Who are the Laity ?
SIR,—The Bishop of Bristol's article on the laity in the Church would have been more helpful if he had defined who constituted the laity. Is he thinking of those who make at least three communions yearly, or would it suffice to pay two involuntary visits to church, for baptism and burial ? A judge of the High Court has recently confessed him- self unable to attach any clear meaning to membership of the Church of England, but a bishop should be better informed. Everybody knows who the clergy are, but is it a sign of impertinent curiosity to expect to learn with equal precision who are the laity ? It is not adequate in these days to be told that all baptised Englishmen are members of the Church of England who do not belong to some other Christian body, as this would exclude the Roman Catholics and Free Churchmen and let in the atheists and agnostics.—Yours faithfully, Horningsea Vicarage, Cambridge. P. R. SMYTHE.
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