THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ON THE CONTINENT.
The position and work of the Church of England upon the Continent is
not understood as it should be by British people in general. It is
difficult to overcome old prejudices, and there is no doubt but that
in former times (now happily gone by) there was a distinct prejudice
against the Continental Chaplain. It was generally thought that he must
either be on the Bishop’s “black list,” or have been guilty of some
grievous fault to be found upon the Continent at all. And this prejudice
was hardly to be wondered at. It is not very many years ago since no
Bishop was found to be superintending the chaplains, and there were
men ministering abroad who had left their country for their country’s
good. The history of Episcopal supervision is briefly this. In the year
1663 “congregations of the Church of England in foreign countries” were
placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. This was in the
reign of Charles I., and by an order of the King in council. And this
order held good for 200 years. During this period there are little or
no traces of any effectual Episcopal supervision, neither is there any
record of any Assistant Bishop aiding the Bishop of London in this work.
We may, however, assume that the number of British people travelling and
resident upon the Continent was nothing like what it is now. In the old
days people often took their carriage over the Channel and travelled
with servants and Courier, so that trips abroad were only a luxury
of the rich. And now the London Polytechnic, e.g., take people over
by thousands, and offer a trip to “lovely Lucerne” with all the best
excursions, etc., for £5 5s.! When taking the chaplaincy at Lucerne three
years ago I was much interested in the arrival of these weekly parties,
and in order to see how the excursions were managed went with a party to
the end of the Lake, and by Goschenen to Andermatt, a lovely excursion;
and I was indeed surprised how well everything was done. The lunch was
plain but substantial, and all included in the five guineas for a week’s
trip.
But to return to Church matters. In 1825 Bishop Luscombe was appointed to
the Embassy Chaplaincy in Paris, and to superintend British congregations
on the Continent. This could have been no sinecure, when it is remembered
that there was then no Bishopric of Gibraltar, and that his appointment
included superintendence of the Church of England congregations on the
whole Continent, in Asia, and the North of Africa.
I endeavoured to ascertain if there were any records of Episcopal work
done in these lands, but could find no trace. The Embassy Chaplaincy was
less important then than it has since become, but my experience has been
that the work in Paris is both onerous and constant, and that with all
the chaplain may be able to accomplish there is necessarily much left
undone. Twelve thousand English people scattered over a large city must
involve, as it does, heavy work.
In the year 1842, the Bishopric of Gibraltar was founded; in this
case a territorial title was available owing to our possession of the
impregnable rock. Forty-two years afterwards, in 1884, a most important
step was taken, and a Suffragan Bishop to the See of London appointed to
take jurisdiction over the congregations in Northern and Central Europe.
The first was Bishop Titcomb, a man greatly beloved by all who knew him,
and one who never tired of doing all he could to help and cheer his
chaplains, many of whom were in isolated posts and often very lonely.
Unfortunately he was only a few years at work, when he was taken ill
and died. His successor was the Right Rev. Bishop Wilkinson, formerly
of Zululand, under whom I was privileged to serve during the whole of
my chaplaincy. I usually arranged for the Bishop’s hospitality at the
Embassy when he visited us for Confirmations, and while I fear he does
not like Paris and big receptions, we were always pleased to see him and
fully appreciated his work amongst us. The travelling in this (so-called)
diocese is very fatiguing, as it reaches from Calais to St. Petersburg,
and embraces Belgium, the North of France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden,
etc.
Thus the work of the Church of England upon the Continent is within
these two Dioceses—I use the term as being the most convenient—and can,
I believe, be favourably compared with that in any English or Colonial
Diocese.
In both Dioceses there are permanent and temporary chaplaincies.
Permanent chaplaincies are usually in towns, where there is a resident
and commercial colony, and where similar work is carried on to that of an
English parish. The temporary chaplaincies are opened only in the season,
and in places where the English congregate for health, holiday, and
pleasure.
The appointments to these chaplaincies are chiefly in the hands of the
two well-known societies, the Colonial and Continental Church Society and
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. All licenses are issued by
the Bishops of London and Gibraltar. Since my removal from Paris I have
been a member of the Committee of the former Society, and I can testify
to the care which is taken to select men suitable to the vacant positions.
In the chaplains, and especially in the case of those permanent, English
travellers abroad will generally find a sympathetic friend, and one ready
to give advice or help whenever needed.
May I, in closing this short notice of a very important and increasing
work, plead for greater liberality on the part of travellers. The
chaplains are often but poorly paid, and are in a large measure
dependent—in some cases entirely—upon the weekly offertory. The number
of nickel coins in the plate week after week is a trying experience to
the chaplain, and seems to show but small appreciation on the part of
travellers of the advantage of a religious service when abroad, and of
the very great difficulty there often is in keeping a chaplaincy open for
want of funds.
In trouble and difficulty the chaplain is frequently the one applied to,
and then gratitude is expressed, but it surely should not be left to such
times; and the plea of home calls and the expense of a holiday abroad is
not satisfactory or quite reasonable. But what noble exceptions there are
to the grudging giver! I had for some years a member of my congregation
in Paris who regularly put a gold piece in the plate on Sundays, and if
away for three or four weeks would, on her return, give for each Sunday
of her absence; and “God loveth a cheerful giver.”