"Attlee and Bevan"
SIR,—I was glad to see that two of Mr. Stockwood's friends had dealt faithfully with the comments made by Mrs. Gardiner in your issue of November 14th; but I doubt whether either of them really brought out the full measure of the service which Mr. Stockwood has rendered to the Church, and not only in Bristol, during the past eleven years.
Let me illustrate this by reference only to two aspects of his work. As a parish priest he has built up from nothing what is beyond all question the liveliest "east end" congregation in the City. The great majority of the worshippers in his church come from homes in the surrounding streets, and they come to worship. Mr. Stockwood uses his pulpit to preach not politics but the Gospel, though he leaves his hearers in no doubt as to what the practical implications of accepting the Gospel mean in daily life..
He is a member of the City Council, a Labour member. But it is safe to say that there is no Councillor who is more completely respected and trusted for his sincerity and courage by members of both parties.
There exists in the Council a group of men and women representing both sides who meet regularly for prayer and discussion as a means of enabling them to discharge their civic duties with a deeper sense of Christian responsibility. The existence of this group is due in the first instance mainly to his influence.
During the years in which he was Member for East Bristol Sir Stafford Cripps was one of Mr. Stockwood's closest personal friends and a worshipper in his church. Sir Stafford's place has now been taken by Sir Walter Monckton.
When some of your correspondents have rendered a tithe of the service which Mervyn Stockwood has rendered to the cause of Christ it will be time enough for them to throw mud.—Yours faithfully,
Bishop's House, Clifton Hill, Bristol 8. ARTHUR BRISTOL.
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