Wycliffe College - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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0ur Hope lies 171 L'onf171uify The Reverend Robert Hulse, M.A. Rector: St. John's Church, Elora, Ontario. I should never have been asked to write this article. I am much too enamoured with the trappings of Anglicanism. There are some trappings that I cling to which are obviously outmoded. I lack a certain, no doubt desirable, objectivity in judging of the matter, and am perhaps unable, therefore, to speak convinc- ingly about that hope which is born out of contemplation of the past. lVly sentiments, frankly, echo those of George Herbert in his poem, The British Church: I joy, dear lVIother, when I view Thy perfect lineaments and hue, Both sweet and bright. Beauty in thee takes up her place, And dates her letters from thy face, When she doth write. A fine aspect, in fit array, Neither too mean, nor yet too gay, Shews who is best. Outlandish looks not compare, For all they either painted are, Or else undrest. But dearest lVlother Iwhat those missl The mean thy praise and glory is, And long may be. l'm sure I wouldn't have admitted this a few years ago - not to my best friend, let alone in such a prestigious review as Qap and Gown. It would have seemed downright per- verse. To have declared myself unable to see that there was much to be grateful for in the new movements of the sixties, Isensitivity training, the Ecumenical lVlovement, God -is - dead theology, secular theology, etc., etc., - all have come and gone, for the secular world has lost interest in them, even though the Church may not have done so entirelyl, would have seemed pig-headed. I would have been dismissed as a victim of cultural lag. But times have changed. There is a growing hostility, for instance, to the Plan of Union. Of course many people right from the start knew they were against the Plan when they saw the new church's pro- posed structure. There, in black and white, were all the old familiar and repulsive bureau- cratic terms and titles: President and Vice- President, Executive Officer and General Sec- retary, Treasurer and Sub-executive, divisions into regions, districts and zoned the better for sales and promotion, no doubt. The new Church wasto be built on the business model- a model designed for efficiency and economy, but proven to be impersonal, destructive of human dignity, unimaginative, and - more often than not - ineffectual. IRead The Peter PrinciQle.j Thetraditional church, for various histor- ical reasons, has come down to us with an essentially pastoral structure. It has, by in- heritance, therefore, a more personal and, if you like, rural outlook. But with the collapse of community life in the cities, with indeed the death of urban society, this pastoral model has become vitally important. The traditional organization of the church, though ofttimes cumbersome, is now seen to be more humane and community-minded and to allow greater opportunity to show forth care for people, than any of its alternative schemes. They talked up 'relevance' in the sixties. That was one of the catchwords in the church Istill is, in some circlesl. Well, I hardly think the structural models found in Business were formulated, in particular, to relate to human needs Iother than to exploit theml. And the whole point of 'sensitivity training' in the business world was to make employees pliable, to shape them, to smooth down the rough edges of individual personalities, so that they would fit harmoniously into the machinery of business. IWe would do well to heed the present-day revulsion, so often expressed by the young, against industrial, technological society.l I don't want to sound as though I imag- ined we could return to the pastoral world of previous generations, appealing though this world would be. The train! The twelve o'clock for paradise. Hurry, or it will try to creep away. Out in the country everyone is wise: We can be only wise on Saturday. There you are waiting, little friendly house. Illflunrol Clearly there is no way back from modern society and modern industry. The Beast islet loose. But we must turn mind and energy to continued on page I I

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Furthermore, the prophet was promised at the giving of the Law fDt. 18.161. It is strange to think that in the midst of this great covenant-ratification God should promise a prophet. And yet we learn that there was something intrinsically right about the request. fDt. 18.171. An interesting observation is that the prophet was promised at the request pl Moses. Elsewhere we learn that the people pleaded with Moses to speak with God and to tell them what He had said fEx. 20.195 Dt. 5.271. They could not bear to stand before God fDt. 5.251. They recognized that if God was to manifest Himself to man it would have to be through a mediator. It is true that Israel received divinely appointed prophets. But each prophet in falling short of the traits outlined in Dt. 18 pointed forward to a Coming Prophet. When we turn to the NT we see these traits in Jesus. Everywhere we see Him as the Great Teacher lMatt. 7.295 Jn. 7.461. St. Matthew depicts Him as the Second Moses. ln the Sermon on the Mount Jesus goes up into the mountain and delivers the laws of the king- dom lMatt. 5-71. Jesus came to create a new congregation, the Church QMatt. 16.181. He was His people's intercessor U.k. 22.31, 325 Jn. 17.9, 11, 15, 201 who came to give His life a Ransom for many fMk. 10.451. Jesus acted and taught only what He had received from His Father lJn. 5.19, 205 12.49, 501. St. John tells us that no man has ever yet seen God's nature. But Jesus who was in intimate fellow- ship with God came to earth to manifest Him Un. 1.18 comp. 6.461. The Jews of Jesus' day were looking for the prophet like unto Moses. They had standards by which to judge. Imagine the excitement of an early Christian disciple who had been with Jesus as He read Moses's testimo- ny concerning the Coming Prophet suddenly realizing all this fulfilled in Jesus! f congratulations, you've made it! . . . but there's still more to learn about yourself, that is. And the community, and people. And life. Let's talk about it. Call us at 923-1168 or write for a brochure. CENTRE FUR CHRISTIAN STUDIES 77 Charles Street West Toronto 181, Ontario EN EW

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