CHURCH POLITICS

The fact of the existence: of politics, political wheeling-dealing, and other forms of human weakness, in church affairs is not unknown. But, for the most part, the more respectable churches manage to keep a good deal of the dirt hidden under the rug of superficial propriety. Rev. Bridston, a man who was raised with secular politics and who has matured in ecclesiastical Politics, lets the uninitiated have a look. His purpose, however, is not to scandalize or to shock but to reform; to make known the political dynamics that operate in ecclesiastical affairs, and to promote a healthy and open form of church politics. The fact that he is an able reporter and a lively writer contribute to the success of his effort.He cites instances, names culprits,. and is truly ecumenical in the bestowal of his attentions. The chapter on ""Polity,"" for example, features an interesting, if somewhat precarious, drawing of analogies between the attitudes of Miss Mae West and those of Pope Paul IV. Church Politics, an illuminating bit of ecclesiastical muckraking, should create something of astir among both Catholics and Protestants in this country.