^URA**" TO*:- OjfV^ 
 
 COL. GEORGE WASHINGTON FLOWERS 
 MEMORIAL COLLECTION 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 DURHAM, N. C. 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 W. W. FLOWERS 
 
AN 
 
 ABDEESS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MISSIONARY SOCIETY 
 
 0FTH3 
 
 PROTESTAXT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 2N THE 
 
 STATE OF NORTH-CAEOLIXA, 
 
 CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, 
 
 THE present is an eventful period of the World. 
 Noble efforts are making to spread the Gospel 
 ofouradorahle Kedeemei . The bright beams of im- 
 mortal life shine more and more. The Eternal 
 God aw akens by his grace, beleivers of every de- 
 nomination to spread the great truths of his Ever- 
 lasting Gospel, in various ways, and by dim-rent in- 
 struments, amongst the Nations of the Eaith. 
 
 Vinong the blessed instruments of his Mercy, 
 Missionaries hold a conspicuous place. Leaving 
 their homes, and t! esweet enjoyments of domestic 
 life, they go in search of distressed and wandering 
 p ig inis to guide them to their Saviour, the great, 
 ioureeoftheir spii ittial consolation and joy. Clothed 
 Wth authority tram Chi ist. they pi •ociainl ttie-Gofe- 
 jb^l of Peace ; the\ c?utt 'Virh them the sym Is of 
 his iuve, and sooth tne sorrow s of the weeping peni- 
 
m 
 
 tent by pointing feo him. Heaven, by exhibiting to 
 his Tfewihe glories of th^ Cross. ' How bIesh<- : flie 
 message! Hov> hoooramfe the messenger ! How 
 welcome to the Children ofthe Redeemer, dispersed 
 throu gh on t every land ! How Saany dear brethi -en, 
 members of the Church of Christ, are now scattered, 
 and far removed fr6n) thfe enjoyments and blessings 
 of our Social Worsftjji and ordinances, who call 
 loudly on ns to remember them with sympathy ! 
 
 There is no Church whose members are so much 
 distressed. There are no members who stand 
 more in need of the Gospel and Ordinances of 
 Christ. What is now the State of Religion in the 
 Chin ch of North-Carolina ? Is Christianity gaining 
 or losing ground ? Does the Church which the Son 
 of God purchased with his blood, still retain her 
 numbers ? Or are not her nu mbers w of nil y decrea- 
 sed ? And is not her spirit bowed down and sunk ? 
 The most inattentive observer anions? the followers 
 of Christ cannot but see^ and lament over her 
 "solitary places ;" cannot but shed a tear in contem- 
 plating her as once flourishing and prosperous, but 
 now decayed and dilapidated. 
 
 With a view to remedy this lamentable state of 
 things, and correct the deplorable moral evils that 
 have resulted from it, the pieseut Society has been 
 instituted. Its object is, to send into the destitute 
 parts of this State, pious and devout Ministers of the 
 Church, to give comfort and aid, instruction and 
 consolation to the members of her Zion dispersed 
 in almost every section. What incalculable bene- 
 fits .might not two or three Missionaries confer, in 
 a few years, on every corner of this State ? And who 
 is there that will not give his exertions for so lauda- 
 ble an object ? W ho that will not strive to redeem 
 
fror" destruction the Churches in which our fathers 
 delighted to Worship i Who that will not endeavour 
 ton rover to religion and to piet}, those whom the 
 want of spiritual instruction may have rendered 
 indifferent to their souls salvation? The tendency 
 oi li e present state of things is, to overspread the 
 land with darkness. V here the law of God is not 
 publickly read and explained, it must necessarily 
 evaty day lose somt portion of its authority and in- 
 fluence : and the awful sanctions b\ which it is en- 
 forced, if they be not entirety forgotten, must copie 
 to be regarded, first with indifference, and then 
 with contempt. \\ retched indeed is the condiii a 
 of a people among' whom the light of the Gospel has 
 long ceased to shine. And where has this light 
 suffered a more total eclipse than in that portion of 
 the Church in this State, whose vitality this Society 
 is particularly intended to resuscitate ? 
 
 We ask you then, fellow Christians, with confi- 
 dence — was your assistance ever solicited for pur- 
 poses more clearly meritorious, and, we may add, 
 for objects more certainly practicable? Is it riot 
 highly desirable to raise from the dust the Church 
 of our fathers, to collect together her dispersed 
 members, and to pour into the hearts of her des- 
 ponding sons and daughters the beams of consola- 
 tion and joy ? Did we plead for the preservation of 
 the poor from the distressing effects of famine, you 
 "Would lend us an ear of compassion. How much 
 more then will your pity be excited for the Salva- 
 tion of Souls ? If you feel a Christian love for your 
 fellow beings, we beseech you to manifest its sin- 
 cerity by co-operating in a measure w hich affords 
 the prospect of turning many to righteousness, of 
 saving their souls from condemnation. Do you 
 
(4) 
 
 not acknowledge the duty which the Apostle en* 
 joins, of doing good to all men, especially to those 
 who are of the household of faith ? Permit us then 
 to ask in what way can you do a more important 
 or a more lasting good, than by contributing to this 
 fund, which will enable the Society to repair the de- 
 cays of the Church, and to enlarge the number of 
 her faithful shepherds. Shepherds who will ga- 
 ther together the wandering flocks of Christ; es- 
 tablish their folds ; feed them plenteously w ith the 
 bread of life ; lead them forth to fountains of living 
 water ; and, in fine, conduct them to the bright 
 mansions of eternal felicity. 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 Of the Missionary Society of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church in North-Carolina. 
 
 Article 1. This Society shall be known by the 
 name or title oi the Missionary Society of the Pro- 
 testant Episcopal Church of North-Carolina. 
 
 2. There shall be an annual meeting of this So* 
 ciety, on the second Thursday after Easter, at the 
 place at which the convention of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of North-Carolina for that year 
 may be held. 
 
 3. The Officers of this Society shall be, a Presi- 
 dent, three Vce-Pve*idei;ts, a Secretary, Treasurer, 
 and aboard of Managers- 
 
 4. Itshaii >e the duty of the President to preside 
 in the meetings of the society, and to call special 
 meetings of die same, 
 
 5. The Vice-Presidents, by seniority, shall in ?he 
 absence, or at the requesi r>fthe President perforajp 
 the duties pfPresideut, 
 
 6. The secretary snail keep a record of the trans- 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/addressofmission01epis