CONGREGATIONALSM:
/  -,I  t~)- 
WHY IT IS
BETTER THAN ANY OTHER FORM OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT;
AND
ITS CONSEQUENT DEMANDS.
BY
HIENRY M.DEXTER,
Editor of "The Congregationalist and Boston Recorder," and lately Pastor of the
Berkeley Street Congregational Chumch, Boston.
THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
BOSTON:
NOYES, HOLMES, AND COMPANY.
1871.
,.~ii is; +~t2lc  is i+    ouiilocs
t 
Entered according to a& of Congress, in the year i865, by
NICHOLS AND NOYES,
In the Clerk's Office of the Distric Court for the Distrit of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPED BY W. F. BROWN AND CO,
Presswork of John Wilson and Sow 
IN
9t fIrubit of IjIs'IfT istan 0aganrtig,
gtt tl arntoo -an  forre of tls lOgzia  farultg,
gtu*  tis vmirRIz bt1bine    g df utarIgI sit of ilaOSa imptxaI  qaaitizts
WHICH GO TO MAKE UP
A TRUE
~aufr flaiiual inistir;
THIS VOLUME IS
(WITHOUT PERMISSION)
AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,
BY ONE,
WHO, IN MORE THAN SIXTEEN YEARS OF ALMOST DAILY INTERCOURSE,
HAS HAD BOTH FREQUENT CAUSE AND LARGE OPPORTUNITY
TO KNOW WHAT HE IS AS
3 tvitud 
I 
Religion is the best thing, and the corruption of it the worst.-JOHN ROBINSON, Works, I: 33
We veryly beleeve & trust ye Lord is with us, unto whom & whose service we have given
our selves in many trialls; and that He will graciously prosper our indeavours according to ye
simplicitie of our harts therin. -ROBINSON AND BREWSTER, TO SANDYS, 15 Dec. z6l7.
We are much charged with what we own not, viz.: - Independency, when as we know not any
Churches Reformed, more looking at sister Churches for helpe then ours doe, onely we can not
have rule yet discovered from any friend or enemy, that we should be under Canon, or power of
any other Church; under their Councell we are. We need not tell the wise whence Tyranny
grew in Churches, and how commonwealths got their pressure in the like kind.- HUGH  PETER.
A nswer of the Elders, iv.
The Discipline appointed by Jesus Christ for his Churches is not arbitrary, that one Church
may set up and practice one forme, and another another forme, as each one shall please, but is one
and the same for all Churches, and in all the Essentialls and Substantialls of it unchlangeable, and to
be kept till the appearing of Jesus Christ. And if that Discipline which we here practice, be
(as we are perswaded of it) the same which Christ hath appointed and therefore unalterable, we
see not how another can be lawfull; and therefore if a company of people shall come hither, and
here set up and practice another, we pray you thinke not much, if we can not promise to approve
them in so doing. - RICHARD MATHER. Answer of thie Elders, 83.
That Controversies about Forms of Ecclcs.Zslhcal Disciz'line, concern not the Essentizals of Religion, but that Good Men may be of various Sentiments about them; Salnva Fide, e: Caritate,
is readily acknowledged. Nevertheless there ought to be a singular Regard unto Truths of this
Nature, by us in ANew-E~ngland, above what may be affirmed of Men in any other Part of the
World, since our Fathers were Persecuted out of their Native land, and fain to fly into the Wilderness, for their Testimony thereunto: great were the Difficulties and Temptations, and Straits,which
they for some time conflicted with, and all upon no other Account, but that so they might enjoy a
fire DiscizliNe and Church  state, exactly conformable to the Mind of Czrist, revealed in the
Holy Scriptures.  On which Account, for their Posterity to depart from what their Fatlhers have
with so much Clearness of Scripture Light, taught and practiced, and confirmed with so great
Sufferings; must needs be a greater Sin and Provocation to the Eyes of his Glory, than may be
said ofany other People on the Face of the Earth. -INCREASE MATHER.  Disq. coa. Eccl. Councils, i.
Some [among us] are great Blessings to the Churches, as inheriting the Principles, Spirit, and
Grace of their Fathers and Grand-Fathers; but many of them do not so. On which account, it
is not at all to be wondered at, if they Dislike the Good Old Way of the Chzunrches; yea, if they
Scoff at it, as some of them do; or if they are willing to defart froz whnat is Ordinarily Practiced in the C/hzrc/es of Christ in NVew-ENzgland.  For the Congregational Church  Disci Aine
is not Suited for a Worldly Interest, or for a Formzal Generation of Professors.  It will stand or
fall as Godliness in ithe Power of it does prevail, or otherwise. -INCREASE  MATHER.   Order oa
the Gospel, I I.
Our Fathers fled into this Wilderness from the face of a Lording Ehiscopacy and Human
Injunctions in the worship of God.  Now-, if any of us their Children should yield unito, or be Instrumental to set up in this Country, any ofthe Ways ofMen's Invention, such as Prelacy, imposed
Liturgies, Human Ceremonies in the Worship of God, or to admit Ignorant and Scandalous
Persons to the Lord's Table; This would be a backsliding indeed! It would be a Backsliding
to the Things which we and our Fathers have departed f-om, and have openly testified against, to
be not of God. -JOHN HIGGINSON.  Sermon 27 iffay, t663.
It was with regard unto Ckhrch Order and Discisline, that our pious Ancestors, the Goodold
Purilan Nonco,for;nists, transported themselves and their Famiilies, over the vast Ocean to these
goings down of the Sun. On which account, a Degeneracy from the Principles of pure Scriziural
v 
WOrshif and Order in the Church, would be more Evil in the Children of New-Englant, than
any other People in the World. - COTTON MATHER.  Ratio Discizlinae, iv.
Consider what will be the latter end of receding or making a defection from the way of
Church Government established among us.  I profess I look  upon the discovery and settlement
of the Congregational way, as the boon, the gratuity, the largess of Divine bounty, Nwhichl the
Lord graciously bestowed upon his people that followed him into this wilderness....  As
for the Presbyterian way of Church Government, it must be confessed that, i the day of it, it
was a very considerable step to reformationi.  The church of God iath been recovered by degrees
out of the anti-Christian apostacy.  The reformation in King Edward's days was then a blessed
work; and the reformation of Geneva and Scotland was a larger step, and ill many respects purer
than the other; and for my part I fully believe that the Congregational way far exceeds both,
and is the highest step that bath been talcen toward reformation, and, for the substance of it,
is the very way that was established and practiced in the primitive times, according to the Institution of Jesus Christ... And those that would forsake the Congregational, and pass over
to the Presbyterian way, because of some differences of notion among our Congregational  Divines, or difficulties in the practice and way of the Congregational Churches, shall find that they
make but a bad exchange, and that there are as many or more differences, difficulties, and entanglements, in the Presbyterian principles and practice.-PRESIDENT OAIKES.   Electioz Sermon, 1673.
It is evident indeed, that great Pains are taken to drawz our Peohle, especially our inconsider    ateyounug People, who are too unmindful of the Kisig and God of their Fathers, if-oi  thezirLove
and A ttachrlzent to thosefirst Princihles of these Cihurches; But, as Nabotli said to Ahab con    ceming his Vineyard, in I Kings, xxi: 3.  The L OD forbidit mne, that I shouldgive the Irzheri    tance of many Fathers unto Thzee; even so it is fit, that we slhould say to such as would entice us
to part with the pure Order of these Churches, This Vevs our Fathie-'s Inheritance: And GOD
forbid, that any should persuade us to give up our inestimable Rights: For the very Thought
parting with them is Shocking. - SAIUEL MATHER.  Apology, &.'c. 143.
/   The exigencies of the Christian Church can never be such as to legitimate, much less render it
'. wise, to erect any body of men into a standing judicatory over the Churches. - PRESIDENT
STILES.  Coanveation Sermon, I 6.
Pilgrim  Fathers of New  England, victims of persecution, how wide an empire  aclnowledges the sway of your principles! Apostles of Liberty, what millions attest the authenticity
of your mission!.....  We come, in our prosperity, to remember your trials; and here,
on the spot where New England began to be, we come to learn of you anl abiding lesson of virtue, enterprise, patience, zecal, and faith!- EDWARD  EVERETT.   IVorks, i:71.
Spread yourselves and your children over the conitinent, accomplish the whole of your great
destiny, and if it be that through the whole you carry Purtan' eaers with you, if you still cherisli an undying love of civil and religious liberty, and mean to enjoy them yourselves, and are
willing to shed your heart's blood to transmit them to your posterity, then will you be worthy
descendants of Carver and Allerton and Bradford, and the rest of those who landed from stormy
seas on the rock of Plymouth.-DANIEL WEBSTER.   Works, ii: 524.
There was a State without king or nobles; there was a Church without a bishop. -RUFlrS
CHOATE. Life and lJVritings, I: 379.
And still their spirit, in their sons, with freedom walks abroad,
The Bible is our only creed; our only monarch, God!
The hand is raised, the word is spoke, the solemn pledge is given,
And boldly on our banner floats, in the free air of heaven,
The motto of our sainted sires, - and loud we'll make it ring, -
% Cturcr  bittout a BiIjp,ab an  a State Witbout a Uing!
VI
)L 
'%:h"~:':~, "~...'.
PRE F ACE.
As long ago as in 1859, I was desired by a publisher to
recast for a moderately sized volume, an article entitled
"Congregationalism - its essential features and inherent
superiorities," which, after some previous service as a sermon, had been published in the first number of the Con,
gregational Quarterly.   I undertook  the labor, and the
book was announced as in the press, in July, 1860.  It so
happened, however, that after the copy had been partially
prepared and the type-setting begun, circumstances connected
with my  pastoral charge compelled the temporary  relinquishment of the undertaking. Resumed as soon as possible afterwards, the work - thanks to a printer of inexhaustible patience -has been carried on at desultory and
often distant intervals, as the pressure of two exacting
professions, and other things, would permit.  It has thus
been  written  and stereotyped in fragments;  since  the
first fifty  pages,  one " form"  not  unfrequently  having
been completed, before the next page has existed in manuscript,
I mention these facts because they are facts - which
may explain, though they will not justify, some of the many
defects of the volume. If any body sees in it crudities,
(vii) 
PREFACE.
repetitions, and- in matter and manner- abundant marks
of haste; I can only say, with Paul, "I more." Being at
last finished, it is now published, because it is an honestthough felt to be a very imperfect - endeavor to discuss,
in a practical way, subjects of common concernment; and
particularly to make clear to all inquiring minds the simple and efficient processes of Congregationalism. While the
wants of ministers, and others who are called upon to discuss Church Polity, have been constantly had in mind,
and many notes have been inserted for their eye; the
book has yet been especially written for, and to, the intelligent masses of the people, in the deepest conviction that
the system of Church order, which it aims to unfold and
defend, has special Divine aptitude to bless them, while
in the present position of our country this aptitude peculiarly needs to be considered and commended to the general
mind; and in the thought that, among other and abler
treatises, they might, on some accounts, be grateful for such
an one as this.
I have no apology to offer to fellow Christians of other
denominations for anything said herein. I have not intended to speak in bitterness or censoriousness, nor otherwise than I would have them speak of my own faith- did
facts warrant it- in reversed circumstances. I hold that
the most peaceable and useful Christian union is that which
is effected by the kindly co-working of denominational
bodies, each thoroughly persuaded that it is better than all
others, and stimulated to the utmost esprit de corps; as
that grand army proves most victorious, in which each arm
of the service is sure that it is more vital than all otlhrs
vii
t 
PREFACE.
to that success which all, it may be equally, desire, and for
which all, under one leadership, contend. If a fellow Chris tain is an Episcopalian, or a Presbyterian, or a Methodist,
I want him to be such with all his heart and soul and mind
and strengtl; and equally I desire an earnest Congrega tionalism in all who accept the democratic, as, at once, the
primitive and the peerless polity. The present crisis in
our National affairs demands firom every Christian, action
of that sagacious, self-denying, and I might almost say strenuous character, which can only be the natural outgrowth
of an intelligent, fervid, and untiring inward conviction
that he has " the mind of Christ."
I have not always cited the most approved editions of the
Fathers, and others; because it was more convenient to
use those at hand in my own possession, and I had no time
to go to the public libraries, and collate passages.
I have remembered that a poor book with a good index
is better than a good book with none at all; and having
lost countless hours in writilng this, for want of tolerable
help of that description in many of the volumes which I
have had occasion to consult, I have been especially moved
to make it in this respect, worthier of the public favor; and
I am sure that those who  may consult it will not feel
that it is over-indexed.
The die on the cover is from the title-page of the late
Mr. Joseph Hunter's " Collections concerning the Founders
of New Plymouth. London.  John Russell  Smith. 1854;"
being essentially a map, in little, of that locality, "near the
joining borders of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and York
ix 
PREFACE.
shire," which was honored of God as the birth-place of American Congregationalism.
I only add, that the plates of the statistics of pp. 5-7,
have been suffered to stand as they were cast five years
ago, because it has proved impossible, since thie Rebellion,
to gain later minute returns from the South, of the character required for those calculations; and that I have introduced-  often in the language elsewhere employedmany practical discussions of points of interest to Congre
gationalists, which have been already published, in one or
other of the Journals with which I have editorial connection.
H. M.D.
HILLSIDE, ROXBURY,
6 June, 1865.      }
IN revising thle stereotype plates for a second edition, I
have made considerable changes in some places, mainly to
bring the statistics involved as nearly up to date as possible;
and have added in an appendix some facts, discussions, and
documents, which I thought would tend to make the book
more valuable to its readers.
BOSTON, 19 MAY 1868.
x
t 
ANALYSIS.
CHAPTER I. WHAT CONGREGATIONALISM IS.......................... 1-7
Definition......................................................  1
Fundamental Principles...................................... 24
Number of Congregational churches here and abroad.............. 6
Ratio to other churches here.................................... 6
Very evenly diffused throughout the land........................ 7
CHAPTER JI. WHENCE CONGIREGATIONALISM I              S...................... 8-159
Intimations of Christ on church government........... 9-18
Testimony of the Apostles........................... 13-21
Testimony of history to Congregationalism............ 21-25
Proofof theprinciples of Congregationaliss from Scrip  ture and Reason............................... 25-159
1. PRINCIPLE.  Any company of people believing themselves to
be, and publicly professing to be, (~hristians, associated by
voluntary compact. on Gospelprincip)les,for Christian work
and worship, is a true church.......................... 25-34
(1.) A true church is composed of Christians......... 26-29
(a.) It is described as holy.........................26
(b.) A vital union between it and Christ.............27
(c.) Chlrist's design for it...........................27
(d.) Radically different from the world..............27
(e.) Only believers can rightly receive its ordinances.. 28
(f.) Unworthy members are to be cut off.............28
(2.) Those Christians must be united by covenant.......29
(3.) This union must be for Christian work and worship.. 30
(4.) Every such company is a true church.............. 30
(a.) From scriptural use of the word church...... 31-34
(b.) The work laid upon the church by Christ and
the Apostles consists only with independent
bodies...................................... 34
II. PRINCIPLE.   Such a church, as a rule, should include only
those who can worship and labor together, and watch over
each other.................................. 8....... 835
III. PRINCIPLE.   Every member of such a church has equal es      sential rights, powers, andprivileges with every other (ex                                               [ Xi
Sect. 1.
Sect. 2.
Sect. 3.
Sect. 4. 
ANALYSIS.
cept sofar as the New Testament and common sense make
some special abridgement in the case offemale members),
and the membership togqether, by majority vote, have the
right and duty of choosing all necessary officers, of admit
ting, dismissing.q, and dlisciplining their own mnembers, and
of transacting all other cappropriate business of a Christian church........................................ 3843
(1.) All of its members have equal rights, &c...... 38-40
(2.) The membership control its action............ 40-43
(a.) They choose officers....................... 4041
(b.) They admit and dismiss members..............41
(c.) They discipline and exclude members....... 4142
(d.) They transact all other appropriate business... 43
IV. PRINCIPLE.  Every such c7hurch is independent of all out      war?d control, and answerable only to Christ, and is on a
level of essential character wCith every other church on
earth...............................................43-58
(1.) It is independent, under Christ................. 44-56
(a.) No Scripture confers control over it upon any.. 4447
(b.) No Scripture furnishes evidence of such control... 47
(c.) Drift of Newv Testament against it................47
(d.) Argumnents for such control do not prove it..... 47-49
(e.) Texts cited do not prove it................... 49-55
(f.) Christ made  his churches independent, under
himself......................................55
(2.) All such churches on an essential level.......... 56-58
V. PRINCIPLE.  Afraterznallfellowship is yet to be maintained
between these churches, by aclvice in Council, (fc., (tc....  58-67
(1.) Such fellowship is Scriptural..................... 61-63
(2.) It is reasonable.....................................63
Councils are mutual and exp(arte......................64
They have no authority (strictly so called)............ 64-66
Suppose a church declines such advice?............. 66-67
VI. PRLINClLE.  The permanent officers of a church are its
Pastor or Pasto2s, and Deacons, only; to be chosen fiSom
its own ranks...................................... 67-159
(1.) Christ designated but these two classes............... 68-76
Apostles, Prophets, Deaconness, &c.....................69
Angel of the church...................................70
Evangelists........................................ 71-73
Miracles, Gifts of Healings, Helps, Governments, &c... 74-75
Diversities of tongues.................................76
(2.) The first class is Pastors, called also Teachers, Elders,
Presbyte)'s, and Bishops......................... 76-132
(a.) Testimony of able and candid scholars that these
are all names of one office.................... 77-92
X.U
t 
ANALYSIS.
