CHAPTER XV

THE REUNION OF THE CHURCHES AND FREE CHURCH FEDERATION

"Forward! Let the stormy moment fly and mingle with the

past;

I, that loathed, have come to love him: love will conquer at the last."-TENNYSON.

THOSE Who have followed the development of Dr. Mackennal's mind up to this point will be prepared for the part he played in the movement which led to the formation of what is now known as the Free Church Council. In 1891, 1892, and 1893 a group of clergymen and of others interested in promoting the co-operation of Christian churches with a view to their ultimate reunion met, under the auspices of Dr. Lunn, in Switzerland, first at Grindelwald and later at Lucerne. The conference was nicknamed by The Times an "ecclesiastical picnic," but neither its records nor its results justify the witticism. The discussions were serious contributions to the question of Christian reunion; they were carried on by responsible men representing both the Established and the Free Churches of England; there was no shirking of questions of principle, no neglect of the deep roots in history of the present divisions of the Church of Christ; and when the question of reunion becomes again a vital one, as it must do sooner or later for it must ever remain a matter of serious concern to every disciple of Christ so long as he continues to read the seventeenth chapter of John-the ground covered in these discussions will have

to be retraversed. They represent a genuine expression of the unity of the Christian consciousness, and of the longing of Christian magnanimity to find some way of bridging the "echoing straits between us thrown."

In the discussions which took place Congregationalism could not have had a better representative than Dr. Mackennal. His accurate and thorough acquaintance with the religious history of England, his intimate knowledge of the Elizabethan controversies, his scholarly study of first principles in the New Testament, his conscientious adherence to the spiritual principle for which the exiled Separatists suffered, his catholic mind, broad human sympathies, and dignified presence not only secured the ear of those who came to scoff: they made men feel that here they were in the presence of a man of God whose mind moved freely among the great things, and whose word was weighted with the thought of years.

Some of his contributions to the discussions indicate that, though he went into the reunion movement with earnestness and conviction, he did so without any illusions as to its immediate result. Here is an extract from the official record :

"Dr. Mackennal said he did not like compromise, for he thought the whole of church history showed how fatal that policy had been. Compromise usually meant the passing on to another generation the solution of questions too difficult for us to deal with. Referring to the actual working out of the proposed reunion, the Doctor said he did not wish to unite with Wesleyans, Presbyterians, or Episcopalians shorn of that which was valued in their sight; he desired to understand their point of view, and value it. He would not then stay to explain what he considered the special benefits of Congregationalism, but he wished strongly that, in addition to being a Congregationalist, he could have the backbone of the Presbyterians, the fervour of the Methodists, and the sense of historic continuity which belonged to the Episcopalians; and, in addition to all these, he desired that which was the glory of the Church of Rome, where it existed in purity-a sense of one Holy Apostolic Church. Now

if the churches were to come together in a spirit of compromise, and were each to cast off part of that which had moulded and fashioned their religious life, then they would be but a poor set of people to be associated with. He therefore looked, not so much to their putting off this or that in order to diminish the points of objection, as to their each and all growing into a larger apprehension of that in each church which each church valued in itself. He most heartily concurred in Mr. Hughes' point that the churches' common ground was Jesus Christ. That was perfectly true, and the larger their knowledge of Christ, and the fuller their religious experience, and the richer in doctrine, as well as in ethics, any church communion was, the more valuable it would be as an interpreter and exalter of Jesus Christ.

"But he would state plainly in what direction he was looking for the accomplishment of church union. He looked for it in the direction which had been talked about a good deal, namely, in the enlargement of the power of appreciating one another's position. As this was done they would also enlarge their power of appreciating what was good in one another. The bigger men they were, the nearer they would be to union; no union would ever be got by paring down one another or oneself. Let them be great, big men, with hearts large enough to take in in sympathy the great variety of intellectual statements, and as they did so they would find themselves insensibly coming closer together, and that which interfered with their real fellowship would rapidly dissolve away. But one of the worst things they could do was to arouse and stimulate internal divisions in any denomination in the interests of union.

"They must take care that when they spoke men did not make ready for battle, and if they did make ready for battle it must not be taken for granted that all the blame rested with those who so prepared. He heartily believed their reunion work to be of God, and they must work at it, and wait for God's time patiently, taking care not to protract His time by unbelief, or want of hopefulness, or want of courage in themselves."

Lecturing on the Reformation, he described, as he could do so well, the differences between the Puritans and the Separatists, and led up to this conclusion:

"I want to point out to you the wonderful perception and foresight of these men, how wonderfully in thus formulating their idea of a Christian church they were guided to apprehend what is essential, and how clearly they perceived where in the future of