The Church Crisis in Germany Only scanty information is available
as we gb to press. regarding the important meeting of the Prussian Con- fessional Synod which opened at Steglitz on Tuesday. The session was expected to be momentous and there was some doubt whether it would be vetoed by the authorities. It is indeed postponed for a week, for unexplained reasons. A representative of the Ministry of Church Affairs, established to effect, or attempt to effect, the domination of the Church by the State, attended and delivered a speech which, by its reaffir- .mation of the resolve of the Minister to control Church finances and a reference to the " unfortunate con- sequences " which would follow the adoption by the Synod of resolutions unpalatable to the authorities, widened rather than closed the gulf between the Synod and the Ministry. London. daily papers were -curiously silent about the sittings of the Synod on Wednesday, but since the congress is meeting in private it is probable enough that discussions leading to a critical decision would be treated • as confidential- till the decision WAS actually taken. But such decisions seem to be impending. Open conflict between the Protestant Church and the State has been long deferred, and there is. a party in the Church which for many reasons prefers compromise, but it will be surprising if the school of which Pastor Niemoller is the leader does not decide that the moment has come to stand for freedom, because, like Luther, it can no other.
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