Wiclif, John of Goch, Luther, Calvin.................. 77
Cranmer, Melancthon, Coverdale, Polanus, Limborch.. 78
Episcopius, Arminius, Wollebius, Ames, Robinson,
Lord King, Sclater, Turretin, Stapfer...............79
Richard Hooker, Milton, Lardner....................80
Gibbon, Baxter, Doddridge......................... 81
Owen, Cotton, Davenport, Thomas Hooker, Cotton
Mather, Chauncy.................................82
Wiggleswortb, Foxcroft, Dickinson, Walter...........83
Shepard, Jameson, Wise, Hopkins, Emmons...........84
Dwight, Mason, Woods, Guizot, Coleridge, Smyth,
Bennet............................................ 85
Coleman, Schmucker, Taylor, Sawyer, Breckenridge,
Pond, Davidson, Punchard, Upham................86
Garratt, Vaughan, Hill, Jacobson, Newman, Plumtre,
Conybeare and Howson...........................87
Ullman, Hall, Bacon, Wellman, Athanasius, Cajetan,
Gualtherus.......................................88
Zanchius, Gomarus, Grotius, Brennius, Poole, Hen     ry, Bengel, Macknight, Clark...................... 89
Whitby, Scott, Assembly's Annotations, Bloomfield,
Baumgarten, Eadie, Hodge, Barnes, Alexander...... 90
Hackett, Mack, Alford, Peshito-Syriac, Michaelis...... 91
(b.) Similar testimony from the Fathers, and from Ec       clesiastical history........................... 9-99
Clement of Rome, Polycarp..........................92
Justin Martyr, Iren   nus............................   93
Clement of Alexandria, Hilary, Jerome............ 94-96
Chrysostom, Theodoret, Pope Urban............... 96-97
Mosheim, Waddington, Milner, Campbell, Gieseler,
Guericke.........................................97
Schaff, Kurtz, Killen, Nea nder....................... 98
Epistles of Ignatius worthless in evidence............. 99
(c.) Similar testimony from the Scriptures......... 100-110
(aa.) Examine the words "Pastor," &c., them            selves............................100103
(bb.) Same qualifications demanded of all..... 103-104
(cc.) Same duties assigned to all.............. 104-107
(aaa.) To guide.......................... 104-105
(bbb.) To instruct........................... 105
(ccc.) To administer the ordinances....... 105-106
(ddd.) To ordain........................ 106-107
(d.) The texts claimed as making the Bishop a superior
order, fail to sustain the claim............. 107-109
Does the NiVew Testarnent teach or authorize any such of fice as that of Ruling Elder?..................... 110-121
Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, &c., hold this..... 11(0
Passages supposed to prove it............,........ 111
All turns on 1 Timn. v. 17......................... 112
xiii 
A-AALY8IS.
But (1.) these are not lay elders.................. 112
(2.) they are the same as labor in word and
doctrine.............................. 118
(3.) they can not have ruling for their sole
function.............................. 114
(4.) it is, then, a Congregational text......... 114
proof of its Congregational sense from
other tex       ts........................... 116
(5.) Presbyterian sense of it conflicts with
the directions of the New Testament....  117
(6.) all elders were to be apt to teach........ 118
Testimony of antiquity, Vitringa, Rothe, Neander,
Dr. Wilson, &c................................ 118
Calvin invented the offi      ce......................... 118
The "Ruling Elder" of our Pilgrim Fathers.... 121-132
Their theory not self-consistent nor useful.......... 128
Not a Presbyterian eldership, and soon abandoned.. 132
(8.) The second class ofpermanent officers set by Christ in
his churches (for temp)oralities) is called Deacons. 132-136
(1.) Record of the Acts of the Apostles...... 132
(2.) Epistles prove the same................ 134
(3.) Early history of the Church proves it.... 134
(4.) Pastors and Deacons are to be chosen and set apart
by the church from its own membership.......... 136-145
(1.) Every church is to elect its own Pastor and
Deacons................................... 136
(2.) Every church is to ordain, or otherwise set
apart, its Pastor and Deacons............... 136
(a.) The proprieties suggest some setting
apart.............................. 137
(b.) New-Testament theory of ordination
very simple......................... 188
Apostles did not "ordain" elders in
every church, but" secured their elec                   tion"................................ 188
Scriptural ground lies in other passages.. 139
A comely and fit custom................ 140
(c.) This view supported by our Fathers....  141
"Plebeian" ordinationis................ 144
The "six months' notice "plan unscrip                   tural, uncongregational, needless, in                   expedient, disgraceful, and disastrous.. 144
The hierarchal theory of ordination
false, pernicious, and absurd.......... 145
(8.) The Church must elect and set apart these
officers from its own number............ 146-149
Duty of a Congregational minister to belong
to his own church.......................... 146
"Stated supplies"....................... 149-154
' XrV 
ANALYSIS.
Congregatlonalism knows such only as excep  tions...................................... 149
Right of laynzen to preach if competent........ 150
The Fathers held that only a Pastor is a min  ister...................................... 152
One may act temporarily as "supply," but
only ad interim............................ 158
"Ordination as an Evangelist"............ 154159
There is no true ordination but of a church
over itself................................. 154
A layman may be authorized by the church to
administer the Lord's Supper to it........... 155
And to baptize, where there is need........... 156
One who has been ordained as an Evangelist
is just as much of a minister as he was be  fore, and no more...................... 157-159
CHAPTER III. How CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS..................  160-235
Sect. 1. How toform a church............................ 160-166
Is it expedient....................................... 160
Number necessary.................................. 161
Application for letters of dismission, &c. (form)....... 161
Articles of faith and covenant (form).............. 162-163
Calling a council where practicable.................... 164
Form of letter missive................................. 164
Action of Council and process of organization.......... 165
Bect. 2. How to choose and induct church officers............. 166-172
(1.) Choice of lesser officers........................... 166
(2.) Choice and induction of Deacons................ 167
(3.) Choice and induction of Pastor................... 168
Co-action of church and society (if one)....... 168
Form of c       al   l................................. 168
Form of letters missive........................ 171
Procedure of Council, &c..................... 171
Bect. 8. How to transact the regular business of a church.....  172-195
(1.) Standing rules (form)......................... 172-178
(2.) Rules of o r d e r................................... 174
(a.) Coming to or    der............................. 175
(b.) Motions..................................... 176
(c.) Amendments................................ 177
(d.) Privileged motions........................... 178
(aa.) The previous question.................... 179
(bb.) The motion to withdraw the question......179
(cc.) The motion to lay on the table............ 179
(dd.) The motion to commit.................... 179
(ee.) The motion to postpone to a fixed date..... 179
(if.) The motion to postpone indefinitely......... 179
(gg.) The motion to adjourn................. 179
XV
i 
ANALYSIS.
(e.) Voting.......................................  180
(f.) Reconsideration................................ 181
(g.) Questions of order............................ 181
(h.) Committees.................................. 182
(aa.) Special committees....................... 182
(bb.) Standing committees................... 182
(cc.) Committee of the whole................... 182
(i.) Reports....................................... 183
(j.) Closing a meeting.............................. 183
(3.) Admitting members.......................... 183-185
(4.) Dismissing members (forms, &c.)............. 185-188
(5.) Disciplining members........................ 188-195
(a.) Private offenses when orlly one individual is
concerned (forms of complaint, &c.)........... 189
(b.) Private offenses between two or more........... 192
(c.) Matters of public scandal....................... 193
(d.) Violations of the articles of faith and covenant... 194
,ect. 4. How to vacate church offices....................... 195-206
(a.) How to vacate lesser church offices................ 196
(b.) How to vacate the deaconship.................... 197
(c.) How to vacate the pastorship..................... 198
Dismission (forms)............................. 198
Deposition...................................... 205
Beet. 5.  Church and parish............................... 206-213
(1.) The church standing alone..................... 206
(2.) The church for all secular purposes acting as a
parish........................................ 207
(3.) Church and parish co-acting...................... 208
(a.) Organization of a parish...................... 210
(b.) By-laws of a parish (form           ).................... 210
(c.) Rules for joint action (form)................... 212
Beet. 6. Councils........................................ 213-221
(1.) Who may call a Council......................... 214
(2.) How a Council is called.......................... 214
(3.) Letters missive.................................. 215
(4.) Quorum......................................... 216
(5.) Organization.................................... 216
(6.) Scope of business................................ 216
(7.) Mlethod of business............................... 217
(8.) Result.......................................... 217
(9.) Force of such a result............................ 218
No authority (purely speaking).................... 219
Legally (in Mass.): -
(a.) Of no force until accepted by parties........ 219
(b.) Justifies the party accepting and acting onil it. 219
(c.) Conclusive as to facts adjudged to be such... 220
(d.) But the court may revise................... 220
(10.) Dissolution..................................... 220
xvi 
ANALYSIS.
Sect. 7. Consociation..................................... 221-225
A standing Council and not a purely Congregational
procedure....................................... 222
Sect. 8. Associations..................................... 225-227
Sect. 9.  Conferences........................................ 227
Sect. 10. Church extension................................... 227
Sect. 11. Denominational relations............................. 229
Sect. 12. How to dissolve a church......................... 230-233
Where unanimous (form of letter)................... 231
Where resisted by a minority...................... 232
Sect. 13. The restoration of offenders...................... 234-235
CHAPTER IV.  WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER
FORM OF CHURCH GOVERNMIENT................. 236-296
Sect. 1. It is more in accordance with the mind of Christ..... 236-237
(1.) It is the New-Testament polity................... 236
(2.) It is that which Christ has signally blessed......... 237
(3.) It is that which specially promotes earnest per                           sonal Christian activity........................ 237
Sect. 2. It is more practicable in its working than any other sys                       tenm........................................... 237-251
(a.) In the formation of churches..................... 238
(b.) In the matter of the pastorate.................... 241
(c.) In its methods of worship....................... 248
(d.) In all church work.............................. 249
Sect. 3. It tends most to promote general intelligence......... 252-254
Sect. 4. It tends most to promote piety in its membership...... 255-259
(a.) Develops especially individual responsibility....... 255
(b.) Throws its membership most directly upon the
Bible, the Spirit, and the Saviour................ 257
Sect 5. It most favors true gos.pel discipline................. 259-263
Sect. 6. It has the most favorable influence upon its ministry.. 263-266
Sect. 7. Itsfundamental principles are more favorable than any
other to the promotion of the general cause of Christ 266-267
(1.) In promoting revivals of religion............. 267-276
(a.) In virtue of its freeness of action, and flexibility
of adaptation................................ 267
(b.) Its want of reliance upon any thing formal, or
ritual, for salvation........................ 269
(c.) The high character of its spiritual demands...... 271
(d.) Its special training toward dependence upon God. 272
(e.) Its intense individualism....................... 274
(2.) In promoting missions............................ 276
Sect. 8. Itfitrnishes the most efficient bar}rier against heresy and
false doctrine................................. 277-289
(1.) Favors the development of error less than Others.... 277
b
XVII
i
t 
ANALYSIS.
(2.) Furnishes a less favorable shelter for it............ 280
(3.) It, in its past history, has actually proved itself a
safer barrier than any other system......... 281-289
Sect. 9. It has a kindlier bearing than any other toward a repub           lican form of civil government.................. 288-293
Sect. 10.  Its adrantages are organic and peculiar to itself, while
its disadvantages are incidental to the imperfection of
its past development, and so removable........... 293-295
The existence of heretical churches Congregation              ally governed, no proof that these positions are
false...................................... 295-296
CHAPTER V. WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS?................. 297
1. Congregationalists should recognize the fact that Con    gregationalism is a polity............................. 298
2. That it is the polity which Christ loves, and would pro    mote................................................ 29&
3. They ought to master it in its grand scope, and minute
details.............................................. 299
4. They ought to appreciate the fact that no other polity
can be so helpful to this land now as it can be.......... 299
5. They ought to remember that it is peculiarly the polity
of revivals, and work it in that aim, to that end........ 300
6. They ought to use all honorable means to secure its
prevalence.......................................... 301
(1.) It should be preached as a system from Christ, and
which needs to be made clear in what it is, what
it is not, and what it demands................... 8302
(2.) Distinctively Congregational missions, home and
foreign, should be supported by Congregational          ists in preference to all others................... 302
(8.) Congregationalists should abundantly endow, and
thoroughly use, their schools and seminaries.....  303
(4.) They should purify the practical working of their
system of present inconsistencies................ 304
(5.) They should do justice to its principle of the com          munion of churches, in more active, and more
loving, and more constant fellowship and co          working...................................... 306
[See APPENDIX for topics additional to all here enumerated.]
xvin - 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Acceptance of a report, 183.
Adjournment, 183.
Adjourn, motion to, privileged, 179.
Adjournment sine die, 183.
Admitting members, 183.
Admonition, efect of, 191.
Adoption of a report, 183.
Amendments, 177.
Amend, motion to, may entirely alter and
even reverse the meaning of the original
motion. 178.
American Congregational Union, 228.
Angel of the                    Church, what? 70,
Appeal from the decision of the Chair, 182.
Apostles, office, self-limnited and temporary,
120.
Apostles assumed no control over the primi  tive churches, 47.
Apostles threw their influence on the side of
popular rights, 19.
Aristocracy, essential, of the Presbyterian
system, 291.
Arminianism, in Scotland developed in the
Presbyterian Church, 283.
Articles of Faith (form of), 162.
Association, articles of, for a Parish (form of),
210.
Associations, ministerial, what? 225.
Associations, ministerial, error of their at  tempting to depose from the ministry, 305.
Associations, General, 226.
Authority, properly speaking, none in the
decision of a Council, 219. 
Baptism,  any  church, on  exigency, may
authorize a competent layman to adminis  ter, 155 
Barnes, Rev. Albert, case of, illustrates the
imperfection of the Presbyterian way of
dealing with asserted heresy, 288.
Bishop, what? 102.
Bishop, same as Pastor or Elder, 76.
Bishop, in the Episcopal sense, the offspring
of the corruptions of the early Church,
22. 
Bishops  superior  to Pastors;  cannot  be
proved by texts claimed to prove it, 107.
Bishops, American Episcopal, have not the
true, untainted Apostolical succession, 245.
a By all means save some," the voice of Con  gregationalism to each one of her mem   bership, 275.
Call to a candidate    to bec om e a Pastor
(form of), 169.
Calomel on Mondays. quinine   on Tuesdays,
and so on, the Episcopal way, 269.
Certificate of good standing should be taken
by   a  travelling Church member  (with
form), 187.
Certificate of reception from  anothe r  Church
(formn of). 183.
Christ placed the  sole responsibility of his
cause on earth upon   the  local C Churches, 55.
Church, vhat it is, 1.
Church, composed of Christians, 25, 26.
Church, a true, what is it? 25.
Church, a, must be united by covenant, 29.
Church, a feeble, may be purer than a strong
one, 57.
Church, the, a local body, 34.
Church, every, local, independent of all exter  nal control. but Christ's, 43.
Church, local, every, on a level with every
other, 56.
Church, permanent officers two, only, 67.
Church and Parish, 203.
Church, can it be dissolved by majority vote;
opinions on the question, 233.
Church depose their Pastor, when painfully
necessary, after advice of Council, 205.
Church,'- dropping I" from, impossible, 187.
Church extension, 227.
Church extension, early New England way,
228.
Church, how to form, 160.
Clhurchi may act without any Parish, 206.
Church may act, for all secular purposes, as
a Parish. 207.
Church, how to dissolve, 230.
Church may be dissolved by unanimous vote,
231.
Church, how to proceed where a small minor
ity resist dissolution, 232.
Church work, superior advantages of Con  gregationalism in, 249.
Church order, why Luther did not reform
that as well as Church doctrine, 24.
[ xix ]
II 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Church of England, has "Calvinistic articles,
a Papistical service, and an Arminian cler   gy,'" 282.
Churches. at Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus,
and Corinth, though large, did each meet
together in one place for business, 37.
Churches, tlhirt-ifive local Congregational,
menti oned in the New Testament, 36.
Churches, five primitive, within eye-shot of
each other, 36.
Churches,  Congregational, proved best on
heathen ground, 277.
Churches, more easily formed under Congre   gationalism than under any other system,
238.
Churches should maintain fellowship, 58.
Churches, voting by, in a Council, the old
way, and the best, 216.
Church Courts, faulty and ineffectual work   in  of, 289.2
Closing a meeting, 183.
Colenso case, light shed by it upon the utter
weakness of Episcopacy to protect itself,
281.
Comning to order 175.
Committee, motion to commit to, privileged,
179.
Committee, special, 182.
Committee of the whole, 182.
Committee, exauining, 184.
Committees, 182.
Committees, standing, 182.
Committees, &c., how to vacate, 196.
Commiion. sense, Cong,regationalism the religion
of, 268.
