Hand-Book oi 
 
 LONGREGATIONALISM 
 
 Rey, Samuel N. Jackson. M.D. 
 
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 DEC 8 1941 
 
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 BX 7231 .J32 1894 
 Jackson, Samuel N. 1838" 
 
 1913. 
 K hand-book of 
 
 n on CT re^aationalijain 
 
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 ^DEC 8 1941 ' 
 A HAND-BOOI# "^ 
 
 ■^e/CAL stw^ 
 
 OF 
 
 CONGREGATIONALISM. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. SAMUEL N. JACKSON, M.D. 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 TORONTO. 
 
Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the 
 YEAR 1894, BY SAMUEL NELSON JACKSON, at the Department 
 OF Agriculture. 
 
MY FATHER 
 HORATIO NELSON JACKSON, 
 
 FOR MANY YEARS 
 
 AN HONORED DEACON OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT EROME, P.Q, 
 AND A SON OF THE 
 
 REV. JOHN JACKSON, M.A. 
 
 ONE OF THE FIRST 
 
 Congregational Ministers of Canada; 
 
 AND IN 
 
 MEMORY OF MY MOTHER, 
 ELIZA M. HOLLIS TER JACKSON, 
 
 A DESCENDANT 
 
 OF THE NF.W ENGLAND PURITANS, AN EARNEST CHRISTIAN, AND ONE WHO LOVED 
 THE FAITH ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS, 
 
 THIS BOOK 
 
 IS FILIALLY DEDICATED. 
 
Containening the maine opinions of therigidest sort of tJiose 
 
 that are called Puritanes in the realme 
 
 of England. 
 
 1. ^§SS l)ouIb anb maintninc tl)at clicrt) Sompanic, (EonQrc- 
 W°c]atiou or 5l66ciublic of men, ovbiuariliciol)uciiuitonctl)ci- 
 in tl)"e tvue iDor6l)ip of ®i^bj '^^ ii tviie Di^iblc d)ui*d) of (il)viet, 
 aiib tliat tl)c ^ame title i^ impropcrlic attributcti to aiU) otl)cr 
 couDocatioiuo, 8i)nob6 3ocictic^, combinations, or ivo6cmblie§ 
 ii)l)at6oeucv. 
 
 2. Il)ci) [)onlb t()at al(6ncl)Sl)nrcl)e§ou (iongregation^, commn- 
 nicating after tbat manner toi]etber, in bininc luorsljip, 
 arc v.\ all ticeleeiaeticall matter^o equall, anb of tl)e cmme poiner 
 anb antl)oritie, anb tl)at bi) tl)e morb anb mill of @ob tl)el) 
 ont]l)t to l)aoe tl)e 6ame epiritnal priuilibi^ce, prcrotiatiliS, 
 offtcert^, abministration^o, orbere, anb goi'nis of biuinc 
 iDorc>l)ip. 
 
 H. 5l)ep l)onlb tl)at Cil)ric^t ^cene l)atl) not snbicctcb ani) C^ljnrd) 
 or (Soni^regation of l)i6, to anl) otl)er c>nperior (^cclceia!?ticall 
 ^snrriybictfon, tbcn nnto tl)at ml)id) ie iuitl)in it eelf cm tl)at 
 l)f a niholl (^l)nrd)c or liont^rci-jation el)all crre, in ani) matters 
 of faitl) or religion, noe ot^er (il)nrd)e^o or 3piritnall (il)nrd) 
 officers l)ai)e (bl) anl) anirrant from tl)e morb of (S)ob) pomer 
 to censnre, pnnieb, or contronle tl)e same : bnt are oneli) to 
 conneell anb abuise il)e same, anb so to leaue tt)eir sonles to 
 tl)e immebiate ?snbi3ment of (iljri^ot, anb tljcir bobies to tl)e 
 saun-b anb pomer of tl)e (iibill Wagistrat, ml)o alone npon 
 eartl) l)atl) poiucr to pnnisl) a iul)oll (iljnrd) or (iongregation. 
 
 4. ^l)cl) l)onlb tbat ciierp establisl)eb (Sl)nrd) or (Congregation 
 ongl)t to l)aDc l)ir omne spiritnall officer^ anb minis^ters, 
 resiDent mitt) l)er anb tl)ose snd), as are iniol;neb bl; (iljriSt 
 in ti)e ?(eiD 3:c6tamcnt anb no ot[)er. 
 
 [From WiHiam Bradsliaws book, first three sections on tlie Church, 1605.] 
 
conte:nts. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Outlines of Congregational History 3 
 
 The Polity of Congregationalism 58 
 
 The Fruits OF Congregationalism 105 
 
 Congregational Church Services ,.... 144 
 
 Doctrinal Statement op Congregationalists 169 
 
 Ministerial Ethics 171 
 
 Parliamentary Rules 175 
 
 Forms for Congregational Use 187 
 
 Books ON Congregationalism 200 
 
 General Index 205 
 
LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 
 B'elicia D. Hemans. 
 
 The breaking waves dashed high, 
 
 On a stern and rock-bound coast. 
 And the woods against a stormy sky 
 
 Their giant branches toss'd ; 
 And the heavy night hung dark 
 
 The hills and waters o'er. 
 When a band of exiles moor'd their bark 
 
 On the wild New England shore. 
 
 Not as the conqueror comes, 
 
 They, the true hearted, came ; 
 Not with the roll of the stirring drums. 
 
 And the trumpets that sing of fame ; 
 Not as the flying come. 
 
 In silence and in fear : — 
 They shook the depths of the desert gloom 
 
 With their hymns of lofty cheer. 
 
 Amidst the storm they sang. 
 
 And the stars heard, and the sea ; 
 And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang 
 
 To the anthem of the free. 
 The ocean eagle soared 
 
 From his nest by the white wave's foam. 
 And the rocking pines of the forest roared — 
 
 This was their welcome home. 
 
 What sought they thus afar ? 
 Bright jewels of the mine ? 
 
 The wealth of seas, the spoils of war ? 
 They sought a faith's pure shrine ! 
 
 Ay, call it holy ground, 
 
 The soil where first they trod ! 
 
 They have left unstained what there they found- 
 Freedom to worship God. 
 
»HIS book has been prepared at the request of the Congregational 
 Union of Ontario and Quebec. It is, however, to be clearly 
 understood that the autlior only is responsible for the senti- 
 ments it contains and the form it has assumed. 
 
 The object of the writer has been to furnish as complete a compen- 
 dium of Congregationalism, as his ability and the limited space of so 
 small a volume would warrant. His greatest difficulty has been to 
 compress the vast amount of available matter within proper limits, 
 which fact will account for seeming abruptness. 
 
 The Congregational system has now stood the tests and trials of 
 more than three centuries, and the world has been made to share the 
 benefits of the fruit it has borne. The more its adherents learn of its 
 origin, history and work, the greater will they prize its precious and 
 apostolic principles. Should this volume contribute to such an object 
 the author will consider it a rich reward. 
 
 The writer and compiler of this book does not lay special claim to 
 originality, for the facts set forth are gathered from many sources. It is 
 manifestly impossible to give due credit to each historian and writer 
 on these themes, therefore a general and grateful acknowledgment is 
 made of most valuable aid derived from them all. 
 
 The Congregational Union of Ontario and Quebec, in 1886, received 
 a bequest from the late Duncan Bain, Esq., of Buxton, Ont., amount- 
 ing to two hundred and four dollars. This amount was set apart by 
 the Union for the purpose of producing a book of this nature, and with 
 accrued interest, has been used in meeting a portion of the expense oT 
 printing this edition. Thus a good man, by a wise benefaction, though 
 " being dead yet speaketh." 
 
 S. N. J. 
 
 Kingston, January, 1894. 
 
/. 
 
 Outlines of ^^^istorv[. 
 
 " WJierefore, seeing we also are compassed about 
 with so great a cloud of zuitnesses, let us lay aside every 
 weight and the sin zvhich doth so easily beset ics, and 
 let us run zvitJi patience the race that is set before us, 
 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
 faithy — Hebrews xii. 1-2. 
 
 " Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith 
 Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again 
 zvith the yoke of bondage^ — GalaTIANS v. i. 
 
Iflim 
 
 [\ 
 
 *pTyHE Congregational church order has been known 
 \^^ by various names. While in apostolic times they 
 '^ were called Christians first in Antioch, in the period 
 of the reformation they were known as Separatists, be- 
 cause of their separation from the state church. They 
 have been generally designated in England as Independents, 
 which term chiefly implies a renunciation of the authority 
 of pope, prelate, prince or parliament in ecclesiastical 
 afQiirs. Now, however, they are universally called Congre- 
 gationalists, which name gives expression to the fact that 
 each local congregation of believers, called a church, has a 
 right under the authority and headship of Christ, to exer- 
 cise all ecclesiastical functions. The term also indicates 
 the spiritual equality of every member of the local church, 
 and the duty of each to take an intelligent and active part 
 in all matters relating to the management of its affairs. 
 The enemies of the Congregational system did their best 
 to make it bear the name of its modern English discoverer, 
 Robert Brown. Our fathers, however^ repudiated this, as 
 they and their successors would not be known by the name 
 of any man, save only ''the man Christ Jesus." In 
 designating themselves in their petitions to the queen 
 and otherwise, they were careful to say that they were 
 " falselv called Brownists." 
 
ORIGIN OF CONGREGATIONALISM. 
 
 /READING scripture exegetes and church historians 
 f r who have belonged to other communions declare that 
 Congregationalism was the primitive type of Chris- 
 tianity. The teachings of Christ and the practices of the 
 apostles indicate this, while some of the directions of our 
 Lord cannot be literally carried out by any other system. 
 This is illustrated by his instructions regarding discipline, 
 found in Matthew xviii. 15-17. A community of believers, 
 taking the New Testament only as their guide in outlining 
 a church constitution, would be led to form a Congrega- 
 tional church. This was illustrated by the experiences of 
 Brown and Harrison in England in 1580, and by Dr. 
 Waldenstrom and his fellow-reformers in Sweden in 1879. 
 The careful study of the constitution of the early Christian 
 churches, as illustrated by the scriptures and writings of 
 the fathers of the first two centuries, has led scholarly and 
 conscientious men to adopt Congregational principles, 
 though previously belonging to other communions. The 
 experiences of John Owen and Ralph Wardlaw may illus- 
 trate this fact. Both were Presbyterians and opposed to 
 Congregationalism. Dr. Owen made a careful study of the 
 New Testament and the teachings of the early Christian 
 fathers, that he might be fully prepared to combat the sys- 
 tem. The result of these researches compelled him to 
 accept of Congregationalism, and led him to make the fol- 
 lowing statement : " In no approved writer, for the space 
 of two hundred years after Christ, is there any mention 
 
THE RISE OF EPISCOPACY. 5 
 
 made of any other organized visibly-professing church but 
 that only which is parochial or Congregational." Dr. 
 Wardlaw's experiences in 1800 were very similar to those 
 of Dr. Owen in 1647. Proofs that Congregationalism was 
 the primitive and apostolic order of church government 
 are more fully given in the second part of this volume. 
 
 (ihe '§\^ of C^pificopiictj. 
 
 /J^URTNG apostolic times and the century following, 
 IrJ each church had its bishop or elder, terms used inter- 
 changeably; but there was no diocese or territory in 
 which a bishop presided over other bishops or pastors. 
 Various causes leading to the establishment of Episcopacy 
 may be traced. Among these was the influence and am- 
 bition of certain local bishops, who through ability, posi- 
 tion or wealth would claim or have ascribed to them 
 pre-eminence in the councils of the churches. The ten- 
 dency manifested by some to copy the Jewish usages, as 
 illustrated by the temple order and services rather than 
 those of the freer synagogue, would not be without its in- 
 fluence in this direction. Growth of heresy in the churches 
 also largely led to the establishment of the Episcopate as 
 a fancied means of checking this evil. Tiie endorsement 
 of the Christian religion by the state under Constantine 
 completed and confirmed these and other tendencies, and 
 led to the adoption of Episcopacy as a hierarchial system, 
 modelled after the manner of the imperial government It 
 was not until the council of Nicaea in 325 that the eccle- 
 siastical title of metropolitan came into use, and it is prob- 
 able that the territorial jurisdiction which it implies was 
 then first established and defined. 
 
WITNESSES TO CONGREGA'I lONALlSM. 
 
 N almost every succeeding generation witnesses were 
 found who bravely testified to some of the truths which 
 are held as leading principles of Congregationalism. 
 In the middle of the third century, the Novatians, also 
 called Cathari or Puritans, separated from the great body 
 of the church on the question of purity of communion. 
 The Donatists appeared in the early part of the fourth cen- 
 tury, and repudiated the prevailing notions in relation to 
 church and state. In the same century the Luciferans 
 arose, who were much like the Puritans of the seventeenth 
 century. The /Erians, who insisted on the equality of 
 bishops and presbyters, also flourished in the latter part of 
 that century. The Paulicians, who originated about the 
 middle of the seventh century, rejected the dogma of the 
 three orders of clergy, and regarded every congregation of 
 believers a true church of Christ, with power to elect their 
 officers by popular vote. Though all these dissenters of 
 the early centuries were persecuted by fire and sword, they 
 valiantly protested against the corruptions of the state 
 church, and asserted many of the i)rimitive principles of 
 cliurch order and life as found by them in the New Testa- 
 ment. In 1857 the Revs. Cyrus Hamlin, of the A.B.C.F.M., 
 and Henry Jones, of the Turkish missionary aid society, 
 visited Bulgaria, the ancient head-quarters of the Pauli- 
 cians. At Philippopolis they found, much to their surprise, 
 a remnant of this ancient sect calling themselves by the 
 old name. 
 
MORNING-STAR OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 <^: 
 
 JOHN WICLIF, the morning-star of the reformation, 
 flourished in the fourteenth century. He has also been 
 called " the modern discoverer of Congregational dis- 
 sent." In justification of this assertion it is sufficient to 
 say that he claimed that the scriptures were all sufficient in 
 matters of ecclesiastical order, as well as of faith and prac- 
 tice, and that piety was essential to church membership. 
 Further, he rejected the hierarchy and its officials, and 
 declared tiiat in the primitive church the only officers were 
 bishops and deacons, and that presbyters and bishops were 
 the same. He asserted that the church had the right to 
 call their clergy to account, and that it might even disci- 
 pline the pope for unchristian conduct. Through the trans- 
 lation of the scriptures into EngHsh, and the proclamation 
 of its truths by the itinerate labors of his " poor priests," he 
 was, as John Milton said, " honored of God to be the first 
 preacher of a general reformation to all Europe." His 
 followers were called Lollards, and became very numerous, 
 including in their number priests, scholars, knights and 
 nobles. He died in 1384. and was buried under the choir 
 of his church, St. Mary's, Lutterworth. By order of pope 
 Martin V., in 1428 his bones were taken up, burnt, and the 
 ashes thrown into the Swift, a branch of the Avon, which 
 empties into the Severn, and this into the sea. This dis- 
 tribution of the ashes of the great reformer has been used 
 as a symbol of the universal diffusion of the truth he 
 propounded. 
 
CONTINENTAL CONGREGATIONALISM. 
 
 ARTIN LUTHER in 1523 declared for the inde- 
 pendency of separate churches in an essay entitled 
 '^ Causes and reasons deducted from the scriptures 
 why a Christian congregation has the right and power to 
 judge over, to call, to appoint, and to remove their teachers " 
 — a title sufficiently explicit regarding the views he held. 
 In 1526 the Congregational polity was formally enunciated 
 by the synod of Homburg ; but as the princes considered 
 it too revolutionary, it was set aside for a system of author- 
 itative control, which though less scriptural was more 
 traditional and poUtic. 
 
 ^ FRENCH REFORMER, named Jean Baptiste 
 ^^ Morelli, in 1561, also pubhshed a treatise concerning 
 ♦ the Congregational order of New Testament 
 churches, which caused an immense sensation. In the 
 following year, the synod of Orleans condemned the book, 
 and ordered it to be burned by the public hangman. The 
 author, who had gone to Geneva, was tried and con- 
 demned for heresy, and at the instance of Calvin banished 
 from the city, not to return on pain of death. The title of 
 the book was, Traite de la Discipline et Police Chretien?ie, 
 and in it, Morelli vindicated the right of the local church, 
 to decide by universal suffrage, all points of doctrine, and 
 discipline, and to elect pastors, deacons, etc. The author 
 died an exile in England. 
 
THE RISE OF SEPARATISM. 
 
 ^UEEN ELIZABETH'S reign witnessed the develop- 
 ment of the Puritan party which warred against 
 sacramentalism and sacerdotalism. The platform 
 which they laid down embraced these six principles: i.That 
 the name and fcnctions of archbishops and archdeacons 
 ought to be abolished. 2. That the offices of the lawful 
 ministers of the church, namely, bishops and deacons, 
 ought to be reduced to their apostolic institution : bishops 
 to preach the word of God, and pray, and deacons to be 
 employed in taking care of the poor. 3. That the govern- 
 ment of the church ought not to be entrusted to bishops, 
 chancellors or the officials of archdeacons ; but every 
 church ought to be governed by its own ministers and 
 presbyters. 4. That ministers ought not to be at large, 
 but everyone should have the charge of a particular con- 
 gregation. 5. That no man ought to solicit, or to stand 
 as a candidate for the ministry. 6. That ministers ought 
 not to be created by the sole authority of the bishop, but 
 to be openly and fairly chosen by the people. The Puri- 
 tans, however, believed in a national church, and would 
 fain wait for tlie prince or parliament to lead them in 
 further measures of reform. The Separatists were all 
 originally Puritans, but did not believe in tarrying for 
 either the prince or parliament in promoting the needful 
 reforms within the church. Further, they held that the 
 church should be composed of the godly only, and that 
 such spiritual men had but to form tliemselves into spiri- 
 
10 SEPARATISTS IX LOND -N. 
 
 tual societies in order to constitute true churches of 
 Christ. The Puritans were fighting a losing battle through 
 their entanglement with the court and state when the 
 Separatists came to the front, and taking their lives in 
 their hands broke with the national church and organized 
 spiritual communities among themselves. Had the Puritan 
 idea of a national church been realized, it is probable tliat 
 the reformation movement would have been effectually 
 suppressed. The Separatists, from whom the Congrega- 
 tional lineage comes, by their bold and conscientious acts, 
 averted such a disaster. 
 
 London. 
 
 yr^HAT Congregationalism existed in London before its 
 \^J polity was formulated by Robert Brown there can be 
 '' little doubt. Therefore, though its literary history 
 began in 1582, when the first publication setting forth its 
 principles was issued, these princij^les had previously pre- 
 vailed in practice. We know that Richard Fitz was the 
 pastor of a Separatists' church in London in the beginning 
 of Elizabeth's reign. We have this from the testimony of 
 the celebrated Henry Ainsworth, called by bishop Hall, 
 the rabbi of the Separatists, who was also one of its 
 ministers when the church was driven into exile. This 
 church also had its forerunner in a secret community which 
 existed during the reign of Mary, and suffered severe per- 
 secutions from bishop Bonner. About a hundred adher- 
 ents to Fitz's church met in Plumbers' Hall on the 19th of 
 June, 1567, to celebrate a wedding and hold religious ser- 
 vices. The sheriffs broke in upon them, taking them into 
 custody, and under direction of the ]3riv7 council com- 
 
ROBERT BROWN. II 
 
 mitted them to Bridewell prison. Within the prison walls 
 they consiiiuted themselves a Congregational church. 
 When liberated, this persecuted flock for several years was 
 among the hidden churches of England, meeting in secret 
 to worship God; during the summer in woods and gravel- 
 pits, and throughout the winter in private houses. It often 
 disappeared from sight, but was never broken up, and was 
 never without brave men who dared to act as its officers. 
 When Francis Johnson was its pastor, the church, in part, 
 made its escape to Holland, and flourished for more than 
 a century in Amsterdam. The remnant remaining in 
 London were reorganized in Southwark in 1616 by Henry 
 Jacob, and is now known as the church of the pilgrim 
 fathers. This is called the mother-church of the Congre- 
 gational denomination as it now exists in England. 
 
 §roinu 
 
 ROBERT BROWN has the honor of being the first in 
 modern times to formulate tiie cardinal principles t f 
 Congregationalism. Having studied in Cambridge, he 
 had scruples about receiving ordination at the hands of the 
 bishops. Hearing that there were believers in Norfolk who 
 were very forward in spiritual reform, he went to Norwich. 
 There, with his friend Robert Hariison, he made a careful 
 study of the New Testament, with prayer and meditation, for 
 some months. The result w'as the elaboration of the Con- 
 gregational system as he Ibund it in the scriptures, and the 
 organization of a Congregational church. This was in 1580, 
 and by many is considered the first church of this order 
 organized in England on a truly systematized basis. The 
 bishops said this heresy greatly troubled the wiiole conn- 
 
12 ROBERT BROWN. 
 
 try ; and so persistent were they in their efforts to rid the 
 land of such an evil, that in the folloAving year they drove 
 the pastor and his people into exile. A settlement was 
 made in Middleburg, Zealand, where Brown and Harrison 
 during the next two years wrote books setting forth 
 Congregational principles. These were printed in sheets 
 and then sent to England, where, to the consternation of 
 the bishops, they were bound and circulated. In 1583 
 Robert Brown resigned his pastorate, and returned to 
 England by way of Scotland. In the latter kingdom he 
 sought to propagate his views, and created considerable 
 consternation among the Presbyterians. In England he 
 was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned, so that, finally, in 
 his weakness, he was influenced to return to the Established 
 church. He tells us that he had undergone imprisonment 
 in thirty-two different dungeons, in some of which he could 
 not see his hand at noonday. Such treatment evidently 
 affected his once strong mental powers, and left him but a 
 wreck of what he had been both in mind and body. Though 
 the instrument failed, the truths he promulgated prevail. 
 Resisting the combined influences of church ard state, seek- 
 ing their destruction, they have proved mighty and have 
 brought blessings innumerable to the world. Brown, after 
 his return to the Established church, was appointed rector 
 of A-church-cum-Thorp, Nottinghamshiie. When over 
 eighty years of age he died in Northampton jail where he 
 had been committed for striking a constable and insulting 
 a justice before whom he had been cited. He published 
 three books in Middleburg, the first, " A treatise on 
 reformation without tarying for anie, etc." the second, 
 " Shewing the life and manners of all true Christians, etc. " 
 and the third, " A treatise upon Matthew XXIII., etc." 
 
CONGREGATIONAL MARTYRS, I3 
 
 •jpF the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, then 
 I ^oi^gi'sg^tionalism has been well and deeply planted. 
 T Not only did multitudes perish in prison for their faith, 
 but others, of whom the world was not worthy, gave their 
 lives as witnesses to the truth. Three men, named Gibson, 
 Thackery and Copping, were in 1583 arrested in Bury St. 
 Edmunds, Suffolk, charged with heresy and the distributing 
 of buoks sent over from Zealand by Brown and Harrison. 
 Gibson made submission, and though convicted was re- 
 prieved^ while Elias Thackery and John Copping, after a long 
 imprisonment, were sentenced to death, and immediately 
 executed, so that no time for an appeal from the sentence 
 might be allowed. John Greenwood, Henry Barrowe and 
 John Penry were among the most distinguished of the 
 Congregational martyrs. Barrowe was a man of mark. Gra- 
 duating at Cambridge, he became member of Gray's Inn. 
 His friend Greenwood had been a clergyman in the Estab- 
 lished church, frr,m which he separated, adopting Congre- 
 gational principles. These were confined for a long time in 
 the Clink prison, in Southwark, and afterwards executed 
 April 6ih, 1593, at Tyburn. Penry, a native of Wales, burned 
 with a desire to have the gospel preached throughout that 
 principality. He was hanged at St. Thomas-a-Watering 
 near London, May 29th, 1593. It was not long after these 
 executions that the authorities in church and state con- 
 cluded that such unrighteous procedure harmed rather 
 than helped the interests of the Establishment, therefore, 
 they desisted from further martyrdoms, adopting the policy 
 of banishment. 
 
14 HIGH COMMISSION AND STAR CHAMBER COURTS. 
 
 •JrN order to crush Congregationalism and Puritan 
 I Protestantism, the high commission court was 
 T instituted in 1583, which might truly be called the 
 English inquisition. It consisted of forty four commis- 
 sioners, twelve of whom were bishops. Power was 
 given to any three of them, one of whom must be a bishop, 
 to jjunish all persorjs absent from church, according to 
 the act of uniformity, or to visit and reform all heresies 
 and schism according to law, etc., and to punish by censure, 
 fines and imprisonment. The court of star chamber also 
 constantly sat in queen Elizabeth's reign, and was to the 
 highest degree severe in its punishments. It consisted of 
 the privy council, with the addition of certain judges. By 
 it, confession might be extorted by torture, and any penalty 
 could be inflicted short of death. These irresponsible 
 courts inflicted injustice and suffering upon our spiritual 
 ancestors beyond expression. Still Congregationalism 
 made progress, for Sir Walter Raleigh declared in parlia- 
 ment that there were twenty thousand Separatists in Nor- 
 folk, Essex and the neighborhood of London. It made it- 
 self heard in parliament by petitions, and in 1584 a bill was 
 introduced proposing ecclesiastical changes. The queen 
 ordered bill and petitions out of the house, tellingthe com- 
 mons that " she was settled in her religion and would not 
 begin again." Clergymen who had favored such reforms 
 were fined, suspended and imprisoned, while the mem- 
 bers who had spoken for the bill were sent to the Tower. 
 
JOHN ROBINSON. 15 
 
 The threatened invasion by the Spanish Armada in 1587 
 caused the queen to mitigate somewhat the persecutions 
 of Nonconformists, although hundreds were allowed to 
 pine in prison. Among those suffering for conscience sake 
 were some of the most learned and holiest men of that 
 period. 
 
 JOHN ROBINSON was the most distinguished of the 
 early Congregational leaders in England. Little is known, 
 of his early life further than he was a graduate of Cam- 
 bridge. The first record relating to him is in 1604, when he left 
 Norwich, where he had been exercising his ministry, with 
 the conviction that to be true to his conscience he must 
 separate from the church of England. At Gainsborough 
 he united with the church which had been organized in 
 1602 under John Smith as i.iastor. Because of persecution, 
 the main body of this rhurch with their pastor fled to- 
 Holland, while those who remained, including Robinson, 
 organized the Scrooby church, he being chosen as teacher. 
 It was not long before this church also was compelled tO' 
 escape to Holland, and at Ley den find an asylum. Here 
 under Robinson the church enjoyed a steady and healthy 
 growth until they numbered nearly three hundred com- 
 municants. Bradford, afterwards governor of Massachu- 
 setts, says of him : " He was much beloved of them, and as 
 loving was he unto them, and entirely sought their good 
 for soul and body. In a word, he was much esteemed and 
 reverenced of all that knew him, and his abilities were 
 acknowledged both of friends and stranger?." By his 
 counsel and influence the emigration to America was 
 
l6 THE PILGRIM CHURCH. 
 
 brought about, and with earnest words of wisdom he sen 
 the first of the pilgrim fathers on their voyage, expecting 
 himself to follow with those remaining at a later period. 
 This he was not able to accomplish, and five years after, 
 on the 4th of March, 1625, a stone was lifted in the vener- 
 able cathedral of Leyden, and the mortal remains of this 
 great and good man were laid to rest. On the adjourn- 
 ment of the International Congregational council held in 
 London in 1891^ representatives from England, America 
 and Australia visited Leyden, and, with the co-operation of 
 representatives of the city, the university, and the church of 
 Holland, unveiled with appropriate ceremony a memorial 
 tablet affixed to St. Peter's churcli. The following is the 
 inscription: "The Mayflower, 1620. In memory of Rev. 
 John Robinson, M.A., pastor of the English church wor- 
 shipping over against this spot, A.D. 1609-1625, whence at 
 his prompting went forth the Pilgrim Fathers, to settle in 
 New England in 1620. Buried under this house of wor- 
 ship, 4th March, 1625, set. xlix years. In memoria aeterna 
 erit Justus. Erected by the national council of the con- 
 gregational churches of the United States of America, A. D., 
 1 89 1." There is no portrait of John Robinson nor any 
 record of his personnal appearance. His lineaments are 
 drawn by his character and life. Henry Ainsworth, speak- 
 ing of his Norwich days, says: "Certain citizens were 
 excommunicated for resorting unto and praying with Mr. 
 Robinson, a man worthily reverenced of all the city for 
 the grace of God in him. As a controversialist his ability 
 and candor were recognized both in his university and 
 at Leyden. He was greatly beloved by the faculty and the 
 citizens of Leyden ; and to this day the Dutch, in honor of 
 his name, call the Congregationalists Robin sonians. 
 
THE NAZARETH OF CONGREGATIONALISM. 17 
 
 ^yCROOBYis a small viliage in the north of England, 
 (^y embracing portions of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and 
 ^ Nottinghamshire. It has been termed the Nazareth of 
 Congregationalism, for here was formed a Congregational 
 church, which by persecution was driven to Holland, and 
 thence crossing the ocean to America founded New 
 England. In this region Protestantism had asserted itself in 
 queen Mary's time, and not a few then fled to Holland to 
 escape persecution and death. William Brewster was a 
 leader in the Scrooby community. He was the agent of the 
 archbishop of York, and lived in the manor-house which for 
 six hundred years had been the archiepiscopal palace. Here 
 in 1606 the church was formed with Richard Clyfton as 
 l^asior, John Robinson as teacher, and William Brewster as 
 elder. In their covenant they agreed "to walk in God's 
 ways, made known or to be made known to them according 
 to iheir best endeavor, whatsoever it should cost them, the 
 Lord assisting them." These early Christian endeavorers 
 were not long left in ignorance as to the cost to them of spiri- 
 tual freedom. To use their own words, " some were taken 
 and clapped up in prison, others had their houses watched 
 and beset night and day, and hardly escaped their hands ; 
 and ihe most were fane to flee and leave their homes and 
 habitations and the means of their livelihood." William 
 Bradford, afterwards governor, and historian of the Ply- 
 mouth Colony in New England, was born and resided 
 about three miles from Scrooby, in a village called 
 Auterfield. 
 
l8 MIGRATION TO HOLLAND. 
 
 (^%i\t 
 
 ^^HE bishops, owing to the resentment of the house 
 \T^ of commons and the indignation of the London 
 V populace, desisted from further executions, and resorted 
 to the poHcy of banishment. The martyr church there- 
 fore became a banished church. The first settlement made 
 by our Congregational fathers in Holland was in 1593, 
 when members of Fitz's church, London, were discharged 
 from prison and settled in two litde towns on the Zuyder 
 Zee. In 1595 they took up their abode at Amsterdam, where 
 they were joined by their pastor, Francis Johnson, two 
 years later. The larger part of the Gainsborough church 
 removed to Amsterdam in 1606 under their pastor, John 
 Smith, three years after the death of queen Elizabeth. It was 
 not long before its offshoot, the Scrooby church, was 
 compelled to follow a like course. This pilgrim church was 
 so pursued on every hand that they resolved in the autumn 
 of 1607 to become self-exiles. I'his could not be done 
 according to law, unless they had previously been formally 
 sentenced by the courts, a formality they naturally desired 
 tu dispense with. Their repeated attempts to migrate in a 
 body, their arrest, harsh treatment, detentions, perils, suffer- 
 ings and losses, it is painful to recall. At length, however, in 
 small groups, in couples, or one by one, they evaded pur- 
 suit and gathered in Amsterdam in 1 608. The following year, 
 by permission of the authorities, they removed to the old 
 university town of Ley den, where for eleven years they 
 flourished under John Robinson, meriting the high esteem 
 of those among whom they sojourned. 
 
THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 1 9 
 
 litjgrim Idher.s. 
 
 "TA ARIOUS causes led our exiled fathers to the con- 
 yj elusion that Holland sliould not become a perpe- 
 tual home for themseh es and their children. They 
 desired as Englishmen to be free men under the British 
 flag in a land where they could perpetuate their tradi- 
 tions, language and faith. Further, they had a strong 
 desire to do something in the way of advancing the king- 
 dom of God. Their plans were matured after much prayer 
 and prolonged negotiations. They decided that ihey would 
 emigrate to the American continent. The first company, 
 less than half of the church in Leyden, under the leader- 
 ship of William Brewster, set sail from Delfshaven for South- 
 ampton, July 22nd, 1620, in the ship Speedwell. After 
 various vicissitudes and grievous disappointments, the pil- 
 grims embarked on the Mayfloiver, September i6th, and 
 sailed from Plymouth, England, for the new world. On 
 November 19th, after a rough and weary voyage they sighted 
 Cape Cod ; on the 21st, in Provincetown harbor, they signed 
 their compact of civil government, and chose Carver as 
 governor; one month later, December 2 ist,they landed upon 
 Plymouth Rock. This was the vanguard of New England, 
 for the other members of ihe Eeyden church with various 
 accessions from England came in instalments by future 
 migrations. The Plymouth settlement antedates that of 
 Massachusetts Bay by ten years. '' In pursuance of religious 
 freedom, they established civic liberty, and meaning only 
 to found a church gave birth to a nation, and in settling 
 a town commenced an empire." 
 
ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 
 
 iaud. 
 
 yl^Y^EN Charles I. ascended the throne in 1625, Laud 
 III was bishop of St. Davids, and eight years afterward 
 he was made archbishop of Canterbury. Extreme in 
 his high church notions, he aimed, according to the desire 
 of the king, to restore religion in England to a branch of the 
 Roman Catholic church. He endeavored to sever the ties 
 which united the nation to the Reformed churches of the 
 Continent, refused freedom of worship to the refugee Hugue- 
 nots from France and the Walloons from Flanders, and in his 
 efforts to make them conform drove them in crowds to 
 Holland. The Puritans, who were said to embrace about 
 nine-tenths of the English people, and were the chief 
 hindrance to his desired purpose, felt the weight of his iron 
 hand without mercy. Upon the Congregationalists who 
 remained in the land he kept an ever watchful eye, and 
 his severest measures were meted out to them as the 
 most incorrigible of all the people. In 1631 his spies 
 reported that " there were eleven congregations of 
 Separatists about London, with their idly pretended 
 pastors, who met together in breweries and such other 
 places of rest regularly." In other places, including 
 Canterbury and Norwich, many were found and reported, 
 and in connection w^ith the last place the names of Bridge 
 and Ward are mentioned. Many were arrested and thrown 
 into prison, and on the ist of April, 1634, a proclamation 
 was issued to all justices of the peace, mayors, bailiffs, con- 
 stables and all others of his majesty's officers, to give their 
 
EMIGRATION TO AMERICA. 21 
 
 assistance. By the authority of the star chamber and the 
 high court of commission, hundreds were condemned 
 to perpetual imprisonment. The greatest atrocities were 
 also enacted, such as whipping, confinement in the pillory, 
 branding the cheeks, slitting the nose, cutting off the ears ; 
 and upon some individuals, as in the case of Dr. Alexander 
 Leighton, all these indignities and cruelties were heaped 
 upon them. 
 
 (Bmigration. 
 
 ^rNDER the policy of persecution, sanctioned by 
 Igl^ Charles I , and so bitterly carried out by archbishop 
 Laud, emigration took a fresh start. Thousands of the 
 best scholars, ministers, lawyers, merchants and farmers 
 li(-d over the Atlantic to secuie purity and freedom of reli- 
 gion in the wilds of America. Great land owners and nobles 
 were preparing to follow. John Endicott and his com- 
 pany settled in Salem in 1629, and founded the Massachu- 
 setts Bay colony. John Winthrop, with nine hundred emi- 
 grants from Yarmouth, joined them in 1630. Endicott had 
 ])reviously acted as governor, but this office was transferred 
 10 Winthrop on his arrival, who in 1636 gave place to Sir 
 H.nry Vane. John Lathrop had succeeded Henry Jacobs 
 as pastor of the Southwark church. Having been impri- 
 soned with many of his members, he crossed the Atlantic 
 with thirty-two of them in 1634, and settled in Situate, 
 Plymouth, and afterwards at Barnstable. John Cotton, 
 forced to leave his magnificent church at Boston, reached 
 Boston in the new world in 1633. Thomas Hooker, of 
 Chelmsford, silenced and forced to flee to Holland, returned 
 and crossed in the same ship with Cotton, rejoining his 
 
22 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 church which had preceded him, and settled at Cambridge. 
 Thomas'Sheppard, who with Cotton and Hooker had been 
 educated in Emmanuel college, Cambridge, after various 
 perils reached Boston with his company, and organized as a 
 church in Cambridge in 1635. ]^^^^'^ Davenport of Brazenose 
 college, Oxford, having been driven to Amsterdam, made his 
 way to Boston in 1637. So great was the tide of emigration 
 to America that stringent efforts were made by the author- 
 ities to arrest it. It is said that on the ist of May, 1638, 
 eight ships bound for New England, and filled with Puritan 
 families, were stopped in the Thames by an order in-council; 
 that amongHhe passengers were Pym, Hampden, Cromwell 
 and Sir Arthur Hazelridge. Many also emigrated to Hol- 
 land, among whom were Goodwin, Nye, Burroughs, Bridge 
 and Simpson. These afterwards returned to England. 
 
 (Jlromiuell 
 
 LIVER CROMWELL entered upon his parlia- 
 mentary career in 1628, when Laud was promoted 
 to the bishopric of London. In the long parlia- 
 ment to which he was re-elected he sat for Cambridge. 
 The struggle between the prelates and the people, and 
 between the king and parliament, had begun. On the 
 22nd of October, 1640, a mob besieged the high com- 
 mission court, which had made itself so obnoxious, 
 and which then with archbishop Laud was sitting in St. 
 Paul's. Of this, Laud said: "Very nearly two thousand 
 Brownists made a tumult at the end of the Court, tore down 
 all the benches in the consistory, and cried out they would 
 have no bishops or high commissioners." The rupture 
 between king and parliament came on the 12th of July, 
 
OLIVER CROMWELL. 23 
 
 1642, when both sides appealed to the sword. Then Crom- 
 well, at the age of forty-three, and without training in the art 
 of war, took the field with his two eldest sons. On October 
 23rd the hostile forces came into conflict at the battle of 
 Edgehill, where Cromwell's eldest son was killed. This 
 engagement revealed the necessity of sterner stuff in the 
 rank and file of the parliamentary army, and Cromwell at 
 once took steps to gather around him the famous Ironsides 
 who were never beaten on the battlefield. The king's cause 
 suffered its death-blow July 2nd, 1644, at the battle of 
 Marston Moor, and on the T4th of the following year, 
 at the battle of Naseby, he was completely vanquished. 
 
 Cromwell returned to his seat in parliament, to receive 
 the most distinguished honors from his countrymen. Arch- 
 bishop Laud and Charles I. were brought to trial before 
 parliament, and executed. After successful campaigns in 
 Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Cromwell returned to England, 
 and was escorted to London by parliament and an immense 
 concourse of all classes of the people. The long parliament, 
 which had lasted for nearly thirteen years, and had achieved 
 so much that was noble and illustrious, but now bereft of 
 its mighty leaders, including Pym and Hampden, had greatly 
 changed in its character. Therefore, on the 23rd of April, 
 1653, when Cromwell was informed that a bill was being 
 rapidly passed, calculated to perpetuate this parliament 
 and give it oligarchic power, he at once gathered his officers 
 around him. proceeded to the house, listened to the debate, 
 and as the measure was being put he arose and charged 
 them wuh miquity, saying, " Your hour is come, the Lord 
 hath done with you," and summarily dissolved the assembly. 
 The consequence of this daring act left him dictator of the 
 kingdom, and to this new order of affairs the nation quietly 
 
24 THE ENGLISH COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 submitted. Under the title of lord protector, Cromwell 
 was, on the i6th of December, solemnly insialled supreme 
 governor of the British Commonwealth. He refused the 
 title of king when it was tendered by parliament, but he 
 made the power of Britain felt in Europe as never before. 
 True to his convictions as a Congregationalist, he claimed 
 liberty for Protestants throughout the world, and even en- 
 foiced that claim upon the pope himself. This great un- 
 crowned king of England died on the 3rd of September, 
 1658, on the anniversary of two of his great battles, namely, 
 that of Dunbar, where he defeated the Scots, and Worcester, 
 wliere lie defeated Charles II. Few men in every way so 
 great have appeared in the world's history as was Oliver 
 Cromwe'l. 
 
 §hc(rommonirealtlt. 
 
 EOTWITHSTANDING the severe persecution and 
 the great drain made by emigration. Congrega- 
 tional churches continued to spring uj) and their 
 members multiply. Many of the intellectual and prosper- 
 ous classes adopted the principles ; influenced in part, no 
 doubt, by the controversial writings of the exiles in Hol- 
 land and the success of the system in New England. It 
 would be difficult otherwise to explain how Congrega- 
 tionalists became the strength of Cromwell's army. When 
 the civil war broke out, the two contending parties were 
 called royalists and parliamentarians. Laud's Anglo- 
 Cathoiic measures had so dismayed the Episcopal party 
 that its influence was for the time ruined. As the war 
 proceeded, the Puritans ranged themselves more and more 
 into the two parties of Presbyterians and Congregational- 
 
THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 25 
 
 ists. The first desired to have a state church on the 
 Presbyterian model, while the latter opposed this and as- 
 serted independent principles. The persistent attempts of 
 the Presbyterians, both in the long parliament and the 
 Westminster assembly of divines, were successfully re- 
 sisted by Cromwell and his fellow-Congregationalists. 
 Cromwell did not, however, by any form offeree seek to 
 make Congregationalism the religion of the state. Good 
 men, irrespective of their denominations, were appointed to 
 livings, while many important positions ivere held by 
 Congregationalists, as, for instance, John Owen was dean 
 of Christ's church and vice-chancellor of Oxford ; 
 Thomas Goodwin was president of Magdalen college, 
 Cambridge; Philip Nye was rector of St. Barttiolomew's, 
 London ; and John Howe, parish minister of Torrington. 
 
