THE VILLAGE CHURCH"
SIR,—The Master of the Temple's pen picture of the village church must have awakened old and tender memories among those of your readers who were born and bred in an English village. His lovely description comes straight from the well of English undefiled, and, in a world sickened by hope deferred and darkened by persistent anxieties, his words bring refreshment to the mind, peace to the soul. the suggestion he puts forward that the village church should be the centre of the religious life of the village is sensible and more than sensible—imperative, if religion is not to die out in the rural areas. I remember as a boy in a north country village wondering whether the village church could not serve the whole village, even though some of us were Nonconformists and wor- shipped elsewhere, but I was told that this was to cry for the moon. The vision of religious unity in the village outlined by the Master of the Temple was a wild and impracticable dream fifty years ago, but today it is in a measure being realised, howbeit too slowly. Let those who believe in it hasten it by promoting friendliness and, above all, the sense of real religious equality, and thus the religious life of the village will be strengthened, its spiritual atmosphere freshened' and sweetened. As for the village church, it will take on a new beauty as it becomes more and more. the living symbol of. unity and love.—k am, Sir, your faith-
Lindisfarne, Grassy Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent.
Previous page