Co,npl2in                       t     against ane offender (form of), 190.
Concubinage, spiritual, of the Itinerancy, 265.
Conferenes, Ch.urch 227.
Conferences, Church, error of their attempt   ing, or tolerating, any semblance of eccle   siastical or judicial power over the Church   es, 334.
Conferences,  G    ene        r al. 227.
Confession, 191.
C            onflict  of Ages," much read but little
received. 280.
Congreg;ational,     mea n ing of the name, 4.
Congregational  Church, thiat at Scrooby the
Mo        the    r Church e of New England, 25.
Conaregational  Churches. the kind fo                            r the
foreighn mi          ssion-field, 277.
Con greetionyai Eiud, reli gious democracy, 1.
Congre, ettionealysm,                             a       form of Church order
not  of faith, 4.
Congregationalism,      fu ndam  ental principle of,
2.
Congregationalism, six subordinate principles
of, 2.
Congregationalism, the necessary outgrowth
of the teachings of Christ, 9.
Congregationalism, in  a majority, in this
country, 6.
Congregatioiali.m has 21          forty-firsts of                the
Evangclical Churche s i n t his country,  6.
Congregationalism, evenly distributed in the
land, 7.
Congreg,-tionalism equally adapted to every
latitude, 7.
Congre,ationalism differs from Independency,
2, 60.
Congregationalism, most practicable form of
Church government, 237.
Congregationalism most favors the formation
of Ciiurches, 233.
Congregationalism, superiority of. in the pros
motion of general intelligence, 252.
Congreghletionahlism,e   most practicable  in its
methods of worship, 248.
Congregationalism, superiority of, in all
Church work. 249.
Congregationalsin most favors  its pastors,
241.
Congregationalism especially favors its min  istry, in contrast withl other polities, 263.
Congregationalisin thlrowvs its members most
directly upon the Bible, and the Spirit, and
the S'tviour, 257.
Congregationalism most tends to promote
piety in its  membe rship, 255.
Cougregationalisin  most promotes the feel  ing of i ndividual   responsibility for the
conversion of ien. 255.
Congregationalism most promotes Gospel dis   cipline, 259
Congre gationalism  furnishes  best barrier
against heresy, 277.
Congregationalism casts out a heretic more
easily anid effectually than any other sys   tem, 281.
Congreg. tionalism in England and Scotland,
has kept the faith while Presbyterianism
has lapsed into heresy, 284.
Congreg:Ltionalism, most in accordance with
the mind of Christ of all Church polities,
233.
Congregationalism  most favors the promotion
of tile general cause of Christ, 266.
Congregationad(sm most tends to bring on the
Millennium, 237.
Congregationalism has been most blessed, 237,
Congregationalism, advantages of, peculiar to
itself, 293.
Congregationalism,  practical  disadvantages
of, as sometimes worked, merely inciden  tal to its imperfection of development, and
sure to disappear, 293.
Congregationalism, its antagonist systems, in
stress of difficult.y, obliged to desert their
own fundamentals and appeal to its, 294.
Congregationalism, fact that there are many
heretical  Churches  so governed,  no fair
objection to, 293.
Congregationalism, the mother of this free
Republic, 290.
Congregationalism, statistics of, 5.
Congregation alists-Baptists, Usnitarians, Uni   versalists, zc., &c., may be, 4.
Congregationalists, ought  to recognize the
fact that they possess a polity,'98.
Congregationalists, ought to know and feel
that they possess  the polity which Christ
especially loves, and would promote, 298.
Congregationalists, ought to master  their
polity in its minute details, 299.
Congregationalists, ought to appreciate the
fact that no polity can now so bless this
land  as theirs, 299.
Congregationalists, ought to feel that theirs is
the polity for revivals, and work it for
that end, 390.
Congregationalists, ought to use all honora  ble metans to extend their polity, 331.
Congrega,tionalists, should preach their Sys   tem, 332.
I
xx 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
the second office in the Church, and for
temporalities, 135.
Deacon, is elected by his own Church, 136,
147.
Deacon, to be set apart by his own Church,
133.
Deacons, how to choose and induct, 167.
Deaconess, what the office was, 69.
Deaconship, how to vacate, 197.
Debate may be renewed after the affirmative
of a question has been put, 181.
Debating an  undebatable  question  out of
order, 181.
Denominational relation       s, 229.
Deposition of a Pastor,   how effected, 205.
Deposition        of an unworthy Minister   very dif  ficult, if not pr acticably  impossible, in the
hierarchal Churches, 247.
Deposition of Pastor, in Consociated Churches,
done,  by Consociation, 225.
Deposed minister,  how r estored, 234.
Discipline, 188.
Discipline,  E pis copalian,   futility of, 261.
Discipline, Church, illustrations of t he imper  fection of Presbyterian, 2o0.
Discipline, Methodist, imperfection of, 262.
Discipline, Gospel, most favored by Congrega   tionalism, 259.
Dismission, when requested to an unevan   gelical body, duty concerning, 187.
Dismission, Letters of, should'not be valid
more than six months or a year, 188.
Dismissing members, 185.
Dissolution of a meeting, 183.
Distrust of our own first principles, danger
from, 305.
Diversities of Tongues, 76.
Doubting a vote, 180.
"Dropping" from the Church, impossible,
187.
Duties of Pastor, Elder, Teacher, and Bishop,
Scripturally the same, 104.
Earnestness, a great present need of Congre  gationalists, 302.
Ecclesia, Scripture use of, 31.
Ecclesiastical year, evils of observance of.268.
Elder, or Presbyter, what? 101.
Elder, lay ruling, Scripture authorizes no
such office, 110.
Elder, lay ruling, texts claimed to teach it,
teach no such thing, 111.
Elder, lay ruling, Calvin invented the office,
118.
Elder, lay ruling, conceded by eminent Pres   byterians to be an office resting on expe  diency, and not on the Word of Gol,
119.
Elder, lay ruling, contest about, between Dr.
Breckinridge and Dr. Smyth, &c., 121.
Elders, lay ruling, unsupported by a solitary
text, 118.
Elders, lay ruling, theory of, conflicts with
Scripture theory of Church rule, 117.
Elders who "rule well," the same as those
who'1 labor in word and doctrine,"' 113.
Ellipse, Congregational, two foci of, the Irde  penidence of local Churches, and their fra   ternity, 299.
Eng-land, Church of, has no fixed doctrine,
286.
Enfflland, Church of, helpless against heresy,
286.
Congregationalists, should especially favor
and  promote  Congregational  Missions,
Home and Foreign, 302.
Congregationalists, should abundantly  en   dow, and thoroughly patronize, their own
Schools, Colleges, and Seminaries, 393.
Congreationalists, should purify their system
of all practical inconsistencies, which mar
its working, 3904.
Congregationalists, should cultivate a spirit
of unity, and co-working, 305.
Consociation, 22,1.
Consociationis m, low-church theory of, 224.
Council, ecclesiastical, what? 213.
Council, theory of a, 63.
Council, who may call, 214.
Council, how called, 214.
Council, organization of, 216.
Council, quorum of, wvhat? 216.
Council, moderat or of, best chosen by ballot,
216D
Council. method of business, 217.
Council, scope of business of, 216.
Council, no right to touch any subject not
submittel in the Letter Missive, 215.
Council to form a church, procedure of, 164.
Council for settlement of a Pastor, details
concerning, 170.
Council, Mutual, to be called for dismissing a
Pastor, 200.
Council, Mutual,  for dismission, procedure
of, 201.
Council, Dismissing, should give suitable cre   dentials to a worthy retiring Pastor (form
of), 205.
Council, to dissolve a Church, 230.
Council, to restore a deposed minister, 235.
Council. Mutual, 64.
Council, ex parte, 64.
Council, ex parte, may be called when a Mu  tual Council has been refused, 215.
Council. result, 217.
Council, result (form of), 218.
Council, force of result of, 218.
Council, result, force of, in the Massachusetts
Courts, 219.
Council, result of, suppose a Church do not
accept it? 66.
Council. dissolution of, 220.
Council, dissolved, cannot re-assemble but by
a new Letter Missive, and as a new Coun  cil, 22.1.
Council at Terusalem, 50.
Councils, Ecclesiastical, 213.
Councils, Ecclesiastical, Scriptural, 61.
Councils, Ecclesiastical, reasonable, 63.
Councils, reference to several important ones,
221.
Councils, have  no  authority,  properly  so
called, 64.
Councils, not to be confounded with Presby  teries, 65.
Courts, irevision of results of Councils by,
220.
Credentials, C     ouncil should give suitable, t o         a
worthy retiring Pastor (form of), 205.
Coven         ant,  tlC bond of a             Church, 29.
Covenant, form of. 163.
Deacon,  lhat? 132.
Deacon, a temporal office in the Church, 134.
Deacon, office of, testimony cof Church His  tory, that it was, in the primitive Church,
xxx
II 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Ephesus, Church of, did not have several
congregations under one Presbyterial gov   ernment, 52.
Ephesus, claim that Timothy was Bishop of,
absurd, 109.
Episcopacy,  American, abandoned " a bul   wark of the faith," in her Convention, 282.
Episcopacy, the Colenso case shows how in  adequate all its provisions are to secure
purity of doctrine, 281.
Episcopalian discipline, futility of, 261.
Episcopalians, had a hard time in getting
ministers here in colonial times, 244.
Episcopal Church, first in Boston, became the
first Unitarian, 285.
Episcopalians, early American, loose in doc   trine. 285.
Episcopacy, in Connecticut,  absorbed  the
Unitarian element, 285.
Epistles of Ignatius, the stronghold of Epis   copalians and the Papacy, 99.
Epistles of Ignatius, so interpolated as to be
useless for argument, 99.
Error, religious, Congregationalism favors de  velopment of, less than any other polity,
277.
Error, religious, less easily sheltered among
Congregationalists than elsewhere, 280.
Evangelist, what? 71.
Evangelist, an, ordination as, needless, 154.
Evangelist, an, ordination as, meaningless and
uncongregational, 154.
Evangelist, one ordained as, related to the
churches precisely as he was before, 157.
Examining Committee, 184.
Excommunication, effect of, 191.
Flexibility, superior, of the Congregational
system, 267.
Foci, the two, of the Congregational ellipse,
the Independence of the local Church, and
the fraternity of those Churches, 299.
Folly of Dr. Woods, and others, who advised
Congregationalists to become Presbyterians
at the West, seen and acknowledged, 304.
Forms: -
Articles of Faith, 162.
Covenant, 163.
Standing Rules for a Church, 173.
Rules of joint action of Church and Par     ish, 212.
Articles of Association between Church and
Parish, 210.
By-laws of a Parish, 211.
Complaint to Church, of offending mem     ber, 190.
Certificate of good standing for a travel     ling Church member, 188.
Certificate of reception as a Church mem     ber, 186.
Request for letter of dismission to form a
newv Church. 161.
Letter, when request for dismission will be
probably denied, 162.
Request for letter of dismission to another
Church. 186.
Letter of dismission from one Church to
another, 186.
Letter of dismission to be given by a dis     solving Church to  its me mbe rship,  231.
Call to Pastor elect. 169.
Letter Missive, for Council to form a
Church, 161.
Forms (continued): -'
Letter Missive, for Council to settle a Pas      tor, 171.
Letter Missive, for Mutual Council  for dis      missing a    Pas tor, 200.
Letter Missive,  where t he Pas tor declines to
unite with the Church. 200.
Le tter Missive, for Council in  case o f diffs -
culty not removing  the  Pastor, 215.
Letter Missive for    a  Council to dissolve a
Church,  230.
Letter Missive for an ex parte Council,
216.
Result of Council recommend i ng the  retir      ing Pastor, 205.
Result of   Council calle d  to advis e in   d iffi      culty, 218.
Gifts of  healings. what? 74.
Governments, wh        at? 74.
Helps (antilepseis), what? 74.
Ileresy, Congregationalism f urnishes  best
barrier ag    ainst, 277.
Heretic, more  easily dealt with un der  Con  greBationalism than  und er other systems,
281.
CHow to di ssolve  a  Church. 230.
Cgnatius's Epistles, the stronghold of the hier -
archy, 99.
Ignatius's Epistles, so corrupt  as to be  use  less   for a r gument, 99.
Illustrais   o bei      an    ections of Presbyterian imperftion in
discipline, 260.
Improbability that the  " General Assemb ly"
will decide right for  the wvhol  e  C hurch
Dr.  Alexander's sense       of, 289.
Independence, superior, of Congregational
pasto rs, 2 64.
Independency, 2, 60.
Individualism, intense development of, by
Congregationalism, 255.
Infidelity, the growvth of Presbyterianism in
Switzerland, 283.
Intelligence, general, Congregationalism pro   motes more than any other polity, 252.
Interruption of a speaker, out of order, 181.
Irrelevancies, out of order, 181.
Jefferson, testimony of, to the admirable
practical worling of Congregational  prin  cip les, 290.
Judicature, a Consociation, strictly one, and
so uncongregational, 228.
"Judicatories," Church, unscriptural, 53.
Layman, a competent, may be authorized by
a Church, to baptize, and administer the
Lord's Supper, in emergencies, 155.
Letter, receiving members on, from another
Church, 184.
Letter for dismission to form a Church (form
of), 161.
Letter of request for dismission and recom  mendation (form of), 186.
Letter of dismission and recommendation
(form of), 186.
Letter of dismission to its members by a dis  solving Church (form of), 231.
Letter 5lissive, for a Council to advise with
reference to the formation of a Church
(form of), 164.
Letter M,Iissive, for a Council to settle a Pastor
(form of), 171.
Letter Missive, for calling a Council in case
of difficulty in the Church (form of), 215.
xxii 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Moderator of a Council, best chosen by bal   lot, 216.
Motion, last made, that for decision, oreaiona181.
Motion for the  previous question, 179.
Mtotion  to postpone to  a fixe d  time, 179.
Motion  to      postpon e  indefin itely, 179.
Motion to commit, 179.
Motion          to la y          on th e tabl e, 179.
Motion to reconsider  181.
Motion to adj ourn, 179.
Motions, privileged, 178.
Napthali, blessing on, Congregationalists have
a rig2ht to t ake, 303.
New  Light, which  is  old  darkness, no  t
successful   among    Congregationalists,
280.
Notice, public, should  be  given of votes o fex-u
treme censure, 192.
Offences, p rivate, an d  c onc erning    only one
individual, 189.
Offences, private, where  two or    mor e  are con  cer ned, 192.
Offences, violations of articles of faith and
covenant, 194.
Offences of public scandal, 193.
Offender, complaint against (form of), 190.
Offender, trial of, 191.
Offenders, restoration of, 234.
O.'ices, Church, how to vacate, 195.
Officers, Church. how to choose and induct,
165.
Order, questions of, 181.
Ordination, New-Testament view of, 138.
Ordination, true Scripture ground of it, not
in Acts xiv. 23 and Titus, i. 5, but else   where. 138.                               -
Ordination, the act of the Church, proof of,
from testimony of the past, 141.
Ordination, hierarchal theory of, untenable,
145.
Ordination, is it for life? 143.
Ordination, without a Council regular, in an
emergency, 245.
"Packing" Church Courts, beauty of, in
Presby-terianism, 289.
Parish, 206.
Parish, organization of, 210.
Parish, "articles of association" (form of),
210.
Parish, Church may exist without, 206.
Parish, Church may act as. 207.
Parish, By-laws (form of), 211.
Parish and Church, joint action, rules for
(form of), 212
Pastor, what the word means in the New Tes   tament, 100.
Pastor to be ordained by his own Church,
through a Council, 136.
Pastor, procedure in calling, 168.
Pastor, no longer, no longer a Minister, the
early doctrine of New England. 150.
Pastor, strictly, demits his ministry when dis   missed, 150.
Pastor, a, should belong to his own Church,
133, 147.
Pastor ought to be ashamed to be afraid to
belong to his own Church, 147.
Pastor, suppose the people want him to go,
and he w,on t go? 203.
Pastor, deposition of, how effected. 205.
Pastors, same as Teachers, Presbyters, Elders,
Bishops, or Overseers, 67.
Letter Missive, for calling an ex parte Coun  cil (form of), 216.
Letter Missive, for dismissal of a Pastor (form
of), 200.
Letter Missive. for Council  to dissolve  a
Church (form of), 230.
Licensure by an Association, confers no right
to be a Minister, that was not possessed
before, 152.
Lord's Supper, any Church may, in an exi  gency. authorize any competent layman to
administer, to itself, 155.
Malista proves that there is no such thing as a
Ruling Elder, in the Presbytterian sense, in
the Bible, 113.
Massachusetts Courts have shown progress in
their decisions on questions of pastoral
difficulty, 203.
Massachusetts way of Church and Parish,
208.
Meeting, closing of, 183.
Members, admission of, 183.
Members, disciplining, 188.
Members, dismissing, 185.
Members of a Church have equal rights and
powers, 38.
Members should-as the rule- belong to the
Church with which they statedly worship,
185.
Membership. whole, chose original deacons, 15.
Membership, whole, chose apostle in place of
Judas. 14.
Membership, whole, chose elders in all the
primitive Churches, 16.
Membership,  whole, chose delegates, to go
with Paul, 15.