 ISlcstmiufitcr 3ls5icmbliy. 
 
 yr^ H E Westminster assembly of divines was ap- 
 ^J pointed by parliament in 1643, and held its last 
 '*^ session in the first month of the Commonwealth, 
 in 1649. Its object was to draw up a scheme for 
 the regulation of the national faith and worship. The 
 assembly was composed of one hundred and twenty-one 
 ministers and thirty lay assessors. Scotland was repre- 
 sented by five ministers and three elders. About twenty 
 of its members were Episcopalians, but very few of 
 them took part in the deliberations. There were a few 
 Congregationalists who stoutly maintained th.^ right of 
 each congregation to manage its own affairs. The 
 leaders were known as the five dissenting brethren, and 
 their names were William Bridge, Jeremiah Burroughs, 
 
26 CONGREGATIONAL COUNCIL OF SAVOY. 
 
 Thomas Goodwin, Philip Nye and Sidrach Simpson. 
 They occupied a prominent place in the assembly and 
 took an active part in the debates, especially on points of 
 church order. Bailie, one of the Scotch commissioners, 
 says of them: "They debated all things which came 
 within twenty miles of their quarters, and astonished the 
 churchmen by their great learning, quickness and eloquence, 
 together with their great courtesy and discretion in speak- 
 ing." These Congregationahsts made a strong plea in 
 the assembly for religious toleration, which caused much 
 commotion among the reverend divines. 
 
 ^aiiog dlounciL 
 
 H E great growth of Congregationalism during the 
 period of the Commonwealth led ils distinguished 
 ministers, some of whom had returned from Hol- 
 land after the death of Laud, to feel their need of 
 common consultation and greater unity. Therefore, before 
 the last illness of Oliver Cromwell, arrangements had been 
 made for convoking by state authority a Congregational 
 council. It met on October 12th, 1658, twenty-six days 
 after the protector's death, in the Savoy palace, London. 
 It consisted of two hundred delegates from various parts 
 of England and Wales A committee, consisting of Good- 
 win, Nye, Bridge, Caryl, Greenhill and Owen, most of 
 whom had sat in the Westminster assembly, drew up a 
 document entitled heads of argument, setting forth the 
 faith and order of the Congregational churches. It was 
 issued as " a declaration of faith and order owned in the 
 Congregational churches in England: agreed upon and 
 consented to by their elders and messengers in their meeting 
 
WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 27 
 
 at the Savoy." In doctrine it was like the Westminster 
 confession, but in relation to ecclesiastical polity the 
 principles of Congregationalism were clearly enunciated. 
 Lest this declaration should be misunderstood, the coun- 
 cil took the precaution not to invest it with binding 
 symbolical authority, but issued it only as their counsel 
 and advice. 
 
 /J^URING the Commonwealth, Cromwell established 
 irJ a lectureship in the abbey, which office was filled 
 by Congregational and Presbyterian ministers 
 alternately. Westminster abbey was also used for worship 
 by a Congregational church, of which William Strong 
 was the first pastor. At his death in 1654, John Rowe 
 became pastor with Seth Ward as an assistant. The 
 abbey church greatly prospered, and among its mem- 
 bers were several of the lords and commoners of parlia- 
 ment. On the accession of Charles II. to the throne, the 
 church was expelled from the abbey, and could only con- 
 tinue its worship in private. Oliver Cromwell died Sep- 
 tember 3rd, 1658, in the sixtieth year of his age. Nature 
 itself seemed to prophesy that a great power was passing 
 away in the voice of a terrible tempest that swept over 
 England at the time. He was not only the greatest Eng- 
 lishman of the seventeenth century, but the greatest 
 man of his age, and one whose memory deserves the rev- 
 erence of all time. For weeks the embalmed body of the 
 protector lay in state at Somerset house in a hall hung 
 with black and illuminated by a thousand wax-lights. 
 Then with great lamentation and state ceremony Crom- 
 
28 LAWS OF REPRESSION. 
 
 well's body was buried in the chapel of Flenry VII. in the 
 abbey where other members of his family had been 
 placed. Cromwell's great generals and admirals as well 
 as the first pastor of the abbey Congregational church 
 were also buried within its walls. After the restoration, 
 these remains were ruthlessly disentombed and dishonored. 
 Cromwell's body was gibbeied at Tyburn and then buried 
 under the gallows, while his head was affixed to West- 
 minster hall. A plain marble slab in the floor of the 
 chapel, suitably inscribed, now marks the place where once 
 lay the form of England's noblest and greatest benefactor, 
 Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 1^ ICHARD CROMWELL, who succeeded his father as 
 J^ Y. dictator, was not born to rule, but became a conve- 
 nientstepping-stone for the return of the exiled royal 
 house. During his brief exercise of power for eight months 
 the country arrayed itself into different hostile camps. So 
 after various conferences Charles il. was received as the 
 rightful king of England on May 29th, i66o. Despite all 
 promises, it was not long before the Puritans, and espe- 
 cially the Congregationalists, were made to know what to 
 expect from his hand. The first Liw of repression was the 
 passing of the corporation act in 1661, which incapa- 
 citated from any ofiice in any corporation all persons who 
 had not received the sacrament according to the rites of 
 the church of Englaiid vv^itliin a year before election, and 
 also taken the oath of allegiance and supremacy. The 
 act of uniformity was passed on the 19th of May, 1662, 
 and carried into effect on the 24th of August, the anni- 
 
LAWS OF REPRESSION. 2^ 
 
 versary of St. Bartholomew's massacre. By this act the 
 validity of non-episcopal ordination was denied for the 
 first time since the reformation. Its object was the ex- 
 clusion of the Puritans from the churches, and by its 
 execution two thousand ministers were ejected from their 
 churches and homes. The conventicle act was passed 
 in May, 1664, prohibiting any assemblage of any five or 
 more to meet for worship otherwise than allowed by the 
 Established church, under a penalty of fines and imprison- 
 ments. The five miles act was adopted in October, 1665, 
 forbidding any Nonconformist minister to come within 
 five miles of any place where he had previously conducted 
 services. A new conventicle act was passed in the 
 spring of 1670, which prohibited all from meeting for wor- 
 ship otherwise than according to the usages of the church 
 of England, under pei alty of fines. The test act was 
 sanctioned in 1673, excluding from office, civil or military^ 
 all persons who did not take ihe sacrament as administered 
 in ihe Established church. The bishops were most zeal- 
 ous in securing the enforcement of these laws of repression, 
 and the officers of the state mercilessly executed them to 
 the untold loss, suffering and sorrow of the Nonconform- 
 ists, who in face of all remained true to their convictions. 
 The persecuted Congregationalists were enabled to return 
 good for evil. During the prevalence of the great plague 
 in 1655, when others fled in panic, the ejected ministers in 
 London publicly exercised a ministry of mercy. Thomas 
 Vincent became famous as a preacher at that time. Again 
 in 1 666, when the great fire laid more than four hundred 
 acres in ruins, and many incumbents left London because 
 there was no income or dwellings, Owen, Goodwin, Nye, 
 Brooke, Caryl and Griffith among other Congregationalists 
 engaged in publicly preaching to the people. 
 
30 PERSECUTIONS OF NONCONFORMISTS. 
 
 P^rs^tutimt. 
 
 REFERENCP^S have already been made to perse- 
 cutions under Elizabeth, by which not only great 
 loss and suffering was caused, but also martyrs 
 were made and subjects driven into exile. The policy 
 of James I. was to enforce conformity or cause his 
 loyal subjects to be " harried out of the land. " Charles 
 I., under archbishop Laud's advice, followed his father's 
 terrible example, leading Henry Burton to say that greater 
 havoc was made of the faithful ministers of God than in 
 all queen Mary's time. Charles II., in enforcing the 
 cruel laws of repression, caused thousands to die in prison. 
 James II. came to the throne an avowed papist, and sought 
 not only to make himself an arbitrary king but also to 
 Romanize the religion of the state. At first he adopted 
 a tolerant course towards Nonconformists as an excuse for 
 favoring Romanists. But this policy was soon changed, 
 and the penal laws were mercilessly enforced. Informers 
 were busy everywhere, causing meeting-houses to be closed 
 and breaking up private assemblies. Ministers and lay- 
 men were arrested, fined and imprisoned for the crime of 
 Nonconformity. High-minded men and gentlewomen 
 were thrust into dungeons of the worst descriplion, where 
 they were obhged to herd with some of the vilest characters. 
 Well-informed persons of those times state that " about 
 seventy thousand Nonconformist families in England were 
 ruined under the persecuting acts during the reigns 
 of Charles II. and James II., while eight thousand persons 
 
THE king's declaration OF INDULGENCE. 3 1 
 
 belonging to those families died in prison." In twenty-three 
 counties the fines, with accumulations at the rate of twenty- 
 pounds a month, amounted to between four and five millions 
 sterling, and the fines without accumulation to two hundred 
 and seventy-seven thousand ani ninety pounds. 
 
 iedarittion of Indulgence* 
 
 tN 1672 England went to war with Holland, and Charles 
 T II., deeming it expedient to conciliate the Noncon- 
 t formists who might sympathize with the Protestants 
 of the Low Countries, issued, on the 1 5th of March, his 
 famous declaration of indulgence. By this a measure of 
 religious liberty was given to Nonconformists ; for though 
 the Established churcli was recognized, the immediate 
 suspension of all penal laws against Nonconformists was 
 declared. It also made provision, for their use, of a sufficient 
 number of places of worship for their accommodation, which 
 should be certified to and their ministers receive approval. 
 The Episcopal party protested that the king was exceeding 
 his powers ; the Presbyterians did not care to accept of it, 
 for they were opposed to toleration and sought comprehen- 
 sion ; the Congregationalists, however, for the most part 
 accepted the terms, and through Dr. John Owen pre- 
 sented a loyal address to the king expressing their grati- 
 tude. Applications for indulgences came in from every 
 quarter, and were abundantly granted. In ten months they 
 numbered as many as three thousand five hundred. John 
 Bunyan was liberated from jail, and a place of worship was 
 licensed for his church as follows : 
 
 '' Charles, etc., to all mayors, bailiffs, constables, and 
 others our officers and_^ministers^ civil and military, whom it 
 
32 THE KIMG'S declaration OF INDULGENCE. 
 
 may concern, Greeling. In pursuance of our declaration of 
 the 15th of March, 1672, We have allowed and We do 
 hereby allow of the house of Josiah Roughid in Bedford 
 to be a place for the use of such as do not conform to the 
 church of England, who are of the persuasion commonly 
 called Congregational, to meet and assemble in, in order to 
 their public worship and devotion. Aod all and singular our 
 officers and ministers, ecclesiastical, civil and military, whom 
 it may concern, are to take due notice hereof, and they and 
 every of them are hereby strictly charged and required to 
 hinder any tumult or disturbance, and to protect them in 
 their said meetings and assemblies. Given at Our Court at 
 Whitehall, the 9th day of May in the 24th year of Our 
 Reign, 1672. By His Majesty's command. — Arlington. " 
 The parliament which met the following year disapproved 
 of the granting of indulgence, by a vote of 168 to 
 116, and proceeded to pass the test act, so that the 
 legal status of Nonconformists was worse than before. 
 After years of bitter persecution, James II., with a view 
 of relieving Roman Catholics from the ban, also issued a 
 declaration of indulgence dated April 4th, 1687, in which 
 some approach was made towards toleration. By it the 
 laws punishing Nonconformity were suspended and 
 liberty of worship was granted. It was not long however 
 before the king changed his policy and put in force the 
 penal laws against Nonconformists. On August 24th 1683, 
 Dr. John Owen died. He said : ^' I am leaving the ship 
 of the church in a storm, but while the great pilot is in it 
 the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable, 
 Live and pray, and hope and wait patiently, and do not 
 despond : the promises stand invincible that he will never 
 leave us nor forsake us." 
 
THE TOLERATION ACT. 33 
 
 Sfolcration. 
 
 ^^HAT Congregationalists were chief among those 
 \t/ securing religious freedom is the testimony of im- 
 '*' partial witnesses. Robert Brown was the first 
 writer in the EngUsh language who stated and defined 
 this doctrine. In the Westminster assembly, though 
 a hopeless minority, the Congregationalists distinguished* 
 themselves by their uncompromising resistance to 
 the proposals of intolerance and their valiant fight for 
 religious freedom. Sir Harry Vane, a Congregationalist, 
 was the first man to proclaim the principles of civil and 
 religious liberty on the floor of the British house of com- 
 mons. Among those who carried on the controversy 
 through the press, mention may be made of the following 
 Congregationalists, namely, Thomas Goodwin, who wrote 
 six tracts on universal freedom of conscience; Henry 
 Burton, who repubHshed Leonard Busher's work; John Mil- 
 ton, who with others, as early as 1656, advocated the separa- 
 tion of church and state ; and of John Owen so profound in 
 his reasonings in behalf of liberty. John Lock, who brought 
 the doctrines of toleration out of the domain of theology, and 
 placed it on the basis of political righteousness, printed the 
 first of his famous letters on the subject in Holland, in the 
 Latin language, in the year 1689; therefore they were not 
 translated and circulated in England in time to assist 
 in the passing of the toleration act. This act was passed 
 on the nth of March, 1689, and received the royal assent 
 on the 24th of May. By it legal protection was afforded to 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 EFFORTS FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY. 
 
 Nonconformists in carrying out tlieir systems of doctrine, 
 worship and discipline. To interrupt tliem in the worship 
 of God became a criminal offence. 
 
 O^omjjniicnfiion. 
 
 V^ARIOUS efforts have been made from time to time to 
 \r/ unite the broken ranks of English Protestantism 
 caused by the attitude of the Established church 
 towards the Puritans. These efforts have been known 
 * as schemes of church comprehension. The first earnest 
 movement in this direction was made in the Wes'.min- 
 ster assembly. The Congregationalists sought to be in, 
 eluded in the proposed new national church, on the condi- 
 tion that the power of ordination should be secured to 
 their own congregations, and that in church censure, while 
 they might be subject to parliament, they should not be to 
 any presbytery. This the Presbyterians would not concede, 
 and the Congregationalists, resting on the great principle 
 of the spiritual nature of the church, refused assent to a 
 Presbyterian state church. Archbishop Usher drew up a 
 scheme, in which the bishop was to be made only the presi- 
 dent of a diocesan board of presbyters. At the request of 
 Charles I., it was submitted to the parliamentary commis- 
 sioners, who rejected it. The Presbyterians proposed the 
 same solvent to Charles II., just before his restoration; but 
 his promises proved delusive. At the Savoy confeience in 
 1661, the next effort toward reconciliation was made, which 
 also proved a failure. Lord chief justice Hales and 
 several bishops in 1668 made efforts to heal differences by 
 proposing sweeping changes in the book of common 
 prayer, but their purposes were thwarted by the court parly. 
 
THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 35 
 
 The house of commons in 1680 appointed a committee, 
 who agreed on a scheme for comprehension with the Non- 
 conformists. It passed both houses, but the king withheld 
 his consent, and it failed to become law. The last effort 
 made in parliament was in 1689, when a commission was 
 appointed to consider the relationship of the church to 
 dissenters. It proposed five hundred and ninety-eight 
 amendments to the prayer book, which so startled 
 churchmen then assembled in convocation that they ren- 
 dered the work of the commission nugatory. The Ameri- 
 can Episcopal prayer book is the outcome of these pro- 
 posed amendments. 
 
 ®lte lleuolutiou. 
 
 ©HARLES II. having forfeited the respect of all 
 coming generations, after partaking of the Roman 
 sacrament, died February 6th, 1685. His succes- 
 sor, James II., made most persistent attempts to rein- 
 state Romanism in England, and was compelled to abdi- 
 cate December nth, 1688. This led to the calling of 
 William, prince of Orange, and his consort, Mary, daughte 
 of Charles I. of England, to the throne. They were both 
 ardent Protestants, and gave adhesion to low church prin- 
 ciples. In answer to various invitations, he sailed from 
 Holland with a fleet filled with brave warriors, flying his 
 flag with the following inscription, the first three words of 
 which formed the motto of his royal house : " I will main- 
 tain the liberties of England and the Protestant Religion." 
 After a bloodless revolution he took possession of St. James's 
 palace, November 18th, 1688, and was greeted by an address 
 of welcome, in which Conformists and Nonconformists 
 
^6 THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. 
 
 joined. William and Mary were crowned April nth, 
 1689, when, adopting a precedent given at Cromwell's inau- 
 guration, the sovereigns were presented with a bible as '' the 
 most valuable thing that this world contains." The toler- 
 ation act was passed, and Congregationalism took a new im- 
 petus in founding churches, developing educational facili- 
 ties, and now openly ordainingits ministers ; which services 
 they previously were compelled to conduct privately. 
 Having lived to see the dawn of rehgious liberty, one by one 
 of the fathers passed away. Among them was the famous 
 Congregational divine, John Howe, formerly domestic chap- 
 lain to Oliver Cromwell, who died April 7th, 1705. On the 
 death of queen Mary, William HI.'s consort, he had 
 preached a characteristic sermon, in which he spoke of the 
 queen's interest in Nonconformists. 
 
 yfY^LLIAM HI. died March 8th, 1702, and was succeed- 
 llj ed by Anne, daughter of James H. Though Congre- 
 gationalists and other Nonconformists were among 
 those who approached her throne with congratulations, they 
 were made to feel that a change had come. The high church 
 men, who were the queen's favorites, disliked toleration, and 
 by pulpit and press began a crusade against the religious 
 liberty secured by the revolution. The occasional con- 
 formity act was passed in 17 11, by which Nonconformists 
 were excluded from the service of the slate ; any person 
 holding office being prevented from entering a meeting-house. 
 The schism act followed in 17 14, which, among other things, 
 provided that no one should keep a school or act as a tutor 
 who did not conform to the church of Englandand obtain a 
 
THOMAS BRADBURY. 37 
 
 licence from the diocesan, under penalty of imprisonment. 
 This compelled dissenters to hand their children over 
 to churchmen for education, and has been termed " one 
 of the worst acts tliat ever defiled the statute book." 
 It was passed in the house of commons by 237 to 126 and 
 in the house of lords by 77 to 72. It was, however, never 
 put into operation, for the day it was to take effect the queen 
 died, and the new government suspended its execution until 
 it was repealed. Thomas Bradbury, a distinguished Congre- 
 gational minister, was the first to proclaim the queen's suc- 
 cessor. On the Sunday morning of her death, bishop Burnet 
 saw him walking through Smithfield towards his chapel in 
 a pensive mood, and enquired the cause. Bradbury replied 
 he was thinking whether he would have the resolution to suf- 
 fer as former martyrs had done at that place ; for he fully 
 expected to see similar times of violence and persecu- 
 tion. The bishop at once raised his hopes by saying her 
 majesty was dying ; further, that he was on his way to the 
 palace, and would by a given signal inform him when tlie 
 end came. Bradbury saw the signal from his pulpit, and in 
 the concluding prayer implored the divine blessing on 
 George, king of Great Britain and Ireland. His meeting- 
 house was in Fetter lane, and he was a most popular 
 preacher. The queen called him " bold Bradbury," and 
 he, speaking of the time when he began to preach, said : 
 " I bless God, from that hour I have never known the fear 
 of man." His pulpit was a tribune for tha assertion of 
 civil and religious liberty. In a riot in 17 10, his church 
 was burned and, as he says : " I was lampooned in 
 pamphlets, erided in newspapers, threatened by great 
 men, and mobbed by the baser sort," but none of these 
 things moved him. 
 
33 THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. 
 
 §\u (Seorgian (Km. 
 
 'J^"'HE act of settlement, by which George I. was pro- 
 ly^ claimed king, gave great joy to all true Protestants. 
 '*' He declared that it was his purpose to maintain " the 
 toleration allowed by law to Protestant dissenters, so agree- 
 able to Christian charity and so necessary to the trade and 
 riches of the kingdom." The adverse acts of the last reign 
 were soon repealed. George II, who succeeded to the throne 
 in 1772, continued his father's liberal policy, and personally 
 interfered to prevent the injury of Dr. Doddridge's college 
 for ministers, saying, " there shall be no persecution for the 
 sake of conscience during my reign." George III., in_ suc- 
 cession to his grandfather in 1760, reverently removed his 
 crown while receiving the sacrament at the coronation cere- 
 monies, and in his piety and virtues all denominations had 
 confidence. The American revolution brought peril to the 
 principles of religious liberty in England. Great efforts 
 were made by high church and court parties to brand 
 Nonconformists as rebellious, and enemies to the king. By 
 this means an ineffectual attempt was made to bring about 
 the reversal of the policy of toleration. Dr. Doddridge 
 died in 1751, and his famous academy came under the care 
 of Dr. Ashworth. The most distinguished theologian among 
 the Congregationalists was Dr. Edward Williams., who 
 became jDresident of Rotherham academy in 1795. Con- 
 gregationalism was also made conspicuous at this time 
 by the philanthropic work of John Howard, of Bedford. 
 The religious awakening under the Wesleys and AVhitefield 
 
CONGREGATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 39 
 
 did much to arouse and deepen piety in Congregational 
 churches. Cornehus Winters was a friend and disciple 
 of George Whitefield, and accompanied him on his last voy- 
 age to America. 
 
 tolitliam Jjourth. 
 
 ILLIAM succeeded his brother George IV., June 
 25th, 1830. In the early part of this reign the 
 Established church was greatly agitated by a re- 
 vival of Anglo-Catholicism, which resulted in the defection 
 of some of its distinguished men to Romanism. It was at 
 this time that the Congregational library was instituted in 
 Bloomfield street, London, and became the centre of denom- 
 inational influence. This was the birthplace and cradle 
 of the Congregational Union of England and Wales in 1831. 
 In T833 the declaration of faith and church order was 
 adopted, and marks a transition to moderate Calvinism. 
 In this meeting of the union the Revs. Drs. Reed and 
 Matheson were deputed to visit the Congregationalists of 
 the United States. They were met in New York by Can- 
 adian Congregationalists. and at their request extended 
 their tour to the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, 
 visiting Quebec, Montreal, Brockville, Kingston and Tor- 
 onto. The Congregational lecture was establisiied in the 
 same year, and Dr. Wardlaw was invited to inaugurate 
 the series, and gave his course on Christian ethics. Among 
 the distinguished ministers were the Claytons, a father and 
 three sons. The first was connected with lady Huntingdon's 
 communion, while his sons, John and George, took leading 
 positions among Congregationalists. Dr. Collier not only 
 attracted the middle classes but people of high rank, among 
 
40 PROGRESS UNDER QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 
 whom were the duke of Kent and the duke of Sussex. 
 Dr. Pye Smith and William Walford were tutors at Homer- 
 lon^ and Dr. William Harris occupied the same position in 
 Highbury college. Dr. Winter Hamilton, James Parsons, 
 Dr. Raffles, John Angel James, and William Jay were all 
 men of mark. 
 
 ®hc 0ictoriiin Jije. 
 
 UEEN A^ictoria ascended the throne of England, 
 June 2oth, 1837, ^^^^ throughout her long and 
 honored reign has been true to the principles of 
 religious freedom. Some of the chief parliamentary strug- 
 gles of this age for religious equality have related to educa- 
 tion. The first board of education was constituted in 1839 
 by a majority of two, infface of a bitter opposition from the 
 church party. The openmg of national universities to 
 Nonconformists was not taken up by the house of lords 
 until 187 1.'; i.This led to the passing of an act providing 
 that the universities should be freely accessible to the 
 nation. The obnoxious laws relating to the parish ceme- 
 teries were not removed until 1880. Then an act was 
 passed permitting burials in churchyards without any reli- 
 gious service, or with such Christian and orderly service 
 as the person responsib'e might see fit. Memorial hail, 
 built on the site of the old Fleet prison, where so many of 
 our faith had suffered and died was opened in 1875 to com- 
 memorate the heroism and fidelity of the two thousand 
 ejected clergymen by the enforcement of the act of uniform- 
 ity. The International Congregational council, consisting 
 of three hundred delegates from all parts of the world, met in 
 London, England, jn July, i89i,and provided for a second 
 
CONGREGATIONAL SYNODS. ^I 
 
 gathering of the kind to be assembled in the United States. 
 The tercentenary anniversary of the martyrdom of Henry 
 Barrowe, John Greenwood and John Penry, was, in April 
 1893, fittingly celebrated in London and in various other 
 portions of England and the world. 
 
 ®he luited ^tafe;^. 
 
 ^;J^HE Pilgrim Fathers, with all their heroic faith and suf- 
 \^J fering, builded better than they knew. For eight 
 '** years and seven months the Plymouth church stood 
 alone. The company which came to Salem under Endicott 
 in 1628 were Puritans but not Separatists, though they 
 afterwards adopted Congregational principles. This must 
 be borne in mind ; for when the charge of persecution is 
 raised, it does not apply to the Plymouth colony who 
 afforded a place of refuge to some driven from Massachu- 
 setts Bay. Twenty years after the landing of the pilgrims 
 there were but thirty-five Congregational churches on this 
 continent. The first general synod was held in 1637 to 
 deal with the errors of John Wheelwright and Annie Hut- 
 chinson ; the second convened in 1646 and adjourned to 
 1648, adopted the doctrinal statement of the Westminster 
 confession, and formulated the Cambridge platform as the 
 polity of the Congregational churches. In 1662 a synod was 
 held in Massachusetts, which recommended the half-way 
 covenant, a course which wrought great evil among the 
 churches; another in 1679-80 condemned certain prevalent 
 evils which were considered the cause of God's scourge upon 
 the land ; and another at Say brook, Connecticut, in 1708, 
 which adopted the Saybrook platform and the system of 
 consociation of the churches for that state. No third 
 
4-i CONGREGATIONALISM AND THE NATION. 
 
 genei-al synod representing all the land, was gathered until 
 the Albany convention met in 1852, to correct the evils 
 which had resulted from the plan of union, entered into by 
 the Congregationalists and Presbyterians in i8ci, in rela- 
 tion to the planting of new churches, which at the exoense 
 of the farmer had greatly augmented the latter. 
 
 The influence of Congregationalism upon the national life 
 has been beyond expression. That compact, " called a civil 
 body [politic," adopted in the cabin of the Mayflower^ was, 
 according to Bancroft, the birth of popular constitutional 
 liberty. That the church meeting became the model of the 
 town meeting and ultimitely of the national constitution has 
 been conceded. Daring the colonial period '.he preaching 
 and writings of Congregational ministers had mimense in- 
 fluence in devel )pingand securing civil freedom. Two years 
 before the English revolution, the agent of James II. in New 
 England wrote that the Congregationalists stood in the way 
 of the king's absolute rule, and that so long as their ministers 
 were allowed to preach, the people would not obey. To 
 meet this state of affairs, Sir Edmund Andros was sent over 
 with absolute power, and instructions to remove these hin- 
 drances, to set up Episcopacy, and to tolerate i^.o i)rinting 
 press. He seized the Old South church, Boston, and caused 
 the church of England services to be conducted there; he 
 demanded the charter of Connecticut, which they hid in an 
 oak tree; and exercised such olher arbitrary and cruel 
 powers, that the people rose in rebellion, imprisoned the 
 governor, seized the king's frigate, took the fortification, 
 proclaimed Bradstreet governor, and declared for the con- 
 stitution drawn up in the Mayflower. 
 
 The great awakening which occurred in 1740, and by 
 which it is said some twenty-five thousand persons were con- 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM IN CANADA. 43 
 
 verted, did much to correct the evils of the half-way cov- 
 enant, through the controversy over the new birth, which it' 
 led to; and the eventual separation of our churches from 
 those holding Unitarian views. From the first. Congrega- 
 tion alists have stood in the front rank as respects educa- 
 tional, benevolent and missionary operations. Schools 
 were established almost from the beginning, and the system 
 of common schools was in 1647 adopted by the general 
 court of Massachusetts, while Harvard college was founded 
 as early as 1647. John Eliot became a famous missionary 
 to the Indians, and shortly after, in 1644, an order passed by 
 the general court of Massachusetts, regarding missions, 
 makes this body, with a possible single exception, the first 
 missionary society in the history of Protestant Christendom. 
 
 ffanada. 
 
 fS early as 1597 a petition was presented to queen 
 Elizabeth by tlie people "falsely called Brownists," for 
 liberty to settle in Canada. Permission was given, 
 and a number, including Francis Johnson, the London 
 minister, and afterwards of Amsterdam, his brother George, 
 Daniel Studley and John Clark, sailed with merchantmen 
 in the Hopeivell and Chanceivell for the gulf of St. 
 Lawrence. The Chajicewellwd.^ wrecked off Cape Breton, 
 and the Z^^d-zt'if//, falling in with a Spanish ship off Belle 
 Isle, capturedit, and with this prize the merchantmen, after 
 a short sojourn at Newfoundland, returned to England, 
 carrying their Congregational would-be colonists back with 
 them. Thus a northern New England was not established, 
 and Congregationalism in Canada belongs to a later date. 
 
44 NOVA SCOTIA AND QUEBEC. 
 
 Nova Scotia formerly embraced not only the province 
 known by that name, but New Brunswick as well. Through 
 the influence of governor Lawrence, colonists from New 
 England settled there in 1798. As Episcopacy was then 
 established by law, these Congregational settlers made it a 
 condition that they should be guaranteed full religious and 
 civil liberty. This was accorded by an instrument called 
 the charter of Nova Scotia, which Haliburton aptly called 
 " the magna charta of Nova Scotia." Before the war of the 
 revolution, Congregational churches had been formed in 
 several important places, made up of the best material of 
 New England. They were, however, sadly disorganized by 
 the war, and after peace was declared their democratic 
 principles became obnoxious to those who were in power. 
 However, some of those ancient churches still survive. 
 
 In Lower Canada, now the province of Quebec, Congre- 
 gationalism began its history at the dawn of the 19th cen- 
 tury. It was begun by emigrants and ministers both from 
 Old and New England. The first church of whicli any ac- 
 count is given was founded in the city of Quebec in 1801, 
 by a minister named Bentoni, sent out by the London mis- 
 sionary Society. As Episcopacy was the established reli- 
 gion, he suffered considerable persecution at the hands of 
 the authorities. The official register, without which he 
 could not perform the functions of a minister, was refused 
 him. This injustice he exposed by publishing a pamphlet 
 entitled, Law and Fact, and for which he was arrested, sen- 
 tenced to six months impiisonment and a fine of fifty pounds 
 sterling. He was succeeded in the pastorate by Francis 
 Dick in 1805, one of the Scotch students, Greviile Ewing 
 and others educated for evangelistic work in that land. In 
 Quebec, Mr. Dick organized the first Sunday school in Can- 
 
THE EASTERN TOWNSHIPS. ^-h 
 
 ada, and in connection with the same church the Quebec 
 bible society was formed in 1804. 
 
 The Eastern townships were largely settled by people 
 from New England, and the first ministers visiting them 
 were New England Congrega tionalists. Among these were 
 the Rev. James Hobart, M.A., pastor at Berlin, Vt. ; the 
 Rev. Luther Leland, M.A., pastor at Derby, Vt. ; and the 
 Rev. John Jackson, M.A. The first two only made periodic 
 visits of an evangelistic nature, but the last settled perma- 
 nently, and for about twenty years preached the gospel 
 in the various townships. Mr. Jackson was a native of 
 Peterham, Mass., a graduate of Dartmout h, and the first 
 pastor of the Congregational church at Gill , Mass., where 
 Mr. Moodie's Mt. Hermon school now is. He settled in 
 Brome, and made itinerant journeys through the forests, 
 preachmg in barns and groves in the various settlements, 
 doing pioneer mission work, receiving little pecuniary 
 reward. He too was denied the legal register, and conse- 
 quently could not perform all the duties of a minister. The 
 authorities, however, made him one of her majesty's jus- 
 tices of the peace, and in some instances he married peo- 
 ple by virtue of this office. He died in Brome in 1844. It 
 was not until 1833 that this unlawful decree, debarring minis- 
 ters of civil registers, was annulled, and full ministerial sta- 
 tus given to them. By the secularization of the clergy re- 
 serves in 1855 the last vestige of a state church among 
 Protestants was forever removed from Canada. The name 
 most closely identified with CongregationaUsm in Canada, 
 and especially in Quebec, is that of the Rev. Henry Wilkes, 
 D.D. Before preparing for the ministry, his deep interest 
 in the work was manifested. During his long and honored 
 pastorate in Montreal, at which time he represented the 
 
46 THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO, 
 
 Colonial missionary society in the aid it gave our churches, 
 and later as principal of the college, which office he held 
 from 1870 to 1881; his deep interest, wise counsels, and 
 untiring labors, bore abundant fruit and have made his 
 memory fragrant. 
 
 In Upper Canada, now known as the province of Ontario, 
 the tirst Congregational church was organized at Southwold 
 in 1819 by the Rev. Joseph Silcox. Mr. Silcox came from 
 Frome, Somersetshire, England, in 18 17, to this place, 
 then known as the Talbot settlement. Possessed of a good 
 education, he was appointed school teacher to the new set- 
 tlement. It was decided to unite the various existing reli- 
 gious elements in a church, and the name given to the 
 organization was " the Congregational Presbyterian Prince 
 of Peace society." Mr. Silcox was chosen as pastor, and 
 duly set apart to that office. Under his ministry the 
 church flourished, and his labors were extended to the 
 surrounding districts. In 1834 the newly organized Con- 
 gregational union of England and Wales sent a deputation 
 across the ocean to visit the American Congregational 
 churches. This delegation consisted of the Rev. Andrew 
 Reid, D.D., and the Rev. James Matheson, D.D. They 
 were met in New York by Canadian Congregationalists, 
 who urged them to visit Canada, — a request which they 
 complied with. They came to Quebec, Montreal, Brock- 
 ville, Kingston and Toronto, and were so impressed with 
 the spiritual necessities of the country, that on their return 
 to England they secured a grant of $5,000 from the London 
 missionary society, and the Revs. W. Hayden and D. Dyer 
 were at once sent to this country, while others followed. 
 The Rev. John Roaf, who came to Toronto in 1837, was one 
 of the ablest ministers sent here from the mother country. 
 
THE CONGREGATIONAL COLLEGE. 4; 
 
 Wielding a wide influence as the pastor of Zion cliurcli in 
 that city, he also acted as agent for the colonial missionary 
 society in liie province, and labored most earnestly to 
 plant and foster new churches. He was a valiant cham- 
 pion of civil and religious liberty as well as aji earnest and 
 successful pastor. He died in Toronto in 1S62. 
 
 One of the fathers and founders of Congregationalism in 
 Canada was the Rev. Adam Lillie, D.D., who was pastor of 
 the Congregational church in Brantford, Ont., in 1S38. 
 The great necessity of providing means for the training of 
 men for the ministry, induced Mr. Lillie to act as a theo- 
 logical tutor, first in Brantford, and then in Dundas. In 
 1S40, at the request of his brethren, he was released from 
 his pastorate and removed to Toronto, that he might devote 
 himself exclusively to theological leaching. The institution 
 then organized was called the Congregational academy. 
 In 1842 the Congregational institute of Eastern Canada 
 was established in Montreal for a like purpose, under the 
 Revs. Drs. Carruthers and Wilkes, but was united to 
 the Toronto academy in 1846. A similar institution had 
 been started in Liverpool, N.S., called the Gorham college, 
 which was closed, its library transferred to Toronto, and the 
 churches thereafter looked to that institution for their mfnis- 
 ters. The name given to these amalgamated institutions in 
 i860, was the Congregational college of British North 
 America, The college was removed to Montreal in 1S64, 
 and afhliated with McGill university, the first to form such 
 an alliance. Dr. Lillie was still the honored principal, which 
 office he continued to hold until his death in 1869. The 
 successors in that office have been the Rev. Henry Wilkes, 
 D.D., the Rev. John Frederick Stevenson, D.D., and the 
 Rev. William M. Barbour, D-D., the present principal. 
 
4o CONGREGATIONALISM IN NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 Since the removal of the college to Montreal, no one has 
 had a longer, closer, or more influential relationship to it, 
 than the Rev. George Cornish, LL.D. The present com- 
 modious buildings were erected in 1884, at a cost of $25,000, 
 The chartered name which the institution now bears is the 
 Congregational college of Canada, and it is empowered to 
 grant degree s in theology. 
 
 ^;J^HIS, the oldest colony of Great Britain, from, a very 
 \^j early period, has been associated with Cjngrega- 
 T tionalism. In queen Elizabeth's reign, some of the 
 English Separatists were banished to this island, and 
 sometimes the sentence of banishment prohibited their 
 removal to the New England colony. In 1645, George 
 Downing, the first graduate of Cambridge, Mass., on his 
 visit there, received an invitation from the Congregation- 
 alists to become their pastor, as also the Rev. Richard 
 Blinman, an English divine, who visited Newfoundland 
 in 1660. Though several churches were formed previous 
 to the revolutionary war, that event, as well as the former 
 period of the French occupancy, interfered with their pro- 
 gress. The present church in St. John was organized in 
 1775, through the instrumentality of John Jones, anative of 
 Wales and a sergeant of the royal artillery. Through 
 the influence of the Rev. Edward Langham, rector, the 
 authorities greatly hampered and persecuted the church, 
 and refused the magistrate's licence, without which the 
 pastor could not exercise all the duties of the ministerial 
 office. This provoked indignation in England and a pro- 
 test, which was not without effect, for when vice-admiral 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM IN SCOTLAND. 49 
 
 John Campbell became governor in 1782, his reply to their 
 petition for liberty to worship God in their own house 
 agreeable to their views of Christian duty was : *'That so 
 far from preventing, he should do all in his power to 
 further it." Mr. Jones, after a fruitful ministry of twenty- 
 five years, died in 1800, and his funeral was conducted by 
 the Rev. Mr. Harris, a church of England minister, 
 
 ^;J^ HOUGH Robert Brown took refuge in Scotland in 
 ^Q 1584, and somewhat disturbed the Kirk by his 
 'f views; and John Penry, the martyr, fled across 
 the Tweed, Congregationalism took no root in Scotland 
 before the civil war. Cromwell and his officers while 
 there were not silent in regard to ecclesiastical matters. In 
 1724, John Glass, a member of the Established church, 
 discovered and enunciated in part the Congregationalism 
 of the New Testament, and founded the Old Scotch Inde- 
 pendents. The decadence of vital godliness in Scotland 
 in the eighteenth century led James Haldane and his asso- 
 ciates in 1797 to begin an evangelistic tour throughout the 
 land, preaching the gospel in almost every town. In 1798 
 steps were taken which led to the organization of the Circus 
 church at Edinburgh. Previous to this, however, two Con- 
 gregational churches had been formed, — one in Paisley and 
 the other in Aberdeen. By the end of the eighteenth century 
 there were fourteen such churches. At the close of 1798 
 a society was formed by eminent men in the Establish- 
 ment for the propagation of the gospel at home, and 
 Greville Ewing, in 1799, organized a theological class to 
 train ministers for the work. About three hundred were 
 
 4 
 
50 CONGREGATIONALISM IN IRELAND. 
 
 sent out from the nine classes. Ralph AVardlaw, educated 
 at Glasgow for the Established church, was led to make a 
 special study of the Church polity of the New Testament, 
 and this caused him to enter the Congregational ministry 
 in 1800. He was pastor of a church in Glasgow for more 
 than fifty years. In 1811 the Congregational academy 
 was founded, in which Dr. Wardlaw and Greville Ewing, 
 who had also withdrawn from the Established church, were 
 associated in training ministers for the churches. The 
 society for home work spoken of ceased its operations in 
 1807, and the work crystallized into the Congregationalism 
 which celebrated its jubilee in 1848, when the churches 
 numbered one hundred, with a membership of between 
 eight and nine thousand. 
 
 Ireland 
 
 •i'T is stated that some of the early English Congrega- 
 T tionalists visited Ireland, and met with a measure of 
 T success ; yet no permanent position was gained until 
 Oliver Cromwell made civil and religious liberty to be 
 respected in the Green Isle. Then John Owen and other 
 distinguished Congregationalists did a work which left a 
 lasting impression. Dr. Samuel Winters was provost of 
 Trinity college, and Dr. Samuel Harrison was minister in 
 Christ's church, DubUn. Samuel Mather went from 
 America to England in 1650, and was ordained at Dublin, 
 where he preached until his death in 167 1. When author- 
 ized to displace an Episcopal clergyman, he declined to 
 execute the lord deputies' order, on the ground that he 
 had come to preach the gospel and not to hinder others 
 from doing so. He was succeeded by his brother 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM IN WALES. 5 I 
 
 Nathaniel, and both were brothers of Increase Mather, the 
 celebrated New England divine, and the father of the still 
 more renowned Cotton Mather. John Murcot was another 
 Congregational minister in Dublin at this period. He was 
 the idol of the people, and at his death was followed to 
 the grave by the lord deptity Fleetwood, the lord mayor 
 and an immense crowd of people, who mingled their tears 
 with the dust that covered his remains. Congregational 
 churches were formed in Yotighal, Carrickfergus, 
 Limerick, Tredagh and other towns. There are now 
 twenty-eight Congregational churches in Ireland with 
 ninety-five evangelistic stations. The number of church 
 members is two tliousand, with about eleven thousand 
 adherents. 
 
