7 DECEMBER 1945, Page 12

Sts,—Sir Henry Bashford in his letter "Youth and the Churches"

gave a personal and simple belief in the last sentence. Mr. Allen Whitworth describes it as "very attractive," and the Rev. Norman H. Clarke writes, "I do not speak for myself alone when I say that I should welcome whole-heartedly all who sincerely make the affirmation which Sir Henry Bashford suggests." I trust that these statements really represent the step forward they appear to be. Sir Henry Bashford's simple belief is a brief exposition of the Unitarian faith, in which I personally believe. Now, had Sir Henry called his faith "Unitarian," would his letter hav,! evoked such a response?

My point is not to relegate the question of "Youth and the Churches to a denominational level—young folk are needed inside the Churches much too critically for that—but rather to ascertain whether there is any hope that those who hold the Unitarian faith will be much less anathema to Anglicans, Trinitarians (and the Religious Department of the B.B.C.!) than they have been heretofore. I write out of an em- bittering experience. Just ten years ago I went to a town with no Unitarian Church, and coal have been of some little assistance to the Rector. In conversation, my Unitarian faith was mentioned, and from that date I was an "outcast "—the Rector was no longer interested in me as a person. I was "dropped." In no carping sense, then, I ask if these ten years have seen the forward advance that the letters of Rev. Norman Clarke and Mr. Whitworth suggest. I sincerely hope so.—Yours truly, HERBERT C. ROBINSON. " Ballyhue," 24 Hextol Crescent, Hcxham, Northumberland.