CHURCH BEFORE PARTY.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—I note in Mr. Lowther Bridger's letter the statement that " the proposed alterations in the Communion Service which have received the approval of the Church representa- tive bodies . . . will, if persisted in, inevitably rend the Church of England in twain from top to bottom." Why such a terrible prophecy of evil ? I have before me the two alternative prayers for the consecration of the bread and wine. Having some knowledge of theology, and having read them carefully, I can detect the theological tendencies. But they are both beautiful prayers, and anyone who prayed in the words of either, and had not the conception of party spirit in his mind, would be able to offer his heart and soul with either. Is it conceivable that the Church should be rent in twain by the use of one or the other ? We might rub our eyes and ask if we are living in the fourth century or the
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