 Ig^REVIOUS to the year 1649, and for some time 
 J^ later, Nonconformity in Wales represented Congre- 
 gationalism only. William Wroth, born in 1570, and 
 called the apostle of Wales, was the father of Congrega- 
 tionalism in that principality. Educated in Oxford, he 
 held a living in South Wales, where, by the sudden death 
 of a relative leading to his conversion, he became a- 
 preacher of great power and influence. Archbishop 
 Laud deprived him of his living, and in 1 639 he formed a 
 Congregational church in Llanvaches. He was aided in 
 the gathering and forming of churches by a band of young 
 and earnest ministers, among whom Walter Cradock was. 
 foremost, especially in North Wales. During the struggle 
 between Charles I. and his parliament, the Congregation- 
 alists of Wales suffered greatly, and the ministers had to 
 
52 CONGREGATIONALISM IN AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 seek protection outside of the principality. In their ab- 
 sence, the churches not only survived but increased 
 through the constancy and zeal of their members. 
 Throughout the period of the Commonwealth they multi- 
 plied rapidly and made great progress, but on the restora- 
 tion of Charles II. these churches were the first to feel the 
 fierce persecution. After the successive acts of repression 
 had been rigorously enforced, and which were such a blot 
 upon this period, the king's indulgences were granted in 
 1672, when sixty-three Congregational places of worship 
 were recognized. The first institution in Wales for 
 training Nonconformists for the ministry was begun in 
 1662, under Samuel Jones, and there, for two hundred years, 
 two-thirds of those entering the Congregational ministry 
 were educated. The college now at Brecon was founded in 
 1821, and that in Bala, in 1841. This sturdy principalit}'' 
 has given to our churches throughout many lands some 
 of their most eloquent ministers. 
 
 ^'EVERAL colonies are embraced by Australasia, 
 ^^ namely, on the mainland, New South Wales, Vic- 
 V® toria, South Australia and Queensland, with the 
 island colonies of Tasmania and New Zealand. The 
 Rev. F. Miller was sent out from London, in 1830, to 
 Tasmania, and in the same year founded the first Congre- 
 gational church in Hobart Town. In this as in the other 
 colonies under the southern cross, though Congregational- 
 ism has not made rapid progress, it has borne no mean 
 part in aiding the advance of the kingdom of Christ, 
 and has been to the fore in promoting civil and religious 
 
THE SWEDISH xMISSION UNION. 53 
 
 equality, and the abolishing of state aid to churches. At 
 the present time such aid is withdrawn from all the 
 churches in the provinces, with the exception of West- 
 ern Australia. According to the census of 1891, the num- 
 ber of adherents in the Congregational churches of the 
 various provinces was as follows : Tasmania, 4,301 ; New 
 Zealand, 6,685; New South Wales, 24,112; Victoria, 
 22,120; South Austraha, 11,882; Queensland, 8,571. 
 Western Australia contains but three Congregational 
 churches with 1,575 adherents. This makes the total num- 
 ber of Congregationalists to be 79,434 0utof a population of 
 nearly 4,000,000. The jubilee of Congregationalism was 
 celebrated in four of the colonies in 1883, and the amount 
 of $545,000 was raised for denominational purposes. 
 
 NE of the most remarkable modern moveraer,t> of a 
 Congregational nature is that which has taken p. ace 
 in Sweden within the past twenty-five years, and 
 has spread to Norway and Denmark. Lutheranism is the 
 established state religion of those countries. Within the 
 church there were those who were moved to renounce 
 dead forms and sacramentarian teachings, and to seek life 
 and fruit only by an abiding union with Christ. Soon these 
 evangelical Christians came into conflict with the church 
 authorities on the question of purity of communion and 
 the observance of the Lord's supper, as well as on other 
 subjects. The consequence was that they were forced to 
 form an organization outside of the state church. Taking 
 the scriptures as their guide, they organized as the Forbun- 
 dent, or Swedish mission union, in the year 1879, — a society 
 
54 THE STUNDISTS OF RUSSIA. 
 
 for home and foreign work. The result was that their 
 churches were Congregational in polity and practice. 
 Their distinguished leader, Dr. Waldenstrom, and Mr. E. 
 J. Eckman were delegates to the International Congrega- 
 tional council held in London in 1891, and reported 707 
 churches with a membership of ioc,ooo. They had 
 formed a theological seminary, and were carrying on both 
 home and foreign mission work. At that time they had 
 five missionaries in Lapland, five in Russia, seven in 
 Persia, twenty-four in the Congo States, four in North 
 Africa and five in China. To carry on the home mission 
 work, they had sent out a large number of travelling 
 preachers. The income of the Forbundent for 1891 
 amounted to $50,000. 
 
 f SPONTANEOUS religious movement has taken place 
 in the Russian empire very much like that in Sweden. 
 It is a secession of earnest, simple-minded Christians 
 from the Greek church, of which the czar is the head. 
 Some years ago a large number of stirring evangelical tracts 
 published by the London society were distributed among 
 the people, and proved to them leaves from the tree of life 
 for the healing of the nations. These simple, earnest Chris- 
 tians soon refused to worship the pictures, or observe 
 the ceremonies of the state church. Taking the word of 
 God for a guide, they organized themselves into religious 
 societies. They were called Stundists by the authorities 
 in church and state as a mark of contempt. They, how- 
 ever, rapidly multiplied, and it is said that in 1893 they 
 numbered more than 160,000. Of these it is reported 30,000. 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM IN OTHER LANDS. 55 
 
 are Baptists and the remainder are Congregational and Pres- 
 byterian in their church organizations. They have been 
 bitterly persecuted by the authorities, and every effort 
 made to force them back to the Greek church. The ordeal 
 through which these dissenters in Russia are now passing 
 is very much like that of the Puritans of the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 •JpN Europe there are Congregational churches in France, 
 J* Germany, Russia, Austria, Spain and Holland. The 
 ^ French Mission Populaire Evangelique^ known as the 
 McAll Mission in Paris, is a most extensive work, and is 
 conducted on a catholic basis. It was founded and directed 
 by the late Rev. R. W. McAll, a Congregational minister 
 from England, and comprises one hundred and thirty-six 
 stations. In Bohemia, nine Free or Congregational churches 
 are formed under the American board, while in Spain they 
 also have in the north several churches. Twenty-four 
 churches are organized in Holland Vwowxi 2^'s, Bond van 
 Vrije Christelijke Gemeenteji in Nederland. In Africa 
 the churches, within a proper radius, are grouped under 
 the Congregational unions of Natal and of South Africa. 
 There are ten churches in Jamaica, with thirty-one out- 
 stations, comprising six thousand adherents. In British 
 Guiana there are forty churches. In Madagascar the 
 churches number nine hundred and nine, every one having 
 a school attached to it. Aside from the European mission- 
 aries there are eight hundred and twenty-eight native pas- 
 tors, with three thousand four hundred and ninety-five 
 native preachers. The membership and regular hearers 
 
56 CONGREGATIONALISM IN JAPAN. 
 
 number three hundred and forty-one thousand. The 
 Sandwich Islands contain about fifty-seven Congregational 
 churches with seven thousand members. These islands, 
 within a little more than half a century, have been so com- 
 pletely Christianized by American Congregational mis- 
 sionaries that now they support their own churches, a 
 theological institute at Honolulu, and also sustain mission- 
 aries in other islands of the Pacific. In Japan, the 
 Kumi-ai churches number sixty-five, and have two hundred 
 and two places of worship. There are one hundred and 
 thirty-five pastors, seventy-four evangelists, and twenty- 
 four bible women. The membership consists of eleven 
 thousand five hundred and fifty-eight, more than half being 
 men. During the year ending March 31st, 1893, nine hun- 
 dred and fifty-three were received on confession of faith. 
 In China and the Ottoman empire, Congregational 
 churches and educational institutions are also established. 
 
 -^^^^-e^^^p^^' 
 
II. 
 
 " Where two or three are gathered together in viy 
 name, there am I in tlie midst of them ^ — MATTHEW 
 xviii. 20. 
 
 " For one is your Master, even Christ ; and all ye 
 are brethren!' — Matthew xxiii. 8. 
 
iorm.s of onuirrh Sorerument. 
 
 HERE are three prevailing forms of churcli govern- 
 ment, the distinctive principles of which divide the 
 church of God. These are : the Episcopal, founded 
 on the assumption of apostolic succession ; the Presbyte- 
 rian, based on authoritative representation ; and the Congre- 
 gational, established on the theory of the autonomy of the 
 local church. These constructive principles cannot be har- 
 monized. Widely as Episcopacy and Presbyterianism 
 differ, they agree in the use of authority to secure unity 
 among their respective adherents ; while Congregationalism, 
 which holds liberty in unity, differs most essentially from 
 both. The churches holding the Episcopal theory are : the 
 Greek, Roman, old Catholic, Jansenist, church of Eng- 
 land, American, Episcopal, Moravian and Lutheran. Those 
 holding the principles of Presbyterianism are, — in Scotland, 
 the Established, Free, Reformed and United churches; 
 — in the United States, the Presbyterian churches North, 
 South, Reformed, Cumberland, United, etc. The Method- 
 ist churches are virtually Presbyterian in polity ; their 
 annual and general conferences constituting their church 
 courts. The Congregational system is practised by all 
 churches known as Congregational Baptists, Disciples of 
 Chri.<:, :ind manv dthers. 
 
6o THE DOCTRINE OF APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. 
 
 Jtj^ostotic Succession. 
 
 fHE doctrine of the apostolical succession iieans 
 that '' all men who have a right to be considered 
 duly appointed ministers of Christ, have received 
 from him a commission to minister in his name, conveyed 
 in an outward and visible manner in a direct line from the 
 holy apostles." In other words, a spiritual power, it is 
 claimed, was given to the apostles, and by them transmitted 
 to their successors, and so on in a perpetual line, by the 
 laying on of hands ; whereby authority is received to ordain 
 priests who may administer the sacraments, give absolution 
 and perform other priestly functions. All ministerial func- 
 tions and church organizations outside of this tactile succes- 
 sion are regarded by those holding that doctrine as without 
 validity and schismatic in their nature. 1 he idea giving 
 inception to this dogma appeared as early as the third 
 century, and was used by Tertullian as an argument against 
 the heretics of his day. During the reformation it was 
 made to do great service in opposing the validity of the 
 Protestant ministry, and is the chief weapon of attack used 
 by Episcopacy in opposition to other church systems. It 
 is true a restricted system resembling this prevailed in the 
 priesthood of the Jewish church, but the fact is that the 
 Christian ministry is not a priesthood only in so far as all 
 Christians share in it through the merits of Christ. Further, 
 the argument based on such an analogy fails from the fact 
 that the Jewish priestly succession was only Aaronic. 
 In the New Testament there is not the slightest intimation 
 
AUTHORITATIVE REPRESENTATION. 6l 
 
 that apostolic succession was the source of ministerial 
 authority. If the assumption were true, no minister could 
 be sure of this tactile succession, and therefore certain as 
 to the validity of his ordination and administrations. The 
 apostles were personally selected and instructed by Christ ; 
 they were individually inspired ; they had universal 
 authority ; and in all these respects had no possible suc- 
 cessors. Further, though the apostles and Jewish Chris- 
 tians had been trained under the priestly hierarchy of 
 Judaism, they were organized into churches having no 
 semblance of such a system. 
 
 'J^[^HE Presbyterian system is government by a series 
 ^2^ of church courts extending from the session, which 
 ^ consists of the minister and elders who rule the local 
 congregation, to the presbytery, synod and assembly, 
 which is the highest court and of final authority. Each 
 lower court is subject to the next higher, and appeals may 
 be carried through them all. The body at large constitutes 
 the church, while the local organizations are called con- 
 gregations. CEcolampadius, a reformer of Basel and con- 
 temporary with Luther, first propounded the theory of 
 the ruling eldership, but it was John Calvin who set it 
 forth in a practical form. Chiefly through his influence 
 it was adopted by the republic of Geneva in 1535 as a sys- 
 tem of church polity. Comparatively few Presbyterians 
 assume that this form of church government is authori- 
 tatively and exclusively enjoined in the scriptures, and 
 is therefore of universal obligation. The great majority 
 simply claim that these views are sanctioned by the scrip- 
 
62 CONGRKGATIONAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 tures. Many able men among them take the ground that 
 our Lord, having constituted the church a distinct society, 
 gave it the right to order its form of government according 
 to general principles revealed in his word. Some there 
 are who claim the jure diviiio for this system. Among 
 the arguments for the ruling eldership, use is made of the 
 analogy it sustains to Judaism and the frequent use of 
 the term elder in the New Testament. These conten- 
 tions will not hold good, for the reason that Jewish elder- 
 ship belonged to a system which has passed away, and the 
 term elder, as used in the New Testament, also stands for 
 bishop or pastor. Dr. Chalmers, the leader of the Free 
 church movement, is reported to have said, that whatever 
 the government of the primitive church may have been, it 
 was not Presbyterian. Dean Alford, in commenting on the 
 statement in Matthew xviii. 15-17, says : " Nothing can be 
 further from the spirit of our Lord's commands than pro- 
 ceedings in what are oddly termed ecclesiastical courts." 
 
 >HE constructive principle of Congregationalism is the 
 autonomy, or complete independence of each local 
 congregation of believers, under the authority of Christ 
 the head over the church. In all things each church is 
 subject to the will of the Saviour, as revealed in his word, 
 but to no other head, law or authority. All requisite 
 authority to manage their own affairs, Christ has bestowed 
 upon the membership of each church, however large or 
 small the organization may be. This power is not 
 vested in the church officers, nor divided between the 
 officers and members, but resides wholly in the member- 
 
THE WORD OF GOD. 63 
 
 ship of believers which includes the officers. The pastor 
 or presiding officer has no veto over the action of 
 the church, and members may, if necessary, act without 
 his concurrence. The leading principles of the Congre- 
 gational polity may be indicated by the following divisions. 
 
 Jjirst |rinciptc— ®he WoxA. 
 
 'HE Word of God furnishes the sole objective author- 
 ity, not only for Christian doctrine, but also for the 
 constitution, worship and discipline of the Christian 
 churcli. The Holy Spirit revealing himself in the scriptures 
 is the only infallible guide to man. Therefore, for any 
 authoritative outline of the constitution of the Christian 
 church we must look to the New Testament. That the 
 whole trend of the teachings of Christ and of his apostles 
 goes to favor the Congregational systeniis obvious. Further, 
 that the churches founded by the apostles were essentially 
 Congregational has been conceded by biblical scholars 
 and church historians in almost every denomination of 
 Christians. The laws of Christ, and the instructions and 
 usages of apostolic times concerning matters of discipline, 
 can be fiilly carried out only by this polity. We read, 
 Matthew xxviii. 20, that "Christ charged his disciples to 
 go to all nations, *' teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world ;" and the obvious 
 result was that they went everywhere organizing Congre- 
 gational churches. When standing in the presence of 
 Caesar's representative, who questioned him in relation to 
 his kingdom, we read, John xviii. 36, ''Jesus answered, 
 My kingdom is not of this world." 
 
64 THE CHARTER OF CONGREGATIONALISM. 
 
 ^ecaiul |rinriple— 3hc (Charter. 
 
 ^^^HE pledge of the presence and influence of Christ 
 \t^ and of the Holy Spirit to the smallest company of 
 "f believers who may unite as worshippers, witnesses and 
 workers in his name, secures thereby for them all the power, 
 privilege, and right possible to a church of Christ. This 
 charter for the church is found in Christ's words, Matthew 
 xviii. 20 : " For where two or three are gathered together 
 in my name, there am I in the midst of them." This 
 wonderful declaration is made in relation to instruction 
 given by our Lord about discipline in the local church, 
 verses 15-17, and at the same time the pledges are given, 
 that what they bind and loose on earth shall be bound 
 and loosed in heaven, verse 18 ; and if two of them 
 agree in prayer, their requests shall be granted, verse 19. 
 In the great commission, Matthew xxviii. 18-20, Christ 
 gives the promise of his presence to ministers, mission- 
 aries, and members, for each succeeding age : " Lo, I am 
 with you alway, even unto the end of the world." In the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit no distinction was made among 
 believers, out '' they were all tilled with the Holy Ghost." 
 The scriptures further teach that his presence is not only 
 available for all Christians, but that every believer is a 
 temple wherein he dwells as the comforter, sanctifier, and 
 guide. Dean Stanley in his Christian institutions has said, 
 " wherever in any time or country two or three are gathered 
 together by a common love and faith, there will be a church 
 of Christ." 
 
CONGREGATIONAL ORGANIZATION. 65 
 
 fNY company of Christians, who are sincere behevers 
 in Christ, may voluntarily associate together under 
 him, and in obedience to his commands, for Christian 
 work and worship ; and such an assembly is a true and 
 complete church of Christ. The New Testament no- 
 where uses the term ekklesia, or church, to designate a 
 union of ecclesiastical societies such as the church of 
 England, of Scotland, or the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, 
 or the Methodist church. When the churches of a district 
 or province are referred to, the plural is alsvays used, as 
 the churches of Macedonia, the churches of Galatia, etc. 
 The plain and general meaning of the word church is a 
 local organization of believers. The salutations and 
 teachings of the apostles indicate that the churches of 
 the New Testament were local, and made up of believers 
 voluntarily associated together. The adaptability of this 
 simple form of organization to all possible exigencies 
 has been abundantly illustrated. Such churches have 
 been formed in secret, when Christians were hiding from the 
 persecutor ; in prison, where believers have been suffering 
 for conscience sake ; on shipboard, as with the pilgrims ; 
 in the forests of a new country, as on this continent; in 
 foreign lands, as when our fathers became exiles, and our 
 churches multiply among the once heathen people. At all 
 times and everywhere may this simple, apostoHc form of 
 church order be set up without the required consent or 
 authority of any save Christ the head of his church. It 
 is, however, essential that those who enter into church 
 fellowship should give credible evidence of the new birth, 
 
 5 
 
66 EQUALITY OF MEMBERS. 
 
 fj) VERY member of a local church has equal essential 
 C^^ rights, privileges and powers with every other ;■ and 
 the united membership has the right and duty under 
 the direction of God's Spirit and word of choosing all 
 necessary officers, of admitting, dismissing and disciplining 
 their own members, and of transacting all other appro- 
 priate business pertaining to a church of Christ. I he 
 voluntary nature of the church declares the equality of its 
 members, none entering into its fellowship by compulsion 
 or as belonging to a privileged class. All are united in 
 the church family as children of the heavenly Father and 
 as brethren in Christ. If a member or members, because 
 of position, influence, or a desire to rule, assume any 
 prerogative opposed to this principle ; or the church 
 submits to such an assumption from any one within or 
 without its fellowship, they violate a cardinal principle of 
 Congregationalism. Because of this equality of members 
 there rests upon all the responsibility of taking part in 
 the choice of their officers, dealing with the members 
 whose discipline is required, and of taking an active interest 
 in all the concerns of church administration. None have 
 the right or power of divesting themselves of these respon- 
 sibilities, for it is a personal obligation to Christ as well 
 as to his church, which they owe individually and collec- 
 tively. The practice, in some churches, of leaving the 
 management of business in the hands of the officers and a 
 few members who loyally attend the church meetings, is 
 reprehensible. All members should endeavor to attend 
 the church meetings. 
 
INDEPENDENCE OF CHURCHES. 67 
 
 Jlij'tli principle— Jnrteijendnice. 
 
 /|J) VERY local church is independent of all human out- 
 ^£ ward control of ecclesiastics or of ecclesiastical 
 organizations ; and every church, however small or 
 obscure, is on a level of inherent genuineness, dignity and 
 authority with every other church in the world. Nowhere 
 in the scriptures can we find any authority conferring 
 upon any man or body of men, power to exercise control 
 over the local church or over the united churches of 
 Christ. The aposdes not only abstained from exercising 
 such control, but plainly taught that it was the duty of 
 members in their several local churches to make final 
 decision in all matters relating to their interests. No 
 representative of a hierarchy or any external body of 
 control, is required, either to give validity or dignity to the 
 administrative acts of a local church. Such churches 
 have the assurance of Christ's presence in their midst, and 
 by his authority, may take procedure, even in the disci- 
 pline of members. The fruits of the Spirit manifested 
 in and through these churches are evidences of their apos- 
 tolic origin, and are all-sufficient proofs of their genuine- 
 ness as churches of Christ. Congregational churches 
 because of this completences have no occasion to appeal 
 to any authority without for liberty of action but have 
 within themselves that freedom and adaptability whereby 
 they may meet any exigency as it occurs. It was because of 
 this simple, flexible and complete system that in apostolic 
 and post-apostolic times churches were formed with such 
 facility among all classes and in all places. 
 
68 CHURCH OFFICERS. 
 
 ^[^.HRIST has appointed two, and only two, classes of 
 ^) permanent officers in his church : the first whose care 
 t is the spiritual concerns of the church, and who in 
 the scriptures are indiscriminately called bishops, elders, 
 evangelists, angels of the church, pastors and teachers ; 
 the second who are called deacons, and are to care for 
 the poor, and the temporal concerns of the church. That 
 the officers called presbyters, or elders and bishops, were 
 the same as the officers now filling the pastorate of a 
 church, is established beyond question. This fact is fully 
 conceded by biblical students belonging to various 
 denominations. The office of the pastor was not created 
 by the church, neither does his authority come from the 
 church. The office and the authority come from Christ, 
 and the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit 
 only determine what men shall fill the office. The 
 Holy Ghost made the elders of Ephesus bishops in the 
 flock of God. Those that were over the Thessalonian 
 Christians were " over them in the Lord." Therefore, in 
 electing its officers the church acts not for itself but for 
 Christ, by appointing men whom he has chosen to exercise 
 an authority which he has conferred. Changed as the 
 conditions of the world are since the Christian ministry 
 was instituted, the laws of human nature have not 
 changed, and this divine method of reaching and saving 
 men will continue unto the end. Though the seven 
 elected to office by the church at Jerusalem, Acts vi. 2-6, 
 
CONGREGATIONAL COUNCILS. 69 
 
 are not called deacons in the New Testament, it is pro- 
 bable that this became the precedent which was followed 
 by other churches. Their qualifications call not only for 
 high moral and spiritual attributes, but also for wisdom. 
 As with pastors, so in the case of deacons the reasons for 
 their appointment are permanent. "For the poor shall 
 never cease out of the land." Few trusts are more sacred 
 and responsible than the ministry to those whom Christ 
 says *' ye have always with you." 
 
 ^eucnth |rincigle— (Bouncils. 
 
 ^C FRATERNAL fellowship among the churches is 
 JiJ required for mutual counsel and care ; and for 
 ♦ united aggressive work in the extension of Christ's 
 kingdom. Hence it is right and desirable that in all 
 important matters affecting the churches at large, fraternal 
 counsel should be sought, and given, through delegates 
 representing sister churches ; which counsel, a> the word 
 implies, is always subject to the final decision of the church 
 asking for advice. The fellowship so essential within the 
 local church, in order to its peace and progress, should 
 also exist between the sisterhood of churches. This the 
 apostles urged by their teachings, and it was illustrated 
 by the gifts of the churches to the poor saints at Jeru- 
 salem, as well as by the appeal from the church at 
 Antioch for advice, not only from the apostles, but also 
 from the mother-church in Jerusalem. Such matters as 
 the formation of a church, the settlement and removal 
 of pastors, and the appointment of general officers for 
 special home or foreign work, are matters of moment to 
 the fellowshi[) at large, and concerning them counsel should 
 be taken. Then differences may arise within a church or 
 
70 CHRISTIAN PROGRESSION. 
 
 between churches, which can be settled far better by a 
 mutual council than otherwise. Councils, however, have 
 no right to assume any authority over a local church 
 further than the influence of the advice they tender. 
 
 TT is a principle of Congregationalism to conserve 
 I the results of common experience and to make pro- 
 t gress through individual enquiry. A fundamental 
 and material doctrine of our faith is that the influences of 
 the self-revealing and guiding Spirit are vouchsafed, not 
 only to each local church but also to every believing soul. 
 The English Puritans brought the apostolic church order 
 once m.ore into existence by the right of private judgment in 
 the study of the scriptures. John Robinson, according to 
 Bradford, in his words of farewell to the pilgrims before they 
 sailed to the x\merican continent, said : " We are now ere 
 long to part asunder, and the Lord knoweth whether ever he 
 should live to see our faces again. But whether the Lord 
 had appointed it or not, he charged us before God and 
 his blessed angels to follow him no further than he fol- 
 lowed Christ ; and if God should reveal anything to us 
 by any other instrument of his, to be as ready to receive it 
 as ever we were to receive any truth by his ministry ; for 
 he was very confident the Lord had more truth and light 
 to break forth out of his holy word." One of the glories 
 of Congregationalism is the elasticity of its system whereby 
 progression may be made. This is illustrated by the 
 establishment of the Triennial council among the churches 
 of the United States, and more recently by the formation 
 of the International Congregational council embracing the 
 world. 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM IN THE SCRIPTURES. 7 1 
 
 3Ie.5timonn for ffiongrcgiitionali.^nu 
 
 /CONGREGATIONALISM claims to be the polity 
 ^^ of the New Testament — a claim verified both by the 
 '♦" word and disinterested witnesses. These testimonies 
 embrace declarations of our Lord in the gospels ; state- 
 ments in the acts and epistles concerning the teaching and 
 practices of the apostles ; declarations of the early church 
 fathers ; the Didache, and the evidence of biblical scholars 
 and church historians. Of these testimonies the merest 
 outline can only be given here, which may illustrate but 
 by no means do justice to the subject. It will, however, 
 indicate lines of study which may be more fully followed 
 by enquirers after these truths. 
 
 #uir ^ord'.^ iedarationB. 
 
 mHlLE the gospels give no specific directions con- 
 cerning the constitution of the church, certain 
 distinct lines relating thereto are marked out, which 
 certainly seem to converge in the Congregational system. 
 Christ not only assumes the fact of the organization and 
 authority of the church in his words, Matthew xviii. 15-20, 
 but he also indicates the autonomy of the local church ; its 
 spirituality; his abiding presence with it and the ratification 
 in heaven of the church's righteous acts on earth. The 
 command " Tell it to tlie church '' cannot be literally 
 fulfilled in any system other than the Congregational. 
 Compare this with the practical application which we find 
 in I Cor. v. 4-6. Dean Alford, in commenting on this state- 
 
OUR lord's testimony. 
 
 ment, says : " Nothing can be further from the spirit ot 
 our Lord's commands than proceedings in what are oddly 
 termed ecclesiastical courts." Our Lord's utterances in 
 relation to the equal brotherhood of believers are also 
 most significant. See Matthew xviii. i-6, xx. 20-26, xxiii. 
 1-12; Mark ix. 33-50 ; Luke ix. 46-50; John xiii. 1-20. 
 In these passages, notably the last given in Matthew and 
 the one in John, the Master lays down a theory of social 
 and church life, which, to say the least, may be more fully 
 realizedin the Congregational system than by any other. No 
 church polity so fully accords with the spirit and objects 
 of our Lord's last prayer for his followers, John xvii. 
 1-26, as this which is based on the oneness and loving 
 brotherhood of believers. No other church organization 
 can so literally carry out the institution of the Lord's 
 supper according to the original words and acts as preserved 
 tor our learning in Matthew xxvi. 26-29; Mark xiv. 22- 
 25 ; Luke xxii. 19-20. Our ."Saviour's last commands, 
 Matthew xxviii. 18-20; Mark xvi. 15,16; Luke xxiv. 
 36' 49 } John XX. 21-23, were not addressed to any 
 hierarch or hierarchy, but to his followers as a fraternity of 
 equal individuals who were to go " and teach all nations, 
 b.iptizingthem in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you." The attempts to 
 base a primacy for Peter and the popes on the words in 
 Matthew xvi. 18 is fallacious. For while that apostle was 
 made the instrument of opening the door of the kingdom 
 to the Jewish and Gentile nations. Acts ii. 14, x. 34, no 
 primacy was given him, neither did he claim pre-eminence. 
 The same authority is not only given to all the apostles, 
 Matthew xviii. 18, but likewise to each local church. 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM IN THE ACTS. 73. 
 
 ihe glcts of the J^p.sttcs. 
 
 •JrN the book of the Acts of the apostles we see the 
 J teachings of our Lord concerning the Congregational 
 T system carried oui. In the election of Matthias to 
 fill Judas' place, Acts i. 15-26, Peter does not assume 
 any primacy, but submits the matter to the whole church. 
 The Holy Spirit, the source and essence of power in 
 the churches, Acts ii. 1-5, iv. 23-33, was not given to 
 the apostles excUisively, but to all beHevers in common. 
 The choice of the seven helpers, Acts vi. 1-6, was 
 Congregational throughout. The account given of the 
 first persecution, Acts viii. 1-4, indicates that those 
 who went every vvlieie preaching the word were private 
 members of the church ; and yet, the term euan^elizomai 
 is the same as that designating the work of Peter, Johrt 
 and others. On Paul's first visit to Jerusalem, after his 
 conversion, Acts ix. 26-30, he did not report himself to any 
 primate or bench of bishops, but sought to join the body of 
 behevers there assembling. The first foreign missionaries 
 were sent out by the church at Antioch, Acts xiii. 1-3, the 
 Holy Spirit revealing himself to the body of believers in 
 this matter, and they acting upon the revelation. Ort 
 their return, these missionaries, Acts xiv. 27, reported to 
 the church. The conference held in Jerusalem over the 
 divisions at Antioch, Acts XV. 1-31, was one of the whole 
 church embracing the apostles and elders ; aad the result 
 arrived at recognized the church as co-ordinate in power with 
 the apostles. Nothing could be more essentially Congrega- 
 
74 TESTIMONY FROM THE EPISTLES. 
 
 tional than all this procedure which took place under the 
 •eyes of the apostles and with the co-operation of James, 
 the so-called primate of Jerusalem. Including the above 
 references there are something like twenty allusions to the 
 church life and order, indicating that Congregationalism 
 was a marked feature in " the acts of the apostles." 
 
 ihe ijjostlc's letters. 
 
 * Y t*[iE allusions to church order in the epistles are so 
 %3^ numerous that they can here only be grouped under 
 V^ various heads. First, there are the passages referring 
 to the word e/ek/esia, or church, both in the singular and plu- 
 ral forms. In more than fifty instances it is used to clearly 
 indicate the existence of a single church or congregation of 
 believers : Rom. xvi. i ; i Cor. i. 2 ; 2 Cor. i. i ; i Thes. i. 
 
 1 ; 2 Thes. i. i ; Rev. ii. 8, 12, 18; iii. i, 7. Hiere are also 
 many passages in which the same use of the word is made 
 in the plural form, as Rom. xvi. 4, 16; i ('or. xvi. 19; 
 
 2 Cor. viii I ; Gal. i. 2. We also have mention made of the 
 church in the house, as Rom. xvi. 3-5 ; i Cor. xvi. 19 ; Col. iv. 
 15 ; Philemon 2. About tliirty churches are mentioned by 
 name, as the churches of Cenchrea, Coritith, Philippi, etc. 
 Second, the equal brotherhood of believers and their mu- 
 tual responsibility find full illustration. Rom. xii. 1-8, xv. 2, 
 14, xvi. 17 ; I Cor. xii. 1-31 ; Eph. iv. 4-16 ; Phil. ii. 2-5; Col. 
 iii. 16; I Peter ii. 9-10, iii- 8. Third, the Congregational 
 system may be assumed from the following class of pas- 
 sages : The salutatory usages in nearly all the Epistles, Rom. 
 i. 7 ; I Cor. i. 2 ; Gal i. 2 ; Eph. i. i ; Col. i. 2 ; i Thes. 
 i. I. The appeals made to the brethren of the churches as 
 I Thes. v. 14; I Tmi. iv. 6 ; 2 Peter iii. i. Fourth, the 
 
THE EARLIEST CHURCH MANUAL. 75 
 
 church officers mentioned were Congregational, namely, 
 bishops or elders and deacons. Nowhere is the diocesan 
 bishop indicated or presbyterial rule mentioned. Fifth, the 
 administration of the churches was Congregational, 2 Cor. 
 viii. 19, 23 j I Tim. iv. -i^^presbutiriou here means elders, 
 and is so translated in Lukexxii. 66, and Actsxxii. 5 ; Titus 
 iii. 10; 2 Thes. iii. 6, 14, 15; Cor. v. 4, 5, 13 ; 2 Cor. 
 ii. 6. Sixth, the new birth was essential to church member- 
 ship. Rom. x. 8-10 ; 2 Cor. vi. 14-18. The churches are 
 addressed as saints, "to th^m that are sanctified," " child- 
 ren of the promises." 
 
 *HE Didache, or " the teaching of the twelve," is the 
 oldest church manual, filling a gap between the 
 apostolic age and the second century. Scholars 
 differ as to the date of its origin, some placing it a.d. 70, 
 and others as late as a.d 120. From it we learn that 
 catechetical instruction was required as preparatory to 
 church membership ; that baptism was the rite of initiation, 
 and Its administration was authorized by triune immersion 
 or aspersion of the head. The eucharist was celebrated 
 every Lord's day, in connection with the agape, and con- 
 sisted of a fraternal meal with free prayer. The first day 
 of the week was observed as the Lord's day by public 
 worship and the eucharist. In connection with the church 
 at large there were travelling apostles or evangelists who 
 carried the gospel to unknown parts, and prophets, 
 either itinerate or stationary, who instructed the con- 
 verts. The local congregations were presided over by 
 bishops or presbyters and deacons, who were elected and 
 
76 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY FATHERS. 
 
 supported by the people. Most of the books of the New 
 Testament, and especially the gospel of Matthew, were 
 more or less known and their authority recognized, though 
 there was no settled canon of the scriptures. Christians 
 were to live in prayerful expectation of the coming of Christ, 
 and to keep themselves always in readiness for it. While 
 the Didache indicates a marked spiritual unity among the 
 churches, there is not any semblance of diocesan or presby- 
 terial organization, and their church system, like Congrega- 
 tionahsm of to-day, was very free and elastic. 
 
 patristic (Kuid^nt^. 
 
 ^^F^HE writings of the Ante-Nicene fathers, which extend 
 \yj to A. D. 325, are of great value as the earliest Christian 
 t" literature. Clemens Romanus, mentioned in Phil. iv. 3, 
 wrote a letter to the church at Corinth, near the close of 
 the first century, concerning dissensions which had arisen 
 there. He was the third pastor of the church in Rome, 
 and the epistle begins with the salutation of the Roman 
 church to that of Corinth. No reference is made to a 
 presbytery or diocesan, but the Corinthian church is ad- 
 vised to set things in order themselves, " doing with one 
 consent what is good and pleasing." 'I'he power of disci- 
 pline is recognized as within the church; the appointment 
 of officers was " with the consent (or choice) of the whole 
 church," and bishops and deacons were the only officers 
 known in Clement's time. He also states that such Con- 
 gregational action was authorized by the particular direc- 
 lion of the apostles. Such is the testimony of Clement, 
 the disciple of Peter, the almost apostle of the apostolic 
 church. Polycarp, a pupil of Sr. John, and who conversed 
 
TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY FATHERS. 
 
 77 
 
 witli many who had seen the Lord, was bishop of Smyrna. 
 His epistle to the Philippians, written in the beginning of 
 the second century, is all that has been preserved of his 
 writings. It is directed to the whole church, and he as 
 sumes no authority over it. He speaks of their officers as 
 elders and deacons ; and urges the church, in regard to 
 their discipline of Valens, who was once a presbyter among 
 them, to be moderate and seek to recover him. There is 
 nothing in Polycarp's epistle to lead us to infer that there 
 had been any change in church order and discipline since 
 Clement wrote about forty years before. Ignatius' epistles 
 are of doubtful value, for the reason that their authenticity 
 is questioned by most eminen tscholars. Even if they were 
 received, it is certain Ignatius did not know of an aposto- 
 lical establishment of the episcopate ; nor were the ideas of 
 a priesthood held, as afterwards borrowed from the Old 
 Testament. In his time the churches had the authority to 
 elect their own officers. Tertullian in his apology, about 
 A.D. 200, says : " The elders come into the honor of office 
 by the testimony (or election) of the people." Cyprian in 
 one of his epistles, about a.d. 250, writes : " For this 
 cause, the people, obedient to the commands of the Lord, 
 and fearing God, ought to separate themselves from wicked 
 bishops, nor mix themselves with the worship of scandalous 
 priests. For they principally have the power of choosing the 
 worthy priests and rejecting the unworthy, which comcg 
 from divine authority or appointment." A careful study 
 of the writings of this period will substantiate Dr. John 
 Owens' statement : " That in no approved writer for the 
 space of two hundred years after Christ, is there any men- 
 tion made of any other organized visibly-professing church 
 but that only which is parochial or Congregational. " 
 
78 EVIDENCE GIVEN BY HISTORIANS. 
 
 /^EARNED writers of various creeds and countries 
 F r have testified to the Congregational character of the 
 early Christian churches. Only the briefest references 
 can be made to these. Pope Urban ii, ad. 1091, says : 
 '' We consider the eldershij^ and the deaconship as the 
 sacred orders. These indeed are all which the primitive 
 church is said to have had. For them alone have we apos- 
 tolic authority." Archbishop Whately, in his kingdom of 
 Christ, says : '' The plan pursued by the apostles seems to 
 have been to establish a great number of small, distinct and 
 independent communities, each governed by its own single 
 bishop." Baron Von Bunsen of Heidelburg, in his history 
 of Hippolitus and his age, declares : " Every town congre- 
 gation of ancient Christianity was a church. The constitu- 
 tion of that church was a Congregational constitution. In 
 St. Paul's epistles, in the writings of Clement Rornanus, of 
 Ignatius and of Polycarp, the congregation is the highest 
 organ of the Spirit as well as the power of the church." 
 Dean Stanley in his Christian institutions says : '' The 
 church, the Christian society, existed in these faithful fol- 
 lowers, even from the beginning, and will doubtless last to 
 the very end. Wherever in any time or country two or 
 three are gathered together by a common love and faith, 
 there will be a church of Christ." Dr. G. A. Jacob, once 
 head master of Christ's hospital, in his lectures on the 
 ecclesiastical polity of the New Testament, contends that 
 the term church refers to the local organization and never 
 to any town, country or nation. " The authority," he says, 
 
EVIDENCE GIVEN BY HISTORIANS. 79 
 
 *' to appoint church officers was inherent in every duly con- 
 stituted church as the natural right of a lawful and well or- 
 ganized society." Again : " Though the whole church might 
 be termed a spiritual monarchy under Christ its king, each 
 Christian community was a republic." Guericke, professor 
 at Halle in 1829, in a manual of churcii history, declares 
 that : "Both names — elders and bishops — originally denoted 
 the same office as is conceded even in the fourth century." 
 Dr. Schaff in the history of the apostolic church says : 
 " The two appellations belong to one and the same office ; 
 so that the bishops of the New Testament are to be re- 
 garded not as diocesan bishops, like those of a later per- 
 iod, but simply as congregational officers. This is placed 
 beyond question by every passage in which we meet with 
 the title." M csheime in his ecclesiastical history writes : 
 " In these primitive times each Christian church was com- 
 jDOsed of the people, the presiding officers and the assistants 
 or deacons. These must be the component parts of every 
 society. The highest authority was in the people or whole 
 body of Christians." ^ =i^ ^ " And those churches were inde- 
 pendent bodies, none of them subject to the jurisdiction of 
 any other." Neander, the prince of church historians, among 
 many other utterances on the subject, declares: ''The 
 presbyters were not designed to be absolute monarchs, but 
 to act as presiding officers and guides of an ecclesiastical 
 republic, consequently, to conduct all things with the co- 
 operation of the communities whose ministers and not mas- 
 ters they were." Dean Milman in his history of Chris- 
 tianity, in speaking of the close of the first century, remarks : 
 " During this period took place the regular formation of the 
 young Christian republics in all the more considerable 
 cities of the empire." Gibbon, in his decline and fall of 
 
So EVIDENCE GIVEN BY HISTORIANS. 
 
 the Roman Empire, speaks of the early churches in these 
 words: "The societies which were constituted in the 
 Roman Empire were united only by the ties of faith and 
 charity. Independence and equality formed the basis of 
 their internal constitution." " Such was the mild and equal 
 •constitution by which the Christians were governed more 
 than a hundred years after the death of the apostles. Every 
 ■society formed within itself a separate and independent re- 
 public ; and although the most distant of these states main- 
 tained a mutual as well as a friendly intercourse of letters 
 and deputation, the Christian world was not yet connected 
 by any supreme authority or legislative assembly." Lord 
 Xing, once lord high chancellor of England, made a care- 
 ful study of the fathers with the results arrived at by many 
 of the above writers : " That there was but one bishop to 
 a church appears from this single consideration, viz., that 
 the ancient dioceses are never said to contain churches, in 
 the plural, but only a church, in the singular. When the 
 bishop of a church was dead, all the people of that church 
 met together in one place to choose a new bishop." Dr. 
 Edwin Hatch, Bampton lecturer for 1880, says: " At the 
 beginning of the third century, in spite of the development 
 ■of the episcopate, the primitive type still survived ; the 
 government of the churches was in the main democracy ; 
 at the end of the century the primitive type had almost 
 •disappeared, the clergy were a separate and governing 
 class. * * * But some churches remained independent. They 
 were not subordinated to any other church. Their bishops 
 had no superiors. They were what the notitia, or list of 
 orthodox churches, called 'autokephaloi.' They were in 
 the position which Cyprian had in earlier times asserted to ■ 
 be the true position of all bishops ; their responsibility was 
 to God alone." 
 
MEANING OF THE WORD CHURCH. 
 
 Win (Khurdt. 
 
 HE word ekklesia, translated church, means to call 
 out, and had long been used in Athens to signify 
 the weekly meetings of the citizens to discuss and 
 decide upon m.atters of public interest. In the New 
 Testament the word is used in three senses : first, some- 
 times as above, indicating a general gathering of the people^ 
 Acts vii. 38,xix. 39-41; second, to describe the church 
 universal or Christians throughout the whole world, i Cor, 
 xii. 28; Gal. i. 13; Eph. i. 22; Heb. xii. 23; third, the 
 general use of the term is to indicate a local church or 
 an assembly of Christians in a particular place, Acts viii. i > 
 Rom. xvi. 4; I Cor. i. 2; Rev. i. 11. In the same sense 
 the word is used in the plural form, Acts ix. 31 ; i Cor. xvi. 
 I, xvi. 19 ; 2 Cor. viii. i. There is record only of our Lord's 
 using the word ekklesia twice, — once in its wide signification. 
 Matt. xvi. 18, and once in its relation to the local church. 
 Matt, xviii. 17. Nowhere in the New Testament is there 
 any indication of a national church, or of a number of 
 churches as the churches of Rome, the church of England ; 
 or the Greek church, the Presbyterian church and the 
 Methodist church grouped in any ecclesiastical system which 
 is called a church. It never means the ministers as distin- 
 guished from the general body of believers, and it never 
 signifies a place of worship. The completeness, dignity 
 and power of each local church, Matt, xviii. 20, has already 
 been noted ; it having the promise of the presence and 
 power of Christ, which presence is certainly all-sufiicient 
 for his church-kingdom. 
 
