THE Archbishops issued a few weeks ago an important statement on the needs of the Church of England, if it is to do its work efficiently under the new conditions that will be imposed on it after the war. This is now followed up by a direct appeal from Lord Bernard and his colleagues of the Central Board of Finance, which we print in another column. In their statement the Archbishops refer in the first place to the new type of men from which the ranks of the sacred ministry will be recruited — men whose faith has been tested by the ordeal of war, whose wills have been disciplined, who have learned what comradeship or leadership means. Given proof of vocation, such candidates for Ordination are not to be rejected for lack of means, and it becomes the duty of Churchpeople to confirm with their financial support the assurance given by the Archbishops. In the next place their Graces make a specially urgent appeal on behalf of the Training Colleges, and we need not dwell on their importance, if we mean to keep the teaching of religion alive. It is not intended to start the Fund at once, but to devote a year to the purpose of educating Churchpeople in the duty of supporting the Church as a Divine Society to which it is a privilege to belong; and of bringing before them the Church’s needs and opportunities. . . The Council desires that its scheme may be a subject of discussion at diocesan and ruridecanal conferences and at other Church gatherings.

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