Membership,  whole,  acted  in  the  early
Churches in the discipline of offenders, 18,
84.
Membership,  whole. ancient,  consulted in
cases of doubt, 18.
Membership, whole, have the right to admit,
dismiss, and exclude members, 41.
Membership, whole, have the right to elect
all officers, 40.
Membership, whole, have the right to trans  act all the business of the Church, 43.
Methodists, troubled in their beginnings here
by irregularities rendered necessary by
their system, 246.
Methodist discipline, imperfection of, 262.        P
Minister, New-Testament idea of, that of a
Pastor, 152.
Ministry. a " standing order," not a doctrine
of pure Congregationalism, 151.
Ministry, most favored by the Congregational
system, 263.
Ministry, Congregational, have special facili   ties for usefulness, 265.
Miracles (ditnanTeis), what? 73.
Moderator of a church meeting, who? 168.
Moderator, duty to call to order members out
of order, 182.
Moderator's decision, appeal from, to the
house, 182.
Moderator has no right to refuse to put a
vote because he does not like it, 177.
Moderator has no right to refuse to call for
the " contrary minds," 177.
Moderator has no right of veto, 176.
Moderator has no  right to adjourn the meet   ing at his pleasure, 177.
xxni 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Pastors, Congregationalism favors, more than
any other system, 241.
Pastorship, how to vacate, 198.
People, the, recognized as the tribunal of
last appeal, by the " strong:" Church
governments, when "any thing breaks,"
294.
Piety, Congregationalism more promotive of,
than any other polity, 255.
Polity, Congregationalism as decidedly a, as
the system of Rome itself, 298.
Postponement to a fixed time, 179.
Postponement, indefinite, 179.
Prayer-meetings, Episcopalian opposition to,
276.
Preach. any competent layman has the right
to, 149.
Preaching  Congregationalism,  a  poor  and
discreditable boast, never to have done it,
302.
Presbyter, what? 101.
Presbyterian law has become so much of a
science, that nobody but a lawyer can
i now understand it, 281.
Presbyterianism in Mlassachusetts, efforts to
introduce  it into  Congregationalism  a
failure, 223.
Presby terianism, non-Republicanism of, 291.
Presbyterianism, powerless as a conservator
of doctrine, 283.
Presbyterianism in England, developed into
Unitarianism, 283.
Presbyterian Church, first in Boston, settled
Dr. Channing as its Pastor, and is now the
leading Unitarian Church, 285.
Previous question; 179.
Primitive Church, governed itself, 13.
Profession, receiving members on, 184.
Propounding Candidates, 184.
Public offences, scandalous, 193.
Purity of the Church. most promoted by
Confgregationalism, 259.
Puseyism, Bishop Eastburn's ineffectual fight
against. in Boston, 281.
Qualifications of Pastor, Elder, Teacher, and
Bishop, scripturally identical, 103.
Question, debating an undebatable one, out
of order 181.
Quorum of a Council, what? 216.
Rationalism, the outgrowth  of  "strong"
Church  governments, in  Germany and
Scotland, 283.
Reconsideration, 181.
Report, acceptance of, 183.
Report, adoption of, 183.
Reports, 183.
Republic  our, the child of Congregational   ism, 290.
Responsibility, individual, more  developed
by Congregationalism than by any other
system, 255.
Restoration of a minister, 231.
Restoration of offenders, 192.
Revivals, Congregationalism specially favors,
208.
Rules of order, 174.
Ruling Elder, lay, an unscriptural office, 111.
Ruling Elder, old New-England theory of,
122.
Ruling Elder, old New-England, founded on
a. misinterpretation; and a failure, and
boon abandoned, 130.
Ruling Elder, old New-England, never an
approximation  toward  the Presbyterian
office of that name, 132.
Saybrook Platform. a compromise between
Congregationalism  and  Presbyterianism,
223.
Session, the, the Church, in Presbyterianism,
292.
Shepherd, the Pastor a, 100.
" Six months' notice," unscriptural, uncon  gregational, needless, inexpedient, disgrace.
ful, and disastrous, 144.
"Six months' notice," under, the vote of
Parish to dismiss ultimates the legal rela  tion and terminates all claim for salary,
without a Council, 213.
Society. Ecclesiastical (see Parish), 203.
South, the, Congregationalism good for, 240,
299.
Speaker, interrupting one, out of order, 181.
Special Committees, 182.
Standing Committees, 182.
Standin,- Rules of a Church (form of), 173.
d  Stated Supplies," Congregationalism recog  nizes them only as exceptions, ad interim,
149.
Stimulus,  Con,regationalism  gives special
to her pastors, 266.
"Strong " government of the Church in
England and Scotland, has not kept out
heresy, 281, 283.
Strong government of the Roman-Catholic
Church has not held it back from heathen  ism, 282.
Suicide, not the duty of a Church and Par  ish, 204.
Sum, largest. question on first, 181.
Suspension, effect of, 191.
Synodic way, the old, 306.
Table, to lay on, motion to, 179.
Teacher, what? 101.
Temptation, freedom from, of Congregational
Pastors, 263.
Testimony of Commentators to the equality
of Bishops and Pastors, &c., 88.
Testimony of eminent scholars to the equality
and identity of Bishops and Pastors, &c.,
77.
Testimon y   of Ecclesiastical IIistori.ns to the
equality and identity          of B ishops  and
Pastors, 97.
Te stimony of Fathers,  &c., to the e quali ty
and identity of Bishops and Pastors, 92.
"The Chur  ch, " not known to Scripture, 31,
49.
Time, longest., question on first, 181.
Timothy, so ftar from being " Bishop of Ephe   sus,"~ was an Evangelist, 109.
Tongues, diversities of. 76.
Transfer of Pastors, common in the early
days of New England, 143.
Treasurer of a Church should be appointed,
168, 173.
Trial of offence, 191.
Tribble, Rev. Andrew, the means of aiding
Jefferson to understand Congregationalism,
and thence to shape this R,ei)ublic, 290.
Unitarianism, would probably  have  swept
and conquered New England but for  Con   gregationalism, 287.
Unitarianism in New England not logically
traceable to Congregationalism, 286.
7XXI[V 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Unitarianism in England grew out of Presby  terianism, 283.
Unitarian Church in New England, first, was
the first Episcopal Church, 285.
Unitarian, not a single strictly Congregational
Church in England became, 284.
Vacate the smaller Church offices, how to,
196.
Vacate the Deaconship, how to, 197.
Vacate the Pastorship, how to, 198.
Violations of articles of faith and covenant,
19i.
Vote, doubting a, 180.
Voting, 180.
Voting, by  Churches, in a Council, the old
way, and the  best, 216.
Waldenses kept the faith pure, 23.
West, the, Congregationalism good for,
299.
West, no longer preempted to Presbyterian  ism, 303.
Whole, Committee of, 182.
Wickliffe, the first modern Congregationalist,
24.
Worship, methods of, superior practicableness
of Congregationalism in, 248.
APPENDIX.
PAIG
Female and minor suffrage in Congregational churches,......          309
Condensed form of Articles of Faith and Covenant,.......         334
Congregationalism at the South,..........          837
Can "tell it unto the church," mean "tell it unto the Elders "?..    838
Congregationalism the mother of Foreign Missions,.......         340
Dangerous tendencies in the Congregationalism of the day,..           343
Some facts of recent irregularities,.......        350
Good results of the National Council of 1865, with its Declaration of Faith
and Epitome of Church Government, &c.,..........              358
Practical points,.8.......  865
xxv
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
L 
INDEX OF NAMES.
Aaron, 150.
A, B, C, F, M, 228, 277.
Aberdeen,284.
Abington. 264.
Achaia, 54.
Adams, 244, 290.
Adger, 121.
iErius, 96.
Agnew, 261.
Agrippa, 113.
Ainsworth, 122, 127.
Alabama, 7.
Alexander, 18, 90,108,139, 289, 301.
Alexandria, 37.
Alford  9, 10 12  73, 91, 101, 102, 106, 107,
108, 111, 114, 116, 117, 121, 133, 138, 139,
192.
Allin, 151.
Amesius, 26, 29, 31, 35, 43, 79.
-Ambrose, 11.
Ambrosiaster, 97.
American Congregational Association, 207,
210, 221.
American Congregational Union, 228.
American Home-Missionary Society, 228.
Amsterdam. 122, 127,246.
Ananias, 140.                                  
Anderson. 244, 245.
Andrew, 133.
Andover, 303, 304.
'; A Neighbor," 219.
Angel of the Church, 70.
"Anglo-American Church," 267.
Annan, 285.
"Answer of the Elders," 129, 151.
Antioch, 19, 22, 32, 37, 50, 62, 133, 138, 139.
Antioch in Plisidia, 32.
Antiochcans, 99.
Apollos, 54.
"Apostolical Constitutions," 69, 97,136.
Aquila, 32, 33, 52.
Arabia, 23.
Arabians, 37.
Archbishop of Canterbury, 244, 245.
Archbishop of York, 58, 239, 245.
Aristophanes, 13.
Aristotle, 35.
Arkansas, 7.
Arlington-street Church, 285..
Arminius, 79.
Artemas, 108.
Asbury, 246
Ashton, 131.
Asia, 387.
Asia,  Chur ches     of, 36.   90
"Assembly's Annotations" 90.
" Assembly's Digest,"I.48 281.
Athanasius, 74, 88.
Austerfield, 58.
Austin, 233.
Augustine, 11, 96, 98.
Avery, 201. 220.
Babylon, 32.
Bachiler, 125.
Backus, 210, 264.
Bacon, 88, 146, 223, 224, 225.
Badger, 154.
Baker, 207.
Ballantyne, 253, 283.
Balch, 248.
Bancroft, 130, 290, 291.
Bangor, 304.
Baptists, 6, 6, 24, 287.
Barber, 263.
Barclay, 289.
Barnes. 18, 45, 46, 69, 70, 76, 90,109,138,189,
140,'146. 264, 288, 289.
Baronlus, il.
Barrow, 69.
Baumg.arten, 14,18, 80, 8Q, 90.
Bawtry, 68.
Baxter, 81, 284.
Baylies, 128.
Beatee Virgini, 99.
Bedford, 201, 202, 219, 220.
Beecher, 226, 289.
Belcher, 24, 291.
Belknap, 285.
Bellamy, 264, 286.
Beman, 289.
Bengel, 45, 46, 74, 89, 121.
Bennett, 29, 34, 38, 85.
Berea, 32.
Bernaldus Constantiensis, 9B
Bernard, 40, 126, 161.
Bethlem, 264.
Beza, 16, 18.
"Biblical Repository," 146.
"Bibliotheca Sacra," 158.
Bilson, 122.
Bingham, 107.
Bishop, 144.
Bishop's Bible, 18.
Bishop of Bath and Wells, 245.
Bishop of London, 243.
Bishop of Peterborough, 245.
Blaikie, 285.
Blanchard, 235.
lxxvil 
INDEX OF NAMES,
Blondelius, 115.
Bliss, 219.
Bloomfield, 90.
Bogue and Bennett, 284.
Bolton, 219.
Bomberger, 87.
"Book of Lutheran Church," 110.
"Book of Middleboro' Church," 132.
Bosheth, 80.
Boston, 143, 151, 155, 222, 223, 226, 232, 239,
243, 285, 306.
Boston Association, 226.
"Boston Recorder," 285.
Bouton, 234, 235.
Bourne, 247.
Bowditch, 284.
Bowman, 122.
Bradford, 58, 122, 127, 128,145, 228, 277.
Bradshaw, 31, 43.
Branford, 224.
Braintree, 143, 264.
Breckenridge, 86,120 121.
Brennius, 16, 74, 89, 121.
Brewster, 58, 124, 127, 128,131.
Brooke, Lord, 129.
Brookfield, 207.
Brookhouse, 204.
Browne, 59, 122.
Brownell, 146.
Brown University, 24C
Buck, 122.
Buckminster, 286.
Budington, 243.
Buffalo, 121.
Bullons, 289.
Bunsen, 100.
Burgess 235.
Burke, 254.
Burnett, 48.
Burr, 202, 207, 220.
Bushnell, 146. 
Butler, 222.
Byram River, 300.
Cajetan, 88.
California, 7,226.
Callistus, 282.
Calvin, 17, 45, 4671, 73, 77, 79, 99, 102, 108,
116, 118,119, 121,139, 283. X
Cambridge, 151, 221.
Cambridge Association, 225.
Cambridge Platform, 35, 44. 59, 123, 124, 130,
142, 148, 150. 151, 187, 205.                        
Campbell, 20, 97.
Capellus, Jacobus, 116.
Cape Town, 281.
Cappedocia, 37.
Carpus, 113.
Carter, 145.
Carthage, 37.
Castle of Bayonne, 244.
Catawba Circuit, 250.
Cave, 100.
Ceillier, 100.
Cenchrea, 32, 86, 69.
"Centuriae Magdeburgenses," 99.
Cesarea, 32.
"Ceylon Mission's Report," 277.
Chandler, 244.
Channing, 285, 287.
Charlestown, 145, 243.
Chase, 69.
Chauncy, 82,143,146,148,154, 205.
Cheever, 235.
Chelsea, 235.
Chester, 289.
Chilmark, 222.
Cholinus, 73.
Christian Advocate and Journal," 262,
"Christian Examiner," 146, 209, 210.
"Christian Spectator," 71, 100, 119, 146.
" Christians," 5.
Chrysosto m, 14, 20,6, 96 9, 107.
Church, 264.
Church of the Advent, Boston, 281.
Church of England in Hebron, 244.
Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn, 248.
Church of the Puritans, New York, 221.
" Church Review,'; 100.
Cilicia, 36.
Claggett, 245.
Clark, 129,131, 208, 223, 228, 2833 24.
Clarke, 46, 70, 89.
Clement of Alexandria, 94.
Clement of Rome, 92, 98.
Clyfton, 122.
Cobbet, 143.
Coffin, 213.
Cogswell, 235.
Coke, 246.
Coleman, 21, 44, 68, 86, 99, 106, 135, 146,
158, 202, 224, 282.'
Colenso, 281, 287.
Coleridge, 85.
Collicott, 125.
"Colonial Records of Connecticut," 222.
"Colonial Records of Massachusetts," 208,
209, 222, 226.
Colosse, 32, 36.
Colton, 71,'244, 281, 282.
Concord, 234.
"Conflict of Ages," 280.
"Congregationalist," 213, 241, 248, M04.
Congregational Methodists, 5.
Congregational Quarterly, 65, 136, 199,
201, 202, 207, 214, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222;
226, 228.
Congregational Record," 207.
Connecticut, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 285.
Contributions to Eccles. Hist. Conn.," 223,
224.
Conybeare and Howson, 45, 46, 87, 102, 116,
134, 139.
Cooke, 223.
Cooley, 223.
Cooper, 293.
Corinth, 32, 36, 37, 51, 52.
Cottian Alps, 23.
Cotton, 29, 3, 40, 68, 61,., 82, 123, 124
125, 129, 141, 143, 145, 148, 11, 161, 20~i
208, 225, 227.
Council of Trent, 98, 136.
Coverdale, 78.
Crabe. 128.
Craighead, 248.
Cranmer, 18, 72, 78i
Cree Church, 122.
Crete, 107, 108, 138.
Cretes, 37.
Crispus, 106.
Cumming, 289.
Cummings, 155, 192,  220, 21 23
Cureton, 99, 100.
Cushing, 175,177,178.
Cushman, 128,131.
xxvu 
INDEX OF NAMES.
Cyprian, 37, 119.
Cyrene, 37.
DailI6, 99, 100.
Dalmatia. 108.
Dalton, 125.
Damascus, 32, 140.
Dana, 224, 264.
Danvers, 221.
Davenport, 29, 30, 35, 40, 42, 60, 82,123,141,
143, 148, 205, 222, 223.
Davldson, 16, 17, 21, 29, 33, 44, 50, 52, 61,
68, 71, 75, 86, 114, 118, 119, 134, 146, 157.
Davis, 248, 285.
Dean, 244.
Dedham, 151, 207, 218, 221.
Delaware, 7, 246.
Delft, 151.
Demosthenes, 16, 35.
Denmark, 244.
Derbe, 32.
"Der Deutschen Zeitschrift, 283.
De Tocqueville, 290.
De Wette, 46, 51, 70.
"Dialogue between young and ancient men,"
&c., 123, 127.
Dickinson, 83.
Diodati, 18.
District of.Columbia, 7.
"Divine Right of Church Government," &c.,
120.
Doane, 247.
Doddridge, 70. 73, 81.
Dodge, 250, 261.
Dollinger. 282 284, 286.
Dorchester, 221.G
Duffield, 289.
Duke of Aremberg, 178.
Duxbury, 228.
Dwight, 85, 149, 224.
Eadie, 99.
Eastburn, 281.
Easton. 202, 203 204.
Easter Sunday, 249.
Eastham, 228.
East-Windsor Seminary, 304.
Ebrard, 45.
" Eclectic Review," 146.
Eddy, 132, 146, 213.
"Edinburgh Review," 100.
Edwards, 233, 234.
Egypt, 23, 87.
Elamites, 37.
"Elders, Answer of the," 129, 151.