I 
 
 ORGANIZING A NEW CHURCH. 
 
 N the formation of a cluiich, those who contemplate 
 such an act should meet together for prayer, consul- 
 tation and harmonious agreement. Such of these as 
 sustain other church connections should secure letters of 
 dismission ^with a view to the new organization. If there 
 are those who are not members of any church, they should 
 testify to tlieir repentance towards God and faith in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and declare their desire to walk in 
 church fellowship. All who meet to form a church should 
 enter into a covenant, verbal or written, to live, and wor- 
 ship, and labor together in church relations. They may 
 adopt a covenant, or articles of faith, and such standing 
 rules as shall be required to guide them in their future 
 administration. Then fellowship should be sought from 
 the sisterhood of churches by calling together a council. 
 Before this assembled council there should be laid state- 
 ments setting forth the steps taken for organization, as 
 well as the covenant and articles of faith. After receiving 
 the approval of the council, the newly organized church 
 should apply for admission into the organizations represent- 
 ing the denominational brotherhood; such as the nearest 
 association, etc. The greatest care should be taken in 
 the preliminary steps of organization lest strife and death 
 be embraced. Ah haste and precipitate action must be 
 avoided ; while earnest deliberation and prayer ought to be 
 given to the subject, and God's glory, as the supreme 
 motive of action, should be kept continually before the 
 minds of the people. 
 
CONSTITUENCY OF THE CHURCH. 83 
 
 'HE constituency of the church must be Christian. 
 It is very clear from the teachings of the New Test- 
 ament that believers only were accounted eHgible for 
 church membership. The necessity of the new birth was 
 emphasized by its divine Founder, and the requirement 
 and mode ofdisciplme clearly laid down, John iii. 3 ; Matt, 
 xviii. 15-17. Many illustrations are given of this truth, as 
 in John XV' ; Acts ii. 37-47, v. 14. The very fact that 
 churches are Christian societies would exclude all persons 
 who do not hold the authority of Christ as supreme in all 
 things. Its functions call for a Christian constituency 
 as in worship, instruction, fellowship, brotherly watch and 
 united work for the propagation of Christianity. The true 
 spiritual church autonomy can only be secured on the prin- 
 ciple of a regenerated membership. While Congregational- 
 ism forbids the reception into fellowship of any who do 
 not give credible evidence of regeneration, it also forbids 
 the exclusion from its membership of those who do give 
 such satisfactory evidence. The only terms of fellowship 
 called for in the word of God is faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and a life in harmony therewith : and no church 
 has the warrant to call for more than this by any of its 
 rules or procedures. The church is not a voluntary asso- 
 ciation such as a club or other human society, it is the 
 church of Christ. Therefore, it may not act according to 
 caprice, prejudice, expediency, or unwarranted convictions 
 in any matters relating to its administration. It has no 
 
84 CHURCH FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 right to base its terms of communion on the acceptance 
 of a creed, manner of dress, total abstinence, or prohibit 
 the use of tobacco, membership in secret societies, or in- 
 dulgence in any form of amusements which are not sinful. 
 
 4^ll0ll!Klti}J» 
 
 ^T^.HURCH membership implies not only union with 
 \^^ Christ but also a bond of Christian brotherhood. It 
 t being the will of our Lord that his people should be 
 organized for mutual worship and work, Christians have not 
 the right to elect whether they will or will not openly 
 confess Christ. They are bound to do so in obedience 
 to the Lord ; and thereafter to remain in loyal fellowship 
 with some branch of his church. The outward manifesta- 
 tion of fellowship is a covenant, written or implied. In 
 many churches this is formulated, and to it mutual assent 
 is given, while in others it is unwritten but understood. 
 A written covenant to which assent is required should 
 be simple, short and free from non-essential and controver- 
 sial questions. Concerning the fellowship of Christians in 
 apostolic times many illustrations are given, as in Acts ii. 
 41-42 ; Heb. x. 24-25. In a church system which makes it a 
 principle to recognize the equality of believers, it should not 
 be necessary to say that all unseemly preferences and pre- 
 judices should be unknown in the communion of saints. 
 '•For one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are 
 brethren," Matt, xxiii. 8. This fraternity of feeling 
 should be very manifest in each local church so that the 
 expression concerning the early Christians may always be 
 true, " Behold these Christians how they love one another." 
 The acquaintance of all new members should be sought as 
 
ADMISSION TO THE CHURCH. 85 
 
 brethren and sisters in Christ, and frequent greetings in 
 regular and social gatherings for worship should by no 
 means be neglected by any. P^ach local church should 
 look upon itself as one family in the Lord. 
 
 -gV EG AR DING the mode of admitting members to the 
 Jjr church, the scriptures make no allusion farther than 
 ^ giving the fact that " The Lord added to them (or 
 together) day by day those that were being saved." The 
 principle having been established that all members of the 
 churches should be Christians, it would seem that the means 
 of arriving at that fact and the mode of introducing approved 
 candidates was left to the wisdom and judgment of the mem- 
 bers of each church. As early as 1635 it was customary 
 for candidates to giv-e their " relations " before the church, 
 or, in other words, declare orally orin writing theii religious 
 experiences. If these were considered satisfactory, they 
 were then received Ijy vote of the church. In some 
 churches a board to examine candidates is appointed, 
 usually consisting of the pastor and deacons, who report 
 results for the action of the church. The more common 
 mode is to appoint visitors in each case, who have interviews 
 with the candidate and report at a subsequent church meet- 
 ing. Great care should be taken to select suitable visitors 
 to represent the church in such duties. Those who are 
 selected should use very great discretion in their inter- 
 views with the candidate, acting as simple and unofficial as 
 possible. Persons presenting letters of transfer from sister 
 churches are usually received at once without being waited 
 upon by visitors. It is customary to formally receive 
 
86 DISMISSION OF MEMBERS. 
 
 accepted candidates on the following Sunday, by a special 
 service of recognition, either in connection with the public 
 worship or the service of the Lord's supper. Candidates 
 who have not been baptized should receive that ordinance 
 before the reception service is completed. 
 
 EMBERS in good standing may, at their own request 
 and by vote of the church, ])e dismissed and transfer- 
 red to the fellowship of sister Christian churches. 
 Letters, however, should not be accorded, transferring them 
 to unevangelical communions, or those with which the 
 church is not in fellowship. When letters of transfer are 
 received, notice of the fact should be sent to the church 
 according them ; the theory being that membership with the 
 first does not cease until the person is received by the se- 
 cond. The names of members are sometimes removed from 
 the church by revision of the roll. Cases frequently occur 
 where letters of transfer are not called for, and other church 
 discipline may not be justifiable or practicable, and yet 
 parties have their names oii the roll without any true rela- 
 tionship to the church. Because of this, it is wise to make a 
 periodical revision, and remove such names if the parties 
 cannot be communicated with or persuaded to take letters 
 of transfer to other communions. Members who have been 
 relf-deceived as to their true relationship to Christ, and 
 against whose personal character no charge can be made, 
 and those who have united with other churches irregularly 
 may m the same manner be dropped from the roll of mem- 
 bership without censure, but in every case by the action of 
 the church. 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 87 
 
 ^?'OMETIMES it becomes the painful duty of churches 
 (gl to deal with some of their members, and possibly re- 
 ^ move them from fellowship, by the process of disci- 
 phne. The authority and rules for this are given by our 
 Lord in Matt, xviii, 15-17, and is illustrated by direction of 
 St. Paul in i Cor. v. 1-7. The offences calling for such church 
 action may be of a public or private nature. In all cases it 
 should be remembered that the chief object of discipline is 
 to secure the repentance and reformation of the offender. 
 Even in the case of public scandal, churches should not 
 act precipitately, with a view of conserving their good name, 
 or gratifying their pride, to the possible injury or neglect of 
 the guilty. In the case of private offences, the anger, jeal- 
 ousy or revenge of any individual should never be allowed 
 to interfere with the brotherly and deliberate considerations 
 of the members. When public offences occur, it is the duty 
 of the church officers or committee to carry on the matters 
 preliminary to church action. The pastor should not be 
 compelled to appear as a prosecutor in such a case, as he 
 ought to preside over the church in its deliberations with un- 
 biased judgment. In the cases of private offences, espe- 
 cially of a personal nature, the aggrieved one should always 
 be compelled to honestly take all the preliminary steps laid 
 down in Matt, xviii. before he is allowed to bring the matter 
 into the church. In dealing with offenders, the principle 
 stated in Gal.vi, i, 2 should always be observed. The 
 penalties inflicted as the result of disciphne may be adrao- 
 
«5 CHURCH ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 nition, suspension or excommunication. When a person 
 confesses his fault, that confession should be made as 
 public as was the offence. 
 
 Jidminifitnition. 
 
 ^J.HURCH meetings, for the consideration and disposal 
 \T/ of all business relating to the church, are held at fixed 
 ^ periods, usually during the week preceding the 
 administration of the Lord's supper. Every member of the 
 church has a voice and vote in all matters, unless they are 
 under discipline, or of an age precluded by a church rule 
 from voting. The pastor by virtue of his office is moderator, 
 and in his absence a presiding officer must be elected from 
 the members present. The secretary, treasurer and other 
 officers with all standing committees are elected annually. 
 Usually a church board is appointed as first among the 
 committees, and should always include the pastor and 
 deacons. This standing committee largely takes the place 
 of the primitive presbytery referred to in i Tim. iv. 14. 
 The pastor is the convener, and to it is entrusted reponsibil- 
 ities concerning the interest of the church. Sometimes it 
 is made the examining committee of candidates for fellow- 
 ship. All its proposals must, however, come as recom- 
 mendations to the church for final action. In special cases 
 relating to the temporal interests of the church, meetings 
 of the congregation including the church may be called 
 for consultation and suggestions. The results of all such 
 meetings must be reported to the church for its approval 
 before their proposals are carried out. It is not uncom- 
 mon for a church to ask the advice or concurrence of the 
 congregation in relation to the call of a pastor or regarding 
 his withdrawal. 
 
THE OP'FICERS OF A CHURCH. 89 
 
 tfhurch ODiccrfi. 
 
 cj-r'ROM the New Testament, as has already been staled, 
 jP^ we learn tliat there were but two classes of permanent 
 officers in the primitive cluirch, namely, pastors and 
 ■deacons. True, the office of pastor is designated by other 
 names, such as bishop and elder, but the same Greek word is 
 frequently used interchangeably for the same office, and 
 the functions, as well as requisite qualifications for each, are 
 the same. When the apostles in their epistles speak of the 
 officers of any church, they only mention bishops or pastors 
 and deacons, Phil. i. i ; i Tim. iii. 1-13. It wo ild seem that 
 in churches composed chiefly of Jews the term elJer was 
 used for the pastoral office, while in churches where the 
 Gentiles predominated the name of bishop prevailed, a term 
 familiar to the Greeks as indicating an official in their civil 
 assembly. In the apostolic times there were extraordinary 
 or special agents used in establishing Christianity. These 
 were apostles, prophets and evangelists, Eph. iv. ii. The 
 apostles and prophets were endowed with supernatural gifts, 
 and naturally have no successors in the peculiar relation 
 which they sustained to the churches. From the '•' Didache '' 
 it would appear that after the death of the apostles and 
 prophets these names v/ere associated with special agents 
 appointed for church extension. This is practised by our 
 churches now in appointing missionary superintendents? 
 •evangelists and foreign missionaries. In many of the 
 churches planted by the apostles, a plurality of pastors pre- 
 vailed, as is now sometimes the case in associate pastorates. 
 
00 THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 
 
 |9 mkrs. 
 
 >T\ S before stated, the office and auihority of the pastor is- 
 JK derived from Christ, Acts xx. 28; P^ph. iv. 11. The 
 ' churches may recognize thos2 whom God has called,, 
 and elect them to office, intrusting them with the authority 
 pertaining thereto. The theory that a man is not a minis- 
 ter of the gospel ivhen not filling the pastoral office is a 
 fallacy, for this office was to be continued until " the chief 
 Shepherd shall appear," i Peter v. 1-4. The setting apart 
 of men called of God to the ministry by special service of 
 ordination is scriptural. Barnabas and Saul were so desig- 
 nated, Acts xiii. 2, 3 and Timothy is reminded of his ordina- 
 tion, I 'I'im.iv. 14, V. 22. This power and obligation rests 
 with the church calling one to the exercise of the ministerial 
 office, and those who officiate at such services dj so only as 
 invited and delegated by the ordaining church. Ordained 
 ministers who are called to a new pastorate are designated 
 by a service of installation conducted usually in the same 
 manner as ordination, with the exception of the laying on 
 of hands which is omitted. As a safeguard to tlie churches 
 and the purity of the ministry this shojld never be neg- 
 lected. The pastor should always present his letter of trans- 
 fer to the church whose call he accepts, and thus become 
 an enrolled member where he ministers. Congregationalism 
 does not make provision for stated supplies or temporary 
 ministers further than the occasion ex necessitas exists, in 
 which case the liberty of action piovided by its system is 
 drawn upon. Such ministers are not regular church officers 5 
 
SELECTING A PASTOR. QF 
 
 and can exercise pastoral prerogatives only in so far as may 
 be delegated by the church on each occasion. Short pas- 
 torates and frequent changes should be avoided both in 
 the interests of the churches and their pastors. The quali- 
 fications for a pastor are given in i Tim. iii. 1-7, and Titus 
 i. 5-9. His chief functions are to preach the word and 
 give pastoral oversight to his people. 
 
 (dhoojiing a fitBtor. 
 
 NE of the most responsible duties a church has to 
 perform is the selection of a pastor. When called 
 upon to act in this respect^ the members should always 
 bear in mind the fact that they are acting for Christ rather 
 than for themselves. The church is his, and men are 
 called to the pastoral offices by his authority. Therefore 
 it should be made the subject of earnest and constant 
 prayer, and each member should seek to be guided by the 
 Holy Spirit and act only in accordance with his word. 
 The character and spirituality of a candidate should be of 
 prime consideration, and where these are wanting no other 
 consideration?, social or intellectual, should lead the mem- 
 bers to make a choice. It is customary when a pulpit is 
 vacant for the church to appoint a supply committee, con- 
 sisting of the deacons or others with them. Such a com- 
 mittee generally invites seemingly available and suitable 
 ministers to preach for a given time, that the whole fellow- 
 ship may see and hear ihem. If a general preference is 
 felt for any of these, a church meeting is culy called for 
 the consideration of the maiter. Some issue a call to a 
 minister because of his well-known record as a pastor, 
 which, on the whole, is much safer than to accept of a com- 
 
92 THE DEACON S OFFICE. 
 
 parative stranger on^ the strength of a few favorite and 
 familiar sermons which he may have preached. No 
 stranger should be allowed to enter a pulpit as a candidate 
 unless he can pr oduce unim])eachab]e credentials, and 
 churches should deal cautiously with candidates who press 
 their own claims. It is no( becoming or wise either for a 
 church or ministers to advertise concerning this matter. 
 
 HE second class of officers in the early church were 
 appointed to relieve the apostles from the care of 
 its temporal concerns, Acts vi. i-6. Hieir chief 
 function was to minister to the poor, a service which every 
 age will call for. In our churches they also have charge 
 of the Lord's table, a care to financial interests, and also 
 act as an advisory board to the pastor. Deacons have no 
 authority to rule, and their functions are limited to those 
 purposes specified, with such other matters as may spe- 
 cially be entrusted to them by the church. Their qualifi- 
 cations are indicated in Acts vi. 3 ; i Tim. iii. 8-13. Deacons 
 are appointed to office by the church of which they are 
 members according to rules governing the vote, as pre- 
 viously agreed upon. Due notice should always be given 
 of such proposed election, that all may be present to take 
 their part. The guidance of the Holy Spirit should be 
 sought, while all attempts at canvassing, caucusing or per- 
 sonal influence should be frowned down. Sometimes 
 churches elect their deacons by a majority vote of the 
 members present. Others require a two-thirds majority 
 of those at the church meeting to constitute an election. 
 Others again send ballots to all the members containing a 
 
OFFICE OF THE DEACONESS. 93 
 
 list of the available male members, which ballots, after 
 being inarked, are returned at some' appointed time and 
 way. In former times deacons were elected to their office 
 for life, and this is still the practice in some of the churches. 
 It is, however, becoming more and more the custom 
 elect for a period of years, making arrangements for s:ome 
 to retiie in rotation every one, two or three years, as may 
 be decided upon. Sometimes piKDvision also is made 
 against the re-election of the retiring deacon for a given time, 
 in order to ensure a change in the constituency. 
 
 •JrNoiir Lord's time the ministry of women was tendered 
 T to him and accepted, and in his churches since, their 
 ' number has greatly predominated. It is not surprising 
 therefore, to find in the primitive churches that the name, 
 office and ministry of the deaconess existed, i Tim. v. 10 • 
 Rom.xvi. I. When we consider women's special titness for the 
 care of the sick, the poor and the afflicted, especially of their 
 own sex, the surprise is that the office was ever allowed by 
 our churches to fall into disuetude. In the post-apostolic times 
 deaconesses not only discharged the above duties but were 
 intrusted with the chatge of the female catechumens. Our 
 Congregational fathers restored the oftice after the reforma- 
 tion, for they had the deaconess in connection with the 
 refugees church at Amsterdam. In the Cambridge plat- 
 form, chapter vii. 7, there is reference to their existence in 
 the early New England churches. In Germany an order 
 of deaconesses was organized in 1836, which has grown to 
 large proportions. Its training institution at Kaiserworth 
 educates nurses, teachers and pastors aids. Without the 
 
94 THE ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 iiistitulion of a sisterhood further than it naturally exists in 
 our churches, the office an 1 work of deaconesses would 
 doubtless prove of great advantage. 
 
 She ^ittmmijnte. 
 
 ©ONGREGATIONALISTS recognize but two Chris- 
 tian ordinances, namt^ly, baptism and the Lord's sup- 
 per, commonly called sacraments. Both of these great 
 symbols of Christian faith were instituted by Christ, and 
 should be observed by all Christians according to our Lord's 
 directions. Their administration should be by duly author- 
 ized ministers of the gospel. In special emergencies the 
 church may by resolution empower one of its members to 
 perform the service, but the exigencies must be something 
 more than the mere inconvenience of an exchange by a 
 student or licentiate with an ordained minister, or the delay 
 of the ordinance for a few weeks; they must be extraordinary 
 and pressing. Congregationalists do not hold that either 
 of these ordinances have any sacramental or sacerdotal 
 efficacy. There is no regenerating influence in baptism or 
 vicarious sacrifice in the eucharist. 
 
 UR LORD'S words, Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, explain the 
 nature and design of baptism as a disciplining ordin- 
 ance. Congregationalists hold that the application of 
 ■water to a person in the name of the Father, Son and Holy 
 Ghost is valid baptism, and it is not their custom to rebaptize 
 any who have so received it in any branch of the church of 
 Christ. Li administering the ordinance they make the 
 .application of water, by sprinkling, pouring or immersion, 
 
THE ORDINANCE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 95 
 
 not considering the form essential. It is customary, liow. 
 ever, to administer it by the first mode, unless the recipient 
 intelligently and conscientiously claims greater satisfaction 
 would be felt by having it administered in one of the other 
 forms. The ordinance is administered to adults not 
 previously baptized, on confession of their faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ; and to children, in harmony with the teach- 
 ings of our Lord, the covenant promises, and the practice 
 of household baptisms mentioned in the New Testament. 
 Mark x. 13-16; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20; Acts ii. 37-39, xvi. 
 15. 30-34; I Cor. i. i6. 
 
 i§\u lonrfi flipper. 
 
 READ and wine are given and received in the ob- 
 servance of the Lord's supper, in token of Christ's 
 bestowment and the participation of his people in 
 the inestimable blessings produced by his great sacrifice. 
 It has been said that while baptism is a visible gospel 
 to the world, the Lord's supper is a visible gospel to 
 the church. An account of the institution of this ordinance 
 is given in Matt. xxvi. 26-30. Nothing is said as to the 
 frequency of its observance. Our churches mostly do so on 
 the first Sunday of every month ; some on every second 
 montli ; while otiiers make the regular observance only once 
 in three months. The fact that it is ])roposed to observe 
 the ordinance should be announced on the Sunday previous 
 to tlie day fixed, so that all may be reminded to attend. It 
 is also customary on the day of administration to extend 
 an invitation to participate to all persons ])resent who are 
 members of sister churches, and frequently the invitation 
 embraces all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 
 
96 ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS. 
 
 A collection is made at the close of the ordinance for the 
 fellowship fund, from which the expenses are defrayed and 
 the wants of the poor members are supplied. 
 
 pJ^HE fellowship of the local church finds a larger ex- 
 \^ pression in the fellowship of the sisterhood of churches. 
 V Though the local church is complete in itself, it is but 
 one of many like churches which " are members one of an- 
 other," and all together form a part of Christ's visible body- 
 on the earth. For sympathy, fellowship and church ex- 
 tension there must be co-operation. The system of Con- 
 gregational councils is the chief form in which this wider 
 fellowship is manifested. There are three forms of ecclesi- 
 astical councils, namely : advisory, mutual, and ex-parie 
 An advisory council is one called by individuals seeking 
 church fellowship as in a new organization, or by churches 
 seeking advice in the interests of light or peace. A mutua 
 council is one assembled by agreement or co-operation by 
 two parties standing in any way opposed to each other, 
 and who thus seek a solution of the difference. An ex 
 parte council is one convened at the call of but one party 
 to a difference, the other having unreasonably refused to 
 unite in a mutual council. A councilconsists of pastors 
 and delegates appointed by their respective churches so 
 to convene in answer to invitation by letters-missive. No 
 gathering not so authorized by church action can by any 
 means be called an ecclesiastical council. The member- 
 ship c>f a council is fixed by the letter-missive, and cannot 
 be changed except by a supplementary letter. The parties 
 calling the council are not members of the same. A 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS. 97 
 
 quorum necessitates the presence of a majority of those 
 who have been summoned, and if this does not exist, an 
 adjournment must be made to a fixed time. The letter- 
 missive should state clearly the matter upon which advice 
 is sought, that each church asked to co-operate may know 
 what it is doing, and that the action of the council may be 
 limited to such matters. After carefully going into the 
 case under consideration in open session, the council in 
 private session arrives at its conclusions, and presents them 
 in the form of " results," which are read in open session. 
 Such results can only embody the advice of a council, and 
 must be acted upon by those convening the assembly in 
 order to make it complete. When the result is presented, 
 the function of the council ceases, and it must adjourn 
 sine die. 
 
 ©ONGREGATIONALISM has never manifested a 
 strong incHnation at creed-making ; preferring to re- 
 ceive the word of God as a whole for the rule of faith 
 than to arrange portions of the same into a formal system for 
 confession and subscription. Therefore, while our churches 
 have in the main been in harmony with the declarations of 
 Christian truth set forth in the evangelical standards as 
 pronounced at different times ; they do not suffer them to 
 be imperative tests of faith or of Christian communion. 
 Almost invariably they have been accepted for substance or 
 in the spirit, rather than in the letter j and never as fetters \.o- 
 the conscience, which is responsible to God alone. They 
 have always believed in a progressive knowledge of divine 
 truth through a better understanding of the letter and spirit 
 
 7 
 
98 CONGREGATIONAL CREEDS. 
 
 of the word, and the cumulative expressions of the Christian 
 life. Among the earHest symbols of modern Congregation- 
 alism which have come down to us is, *' A true description 
 out of the word of God of the visible church," by the mar- 
 tyrs, Barrowe and Greenwood, in 1586, and the creed of 
 the London-Amsterdam church, set forth by Johnson and 
 Ainsworth in 1596. Then followed the Westminster con- 
 fession, in which a few Congregational divines participated, 
 in 1643-1647. The Cambridge synod of New England in 
 1648 accepted the Westminster confession for doctrine, and 
 set forth its Congregational polity in what is termed *'the 
 Cambridge platform." Ten years later the Savoy synod 
 was convened in London by Cromwell, which set forth 
 the "Savoy declaration;" and in 1708 the Connecticut 
 churches adopted the " Saybrook platform." After this, 
 more than a century and a quarter passed without any re- 
 statement of a creed by our Congregational churches. At 
 the formation of the union of England and Wales in 1833, 
 the long spell was broken by its ** declaration of the faith, 
 church order and discipline of the Congregational or 
 Independent dissenters." In it, for the first time since the 
 adoption of the Westminster confession, there is no affirma- 
 tion or assent to that ancient creed. In one of the prelim- 
 inary notes to this declaration it was stated : *' Disallow- 
 ing the utihty of creeds and articles of religion as a bond 
 of union, and protesting against any subscription to any 
 human formularies as a term of communion, Congregational- 
 ists are yet willing to declare, for general information, what 
 is commonly believed among them, reserving to each one the 
 most perfect liberty of conscience." ^It was thirty-two years 
 later when the churches of the United States broke their 
 long silence of more than a century and a half since the 
 
CONGREGATIONAL WORSHIP. 99 
 
 Saybrook platform was adopted. Then in 1865 a national 
 council was convened at Boston, at which representatives 
 from England and Canada were present, when " the Burial 
 Hill declaration " was adopted. The third national council, 
 which met in St. Louis in 1880, appointed a commission 
 of twenty-five members, who were to prepare and publish 
 for the convenience of the Congregational churches a state- 
 ment of the doctrines of the gospel. This work was com- 
 pleted in 1883, and for substance is accepted by the 
 American Congregational churches, including those of 
 the United States and Canada, and which appears in this 
 volume. 
 
 yjYORSHIP in each congregation is subject to the con- 
 \J(J trol of the local church as guided by the principles of 
 the New Testament. It may adopt a modified ritual, 
 responsive reading, or change its order of service from time 
 to time, and no one outside of the church fellowship has a 
 right to interfere. Nevertheless, there is a general agree- 
 ment among Congregational churches in the forms of ser- 
 vice they adopt. That in the main these forms are in har- 
 mony with the practices of the primitive churches will appear 
 from the following extract from the 87th apology of Justin 
 Martyr, a.d. 140-147 : " On the day which is called Sunday 
 there is an assembly in one place of all who dwell either 
 in town or in the country, and the memoirs of the apostles 
 or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as the time 
 permits. Then, when the reader has ceased, the president 
 delivers a discourse, in which he reminds and exhorts them 
 to the imitation of all these good things. We all stand up 
 
100 CONGREGATIONALISM AND THE STATE. 
 
 together and offer our prayers. Then, as we have aheady 
 said; when we cease from prayer, bread is brought, and 
 wine and water ; and the president, in like manner, offers 
 up prayers and praises according to his abihty, and the 
 people express their assent by saying, Amen. The con- 
 secrated elements are then distributed and received by 
 every one, and a portion is sent by the deacons to those 
 who are absent." The term president here means pastor, 
 and the phrase " according to his ability " would indicate 
 that prayer wSiS extempore, 2i?, was the case fifty years later, 
 when Tertullian said : " We Christians pray without 
 prompter because from the heart." 
 
 't'T is an essential principle of Congregationalism to re. 
 T pudiate all authority of die civil magistrate over the 
 ^ faith, discipline and worship of the churches. Every 
 form of proffered state aid they decline, further than the 
 protection of their rights as citizens to full civil and religious 
 liberty. The denial of tiie ecclesiastical supremacy of 
 the crown was the crime for which our martyrs were ex- 
 ecuted in 1593, and for which our fathers suffered so great 
 persecution. While it is true that during the period of 
 the Commonwealth some of the Congregational ministers 
 were appointed to livings in parishes, and that in New 
 England an attempt was made to establish a government 
 of the state by the churches, the experiments, being op- 
 posed to the genius of Congregationalism, proved disas- 
 trous. In New England the disestablishment and disen- 
 dowment of all churches was completed in 1834, and so 
 strong has the sentiment become that there shall be no 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM AND THE STATE. 1 01 
 
 connection between the church and state, that an article has 
 been introduced in the national constitution to this effect. 
 In England, Congregationaiists in common with other 
 Nonconformists were compelled by law to pay church 
 rates, a tax for the repairs of church buildings and the 
 support of worship in connection with the EstabHshed 
 church. For many years this was resisted ; the homes of 
 conscientious men were invaded and their goods seized 
 to satisfy this unrighteous demand, while many were im- 
 prisoned for refusing to pay the rate. At last, after great 
 resistance by the church authorities, in i86o these church 
 rates were completely abolished. In Canada, after a long 
 struggle and great, hardships suffered by the Congregational 
 ministers and churches, the oppressive laws of Lower 
 Canada were removed in 1833, and in 1855 the last 
 vestige of a state church was swept away by the secu- 
 larization of the clergy reserves. In all the colonies of 
 Australasia, with the exception of Western Australia, the 
 state church has likewise been abolished. The disestab- 
 lishment of the Episcopal church in Ireland was brought 
 about in 1871, while now in 1893, largely owing to the influ- 
 ence of the sturdy Congregationaiists in Wales, a pledge has 
 been evoked from the authorities at Westminster, that a 
 measure will be brought forward in parliament for the re- 
 lief of that principality in like manner. Scotland seems 
 ripe for the disestablishment of that section of the Pres- 
 byterian church which is sustained by state aid ; and the 
 day cannot be far distant when the Established church in 
 England will be able to rejoice in a like deliverance from 
 state entanglement. 
 
III. 
 
 ^Tuit and foliage. 
 
 *' / am the vine, ye, are the branches : He that 
 abideth in mCy and I in him, the same bringetJi forth 
 much fruit : for witJiout 7ne ye can do nothing y — 
 John xv. 5. 
 
 " And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of 
 the natio7isr — REVELATION xxii. 2. 
 
c#ruits. 
 
 Y^iY the highest authority we are taught that men and 
 T^ systems are known by their fruits, for the Master has 
 said *' Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit," and, 
 again, '• Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." 
 Without any parade of pride or assumption of superiority 
 over others, a portion of the fruit borne by the Congrega- 
 tional system during the last three centuries is set forth in 
 the following pages. Only an outline of that which appears 
 on the surface, even, can be given, while the deeper spiritual 
 work, which of necessity is so largely hidden, may not be 
 tabulated by the hand of man. That Congregationalism, by 
 the very nature of its system, has developed true stalwart 
 Christian character has been attested by many genera- 
 tions. The contention for the spirituality of the church 
 was one of the vital principles calling it into existence in 
 the sixteenth century, and this has been a chief contention 
 ever since. That this and other cardinal principles of our 
 faith largely permeate other sections of the church of 
 Christ not only verifies their divine origin and great worth, 
 but also shows how the leaven of truth, which seems to be 
 hidden, will irresistibly do its work. The praise and glory 
 is not for men, but belongs to Christ, who is '^the Way, 
 the Tiuth and the Life." 
 
I06 CATHOLICITY OF CONGREGATIONALISM. 
 
 S Congregationalists, we would not be apostolic even 
 with our form of polity if we were not truly catholic in 
 spirit. No section of the Christian church has an equal 
 right to call itself catholic and apostolic. The fellowship 
 of our churches is free to all who acknowledge Christ as 
 Lord, and no test of membership is exacted of any, further 
 than a personal faith in him as Saviour. The entrance of 
 godly educated men to our ministry is not barred by any 
 required subscription to a creed or confession. Our minis- 
 ters and churches gladly respond to fraternal greetings 
 and all overtures for fellowship whenever they come from 
 other sections of the Christian church. They most 
 heartily co-operate in all catholic schemes for the extension 
 of Christ's kingdom, as well as for the amelioration of the 
 suffering condition of their fellow men, irrespective of creed 
 or race. The catholicity of Congregationalism is illustrated 
 by the fact that its great missionary organizations for 
 foreign work, such as the London missionary society and 
 the American board of commissioners for foreign missions, 
 are founded on a catholic basis. It is true that one after 
 another of the other denominations have dropped out to 
 form boards in connection with their own churches; never- 
 theless, the catholic nature of these societies remains un- 
 changed. They still send into the foreign fields, irrespective 
 of their denominational connections, good and able mis- 
 sionaries, not for the purpose of forming Congregational 
 churches, but to preach the gospel of the grace of God. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL LEAVEN. I07 
 
 f RUTHS, though not held by the largest and most 
 highly organized systems, may like leaven permeate 
 those systems by their exemplification. This is illus- 
 trated by the manner Congregational principles have taken 
 possession of various other sections of the universal church. 
 The rights of the laity to make their voice heard in the ad- 
 ministration of church affairs is now conceded by nearly all 
 denominations. Likewise the principle that congregations 
 should have a right to choose their pastors is almost every- 
 where asserted. A solution of burning questions in rela- 
 tion to fellowship, discipline, and worship has been arrived 
 at, after years of bitter controversy, by referring each case 
 to the respective local congregations for final settlement 
 in a Congregational way. This has been done by the 
 Presbyterian church in the United States, in relation to 
 the validity of Roman Catholic baptism and the use of in- 
 strumental music. So also with the Presbyterian church 
 of Canada, in relation to the marriage of a deceased wife's 
 sister, and the use of musical instruments in worship. 
 The church of the United Brethren in America, after a 
 long and fierce conflict in regard to the exclusion from 
 fellowship of those belonging to secret societies, secured 
 peace by ordering that each local church should decide the 
 question for itself. The cardinal principle of a converted 
 membership is more nnd more widely recognized, so that 
 some, once indifferent to this matter, are now as scrupu- 
 lous in regard to it as are Congregationalists. Thus we 
 seethe leavening principles have been and are still at work. 
 
I08 INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL FREEDOM. 
 
 political Jfrcedom. 
 
 UESTIONS of church polity are most intimately re- 
 lated to civil liberty. The influence of the church of 
 God upon society and human government is illustrat- 
 ed by the Jewish Theocracy, the Roman empire under its 
 Christian sovereigns, the papal domination, the English 
 commonwealth and the free institutions of the northern part 
 of this continent in contrast with the states of South America. 
 The early English Congregationalists had no design upon 
 the state when they asserted their rights as Christians. 
 The politicians of that intolerant age. however, perceived 
 the tendencies of such principles of church government, and 
 believed that men who claimed independence in church 
 matters would claim the same in civil affairs. Hence, the 
 persecutions inflicted upon our fathers were more severe 
 than queen Mary's persecutions of the Protestants. When 
 these principles triumphed, their benefits to the state were 
 manifest as in the Commonwealth, the free government of 
 the United States and the civil freedom now prevailing 
 throughout Great Britain and her colonies. Hume, the 
 historian, speaking of the Puritan Congregationalists, says : 
 " To this sect the English owe the whole freedom of their 
 constitution." Concerning them Lord Brougham also utters 
 these words : " They are a body of men to be held in 
 lasting veneration for the unshaken fortitude with which in 
 all times they have maintained their attachment to civil 
 liberty ; for, I freely confess it, they, with the zeal of mar- 
 tyrs, with the purity of the early Christians, the skill and 
 
INFLUENCE ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. I09 
 
 courage of renowned warriors, achieved for England the 
 free constitution she now enjoys." George \Villiam 
 Curtis, speaking of their influence on the American conti- 
 nent, has said : " As the harvest is folded in the seed, so the 
 largest freedom, political and religious, the right of absolute 
 individual liberty, subject only to the equal right of others, 
 is the ripened fruit of the Puritan principle." Sir James 
 Mackintosh, the historian, says : *' Those generous and 
 sacred principles of civil liberty which distinguished the 
 Puritans entitle them, in spite of their faults, to be ranked 
 among the first benefactors of their country. Even if we 
 only allow them to have materially aided to the preservation 
 of English liberty, we must acknowledge that the world owes 
 more to the ancient Puritans than to any other sect or party 
 among men." Lord Beaconsfield said in parliament : "I 
 have always done justice to the great deeds of the Noncon- 
 formists. I know how much in the history of this country 
 we owe to the high moral qualities, the love of liberty, 
 and the bold heroic conduct of the Nonconformists." 
 
 •jrT was at a great price our fathers purchased their 
 T religious freedom. Their sacrifices, sufferings, toils 
 T and tribulations were beyond expression and often 
 beyond endurance, for very many of ihem died in their 
 struggle for spiritual Hberty. During the twenty years 
 after the landing of the pilgrims, there came to the shores 
 of America more than twenty-two thousand Puritans from 
 English and Dutch ports, seeking liberty to worship God. 
 They were, as John Milton said : " Faithful and freeborn 
 Englishmen and good Christians, constrained to forsake 
 
no INFLUENCE ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, 
 
 their dearest homes, their friends and kindred, whom noth- 
 ing but the wide ocean and the savage deserts of America 
 could hide and shelter from the fury of the bishops." The 
 religious liberty which the early English Congregationalists 
 desired for themselves in the old land and sought in the 
 new they wished accorded to all. Baillie says of the few 
 who were members of the Westminster assembly, they 
 pestered that body in behalf of liberty of conscience, '' not 
 only for themselves, but without any exception for every 
 man, never so erroneous, so long as he troubled not the 
 public comfort." Hume declares : " Of all Christian sects 
 in Great Britain, this (the Congregational) was the first 
 which, during its prosperity as well as adversity, always 
 adopted the principles of toleration." Though Oliver 
 Cromwell never assumed the title " Defender of the Faith/' 
 he defended Protestant liberty throughout Europe. In the 
 terrible persecutions of the Waldenses by the Duke of 
 Savoy in 1655, Cromwell startled all Europe by his denun- 
 ciations of the massacres, and demanded their protection on 
 pain of his displeasure, a demand which was at once com- 
 plied with. The faithfulness of the denomination in both 
 continents to the principles of religious freedom is very well 
 known. The Rev. Johnson Grant, an P^piscopal clergyman, 
 has said : " All the world will acknowledge that in point of 
 religious liberty, the conduct of the Independents when in 
 power fulfilled the promises made by them in obscurity. 
 They forgot and forgave the injuries they had sustained^ 
 and abused not their authority by the oppression of their 
 brethren." Lord King also says : " As for toleration or 
 any general freedom of conscience, we owe all those to the 
 Independents in the time of the Commonwealth, and to 
 Locke, their enlightened and illustrious disciple." Sir 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM AND CHRISTIAN UNITY. Ill 
 
 James Mackintosh says : "The first writer who maintained 
 the true principles of reh"gious Hberly m England was Dr. 
 Owen ; " and he further describes the Nonconformists as 
 " the authors of the principle of religious freedom among 
 mankind, the fosterers and preservers of the English con- 
 stitution." 
 
 (![limtian Wnnlxh 
 
 ■(RELIEVING that the essence of Christian unity is the 
 ■^ manifestation of the spirit of Christ in Christian fel- 
 lowship and work, and that unity must exist in spirit 
 before it can be real in form, Congregationalists have, in 
 every age, sought to promote Christian unity among the 
 various denominations of Protestantism. Their earnest 
 and persistent efforts to bring about toleration, the fraternity 
 they have manifested towards sincere Christians of every 
 name, and their co-operation in all truly catholic. Christian 
 and philanthropic enterprises for the promotion of general 
 good, have illustrated this spirit. Moreover, it is claimed 
 that the Congregational system affords the only possible 
 solution of this great and absorbing question of Christian 
 unity. By a return to the apostolic principles of church 
 autonomy and the sisterhood of churches, this ecclesiastical 
 Gordon knot may be untied without the sacrifice of one 
 scriptural doctrine or of any essential form of worship. The 
 tendency of the age is in the direction of self-government 
 and the recognition of the brotherhood of man, and there- 
 fore a more universal Congregationalism is bound to pre- 
 vail in the future, both within and without church lines. 
 Those sections of the church which entrench themselves 
 within hierarchical systems, or claim authoritative control. 
 
112 CONGREGATIONAL PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 are delaying the unity of the church and the fulfihiient of 
 Christ's prayer, " That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, 
 art in me, and I in thee ; that they also may be one in us ; 
 that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." 
 
 |1hiIanihro})3}. 
 
