like my imagined Council
to set going my imagined National Mission of Love. But much can be done
besides. Those who seek unity will be labouring fruitfully for it, if
they simply devote themselves to developing social and Christian
friendship between Churchmen and Nonconformists in town and village.
There might well be an enormous growth of meetings, both of clergy and
laity of different denominations, for conference, devotion, even
retreat. We want more than one "Swanwick." Can we not go further, and
draw together by experimenting with each other's devotions or
organisations of proved value? For instance, I wonder if it is
suggesting too much, to suggest that if Nonconformists appropriated with
vigour our Christian year, they would be sharers with us of a devotional
joy and help, which would certainly promote spiritual sympathy. In the
same way, the Church of England has been crying out for some method of
using the spiritual gifts of her laymen in church. Why not borrow
notions from those who know how to do it?

These are but scrappy examples of ways by which right spirit can be
developed within the single communion, or between separated bodies. The
_right spirit_ won, the whole battle is won.

Naturally there are many who desire already to go much further and
faster. Intercommunion, our goal, is of course impossible at this stage
owing to seriously differing convictions on faith and order; and the
plain fact that it would cause more cleavage than it healed. But how
about interchange of pulpits? The Evangelicals at Cheltenham demanded
this as a regular practice. The rest of the Church feels strongly that
the time for this has not arrived yet; that haphazard invitations by
individual vicars to ministers of convictions widely different are
undesirable. The time has come for conference, but not yet for any
facile overpassing of the facts and reasons for historical separations.
Nor do we want to run the risks of indiscipline and disorderliness
resulting from such individual action. The Church of England can only be
of help to the cause of unity where she acts as a whole. Matters such as
interchange of pulpits should be tackled by our suggested Council of
Unity. A suggestion in the _Challenge_ of July 19 might well be
favourably considered by it. There are Nonconformists of acknowledged
eminence, learning, and inspiration, from whose books the Church of
England already has received much. We should all be glad to receive
l