Inevitably therefore will hasty action by individuals or sections, for
instance in the Church of England, for which other sections are not
ready, throw these into suspicion and opposition. I speak of my own
Communion and say deliberately, that if at the moment, either an
individual, or a section--any section--of it goes galloping off, be its
zeal and hope never so pure and splendid, on private roads, the whole
desire for unity, and therefore the cause of unity, will be gravely
damaged.
For the whole Church of England--I think that can be truly said--has now
an unutterable desire for the joy of Unity; it is, further, convinced
that action must be taken; but it is by no means convinced that certain
actions--to take a concrete example, free interchange of pulpits with
Nonconformists--are as yet either helpful or right. If one part adopt
such a policy, hostilely and sectionally, it will simply throw others
into convinced opposition and retard the whole desire for decades.
Questions of deepest implication cannot be settled in haste. Before
approaching at all, we must find the right methods of approach. Quite
rightly, the American "World Conference for the consideration of
questions touching Faith and Order," paid, from the start, the utmost,
an uniquely scientific, attention to right method; their patience has
been lightning-swift in result.
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