 TOHN HOWARD, a distinguished Congregationalist of 
 f the eighteenth century, illustrated more fully than any 
 ^ one else the claims and achievements of philanthropy. 
 He was born at Hackney, a suburb of London, in 1726. 
 Settling at Cardington, Bedfordshire, he built schools and 
 model cottages for his tenants. He was a member of the 
 church in Bedford, of which John Bunyan had been the 
 pastor, and which vv^as made up of both Congregationahsts 
 and Baptists. The pastor, Joshua Symonds, who like his 
 predecessor was a pedobaptist, after a ministry there of six 
 years, adopted Baptist views. E Toward thereupon wrote 
 to the deacons, protesting against his being continued as 
 their pastor. A majority being disinclined to dismiss him, 
 John Howard and other members withdrew and formed 
 another church on pedobaptist principles. However^ he 
 maintained his friendship for his former pastor, though 
 from conscientious motives compelled to separate in fellow 
 ship. The Bunyan church, from which he withdrew, 
 continues to this day as a Congregational church. In 
 prosecuting those prison reforms which made his name 
 famous throughout the whole civilized world, in less than ten 
 years Howard travelled more than 45,000 miles, and died 
 of the plague at Cherson, in Russian Tartary, January 20th, 
 1790. He had received the thanks of both houses of the 
 British and Irish parliaments for the eminent services he 
 
CHRISTIAN SOCIOLOGY 
 
 1^3 
 
 had rendered to his country and to mankind. Burke pro- 
 nounced his merited eulogy, and his splendid marble statue 
 was the first monumentof a nation's gratitude which graced 
 the interior of St. Paul's cathedral. 
 
 jIYASHINGTON gladden stands among the dis- 
 \J^ tinguished leaders on the American continent in 
 matters relating to sociology. His addresses and 
 pubhcations have had a wide influence in promoting healthy 
 thought, and in giving direction to wise ways in rela- 
 tion to the important questions this subject involves. 
 One of the most distinguished leaders as a workingman 
 among workingmen in England is Mr. Ben. Tillett, o f 
 London, a Congregationalist and a member of the Inter- 
 national council. His sympathy with his fellow-working 
 classes is deep and true, while in all movements for the 
 improvement of their condition he manifests great wisdom 
 and earnest Christian purpose. On one occasion, while 
 addressing an immense crowd of workingmen, embracing 
 all creeds and classes, he spoke so effectively of Christ as 
 the Reformer, that one called for three cheers on behalf of 
 Jesus Christ, when, in an instant, thousands of caps were 
 thrown in the air, and a storm of cheers greeted the 
 world's greatest Reformer. The fundamental principles of 
 Congregationalism promote correct views on all social 
 questions ; therefore it will be found that the leaders of 
 thought in the denomination on both continents, and also' 
 the rank and file in our churches, evince great interest in 
 correcting wrongs and according rights in behalf of all 
 classes and conditions of men. The Congregational 
 
 8 
 
114 THE TEMPERANCE REFORM. 
 
 Union of England and Wales was the first religious organ- 
 ization to definitely side with working-men who were 
 resisting the tyranny of organized capital. At its autumnal 
 meeting in London, in 1893, it passed a resolution which 
 announced the great ethical principle that the right of 
 humanity must always take precedence of those of pro- 
 perty. It also declared that it is inconsistent alike with 
 righteousness and fraternity that profit should be made 
 out of the labor of men who are receiving wages inadequate 
 to the support of themselves and their families. Further, 
 that trade disputes should be settled by an impartial tri- 
 bunal. 
 
 (5r>^R0M the inception of the temperance movement, 
 "J^ the ministers and members of our churches have been 
 prominent in promoting these reforms. While Congre- 
 gational principles will not admit of any test of church 
 membership other than faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 sin of drunkenness is not tolerated in the churches. Ear- 
 nest efforts are made by Sunday-school teaching, and 
 bands of hope, to educate the rising generations in the 
 true principles of temperance. This subject is also brought 
 prominently before the public by frequent sermons, and 
 addresses on topics relating thereto. John B. Gough, a 
 member of one of our New England Congregational 
 churches, was, perhaps, one of the most eloquent advocates 
 and influential leaders in this reform which this century 
 has produced. The "women's christian temperance union " 
 on the American continent, embraces a large number of 
 the most earnest and influential members in the Congrega- 
 
CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE. II5 
 
 tional churches. This organization, which is becoming world- 
 wide in its influence, is the most earnest and aggressive 
 in the promotion of the temperance movement of any 
 organized agency. 
 
 y Voluntaryism, or the support of churches without 
 yy state aid or coercion in any way, has been a leading 
 principle of Congregationalism. The tabernacle in the 
 wilderness and the temple at Jerusalem were erected by 
 voluntary efforts. Exodus xxxv. 5, 29 ; i Chron. xxix. 5, 14. 
 On this plan many thousand church buildings, not a few 
 of them beautiful temples of worship^ have been erected in 
 various lands for the glory and service of God. On the 
 same voluntary principle laid down in the New Testament, 
 I Cor. ix. 11-14, xvi. i, 2, the plan has been pursued for 
 ministerial support, by which many millions have been 
 brought into the treasury of the Lord as the free-will offer- 
 ings of his people. The great work of church extension 
 through home and foreign missionary societies and other 
 agencies has on the same lines evoked great benevolence, 
 including in some cases, like the Otis bequest, donations of 
 millions of dollars. Neither has practical and philanthropic 
 benevolence been overlooked; for of all denominations of 
 Christians, few, if any, can surpass the CongregationaHsts in 
 their gifts and labors in behalf of catholic benevolence. 
 Educational institutions have also shared large benefits 
 through their munificent gifts in aid of the erection of 
 buildings and their endowments. More than twenty-five 
 colleges have been founded by CongregationaHsts in the 
 United States. 
 
Il6 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCHES. 
 
 lalomanliood. 
 
 ©ONGREGATIONALISM enfranchises womanhood, 
 and places her on an equaHty with man. Women have 
 full liberty to speak and vote in all church meetings, 
 and their sex does not debar them from exercising infltience 
 or holding any position in the churches of which they are 
 members. They have been recognized as pastors and 
 evangelists, and to them commissions are given as foreign 
 missionaries. Among the native races in foreign fields they 
 exercise a wide influence as physicians and teachers. 
 They also have their boards of missions, which for many 
 years have been in successful operation. The Congrega- 
 tional women in past centuries were less conspicuous in 
 church-work but no less effective. The women of the May- 
 flower and of the Commonwealth held their throne of influ- 
 ence chiefly in the home, and through the consecration of 
 motherhood shaped the destinies of both churches and states. 
 While now, as then, woman's greatest sphere of influence is 
 in the home, the school, and among the poor, the sick, the 
 sorrowing and the strangers at their doors ; still in no way 
 should those whom God has called to more public service 
 be dissuaded or discouraged. With such an example before 
 us as the exalted and influential position of England's 
 illustrious queen, woman's place in the kingdom of Christ 
 should not be restricted. The names of the following 
 Congregational women of renown can only be given here : 
 Mary Lyon, Harriet Newell, Fidelia Fisk, Elizabeth 
 Stewart Phelps. Harriet Beecher vStowe and Catherine 
 Beecher. 
 
HUMAN SLAVERY. II7 
 
 /^pv AVID LIVINGSTONE, the renowned Congregational 
 rJ missionary, has done more " to heal this open sore of the 
 world" than any other man of modern times. While 
 statesmen and philanthropists have achieved great deeds 
 in liberating the slaves within their nations, Livingstone 
 went to the source of this iniquity, as he sought the hidden 
 source of the Nile, and awakened the nations to the neces- 
 sity of cutting out this gangrene of human slavery from the 
 heart of Africa. Though not with such manifest results, 
 the influence of our missionaries in all heathen lands has 
 literally been " to preach deliverance to the captives and 
 to set at liberty those that are bruised." In the United 
 States, so pronounced was the opinion of the Congregational 
 churches of the North against human slavery that they 
 were practically shut out from the South. After President 
 Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation in 1863, the sup- 
 ply of men and means by our churches for the evangeliza- 
 tion and education of the colored people in the South has 
 been most generous, with results very wonderful. The in- 
 fluence of Harriet Beecher Stowe, through her facile pen, in 
 exposing the sins and sorrows of slave life, and thus arousing 
 a right public sentiment, should never be overlooked nor 
 forgotten. Pronounced as the principles of Congregation- 
 alism are against slavery, they can neither tolerate the ex- 
 istence of caste, the oppression of women nor the neglect of 
 children. They seek to illustrate Christ's words, " For one 
 is your master, even Christ ; and all ye are brethren." 
 
Il8 CONGREGATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP. 
 
 O church system appeals more to the intellect as well 
 as the heart than does Congregationalism. For this 
 reason the greater part of its adherents are found 
 among the middle classes in England and the thinking 
 cultured classes in America. Another result has been the 
 marked development of scholarship among its ministers 
 and members. The leaders of the Congregational move- 
 ment in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries showed 
 great intellectual force, and this succession has been 
 honorably maintained. Perhaps Henry Ainsworth, who 
 was teacher or doctor of the Amsterdam church, in the 
 first quarter of the seventeenth century, was the most distin- 
 guished illustration of this fact. While living " upon nine- 
 pence in the weeke, with roots boyled," he produced his 
 wonderful expositions of the Old Testament scriptures, 
 which have made him famous in every succeeding age as a 
 linguist and scholar. The Old Testament revisers made 
 large use of these annotations in their work. To Henry 
 Ainsworth belongs the honor of preparing the way fur the 
 new school of sacred interpretation. He boldly laid down 
 the fundamental principle, that the bible means what it 
 says, and ihat its teachings are to be determined by the 
 same simple laws of interpretation which are applied to any 
 other book. By this means the sacred scriptures^ which 
 had been sealed by the fathers and the schoolmen, were 
 opened up to the common people. The writings of 
 Thomas Goodwin, John Owen, John Howe, and other 
 
CONGREGATIONALISM AND EDUCATION. II 9 
 
 Congregational Puritan divines speak for themselves, 
 while John Milton, John Locke and many scores of men on 
 both sides of the Atlantic have been most influential in all 
 departments of science, philosophy and literature. 
 
 l?Tt LEADING characteristic of Congregationalism has 
 ^m^ been its earnest efforts to promote education and na- 
 ~ tional enlightenment. Its early English founders were 
 all educated men, trained in the renowned national universi- 
 ties. Of the first settlers of New England, one out of every 
 two hundred planters was a graduate of Cambridge or 
 Oxford. Barrowe and other Congregationalists in 1591, 
 anticipated the advances made to the close of this nine- 
 teenth century, by advocating general free-schools, universi- 
 ties within the reach of all creeds and classes, with provision 
 for university extension by providing lectureships where col- 
 leges could not be sustained. The pilgrim fathers as soon 
 as possible made provisions for the education of their chil- 
 dren, and in 1653 laid the foundation of the common-school 
 system by enacting that there should be a schoolmaster m 
 every town in the colony. As early as 1636 they founded 
 Harvard College, in 1700 Yale, and in 1760 Dartmouth. 
 These have been followed by other Congregational colleges 
 and universities, now numbering in the United States more 
 than twenty-five- Joseph Cook says : "Congregationalists 
 have founded more colleges than any other denomination 
 in New England." In England, Congregationalists were 
 shut out from the national universities for more than two 
 and a half centuries. They were obliged to provide them- 
 selves with schools and colleges, which they did at great 
 
120 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES. 
 
 cost and with gratifying results. After a struggle of more 
 than a hundred years, the Oxford reform bill was carried 
 in 1854, and in 1871 the ecclesiastical test act was passed, 
 which abolished all legal ecclesiastical exclusiveness, with 
 the exception of university headships and fellowships. Since 
 then, many Congregationalists have studied at the national 
 universities, and in the space of twenty-one years fourteen 
 senior wranglers at Cambridge were Nonconformists. 
 
 ©heolojgical ^eminariefj. 
 
 (J>^ROM the first, the Congregational churches have 
 J^ sought to provide themselves with an educated minis- 
 try. It was largely with this in view that those early 
 educational movements were made in New England. The 
 result has been that our ministers have compared favor- 
 ably as preachers and authors with those of other denom- 
 inations on both continents, while many of them have taken 
 a foremost position. On the American continent a large 
 number have become leaders in higher education as college 
 presidents and professors. In Great Britain, including her 
 colonies, there are sixteen Congregational colleges and 
 seminaries devoted to ministerial training. It is desired, 
 where practical, to bring these into affiliation or close 
 association with universities. This has been done with the 
 Congregational college of Canada in affiliation with Mc- 
 Gill university, Montreal, and more notedly by Mansfield 
 college at Oxford under the principalship of Dr. Fairbairn. 
 In the United States there are eleven Congregational 
 theological seminaries. There are in addition six char- 
 tered institutions in the South, and forty-two theological 
 schools in foreign countries connected with the American 
 
CONGREGATIONAL LITERATURE. 121 
 
 board. Through the London missionary society, English 
 Congregationalists provide for the training of foreign 
 native pastors and evangehsts by institutions in India, 
 Madagascar, South Africa and the South Sea Islands. 
 
 ^tj" 
 
 fY the means of literature, Congregationalism asserted 
 and disseminated itself on its rediscovery in Eng- 
 land in the sixteenth century. Though our fathers 
 were prohibited from printing and publishing their prin- 
 ciples by the severest penalties, they were enabled to pro- 
 duce tlieir books in Holland and secretly distribute them 
 in England. Such books were seized whenever found, and 
 burned by the hangman; nevertheless, they survived, and 
 sometimes, phoenix-like, arose from their ashes, as was the 
 ■case when Francis Johnson, acting under authority from 
 England, burnt a whole edition of Brown and Harrison's 
 book in Holland. Reserving a copy for private perusal, 
 it led to his conversion to Congregationalism, and he 
 afterwards printed another edition at his own expense. 
 Those who were imprisoned were not allowed the use of 
 pen or paper, and yet prison literature abounded. Perhaps 
 the most remarkable of this kind was the Martin-mar-pre- 
 late tracts, exposing the conduct of the bishops in stinging 
 satire, and creating a great sensation throughout England. 
 At a later period, books were printed in New England as 
 well as Holland, which had a wide influence in England, 
 especially during the period of the Commonwealth. The 
 prolific fruit of Congregationalism since borne by tlie tree 
 of knowledge is illustrated by a bibliography compiled by 
 Dr. Henry M. Dexter, and extending from a. d. 1546-1879, 
 
122 PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS. 
 
 in which mention is made of 7,250 works with their authors' 
 names. The three most widely circulated books in the 
 English language are the works of Congregationalists, 
 namely, those of Bunyan, Defoe and Watts. In more 
 abstruse literature we have as writers Dr. John Owen, Dr. 
 John Howe, John Milton, John Locke and Dr. Philip 
 Doddridge. It was while Oxford was under the Congrega- 
 tionalists, in 1645, that the foundations of the Royal Society 
 were there laid, a society through which such great scientific 
 discoveries have been made. 
 
 |aiilhiment of llcliigions. 
 
 NE of the boldest projects and most wonderful 
 achievements of the present age was the convoking 
 of an ecumenical council of religions in connection 
 with the world's fair in Chicago in 1893. There were 
 gathered in Columbia hall Jews and Gentiles, wise men 
 from the far East, and representatives from the islands of 
 the seas ; prelates of Brahminism, Buddhism, Confucianism 
 and Mohammedism. Christianity was represented by 
 cardinals, archbishops, bishops or ministers of the Greek, 
 Roman, Armenian, and nearly all sections of the Protestant 
 branches of the church. But for the spirit of toleration 
 and brotherhood Protestant Christianity has so earnestly 
 contended for and so faithfully evinced, such a parHament 
 of religions would have been impossible. It is also 
 probable that had not Congregationalism taken and main- 
 tained the place it has in the religions of the world, such an 
 assembly would never have been heard of in this century. 
 Among the CongregaiionaHsts taking a prominent part in 
 the parliament of religions, mention may be made of Dr. 
 
CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONS. 123 
 
 Barrows, president of the gathering, and whose splendid 
 genius and earnest work brought about the assembly, for 
 though now pastor of a Presbyterian church, he was by 
 birth, education and early ministry a Congregationalist. 
 Also of Alexander McKenzie, Joseph Cook, Professor 
 Fisher, Lyman Abbot, George Washburn, T. T. Hunger, 
 Samuel Dike, Annie F. Eastman, Waldo T. Pratt, James 
 Brand, B. Fay Mills, Washington Gladden, George F. 
 Pentecost, Francis E. Clark, R. A. Hume, and W. T. 
 Stead, all of whom took a leading part in the deliberations 
 from day to day. 
 
 NE of the principles prompting the pilgrims to cross 
 the sea to the New World was, they declared, '' that 
 they might lay some good foundation, or at least 
 make way thereto, for the propagation and advancing of 
 the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts 
 of the world." Their sincerity in this was duly attested by 
 what they did themselves, and by the missionary spirit they 
 transmitted to their descendants. John Eliot became 
 famous as the apostle to the Indians, and was the first of 
 Protestant missionaries to the heathen. In 1644, the colony 
 of Massachusetts made missionary work a duty resting on 
 all the settlers. In 1696 there were thirty Indian churches, 
 with thousands of praying Indians. This apostolic spirit 
 of missions blossomed out in a later date by the formation 
 of state missionary societies, and in 1829, the American 
 home missionary society, which now annually spends 
 more than half a million dollars in church extension. In 
 England, domestic missionary work was formerly conducted 
 
124 CONGREGATIONAL FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 by a home missionary society formed in 1819 and county 
 missionary associations. These were, in 1878, merged into 
 a new organization called " the Congregational church aid 
 and home missionary society." Societies for the same 
 purposes exist in Scotland, Ireland and the Colonies. The 
 Canada Congregational missionary society was formed in 
 1853 by the union of societies previously existing in Upper 
 and Lower Canada. The objects of all these agencies is 
 the same, namely, to aid in planting new churches, and in 
 fostering those that are weak, and by these means extend 
 the kingdom of Christ on the earth. 
 
 foreign Itlifi.sion.s. 
 
 COMMISSIONED to be witnesses of Christ " unto the 
 uttermost parts of the earth," and to " go into all the 
 world and preach the gospel to every creature," 
 Congregationalists would not have been true to their Master, 
 or to themselves, had they not evinced a great zeal for 
 foreign mission work. The nineteenth century has been 
 phenomenal with regard to Protestant foreign mission 
 enterprise, and its closing decade Vv'itnesses wondrous 
 results. While all branches of the church of Christ have 
 occasion to regret tliey have not done more, the Congre- 
 gationalists, in proportion to their numbers and ability, 
 have been second to none in their efforts to biing to Christ 
 "the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of 
 the earth for his possession." The London missionary 
 society was organized in 1795, and the American board 
 of commissioners for foreign missions in 18 10. These 
 societies, with their auxiliaries, have gone into nearly all 
 heathen and Mohammedan countries, carrying the gospel of 
 
DISTINGUISHED FOREIGN MISSIONARIES. I 25, 
 
 the grace of God. Together, they employ more than six 
 thousand English and native agents at an expense of about 
 one and a half million dollars annually. Most signal 
 triumphs have attended the labors of their missionaries in 
 various lands, as in the Sandwich Islands, ^ladagascar, the 
 South Sea Islands, Persia and other dark places of the 
 earth. Among some of the distinguished Congregational 
 missionaries the following may be mentioned: John Eliot, 
 the apostle to the Indians. He came to America in 
 1631, and though teacher of the church at Roxbury, he 
 devoted his life chietiy to work among the Indians, making 
 most extensive journeys, and laboring with such enthti- 
 siasm that thousands were brought under his influence. 
 He translated the bible and other books into their language. 
 He died in Roxbury, now a part of Boston, May 21st, 
 1690. John Williams, the apostle of Polynesia, labored 
 as a missionary of the London society in the Society and 
 New Hebrides Islands from 1816-1839, when he was mur- 
 dered at Erromanga. Robert Morrison was the father of 
 Protestant missions in China. His work extended from 
 1807 until his death in 1834. He was an eminent Chinese 
 scholar ; and besides translating the bible in that language, 
 prepared a Chinese dictionary which the East India com- 
 pany published at an expense of $100,000. He also 
 founded the Anglo-Chinese college. Robert Moffat went 
 to South Africa in 18 16, and three years later was followed 
 by the heroic Mary Smith, who became his wife. For tifly 
 years they prosecuted their missionary work with great 
 fidelity and zeal. Dr. Moffat translated the entire bible 
 into the Bechuana language. David Livingstone was a son- 
 in-law to Dr. Moffat, and the following inscription on a 
 marble slab in the floor of Westminster abbey speaks of 
 
126 THE McALL MISSION IN FRANCE. 
 
 his greatness and goodness : " Brought by faithful friends 
 over land and sea, here rests David Livingstone — mission- 
 ary, traveller, philanthropist. Born March 19th, 1813, at 
 Blantyre, Lanarkshire; died May ist, 1873, at Chitambo's 
 village, Ulala. For thirty years his life was spent in an 
 unwearied effort to evangelize the native races, to explore 
 the undiscovered secrets, to abolish the desolating slave- 
 trade of Central Africa, where, with his last words, he 
 wrote, ' All I can say in my solitude is, may heaven's 
 blessing come down on every one, American, English, 
 Turk, who will help to heal this open sore of the world.' " 
 Of distinguished American missionaries we can only men- 
 tion the names of Henry Lyman, the martyr of Sumatra; 
 David Brainard, missionary to the Indians ; Henry Bing- 
 ham and Asa Thurston, to the Sandwich Islands ; Justin 
 Perkins and Asahel Grant, to the Nestorians in Peisia; 
 Samuel Newell and Daniel Poor, to India ; William Schauf- 
 fler and William Goodall, to Turkey. 
 
 IRcItU Pbsion. 
 
 PERSONAL Christian efforts which have been put 
 forth by those of the Congregational faith, the results 
 of which have become great and far-reaching, may be 
 illustrated by the work of the McAU mission in France. 
 In August, 1 87 1, the Rev. R. W. McAll, an English Congre- 
 gational minister of Lancashire, visited Paris shortly after 
 the siege, accompanied by his devoted wife, and intending 
 to remain not longer than four days. A deep sympathy 
 was evoked from their hearts for the people in their dif- 
 culty and despair, and they began distributing tracts 
 among the artizan class. Greatly impressed by the kind 
 
SOCIETIES OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. 1 27 
 
 and gratefulreception they received, especially in Belleville, 
 they realized that there was an opening for effective reli- 
 gious work. After careful and prayerful consideration they 
 resolved to enter upon it, and Mr. McAll at once set 
 about acquiring the French language. In January, 1872, 
 they opened their first station. For the past twenty years 
 this work has been phenomenal, and has not only attracted 
 the attention and elicited the co-operation of Christians of 
 various denominations and countries, but has also gained the 
 approval of the authorities of France. In addition to the 
 two medals which Dr. McAll received some years ago from 
 French societies, the president of the republic decorated 
 him as Chevalier de la Legmi d'Homieur^ a distinction 
 possessed by very few Englishmen. The mission is con- 
 ducted on a catholic basis, and in 1892 embraced 136 
 stations, 40 being in Paris and the neighborhood, 64 in 
 other cities and towns, 5 in Algeria and some in Corsica. 
 In their Sunday-schools 10,000 children are taught, and in 
 the mission-schools 235,000. A mission-boat or floating 
 chapel, Le bon Message?', has also been built, by which many 
 places are visited. Dr. McAll, the founder, president and 
 director of this mission, died in 1893, while still engaged in 
 the work. 
 
 fMONG institutions which have originated with Con- 
 gregational churches and have become widespread 
 and far-reaching in their influence, nothing could 
 exceed that of the Christian Endeavor movement. In 
 February, 1881, the Rev. Francis E. Clark, pastor of the 
 Williston Congregational church in Portland, Me., feeling 
 that some special agency was required to develop and 
 
128 STATISTICS OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAN OR SOCIETIES. 
 
 employ the Christian activities of the young people of his 
 congregation, devised the Y. P. S. C. E. It proved so 
 successful in the Williston church as to make it widely 
 known and largely copied throughout New England and 
 Canada. Now, in 1893, only twelve years after their incep- 
 tion, these societies practically encircle the globe. Their gen- 
 eral convention, held in Montreal, July, 1893, numbered 
 about sixteen thousand delegates, and was presided over by 
 the Rev. Dr. Clark, the founder. The statistics indicated 
 that the societies numbered 26,284, ^vith a membership of 
 1,577,040. They are found in thirty evangelical denomina- 
 tions, and the model constitution is printed in twenty-one 
 languages. The following comparative statement given 
 by secretary Barr illustrates the marvelous growth : 
 
 Societies. Members . 
 
 In 1881 2 68 
 
 In 1882 7 481 
 
 In 1883 56 2,870 
 
 In 1884 156 8,905 
 
 In 1885 253 10,964 
 
 In 1886 850 50,00c 
 
 In 1887 2,314 140,000 
 
 In 1888 4,879 310,000 
 
 In 1889 75672 485,000 
 
 In 1890 11,013 660,000 
 
 In 189J 16,274 1,008,980 
 
 In 1892 21,080 1,370,200 
 
 In 1893 (on record ist July) 26,284 i,577504^ 
 It is to be regretted that this institution, which has such 
 a tendency to promote a spirit of Christian unity, is denomi- 
 nationalized by some sections of the church of Christ. 
 
THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH. 1 29 
 
 Jnstitutionat 4^hurcltC5. 
 
 fERKELEY Temple Congregational church, Boston, 
 Mass., is the mother of the movement known as the 
 Institutional church. Several organizations of a like 
 character have been formed by Congregational churches 
 in the United States and one in Canada. This move- 
 ment has been defined as '' an organization which aims 
 to reach all of the man, and all men, by all means." It 
 aims to provide a mental environment wherein the spiritual 
 Christ can express himself, and be felt among men as when 
 he was here in the flesh, and it begins by planting itself 
 where Christ stood and worked when he was on the earth, — 
 in the midst of pubHcans and sinners. The Institutional 
 church, in so far as it can, provides for its work, halls, class- 
 ^oonis, library, reading-room, gymnasium, recreation-room, 
 and a dispensary. By these means earnest effort is made 
 to meet the wants of the physical, mental and spiritual 
 natures, and develop a clean, healthy, robust Christian 
 character. Lectures, entertainments, evening classes, 
 savings-banks, labor-bureaus and day-nurseries are pro- 
 vided. The industrial department may include classes in 
 shorthand, telegraphy, printing, wood-carving and other 
 arts and handicrafts. The reform department may include 
 associations for the furtherance of the cause of temperance 
 and purity. Working-men's clubs may also be organized 
 in which discussions of all questions relating to the in- 
 terests of laboring men may be carried on. In almost un- 
 limited ways work can thus be accomplished. 
 
 9 
 
j3o origin of thanksgiving day. 
 
 Mft»HE annual observance of a day of thanksgiving 
 Cj^ originated with the Pilgrim Fathers. We are told 
 T^ that in December, 1621, they observed such a day at 
 Plymouth, and as other colonies were established the custom 
 spread and became firmly rooted as a New England insti- 
 tution. The first national proclamation of such a day was 
 issued by Abraham Lincoln, when president of the United 
 States. Subsequently, the executive of the Dominion of 
 Canada adopted a like praiseworthy course of naming a day 
 each year, and of inviting all classes and creeds to unite in 
 returning thanks to Almighty God for his innumerable 
 benefits to them. The following quaint record, taken from 
 the minutes of the Barnstable church of the date, 22nd De- 
 cember, 1636, shovvshowthe day was then observed in New 
 England : •' In ilie meeting-house, beginning some half an ' 
 hour before nine and continuing until after twelve o clock, 
 ye day being very cold, beginning with a short prayer, then 
 a psalm sang, then more large in prayer, after that another 
 psalm, and then the Word taught, after that^ prayer 
 and then a psalm. Then making merry to the creatures, 
 the poorer sort being invited of the richer." Edward 
 Winslow, a passenger in the Mayflower and governor 
 of Plymouth colony, writing in 1623, says: "Having 
 these many signs of God's favor and acceptation, we 
 thought it would be great ingratitude if secretly we should 
 smother up the same, or content ourselves with private 
 thanksgiving for that which by private prayer could not 
 be obtained." 
 
CONGREGAIIONAL EVANGELISTS. 131 
 
 (^ VANGELISTIC efforls have long been used by Con- 
 \^ gregationalists as a means o^ extending God's king- 
 dom, and developing jnety within the churches. The 
 names of John Fenry, the earnest evangelist and heroic 
 martyr, William Wroth and Walter Cradock will ever be 
 associated with the evangelization of Wales. The Haldanes 
 and their associates produced waves of spiritual influence 
 in Scotland, the effect of which will be felt for many genera- 
 tions to come. Whitefield, in connection with our churches 
 in England and America, did for them and through them un- 
 accountable good. The great awakening in New England 
 is inseparably bound up with the powerful preaching of 
 Jonathan Edwards. The names of Asahel Nettleton, 
 Nathaniel W. Taylor, and others became household words 
 among our churches on the American continent in past 
 generations. Charles G. Finney carried the fire of the 
 gospel over the two continents, and was instrumental in 
 promoting many and marvellous revivals of pure and 
 undefiled religion. John White, of Belfast, Ireland, was 
 not only noted for his success in winning souls to Christ 
 by his ministry in connection with his church, but also 
 exercised a great influence throughout Ireland in promoting 
 revivals. At the present time, Dwight E. Moody is the 
 most renowned and successful evangelist of the age, while 
 another Congregationalist, and once a New England pastor, 
 the Rev. Fay Mills, has few peers in the secret of winning 
 souls to Christ through evangelistic agency. E. P. Ham- 
 
132 LAYMEN AS PREACHERS. 
 
 moHd, who has had such phenomenal success with children 
 as well as in the general work of an evangelist, is also a 
 Congregationalist. 
 
 lag-lrpthiiifl. 
 
 •HE principle and practice of lay-preaching was 
 adopted by Congregationalists nearly a hundred 
 years before it was made famous by John Wesley. 
 During the Commonwealth it was very generally practised. 
 Oliver Cromwell, his officers and soldiers, were lay- 
 preachers. The Savoy declaration, made October 1 2th, 
 1658, distinctly approves of the principle by saying : " The 
 work of preaching is not so peculiarly confined to pastors 
 and teachers, but that others, also gifted and fitted by the 
 people, may publicly, ordinarily and constantly perform it." 
 During this period, three Congregational ministers, John 
 Martin, Samuel Peto and Frederick Woodal, by a joint 
 work entitled, " The preacher sent, or the vindication of 
 the liberty of public preaching, by some men not 
 ordained," ably and eloquently vindicated the right and 
 usefulness of lay-preachers in spreading the gospel. After 
 the overthrow of the Commonwealth, dissenters were pro- 
 hibited from preaching by severe penalties, and until the 
 toleration act was passed, it would have been most perilous 
 for a layman to attempt it. Then, after suffering so great 
 a repression for so long a time, the Congregationalists were 
 somewhat backward in the extensive use of lay-preaching. 
 However, the practice was restored, and for a long time 
 has been made use of among the churches. Without 
 doubt its scope, influence and usefulness might be greatly 
 extended in our churches at the present day. 
 
REVIVALS OF RELIGION. 1 33 
 
 tMONG the learned and pious Congregational minis- 
 ters who, during the eighteenth century, endeavored 
 to arouse and deepen the spiritual life of the churches, 
 Dr. Isaac Watts and Dr. Philip Doddridge stand pre-emi- 
 nent. The work was largely aided by their hymns and prac- 
 tical writings. Dr. Watts published his Guides to prayer, 
 Evangelical sermons, Discourses upon death, Catechism 
 for children, Scripture history, and Revival of practical 
 religion. Dr. Doddridge published Free thoughts on the 
 most probable means of reviving the dissenting interests, 
 The power and grace of Christ, The evidences of Chris-. 
 tianity, Practical discourses on regeneration, A discourse 
 on the sin and danger of neglecting the souls of men, 
 Sermons to young people. Sermons on the education of 
 children, and The rise and progress of religion in the 
 soul. These publications were very extensively circulated, 
 and used by the Holy Si)irit to an extraordinary degree. 
 After extensive correspondence with ministers in England 
 and America, Dr. Doddridge got them to agree to what was 
 termed a " general consent for prayer," in 1741, and which 
 was to be continued for two years. Thus prayers were 
 constantly offered by thousands in both countries, and in 
 answer thereto, great spiritual blessings descended upon 
 multitudes both in Great Britain and America. Wesley 
 and Whitefield had just begun their evangelistic missions, 
 and had made a short visit to America during this 
 general consent for prayer. In 1 742, Whitefield commenced 
 preaching in Moorfields to the thousands gathering there 
 
134 CONGREGATIONAL LECl'URKS. 
 
 for holidays, wiih signal results. A remarkable revival of 
 religion prevailed throughout Great Britain and America. 
 The Congregational churches were greatly benefited, and 
 many of the ministers earnestly co-operated. In America it 
 was termed the ''great awakening," and Jonathan Kdwards 
 with Whiiefield were the chief instruments used of God. 
 
 /^-^URING the period of the Commonwealth lecture- 
 yj ships were established and became very popular. 
 A'; has been stated, Oomwell instituted one in West- 
 minister abbey which was filled by a Congregational and a 
 Prcribyterian divine, who alternately delivered their dis- 
 courses. The halls belonging to various trade guilds were 
 frequently used for the purj)ose, as Pinner's hall, where the 
 renowned James Foster was pastor of a Congregational 
 church. In Salter's hall, Daniel Neal, author of the 
 history of the Puritans, and pastor of a Congregational 
 church in Silver street, delivered lectures on the doctrines 
 of Roman Catholicism. The Congregational lecture 
 esta!)lished in London in 1833 ^^^^ ^^'^^ ^^^^^ ^^Y '^"^^^^ 
 eminent men, and their productions would make a valuable 
 library. Joseph Cook, a most eminent American Congre- 
 gationalist, has since 1S74 conducted lectures statedly in 
 Boston with great and unwavering success. Many of the 
 valuable series thus produced have met with a very 
 large circulation. The Rev. Edward White, a London Con- 
 gregational minister, has held the position of '' Merchants 
 lecturer " from 1870 to 1893. Elis lectures for the two last 
 years have for their themes, '' The higher criticism," and 
 " Modern scepticism." 
 
THE GROWTH OF CONGREGATIONALISM. 1 35 
 
 diroiutlu 
 
 HE numerical increase of Congregationalism thoiigli 
 gradual has been encouraging. At the beginning of 
 the conflict between Charles I. and the English par- 
 liament it was as a denomination so feeble and obscure be- 
 cause of persecution, as to hardly be taken into account; 
 but in the end, by the victory of Naseby, it was master of 
 the situation. From the time when Congregationalism was 
 chiefly within the limits of the Fleet prison and the ship 
 jSTayfloiuer until the present, 1893, only three lifetimes 
 have passed away, and the churches number to-day more 
 than five thousand each in Great Britain and America, the 
 rate of progress having been singularly even in both coun- 
 tries. In the United States at the beginning of this century, 
 Congregationalism was scarcely known outside of New 
 England. Then for fifty years the fatal plan of union with 
 the Presbyterians was practised, whereby the men and means 
 of Congregationalism were used to build up Presbyterian- 
 ism in the middle states. By the Albany convention in 
 1852 this was discontinued, and since that time our churches 
 have carried on a wise and energetic policy of extension. 
 During the past forty years their number has nearly doubled, 
 and within the last quarter of a century their rate of in- 
 crease has been fully one hundred per cent. The fact that 
 our proportionate growth is not equal to some other 
 denominations is accounted for by the reasons that they are 
 becoming Congregationalized — our catholicity, our stricter 
 terms of communion, and our emphatic testimony against 
 
136 CONGREGATIONAL STATISTICS. 
 
 slavery. It should also be borne in mind that aside from 
 their peculiar views on baptism, the Baptists are in every 
 way Congregationalists. 
 
 statistics. 
 
 fHE following statistics, gathered from various reliable 
 sources concerning Congregational churches, and 
 relating to 1893, will be of use and interest to some. 
 Great Britain — The total number of churches with their 
 branches in England is 3,454, which furnish 1,239,413 sit- 
 tings ; in Wales the churches and branches number 1,014 
 with 307,815 sittings; in Scotland there are 100 churches 
 not including branches ; in Ireland there are 28 churches 
 and 95 evangelistic stations, while the church members 
 number 2,000 and the adherents 10,943 ; in the Channel 
 Isles there are 11 churches. United States — The total 
 number of churches in the United States is 5,140 with a 
 membership of 542,725 ; Sunday-schools 694,053, benevo- 
 lent contributions $2,651,892, home expenditure $7,146,- 
 092. Canada— In the Dominion of Canada there are 125 
 churches with 47 out-stations comprising 10,215 members. 
 The following is the number in the various Provinces : 
 New Brunswick, 4 churches with 335 members; Nova 
 Scotia, 17 churches and 784 members ; Quebec, 18 churches 
 with 1,757 members; Ontario, 80 churches and 6,756 
 members ; The North West, 6 churches and 583 members. 
 Newfoundland — In the Island of Newfoundland there are 
 4 churches and 200 members. Australasia — The various 
 Provinces of Australasia report the number of Congrega- 
 tional churches as follows : Victoria, 61 ; New South Wales, 
 61; South Australia, 48 ; Queensland, 32 ; Western Austra- 
 
DISTINGUISHED CONGREGATIONALISTS. 137 
 
 lia,3; Tasmania, 22; New Zealand, 25. Africa — In Natal 
 there are 30 churches and out-stations, and in South Africa 
 70, exclusive of the mission stations among the heathen. 
 Madagascar — The churches here number 909, while the 
 members and regular hearers are 341,000. West Indies — 
 In Jamaica there are 10 churches with 6,000 adherents, and 
 in British Guiana 40 churches. Sandwicli I^lands — These 
 islands contain about 57 churches witli a membership of 
 7,000. Scandinavia — The Swedish mission embraces 
 707 churches with 100,000 members. They also have 
 churches in Norway and Denmark. Bohemia — There are 
 9 free or Congregational churches under the American 
 board. Holland — In Holland there are 24 Congrega- 
 tional churches. India and China — In India there are 7 
 self-sustaining churches and 10 supported by the London 
 missionary society. In China there are 2 churches, in 
 addition to those under the London missionary society. 
 Japan — The churches in Japan number 65 with a mem- 
 bership of 11,558. 
 
 Barnes. 
 
 ^TVANV men of more than a national reputation for 
 (Slfe genius, learning and influence have belonged to the 
 ranks of Congregationalism. To give all their names 
 and note their services to the world would more than fill 
 the pages of this volume. For the benefit of our younger 
 members and those who have not access to Congregational 
 literature, and who feel an interest in the fathers of their 
 faith, the following roll of honor is compiled. For Great 
 Britain the following names among many others may be 
 mentioned : Robert Brown, Henry Barrowe, John Green- 
 
138 DISTINGUISHED CONGREGATIONALISTS. 
 
 wood, John Penry, Richard Fitz, Francis Johnson, Richard 
 Clifton, John Robinson, WilHam Brewster, Henry Ains- 
 worth, Henry Jacobs. Thomas Goodwin, PhiHp Nye, Jere- 
 miah BurroLiglis, Sidrach Simpson, WiUiam Bridge, Robert 
 Bolton, Wilham Bates, William Ames, Hugh Peters, 
 Thomas Adams, Richard Sibbs, Steplien Charnock, John 
 Owen, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, Lord Say, Henry 
 Burton, Sir Harry Vane, William Wroth, Walter Cradock, 
 John Howe, Thomas Hooker, John Flavil, William Payne, 
 Joseph Caryl, William Greenhill, Theophilus Gales, Isaac 
 Watts, Philip Doddridge, Thomas Bradshaw, Edward 
 Williams, John Howard, Cornelius W^inters, John Clayton, 
 George Clayton, Pye Smith, William Walford, David Davis, 
 John Harris, Winter Hamilton, James Parsons, Thomas 
 Raffles, George Redford, John Morley, Edward Baines, 
 John Angel James, William Jay, Ralph Wardlaw, Greville 
 Ewing, Josiah Conder, Andrew Reed, Richard Elliot, 
 John Reynolds, John Jiurnet, John Campbell. Lindsay 
 Alexander, James Bennet, Walter Scott, Robert Halley, 
 Joseph Gilbert, Henry Rogers. Robert Vaughan, Alfred 
 Vaughan, W. H. Stowell, George Legge, ^Algernon Wells, 
 I'homas Binney, Samuel Marty n, Ebcnezer Henderson, 
 T. W. Jenkyn, Robert Phylip, John Williams, Robert 
 INIorrison, Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, Robert Hal- 
 ley, John Waddington, Joseph (bonder, Enoch Mellor, John 
 Stoughton, David 1 homas, Edward Miall, Samuel Morley, 
 Sir Edward Baines, Sir Charles Reed, Sir Titus Salt, 
 James Spicer, Alexander Raleigh, Alexander Hannay, 
 Baldwin Brown. 
 
 Of those belonging to the American continent, from 
 among very many other worthies, mention can only be made 
 made of the following : William Brewster, William Bradford, 
 
DISTINGUISHED CONGKEGATIONALISTS. 1 39 
 
 Natlianiel Morton, Edward Winslow, John Winthrop, Mile 
 Standish, Samuel Fuller, John Eliot, John Lathrop, John 
 Cotton, Thomas Hooker, Thomas Shepherd, John Daven- 
 port, John Wise, Samuel Mather, Increase Mather, Cotton 
 Mather, John Wise, Jonathan Edwards, sen., Jonathan 
 Edwards, jr., Joseph Belamy, Samuel Hopkins, Ezra Styles, 
 Joseph Lathrop, Stephen West, Benjamin Trumbull, Na- 
 thaniel Emmons, Matthew Strong, Asa Burton, Timothy 
 Dwight, Abel Holmes, Jedediah Morse, Ebenezer Porter, 
 Asahel Nettleton, Leonard Woods, Moses Stewart, Mark 
 Hopkins, Nathaniel W. Taylor, John Smalley, Edward 
 Payson, James Marshy Bila Bates Edwards, Lyman Beecher, 
 Henry Ward Beecher, Leonard Bacon, George B. Cheever, 
 Elihu Burritt, Edward D. Griffin, Theodore D. Wolsey, 
 Charles G. Finney, Edward Hitchcock, Calvin E. Sotowe, 
 John B. Gough, Horace Bushnell, Edward N. Kirk, Pro- 
 fessor Silliman, Professor Dana^ Noah Porter, Ray Palmer, 
 George Punchard, Henry M. Dexter. 
 
IV. 
 
 " There are diversities of administration, but the 
 same Lord. And tJiere are diversities of operation, but 
 it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the 
 manifestatio7t of the Spirit is given to every man to 
 profit withaiy — I CORINTHIANS xii. 5-7, 
 
 ' Let all thi^igs be dojie decently and in order ^^ 
 I Corinthians xiv. 40. 
 
^eriucefi. 
 
