPH’S ADDRESS TO THE SYNOD

Representing the parishes in need of help

The world outside thinks that this Synod is concerned with material things‑bricks and mortar, pounds, shillings and pence. We know that we are concerned with Persons‑not with things. We speak of Housing Estates; we speak of Churches, Halls and Parsonages; but what we really mean is that in many parts of our Diocese there are large groups of men, women and children to whom the Gospel Message should be preached, and to whom the Sacraments should be offered‑whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Circumstances vary, and the building that is wanted varies according to local conditions. The constant factor is the spiritual need of people. We are planning to raise money to build material things but all the time we realize that the problem is a spiritual and pastoral one.

It would be impossible to describe the situation in all the. various parts of this Diocese. Let me rather describe the problem as it has arisen in one particular place to illustrate the work to which we are called.

Put yourself, if you will, in a large town Parish some five years ago. Being an ancient Parish, with its Mother Church standing in the shopping centre of the Town, its boundaries stretch 2½ miles to the outskirts and encircle a large tract of good farming land.

One day the contractors come and, almost unnoticed at first, lay roads and drains across these fields. Then an army of builders arrives, and in no time the Mayor is coming to hand the key of the first completed house to the first tenant on the Housing Estate. How many more are there to be? Four to five thousand at first‑probably six to seven thousand in the end. Here is a problem for an ancient Parish with its hands already full. Shall we neglect this new estate? pretend it isn’t there? Separated as they are from the nearest church by a mile and a half of busy road with a bottle‑neck over the railway bridge, shall we say: ‘Well if they want to come to Church let them take a bus and come to the centre of the Town’?

But we said: ‘ We must welcome these newcomers to our Parish. We must be there from the start. Let us see what sort of people they are and act accordingly. First of all, and as quickly as possible, let us get a Priest or a Lady Worker in order to visit and start the pastoral care of these people.’ So the people were welcomed as they came. How different this proved to be from an ordinary Parish with its cross‑section of all the age groups. Except for a handful of old age pensioners these people are all youngish married couples, and all have 1, 2, 3 or more childrena few adolescents, but mostly young or very young children.

Of the first thousand families about 800 are nominally Church of England. Of these 800 perhaps, 20 at the moment are actively attached to some particular Church. A very small proportion, but remember these are all young married couples, very much occupied with the care of children. A large number of them have been confirmed, and many of them were at one time active Church members‑Sunday School teachers‑members of choirs‑even one or two Servers‑but the care of children has caused them to slip away, and now alas life is organised with no reference to Church on Sundays. But there is immense good‑will. They want their children to come to Sunday School, and they intend‑many of them‑one day to come back to Church.

When we faced this problem five years ago, we thought: ‘ It is going to be a hard task to build up the Family of the Church on this Estate, but what immense possibilities there are. If we can win the children, there is hope for the future; if we can win the parents as their children get a little older‑even win back those who once were keen‑we have won them for the rest of life. If we fail now, in all probability they will drift further and further away.’ We believed that this was the most important work for the Church to undertake. The pastoral call to care for these people was one which could not be ignored.

We started in a make‑shift way. Mothers’ Union in a private house, then in a clinic; Sunday School by bus to the Parish Church, then in a School; Brownies, King’s Messengers, etc. in a barn; But we were determined to build something for the Church to call its home. From the very beginning a generous farmer had promised a site. For reasons with which I need not weary you we decided on a Hall, to be a gathering place for church people in the week, and to be converted into a church for worship on a Sunday. Raising half the cost locally, and receiving the other half from the Church Commissioners and the Diocese, the hall was built in two years and has now been open for three. How have we fared?

There is no doubt it is a hard task. But ‑ thanks to the work, first of a Lady Worker and now of a Priest in charge, some progress has been made. Easter Communicants 73; F.W.O. members 70; a strong young Mothers’ Union; a group of keen men; 16 sidesmen; Sunday School teachers with 250 children; and so on. They are learning self‑support‑£ 150 this year towards the stipend of their Priest‑ in‑ Charge‑£2 8o raised last year for their Church Building Fund.

A small beginning with great possibilities. A heavy pastoral responsibility, and a mighty hard slog. We. hope for a Church when the congregation is strong enough to maintain it. When? Three more years perhaps, making eight in all? We just don’t know. Left to ourselves it will be twenty years at least, and by then our children will have grown up and moved away.