Ellicott, 70.
Eliot, 145.
Elliott, 223, 255.
Ely, 235.H
Embury, 245.
Emerson, 243.
Emmons, 26, 52, 54, 60, 84, 225, 264.
England, 143, 244.286.
Ephesus, 31. 32, 37,105,107,109,140.
Epiphanius. 107. 
? Episcopal Recorder," 245.
Episcopius, 79.
Erasmus, 16, 18, 73, 101,139,156.
Estius, 101.
Ethiopia, 265.
Eusebius, 8, 107.
Evangelist, 71.
Evangelus, 95.
Evagrius, 95, 102.
Exeter, 143, 235.
Fabritius, 157.
Fai rchild, 235.
Fairfield, 223.
Fales, 207.
Farmington, 264.
Father Ignatius, 283.
Faunce, 131.
Felt, 129, 131, 208, 220.
Ferris, 246.
Fishback, 290.
Fitch, 219, 224.
Fitchburg, 221.
Fiske, 220.
Flacii Illyrici, 16.
Flint, 226.
Florida, 7.
Fox, 192.
Foxcroft, 83.
Franklin, 264.
Freeman, 285.
French, 235.
Fuller, 129, 155,156.
Gage, 248.
Gaius, 106.
Galatia, 32, 3.3.
Galilee, 32, 3o.
Gannett, 285.
Garratt, 87.
General Assembly of Presbyterian Churcht
230.
Geneva, 283.
" Genevan Version," 18, 72.
Georgia, 7.
Gerhard, 116.
Gibbon, 44, 81, 278.
Gieseler, 21, 97, 118.
Gillett, 245, 289, 294) 295.
Gomarus, 89.
Grafton, 221.
Gray,, 200, 226.
Great Eastern, 57.
Green, 288.
Greenwood, 122, 285, 286.
Gregory VII., 11.
Griswold, 276 6
Grotius, 17, 45      74, 75, 89, 106,108,115,
116, If1,13,1
Groton, 221- 222.
Gualtherus, 73, 7 4, 7 5  88.
Guild, 245, 287.
Guilford, 143, 223.
Gulliver, 285.
Guericke, 13, 97, 100, 135, 158.
Guizot, 85.
Hackett, 50, 91, 108, 139
Hagenbach, 283.
Hale, 223, 283, 290.
Halifax, 249.
Hall, 88, 146, 248, 285.
Elammond. 16, 75, 81.
Hampton, 125, 143.
I-lanbury, 40, 44, 59, 122, 148, 151, 161.
"Handbook of Presbyterian Church," 239,
291, 292.
Harlker, 248.
Hartford, 224, 225, 226.
IIarvard College, 143, 287.
Iliarworth, 58.
Ila.ves, 222.
Hawks, 244, 245, 246.
liawley, 262.
XXVIIII 
INDEX OF NAMES.
Hebron, 244.
Hellenists, 133.
Hemmenway, 264.
Hlening, 244.
Henniker, 209, 210.
Henry, 89.
Henry IV., 11.
Herle, 161.
HIermann, 81.
Hero, 99.
Hertzog, 87.
Heylyn, 74.
Hierapolis, 82, 86.
Higginson, 143,145.
Hilary, 94, 119.
Hilary of Rome, 97.
Hilary, the deacon, 107.
Hill, 87, 248.
Hitchcock, 233.
Hoadley, 81.
Hodge, 74, 90, 101.
Holland, 122, 28239.
Hollister, 245.
Hollis-street Church, 202.
Homes 222.
Hook, 145, 285.
Hooke, 143, 144.
Hooker,Riichard, 80.
Hooker, Thomas, 29, 35, 43, 60, 82, 123, 130,
142, 145, 148, 154, 205, 222.                             
Hopkins, 84, 264.
Hornius, 192.
Horsley, 75.
House of Commons, 178.
Howard-street Church, Salem, 221, 231, 232,
233, 234.                                                          
Hubbard, 145, 264.
Humphrey, 223, 289, 243, 244.
Hunter, 25, 58. 
Hyde, 226, 264.
Hutchinson, 124, 125, 129, 131, 144, 205, 208,
254.
Iconium, 82, 138.
Ide, 264.
Ignatius, 37, 99,100,136,145.
Illinois, 7, 226.
Independents, 2.
Indiana, 7, 226.
Indian Territory, 7.
Iowa, 7, 226.
Ipswich, 143, 151, 264.
Ireland, 286.
Ireneus, 34, 93.
Isodore, 136.
Isodore of Seville, 96.
Isle of Poplars, 283.
Jackson, 58.
Jacob, 35, 44.
Jacobson 87.
James, 167, 109,145, 243.
Jameson 84.
Jarratt, 246.
Jefferson, 290, 293.
Jennings, 71.
Jerome, 11, 22, 91, 94, 96, 97, 98,102,107,
139.
Jerusalem, 22, 32, 37, 40, 50, 51, 62,107,111,
134, 168.
Jessop, 58.
John, 99.
John of Goch, T7.
JDhns, 249. 
Johnson, 122, 127, 209.
Joppa, 3'2.
Judea, 36, 37.
Judas, 111.
Junkin, 288.
Justin Martyr, 93, 136.
Kansas, 7.
IKentuclky, 7, 248.
Kendrick, 1'2, 73, 76, 102,114,121.
Killen, 76, 98.
King James, 139.
"King James's Version," 72.
Kiing, Lord Peter, 79.
King's Chapel, Boston, 285.
King Wvilliam Street, 122.
Kirkland, 287.
Kitto, 87, 100.
"Kitto's Journal," 100.
Kniston, 122.
Kuinoel, 134.
Kurtz, 98, 135.
Lambeth, 245.
Lamson, 146, 291.
Laodicea, 32, 36.
Laodiceans, 57.
Lardner, 80.
Launcelot, John Paul, 96.
Lawrence, 125, 286.
Lechford,   123, 144.
Lee, 122, 264. 
Leicester, 209.
Lesley, 225.
Leyden, 25, 59,122, 127,128, 151, 228, 290.
Leyden Church, in Boston, 248.
Lexington, 247, 290.
Liddell and Scott, 16,105.
Liebetrut, 283.
Lightfoot, 16, 75. 
Limborch, 75, 78.
Lincoln, 249.
Lisbon, 225.
Litchfield, 222, 226.
Lombardi Pauperes, 23.
London, 69, 122, 244, 248.
" London Quarterly," 100.
"London Times,,' 281, 286.
"London and Westminster Review," 24.
Lord Chatham, 282.
Louisiana, 7.
Lucian, 16.
Luicke, 115.
Luther, 16, 23, 77.
"1 Lutheran Book," 110.
Lybia, 37.
Lydda, 32.
Lynn, 143.
Lyrman, 223.
Lystra, 32, 138.
Macedoni~a, 95, 109.
Mack, 91, 134.
Macknight, 72, 75, 89.
Madison-square Presbyterian Church, New
York, 260.
" Madura Mission's Report," 277.
"Magnalia," 130, 143, 151, 222, 227.
Maguesians, 99.
Maine, 227.
Malden, 226, 235.
Maldonatus, 10.
Manchester, 213, 219.
Mann, 233, 286.
Manning, 245, 287.
xxim 
INDEX OF NAMES.
Marcion, 93.
Marlborough, 222.
Marsh, 283.
Marshfield, 228.
Martha's Vineyard, 155.
Mary, 99.
Maryland, 7, 245.
Mason, 70, 85.
Massachusetts, 129, 130  206, 207, 208, 210,
211, 212, 213, 216, 222, 223, 226, 227, 2830,
232, 285, 286, 287, 290, 301.                            
Massachusetts Historical Society, 221, 225.
Massuet, 34.                                       Nnjrn                 4
Mather, Cotton, 60, 68, 82, 124 129 130.143
145, 148, 151, 161. 205, 222, 223, 22 5, 227.'
Mather, Increase, 125, 143,145, 154, 161, 218,
227.                                            Nra,23
Mather, Richard, 52 60, 161.
Mather, Samuel, 142, 157, 192, 205, 218.
Maximus Tyrius, 16.
Mayer, 134.
Mayflower, 128, 290.
Mayo, 125. 
M'Clure, 125, 148.
Meade, 243, 245, 247.
Medes, 37.
Medway, 264.
Melancthon, 78.
Mendon, 222, 226.
Mendon Association, 226.
Menochius and Tirinus, 74.
Mesopotamia, 37.
" Message to Ruling Elders," 110, 117.
Metcalf, 202.
"Methodist Book  of Discipline," 29, 242,
247, 250, 262, 264, 271.                                     
Meyer, 50.
Michaelis, 70, 91.        *
Michigan, 7, 226.
Middle States, 7.
Miletus, 103, 105, 107, 109.
Milner, 97.                                                   
Milton, 23, 24, 80, 141, 155, 156.
Minnesota, 7, 226.
Mitchell, 206.
Moneta, 23.
Moody, 143.
Moorhead, 285.
More, 246.
Mormons, 117.
Morristown, 288.
Morse, 223.
Morton, 58, 143, 145, 225.
Mosheim, 13,14. 43, 75, 97, 134, 278.
Mount Seir, 23.
Murdock, 13, 91, 97.
Naomi, 265.
Natick, 154.
Neal, 40, 150.
Neander, 13, 18, 33. 68, 69, 75, 98, 100, 118,
119, 133, 135, 158, 282.                    
Nebraska, 7, 226. 
"Neighbor, A,:' 219.
Nelson, 225.
Newbury, 143. 264.
New England; 7, 25  129, 131, 145, 148, 227,
228, 244 253, 254, 266 284 304.'
"New Englander," 61 71, 88, 100, 146.
New Hlaven, 143, 223, 224, 225, 304.
New lHampshire, 226.
New Jersey, 7, 244.
Newman, 87, 143, 209, 283.
Newport, 264.
Newtown  (CamEbridge),  1 45, 208.
New York,  710,10, 226, 286.
" New-York Observer," 121.
Nicanor, 133.
Nicolas, 133.
Nicolaus Cusanus, 96.
Nicopolis, 108.
Niles, 264.
Nitria, 99.
" Nobla Leyczon," 23.
Noel, 276.
Non-juring Bishops, 245.
" North-American Rteview," 208.
North Carolina, 7, 250.
Norton, 143, 218, 219.
Norway, 283.
Norwich, 225.
Nott, 218.
Nymphas, 32, 36.
Oceanus, 95.
(Ecumenius, 116.
Ohio, 7, 227.
Oliver, 161, 290.
Olshausen, 12, 73, 76, 102) 114, 121, 134.
Onderdonk 247.
Onesimus, 86.
Ongar, 71.
Orcl, 249.
Oregon, 7, 226.
Ori!,,en, 37, 119.
Oudin, 100.
Own,' 16, 17, 31, 83, 35, 45, 46, 73, 82,11Il
146, 151, 154.
Pagniai, 16.
Palfrey, 145,152, 208.
Pamphylia, 37, 138.
Papists, 117.
Park, 225, 252, 255, 279, 286, 287, 290.
Parker, 144, 206.
Parkman, 131.
Parmenas, 133.
Parsons, 287.
Parthians, 37.
Patmos, 71.
Paul of Samosata, 87.
Payson Church, South Boston, 235.
Pearson, 99, 100.
Pelham, 264.
Pennsylvania, 7.
Pepperell, 301.
Pergamos. 32.
Perkins. 122. 148.
Perry, 235, 245.
Persia, 23.
" Peshito-Syriac Version,l) 91.
Peterborough, 286.
Peter Lombard, 98.
Peters, 244.
Petra, 23.
Phebe, 69.
Phelps, 260, 261.
Philadelphia, 32, 288.
Philadelphians, 99.
Philemon, 82, 36.
Philip, the Evangelist, 71, 133.
Philippi, 19, 39, 90, 95,102,134.
Philippians, 99.
Philo, 16.
Phrygia, 37.
Pickering, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 207, 220.
Pierpont, 202, 222.
xxx 
"Presbyterian Book "49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 110,
111, 121, 239, 242, 250, 260, 261.'
Priestly, 283.
Prince, 124, 243.
Princeton, 221, 304.
" Princeton Review," 100, 114, 120, 121, 146,
295.
"Principles of Church Order," 40, 60, 61, 68.
Prochorus, 133.
Provoost, 245.
Priscilla and Aquila, 32, 33.
Prussian Churches, 287.
Ptolemais. 32.
Punchard; 60, 61, 68, 86, 140, 168, 195, 205,
206. 
Puritans 24.
Pusey, 282, 283.
Puteoli, 32.S
Quint, 65, 199, 201, 202, 214, 217.
Reading, 220, 221.
"Recollections of Anglo-American Church,"
267.
"Records, Massachusetts Colony," 208, 209,
222, 226.
- Records, New-Hlaven Colony, 222.
Rehoboth, 143, 200, 201, 204, 209, 219, 220.
Reinerus, 23. 
"Report of Conference at Constantinople,"
277.
" Report of Deputation to India," 277.
"Rheims Version," 18, 72.
Rhode Island, 226.
Rice, 301.
Richards, 235.
Richmond, 249.
" Richmond Beligious lerald," 250.
" Richmond Wlhig," 249.
Rippon, 287.
Robbins, 125, 224, 225.
Robinson. 16, 25, 26, 31, 35, 40, 48, 59, 79, 
122, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 141, 148, 150,
161, 2).Se2
Rochester, 58.
Rogers, 143.
Rome, 32, 52, 298.
Romans, 99.
Rosencrone, Count de, 244.
Rothe, 118, 119.
Schaffg, 13, 98,135,158, 282.
Schmucker, 86.
Scituate, 143.
Sclater, 79.
Scotland, 284, 286.
Scott, 90.
Scrooby, 24, 58, 239.
Scottow, 131, 245.
Seabury, 244, 245.
" Septtuagint," 33.
Sharp, 245.
Sherid, 13, 98, 100,135,158.
Sheldon, 202, 203, 204.
Shepard, 84, 129,'151, 223.
Shunamite, 265.
Siberia, 265.
Silas, 111.
Simon, 18.
Skelton, 145.
Smith, 16, 31, 86, 87, 122, 239 233, 283.
Smith and Anthon, 286.
Smyrna, 32, 80.
Smyrnians, 99.
Smyth, 85, 121, 122.
Snell. 223. 226.
Socrates, 35.
Solomon's Porch, 37.
Somers, 264.
South Carolina, 7.
Southern States, 7.
" Southern Presbyterian Review," 121.
Southwark, 122.
" Spirit of the Pilgrims," 71, 114, 210, 2.
Stansbur, 289.
Stapfer, 79'.
Stearns, 201, 202, 219, 220.
Stebbins. 221.
Steele, 131.
Stephanas, 106.
Stephen, ]33.
Stevens, 242, 246.
Stiles, 44, 218, 222, 225.
Stith, 244.
St. Johln's Church, Elizabethtown, 248, 244.
St. Nicholas L,ane, 122.
Stockbridge, 264.
Storrs, 207, 223, 264.
Street, 143, 144. 
-  lc  ln,pclluellt,, ood.
"The Panoplist," 221, 223.
"Tihe Presbyterian,"' 120.
Thesalonica, 32, 117.
Thompson, 121, 146, 200, 201, 204, 220.
Thornton, 254.
Thornwell, 120, 121.
Thurston, 226.
Thucydides, 16, 35.
Thyatira, 32.
"Tigurine Version," 73.
Tigurini, 16.
Timothy, 46, 71, 95,101,107,108,109,184,145.
Tinmon, 133.
Tindal, 18.
Titus, 711, 107, 108, 109,138,139, 145.
Tomp3son. 52, 181.
Torrey, 13, 98, 100,135, 233, 235.
Tracy, 140, 168.
Trajan, 106.
Trallians, 99.
Tribble, "90.
Troas, 32, 113.
"The  Wesleo-an," 263.
Trumbull,'22, 223  4, 225.
Tucker, 289.
Tudeschus, 9o.
Tunbridg  Wells, 284.
Turell, 224.
Turner, 46, 101.
Turretin, 79.
Tychicus, 108.
Tyndale, 18, 72.
Tyring'ham, 201, 220.
Tyre,, 32.
Uhden, 44.
Ullman, 88.
Unit.arians, 5, 6.
Universalists, 5, 6.
University of Vermont, Y32.
Upham, 60, 86, 149, 155, 207, 221, 227.
Usher, 100, 244.
,Wellman       4 61,  88, 290.
Wells, 143, 264.
Wesley, 246.
Wesleyans, 5.
West, 264.
Western States, 7.
Westford, 221.
" Westminster Review," 282.
Weymouth, 143.
Whately, 70, 134,145.
Wheelwright, 143.
Wlitatker, 222.
Whitby, 90.
White, 127, 219, 244, 245.
Whifiehll, 223. 285.
Whitmore, 200.
W,hitney, 204.
Wickliffe, 24, 72, 77.
Wiesinger, 70.
Wigglesworth, 83.
Williams, 284.
'""ilmer, 262.
Wilson, 114, 119, 145, 146, 284.
Windham, 225.
Winslow, 128.
Winthrop, 130, 131, 151, 208.
Wisconsin, 7, 226.
Wise, 29, 40, 44, 60, 84, 130, 205, 219,  222,
223, 291.