 ^XT»HP". following forms of chinch services are presented 
 IJjJ with a view of aiding ministers in the fulfilment of 
 ¥^ thoFe duties to which they relate. Every young 
 minister entering upon the duties of his office is soon made 
 to realize the need of such helps or guides, and not a few 
 for the want of them have been placed in very embarras- 
 sing positions. The scriptural injunction, '* Let all things 
 be done decently and in order," would seem to call for 
 some provision of the kind. Those given not only formulate 
 the practices which are common in our churches, in con- 
 nection with the administration of the ordinances and 
 services ; but they will also promote greater uniformity and 
 order. It will be observed that the selections of scripture, 
 which form so large a part of these services, are taken 
 from the revised version as the more exact rendering of 
 the revelation made by the Spirit unto the churches. The 
 form for the reception of members is the one recom- 
 mended by the commission on a Congregational creed 
 appointed by the National council in 1880, and which re- 
 ported the results of their work in 1883. It was adopted 
 by the Congregational Union of Ontario and Quebec in 
 1886, and is in general use in the Congregational churches 
 on this continent. The other forms are compiled or gath- 
 ered from various usages and services of the churches. 
 
144 RECEIVING MEMBERS INTO THE CHURCH. 
 
 Ilcception of Pnnb^rs. 
 
 While the candidates are gathering in front of the communion table, 
 or as introductory to the service, the following texts may he repeated 
 by the officiating minister : 
 
 WHAT shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits 
 toward me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and 
 call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows 
 unto the Lord, yea in the presence of all his people. 
 — Psalm cxvi. 12-14. 
 
 EVERYONE, therefore, who shall confess me before 
 men, him will I also confess before my Father which 
 is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before 
 men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in 
 heaven — Matthew x. 32, 2>Z- 
 
 FOR with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; 
 and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 
 — Romans x. 10. 
 
 DEARLY beloved, called of God to be his children, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord, you are here that, in 
 the presence of God and his people, you may enter 
 into the fellowship and communion of his church. You 
 do truly repent of your sins ; you heartily receive JeSus 
 Christ as your crucified Saviour and risen Lord, you con- 
 secrate yourself unto God and your life to his service; 
 you accept his Word as your law, and his Spirit as your 
 comforter and guide j and, trusting in his grace to coa- 
 
RECEIVING MEMBERS INTO THE CHURCH. 145 
 
 firm and strengthen you in all goodness, you promise to do 
 God's holy will, and to walk with this church in the trutli 
 and peace of our i.ord Jesus Christ. 
 
 ACCEPTING, according to the measure of your under- 
 standing of it, the system of Christian truth held by 
 the churches of our faith and order, and by this 
 church into whose fellowship you now enter ; you join 
 with ancient saints, with the church throughout the world 
 and with us, your fellow-believers, in humbly and heartily 
 confessing your faith in the gospel, saying : 
 
 I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of hea- 
 ven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son our 
 Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of 
 the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate; was 
 crucified, dead and buried ; the third day he rose from the 
 dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right 
 hand of God the Father Almighty ; from thence he shall 
 come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the 
 Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church ; the communion 
 of saints ; the forgiveness of sins ; the resurrection of the 
 body; and the life everlastiiig. Amen. 
 
 Then hdplisiii should be administered to those who have not been baptized. 
 Those should then rise loho toould unite with the church hy letter. 
 To them the minister will say : 
 
 CONFESSING the Lord whom we unitedly worshipj you 
 do now renew your self-consecration, and join with us 
 cordially in this, our Christian faith and covenant. 
 
 The members 0/ the church present should rise, 
 10 
 
14^ A SERVICE FOR BAPTISM. 
 
 WE welcome you into our fellowship. We promise to 
 watch over you with Christian love. God grant, 
 that loving and being loved, serving and being 
 served, blessing and being blessed, we may be prepared, 
 while we dwell together on earth, for the perfect com- 
 munion of the saints in heaven. 
 
 NOW the God of peace, that brought again from the 
 dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the 
 sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
 make you perfect in every good work to do his will, work- 
 ing in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through 
 Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 
 — Hebrews xiii. 20-21. 
 
 As the children are brought in, or as adults come J orward, to he baptized, 
 an appropriate hymn may be sung; after which the following , or 
 other texts, may be repeated by the pastor, suiting them for chil- 
 dren or adults, ay the case may be • 
 
 THEY brought unto him little children, that he should 
 touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But 
 when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, 
 and said unto them. Suffer the little children to come unto 
 me ; forbid them not : for of such is the kin^rdom of God. 
 — Mark x. 13, 14. 
 
 'to' 
 
 AND Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, 
 All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and 
 on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all 
 the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father 
 .and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to 
 
A SERVICI-: FOR BAPTISM. I47 
 
 observe all things whatsoever I commanded you : andlo, I 
 am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. — 
 Matthew xxviii. 18-20. 
 
 PETER said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized 
 everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto 
 the remission of your sins ; and ye shall receive the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise, and 
 to your children, and to all that are|afar off. eveji as raan^' 
 as the Lord our (iod shall call unto him. — Acts ii. 38, 39. 
 
 The candidate for baptism, or the parents oj the children brought^ loill 
 then assent to the following^ the pastor appropriately using the loords 
 for adults or children as may be required : 
 
 DEARLY beloved, believing that the promises of God 
 extend to [you] [your offspring,] and that the ordi- 
 nance of baptism is a seal of his grace, a sign of the 
 work of the Holy Spirit in the heart ; and considering it 
 both a privilege and a duty thus to dedicate [yourself] 
 [your children] 10 the service of God ; you do now devote 
 [yourself] [them] to the Lord to be his forever. [Relying 
 upon divine grace for aid, you do solemnly engage to 
 teach your children God's holy Avord, and endeavor, with 
 all your ability, to lead them in the way of life everlasting 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ.] 
 
 I 
 
 Then the pastor shall sprinkle water on the uncovered had. saying : 
 
 BAPTIZE thee J N into the name of 
 
 the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 
 Amen. 
 
 Then follows /irai/er, after which a haplii<iiial chant or hymn may h'' 
 sung, and the service closed with the benediction. If it is desired 
 lo lengthen the service, as at thp home, other scripture selections may 
 he read, <is 1 Sanui^f i. 21-28. 
 
I.) 8 THE COMMUNION SERVICE. 
 
 (Eowmunion Service. 
 
 After the coinmunicants are seated together^ and the pastor and deacons 
 have taken their places at the table^ the covering should be removed 
 from the bread, after which the pastor may repeat the following or 
 other scripture se'-ections: 
 
 FOR our passover also hath been sacrificed, eve^i Christ : 
 wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, 
 neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, 
 but with the unleavened brea.d of sincerity and truth. — 
 I Corinthians v. 7, 8. 
 
 CHRIST being raised from the dead dieth no more; 
 ceath no more hath dominion over him. For the 
 death that he died, he died unto sin once : but the 
 life that he liveth, lie iiveth unto God. Even so reckon 
 ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto 
 God in Christ Jesus. — Romans vi. 9, 11. 
 
 BUT now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the 
 first-fruits of them that are asleep. For since by man 
 came death, by man ca/ne also the resurrection of the 
 dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all 
 be made alive. — i Corinthians xv. 20, 22. 
 
 PSALM CXVI. 12-19. 
 
 WHAT shall I render unto the Lord 
 For all his benefits toward me? 
 I will take the cup of salvation, 
 And call upon the name of the Lord. 
 
THE COMMUNION SERVICE. 1 49 
 
 I will pay my vows unto the Lord 
 Yea, in the presence of all his people. 
 Precious in the sight of the Lord 
 Is the death of his saints. 
 
 Lord, truly I am thy servant : 
 
 1 am thy servant the son of thy handmaid ; 
 Thou hast loo'^ed my bonds. 
 
 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of tlianksgiving, 
 
 And will call upon the name of the Lord. 
 
 I will pay my vows unto the Lord, 
 
 Yea, in the presence of all his people : 
 
 In the courts of the Lord's house, 
 
 In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. 
 
 Praise ye the Lord. 
 
 The pastor shall the-i offer prayer, after lohich he should repeat the 
 following sentences : 
 
 FOR I received of the Lord that which also I delivered 
 unto you, how that the Lord Jesus in the night in 
 which he v.'as betrayed took bread; and w^hen he had 
 given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which 
 is broken for you : this do in remembrance of me. — -i 
 Corinthians xi. 23, 24. 
 
 Then taking the phite containing the bread into his hands, the pastor 
 may say : 
 
 DEARLY beloved, let us receive the symbol of our 
 Lord's broken body, broken for us. May we all 
 by faith feed upon him the bread of God who came 
 down from heaven for the life of the w^orld. 
 
 Then handing the hriai to the oxidating deacons, they should first serve 
 the p'fstor, and then all the communicants. On their return the pas' 
 lor should receive the plates at their hands and serve the deacons. 
 After a brief perio'l of silent prayer the pastor should pour the u-ine 
 into the cups. Having again ofered jiraj/er, h^ should say : 
 
1$0 THE MARRIAGE SERVICE. 
 
 JN like manner also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 
 This cup is the new covenant in my blood : this do. as 
 oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often 
 as ye eat this bread and drink the cup, ye proclaim the 
 Lord's death till he come. — i Corinthians xi. 25, 26. 
 
 The/i faking the cupy contuininfj the wine in his hands, the 'pastor may 
 
 say : 
 
 DEx\RLY beloved, let us receive the symbol of Christ's 
 blood, shed for us, the blood of the New Tesiament, 
 which is shed for many, and be ihankful. 
 
 Thru handing the fups to the deacons, the wine shall be distributedin the 
 same manner as teas the bread. After another brief season of silent 
 prayer the pastor^ if he considers it tcise, may give a short address, 
 or an address may precede the distribution of the elements, or re- 
 marks mag he dispensed u'ith altogether. A hymn should be sung- 
 after which a collection is made for the f<dloiv ship fund, ivhen the .sr-r- 
 vice is closed icith the benediction. 
 
 Ac the day and time appointed for the solemnization of matrimony^ the 
 persons to be married shall come into the body of the church, or shall 
 be ready at some pi-oper house, with their friends and neighbors : 
 and there standing together, the man on th: right hand and the too 
 man on the lejt, the minister shall say : 
 
 DEARLY beloved, we are gathered together herein the 
 sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join 
 together this man and this woman in holy matrimony ', 
 which is commended of saint Paul to be honorable among 
 all men; and therefore is not by any to be entered into 
 unadvisedly or lightly ; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, 
 and in the fear of God. Into which holy estate these two 
 persons present come now to be joined. If any man can 
 
THE MARRIAGE SERVICE. 151 
 
 shew just cause why they may not lawfully be joined 
 together, let him now speak, or else liereafter forever hold 
 his peace. 
 
 And also, speakiwj unto the persons that shall he married, he shall say : 
 
 1 REQUIRE and charge you both, as ye will answer at 
 the day of judgment, when the secrets of all hearts 
 shall be disclosed, that if either of you know any im- 
 pediment why ye may not be lawfully joined together in 
 matrimony, ye do now confess it. For be ye well assured, 
 that if any persons are joined together! otherwise than as 
 God's word doth allow, their marriage is not lawful. 
 
 W'^°'' 
 
 If no impediment he alleged, then shall the ininisler say to the man : 
 
 J/.W 7ILT thou have this woman for thy wedded wife, 
 live together after God's ordinance, in the holy 
 estate of mairimony ? Wilt thou love her, com- 
 fort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health ; 
 and keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall 
 live ? 
 
 The man shall answer, I will. 
 Then rhall the minister say to the woman : 
 
 A'.TTTILT thou have this man for thy wedded husband,. 
 y y to live together after God's ordinance in the holy 
 estate of matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and 
 serve him, love, honor and kc'^p him in sickness and iu 
 health; and keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both 
 shall live ? 
 
 The woman shall answer, I will. 
 Then shall the minister say : 
 
 Who iAvQth this woman to be married to this man ? 
 
152 THE MARRIAGE SERVICE. 
 
 Tlicv ahall they give their troth to each other in this riKinner : The 
 minister^ receiving the woman at her father'' s or friend's hands, sha/l 
 cause the man with his right hand to take the ivoman hy her righl- 
 hand, and to say after him as folloiveth : 
 
 171/. take thee JV. for my wedded wife, to have and to 
 hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for 
 richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love 
 and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's 
 holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth. 
 
 Then shall they loose their hands ; and the ivoman, with her right hand 
 taking the man by his right hand, shall likewise say after the min- 
 ister : 
 
 IJV. take thee M. for my wedded husband, to have and 
 to hold from this day forward, for belter for worse, for 
 richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, 
 cherish and to obey, till death us do part, according to 
 God's holy ordinance ; and thereto I give thee my troth. 
 
 The?7 shall they again loose their hands; and the man shall give unto 
 the -woman a ring, and the minister^ taking the ring, shall deliver it 
 unto the man, to put it upon the fourth finger of the woman's le/t 
 hand. And the man holding the ring there, and taught bij the min 
 ister, shall say ■• 
 
 ^ 
 
 JITK thi^ ring I thee wed, and with all rny worldly 
 goods I thee endow : In the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen, 
 
 Then shall the minister joinltheir right hands together, and say : 
 
 Those whom God hath joined together let no man put 
 asunder. 
 
 Then shall the minister speak unto the people : 
 
THE BURIAL SERVICE. 1 53 
 
 FORASMUCH as M. and N. have consented toget! er 
 in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before 
 God and this company, and thereto have given and 
 pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the 
 same by the giving and receiving of a ring, and by 
 joining of hands ; I pronounce that they are man and wife, 
 in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost. Amen. 
 
 And the minister shall add this blessing : 
 
 GOD the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost 
 bless, preserve and keep you; the Lord mercifully 
 with his favor look upon you ; and so fill you with 
 all spiritual benediction and grace, that ye may so Hve 
 together in this life, that in the world to come ye may have 
 life everlasting. Amen. 
 
 Then shall follow prayer and the benediction 
 
 ^urial ^cruice. 
 
 TJie following passages of scrip>tur€ may be repeated by the minister 
 while the procession is entering the church or as introductory to the 
 service: 
 
 1AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord : he 
 that believeth on me^, though he die, yet shall he live: 
 and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never 
 d e. — Ji»hn xi. 25, 26. 
 
 I KNOW that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall 
 stand up at the last day upon the earth. And after my 
 skin hath been thus destroyed, yet from my flesh shall 
 1 see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes 
 shall behold, and not another. — Job xix. 25, 26, 27. 
 
^54 THE BURIAL SERVICE. 
 
 FOR we brought nothing into this world, for neither 
 can we carry anything out. The Lord gave, and the 
 Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the 
 Lord. — I Timothy vi. 7 ; Job i. 21. 
 
 Thrn^ if desired, a hymn may he sung, and one or hoth of the jollowing 
 psalms may he rend, together with the given portion of the following 
 epistle, or a part of it : 
 
 PSALM XXXIX. 4-13. 
 
 LORD, make me to know mine end, 
 And the measure of my days, what it is ; 
 Let me know how frail I am. 
 Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths ; 
 And mine age is as nothing before thee : 
 Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. 
 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew : 
 Surely they are disquieted in vain : [them. 
 
 He heapetli up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather 
 And now, Lord, what wait I for? 
 My hope is in thee. 
 Deliver me from all my trangressions : 
 Make me not the reproach of the foolish. 
 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth ; 
 Because thou didst it. 
 Remove thy stroke away from me : 
 I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. 
 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity^ 
 Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth ; 
 Surely every man is vanity. 
 
 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry ; 
 Hold not thy peace at my tears : 
 
IHE BURIAL SERVICE. 1 55 
 
 For I am a stranger witli thee. 
 
 A sojourner, as all my fathers were. 
 
 O spare me, that I may recover strength, 
 
 Before I go hence, and be no more. 
 
 PSAO[ XC. 
 
 LORD, thou Jiast been our dwelHng-place 
 In all generations. 
 
 Before the mountains were brought forth, i 
 
 Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
 Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 
 Thou turnest man to destruction : 
 And sayest, Return, ye children of men. 
 For a thousand years in thy sight 
 Are but as yesterday when it is past, 
 And as a watch in the night. 
 
 Thou carriestthem away as with a flood ; they are as a sleep : 
 In the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 
 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up ; 
 In the evening it is cut down, and withereth. 
 For we are consumed in thine anger. 
 And in thy wrath are we troubled. 
 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, 
 Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 
 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath : 
 We bring our years to an end as a tale that is told. 
 The days of our years are threescore years and ten. 
 Or even by reason of streiigtli fourscore vears ; 
 Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow ; 
 For it is soon gone, and we fly away. 
 Whoknoweth the power of thine anger, 
 
156 THE BURIAL SKRVICE. 
 
 And thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee ? 
 
 So teach us to number our days, 
 
 That we may get us an heart of wisdom. 
 
 Return, O Lord ; how long ? 
 
 And let it repent thee concerning thy servants. 
 
 O satisfy us in the mo ning with thy mercy ; 
 
 That we may rejoice and be glad all our days, [afflicted us, 
 
 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast 
 
 And the years wherein we have seen evil. 
 
 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, 
 
 And thy glory upon their children. 
 
 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us : 
 
 And establish thou the work of our hands upon us; 
 
 Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. 
 
 L CORINTHL^NS XV. 20-58. 
 
 NOW hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first- 
 fi'uits of them that are asl eep. For since by man 
 came dea\.h, by man aime also the resurrection of the 
 dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all 
 be made alive. But each in his own order : Christ the 
 first-fruits ; then they that are Christ's, at his coming. 
 Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom 
 to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished 
 all rule and all authority and ])Ower. lor he must reign till 
 he hath jjut all his enemies under liis feet. The last enemy 
 that shall be abolished is death. For, he put all things in 
 subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things 
 are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who 
 did subject all things unto him. And when all things have 
 been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be 
 
THE BURIAL SERVICE. I57 
 
 subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that 
 God may be all in all. 
 
 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead ? 
 If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptiztd 
 for them ? why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour ? 
 I protest by that glorying in you, brethren, which [ have 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If, after the manner 
 of men, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit 
 me ? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for 
 to-morrow we die. Be not deceived : Evil company doth 
 corrupt good manners. Awake up righteously, and sin 
 not , for some have no knowledge of God : I speak this lo 
 move you to shame. 
 
 But some one will say : How are the dead raised ? and 
 with what manner of body do they come ? Thou fooHsh one, 
 that which thou thyself sowest is not quickened, except it die : 
 and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that 
 shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some 
 other kind ; but God giveth it a body even as it pleased 
 him, and to each seed a body of its own. All flesh is not 
 the same flesh : but there is one flesh of men, and another 
 flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of 
 fishes. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terres- 
 trial ; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glo7'y < f 
 the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, 
 and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
 stars ; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So 
 also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corrup- 
 tion ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor : 
 it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness ; it is raised in 
 power : it is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual 
 body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual 
 
158 THE BURIAL SERVICE. 
 
 body. So also it is written, The first man Adam became 
 a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 
 Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which 
 is natural ; then that which is spiritual. The first man 
 is of the earth, earthy : the second man is of heaven. As 
 is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy : and as is 
 the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And 
 as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear 
 the image of the heavenly. 
 
 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot 
 inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit 
 incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery : We shall not 
 all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
 twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall 
 sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
 shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incor- 
 ruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But 
 when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall 
 come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed 
 up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death 
 where is thy sting ? The sting of death is sin ; and the' 
 power of sin is the law : but thanks be to God, which giveth 
 us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, 
 my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know 
 that your labor is not vain in the Lord. 
 
 Then may foil 010 a short address and prayer^ also a hymn, if desired. 
 
 When they come to the grave, and after the body is laid into the earth, 
 this service may follow : or, if desired, the service may be com- 
 pleted at the church, or house, ax/oll'nrs : 
 
M 
 
 THE KURIAL SERVICE. 1 59 
 
 AN that is born of a woman hath but a short time 
 to Uve, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is 
 cut down, like a flower ; he fleet h as it were a shadow, 
 and never continueth in one stay. 
 
 In the midst of life we are in death : of whom may we seek 
 for shelter^ but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly 
 displeased? 
 
 Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O 
 holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the 
 bitter pains of eternal death. 
 
 Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts ; shut 
 not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us. Lord 
 most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful 
 Saviour, thou most worthy judge eternal, suffer us not, at 
 our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee. 
 
 Then while the earth shall be cast upon. Iht coffin hy some .itandinff by 
 the minister shall say : 
 
 FORASMUCH as it hath pleased Almighty God in 
 his wise providence, to take out of tliis world the soul 
 of our deceased brotJie7\, * we therefore commit his 
 body to the ground ; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to 
 dust ; looking for the general resurrection in the last day, 
 and the Hfe of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; at whose second coming in glorious majesty to 
 judge- the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their 
 dead ; and the corrui)tible bodies of those who sleep in 
 him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious 
 body : according to the mighty working whereby he is 
 able to subdue all things unto liimself 
 
 * Or sister, or friend. 
 
J[6o SELECTIONS FOR THE OFFERTORY. 
 
 Then shall he said : 
 
 1 HEARD a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, 
 From henceforth blessed are the dead which die in tlie 
 Lord : even so saith the Spirit ; for they rest from their 
 labors. 
 
 Then may Jollow a brief prayer and the benediction 
 
 While the offertory is being niade^ the minister may repeat some of the 
 following scripture selections. The service would further he viade 
 helpful if hetween each selection brief and appropriate i^istrumeidal 
 music is given, or a suitable text chanted. 
 
 LAY not up for yourselves treasures upon the earlh, 
 where moth and rust doth consume, and where thieves 
 break through and steal : but lay up for yourselves 
 treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth 
 consume, and where thieves do not break through nor 
 steal : for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be 
 also. — Matthew vi, 19-21. 
 
 NOT every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth 
 the will of my Father which is in heaven. — Matthew 
 vii. 21, 22. 
 
 IN all things I gave you an example, how that so 
 laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember 
 the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, it 
 is more blessed to ^ive than to receive. — Acts xx. 35. 
 
SELECTIONS FOR THE OFFERTORY. l6l 
 
 NOW concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave 
 order to the churches of Galatia, so also do ye. Up6n 
 the first day of the week let each one of you lay by 
 him in store, as he may prosper, that no collection be made 
 when I come. — i Corinthians xvi. i, 2. 
 
 1 SPEAK not by way of commandment, but as proving 
 through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of 
 your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he 
 became poor, that ye through his poverty might become 
 rich. — 2 Corinthians vii. 8,9. 
 
 HE that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; 
 and he that soweth boimtifuUy shall reap also bounti- 
 fully. Let each man do according as he hath pur- 
 posed in his heart ; not grudgingly, or of necessity : for 
 God loveth a cheerful giver. — 2 Corinthians ix. 6,7. 
 
 LET him that is taught in the word communicate unto 
 him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived ; 
 God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, 
 that shall he also reap. — Galatians vii. 6, 7. 
 
 CHARGE them that are rich in this present world, tiiat 
 they be not high-minded, nor have their hope set on the 
 uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly 
 all things to enjoy ; that they do good, that they be rich in 
 good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to 
 communicate ; laying up in store for themselves a good- 
 foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold 
 on the life which is life indeed. — i Timothy vi. 17-19. 
 
 II 
 
l62 ORDER FOR CHURCH SERVICE. 
 
 G 
 
 OD is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love 
 which ye shewed toward his name, in that ye minis- 
 tered unto the saints, and still do minister. — Hebrews 
 
 VI, 10. 
 
 WHOSO hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his 
 brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from 
 him, how doth the love of God abide in him ? — i John 
 iii. ry. 
 
 I HEARD a voice of many angels round about the 
 throne and the living creatures and the elders : and 
 the number of them was ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand, and thousands of thousands : saying with a great 
 voice, *Worthy is the lamb that hath been slain to receive 
 the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, 
 and glory, and blessing. — Revelation v. ii, 12. 
 
 (|hurdi ^ertiitt 
 
 fHE following suggested order of service is very 
 generally used, and is given as a guide for young 
 pastors and new churches. It may be modified 
 or changed to suit the circumstances of a congregation : 
 
 1. Organ voluntary. 
 
 2. The doxology. 
 
 3. Invocation.! 
 
 4. Responsive reading. 
 
 * These words set to music may be chanted as a refrain after each 
 •scripture sentence. 
 
 + The invocation may close with the Lord's prayer, in which al 
 join in repeating, or the Lord's prayer may be chanted after the 
 invocation or after the long prayer. 
 
ORDER FOR ORDINATION OR INSTALLATION. 1 63 
 
 5. Hymn or chant. 
 
 
 6. Scripture reading. 
 
 
 7. Chant or anthem. 
 
 
 8. Prayer. 
 
 
 9. Notices. 
 
 
 10. Offertory. 
 
 
 II. Hymn. 
 
 
 12. Sermon. 
 
 
 13. Hymn. 
 
 
 14. Benediction. 
 
 
 Ordination or 
 
 Sinjitaltation 
 
 1. Hymn or anthem. 
 
 2. Reading of the minutes of the council. 
 
 3. Prayer. 
 
 4. Hymn or chant. 
 
 5. Reading of the scriptures.* 
 
 6. Hymn. 
 
 7. Sermon. 
 
 8. Prayer of ordination or installation. 
 
 9. Right-hand of fellowship. 
 10. Hymn. 
 
 I J . Charge to the pastor. 
 
 12. Charge to the people. 
 
 13. Hymn. 
 
 14. Benediction. 
 
 * Some of the following portions of scripture will be found appro- 
 priate : Isa. iii. 7-8 ; Ezek. iii. 17-21, xxxiii. 7-9 ; Mat. x. 40-42 Mar . 
 vi. I i-i 2 ; Luke X. 1-20 ; John XX. 21-22, xxi. 15-17 ; 2 Cor, iv. i, 2,5; 
 I Tim. iii. 1-7, iv. 6, 11-15, v. i, 2, 17-22, vi. 12-21 ; 2Tim. ii. 1-5 
 14-16, 22 26, iii. 14-17? iv. 1-5 ; Titus i. 5-9, ii. i-S, iT-15 ; i Peter iv.' 
 10, II, V. 2.4. 
 
164 ORDER FOR THE LAYING OF A CORNKR-STONE. 
 
 Siiging of ($oi!neii=,Stone. 
 
 1. Hymn or anthem. 
 
 2. Invocation — Lord's prayer in unison. 
 
 3. Reading of scriptures.* 
 
 4. Prayer. 
 
 5. Hymn, chant or anthem. 
 
 6. Address. 
 
 7. Depositing the documents. 
 
 8. Placing of box in stone. 
 
 9. Spreading mortar and placing stone. 
 
 10. Formal laying of the stone. f 
 
 11. Brief prayer. 
 
 12. Hymn. 
 
 13. Benediction. 
 
 * The following would be proper selections from the scriptures : 
 Psalm cxxxii. 3-5, 7 ; Hag. i. 8, 14 ; Zach. iv. 6, 7 ; Isa. xxviii. 16, 17 ; 
 Eph. ii. 19 21. 
 
 t One or all of the following scripture texts may be used in the 
 formal laying of the stone, together with the closing formula : 
 
 " Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." 
 
 '• Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 " Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
 Christ himself being ihe chief corner-stone." 
 
 ' * For the glory of God and the good of man and in the name of 
 the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, we lay this corner- 
 stone for the foundation of a house to be built and consecrated to the 
 service of Almighty God. Amen." 
 
ORDER FOR CHURCH DEDICATION. 1 65 
 
 (Ehuiich Scdication. 
 
 1. Hymn or anthem. 
 
 2. Invocation. 
 
 3. Prayer. 
 
 4. Responsive reading. 
 
 5. Anthem or chant. 
 
 6. Reading of scripture.^' 
 
 7. Hymn. 
 
 8. Sermon. 
 
 9. Presentation of building from building committee 
 to church symbolized by the delivery of the keys. 
 
 10. Reception of building on the part of the church by 
 the pastor or some other officer. 
 
 I [. Offertory, or raising of money if necessary. 
 
 12. Prayer of dedication. 
 
 13. Congratulations from other churches. 
 
 14. Hymn. 
 
 15. Benediction. 
 
 benedictions. 
 
 ^;S^0 God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ, 
 ^jj forever. — Romans xvi. 27. 
 
 ¥ Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father 
 and from the Lord Jesus Christ. — i Corinthians i. 3. 
 
 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, 
 and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. 
 Amen. — 2 Corinthians xiii. 14. 
 
 The following scripture selections will be found appropriate : 
 Psalms xxxiv. 1-12, xxvii. 4, 5, xlviii. 9-I4, c. 1-5, cxxii. I-9 ; I 
 Chron. xxix. 10-13, 15-19 ; 2 Chron. vi. I, 2, 4, 14, 17-20, 39-41- 
 
i66 
 
 FORMS OF BENEDICTIONS. 
 
 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with 
 your Spirit, Amen. — Galatians vi. i8. 
 
 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God 
 the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all 
 them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. 
 — Ephesians vi. 23, 24. 
 
 The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall 
 keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now 
 unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever 
 Amen. — Philippians iv. 7, 20. 
 
 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. — 2 Timothy i. 2. 
 
 Grace to you and peace, from God our Father, and the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. — Philemon 3. 
 
 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead 
 our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through 
 the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in 
 every good work to do his will, working in you that which 
 is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom 
 be glory forever and ever. Amen. — Hebrews xiii. 20, 21. 
 
 Grace and peace be multiplied wiih you through the 
 knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. — 2 Peter 2. 
 
 Grace be with you, mercy and peace from God the 
 Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the 
 Father, in truth and love. — 2 John 3. 
 
 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and 
 to present you faultless before the presence of his glory 
 with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be 
 glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and 
 ever. Amen. — Jude 24, 25. 
 
 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 
 Amen. — Revelation xxii. 21. 
 
V. 
 
 ^xilo3 and ^orms. 
 
 " T/ier{^ sJionld be ?io divisioji in the body ; but the 
 members sJiould have the same care one for another. 
 And whether one member sujfer, all the members suffer 
 with it ; or one member be honored^ all the members 
 rejoice with it. Mow ye are the body of Christ, and 
 members in particular.'' — i CORINTHIANS xii. 25-27. 
 
 '' Bear ye one another'' s burdens, and so fulfil the law 
 of Christ. — Galatiaxs vi. i. 
 
iortrinat .statement. 
 
 ^3F^HE following is the statement of the doctrines of the 
 \t) gospel held by Congregationalists, as set forth in 1883 
 ^ by the committee appointed by the National Con- 
 gregational council, and accepted by the Congregational 
 Union of Ontario and Quebec in 1886 : 
 
 I. We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven 
 and earth, and of all things visible and invisible ; 
 
 And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who is of one sub- 
 stance with the Father ; by whom all things were made ; 
 
 And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who is sent 
 from the Father and Son, and who together with the Father and Son 
 is worshipped and glorified. 
 
 II. We believe that the providence of God, by which he executes 
 his eternal purposes in the government of the world, is in and over all 
 events ; yet so that the freedom and responsibility of man are not 
 impaired, and sin is the act of the creature alone. 
 
 ill. We believe ihat man was made in the image of God; that he 
 might know, love, and obey God, and enjoy him forever ; that our first 
 parents by disobedience fell under the rigliteous condemnation of God ; 
 and thnt all men are so alienated from God that there is no salvation 
 from the guilt and power of sin except through God's redeeming 
 grace. 
 
 IV. We believe that God would have all men return to him ; that 
 to this end he has made himself known, not only through works of 
 nature, the course of his providence, and the consciences of men, but 
 also through supernatural revelations made especially to a chosen peo- 
 ple, and above all, when the fulness of time was come, through 
 Jesus Christ his Son. 
 
 V. We believe that the scrip! ures of the Old and New Testaments 
 are the record of God's revelation of himself in the work of redemp- 
 tion : that they were written by men under the special guidance of the 
 Holy Spirit ; that they are able to make wise unto salvation ; and that 
 they constitute the authoritative standard by which religious teaching 
 and human conduct are to be regulated and judged. 
 
1 7© CONGREGATIONAL DOCTRINAL STATEMENT. 
 
 VI. We believe that the love of God to sinful men has found its 
 highest expression in the redemptive work of his Son ; who became 
 man, uniting his divine nature with our human nature in one person; 
 who was tempted like other men, yet without sin ; who by his humilia- 
 tion, his holy obedience, his sufferings, his death on the cross, and his 
 resurrection^ became a perfect Redeemer ; whose sacrifice of himself for 
 tlie sins of the world declares the righteousness of God, and is the sole 
 and sufficient ground of forgiveness and of reconciliation with hmi. 
 
 VII. We believe that Jesus Christ, after he had risen from the dead, 
 ascended into heaven, where, as the one mediator between God and 
 man, he carries forwaid his work of saving men; that he sends the 
 Holy Spirit to convict them of sin, and to lead them to repentance and 
 failh, and that those who through renewing grace turn to righteousness, 
 and trust in Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, receive for his sake the 
 forgiveness of their sins, and are made the children of God. 
 
 VIII. W^e believe that those who are thus regenerated and justified 
 grow in sanctified character through fellowship with Christ, the in- 
 dwelling of the Holy Spirit and obedience to the truth ; that a holy life 
 is the fruit and evidence of saving faith ; and that the believer's hope of 
 continuance in such a life is in the preserving grace of God. 
 
 IX. We believe that Jesus Christ came to establish among men the 
 kingdom of God, the reign of truth and love, righteousness and peace ; 
 that to Jesus Christ, the Head of this kingdom, Christians are directly 
 responsible in faith and conduct ; and that to him all have immediate 
 access without n ediatorial or priestly intervention. 
 
 X. We believe that the Church of Christ, invisible and spiritual, 
 comprises all true believers whose duty it is to associate themselves in 
 churches for the maintenance of worship, for the promotion of spiritual 
 growth and fellowship, and for the conversion of men ; that these 
 churches, under the guidance of the holy scriptures and in fellowship 
 with one another, may determine — each for itself — their organization, 
 statements of belief, and forms of worship, may appoint and set apart 
 their own ministers, and should co-operate in the work which Christ has 
 committed to them for the furtherance of the gospel throughout the world. 
 
 XI. We beheve in the observance of the Lord's day, as a day of 
 holy rest and worship ; in the ministry of the word ; and in the two 
 sacraments, which Christ has appointed for his church : Bai^tism, to be 
 administered to believers and their children, as the sign of cleansing 
 from sin, of union to Christ, and of the impartation of the Holy Spirit; 
 and the Lord's supper, as a symbol of his atoning death, a seal of its 
 efficacy, and a means whereby he confirms and strengthens the spiritual 
 union and communion of believers with himself. 
 
 Xn. We believe in the ultimate prevalence of the kingdom of 
 Christ over all the earth ; in the glorious appearing of the great God 
 and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; in the resurrection of the dead ; and in a 
 final judgment, the issues of which are everlasting punishment and 
 everlasting life. 
 
RULES OF ETHICS FOR MINISTERS. 171 
 
 Pini.sterial OtthicH. 
 
 ^;3f^HE medical and legal professions have strict rules 
 \j|J ofethics, which plainly indicate the mutual obligations 
 ▼ of the members of the same profession, and which 
 cannot be violated without affecting the standing of 
 the offending one. The same is true with regard to the 
 ministerial profession, with this difference, that, although 
 the principles are accepted, they are not generally codified 
 and formally endorsed. The following briefly embodies 
 the common practice of Christian courtesy obtaining among 
 ministers of all denominations : 
 
 I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 1. Every minister on enterintr the profession is bound as a Christian 
 and a gentleman to do all in his power to maintain its purity, honor 
 and dignity, and to put away all that is in opposition to the spirii of the 
 gospel. All professional jealousy and scheming therefore must be 
 avoided. 
 
 2. He must avoid all contumelious or sarcastic remarks relative to 
 the profession as a body and to individual members in particular, and 
 should entertain and manifest a due respect for his seniors. 
 
 3. It is not becoming the dignity of a minister or his work to resort 
 to public advertisements of special subjects or services whereby mem- 
 bers of other congregations are drawn away and the disease of " itching 
 ears " is intensified. 
 
 4. A thoughtful minister will not suffer himself to write or suggest 
 " newspaper puffs " relating to his services or to the work of his church, 
 and will hesitate to present his MS. for publication, unless requested so 
 to do by his congregation or the public at large. 
 
 5. In the pulpit let him especially avoid anything ungentlemanly in 
 word, manner or dress, for this will have a marked effect upon his 
 hearers. If possible, he should have a " preaching suit " which he does 
 not ordinarily use. 
 
 6. No minister has a right to make the pulpit a " coward castle "' or 
 become a scold, neither may he prostitute it or his profession by play- 
 ing the buffoon. 
 
172 RULES OF ETHICS FOR MINISTERS. 
 
 7. In language and demeanor let liim in public and in private culti- 
 vate a genial gravity, ever remembering that his actions will regulate 
 the conduct of many of his people. An intolerant, overbearing, harsh, 
 rude or quarrelsome disposition must be avoided. 'Ihe diflficult lesson 
 to be hearty and yet reserved should be studied. 
 
 8. While a minister's dress need not be offensively clerical, it should 
 always be -^uch that it will not offend those who hold the pulpit in 
 honor. If it be dark and free from foppishness and such as will ena- 
 ble him to take his place at any moment before an audience, it will 
 answer the conditions required. A clergyman does not require gloves 
 at an evening party, nor is he under the usual social restrictions as to 
 fall dress. 
 
 9. While a minister has a perfect right to have personal friends in 
 his church and congregation, and treat them as such, in all official niter- 
 course the utmost impartiality must be maintained towards the whole 
 church and congregation. 
 
 II. IJAPTLSMS. 
 
 1. A minister officiating for another should not perform the ordinance 
 of baptism in ihe congregation, unless it has been by the request or with 
 the consent of the pastor in charge, and all requests to do so by parents 
 should be declined . 
 
 2. A minister visiting the parishioners of a pastor should decline all 
 oveituresto perform the ordinance, unless in exceptional cases, and then 
 only after the pastor has been spoken to and his approval obtained. 
 
 3. A pastor, receiving a request from a parishioner that a baptism 
 may be performed by some other minister, a relative, friend or former 
 pastor, will readily express his approval, and will be present and assist, if 
 invited, as is almost always the custom. 
 
 4. Should circumstances prevent the presence of the minister in charge, 
 the one officiating should invariably report to him the baptism in detail 
 for registration. 
 
 III. MARRIAGES. 
 
 1. It is the province of the bride to choose the officiating clergyman, 
 and she will in courtesy select her own pastor, except under special 
 circumstances; whoever may be called to assist will undeistand that 
 he is under the direction of the one first named. 
 
 2. Should the services of a clergyman other than the pastor, say a 
 relative or special friend, be desired, explanations should always first be 
 made to the party's minister, and if they are reasonable a cheerful 
 consent will be given. 
 
 3 If one happens to know that the clergyman who would naturally 
 have been solicited has refused to serve, it is well to be cautious lest 
 unforeseen danger should be in the case. 
 
RULES OF ETHICS FOR MINISTERS. I 73 
 
 4. When a minister has been called to officiate in ihe absence of the 
 regular pa^tor, it is seemly that the fee received should be tendered to 
 him, although it may be known he would decline to leceive the same. 
 
 5. The snlutation of the bride is to be avoided, on general principles. 
 Instead, the cleig)man may shake hands with the bride and groom and 
 express his congratulations. 
 
 6. A certificate of marriage should invaiiablybe presented to the 
 bride. When a special illuminated certificate is desired, it should be 
 furnii-hed by the parties requestino- the same to be filled up and signed 
 by the minister. 
 
 7 Legal returns and entry as indicated by law or usage should at 
 once be made as a matter of right and courtesy. 
 
 8. The publication of the marriage notice always devolves on the 
 bridegi-oom or friends of those married, and never on the officiating 
 minister. 
 
 9. It IS generally conceded that for the sake of example clergymen 
 should not. accept of wine at weddings. 
 
 IV. FUNERALS. 
 
 1. The pastor, either of the deceased or of the family, is supposed to 
 have the charge of the services. 
 
 2. Should it happen that any other clergyman is summoned for suffi- 
 cient cause, he should by all means honor the pastor's position by con- 
 saltation v/ith him beforehand and by deference to him if he be present. 
 
 3. In all cases where the family has divided church relations or none 
 whatever, or when they are strangers to the clergyman summoned, he 
 should ascertain these facts before he consents to serve. 
 
 4. The clergyman in charge of the funeral service should observe as 
 far as possible the following points : 
 
 (a) To see the family before and after the funeral. 
 
 (/f) To be prompt in opening and closing the service. 
 
 (f) To observe the arrangements already made by the friends. 
 
 5. If secular secret societies have a service in connection with the 
 burial, the clergyman should fully perform the usual religious services 
 and avoid an intermixture with other forms and sei vices. 
 
 6. At the grave itself, as well as at the house, and in the procession 
 and service, whether in the church or in the street, the clergyman 
 should reserve to himself the right to authority, as against any custom 
 or action which is cruel, coarse or superstitious. 
 
 7. In large cities it is not now generally expected that the clergy- 
 man will go to the grave. 
 
 8. A clergyman has no right in his remarks to refer to the mourners 
 or the deceased in any other than the gentlest way. Truth may de- 
 mand silence but it can never justify brutality. The life of the 
 deceased rather than the voice of the minister should be the witness to 
 the departed. 
 
174 RULES OF ETHICS FOR MINISTERS. 
 
 9. It is couiteous to invite another clergyman, who is a friend of the 
 family, and may be present, to assist in the exercises ; but the consent 
 of the family should first be obtained. 
 
 10. The convenience of the clergyman who is to officiate should 
 always be consulted before the hour and other appointments are made. 
 
 11. Money, gloves, etc., for funeral services may be accepted or 
 declined, as the circumstances seem to dictate, but no one should 
 suggest that they be offered 
 
 V. PULPIT EXCHANGES. 
 
 1. The duty of the first exchange rests with the pastor already upon 
 the field, the new comer has no right to propose it. Subsequent ex- 
 changes are of mutual arrangement. 
 