Such is the problem in one Parish. A similar tale with variations‑some more urgent still, some with magnificent achievement to record‑could be told from many parts of the Diocese. We are all members one of another; we all care far more for persons than for things; and if we can open the eyes of our fellow Church members to this spiritual need, we shall I trust by the grace of God unite to see this great opportunity through.

ADDRESS by the REV. A. D. WALMSLEY (of Adderbury)

Representing parishes responding.. to the call for help.

We have just heard a vivid account from an experienced parish priest of how he and. his church people have tackled the problem of a new housing estate growing up inside his parish. The only reason why I am asked to follow him is to represent a typical supporting parish for which hundreds of my brethren could speak better than I.

As a typical supporting parish we have a church which is a magnificant inheritance, a costly responsibility and a priceless treasure. My neighbour at Bloxham has raised more than half the cost of a new church for repairs in the last 31 years. I have been told it would cost half a million to rebuild a church like ours, the total of the Bishop’s Appeal. No wonder that a visiting Bishop from Africa described us as ‘spiritual millionaires’‑referring not only to buildings but opportunities for worship. The Appeal should evoke a response from all such parishes to help those who are starting from scratch.

As a typical Church Council of a supporting parish we considered the Bishop’s Appeal before we had any detailed information and various questions were asked to which answers are being given this afternoon‑such as ‘What is being done on the estates by way of self help?’ . ‘Why not begin with a hut and let them work for a church?’

As a typical Vicar, when I received the Archdeacon’s invitation to speak on behalf of the supporting parishes, I knew nothing of the problem of the new areas in the diocese, except that it existed.

In order to be able to say something this afternoon therefore I have been to see three of the new areas, one in each of the three Archdeaconries‑Barton Estate, Oxford; Southcote Estate, Reading; and Britwell Estate, Farnham Royal.

‘Why not begin with a hut?’ Perhaps I should see a church hut. I did at Farnham Royal. Here on the Britwell Estate the L.C.C. have superbly planned an overspill for their population. Already there is much to admire. Two beautiful modem primary schools put up before the arrival of the tenants and their families; houses designed differently in different coloured bricks and tiles; bungalows; flats; the features of the landscape preserved, such as spinneys and open places. Already the estate proclaims the platform of all political parties‑a higher standard of living. We in the Church must proclaim a higher standard of giving For the moment at Britwell all that represents our standard of giving in the diocese is a tiny hut (given by a generous parishioner) which would be filled by a Church Council, but has to serve for the 4,000 who have already arrived. In another two years 12,000 are expected. A priest who already has a district church, is doing his best to keep the flag flying until the arrival of a resident priest-in‑charge.

The hut on the Britwell Estate brings me to the most important thing I have learnt, that the term ‘supporting parishes’ must be taken in a military sense. We are in support of these parishes which are in the front line. The front line of the diocese is in the new housing estates. We ought to think of them not so much as receiving parishes but ‘front line’ parishes.

At Barton, Oxford, where there is also a hut, and at Southcote I. saw the difference it makes when the priest can get amongst the people as soon as possible, living in a council house, collecting the individuals, building up ‘the living stones into a spiritual house’ before the material fabric of the church begins to rise, and co‑operating with men of good will in the creation of a healthy community life. The living agent is the key to the situation — There is a venerable joke in an old ‘Punch’ of a lady school. manager visiting the day school and asking a village child, ‘And what is the outward and visible sign in baptism? ‘ Please, Miss, the baby.’ There is a sense in which this is the right answer. The green and purple leaflets in your hands emphasise the outward and visible signs‑the bricks and mortar of hall, parsonage, and church‑but the first need is for a man to be there from the beginning to shepherd Christ’s sheep scattered abroad. I read into the Appeal pamphlet, with its figures of the 50 per cent increase in population, an implied challenge for more living agents, for a readiness to respond to this call not only with money but with lives, even as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. There is no more exciting or exacting task in the diocese to‑day, as I see it, than the building up of a living church. It is a task that needs priests as evangelical and as catholic as St. Paul himself. What does it matter if our supporting parishes are ticking over nicely, if the battle is being lost in the front line?