Wisner, 131, 164.
Within,gton, 264.
Woodbridge', 143.
Woburn, 145, 226.
Woods, 85, 149, 223, 224, 235, 80i.
Woilebius, 29, 79.
Worcester, 221, 223, 226.
Wordsworth, 10, 70.
Wolstenholme, Sir John, 124.
York, 227.
Young, 123, 127, 128, 129.
~anelhius, 89.
[The names introduced into the Appendix are not enumerated in the above list.] 
CONGREGATIONALISM.,[
CHAPTER I.
WHAT CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
A CHURCH is an association of the friends and followers of Christ,
for the profession of Christian faith, and the performance of Christim
duty.
Every association-or union of persons in a company, for an ob-(
ject - implies a groundwork of organization, with principles and
laws; and, therefore, every Church must have such a groundwork. 
The working out of these principles and laws in shaping and; controlling the life of the organization, constitutes its government; and,
therefore, every Church must have some form of government.
All government reduces itself to three pure forms. Its powerf
must be lodged in the hands of some one supreme sovereign, or in
the hands of all who are included in the organization, or (somewhere i.
between these two extremes,) in the hands of a privileged order, com-rnposed of a greater or smaller number of principal persons.  The first, 
is called the monarchic; the second, the democratic; and the third
the aristocratic form of government.
These forms may sometimes be mingled, in a given case, but every
government will naturally be classed under that form of the three, to
which it bears the strongest resemblance.
CONGREGATIONALISI is the democratic form of Church order and
government.  It derives its name from the prominence which it gives,
to the congregation of Christian believers.  It vests all ecclesiastical
power (under Christ) in the associated brotherhood of each local
Church, as an independent body. At the same time it recognizes a
1                              (1)
4
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
fraternal and equal fellowship between these independent churches,
which invests each with the right and duty of advice and reproof,
and even of the public withdrawal of that fellowship in case the course
pursued by another of the sisterhood should demand such action for
the preservation of its own purity and consistency. Herein Congregationalism, as a system, differs from Independency; which affuirms
the seat of ecclesiastical power to reside in the brotherhood so zealously as to ignore any check, even of advice, upon its action. Still,
as this difference is only one of the exaggeration of a first principle,
it follows that every Independent Church is Congregational, though
few Congregational churches are Independent -in this strict and
Brownist sense.  Its fundamental principle is the following:- The Bible - interpreted by sanctified common sense, with all wise helps from nature,
from history, from all knowledge, and especially from the revealing
Spirit- is the only, and sufficient, and authoritative guide in all
matters of Christian practice, as it is in all matters of Christian
faith: so that whatsoever the Bible teaches- by precept, example, or
legitimate inference- is imperative upon all men, at all times; while
nothing which it does not so teach cant be imperative upon any man at
any time.
By the application of this primary truth to the Bible, it educes the
following subordinate principles, namely: —
1. Any company of people believing themselves to be, and publicly professing themselves to be Christians, associated by voluntary
compact, on Gospel principles, for Christian work and worship, is a
true Church of Christ.
2. Such a Church, as a rule, should include only those who can
conveniently worship and labor together, and watch over each other.
3. Every member of such a Church has equal essential rights,
powers and privileges, with every other (except so far as the New
Testament and common sense make some special abridgment in
the case of female and youthful members); and the membership to
1 The Congregationalists of England use the term "Independent" as synonymous with
" Congregational."  And the tenth of the "Principles of Church Order and Discipline" set
forth by the " Congregational Union of England and Wales," expressly recognizes the fellowship of churches, and the duty of "separation" from such churches as "depart from the Gospel of Christ."
2 
WHAT CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
gether, by majority vote (though, so far as possible to human imperfection, there should never be any minority in Congregationalism),
have the right and duty of choosing all necessary officers, of admitting,
dismissing and disciplining their own members, and of transacting all
other appropriate business of a Christian Church.
4. Every such Church, - while it ought meekly and gratefully to
receive, and candidly and prayerfully to weigh advice, and, if need
be, admonition, from its sister churches- is yet independent of any
outward jurisdiction or control, whether from Popes, Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, or other persons assuming to be Christ's officials;
from General Conventions, Conferences, or Assemblies; from Synods
and Presbyteries, and from Associations, Councils or other courts or
convocations; or from other churches; being answerable directly and
only to Christ its head. And every such Church, whatever may be
the lowliness of its worldly estate, is on a level of inherent genuineness, dignity and authority, with every other Church on earth.
5. A fraternal fellowship should be maintained by these equal
and independent churches, with affectionate carefulness for each
other's soundness of doctrine, and general welfare — the strong ever
eager to aid the weak, as members of Christ's great family. And
though every such Church is equal in essential rights and powers
with every other, and, by its very constitution, independent of all ecclesiastical control, yet when difficulties arise, or especially important
matters claim decision (as when Pastors are to be settled or dismissed,
or when any Church itself is to adopt its creed and commence its
organic life) it is not only competent but desirable that such churches
should, in a fraternal manner, advise each other -assembling by
delegation in council for that purpose- such advice being, however,
tendered only as one friend counsels another, and subject, in all cases
to the final decision of the party asking for it. And, if any Church
should seem to its fellow churches wilfully and wrongfully to disregard their advice - by adopting an erroneous creed, or establishing
over itself an unsound or unfaithful pastor -those churches would
not only have the right, but would be bound in conscience, to withdraw themselves from all complicity with, and responsibility for, such
action, by the formal revocation of their existing fellowship with the
offending Church, until it should return to what seems to them to be
the path of its duty. Such action on their part, however, will in no
.8 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
way aspire to take the place of authority over the Church to which it
refers. It will simply be a labor of moral suasion and self-justification, such as might similarly occur among sovereign States, or between families or individuals in private life.
6. The officers which Christ has designated for his churches are
of two kinds; - the first - indiscriminately called, in the New Testament, Presbyters, Bishops, Elders or Overseers; now usually called
Pastors - who preach the word and have the general oversight
of the spiritual concerns of the Church; the second, Deacons, who
attend to the relief of the poor, and the secular affairs of the organization, and aid the Pastor, generally, as they have ability and opportunity. These officers are chosen by the membership from their own
number, and the distinctive idea of their office is, that they are to be
the servants, - for spiritual and material toil - and not the masters
of the Church.
As, by these principles, all the power of the Church on earth is
thus held, to reside- under the constant oversight of Christ, its everIiving and everruling, though risen, Head -in its Congregation of
believers, the assembly of the faithful, it is evident that the name
CONGREGATIONAL, though neither most compact nor elegant, is yet
most apt and forcible, as the distinguishing epithet of those churches
which hold this faith.
Since Congregationalism is thus a form of Church order and government, rather than a system of doctrinal faith, it is obvious thatwithout incongruity or impropriety - it may be held and practiced
by those of different religious beliefs. A Church holding an Arminian, or Pelagian creed may adopt and act upon the principle that all
Ecclesiastical power is resident in the brotherhood, with as much propriety as a Church holding the Five Points of Calvinism; those who
limit Baptism to immersion, with as much success as those who
hold that the application of water, in any form, in the name of the
Trinity, is Baptism. And, as a matter of fact, though the name
"Congregationalists" is popularly associated, as a denominational
epithet, mainly with those who hold the Congregational form of
Church government in connection with a religious faith represented,
for substance of doctrine, by the Confession of the Westminster As
It 
WHAT CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
sembly, many other bodies of professing Christians are also Congregational in their Church government. The great Baptist Denomination - with some leanings toward Independency, properly so
called -is yet purely Congregational in its principles of Church
order and government.   The same, for substance, is true also of
the Unitarian, Universalist, and "Christian" denominations, and of
the Wesleyan, and Independent, or Congregational Methodists.
The number of churches in this country which are essentially
Congregational in their form of government, may be approximately
estimated, as follows:
Churches.
2,947
12,702
5,575
2,200
600
200
300
1,202
25,726
Orthodox Congregationalists
Regular Baptists,2..
Other Baptists,8..
Christians,4...
Wesleyan Methodists,5.
Other Congregational Meth
Unitarians,7...
Universalists,8...
Add now to these, 2,724 Congregational Orthodox churches in
England and her colonies,9 with 2,264 "Particular," 10 and some 150
"General" Baptist churches on the same field, and we have- leaving
out of the account the large number of essentially Congregational
Methodists in the mother country,- a grand total among those who
speak the English tongue, of some 30,864 churches whose government is essentially Congregational, as opposed to the aristocratic and
monarchic forms of Church government!
The whole number of Christian churches reported in the United
States by the last census, was 38,183. Add thirty per cent. for
increase, and we have very nearly 50,000 as the approximate present
number. Comparing with this total the number of churches Congre
1 Congregational Quarterly, Jan. 1868.  p. 111.
2 Christian Year Book.  p. 166.
3 American Christian Record.  p. 46.
4 National Almanac.  p. 660.
5 Cong. Quar. April, 1860.  p. 222.
5
6 Cong. Quar. April, 1860. p. 222.
7 Year Book of Unit. Cong. Chhs. 1868.
8 National Almanac. p. 661.
9 Christian Year Book. p. 6
10 Ibid. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
gationally governed on this territory, -  25,726 less (say) 726, outside
the limits of the United States,- and we have, in round numbers, a
proportion of just about one half in favor of Congregationalists as
compared with all others; showing that, instead of being, as has
often been alleged, a merely Provincial, and peculiarly New England idea, this system of Congregational government for Christian
churches, is substantially held and practiced by one half of the entire
professing Christianity of the land!
Or, if a comparison be desired that shall be confined to churches
commonly reputed to be "Evangelical" in their faith; -throwing
out of the estimated total of 50,000, twelve per cent. for Non Evangelical churches (which would seem to be about what the census
would indicate as a fair proportion for themn), we have left an "Evangelical" total of say 44,000 churches. Throwing out, on the other
hand, from the Congregational total, the 3,702 Unitarian, Universalist, and " Christian" churches, we have left a total of "Evangelical"
churches Congregationally governed, of 22,024; thus giving us a
Congregational proportion of about 52-2ths of the entire "Evangelical" Christianity of the nation- still not much below one half! 1
As a distinctive form of Church order it is clear, therefore, that
Congregationalism leads all others in this country in the number of
its adherents, while it has nearly three times as many Evangelical
churches, scattered through the length and breadth of the land, as are
included in all those Bodies that are Presbyterian in name and form.
Facts show also that the Congregational form of Church order has
been found equally practicable and beneficial in all parts of the land.
The great majority of the Congregational churches is found out of
New England. From the imperfect statistics in our possession,
1 The relative strength of several of the prominent Religious Bodies in this country may be
hinted at as follows: -
Roman Catholics,.....
Protestant Episcopalians,.                                P
Methodist Episcopalians,....
Presbyterians, (all kinds),   c c
Reformed Dutch,.
Evangelical Lutherans,.... 
German Reformed,.....
Orthodox Congregationalists,....
Regular Baptists,.... 
Other Baptists,.....
Congregational Methodists,...
6
.. 2,334 Churches and Chapels.
.. 2,110 Parishes.
.. 9,423 Ministers.
.. 7,954 Churches.
.. 409 11
.. 2,048 "
.. 1,013::
.. 2,947
.. 12,702 11
.. 5,575                        -1
..        800             6, 
WHAT CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
which must be left as originally calculated from the former census,
because of the impossibility of obtaining later trustworthy returns,we are able to state that there are 756 churches Congregationally
governed in Alabama; in Arkansas, 269; in California, 54; in Delaware, 2; in the District of Columbia, 7; in Florida, 107; in Georgia,
995; in Illinois, 902; in Indiana, 733; in Indian Territory, 45; in
Iowa, 388; in Kansas, 44; in Kentucky, 852; in Louisiana, 189;
in Maryland, 38; in Michigan, 344; in Minnesota, 97; in Mississippi,
577; in Missouri, 698; in Nebraska, 17; in New Jersey, 120; in
New York, i,239; in North Carolina, 649; in Ohio, 829; in Oregon, 41; in Pennsylvania, 460; in South Carolina, 463; in Tennessee, 644; in Texas, 387; in Virginia, 716; in Wisconsin, 354.
If we arrange these under the grand divisions of the Union, we
s    h all                 get the following results:
ongregational Churches.
. 2,977
1,821
.  4,884
6,311
New England,.....
Middle States,....
Southern States,.....
Western States,....
Or, taking the account by States, under each division (counting three
territories with the eleven Western States) we have local averages of
churches Congregationally governed, as follows:    In each New England State,.....496
"     Mliddle State,.....   455
Southern State,......488
"     Western State,.....   450
This shows a remarkable evenness of distribution, and demonstrates
that, as a system, Congregationalism has been found to be equally
adapted to every latitude and phase of society among us.  More complete and later returns would considerably increase these totals.
7 
CHAPTER II.
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
WHENCE did this large number of Christian believers get their
faith in this democratic form of Church government; as distinguished
from the aristocracy of Presbyterianism, and the monarchy of the
Episcopal, Patriarchal or Papal hierarchy?
As a matter of principle, they'take it directly from the Bible, interpreted by common sense. As a matter of history, they have received it from a succession of faithful men who gained it from the
Bible, illustrated and enforced by the Providence of its benignant
Author; and who proved it "in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors,
in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word
of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the
right hand, and on the left."
A rapid glance over those portions of the New Testament which
convey to us the will of Christ concerning his churches -in direct
precept, or in the conduct of those who acted under Inspiration from
him -will show us how naturally and inevitably the Congregational
system of Church order and government grew therefrom, and how
necessarily it must ever entrench itself in the hearts of those who
look to the Bible simply for their faith.
The Church dates from days described in the book of Genesis.
But the Christian Church had its origin in the teachings and labors
of Jesus. The Gospels contain no record of any prescribed organic
plan for its life, yet there were hints dropped from the lips of our
Saviour which seem to have been intended to prepare the minds of
the disciples for that further revelation of his will, which was subsequently to be made in the preaching and practice of his apostles.
(8) 
WHENCE- CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
SECTION 1. The Intimations of Christ in regard to Church Gov                              ernment. 
Without taking space here to gather up all the indirect suggestions and hints which thie Gospels contain on this subject, we turn, at
once, to three important passages in the record of Matthew.
In the 18th chapter, (vv. 15-17,) Christ directs that an offence
which cannot be privately settled, be told to the Church, and "if he
neglect to hear the Church, [izxxijuit-ekklesia,'the assembled,''the
congregation of believers,'] 1 let him be unto thee as an heathen man
and a publican;" thus suggesting the principle that, so far as internal
discipline is concerned, the decision of any associated local body of
believers should be final to all under its jurisdiction.
So, in the 20th chapter, (vv. 20-28,) when the mother of James
and John was an applicant, on behalf of her sons, for some special
place of honor in the new "kingdom," and the application had disturbed the other ten, as if the best places in that kingdom were in
danger of being surreptitiously taken, Christ, in rebuke and explanation," called them unto him, and said: Ye know that the princes of
the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great,
exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:
but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister
[&t.xopo; - diakonos,'one dusty from running,''a runner or waiter'];
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant
[6ovog - doutlos,'bondman,''humblest servant']; even as the Son of
man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister," etc. So, again,
in the 23d chapter, (vv. 8-11,) Christ instructed his disciples: "Be
not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye
are brethren. And call no man your father [spiritual superior] upon
the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be
ye called masters, [XOiTtr7rja(- kalthgeyetai,'leaders of the conscience']; for one is your  lIaster, even Christ.  But he that is
1 A" r1 tKXt,,ia, by what follows, certainly not' the Jewish Synagogue' (for how could vv. 1820 be said in any sense of it?) but  I the Coogre,ation I of Christians; i. e. in early times, such
as in Acts iv: 32, the one congregation, -in after times, that congregation of which thou and
he are members.  That it cannot mean the Church as represented by her rulers, appears by vv.
19, 20,- where any collection of believers is gifted with the power of deciding in such cases.
Nothing can be further from the spirit of our Lord's command than proceedings in what are
oddly enough called' Ecclesiastical' Courts." - Alford. Greek Test. and Corn. Matt. xviii: 17.
9?~ 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
greatest [really greatest] among you shall be your servant," [a'xovos].  These passages seem necessarily to involve, and prepare the
way for, the doctrine of the inherent essential equality in rank of all
true believers on earth, and to require their subjection only to God as
Father, and to Christ as Teacher and Head.1 And, since every
organic body must have some government, these precepts - so far as
they were left unmodified to mold the fuiture- appear to have been
intended to control all ideas of government which might be subsequently proposed for the external development of the Christian
Church, and oblige it, under whatever form, to recognize this essential equality among its entire membership, and provide for a ministry
of service and not of rule.
