[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Many will have read
with great interest Dr. Barry's article on the Oxford Group Movement. No one is better fitted to write wisely and hopefully of its future, but when he says that the Group desperately needs, the churches but " most of all it needs Anglo-Catholicism and something as well from the Student Christian Movement," is there not another direction to which the Movement could look for happy co- operation ? The " Way of Renewal," with its blending of study with devotion, has been making steady headway among the clergy in many dioceses. It has thriven largely through the fellowship which has sprung up between clergy of many types, where thought and experience have been freely shared and trouble has been taken to stress the need of devotion and guidance by the Holy Spirit if study is to be fruitful.
This will be seen in the Archbishops' letter which has just been published and the same letter shows that the Way of Renewal is now extending to the laity. The two Movements have much in common and should be complementary, and it is well to remember that the enthusiasm of the early Church soon needed the development in thought and devotion which we find in St. John and St. Paul. Will there not be many oppor- tunities for members of the Way of Renewal Circles to get into touch with those who have been changed by the Oxford Group teams ? Future co-operation would be very fruitful.—I am, Sir, &c., EDWARD T. SLATER.
Beckbury Rectory, Shifnal, Salop: - - - - • - -
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