 2. In all ordinary exchanges the order of service and the customs 
 of the congregation are to be strictly complied with. 
 
 3. Care should be taken to avoid all controversial questions when 
 a minister is in a pulpit of another denomination. 
 
 \T. CALLING. 
 
 1. Christian courtesy demands a call by the resident pastors upon 
 the newly arrived minister, and all such calls should be invariably re- 
 turned. 
 
 2. A cleigyman visiting in any place should not hesitate to call first 
 upon the resident pastor, nor should the resident pastor hesitate to 
 call first upon the visitor, for the obligation in such cases is evenly 
 balanced 
 
 3. Should the visiting clergyman, however, have been a former pastor, 
 then it is the duty of his successors first to call upon him, which call 
 should be promptly returned. 
 
 4. If members of another church become regular attendants, or even 
 pevvholders, it is perfectly proper for the pastor to visit them ; but a 
 truly generous and courteous man will hesitate about urging them to unile 
 with his own church. 
 
 5. When there are different churches and beliefs represented in one 
 house or family, controversy or proselytizing are alike discourteous. 
 
 6. It is utterly discourteous and unchristian to make an effort to 
 secure those already located elsewhere, or in any way to disparage or 
 disturb the work of another pastor. 
 
 7. When members of another congregation, from some known pique 
 or fancied grievance, attend another church, the pastor of the church 
 to which they go should call upon their former minister and confer 
 with him before showing them official attention. Otherwise, he 
 might encourage serious wrong and do injury to one who has only 
 been faithful to dutv. 
 
RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. 1 75 
 
 8. Clergymen and their wives, from their official relation to their 
 congregations, are not placed under the ceremonial rule of waiting 
 until a call is leturned before others are made. Neither can a pastor 
 be required to call on any of his parishioners on their set days for 
 receiving, but may make his pastoral visit on any day or hour that is 
 seasonable. 
 
 VII. OTHER COURTESIES. 
 
 1. A clergyman who observes another minister present in his con- 
 gregation may invite him to his pulpit, but is by no means under 
 obligation to do so ; and no offence should be taken when it is not done. 
 
 2. When there are several clergymen attending the same church 
 they may each be occasionally honored by some personal attention. 
 The rule must always be determined by what is right, what is Chris- 
 tian, and what is for edification. It is clear, however, that the pastor 
 is in nowise obliged to invite his biethren to preach or assist in the 
 service, 
 
 3. A minister preaching for another minister should expect no com- 
 pen.cation beyond his expenses. If, however, he preaches for achurch 
 at the request of the church officers, he has a right to look for re- 
 muneration. 
 
 ^arliaminttarn |vuleji. 
 
 j^ LL deliberative assemblies are governed by certain 
 MJ recognized parliamentary rules. The following synop- 
 ' sis will not only be useful to ministers and members 
 o( churches in their ecclesiastical dehberations, but by 
 careful study prepare our young men intelligently to 
 conduct civic and national affairs : 
 
 I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 
 
 1 . Bodies which hold slated meetings, such as churches, boa rds, 
 religious, literary or scientific associations, and the like, proceed directly 
 to business on assembling by the chairman calling the meeting to 
 order at the appointed time. The body is supposed to be then luUy 
 organized, and the usual course is taken. 
 
 2. In religious and ecclesiastical bodies which meet annually, the 
 officers of the previous year serve until new ones are elected. The 
 chairman calls the meeting to order at the time designated, and the 
 election of officers is usually the first business, unless other service be 
 provided for to precede. 
 
176 KULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. 
 
 3. When new bodies meet, such as councils, mass-meetings, con- 
 ventions called for special purposes, or persons for the formation of 
 associations, churches or societies, any one may call the meeting to 
 order when the time named arrives. If there be a committee having the 
 matter m charge, the chairman of such committee would properly do it. 
 
 The one so calling to order names some one to take the chair, or asks 
 the meeting to nominate some one, and puts the nomination to vote. 
 The chairman so elected takes his seat, and completes the organization 
 by calling for the nomination of a secretary, and other officers, if 
 necessary. When this is done, the chairman states the object of the 
 meeting, indicates the course of business, and the deliberations proceed. 
 But if the business be difficult to reach, a committee may at once be 
 appointed to prepare and present it in proper shape for action before 
 the body. 
 
 4. In some cases, where the body is large and the business to be 
 considered specially important or difficult, there is first a tgfnpo)-ayy 
 organization, effected as above, and afterwards 0. permanent organiza- 
 tion . 
 
 Ttiis is done by organizing temporal ilv with a chairman and secre- 
 tary, and then proceeding to ballot for permanent officers ; or by 
 appointing a committee on nomination, which committee shall i-ecom- 
 mend persons as permanent officers. The election is usually by ballot, 
 especially in the case of presiding officer. 
 
 5. In representative assemblies, composed of delegates from other 
 bodies, immediately after the first organization, the chairman calls for 
 the credentials of delegates present, of which the secretary makes an 
 accurate list, so as to know who has the right to a seat and a vote 
 in the meeting. 
 
 Neither the chairman nor the assembly can add to the number of 
 members appointed by the bodies from which they come. Nor can 
 any delegates, regularly appointed and accredited, be deprived of 
 their right to a seat in, and the privileges of, the assembly except for 
 improper conduct during the meeting. 
 
 II. THE CHAIRMAN. 
 
 It is the duty of the presiding officer to maintain order m the assem- 
 bly, and so to direct the course of proceedings as best to secure the 
 object contemplated. He states all motions made, puts them to vote, 
 and announces the result. He decides points of order, and appoints 
 committees, when so directed by the body. 
 
 If necessary for him to leave the chair, the vice-president, if there be 
 one, takes his place ; if not, and his absence be only temporary, he 
 asks some member to occupy the chair till his return. If his absence 
 is to be protracted, he requests the body to choose a chairman in his 
 place. 
 
RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. I77 
 
 Since much of the good order and efficiency of any deliberative 
 body depends upon the fitness of the chairman for the place, no one 
 should be chosen for that position out of mere pers onal esteem, nor 
 unless he possesses the requisite qualifications. Nor should the 
 position be accepted by one who is conscious that he is not competent 
 properly to discharge its duties. 
 
 In church meetings the pastor is moderator ex officio. But he can 
 request any member to take the chair if he so desires. 
 
 III. THE SECRETARY. 
 
 The duty of the secretary is to make and keep a fair and accurate 
 record of the proceedings of the meeting : have charge of all papers 
 and documents belonging to it ; read whatever is required to b e read 
 from the desk before the body ; call the roll of members ; and furnish, 
 when required, any information which the records contain. 
 
 1 . In legislative bodies, a record of business actually passed and 
 done constitutes the minutes. But in deliberative bodies, not legislative, 
 the records are expected to show a concise journal of all proceedings. 
 
 2. Propositions not carried and motions lost are not to be recorded, 
 unless their record be ordered at the time. 
 
 3. Resolutions voted and proceedings actually had may be omitted 
 from the records by a vote of the body at the time so directing. 
 
 4. Names and proceedings cannot be inserted in the minutes subse- 
 quent to their approval, unless it be apparent that the omission was a 
 mistake, and the insertion be essential to make the minutes correct. 
 
 IV. THE MEMBERS. 
 
 All the members have equal rights and privileges in the assembly; 
 have an equal interest in the successful issue of the deliberations ; and 
 an equal responsibility in maintaining order and furthering the busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Discourteous remarks should not be indulged in or allowed. Mem- 
 bers should arise to speak, and show that respect to the chairman 
 which both his person and his position claim and should receive. 
 
 Strict attention should be given to the proceedings. Conversation 
 among members and all unnecessary noise should be avoided. Re- 
 marks while speaking should be confined to the subject under debate, 
 and should be both temperate and courteous. 
 
 V. ORDER OF BUSINESS. 
 
 I. If the meeting be a stated one, the order of business is usually 
 this : First, Reading and approval of the minutes of the last meeting ; 
 Second, Unfinished business, or that which appears on the minutes, 
 including the reports of committees in their order ; Third, New busi- 
 nei^s, which may be proposed by any member. 
 
 12 
 
178 RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. 
 
 2. If the meeting be a special one, the object and order of business 
 may be set forth in the call by which it is convened ; in which case 
 the chairman states it, and the deliberations proceed according to that 
 order. Or the chairman may state the object of the meeting informally, 
 from his own knowledge; or a committee may be appointed to prepare 
 an order of business. Boards usually have their order of business 
 prescribed, which order should be followed. 
 
 3. Associations and other bodies which meet annually, or at long 
 intervals, councils and other bodies which dissolve or adjourn sine die, 
 have their minutes read and corrected before adjournment. 
 
 4. The only change which can be made in the minutes is to correct 
 what is incorrect. If what is actually passed and done be accurately 
 recorded, it cannot be changed to meet the wishes either of individuals 
 or of the entire body. Entries of actual transactions cannot be 
 obliterated. But statements of related facts, not essential to a truth- 
 ful record of actual business, may be omitted in correcting the 
 minutes, if so ordered by the body. 
 
 5. It is, however, expected that the minutes of churches, find other 
 bodies not legislative, will show a concise history of their proceedings, 
 and not be simply confined to a record ot business done. This is 
 made at the discretion of the secretary, but is subject to revision by 
 the body, when the minutes are passed upon. 
 
 VI. A QUORUM. 
 
 1. In all deliberative assemblies, it is understood that the votes of a 
 majority of members present shall decide a question under debate. 
 
 2. In constitutional changes, and some other matters, it is common 
 to require a vote of two thirds or three-fourths of those voting. 
 
 3. Boards, standing committees, and some other bodies, usually agree 
 that no business shall be done unless there be present a certain number 
 designated, and called a quoriDii. 
 
 4. While a majority vote strictly carries any question of ordinary 
 character, yet in churches and religious assemblies, all important deci- 
 .<;ions should have the general concurrence of the body, and not be held 
 by a mere majority. 
 
 5. Churches seldom fix the number of a (7«fr//;« by rule, but consider 
 any number present at a business meeting regularly called competent 
 to act. It is, however, unwi.se to transact important business with only 
 a small pait of the church present. 
 
 VII. MOTIONS. 
 
 I. All business mu.'it be presented by a motion — made in writing, if 
 so required. Properly the motion should be made by one member and 
 seconded by another. But routine business may by general consent 
 pass to a vote without a seconder. 
 
KIIl-S OF (KIER AISD DEJSATK. I79 
 
 2. No di.^cussion can properly be had until a motion is made, second- 
 ed, and distinctly stated by the chairman. 
 
 3. A resolution cannot be withdrawn after it has been discussed, 
 except by unanimous consent of the body. 
 
 4. A resolution, having been discussed, must be put to vote, unless 
 withdrawn, laid on the table, referred, or postponed. 
 
 5. Amotion lost should not be recorded, unless so ordered by the 
 body at the time. 
 
 6. A motion lost cannot be renewed at the same meeting except by 
 unanimous consent of the body. 
 
 7. A resolution should contain but one distinct proposition or ques- 
 tion. If it does contain more, it must at the request of any member 
 be divided, and the questions acted on separately. 
 
 8. Only one question can properly be before an assembly at the same 
 time. But there are certain subsidiary motions, which by common 
 usage may interrupt one already under debate. These are motions to 
 amend, to substitute^ to postpone^ to lay on the table, for the previous 
 qnestion, and to adjourn. These motions in their form are not debat- 
 able, except those to amend ant! to substitute. 
 
 9. The subsidiary motion just named cannot be interrupted by any 
 other motion ; nor can any other be applied to them except ti;at to 
 amende which may be dtaie by specifying some time^ place., or pur- 
 pose. 
 
 10. Nor can these motions interrupt or supersede each other ; except 
 that a motion to adjourn is always in order, except while a speaker has 
 the floor, or a vote is being taken . 
 
 11. When these motions, which are not debatable by usage, are 
 amended by an addition of time, place, or purpose, they become debat- 
 able like other motions ; but debatable only as to the time, place, or 
 purpose which brings them within the range of discussion. 
 
 12. No resolution or motion can be entertained, which has, at the .same 
 session, been put to vote, and lost. Nor can a resolution be entertained 
 which directly contradicts, annuls, or abrogates one already passed. 
 But one parsed can be reconsidered and voted down, and then one of 
 contrary import can be passed. 
 
 VIII. AMENDMENTS. 
 
 1. Amendments can be made to resolutions or motions, in three 
 ways : by omitting, by adding, or hy substituting words or sentences. 
 
 2. An amendment to an amendment can be made, but not to the 
 second degree ; it would complicate and obstruct proceedings. 
 
 3. No amendment should be made which essentially changes the 
 meaning or design of the original resolution. 
 
 4. But a stibstitJite may be ofteied, which may or may not change the 
 meaning of the resolution under debate. 
 
 5. An amendment is first to be discussed and acted on, and then the 
 original resolution as amended. 
 
l80 RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. 
 
 IX. SPEAKING. 
 
 1. Any member desiring to speak on a question should rise in his 
 place and address the chairman, confine his remarks to the question 
 under discussion, and avoid all unkind and disrespectful language. 
 
 2. A speaker using improper language, introducing improper sub- 
 jects, or otherwise out of order, should be called to order by the chair- 
 man, or by any member, and must either take his seat or conform to 
 the regulations of the body. 
 
 3. A member while speaking can allow others to ask questions, or 
 make explanations ; but if he yield the floor to another, cannot claim 
 it again as his right. 
 
 4. if two members rise at the same time to speak, preference is 
 usually given to the one farthest from the chair, or to the one opposing 
 the question under discussion. 
 
 5. The fact that a member has several times risen to speak gives him 
 no preference to be heard on that account. Nor can the chairman give 
 the floor to one because he has made several attempts to obtain it. 
 
 6. Calls for the question cannot deprive a member of his right to 
 speak, either when he has the floor or when rising to speak. Nor is it 
 courteous to call for the question while a member is on the floor. 
 
 7. Should a member use offensive language in debate, his words 
 should be taken by the secretary, verified by his own acknowledgment, 
 or by a vote of the body, and he be required to apologize, or be visited 
 by such censure as the body may see fit to inflict. 
 
 X. VOTING. 
 
 1. The question is put to vote by the chairman, having first distinctly 
 re-stated it, that all may clearly understand how and what they vote. 
 First, the affirmative, then the negative is called ; each so deliberately 
 as to give all an opportunity of voting. He then distinctly announces 
 whether the motion is carried or lost. 
 
 2. Voting is done usually by aye and nay, or by raising the hand. 
 When the decision is doubted, by standing to be counted. Sometimes 
 by ballot, sometimes by a division of the house, the affirmative taking 
 one side and the negative the other, until counted. Sometimes by 
 calling the yeas and nays^xSxQ. secretary calling the roll, and each 
 member answering with his vote. The last two methods are in use chiefly 
 in legislative assemblies. 
 
 3. Taking the j^aj' and «a;/J is resorted to usually for the purpose 
 of holding members accountable to the constituents whom they repre- 
 sent. In churches and other voluntary associations it cannot be re- 
 quired, since they are not representative bodies, and have no constituen- 
 cies to whom they are amenable. 
 
 4. Ifthe jmj and nays be ordered, each member has the right to ex- 
 plain his vote at length ; and in doing so can discuss the merits of the 
 entire question, should he choose, in order to justify his vote. 
 
RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. l8l 
 
 5. If the vote as announced by the chairman be doubted, it is usual 
 to call it the second time, generally by counting. 
 
 6. All members should vote, unless for reasons excused ; or those 
 under discipline, during which disability they should take no active 
 part in the business of the body. 
 
 7. The chairman usually votes when the question is taken by ballot ; 
 otherwise it is customary for him to waive that right. But when the 
 assembly is equally divided, he may, if so disposed, give the casting 
 vote. 
 
 8. When the vote is taken by ballot, as is u^ual on important ques- 
 tions, especially in the election of officers, tellers are appointed by the 
 chair to distribute, collect and count the ballots. 
 
 9. The tellers do not themselves announce the result of the ballot, 
 but report it to the chairman, who makes the announcement. 
 
 10. In announcing the result, it is usual to state the whole number 
 of votes cast, the number necessary to a choice (in the case of an elec- 
 tion), and the number cast for the successful candidate, and then to 
 declare his election. If there be no election, the number of votes for 
 several of the highest candidates is announced, and a new ballot is 
 ordered. 
 
 XI. COMMITTEES, 
 
 1. Committees are nominated by the chairman at the direction of the 
 body, and their nomination confirmed by a vote. More commonly, the 
 meeting directs that all committees shall be appointed by the chair, in 
 which case no vote is needed to confirm. 
 
 2. Any matter of business, or subject under debate, may be referred 
 to a committee, with or without instructions. The committee make 
 their report^ which is the result of their deliberation'^. Ihe body then 
 takes action on the report and on any recommendations ii may con- 
 tain. 
 
 3. The report of a committee is received by a vote, which acknow- 
 ledges their service, and takes their report before the body for considera- 
 tion. Afterwards, any distinct recot?imendationcon\.^inQ<\ in the report 
 is acted on, and may be adopted or rejected. 
 
 4. Frequently, however, when the recommendationsof the committee 
 are of trifling moment, or likely to be generally acceptable, the report 
 is received and adopted by a single vote. 
 
 5. A report may be re committed to the committee, or that committee 
 may be discharged, and another appointed for the same purpose, with 
 or without instructions, for a further consideration of the subject, so as 
 to present it in a form more likely to secure the concurrence of the 
 body- 
 
 6. The meeting has ni> power to change the form of a committee's 
 report ; for tlien, sj far, it woald bs a docimeiit of tfie body, ami not 
 of the committee. But the report maybe re-cjmmitted with instruc- 
 
Ib2 RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. 
 
 tions to change it . Any distinct recommendation in the report may, 
 however, be modified since that, if adopted, becomes the action of the 
 body rather than of the committee. 
 
 7. A committee may be appointed 7aii/i power for a specific pur- 
 ])Ose. In that case it has full discretion to dispose conclusively of the 
 business intrusted to it, without further reference to the body. 
 
 8. The first one named in the appointment of a committee is by 
 courtesy considered the chainnan. But a committee, when called 
 together, has the right to elect its own chairman. 
 
 9. The member who moves the appointment of a committee is 
 usually, out of courtesy though not necessarily appointed, first named 
 on it, and acts as chairman. 
 
 10. Committees of arrangement, or for other business protracted in 
 its nature, report progress from time to time, and are continued until their 
 final report is made or their appointment expires by limitation. 
 
 ir. A committee is discharged hy a vote when its business is done 
 and its reports received. But usually a committee is considered as 
 discharged by the acceptance of its report. 
 
 12. In constituting a committee, it is usual to appoint a majority of 
 \.\\os,Q favorable to the proposition submitted to their consideration, if it 
 be a matter in controversy. 
 
 13. In making up its report, if unanimity cannot be secured, a 
 majority prepares and presents the report. But the minority may also 
 present a separate report. The body can hear and act on both, at its 
 di'Cretiot) ; or it may refase to give any consideration to the minority 
 report, if so disposed. 
 
 XII. STANDING COMMITTEE, 
 
 A committee appointed to act for a given time, or during the recess 
 of the body, is called a standing conunUtee. It has charge of a given 
 department of business assigned by the body; acts either with power 
 in the final disposition of that business, or under instructions, in pre- 
 paring it for action of the body. A standing committee is substantially 
 a minor board, and has its own chairman, secretary, records, times of 
 meeting, and order of business. 
 
 XIII. COMMITTKEOF THE WHOLE. 
 
 When an assembly desires to consider any subject in a manner less 
 formal and restricted than can be done under ordinary rules of busi- 
 ness, it may resolve itself into a coinviittee of the whole for that purpose. 
 
 This is done by a vote to go into a committee of the whole, at a given 
 time and for a given purpose. When the specified time arrives, the 
 presiding officer names some member to take the chair, the business is 
 stated, and the body, as committee, proceeds to its consideration. 
 
RULES OF ORDER AND DEL.A1E. 1 83 
 
 The proceedings are governed by the ordinarj' rules of debate, except 
 
 1. The chairman has the same privilege in debate as other members, 
 
 2. Speakers are not restricted as to time. 
 
 3. The previous question cannot be called. 
 
 4. No committees can be appointed. 
 
 5. No other business than that assigned can be considered by them. 
 
 6. The committee cannot adjourn but rise, when its time has expired ; 
 and if its business be not completed, it will, when its report 1:^ made, ask 
 permission of the assembly to sit again. 
 
 When the committee rises, the chairman of the body resumes his 
 seat, and the chairman of the committee reports the results of the 
 deliberations. This form of committee is seldom resorted to except 
 in legislative bodies. 
 
 XIV. APPEAL. 
 
 The chairman announces all votes, and decides all questions as to 
 rules of proceeding and order in debate. But any member who is 
 dissatisfied with his decisions may appeil from it, to the decision of 
 the b'idy. The chairman then puts the question, '-^ Shall the decision 
 of the chair be sustained ?'' The vote on this question is final. The 
 question on appeal is not debatable. The right of appeal is undeniable, 
 but should not be too freely used. 
 
 XV. PROTEST. 
 
 It is the right of any member, who may regard the action of the body 
 in a given case to be wrong, unauthorized, or in any way oppressive, 
 to protest against it. This protest may hi made verbally and inform- 
 ally, in which case it is heard, but is not entered on the minutes except 
 by request of the protectant and by permission of the body. But if it 
 be presented formally in writing, the bodv is bound to receive the 
 document, and record its reception. The entire document can be en- 
 tered on the records by a vote of tiie body. 
 
 The right to protest, as well as that o{ petition and appeal, can never 
 be denied to free men without an abridgment of their liberties. Ques- 
 tions pertaining to the rights and privileges of members, even though 
 they be liable to abuse, should be treited by deliberative assemblies, 
 in the most liberal manner, consistent with good order and a proper 
 discharge of their obligations. 
 
 XVI. THE PREVIOUS QUESTION. 
 
 Debate may be cut short by a vote to take the previous question. 
 By this is meant that the previous, original or main question under 
 discussion be immediately voted on, regardless of pending amendments 
 and secondary questions, and without further debate. 
 
 In some bodies, a motion for the previous question cannot be enter- 
 
184 RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. 
 
 tained, unless such motion be seconded by one-quarter, one-third cr 
 one-half — as the rule may be — of the voters present. But in bodies 
 where no rule exists, a motion made and seconded like any other is 
 sufficient if it be voted by a majority. A motion for the previous 
 question is not debatable- 
 
 1. If a motion for the previous question be carried^ then the main 
 question must be immediately taken, without further debate. 
 
 2. If the motion for the previous question be/t^J/, the debate proceeds 
 as though no such motion had been made. 
 
 3. The previous question cannot be moved while a motion io post- 
 pone, or io co7jnnii,\s under consideration. It cannot itself be post- 
 poned nor amended I but it can be interrupted by a motion to lay on 
 the table the original resolution, which, if voted, carries with it the 
 whole subject, including the motion for the previous question. 
 
 4. If a motion for the previous question be lost^ it cannot be renewed 
 on the same question during that session, unless the question has under- 
 gone some change by amendment, or otherwise, in the meantime. 
 
 XVII. LAY ON THE TABLE. 
 
 Immediate and decisive action on any question under debate may 
 be deferred by a vote to lay on the table the resolution pending. This 
 disposes of the whole question for the present, and ordinarily is in 
 effect a final dismissal of it. But any member has the right subse- 
 quently to call it up by a motion. The body decides by a vote whether 
 it will, or will not, lake it up. A motion to lay on the table is not 
 debatable. 
 
 1. Sometimes, however, a resolution is laid on the table for the present, 
 or until a specified time, to give place for other business necessary to 
 be done. It is then called up when the time specified arrives. 
 
 2. A motion to lay on the table must apply to a resolution or other 
 documentary matters. There must be something to lay on the table. 
 An abstract subject cannot be disposed of in this way. 
 
 XVIII. POSTPONEMENT. 
 
 A 'iAVL\^\Q. postponenieut is for a specified time or purpose, the business 
 to be resumed when the time or purpo.'^e is reached. But a question 
 hidefinitely postponed is considered as fully dismissed. 
 
 XIX. NOT DEBATABLE. 
 
 Certain motion"^, by established usage, are not debatable, but when 
 once before the body, must be put to vote without discussion. 
 
 These are the previous question-^ for indejinite postponemem . to 
 commit; to lay on the table : on appeal ; to adjourn. But when these 
 motions are modified by some condition of tiriw, place or piirpose. 
 
RULES OF ORDER AND DEBATE. I S5 
 
 they become debatable, and subject to the rules of other motions ; but 
 are debatable so far only as concerns the time, place or purpose by 
 which they are modified. 
 
 A body is, however, competent, by a vote, to allow debate on all 
 motions. 
 
 XX. TO RECONSIDER, 
 
 1 . A motion to reconsider a motion already passed, according to estab- 
 lished usage, must be made by one who voted /^r that motion when 
 it passed. 
 
 2. If the body decides to reconsider^ then the motion or resolution so , 
 reconsidered is placed before them, as it was previous to its passage, 
 and may be discussed, adopted or rejected. 
 
 3. A vote to reconsider should be taken at the same session at which 
 the vote reconsidered was passed ; and also when there are as many 
 members present as voted on it then. 
 
 XXI. BE_UISCUSSED. 
 
 If, when a motion is introduced, a member objects to its discussion 
 as foreign, profitless or contentious, the chairman should at once put 
 the question : Shall this motion he uisciissed 1 If it be decided in the 
 negative the motion cannot be entertained. 
 
 XXII. ORDER OF THE DAY. 
 
 The body may decide to take up some particular business at a spe- 
 cified time. That business thereby becomes the order of the day, for 
 the time specified. When the hour arrives, it must be taken up by the 
 call of the chairman, or of any member with or without a vote, all 
 pending business being postponed in consequence. 
 
 XXIII. POINT OF ORDER. 
 
 Any member who supposes a speaker to be out of order, or that a 
 discussion is proceeding improperly, may at any time rise to a p02iit of 
 order. He must distinctly state his question or objection, and the 
 chairman must decide whether his objection will be taken. 
 
 But one rising to a point of order cannot discuss the question nor 
 enter into any debate; he must simply state his objection, and wait for 
 a decision. 
 
 XXIY. PRIVILEGED QUESTION.S. 
 
 Questions relating to the rights and privileo;es of members are of 
 primary importance and until disposed of take precedence of all other 
 business and supersede all other questions except that of adjournment. 
 
l86 FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 
 
 XXV. RULE SUSPENDED. 
 
 A rule of order may be suspended by a vote of the body to allow 
 the transaction of business, which could not otherwise be done without 
 a violation of such rule. But if rules be thought necessary to exist, 
 they should not frequently be suspended. 
 
 XXVI. FILLING BLANKS- 
 
 Where different numbers are sugy;ested for tilling blanks, the his^hest 
 number^ greatest distance and longest time are usually voted on first. 
 
 XXVI 1. ADJOURNMENT. 
 
 1. A simple motion to adjourn is always hi order, except while 
 one is speaking or a vote is being taken. It takes precedence of all 
 other questions, and is not debatable. 
 
 2. In some deliberative bodies a motion to adjourn is in order while 
 speaking or voting is going on, the business to stand on re-assembling 
 precisely as it was when adjournment took place. 
 
 3. A body may adjourn to a specified time. But if no time be 
 mentioned, the fixed or usual time is understood. If there be no fixed 
 or usual time, then an adjournment without date is equivalent to a 
 dissolution. 
 
 4. A liody may, at any stage of its proceedings, vote that it will 
 adjourn at a given time. When that time arrives, the chairman will 
 call for a vote of adjournment, or declare the meeting adjourned with- 
 out further action. 
 
 5. A body may, at any stage of its proceedings, vote that when it 
 does adjourn, it will adjourn to a given time. That vote will there- 
 fore fix the time of its re-assembling without any furth^rr action. 
 
 Jjovm.'i foi' (![ongreqatioiial also. 
 
 ■J^ HE following forms are suggested to aid the iiiex- 
 S^^J perienced, and not becatise many other methods of 
 "f phrasing the same ideas may not have equal or 
 superior merit. Least of all is it to be imagined that, in 
 virtue of being thus suggested, they possess any authority 
 other than may exist in manifest fitness to their use. 
 
FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 187 
 
 I. ORGANIZING A CHURCH. 
 
 I. I'orfn 0/ a chiirch-inembers letter of request for dismission , for the 
 purpose oj uniting with others in formation of a new church. 
 
 To the church in — ~ . 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 Wliereas the providence of God [has led me to this place, and] 
 seems to make it my duty to join with other Christians here in the 
 formation of a Congregational church ; this is to request you to give 
 me such a letter of dismission and recommendation as may be suitable 
 in these circumstances. 
 
 With Christian salutations, 
 
 Your brother in the Lord. 
 
 A — — B . 
 
 [Date and place.] 
 
 2. For/n of a church's letter of dismission in ansiver to the 
 above request. 
 
 To the ecclesiastical council to be convened in , for the formation 
 
 (if judged expedient) of a Congregational church there. 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 Whereas A B is a memter of this church, and has re- 
 quested a letter of dismission and recommendation for the purpose of 
 uniting with other Christians in forming a new Congregational chuich 
 
 in ; let this certify that the church has voted to grant his request. 
 
 And should your venerable body advise the formation of such a church, 
 and recognize him and his associates as constituting the same, his 
 particular relation to us will be at an end. 
 
 By vote of the church, 
 
 [Signature of pastor or secretary.] 
 [Date and place.] 
 
 3. Form of a letter-missive requesting the presence of a council for 
 the formation of a Congregational church. 
 
 To the Congregational church of Christ in . 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 The great Head of the church having inclined a number of 
 believers here to think that it is their duty to become associated as a 
 Congregational church, they respectfully request you, by your reverend 
 pastor, and a delegate, to meet in ecclesiastical council at in 
 
1 88 FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 
 
 this place, on the of , at o'clock in the , 
 
 to consider the expediency of the course proposed by them, and advise 
 in reference thereto ; and should the formation of such a church be 
 deemed expedient, to assist in the public services appropriate to its 
 formation and recognition. 
 
 Wishing you grace, mercy and peace. 
 
 We subscribe ourselves, 
 
 Your brethren in Christ. 
 
 I Committee of 
 
 > those proposing to 
 \ become a church. 
 
 [Date and place.] 
 
 N.B. — The churches invited to .sit in this council are the following, 
 viz. : 
 
 Congregational church in . Rev. Mr. pastor. 
 
 etc., etc. 
 
 [Name them all.] 
 
 4. Forw of resnlt appropriate for such a council. 
 
 A number of Christian believers resident in , having become 
 
 persuaded that it is God's will for them to associate as a Congregational 
 church, and having agreed together for such a purpose, and requested 
 neighboring Congregational churches to examine their condition and 
 procedure, and advise them in the premises ; by virtue of letters-missive 
 
 from them ; an ecclesiastical council was assembled at , in , 
 
 on the of at o'clock, [Name all the churches, 
 
 either in alphabetical order, or by seniority of formation, with their 
 clerical and lay representatives.] 
 
 The council was organized by the choice of moderator, ■ 
 
 secretary [and assistant secretary], and was opened with prayer 
 
 by the moderator. 
 
 A full statement of tlie facts in the case .was then made, with the 
 reasons which have led the brethren and sisters to desire and propose 
 this union as a church : and the council, either by letters of dismission 
 and recommendation, or by personal examination, became satisfied of 
 the fitness of these parties for such union, and of the fact that the great 
 Head of the church seems clearly to call them to such a work in this 
 place. The articles of faith and covenant by them presented as the 
 basis of their organization were also carefully examined and approved 
 by the council. 
 
yORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 189 
 
 After which the council, being by themselves, voted to advise the par- 
 ties calling them to go forward in the work to which they have set their 
 hands, and to extend to them, in so doing, the fellowship of the churches 
 which it represents. [State arrangements made for the public service 
 of recognition, etc, with the minutes of their due performance.] 
 
 [Signatures of officers of council.] 
 
 II. CALL AND SETTLEMENT OF A MINISTER. 
 
 I. A form of call to becof?ie pastor of a Congregational church. 
 
 Rev. [or Mr.] A B . 
 
 Dear Brother : 
 
 The undersigned, on behalf of the Congregational church of Christ in 
 A , beg leave respectfully to submit to your consideration the follow- 
 ing certified copies of recent votes of that church. 
 
 At a regularly called meeting of the Congregational church in 
 A , on the day of , it was unanimously [or state the con- 
 dition of the vote] 
 
 Resolved^ 'I'hat the Rev. [or Mr.] A B be invited to become 
 
 the pastor and teacher of this church. 
 
 Resolved, That Brethren A B , C D , and E 
 
 Y ■, be a commiltee to communicate these votes to Rev. [or Mr.] 
 
 A B , to urge him to comply with the request which they con- 
 tain, and to make all arrangements which may become necessary to 
 carry out the wishes of the church in the premises. 
 A true copy of record. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 , moderator. 
 
 , secretary. 
 
 [Date.] 
 
 2. Form of letter-fuissive for a council to ordain [or install a pastor. 
 
 The Congregational church in A to the Congregational chureh 
 
 in B , sendeth greeting. 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 The great Head of the church has kindly united us, and the con- 
 gregation statedly worshipping with us, in the choice of Rev. [Mr.] 
 
 A B as our pastor and teacher, and he has accepted our 
 
 invitation to that office. We, therefore, affectionately request your 
 attendance by your reverend pastor and a delegate, at , on the 
 
190 FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 
 
 tlay of next, at o'clock in the , to examine the candidate > 
 
 review our proceedings, and advise us in reference to the same ; aiul if 
 judged expedient, to assist in the installation [ordination] service. 
 Wishing you grace, mercy and peace, 
 We are fraternally yours, 
 
 Committee of 
 the church. 
 
 [Date and place.] 
 
 The other churches invited to this council are as follows : 
 [Name them all.] 
 
 [It is proper to append to those letters sent to churches whose pas- 
 tors are desired to take part in the public service a postscript, notifying 
 them of the fact, that such pastors may have suitable time for prepara- 
 tions.] 
 
 3. Fori)i of reault of such an ordaining [or installing] council. 
 
 Pursuant to letters -missive, an ecclesiastical council assembled at 
 in ■ on at — o'clock, , on request of the Con- 
 gregational church and society in , for the purpose of examining Mr. 
 
 A B , whom they have invited to become their pastor ; and, if 
 
 judged expedient, of ordaining [installing] him as such. The council 
 was composed of the following ministerial and lay delegates cf the 
 following churches, to wit : — 
 
 [Name them all.] 
 
 Organization was effected by the choice of moderator, 
 
 secretary [and assistant secretary], and prayer was offered by 
 
 the moderator. 
 
 The papers covering the proceedings between the parties, thus far, 
 were read, and found to be regular and satisfactory. The candidate 
 presented ample testimonials of regular church standing, and of suit- 
 able training for the work on which he jiroposes to enter ; and, on exam- 
 ination, was found to give good evidence of personal godliness, of 
 intellectual and scholarly abilities, and of soundness in the faith once 
 delivered to the saints, as our Congregational churches are accustomed 
 to count soundness. 
 
 The council, being by themselves, voted to approve of the choice of 
 
 the church, and to co-operate with it in the settlement of Mr. A 
 
 B as its pastor, by extending to it, and to him, the fellowship of 
 
 the churches in that relation. 
 
 [State what arrangements were then made for the public service of 
 ordination (or installation J, with the minutes of their due perform- 
 ance.] 
 
 [Signatures of officers of council.] 
 
 [Date.] 
 
FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. I9I 
 
 III. TRANSFER OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 
 
 1. Form of ordinary request of a chtirch member for a letter oj 
 
 dismission to another church. 
 
 To the Congregational church in . 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 In the providence of God, I have been led to [remove my residence 
 to this place, and to] feel it to be my duty to transfer my church mem- 
 bership to the Congregational church. I ask you, therefore, to 
 
 grant me a letter of dismission from your body, and of recommenda- 
 tion to its fellowship. 
 
 Wishing you grace, mercy and peace, 
 I subscribe myself, 
 
 Affectionately your brother in the Lord, 
 
 [Date and place . ] A B . 
 
 2. jForm of suitable letter of dismission and recommendation ^ in 
 
 response to such a request. 
 
 The Congregational churcli in to the Congregational church 
 
 in , sendeth greeting : 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 The bearer, Bro. A B , is a memher with us in good and 
 
 regular standing. He has desired a letter of dismission from us and o 
 recommendation to your Christian fellowship, and we have granted his 
 request ; so that, when received by you, his membership with us will 
 cease. 
 
 Wishing you grace, mercy and peace, 
 We are yours in the Lord, 
 
 By the hand of 
 [Date and place.] C D (pastor or secretary). 
 
 N.B. — Please to inform us, by a return of the accompanying certifi- 
 cate, or in some other way, of our brother's reception by you. 
 
 This is to certify that A B was received a member of the 
 
 Congregational church in , on the of , by letter from the 
 
 Congregational church in . 
 
 [Date and place.] Attest. EF 
 
192 FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 
 
 3. Form of letter which may be given by the pastor 01' secretary without 
 special vote of the church to a mem.ber expecting to be absent for 
 a considerable period. 
 
 To all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 Let this certify that the bearer, A B , is a member, in good and 
 
 regular standing, of the Congregational church in ; and, as such, 
 
 is affectionately commended to the Christian fellowship of any church 
 of Christ with which he may desire to commune, and to the confidence 
 and kind offices of all the people of God. 
 Witness my hand 
 
 i Pastor [or secretary] of the 
 Congregational church 
 in . 
 
 IV. CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 I. Form of cortiplaint against an offending member before a church, 
 the preliminary steps of disciplhie having proved ineff'ectual. 
 
 To the Congregational church . 
 
 It has become our painful duty to bring to your notice the offence of 
 a brother, and to a-^k you to deal with it according to the law of Christ. 
 Having evidence of his guilt, and having failed — in the first use of the 
 steps of gospel discipline — to bring him to a better mind, we are com- 
 pelled, in great sorrow of heart, and with the earnest prayer that the _ 
 great Head of the church may bless this labor to the restoration of 
 our erring brother, to make the following complaint against him : 
 
 We charge Brother A with being guilty of the sin of ; and 
 
 particularly on the day of last [and at other times] ; and of 
 
 failing to give Christian satisfaction with regard to the same, in viola- 
 tion of his duty as a Christian and of his covenant vows. 
 
 Brothers C D and E F are witnesses of the sub- 
 ject-matter of this complaint. 
 
 We respectfully ask you to entertain this charge, and to proceed to 
 try the same, according to the rules of this church and the law of 
 Christ. 
 
 ^^our brethren, 
 
 A. B . 
 
 C D . 
 
 E F . 
 
 [Date.] 
 
FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 1 93 
 
 2. I^orui oj letter- inissive for calling a viutual council to review and 
 advise on a case of church discipline. 
 
 To the Congregational church in . 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 In the exercise of its conception of its duty of gospel discipline, this 
 
 church has been sadly led to cut off its offending Brother A B 
 
 from its membership for the sin of , and for his refu'^al to make 
 
 Christian satisfaction for the same, Being dissatisfied with the conclu- 
 sion of the church, he has requested us to join him in submitting the 
 whole subject to the advisory review of a council mutually called for 
 that purpose, and we have voted to comply with his request. 1 his is, 
 therefore, to desire you to join by your reverend pastor and a delegate 
 
 in an ecclesiastical council to be held on , at in , at 
 
 o'clock , to review the case, and advise all parties thereon. 
 
 Wishing you grace, mercy and peace, 
 
 We are yours in the bonds of the gospel, 
 
 j Committee of 
 
 > the church. 
 
 \ Aggrieved 
 \ member. 
 [Date.] 
 
 [Append tiie complete list of churches invited.] 
 
 3. Form of letter- missive for an ex parte council by such an aggrieved 
 member, or members^ when the church has unreasonably refused 
 a mutual council. 
 
 To the Congregational church in . 
 
 The undersigned, feeling himself [themselves] aggrieved and injured 
 
 by recent action of the Congregational church in , and having 
 
 in a legal, usual, and proper manner earnestly requested it to unite 
 with him [them] in bringing the matter before a mutual council, and 
 been as it seems to him [them] unreasonably refused, desire [s] to 
 avail himself [themselves] of the privilege offered by Congregational 
 usage to church members thus oppressed, by laying his [their]' griev- 
 ances before an ex parte council, in manner and form, as follows: 
 [Here insert the grievances desired to be laid before the council.] 
 
 In view of these facts, the undersigned earnestly request [s] of your 
 sense of right ; and your Christian sympathy and friendship, your par- 
 ticipation, by your reverend pastor and a delegate, in such an ex parte 
 
 council, called to meet at , on , at o'clock in the . 
 
 Faithfully, your brother [brethren] in the Lord, 
 
 [Signature.] 
 [Date, etc.] 
 
 13 
 
194 FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 
 
 The churches invited to sit in council are the following: [name all.] 
 
 [It should in all cases be remembered that the first duty of an ex parte 
 
 council after organization ahuays is to request the parties to accept it 
 
 as a mutual council ; and only after the refusal of that offer is the way 
 
 open for it regularly to proceed to further business.] 
 
 4. Fori7i of result cf such a council. 
 
 Pursuant to lettei-s-missive from the Congregational church in 
 [or name the exact source of the letters], an ecclesiastical 
 
 council [if ex parte ^ say so] convened at , on , for the pur- 
 pose of [state the object as given in the letters-missive]. The council 
 was composed of representatives of the churches, as follows: — 
 
 From the Congregational church in : 
 
 Rev. , pastor, 
 
 Bro. , delegate. 
 
 [in alphabetical order, or by their seniority of formation.] 
 
 It was organized by the choice of , moderator; , secretary 
 
 [and , assistant secretary]. After prayer by the moderator, the 
 
 parties calling the council proceeded to lay before it the matters upon 
 which its advice was desired. 
 