We find no record of any counter teaching fiom our Saviour's
lips. The only passage which requires notice,/as being even seemingly of different character, is that in the 16th of Matthew, (vv. 1819,) where Christ, in response to Peter's frank and earnest avowal of
faith in his MAessiahship, says: "thou art Peter.[TIeQog -Petros].
and upon this rock [7',zto -petra] I will build my Church; and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee
the keys of thle kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind
on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." This might, at first glance, look
like the conferring of some special function and honor upon Peter,
either as an individual, or as the representative of a class. Accordingly we find that the Romish Church has, with short logic, reasoned
from this passage thus: 2  Peter was the rock on which the Church
was built; but a foundation rock must necessarily have existence at
least as long as its superstructure, and the promise must therefore
have been made to Peter in some sense allowing of succession, and so
of permanence; but the Bishop of Rome is the legitimate successor
of Peter; therefore this promise of Christ was made to the Bishop of
Rome, who, through all time, was thus constituted the earthly head
1 " We have God, in his Trinity, here declared to us as the only Father, Master, and Teacher
of Christians; their 7rar?), aUOTri (=,,5ys' rVg)X&, Rom. ii: 19), and 6tLdK,,AoXs -the
only one in all these relations, on whom they can rest or depend. They are all brethren: all
substantially equal-none by office or precedence nearer to God than another; none standing
between his brother and God." -Alford. Corn. Matt. xxiii: 8-10.
2 See Maldonatus in Evangelia, in loco; also Chr. Wordsworth's " Four Gospels," in loco.
10 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Of the Christian Church -having the power of (the keys) admitting
to, or excluding from heaven.
This was not so understood, however, by the Apostles; for, on one
occasion,1 the counsel of James was followed in preference to that
of Peter, and Paul once "withstood him to the face, because he was
to be blamed."2 Nor did the early Christian Fathers so understand it.3
It is obvious that Christ, when he said "on this rock will I build
my Church," either alluded to the declaration of faith which Peter
had just made, and meant to say-" upon the rock of this great truth,
I will build my Church;" or that he turned suddenly from Peter to
himself, and meant to say -" upon this rock (of myself as the idessiah,) I will build my Church;" or that he referred directly to Peter,
and meant, in some sense, to say -' upon you, Peter, I will build
my Church." The latter is unquestionably the most natural, and
therefore the most probable sense. Nor does it require the adoption
of the Romish hypothesis -in itself unnatural and absurd, and unsupported by any shred of other Scripture. We simply need to understand here such a slight play upon words as is very common in
the sacred writers,4 and we get a sound and strong and sufficient
sense, without any suggestion of Peter's lordship over God's heritage
either for himself, his class, or their successors.  "Thou art Peter
[Syriac,'Cephas,' a rock, -so named by Christ himself (John i:
42), because of divine insight into his character] - and upon this rock
(this solid fitness -in essential boldness and firmness of characterfor service in the difficult work of winning men to the Gospel), I will
build my Church; that is, thy labors shall become a foundation stone
I Acts xv: 7-30.
2 Gal. ii: 11.
8 We find among them, indeed, the germs of all subsequent criticism upon the subject.
Some few of them regarded the 7rirpa of the Church as being Peter; more as thefaith of Peter;
others understood the reference to be to Christ. Augustine changed his view from the former
to the latter, as he says, (Retrac. 1: 21).  Jerome says, (Comment on Matt. vii: 25.-Ed.
Basle. A. D. 1536, Vol ix. p. 24), the rock is "Dom. Noster, Jesus Christus.;' Ambrose says, (in
Luc. ix. 20), " Petra est Chlristus: etiam discipulo suo hujus vocabuli gratiam non negavit ut ipse
sit Petrus, quod de Petra habeat soliditatem constantise, fidei firmitatem." Augustine (De peccat. mer. Lib. ii. C. 20. Ed. Antwerp. A, D. 1700), says Paul " tanti Apostolatus meruit principatrem." So Ambrose declares (De Spir. Sanc. ii: 13), "'nec Paulus inferior Petro." Even Gregory
VII. (Hildebrand) admitted the doctrine taught last by Augustine, for when he deposed Henry
IV., he sent a crown to Rudolphus with the inscription, "Petra (Christ) dedit Petro, Petrus
diadema Rodolpho."-(Vide Baronius, Vol. xi. p. 704.)
i See Matt. v: 19; xx: 16, etc.
11 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
on which it shall rise.' This interpretation is borne out by the fact'2
that Peter was the first to preach Christ to both Jews 3 and Gentiles.4
Olshausen seems to lean towards the idea that Peter's enunciated
truth was the "rock," yet he says,5 " the faith itself, and his confession
of it, must not be regarded as apart from Peter himself personally; it is
identified with him- not with the old Simon, but with the new Peter."  And as to "the power of the keys," it is enough to suggest
that, so far as the natural idea of opening which attaches to a key is
modified by Biblical use, it gets mainly the sense of the power of superintendence with reference to the bestowal of certain privileges,6
and its simple use would seem to be to promise to Peter that he shall
be made the instrument for opening the door of the Church to the
world; as he was made after the ascension. And if any idea of vesting power over the Church in Peter, as an individual, or as representing the Apostles, be insisted on in connection with this verse; by
turning over to the 18th chapter (v. 18), it will become clear that
-the same power of binding and loosing was there conferred -and in
the same language -upon the whole body of the disciples; the entire Church, as then existing. So that this passage, in no sense, contxadicts or modifies those teachings of fraternal equality among his
followers, which Christ had before solemnly promulged.
So far, then, as the Gospels are concerned, it appears to be settled
that as Christ was the visible and only head of his Church so long as
he remained on earth, and besides him there was no superiority and
1 "s The name fIrpog..... denotes the personal position of this apostle in the building oj
the Church of Clhrist. He was the first of those foundation stones (Eph. ii: 22; Rev. xxi: 14)
on which the living temple of God was built: this building itself, beginning on the day of Pentecost by the laying of three thousand livingt, stones on this very foundation. That this is the
simple and only interpretation of the words of our Lord, the whole usage of the New Testament
shows: in which not doctrines, nor confessions, but Gnen, are uniformly the pillars and stones
of the spiritual building. See 1 Pet. ii: 4-6; 1 Tim. iii: 15; Gal. ii: 9; Eph. ii: 20; Rev.
iii: 12."-Alford. Corn. Matt. xvi: 18.
2 i- Another personal promise to Peter, remarkably fulfilled in his being thefirst to admit both
JTews and Gentiles into the Church; thus using the power of the keys to open the door of salvation." - Aford. Comn. Matt. xvi: 19.
3 Acts ii: 14.
4 Acts x: 84.
5 Vol. 1, p. 550. Kendrick's revision.
6 TertuLllian (de jejuniis adv. Psych. c. 15.) savs. -  alluding  to Paun's permission (1 Cor.
x: 25), to eat " whatsoever is sold in the shambles, "-" claves maceili tibi tradidit; "-'Paul
has given to you the keys of the meat-market -meaning free authority to buy and eat whatever is sold there.
12 
WHENCE CONGCREGATIONALISH IS.
no ruling, but all were brethren, equal in rights, however unequal in
their performance of service, or their earning of honor; so it was his
idea and intention in regard to the practical development of the
Christian Church through all the ages, that he should still remain,
though ascended, its invisible yet real and only head; and that its
membership should permanently stand on the same broad platform of
essential equality.
SECTION 2.  The Testimony of the Apostles in regard to Church
Government.
Passing on now to the Acts of the Apostles, we shall see that they
bear the most decided testimony that this teaching of Christ was received, and acted upon, by his followers, in the sense which we have
put upon it.  The Christian Church of the first century -so far as
the fifth book of the New Testament conveys its history - was governed, not by Peter, or by any other Apostle, as in Christ's stead;
nor by all the Apostles, in their own right, or by any delegation of
power from Christ; but by itself, under Christ as its great head; by
its entire membership -debating, deciding, doing.1
This will be made evident by the examination of those passages
which contain a record of Church action. In the appointment of
1 " The essence of the Christian community rested on this: that no one individual should be
the chosen, preeminent organ of the Holy Spirit for the guidance of the whole; but all were to
cooperate, each at his particular position, and with the gifts bestowed on him, one supplying
what might be wanted by another, for the advancement of the Christian life and the common
end." - ieander, Church History.  Torrey's Translation.  Vol. 1, p. 181.
"The Jewish and later Catholic antithesis of clergy and laity has no place in the apostolic
age. The ministers on the one part, are as sinful and dependent on redeeming grace as the
members of the congregations; and the members, on the other, share equally with the ministers in the blessings of the gospel, enjoy equal freedom of access to the throne of grace, and are
called to the same direct communion with Christ, the head of the whole body." - &Sclaff. listory of the Christian Church, A. D. 1-311; p. 131.
"The assembled people, therefore, elected their own rulers and teachers, or by their free con.
sent received such as were nominated to them. They also, by their suffrages, rejected or confirmed the laws that were proposed by their rulers, in their assemblies; they excluded profligate
and lapsed brethren, and restored them; they decided the controversies and disputes that
arose; they heard and determined the cause of presbyters and deacons; in a word, the people
did everything that is proper for those in whom the supreuse power of the community is
vested...  Among all the members of the Church, of whatever class or condition, there was
the most perfect equality; which they manifested by their love feasts, by the use of the appellations, brethren and sisters, and in other ways.'- Murdock's Mosheim, Vol. 1, pp. 68, 69.
" All believers in Christ were called brethren and sisters, and were such in feeling and realIty.l"-Guericke's Manual. Shedd's Trans. p. 128.
18 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
some one in place of Judas,1 it appears that an hundred and twenty
Church members were present, and Peter, after referring to the fate
of the apostate, expressed his conviction of the necessity that some
one who was competent, in virtue of a sufficient attendance on Christ's
teachings, should [,a,a -  genesthai,'be constituted,' or'appointed'] to be an official witness, with the eleven, of his "resurrection."  And they ['66ruav 6vo- estesan  duo,'stood forward,' or
'selected to stand forward,'] two; and then, recognizing Christ, who
had chosen all of the eleven, to be still their Master and Head, and
entitled to choose now as before,2 they prayed him to exercise his
choice in the lot by " the whole disposing thereof," 8 and then' gave
forth their lots,' and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was thenceforth
numbered with the eleven Apostles.
Mosheim 4 goes, indeed, so far as to urge that the translation of this
phrase "gave forth their lots," ['(coxa,v:povg   -  edokaw  klerous]
should be'they cast their votes'-making the passage teach that
the suffrage of the one hundred and twenty was exercised not merely
-as it confessedly was- in the selection of the two, but also in
the subsequent election of the one.  And even Chrysostom 5 says: —
"Peter did everything here with the common consent; nothing, by
his own will and authority. He left the judgment to the multitude, to secure their respect to the elected, and to free himself from
every invidious reflection. He did not himself appoint the two, it
was the act of all."
Perhaps the real sense of the passage may be cleared by considering the nature of their subsequent action, which it is natural to
assume- in the absence of any evidence to the contrary - would be
in harmony with what was then done.
We find, then,6 that when it became needful to appoint deacons to
1 Acts i: 15-26.
2 " If any element in the idea of an apostle is clear and well established, it is that of his having been chosen by the Lord himself. (See Luke vi: 13; John vi: 70; xiii: 18; xv: 16, 19; Acts
i: 2). Indeed the assembly is so firmly convinced of this prerogative of the Lord in the appointment of an apostle, that they considered the choice of the Lord to have been made already
(ver. 24.); so that the lot is only the manifestation of this act of the Lord, which, though socret to them, was already concluded."-P Baumgarten's Apostol. Hist. Clak's ed. Vol. 1, p. 38.
3 Proverbs xvi: 33.
4 Comrent. de Rebus Christ. pp. 78-0.
6 Horn. ad. Act. 1, p.25.
Acts vi: 1-6.
14 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
aid the apostles in "serving tables," the twelve assembled "the multitude of the disciples," and, having explained the existing necessity,
said: "Brethren, look ye out among you [it6t''aa608-episkepsasthe] seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom, whom we may appoint Lxarzavz0oev -  katastesomen,'set in
place,''induct to office,'] over this business. And the saying pleased
the multitude [otvTg top  tr;(Oov - pantos tou plethous,'the all
of the fulness of people,'] and they chose [E e ~eavo-  exelexanto,
'selected out,'] Stephen, etc., etc., whom they set before the apostles;"
- for what purpose appears from the record of what followed.
"And when they [the apostles] had prayed, they laid their hands on
them" [the deacons]; not for the purpose of electing them, but by
way of solemnly inducting them into the office  to which they had
been already chosen by the free suffrage of all.
In like manner there is collateral evidence that the whole membership acted in the choice of the messengers or delegates, of the
churches, as Paul says 1 in honor of Titus, that it was not only true
that his praise was in the gospel throughout all the churches, but that
he had also been "chosen [ZxteorovOe;' - cheirotonetheis,' appointed
by vote of the outstretched hand,'] of the churches to travel" with
himself.
So the whole Church appear to have voted in the choice of their
presbyters or pastors. The authorized English version indeed says
of Paul and Barnabas:2 " and when they had ordained them elders
in every Church, and prayed, with fasting, they commended them to
the Lord, etc.," leaving the impression that the elders, or presbyters,
or pastors, were put over the churches by Paul and Barnabas, in
right of their apostleship; and without any intimation that those
churches were even so much as consulted in the matter. But whatever the passage really does mean, it is evident that it does not mean
this.  Nothing is said about "ordination" in the Greek.   The word
upon which the real force of the text hinges is Xtoozo,v6areg-.
cheirotonisantes, which limits and defines the action here described
with reference to the elders.  That word is derived from two [XegQcheir, and zrevo -  teino,] which signify to'stretch out,' or' lift up
the hand,' and it is conceded by all that its original use was to de
1 2 Cor. viii: 19.
15
2 Acts xiv: 23. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
scribe the method of voting by'a show of hands,' in the election of
magistrates by the public assemblies of Athens, and hence its primary
sense is, to choose by hand-vote.1  It is conceded also that it subsequently took on the secondary sense of electing or appointing in any
manner.2 The question which must determine its meaning here, is
then in which of these senses it was used by the author of the Acts;
and, in regard to this, commentators have been divided. Many, most
respectable in philological attainments, and eminent for varied learning, have taught that the word was here employed in its primary
sense.8 Others scarcely less eminent, have been equally positive that
it is used in a secondary sense, and some would even justify our version in translating it by the word'ordain.'4  In this contrariety of
opinion, it seems clear that no certainty can be arrived at from the
study of the etymology of the word alone, and that the only way of
gaining a reasonable security of its intention here is to compare its
possible meanings with the circumstances of the case, and settle upon
that which best maintains the consistency of the Sacred Record.  If
we read it "ordained them elders in every Church," we strain the
sense of the word beyond any secondary meaning which was natural
to that time; we assume, without proof, the previous existence of
elders (which were now merely ordained) in those churches; we
render tautological the account (of seeming public consecration by
1 See Liddell and Scott, Robinson, and Suicer; also Smith's " Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Antiquities," art. Cheirotonia, p. 271; also Owen's " True Nature of a Gospel Church," works,
Vol. xvi, p. 62, where numerous citations are given from Demosthenes, Thucydides, Aristophanes, etc., showing this use; also Colman's "Primitive Church," pp. 59-C3.
2 See quotations from Philo, Lucian and Maximus Tyrius, in Davidson's " Eccles. Pol. of
New Test." pp. 201-2.
8 Vox orta ex more Gracorum, qui porrectis manibus suffragia ferebant.  Beza. in loco.
"Significat hos suffragiis delectos fuisse."  Erasmus, in loco.
"Cum suffragiis, sive per suffragia, creassent," is cited by Poole, as the formula in which
agree Piscator, and the versions Flacii Illyrici, Tigurina: Pagnini and Piscatoris. - Poole. Synopsis Crit. in loco.
4 See Luther, Brennius, Hammond, etc., in loco.
A further idea is suggested by some in connection with this word, which is not without interest, namely: that its chief significence here is in its conveyal of the gift of the IHoly Ghost
by the imposition of hands. Lightfoot says: " non placet quia in Ecclesiis his recens plantatis
ac cosversis nulli adhuc erant idonei ad Ministerium, nisi qui per impositionem manuum Apostolorum Spiritum Sanctum acceperunt." C,,/onicon, 97.  And Poole (Annotations, Acts. xiv:
23), says the word means " here. to ordain to any o,ice or place; which might the rathler be
done by stretching out, or laying on of the hands of the apostles, because by that means'the
Holy Ghost (or a power of working miracles) was frequently bestowed, (Chap. viii: 17, 18X)
which in those times was necessary to authorize their doctrine to the Infidel world."
16 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
'prayer,'' fasting,' and'commending to the Lord') which follows;
and we throw the narrative out of all natural connection with the system of Church affairs which is elsewhere revealed in the New Testament.  If we read it "appointed them elders in every Church," we
impose this secondary sense upon the verb upon feeble evidence; we
commit Paul and Barnabas to a course of policy which is Unlike any
thing recorded of them before or after; and we make their action
exceptional both to the spirit and practice of the time, so far as we
can gather them from the inspired narrative. It is admitted that the
verb expresses some action of Paul and Barnabas, and the most reasonable supposition is that it asserts that they superinteznded the election of elders by every Church, and then consecrated them with fasting and prayer. This theory does no violence to the verbal integrity
of the text, while it brings it into harmony with the general tenor of
the action of the early churches. This explanation is that of many
ancient and modern scholars,1 and, we think, justifies itself to every
I i Populus pastores eligit, sed, ne quid tumultuose fieret, president Paulus et Barnabas,
quasi moderatores." - Calvin, Comment, in loco.
