Ryle's talks mostly followed the same general structure where he talked about issues facing this diocese and then issues facing the Church of England.
One initial theme that became a little humourous to me was the issue of building a cathedral for the newly established diocese. I gather there was pressure for them to build such a building to make a statement, or because that was the proper thing to do, but almost evetime it was mentioned the problem of money and some logistics (and agreements) made the problem not easily solved. In Ryles's time, it seems he was able to establish where this might be built, but after his 20 years in the role, it would be 4 more years after his death that it would start to be built. I sort of got the impression that this cathedral felt like a pressing need, but Ryle thought others were more important for the diocese.
Ryle saw that this new diocese he was responsible for was drastically under-resourced. Early in his role, he did his research on the state of the new diocese. He found that the population was around 1.2 million people, with about 200 churches in the area. If all of these were full perhaps 15% of the population would fit in the churches. Ryle saw this as probably the most pressing need of his time. Ryle seemed to like his data. In his summary addresses, he would mention how many people were confirmed that year, how many ministers passed away, and how many sermons he had preached at how many different churches in his area. He was someone who measured what he loved, so he could tell where things were at and what improvements happened over time.
He sought to build more "mission rooms" or what I think were just empty spaces where people could gather. By his 9th year, 26 mission rooms had been commissioned. Throughout his addresses, he also talks of new buildings and locations of places of worship, along with ordaining more people for the mission of the church. Ryle did stress that some of the most effective pastoring done outside of preaching on a Sunday was visiting house to house. I took that as a bit of a rebuke, as he is right in that area.
Later in the book, his addresses to the clergy were less about their lack of resources and more about keeping to doctrine. There seemed to be a push to go back to the Roman Church's way of doing the Lord's Supper which he outright challenged and rebuked and the issue of Higher Criticism seemed to get some traction, of which Ryle offers some strong warnings against it.
On issues to do with the wider Church of England, some of the stuff he dealt with are probably lost to the annals of history. Back then parliament could make decisions affecting church committees, and policies regarding clergy. On some issues, it seems Ryle was quite clear on where he stood on the issue, as he saw that it was proper for his clergy to know where their bishop stood on these issues. On some parliamentary decisions, he was strongly against, some he was understanding that you will never get a good outcome when trying to please everyone and on some decisions he defended the connection between church and state, seeing it as a general blessing to England.
Ryle saw the erosion of society happening with people not keeping the Sabbath, he thought some church reforms were needed in some policies, some to do with income and representation some to say that clergy shouldn't be locked in jail for heresy anymore. There also seemed to be a rise of disestablishment, where people were joining free and independent churches and Ryle talked about some of the effects that may have on the Church of England and its state priority.
Overall, I enjoyed these addresses. I liked that Ryle was honest on the state of his diocese, was clear on doctrine and was bold when it came to contentious issues facing the church today. Today we need leaders to be the same. The issues might be different, but having clear-spoken leaders, with a pastoral heart would benefit any era of the church, especially in such a time as these.
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