 [Here insert briefly the journal of proceedings, sessions, adjournments, 
 etc. — shorn of all trivial matters — until the result be reached.] 
 
 After the most patient, thorough and prayerful examination which 
 they have been able to give the matter submitted to them for action, 
 the council came [unanimously] to the following result : 
 
 [Here give, in full, the document finally agreed upon as embodying 
 the advice of council.] 
 
 rSigned) 
 
 [By officers of the council.] 
 
 V. DISMISSAL OF A PASTOR. 
 I tForm of letter^missive for the ordinary dismission of a pastor. 
 
 The Congregational church in to the Congregational church 
 
 in , sendeth greeting. 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 Whereas, our pastor, Rev. A B , has tendered the resig- 
 nation of his office as pastor of this church and minister of this 
 people, and the church have voted to accept the same, subject to the 
 advice of council ; this is to request your attendance by your reverend 
 
FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. I95 
 
 pastor and a delegate at , in this place, on , at o'clock, 
 
 to examine the facts and advise us in the premises. 
 
 Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, 
 We are yours in the gospel, 
 
 •, pastor. 
 
 -1 
 
 ! Committee of 
 
 [ the church. 
 
 [Date, etc.] 
 
 The other churches invited to sit in council are the following : 
 [Name them all.] 
 
 2. Form of result of an ordinary disniissing council . 
 
 [The general form may be like what would he suggested on tlie mode] 
 of section II. No. 3, modified to meet the case in its preliminaries, 
 with the results of advising dismission, and with some such vital para- 
 graph as this, to be the retiring pastor's certificate of good standing, and 
 his credentials to another field of labor.] 
 
 In coming to this result the council are able to declare, with great 
 satisfaction, that they have found nothing in their investigation of the 
 causes which have led to this dismission, to impair their confidence in 
 the [essential] integrity of the Christian and ministerial character of 
 the retiring pastor, whom, accordingly, they hereby commend to the 
 confidence of the churches as, in their judgment, an honest, faithful 
 and useful minister ol the Lord Jesus Christ, who carries with him their 
 tender sympathies and earnest prayers for his future prosperity in the 
 work of the Lord, wherever providence may assign his labors. 
 
 3. Form of letter-missive for a mutual council to advise as to the 
 dismission of a pastor when difficulties exist. 
 
 The Congregational church in to the Congregational church 
 
 in , sendeth greeting. 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 Whereas, unhappily, a state of things exists among us, which, in the 
 judgment of a majority of this church, renders it expedient that the 
 relation between the church and its pastor should be dissolved, we 
 affectionately invite your attendance by your pastor and a delegate, at 
 
196 FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 
 
 , on the day of at o'clock in the , to examine 
 
 the facts and advise us in the premises. 
 
 Wishing you grace, nieicy and peace, 
 We are yours in the gospel, 
 
 , pastor. 
 
 ! Committte of 
 ( the church. 
 
 J 
 
 [Date and place.] 
 
 N.B. — The other churches invited to this council aie the church in 
 , Rev. Mr , pastor, etc. [Name them all.] 
 
 4. Forju of letter-missive f 07' aii ex paite council to advise when dipi- 
 cuUiiS exist between a churcJi and its pastor , and he has nnreascn- 
 ably refused a nmtiial council. 
 
 Modify above so as to read thus : 
 
 Whereas, unhappily, a state of things exists among us, which, in the 
 judgment of a majority of this church, renders it expedient that the 
 relation between us and our pastor te dissolved, yet he declines to 
 take action for such dissolution ; and, as it seems to us unreasonably, 
 refuses to submit the facts to a mutual council for advice, although 
 such a council has been asked for in the legal and usual manner by 
 the said church, we affectionately invite your attendance upon an ex 
 parte council by your pastor, etc. 
 
 5. Foini of letter-missive for advice toward the general adjustment 
 0/ difficulties existing in a church. 
 
 The Congregational church in to the Congregational church in 
 
 , sendeth greeting. 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 Difficulties having arisen between the pastor and some of the mem- 
 bers of this church [or between various members of this church], for 
 the adjustment of which we desire your Christian counsel ; this is to 
 request your attendance, by your reverend pastor and a delegate, at 
 
 , on the of , at o'clock in the , to advise us on 
 
 the following points, viz. : 
 
 [Heie slate every material question on which light is desired.] 
 
 And such other incidental matters as may inseparably belong to 
 those main difficulties which unhappily exist among us, and for whose 
 healing we invite your help. 
 
 Wishing you grace, mercy and peace. 
 
 [Date an place.] [Name churches called, etc.] 
 
FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. I97 
 
 Vf. DEPOSING A PASTOR, 
 
 I . Form of letter-missive calling a council for the deposition 
 of a pastor guilty of heresy or immorality . 
 
 [The preliminary steps having been duly taken, as in the case of a 
 private member, and the conclusion reached, that for cause the pastor 
 should be deposed ; in view of the importance of the subject, and 
 the fact that he was placed in his position by ndvice of council, the 
 cliurch may ask him to join them in procuring the advice of a mutual 
 council ; and should he refuse, may summon one ex parte. The vital 
 clause of the letter-missive might be as follows :] 
 
 This church having become painfully convinced that its pastor 
 has forfeited his ministerial character, by [state the cause], and should 
 be deposed ; and all preliminary steps having been orderly taken, both 
 parties have agreed to unite in submitting the painful subject to the 
 advice of a mutual council ; and you are affectionately invited to meet 
 in council for that purpose, on , at , etc. [Or the follow- 
 ing :] 
 
 Whereas this church has been sadly led to the conclusion that its 
 pastor has forfeited his ministerial character by [state the cause], and 
 should be deposed ; and all preliminary steps having been orderly 
 taken, has requested him to join it in submitting the case to the advice 
 of a mutual council, and he has unreasonably refused; this is to 
 request your attendance by your reverend pastor and a delegate in an 
 
 ex parte council, to be held at , on , for the consideration 
 
 of the facts, and the giving of such advice as the great Head of the 
 church shall direct in the premises. 
 
 2. Form oj result of council deposing a pastor. 
 
 [Extraordinary care should be taken to secure the utmost judicial 
 fulness of hearing and fairness of trial, when, if convinced that no other 
 course remains open, the council may adopt some such minute as the 
 following :] 
 
 Having fully, and in the kindest spirit, endeavored to weigh all the 
 considerations alleged by the pastor in his own defence [or, having 
 sought from the accused pastor in vain any sufficient exculpation of 
 himself from the grave charges which appear to have been proved 
 against him], and having implored special divine guidance, this council 
 feels itself painfully compelled to rest in the judi^ment that for [name 
 the cause] he is unworthy of the Christian name, and should no longer 
 be suffered to exercise the Christian ministry. They do, therefore, in the. 
 fear of God, and for the good of souls, hereby advise the church to 
 depose him from its pastorate ; publicly withdraw from him the fellow- 
 ship of the churches which was extended to him in the council that 
 
198 FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE. 
 
 ordained him ; and warn all Christian people against him as one in 
 whose Christian and ministerial character the churches which they 
 represent have lost confidence, and for whom they decline all further 
 responsibility. 
 
 VII. WITHDRAWING FELLOWSHIP FROM A CHURCH. 
 
 I. Form of letters-missive suitable for use in the process of wiihdrmo- 
 ing fellotvship f-om an erriHS!' Congregational church. 
 
 [Both the Cambridge platform, and that published by the committee 
 appointed by the Boston council of 1865, lay down rules by which the 
 fellowship extended by Congregational cliurches to a new church may, 
 should occasion unfortunately require, be recalled. The process by the 
 " Boston platform '' is comprised in three steps, viz. : 
 
 "Any church aggrieved by the fact that a sister church 'deliber- 
 ately receives and maintains doctrines which subvert the foundations 
 of the Christian faith,' or ' that it wilfully tolerates and upholds 
 notorious scandals,' or 'persistently disregards and contt-mns ihe com- 
 munion of churches,' may (i) fitly admonish that church; (2) and 
 may call a council to advise ' concerning the acts and administrations ' 
 of that church ; (3) that council may advise the churches 'to withhold 
 from that erring church all acts of communion till it shall give evidence 
 of reformation.' '' — Boston platform, pp.56, 57. The letter missive 
 might suitably be phrased thus :] 
 
 The Congregational church in to the Congregational church, 
 
 in . , sendeth greeting. 
 
 Dear Brethren : 
 
 We have for some time been deeply grieved by the fact that our sister 
 
 church, the Congregational church in , appears deliberately to 
 
 have received and to maintain doctrines which seem to us subversive 
 of the foundations of the Christian faith [or name other grievances as 
 contemplated in the platform]. Acting upon our Christian liberty, : nd 
 incited thereto by our deep sense of lesponsibility for the public fellow- 
 ship which in common with other Congregational churches we hold 
 with them, and by our solicitude for the general cause of Christ, we 
 
 addressed to them tn the of last, a fraternal admonition. 
 
 Failing satisfactory response, and deeply convinced that the best inter- 
 ests of all demand further action, we do now afleciionately invite you 
 
 to as-semble with other sister churches, in council at , on , 
 
 etc , to consider the facts in the case, and decide whether it be not the 
 
 duty of such a council to advise the churches to withhold from the 
 
 church all acts of church communion, till it shall give evidence of re- 
 formation. 
 
 Wishing you grace, mercy and peace. 
 We are, etc. 
 
 [Name all the churches invited to sit in council.] 
 
FORMS FOR CONGREGATIONAL USF. 199 
 
 2. Form of result of such a council, advising the ivithdrawal of 
 fellowship f'om an apostate Congregational church. 
 
 [Such a council having assembled, and with patient kindness vainly 
 sought for satisfaction from the church which has given offence, with 
 the result of being driven to the conclusion that the said church is not 
 now in reality a Congregrational church, and ought no longer to be 
 fellowshipped as such, might phrase its result properly thus :] 
 
 We hereby declare to the churches whose representatives we are, and 
 by whose commission we entered on t is investigation, that we find the 
 
 church, after all our fraternal labor, to persist in [here riame 
 
 the ground or grounds of offence] ; and — while cheerfully recognizing 
 the right of that church, should it resume its independency, to manage 
 its affairs according to its own sense of right, without interference from 
 without — we judge it a thing inconsistent and intolerable, that, in virtue 
 of the Congregational fellowship formerly given it, it should now make 
 Congregationalism responsible for that with which it has and properly 
 can have no sympathy. We do therefore advise those churches, and 
 all Congregational churches with whom our judgment may have influ- 
 ence, by special vote to withhold from that errmg church in all 
 
 acts of communion till it shall give evidence of reformation. 
 
 VIII. DISSOLUTION OF A CHURCH. 
 
 I. Form of letter missive for a council to advise 7uith reference to the 
 dissolution of a Congregational church. 
 
 [Adapt to the ordinary form of calling a council the following clause 
 as defining its object :] 
 
 Whereas, in the providence of God, the members [or a majority of 
 
 the members] of the Congregational church in have been led to 
 
 conclude that the best good of the cause of Christ would be promoted 
 by the dissolution of this church as a separate organization, and the 
 association of its members with other church organizations ; and 
 whereas, having been originally formed on the concurrent advice of ilie 
 -Congregational churches of the neighborhood, it is fitting that then- 
 counsel be taken before it be disbanded, tbis is affectionately to request 
 
 your attendance by your reverend pastor and a delegate at — ^ . on 
 
 , etc., to consider the facts and advise us in tliese premises, etc. 
 
 2. Result of sicch a council advising the disbandment of a church. 
 
 The usual course has been, the council favoring the disbanding, to 
 recommend the church to vote to dissolve, and advise it to give author- 
 ity to its secretary [or a special committee] to grant to all its members 
 letters of dismission to other churches, after limiting the lime duiing 
 which they must be taken and used. 
 
2C0 BOOKS ON CONGREGATIONALISM. 
 
 3. Form of letter suitable to be given by the secirtary [or com^nittee'] of 
 a church to its members when it has voted to dissolve. 
 
 To the Congregational Church in . 
 
 Greeting : 
 
 Whereas, the providence of God has made it necessary — in the judg- 
 ment of its members — for the Congregational church in to 
 
 cease to exist ; and whereas, after advice of council, it has unanimously 
 voted that its existence, as a separate branch of Christ's body, shall 
 cease, whenever its members shall all have been received into the 
 fellowship of those churches to which the}- are respectively commended, 
 as in good and regular standing ; this is to certify you that the bearer, 
 
 brother [or sister] is thus commended to your Christian cave 
 
 and fellowship. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 [Secretary of committee.] 
 
 [Date.] 
 
 ^ooh.s on tfongrcgafioiuili.'inu 
 
 'HE following are some of the more important works 
 recently isstied for the first lime, or as new editions or 
 reprints on the date given. The selection is chiefly 
 
 made from a Congregational bibliography, numbering 
 
 7,250 works : 
 
 I. HISTORICAL. 
 
 Congregationalism as seen in ils Literature. H. M. Dexter, D.D. 
 pp. 716. Harper &^ Bro. A^ezv York, ]88o. 
 
 History of Rehgion in England. Dr. Stoughton. 6 vols. Hodder 
 (St' Stougliton. Londot , i^^i. 
 
 History of Congregationalism from A.D. 250 to 1880. George 
 Punchard. 5 vols. Congregational Publishing Society. Boston^ i2>%i. 
 
 The People called Independents. J. Kennedy. i6mo. pp. 62. 
 1878. 
 
 The Ti'ue Blue Laws of Connecticut, &^c. H. Trumble. i6mo. 
 pp. 62. 1876. 
 
 Roger Williams and his Banishment. H. M. Dexter. 410. pp. 
 146. Boston, 1867. 
 
 The Genesis of the New England Churches. L. Bacon, D.D. i6mo. 
 pp. 486. New York, 1874. 
 
 History of the Free Churches in England. H. T. Skeats. 8vo. pp. 
 
BOOKS ON CONGREGATIONALISM. 20I 
 
 63S. 1869. Brought down to 1891 by C S. Miall. Alexander and 
 Shepherd. London. 
 
 The Puritan's Church, Court and Parliament of Edward VI. T. 
 Hopkins. 3 vols. 8vo. New Yoik, 1875. 
 
 The Pilgrim Fathers. W. H. Bartlet, D.D. 8vo. pp. 240. 
 1853. 
 
 History of the Early Puritans. J- B. Marsden. Svo. pp. 462. 
 1850. 
 
 History of the Rise and Progress of Independency in England. J. 
 Fletcher. 4 vols. i6mo. 1862. 
 
 Oliver Cromwell — Letters and Speeches. Thomas Carlyle. 2 vols. 
 I2mo. 1856. 
 
 History of the INIartin Mar-prelate Controversy. P. Marshall. i6mo. 
 
 p. 224. 1846. 
 
 Historical Memorials relating to the Independents. B. Hanbury. 
 3 vols. 1839-44. 
 
 Thirteen Historical Discourses, L. Bacon. Svo. pp. 400. New 
 York^ 1839. 
 
 Religious Parties in England. R. Vaughan, D.D. 8vo. pp. 186. 
 1836. 
 
 History of Dissent, from the Revolution to 1838. J- Bennett. 3 
 vols. Svo. 1859. 
 
 Memorials of the Stuart Dynasty. R. Vaughan. 2 vols. 1831. 
 
 '1 he Protectorate of Cromwell. R. Vaughan. 2 vols. 1S39. 
 
 The Ecclesiastical History of New England. Joseph B. Felt. 2 
 vols. 8vo, Boston, 1862. 
 
 The New England Theocracy. H. F. Uhder. i2nio. Boston. 
 1658. 
 
 History of Congregationalism. Rev. J. Waddington, D.D. f 5 
 vols. 
 
 Outlines of Congregational History. George Huntington, Con- 
 gregational Publishing Society. Boston, 1885. 
 
 Story of the English Separatists. Alexander Mackennel. Con- 
 gregational Union of England and Wales. London, 1893. 
 
 Early Independents. Congregational Union of England and Wales. 
 London, 1893. 
 
 The Heroic Age of Independents. J. Guiness Rogers. Congrega- 
 tional Union of England and Wales. London, 1893. 
 
 The Puritan Spirit. R. S. Storrs. 1892. 
 
 Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism. Prof, Wm. Walker. 
 Chas. Scribner &^ Sons. 1893, 
 
 The Pilgrim in Old England. Dr. Bradford. Congregational 
 Union of England and Wales, 1893. 
 
 The Puritan in Holland and England. Douglas Campbell. Harper 
 Bros. 1892. 
 
202 BOOKS ON CONGREGATIONALISM. 
 
 II. CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Congregational Hand-brok. H M. Dexter, pp. 212. Bos/on : 
 Congregational Publishing Society, 1881. 
 
 The Faith and Polity of the Pilgrims. P. McVicar. 8vo. pp- 14. 
 1878. 
 
 The Church Polity of the Pilgrims, the Polity of the New Testa- 
 ment. H. M. Dexter. i6mo. pp. 180. Boston, 1870. 
 
 Congregationalism: What it is: Where it is: How it works. 11. 
 M. Dexter. i6mo. pp. 402. Boston^ 1865. 
 
 Congregational Independency. Ralph Wardlaw. pp. 355. 
 Toronto, 1864. 
 
 Dictionary of Congregational Usage and Principles. P. Cum- 
 rnings. i2mo. pp. 424. Boston, 1854, 
 
 The Democracy of Christianity. P. Goodhill. 2 vols. 8vo. Xav 
 York, 1856. 
 
 The Ecclesiastical Polity of the New Testament. L. David-on. 
 8vo. pp. 458. 18.48. 
 
 Congregational Order : The Ancient Platforms of Chuixhes in New 
 England, pp. 352, Hartjord, 1842. 
 
 Congregationalism : or, the Polity of the Independent Churches, 
 R. Vaughan. i2mo. pp. 2 1 8. 1842. 
 
 View of Congregationalism. G. Punchard. i2mo. pp. 368. 
 Boston, 1856. 
 
 Guide to the Principles and Practice of Congregational Churches of 
 New England. J. Mitchell. i6mo. pp. 30. 1880. 
 
 Manual of Principles, Doctrines and Usnges for Congregational 
 Churches. J. E. Roy. i2mo. Chicago, 1869 
 
 Why are we Dissenters ? Re^. Eustace Condor. England. 
 
 Our Principles. Rev. G. B. Johnson. James Claik ot^ Co. Lon- 
 don., England. 
 
 Principles of Church Polity. Prof G. T. Ladd. pp. 433. Xe'd' 
 York, 1882. 
 
 The Church Kingdom. A. Hastings Ross : Congregational Publish- 
 ing Society. Boston, 1887. 
 
 Pocket Manual of Congregationalism. A. Hastings Ross: E. J. 
 Alden. Chicago, 1883. 
 
 III. THE FATHERS. 
 
 Works of John Robinson. Memoir by R. Ashton. 3 vols. i6nio. 
 Boston, 1851. 
 
 The Keys of the Kin^jdom of Heaven. J. Cotton. i2mo. Boston , 
 1852. 
 
 John Owen's Works. 16 vols. Nlzu \ork^\%^\. 
 
BOCKS ON CONGREGATIONALISM. 203 
 
 Lives of the Church feathers of New England. 6 vols. i2mo. 
 Boston^ 1846 47. 
 
 Magnelia Christi Americana. Cotton Mather. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 I fart ford, i853- 
 
 Memoirs of the Governors of New Plymouth and Massachusetts. 
 J. B. Moore. 8vo. pp. 440. 1851. 
 
 Life of Roger Williams. W. Gemmell. l6mo. pp.221. 1844. 
 
 History of the Puritans. Neels. =; vols. 
 
 Records of the Colony of New Plymouth. N. B. Shurcliffe. 12 
 vols. 4to. 
 
 The Church Quarrel Espoused, etc. John Wise. Boston, i860. 
 
 New England Memorial. N. Morton, pp. 515, Boston, 1855. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Abbey, Westminster 27 
 
 Abbey, congregational church in ... 27 
 
 Abbej', graves dishonored in 28 
 
 Act, corporation 28 
 
 Act of uniformity. 28 
 
 Act, conventicle 29 
 
 Act, five mile 29 
 
 Act, the test 29 
 
 Act, toleration 33 
 
 Act, occasional conformity 36 
 
 Act, schism 36 
 
 Acts, Congregationalism in the 73 
 
 Adaptability of Congregationalism. . . 65 
 
 Adjournment, rules of 186 
 
 Administration, church 88 
 
 Admission o f members 85 
 
 .Brians 6 
 
 Ainsworth, Henry 10, 16, 118 
 
 Albany convention 42 
 
 Alford , Dean 62 , 71 
 
 Amendment to a motion 179 
 
 American Board C. C F. M 124 
 
 Amsterdam, exiles in 18, 93, 98 
 
 Andros, Sir Edmund 42 
 
 Anglo-catholicism 39 
 
 Anne, queen 36 
 
 Apostolic succession 60 
 
 Appeal from a motion 183 
 
 Armada, Spanish 15 
 
 Ashworth, Dr . 38 
 
 Assembly, Westminster 25, 34 
 
 Australasia, churches in 52, loi 
 
 Australia, South 53 
 
 Australia, West 53 
 
 Authoritative representation 61 
 
 Bailie, Robert 110 
 
 Barbour, Rev. Dr. Wm. .M. 47 
 
 Barrowe, Henrj^ 13, 98, 119 
 
 Baptism, ordinance of 94, 172 
 
 Baptism, form for 146 
 
 F.eaconsfield. Lord. . . 109 
 
 Benedictions, forms of 165 
 
 Benevolence, congregational 115 
 
 Bentom, Rev. Mr 44 
 
 Bibliography, congregational 121 
 
 l>linman, Rev. Richard 48 
 
 iiingham. Rev. Henry 126 
 
 Bohemia, churches in 55 
 
 liooks on Congregationalism 200 
 
 Bradbury, Rev. Thomas 37 
 
 Bradford, William 15, 17 
 
 Brainard, David 126 
 
 Brewster, William 17, 19 
 
 Bridge, William 22, 25, 26 
 
 Page 
 
 Brooks, Thomas 29 
 
 Brougham, Lord 108 
 
 Brown, Robert 4, 11, 33, 49 
 
 Brownists 3, 22 
 
 Bulgaria, Paulicians in 6 
 
 Bunsen, Baron Von 78 
 
 Bunyan, John 31, 112, 122 
 
 Burial service 153 
 
 Burial Hill declaration 93 
 
 Burnet, bishop ... 37 
 
 Burroughs, Jeremiah 25 
 
 Burton, Henry 33 
 
 Business, order of ■ 177 
 
 Calvin, John 8, 61 
 
 Campbell, governor John 49 
 
 Cambridge college 120 
 
 Cambridge platform 4I) 93» 98 
 
 Canada, Congregationalism in.... 43, loi 
 
 Caryl. Joseph 29 
 
 Catholicity of Congregationalism . . . 106 
 
 Cemeteries nationalized 40 
 
 Chairman, duties of 176 
 
 Chalmers, Dr 62 
 
 Charles L, king 20,23, ^o 
 
 Charles n., king 2427, 28,30, 35 
 
 Charter of Congregationalism 64 
 
 China, churches in 56 
 
 Christian Endeavor societies 127 
 
 Christian unity 34 
 
 Church administration 88 
 
 Church admission 85 
 
 Church committee 8S 
 
 Church courts 61 
 
 Church discipline 87 
 
 Church discipline, forms for 192 
 
 Church government, forms of 59 
 
 Church, meaning of 81 
 
 Church meetings 88 
 
 Church members 83 
 
 Church organization 82 
 
 Church organization, forms for. 187 
 
 Church polity 59 
 
 Church roll revision 86 
 
 Church service, order of. 162 
 
 Churches, institutional 129 
 
 Civil war 24 
 
 Clark, Francis E 127 
 
 Claytons, the 39 
 
 Clement of Rome 76, 77 
 
 Clyfton, Richard 17 
 
 Colleges, congregational of Canada 47,120 
 
 Colleges, congregational 43, 120 
 
 College, Mansfield 120 
 
 Collier, Rev, Dr 39 
 
;o6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Colonial missionary society 46 
 
 Commonwealth, the English 24 
 
 Committee, church 88 
 
 Committees, nature of 181 
 
 Communion service . 148 
 
 Committee of the whole 182 
 
 Committee, standing 182 
 
 Comprehension, church 34 
 
 Constantine, emperor 5 
 
 Constructive principle of Congrega- 
 tionalism 59 
 
 Congregation called for business .... 8b 
 
 Congregational benevolence 115 
 
 Congregational catholicity 106 
 
 Congregational church government. 59 
 
 Congregational councils g6 
 
 Congregational equality 66 
 
 Congregational evangelists 131 
 
 (Congregational foreign missions 124 
 
 Congregational government 62 
 
 Congregational growth 135 
 
 Congregational history 3 
 
 Congregational home missions 123 
 
 Congregational independence 67 
 
 Congregational leaven 107 
 
 Congregational liberty 108, 109 
 
 Congregational lectureships 134 
 
 Congregational names 3, 137 
 
 Congregational officers 68, 89 
 
 Congregational philanthropy 112 
 
 Congregational principles 62 
 
 Congregational progression 70 
 
 Congregational statistics 136 
 
 Congregationalism, books on 200 
 
 Congregationalism and education ... 119 
 
 Congregationalism, names of. 3 
 
 Congregationalism, origin of 4 
 
 Congregationalism, witnesses to ... . 6 
 
 Conventicle act 29 
 
 Convention , Albany 42 
 
 Cook, Joseph 119, 134 
 
 Copping, John 13 
 
 Cornish, Rev. Dr 48 
 
 Cotton, John 21 
 
 Corner-stone, laying 164 
 
 Corporation act 28 
 
 Council, international 16, 40, 70 
 
 Councils, congregational 69, 96 
 
 Council, triennial 70 
 
 Council, Savoy 26, 132 
 
 Court, high commission 14 
 
 Court, star chamber 14, 21 
 
 Covenant, the half-way 41, 43 
 
 Cradock, Walter 51, 131 
 
 Credentials, ministerial 92 
 
 Creeds 97 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver.. 22, 27, 36, 49, 50, 
 
 no, 132 
 
 Cromwell's burial 27 
 
 Cromwell , Richard 28 
 
 CUirtis, Geo. William 109 
 
 Page 
 
 Cyprian 77> ^o 
 
 Dartmouth college 119 
 
 Davenport, John 22 
 
 Deaconess 93 
 
 Deacons 68, 92 
 
 Declaration of faith, the Burial Hill. 99 
 Declaration of faith, Savoy. ... 26, 98 
 Declaration of the king's indulgence 31 
 Declarations of our Lord on church 
 
 government 71 
 
 Dedication, order of 165 
 
 De Foe, Daniel 122 
 
 Deliberative assemblies, rules for. . . . 175 
 
 Deposing a pastor, forms for . 197 
 
 Dexter. Dr. Henry M . . 121 
 
 Discipline, church 87 
 
 Dick, Francis 44 
 
 Didac he, testimony from 75, 89 
 
 Disestablishment, church loi 
 
 Dismissal of members 86 
 
 Dissolution of a church 19J 
 
 Doct'-inal statement 169 
 
 Doddridge, Philip 38, 133 
 
 Donatists, ihe 6 
 
 Downing, Rev. George 48 
 
 Eastern townships 45 
 
 Edgehill, battle of 23 
 
 Educa'ion, first English board of. 40, 
 
 43, "9 
 
 Education, promotion of 115, 119 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan 131 
 
 Ejectment of Puritans 28 
 
 Ekklesia 30 
 
 Eldership, ruling . 60 
 
 Election of deacons 92 
 
 Elliot. John 43, 123 
 
 Episcopacy, rise of 5 
 
 Episcopal churches 59 
 
 Epistles, testimony from 73 
 
 Equali ty , church 65 
 
 Ethics, ministerial 171 
 
 Europe, churches in 55 
 
 Evangelists, congregational 131 
 
 Ewing, Greville 44, 49, 50 
 
 Ex ecuti(-ns discontinued 13 
 
 Exile, congregationalists in 18 
 
 Fathers, evidence from the 75 
 
 Fathers, pilgrim 19 
 
 Fellowship, church 68, 82, 83 
 
 Fellowship fund 95 
 
 Fire, the great London 29 
 
 Fitz, Richard 10, iS 
 
 Five mile act 29 
 
 Fleetwood, Lord deputy 51 
 
 Finney, Charles G 131 
 
 France, churches in 55 
 
 Foreign missions 106 
 
 Form for baptism 146 
 
 Form for burial 153 
 
 Form for church discipline 192 
 
 Form for dedication 165 
 
INDEX. 
 
 207 
 
 Page 
 
 Form for deposing a pastor 197 
 
 Form for dismissing a pastor ....... 194 
 
 Form for Lord's supper 148 
 
 Form for marriage 150 
 
 Form for the offertory . 160 
 
 Form for organizing a church .. 187 
 
 Form for call to pastor 189 
 
 Form for reception of members 144 
 
 Form for transfer of members 191 
 
 Form for withdrawing fellowship ... 198 
 
 Forms of church government 59 
 
 Forms for congregational use 186 
 
 Fo^-ter, Rev. John i34 
 
 Freedom, political 108 
 
 Freedom, religious 109 
 
 Fruit of Congregationalism 105 
 
 Gainsborough, church at 15, 18 
 
 George I . , king 38 
 
 George II., king 38 
 
 George 111., king 38 
 
 George IV., king 39 
 
 Georgian era 3^ 
 
 Gibbon, Edward 79 
 
 Gladden, Washington 113 
 
 Glass, John 49 
 
 Goodall , William 126 
 
 Goodwin, Thomas 25, 26, 29, 33, 118 
 
 Grant, Asahel 126 
 
 Grant, Rev. Johnson no 
 
 Great awakening 42 
 
 Greenwood, John 15 
 
 Griffith, George 29 
 
 Giowth, congregational 133 
 
 Guericke, Professor 79 
 
 Haldane. James 49, 131 
 
 Hales, Chief Justice 34 
 
 Page 
 
 Ireland, Congregationalism in 50 
 
 Ironsides, Cromwell's 23 
 
 Jackson, Rev. John 45 
 
 Jacob, Henry n, 21 
 
 Jacob, Dr. G. A 78 
 
 James 1., king 30 
 
 James II., king ..... 30, 32, 35, 36, 42 
 
 James, John Angel \o 
 
 Jamaica, churches in 55 
 
 Japan, Congregationalism in 56 
 
 Jay, Rev. Wm 40 
 
 Johnson, Francis n, iS, 43 
 
 Jones, John 48 
 
 [ones, Samuel 52 
 
 king, Lord 80, no 
 
 Kumi-ai of Japan 56 
 
 Lathrop, John 21 
 
 Laud, archbishop 20, 22, 23, 24 
 
 Lay-preaching 132 
 
 Leaven, con'.iregational 107 
 
 Lecture, congregational 3^' 
 
 Lectureship • •• ^34 
 
 Leighton, Dr. Ale.x 21 
 
 Letters-missive 187 
 
 Letters of transfer 85 
 
 Leyden, e.xile in 15, 18 
 
 Liberty, political 108 
 
 Liberty, religious 107 
 
 Lilhe, Dr. Adam . 47 
 
 Library, congregational 39 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham 130 
 
 Literature, congregational 121 
 
 Livingstone, Dr. David 125 
 
 Leland, Rev. Luther 45 
 
 Locke, John 33j ^^9 
 
 Lollards, the 7 
 
 Hamilton, Dr. Cyrus 6 London missionary society 124 
 
 Hamilton, Dr. Winter 40 
 
 Hammond, Rev. E. P. 
 Harris, Dr. Wm 
 
 Harrison, Robert. 
 
 131 
 
 40 
 
 4> II 
 
 Harrison, Samuel 50 
 
 Harvard college 119 
 
 H atch. Dr. Edward 80 
 
 Hayden, Rev. Wm 46 
 
 High commission court 14 
 
 Hobard, Rev. James 45 
 
 Holland 55, 121 
 
 Homburgh, synod of .. ... 8 
 
 Hooker, Thomas 21 
 
 Howard, John 38, 112 
 
 Howe, John 25, 36, 118 
 
 Huguenots . 20 
 
 Hume, David 108, no 
 
 Ignatius 77 
 
 I ndependents 3 
 
 Independence of the churches 67 
 
 Indulgence declared 31 
 
 Indulgence, form of 31 
 
 Installation, order of 163 
 
 International council 16, 54, 70 
 
 London mother-church. 
 
 Long parliament 23, 25 
 
 Lord's supper 95 
 
 Lord's supper, administration of . . . . 14b 
 
 Luther, Martyn 8 
 
 Lyman, Henry . 126 
 
 Mackintosh, Sir James. 109, m 
 
 Madagascar, churches in 55 
 
 Marston Moor, battle of , 23 
 
 Marriage, forms for 150, 172 
 
 Matheson, Dr. James 39, 46 
 
 Martin, Rev. John 132 
 
 Martin V., pope 7 
 
 Martyrs, congregational 13 
 
 Martyr, Justin 99 
 
 Marriage service 150 
 
 Mary, queen 10 
 
 Mather, Cotton 51 
 
 Maiher, Increase 51 
 
 Mather, Nathaniel 51 
 
 Massachusetts Bay colony 19, 21 
 
 Mayflower, the 19 
 
 McAll, Dr. R, W 55, 126 
 
 Membership, church 83 
 
2o8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Memorial hall 40 
 
 Middleburgh, exiles in 12, 18 
 
 Mills, Rev. B. Fay 131 
 
 Milman, dean 79 
 
 Milton, John 7, 33, 109, 119 
 
 Ministerial ethics 171 
 
 Missions of New England 123 
 
 Missions, foreign 124 
 
 Missions, home 123 
 
 Mission, McAlI 55, 126 
 
 Moffat, Dr. Robert 125 
 
 Moody, Dwight L 131 
 
 .Morilli, Jean Baptiste 8 
 
 Morrison, Robert 125 
 
 Mosheime, J. L. Von 79 
 
 Motions to lay on table 184 
 
 Motions, nature of 178 
 
 Motion not debated , 184 
 
 Motion to postpone 184 
 
 Motion to reconsider 1B5 
 
 Murcott, Rev. John 51 
 
 Name> of congregaiionalists 3, 137 
 
 Naseby. battle of 23 
 
 National conncil . 99 
 
 Neal, Rev. Daniel 134 
 
 Neander, Dr. Augustus 79 
 
 Nettleton. Asahel 131 
 
 Newell , Samuel .. .. 126 
 
 Newfoundland 43, 48 
 
 New South Wales . . 52 
 
 New Zealand , . . . . 53 
 
 Nicese, council of 5 
 
 Nova Scotia.. 44 
 
 Novatians, the 6 
 
 Nye, Philip 25,26, 29 
 
 Occasional conformity act 36 
 
 CEcolampadius, Johannes . 61 
 
 Offertory service 160 
 
 Officers, church 68, 89 
 
 Old South church 42 
 
 Ontario, province of 46 
 
 Ottoman empire 56 
 
 Ordaining pastors 90 
 
 Order of busii ess 177 
 
 Order of church services 162 
 
 Order of church dedication 165 
 
 Order of installation 163 
 
 Order of laying corner-stone 164 
 
 Order o f ordination 163 
 
 Order of the day 185 
 
 Order, points of 185 
 
 Ordinances, christian 93 
 
 Organization, congregational 65 
 
 Organization of a church 82, 187 
 
 Origin of Congregationalism 4 
 
 Orleans, synod of 8 
 
 Owen, Dr. John. . . 4, 25, 26, 29 32, 
 
 33, 50, III, 118 
 
 Oxford reform bill. 120 
 
 Parsons, James ^o 
 
 Parliamentary rules 175 
 
 P.\GE 
 
 Parliament of religions 122 
 
 Pastors 63^ 8g 
 
 Pastors, selecting them ' 91 
 
 Pastors, forms for calling 189 
 
 Pastors, forms for dismissing 194 
 
 Patristic testimony . 76 
 
 Pauliciaui ' 6 
 
 Perkins, Justin 126 
 
 Persecutions under Stuarts 30 
 
 Persecutions under Laud 2<t, _■! 
 
 Penry, John 13, 49J 131 
 
 Philanthropy, congregational 112 
 
 Pilgrim fathers 19 
 
 Pito Rev. Samuel 132 
 
 Pl.ague, the great 29 
 
 Plan of union 42 
 
 Platform, Cambridge 41 
 
 Platform, Say brook 41 
 
 Plymouth colony . . ,19. 41 
 
 Political freedom 108 
 
 Polycarp 76. 77 
 
 Poor, Daniel 126 
 
 Pope Urban II 78 
 
 Preaching, lay 132 
 
 Presbyterian churches 59 
 
 Presbyterian government 61 
 
 Primacy of Peter 73 
 
 Progression of Congregationalism . . 70 
 
 Protests, forms of 183 
 
 Pulpit exchange 174 
 
 Puritanism, principles of 9 
 
 Puritans, the 20 
 
 Quebec province 44 
 
 Queen Anne 36 
 
 Queen Elizabeth o, 14 
 
 Queen V ictoria 40 
 
 Queensland 53 
 
 Questions, previous 183. 
 
 Questions of, privileged 185 
 
 Question, speaking to . 180 
 
 Questions not debatable 184 
 
 Quorum 178 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter 14 
 
 Reception of members 85 
 
 Reception, forms for 144 
 
 Reid, Rev. Dr. Andrew 39, 46 
 
 Responsibility of members 83 
 
 Religious liberty . 109 
 
 Religions, parliament of 122 
 
 Repression, laws of 28 
 
 Revision of church roll 86 
 
 Kevolt in New England 42 
 
 Revival efforts 133 
 
 Revolution, American 44 
 
 Revolution, English 35 
 
 Roaf, Rev. John 46 
 
 Robinson, John 15, 17, iS, 70 
 
 Rotation of deacons .i 93 
 
 Rowe, John 27 
 
 Rules of order 175 
 
 Rules to suspend i36 
 
INDEX. 
 
 209 
 
 Page 
 
 Russian Stundists 54 
 
 Sacraments 94 
 
 Sandwich Islands 56 
 
 Savoy council a6, 98 
 
 Saybrook platform 4^ 
 
 Scandinavia 53 
 
 SchaufHer, Wm 126 
 
 Schism act 3^ 
 
 Schools in New England 119 
 
 School , first Sunday 44 
 
 Schaff, Dr. Philip 79 
 
 Scholarship, congregational 118 
 
 Scholars, testimony of 78 
 
 Scotland, Congregationalism in 47 
 
 Scrooby church 15, 17, 19 
 
 Scriptures, the standard 63 
 
 Secretary, duties of 170 
 
 Separatism, origin of . 3 
 
 Separatists in England 6 
 
 Seminaries, theological 120 
 
 Services, forms for 143 
 
 Silcox, Rev, Joseph 48 
 
 Simpson, Sidrach 26 
 
 Smith, Dr. Pye 40 
 
 Sociology, christian 113 
 
 South Australia 5a 
 
 Southwark church 11 
 
 Speaking to a question 180 
 
 Stanley, dean 64, 78 
 
 Star chamber court 14 
 
 State church 101 
 
 State, relationship to 100 
 
 Stated supply 90 
 
 Statistics, congregational 136 
 
 Stevenson, Rev. Dr 47 
 
 Strong, William 27 
 
 Stundists, Russian 54 
 
 Spain, churches in 55 
 
 Swedish mission 53 
 
 Synods, American 41 
 
 Tasmania 53 
 
 Taylor, Nathaniel W 131 
 
 Temperance 114 
 
 Tertullian.... 60, 77, 100 
 
 Test act 29 
 
 Testimony to congregationalisra .... 71 
 
 Thackery, Elias 13 
 
 Thanksgiving day, origin of 130 
 
 Theocracy, New England 100 
 
 Theological seminaries 120 
 
 Thurston, Rev. Asa 126 
 
 Tillett, Ben 113 
 
 Toleration 33 
 
 Page 
 
 Toleration act 33 
 
 Uniformity act 28 
 
 Union, England and VVales. .39, 46, 
 
 98, 114 
 
 Union, plan of 42 
 
 Unitarians, separation from 43 
 
 United States 41 
 
 Unity, christian iii 
 
 Universities opened to nonconformists 40 
 
 Urban II., pope 78 
 
 Usher, archbishop 34 
 
 Vane, Sir Harry 21, 33 
 
 Victoria, province of 53 
 
 Victorian age 4" 
 
 Vincent, Thomas 29 
 
 Visiting, pastoral . . 174 
 
 Visitors to candidates i^5 
 
 Voluntaryism 115 
 
 Voting, rules of 180 
 
 Watts, Dr. Isaac 122, 133 
 
 WaldenstriJm, Dr 4 
 
 Walloons in England . . 20 
 
 Wardlaw, Dr. Ralph 4, 5« 
 
 Wales, principality of 5^ 
 
 Wales, New South 53 
 
 Wesleys, the 38 
 
 Westminster abbey 27 
 
 Westminster assembly 25, 34 
 
 Westminster confession 98 
 
 Whately, archbishop 78 
 
 White, Rev. Edward i34 
 
 White John 131 
 
 Whitefield, George 38, ^33 
 
 Wiclif, John 7 
 
 William iV., king 39 
 
 Williams, Dr. Edward 38 
 
 Wilkes Rev. Dr. Henry 45 
 
 William, prince of Orange 35) 3^ 
 
 Williams, Rev. fohn 125 
 
 Winslow, Edu ard 130 
 
 Winters, Cornelius 39 
 
 Winters, Dr. Samuel SO 
 
 Winthrop, John 21 
 
 Witnesses to Congregationalism 6 
 
 Withdrawing fellowship 198 
 
 Womanhood 1^6 
 
 Woman and temperance "4 
 
 Woodall. Rev. Frederick 132 
 
 Word of God 63 
 
 Warship seized at lioston • • 4* 
 
 Wroth, William 5i 
 
 Zealand, migration to 12 
 
 Zealand, New 53 
 
Date Due 
 
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