‘ What are they doing to help themselves? ‘ The parishes which have these big estates thrust on them and the priests in these areas need encouragement. The message I bring from the priests on the spot is ‘Help us to help ourselves‑help us to get within striking distance of our target ‘. At Barton where the priest has been there for some time the people have worked hard and given sacrificially towards the cost of a new church. £5,000 has been raised in three years. Of this half has come from inside the parish, and there is a strong body of church members ready to fill the .church when it is dedicated this year. The standard of giving puts us in the supporting parishes to shame‑not only street and ,church collections but anonymous gifts of five pound notes through the letter box have shown the people’s love for their church. Yet the kind of encouragement I mean would have saved the repeated modification of the design of their church to bring it within the sum available. As we consider our own lovely churches, our buildings and endowments, we are rich indeed. ‘Freely ye have received, let us freely give.’ We must help them to build not only adequate but beautiful churches. The houses on an estate represent the standard of living, the church on an estate represents the standard of giving.

Our work begins when we get gack to our parishes and have to strike the imagination and rouse the conscience of every church member. Some of our city and town parishes have already been generously supporting estates near to them, and the response from individuals has already given a wonderful start to the appeal in gifts and promises amounting to £10,000 Now it is the chance for the rest of us to respond. Some of the supporting parishes have been discussing ways and means, and I should like to pass ,on the decision of a neighbouring parish. Rather than have a fete .or make a grant from church funds, a personal canvass of all church members is to be made so that each one can make a personal. response to the appeal on a Gift Day. This is where the appeal leaflets will come in useful, supplemented by personal contacts which might be made at Deanery meetings by speakers from the estates, or by incumbents arranging their outings to include a visit to an estate.

Then there is the fixing of the pledge by each parish, I can only suggest that we try to make it large enough to be a challenge, not small enough to be a nuisance; that each parish decides on its priorities, and leaves out of its budget for the next few years those things which are desirable but not essential. We have waited 700 years in our church for a water supply inside the church which would cost £50. We can wait another ten and go on using the churchyard pump. Wordsworth was moved by King’s College Chapel to defend the royal saint against the charge of vain expense, ‘ Give all thou can’st, High Heaven rejects the lore Of nicely calculated less or more

During the six years I have been in this diocese, this is the first big issue which has brought together town and country. As Vicar of a rural supporting parish let me close with a sense of urgency‑the sight of fields white unto harvest, a harvest that will not wait. The fields which in Reading and elsewhere were once farm land are now covered with another harvest. ‘ Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.’

ADDRESS BY SIR GEOFFREY BYASS, BT.

Representing the Laity of the Diocese

I regard it as a great privilege and responsibility to have been asked to speak at this Synod. I have lived for 16 years in the southeast corner of the Diocese, and before that for a few years in Berkshire, and I think I can claim a wide‑spread and inherited interest in the well‑being of the Diocese. My particular duty is to speak for the Laity. I am certain I can assure our Bishop that he has our whole‑hearted support. The main burden of this Appeal must fall on our shoulders, which I am sure are broad enough to carry that burden lightly and willingly.

I would like to follow the analogy of the front line used by Mr. Walmsley. This campaign is a battle for an expanding Church, and we cannot do better than examine the methods of the greatest winner of battles in modern times‑Field Marshal Lord Montgomery. He knew what he intended to do and how he was going to do it; he explained his plans fully to all taking part in the battle; he convinced them that what he proposed to do was right, and that it could be done. Such is the leadership we have had from our Bishop. He has given us a clear plan, and convinced us it is right and can be done.

I would like to emphasise that this appeal must be taken side by side with all the other pressing needs of the Church. It is useless having Churches without people inside them. For this purpose there must be a sufficient supply of clergy who should be free from the most pressing financial worries. I refer, of course to the Laity Challenge Fund which urgently needs increased support. It is also no good building new Churches if we allow existing Churches to fall into disrepair. For this purpose we already have the Fund for the Repair and Preservation of Historic Churches. That our cause is right goes without saying, but it will be necessary to convince some people, and also that the task is being tackled in the right way.

Finally let us all be confident that our target can be reached. I would like to take two heartening examples. The Bishop of Coventry has recently launched an appeal for £750,000 for all. the needs of his Diocese. There is no lack of courage there. In 1953 the Church in Wales launched an appeal for £500,000 and after one year they had raised £600,000 On the basis of participating members of the Church this worked out at about £4 per head. Our own first target represents less than £1 per head on the same basis. Let us set our sights high. We cannot afford to fail in our task, and we owe it to our Bishop to make sure we do not fail. Let us see to it that this Appeal meets with a greater measure of success than anyone at the moment even dares to hope.

ADDRESS BY THE ARCHDEACON OF OXFORD

Chairman of the Bishop’s Appeal for New Churches

I should like to take. this opportunity of thanking the Curators for granting us permission to use this Sheldonian Theatre and also the nearby Divinity School and Convocation House on this day. As the Bishop has said, had our Cathedral been larger and more convenient than it is, no doubt we should have been meeting there. We are very grateful to have been allowed to meet here. And I wish to thank all, and they are many, who have helped in any way in connection with this Synod. It is always dangerous and invidious to single out names, and so I hope they will all accept this expression of our gratitude.

The nature of this place and the size of this gathering were determining factors in the arrangement of this Synod. Some may think that there should have been an opportunity for discussion and questions. It was not in any sense of feeling these to be inappropriate or undesirable that they were ruled out, but simply on the ground of the practical impossibility of handling them in a dignified and edifying way in keeping with the occasion. Many helpful suggestions and questions have been addressed to us already, and we would welcome more. They may be sent to the Appeal Secretary, Brigadier Hill, or to myself. We have both visited several R.D. conferences and some P.C.C. meetings, and we are very ready to do more of this. It is at the parochial and ruridecanal levels that discussion can most easily and profitably take place.

With your service papers you have in your hands a copy of a publicity leaflet in colour, and also a green leaflet entitled ‘The Need ‘ which is the first printed statement of projects needing our support. All incumbents in the Diocese will receive by post to‑morrow two posters suitable for church porch or hall notice board, and also sufficient quantities of the publicity leaflet estimated to allow each communicant to have a copy at or before Easter. Methods of distributing these will certainly vary from parish to parish, and not all parishes may necessarily choose the same moment at which to put these into the hands of their people. But it is hoped that by this means the urgency of the Bishop’s Appeal will be brought home to every communicant in the Diocese.

The list of projects, as the opening words make clear, is not to be regarded as a final list, and clearly revisions will have to be published from time to time, as work, progresses and needs become, better known. The present list is based upon much careful ‘enquiry and consultation, and shows the extent of the need. The list will also enable parishes wishing to do so to earmark their contributions for specific projects. It is hoped, however, that while this may encourage special interests and links between parishes, there will always be a considerable amount of free money to be allocated where the need is greatest and most urgent. It should be stressed that the newly constituted Appeal Committee and the already existing Church Extension Committee will work in. close conjunction to ensure that all money raised is wisely spent.

We have been asked whether the individual contributions already given and promised may be counted towards the parochial targets. We very much hope that this will not be pressed, because the main object of the preliminary appeal to individuals was to obtain sufficient backing for the launching of the full Appeal to the Diocese as a whole. As the Bishop has stated, this has enabled us to make an encouraging beginning. But many of those who received the Bishop’s initial letter have not responded, some of them possibly prefering to wait in order to make their contribution through their parish effort. Some of those who have responded may feel able to give further help at a later date through their parishes. A first list of contributors appeared in the February issue of the Diocesan Magazine, and further lists will be published in future issues.

Our task then is to raise £500,000 by the end of 1967. Towards this parishes are asked to contribute £75,000 by the end of 1960, and that is our immediate concern. The means to achieve this aim are various, and some of them have been indicated here to‑day. There is no suggestion that one method will suit all, or should be adopted by all. Only let a spirit of generous concern challenge us all as we go forward.

I am confident that the sum required can be raised. I am also confident that this common task laid upon us can achieve two other important results. I believe that it can serve to unite us as never before as the family of God in this large and scattered Diocese. I believe also that it can stimulate us all to think out carefully and prayerfully our obligations in the matter of Christian giving not only in relation to the provision of new church buildings, but also in relation to the improvement of clergy stipends and to our other existing commitments, parochial, diocesan and missionary in the widest sense of that word. But if this is to happen, and it can happen, I am certain that we need the constant blessing and guidance and support of Almighty God in all our doings that they may be begun, continued and ended in Him. So it is that the Bishop has expressed his earnest wish that Sunday next, the 3rd in Lent, shall be marked throughout the Diocese by prayer to this end. So it is that we pass now to the solemn conclusion of our Synod and ask that we may be sent out from this place enthused with a new vision of the task to which we are called, and inspired by a new sense of the divine assistance remaining always with us.