"Solet quidem XcEtporoeE, (constitluere) sumi de quavis electione, etiam quae ab uno vel
paucis fit. Sed et electioni, de qua agitur, accessisse consensum plebes credible est, ob id quod
in re minori supra habuimus, vi: 2, 8." - Grotius, Comment, in loco.
" In all other places on such occasions, the apostles did admit and direct the churches to use
their liberty in their choice.  (Vide Acts, xv: 22, 25; 1 Cor. xvi: 3; 2 Cor. viii: 19; Acts, vi: 3)
If on all these and the like occasions, the apostles did guide and direct the people in their right,
and use of their liberty, as unto the election of persons unto offices and employments when the
churches themselves were concerned, what reason is there to depart from the proper and usual
signification of the word in this place, denoting nothing but what was the common practice of
the apostles on the like occasions? "-Owen.  " True Nature of a Gospel Cturch." Works. Vol.
xvi: p. 63.
"The spirit of similar transactions and the general tenor of the New Testament, forbid the
supposition [that Paul and Barnabas acted without the concurrence of the churches]. Even
in appointing an apostle, the company of the believers took a prominent part. The apostles did
not complete their own number of themselves.  The popular will was consulted.  So, too, in
the case of deacons. Itence it may be fairly inferred that the appointment of elders here recorded was not made contrary to the wish of the disciples." - Davidson.  "Eccl. Pol. of.New
Text. p. 205.
" But even though in its later usage xlpporoevatv may have acquired the general signification
of the supreme investiture of officials, yet, in its original acceptation, it signified an election, by
holding up of the hands; and this signification is clearly established by 2 Cor. viii: 18, 19, to
be still surviving in the phraseology of the New Testament.  Besides, the transition from the
original to the secondary signification of the word was brought about by the course of political
development, whereas in the church not only did there exist no such ground for the later
usage, but, on the contrary, an opposite influence might be supposed to be at work. Accordingly, we must allow that Rothe is right, when, with regard to the passage before us, he maintains that the most natural interpretation of XEtporovr4avrcE aiTroS, is assuredly the one which
2
17
ol 
CONGREGATIONALIS3L
candid mind, as that best fitting all the exigences of the case, while
distinctly affirming the participation of the entire membership in the
choice of those who were thus put over them in the Lord.
Evidently, also, the whole Church acted in the discipline of offending members -  as Christ had commanded,' - for Paul says2 to the
Church at Corinth, of a certain offender, "put away from yourselves
that wicked person." And afterward 8 he says -apparently referring to subsequent action of theirs (caused by his advice) in the same
case-" sufficient unto such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted (v,o tv,:let6vcov-hupo ton pleio)zon),' of the many,' i.e. the
brotherhood of the voting Church.
It is equally clear that the whole membership was consulted in
cases of doubt and difficulty.  This was done in regard to Peter,4
when there was a question whether he had done right in preaching
adheres the closest to the original acceptation of the word:'they -the two apostles -allow
presbyters to be chosen for the community by voting. "- Ba(tmgarten. Apostolic History, vol.
i. p.456.
See also Neander. Geschichte der Pflanz. u. Leit. i, 203, and Simon, die Apostolische Gemneineaund Kirchenverfassung, S. 27.
Dr. Alexander, himself a Presbyterian- whom all students of the Newv Testament Greek will
respect as a sound critic -says of this transaction: " the use of this particular expression,
which originally signified the vote of an assembly, does suffice to justify us in supposing that
the method of election was the same as that recorded (Acts vi: 5, 6), where it is explicitly recorded that the people chose the seven, and the twelve ordained them."  Alexander on Acts,
vol. ii. p. 65.
Albert Barnes, also a Presbyterian, says on this passage, " probably all that is meant by it is
that they (Paul and Barnabas) presided in the assembly when the choice was made. It does
not mean that they appointed t.hem without consulting the Church, but it evidently means
that they appointed them in the usual way of appointing officers, by the suffrage of the people."'-Barnes' motes on Acts, p. 211.
It is, moreover, a curious fact th'at the old English Bibles long retained, both in their text
and margin, the recognition of a popular vote in this election of elders. Matthew Tindal says:
(Rights of the Chr. CYhurch asserted),' NVe read only of the apostles constituting elders by the
suffrages of the people, which, as it is the genuine signification of the Greek word used, so it is
accordingly interpreted by Erasmus, Beza, Diodati, and those who translated the Swiss, French,
Italian, Belgic, and even English Bibles, till the Episcopal correction, which leaves out the
words'by election,' as well as the marginal notes, which affirm that the Apostles did not
thrust Pastors into the Church through a lordly superiority, but chose and placed them there
by the voice of the congregation."
Tyndale's translatlon (A. D. 1534) reads, " And when they had ordened them elders by elec.
cion in every congregacion," etc.  Cranmer's (A. D. 1539), "And whan they had ordened them
elders by eleccion in euery congregacion," etc.  The Genevan (A. D. 1557), "And when they
had ordeined them Elders by election in every Churche," etc. This recognition disappears in
the Bishop's Bible (1568), (for obvious reasons), and from the Rheims version (1582), and found
no place in the authorized one, dated 1611.
1 Matt. xviii: 17.                                8 2 Cor. ii: 6.
21ICor.v; 13.                                      4Acts xi; 1-18.
18 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
the Gospel to the Gentiles, and, after they had heard the evidence in
the case, "they (" the Apostles and brethren,") held their peace and
glorified God, saying: then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." So when the question arose 1 whether to require
Gentile converts to be circumcised, we find that Paul and Barnabas
"were received of the Church and of the Apostles and elders," and
stated the case; after which " it pleased the Apostles and elders, with
the whole Church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch," etc. They accordingly chose Judas and Silas- who were
neither Apostles nor elders, but only " chief men among the brethren " -to go to Antioch, and sent a letter by them, beginning: "the
Apostles and elders and brethren, send greeting," etc. When this
committee reached Antioch, they called not the officers of the Church,
merely,  together, but to ar0oo; -  to plethos,'the multitude,' and
delivered them the Epistle, "which when they had read, they rejoiced
for the consolation." Thus the whole book of the Acts is veined by
like democratic reference to "the brethren," as the court of ultimate
appeal, and the last residence of the power that was in the Church.
This same chapter goes on (v. 33) to tell us significantly, that after
Judas and Silas had tarried a space at Antioch, "they were let go in
peace, from the brethren, unto the Apostles."
The Apostles were, from the specialty of their position, exceptional
to all rules, yet they seem always careful to throw the weight of their
influence on the side of popular rights. They counted themselves
"less than the least of all saints," and their languag,e to the masses
of the Church was, "ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."  They
never claimed supreme authority over the Church because they were
Apostles, and they taught those chosen of the Church whom they inducted into office, that it was not their function to be "lords over
God's heritage," but "ensamples to the flock."  They indeed exercised, in the  beginning, some  practical control over  the infant
churches -just as our missionaries do among the heathen now- but
it appears to have been pro tempore, and to have ceased so soon as those
churches were in circumstances to enter upon the normal conditions
of their life.  They addressed the membership of the churches  as
"brethren" and "sisters," and when remonstrating with them for
I Acts xv: 4-31.
19 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
any irregularity, it was still with them as "brethren."  They treated
the churches as independent bodies, capable of, and responsible for,
self-government. They reported' their own Apostolic doings to them,
as if they considered themselves amenable to them.
They addressed in their Epistles the whole body of believers; especially when they spoke of matters requiring action. Paul's Epistle
to the Church at Philippi, begins: " Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at
Philippi -with the bishops [that is, pastors] and deacons." They
recognized the right of the churches to send out messengers and
evangelists. They consulted with the churches, and the result of the
discussion about circumcision was published in the name of "the
Apostles and elders and brethren." They advised the churches to
settle their own difficulties,2 never assuming to adjust them because
they were Apostles. They laid the whole matter of electing officers
and disciplining offenders upon the churches- functions whose very
nature involved in this action of theirs the most radical and convincing testimony that they believed the membership of the Church to be,
under Christ, the ultimate residence of Ecclesiastical power. They
appear even to have devolved the administration of Christian ordinances upon the pastors of the individual churches. Paul thanks
God that he personally baptized very few. Peter did not, himself,
baptize Cornelius, or his companions.3
The Apostles, clearly filled a peculiar, self-limiting and temporary
office. They had the oversight of the planting of churches, and the
care of them in their first immaturity.  Paul speaks of himself as
burdened- not with the bishopric of some particular territory, but
with "that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches."
The same appears to have been true of his brethren, all- separately
and together, wherever Christ might call, and however Christ might
guide- laboring "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."   Chrysostom
says,4 "the Apostles were constituted of God first-men [' overseers,'
'leaders'J not of separate cities and nations, but all were entrusted
with the world." When they died, they left the churches to go on in
1 See Acts xi: 1-18; xiv: 26, 27, etc.
s 1 Cor. vi: 1-8.
20
3 Acts x: 48.
,I As cited by Campbell, Lee. p. 775. 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
this line of democratic life which they evidently felt that Christ had
prompted, and which they had, clearly, labored to promote.
Placing this now by the side of those deductions from our Saviour's
teachings which we have already made, we seem to get very clear
and sufficient evidence that the Christian Church, as it went forth
from the immediate impress of the Saviour and his inspired followers, on its divine mission of preaching the Gospel to every creature,
was essentially democratic, or Congregational, in form- recognizing
no power of ruling above its membership below Christ still its Great
Head; its few and simple offices being offices of service and not of
mastership; and its presiding and controlling spirit one of fraternity,
simplicity, and universal responsibility.
SECTION 3. The Testimony of History in favor of Congregation                              alism.
As this Church of churches went abroad on its holy mission, it
would naturally go in the spirit of its founders, and repeat everywhere the model of its original in its earliest home. Gieseler 1 says,
"the new churches out of Palestine formed themselves after the pattern of the mother Church in Jerusalem," and all the earliest and
most trustworthy authorities which have come down to us confirm
his words, and indicate that the democratic platform continued to be
characteristic of the Church until it was modified, in the second and
third centuries after Christ, by the invasion of alien elements. It is
not our purpose here to anticipate the full discussion of particulars,
which is subsequently proposed under their separate heads. It is
sufficient, at this stage of the discussion, to quote the testimony of one
every way competent to form a judgment, who has studied the subject of Christian Antiquities, in their bearing upon Church government, with more tireless zeal and exhaustive research, than perhaps
any other living man,2 and who sums up the result, under this head,
as follows:  " These [early Christian] churches, wherever formed,
became separate and independent bodies, competent to appoint their
own officers, and to administer their own government, without reference or subordination to any central authority or foreign power. TNo
1 Davidson's Translation, v. 1. p. 90.
21
2 Rev. Lyman Coleman, D. D. 
C ONGREGATIONALISHM.
fact connected with the history of the primitive churches is more fully
established or more generally conceded." 1
It was not till the latter half of the second century after Christ,
when the fervor of the piety of the Apostolic age had began to cool,
that the office and title of bishop, - in any sense correspondent to
any thing now suggested by that name - begin to show themselves
in the history of the Church, and then they appear to have come in
as the choice between two evils.2  The formation of a sacerdotal
caste, claiming for themselves prerogatives and authority like those of
the Jewish priesthood, followed; until the people were stripped of
the right of the election of their pastors,3 ecclesiastical officers were
multiplied, and, by the desire of ambitious men among the clergy to
acquire power- favored by the fact that their superior culture necessarily gave them great influence over a comparatively illiterate
Church membership-the order of the Church was gradually swayed
from the simple democracy of Jerusalem and Antioch'clean over' to
the monarchic abominations of the Papacy.
Neighboring churches were first consolidated into one bishopric,
then aggregated bishoprics grew into a vast hierarchy, which overcame all popular resistance, and settled itself securely for centuries
at Rome, giving birth there to those monstrous and malignant heresies of doctrine, and those mournful and miserable immoralities of life,
which, raying out gloom upon the general mind and heart, brought on
the long night of" the dark ages."
1 " Ancient Christianity exemplified." Chap. vi. sec. 4. p. 95.
2 Jerome (lived A. D. 331420) suggests that the idea of a standing officer, called a bishop,
was resorted to as an expedient to quell the unchristian dissensions which had arisen among
the clergy.  He says: "Idem est ergo presbyter, qui episcopus; et antequam diaboli instinctu, studia in religione
fierent, et diceretur in populis; ego sum Pauli; ego, Apollo, ego autem Cephie, communi presbyteriorum consilio ecclesioe gubernabantur. Postquam ver, unusquisque eos. quos baptizaverat suos putabat esse, non Christi, in toto orbe decretum est, ut unus de presbyteris electus
superponeretur cemteris, ad quem omnis ecclesime cura pertineret et schismatum semina tollerentur."- Comment. on Tit. i. 5  Opera. tom. ix. fol. 245.
s It is remarkable that a trace of this original Congregationalism, even to this day, maintains
and justifies itself in the very ritual of th'e Papal system; since the Bishop is made to say, while
ordaining a priest:' it was not withoit good reason that the fathers had ordained that the advice
of the people should be taken in the election of those persons who were to serve at the altar; to the
end that, having given assent to their ordination, they might the more readily yield obedience to
those who were so ordained' [" Neque enim frustra a patribus institutum, ut de electione illorum qui ad regimen altaris adhibendi sunt, consulatur etiam populus," etc.]. - Pontif. Rom.
De Ordinat. Pres. fol. 38.
22 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
The fact was long unknown to the world, yet there seems to be
good evidence that in the valleys of the Cottian Alps, a little band,
known   since the twelfth century as'the Waldenses,' successfully resisted this invasion of Papal corruption, and maintained their position
against all persecution.1 They were the faithful ones to whom Milton
makes such stirring reference in his thirteenth Sonnet:
"Avenge, 0 Lord, thy slaughtered Saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans,
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piemontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To Heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow
O'er all the Italian fields, where still dothl sway
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundred fold, who, having learned thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe."
But, with this exception, "darkness covered the earth, and gross
darkness the people," until the Reformation dawned upon a world
that- largely Christian as it was, in name- resembled that Christian world on which the Apostles closed their dying eyes scarcely so
much as the bittern-haunted solitudes of the wilderness of Mount
Seir to-day resemble that magnificent Petra which dwelt so proudly in
the clefts of the rocks, centering the caravans of Arabia, and Persia,
and Egypt, and Syria, and overflowing with the wealth of the Orient.
Moreover, Luther and his immediate coworkers in this Reformation
were so engrossed by the consideration of the religious errors of Romanism, as a system of personal salvation for guilty and lost men,
and so intent upon restoring the doctrine of justification by faith alone
1 They claim to have inherited their religion, with their lands, from the primitive Christians.
The' Nobla Leyczon' (A. D. 1100); Moneta,' Contra Catharos et Valdenses,' Lib. v. p. 405,
(A. D. 1240); and Reinerus,' De Sectis Antiquorumtn Hareticorutm,' c. 4. SBib. Patr. Vol. iv.
(A. D. 1250) bear witness that the sect which they call " Vauds,"' and "Lombardi Pauperes,"
and which was beyond question identical with those whom we call the Waldenses, made the
same claim, six and seven hundred years ago, which they now make, of direct descent from the
primitive Church without alloy from the Papacy.
23 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
to its ancient and Scriptural place before the people, that they seem,
for a time, to have overlooked the fact that the organic constitution
of the Church had been changed from its original simplicity quite as
much as the great doctrines of faith; with the related fact that those
very errors of doctrine had come in through the door opened for them
by those organic modifications. Nor ought we to forget that the first
Reformers were so dependent upon the cooperation and protection of
the secular arm of kings, princes, and nobles, who would have frowned
upon any attempt to introduce radical reform into the outward structure of the existing Church, that they may readily have felt that, if
any effort in that direction were desirable, the time had not yet come
when it could be wisely attempted. It was only when further experience had taught the truly pious that a hierarchy with the doctrine
of justification by faith could be just as tyrannical as a hierarchy
without it, and that any comfortable and equitable enjoyment of the
individual right of thought and action was beyond hope so long as
the working processes of the Church remained what they were; that
the philosophy of the connection between the outward form and the
inward life of religion began to be reasoned out, and men, reading
their Bibles anew with this point specially in mind, at length made
the startling discovery that the genuine Church of the New Testament - that pure and simple democracy which Christ gathered about
himself, and which the Apostles nurtured, and which both bequeathed
to the future as the instrument of its regeneration, - no longer had
visible existence among men.
From the day of Wickliffe - in Milton's words, -" honored of God
to be the first preacher of a general Reformation to all Europe," and
since Milton's day affirmed to be "the modern discoverer of the doctrines of Congregational dissent" 1   there were persons in England
seeking this great truth, if haply they might feel after it and find it.
The Baptists 2 date the origin of their existence as a denomination,
among those days, and those investigations. There can be little
question, however, that this discovery was most fully made by the
English Puritans.  Attempting to organize their own religious life
in accordance with it, at Scrooby and elsewhere, the English hierarchy
drove them out with violence. They cast about for a country where
I London and Westminster Review. No. 1. 1837.   2 Belcher's "Religious Denominations."
24 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
they might reproduce the Apostolic model, and attempt to bring men
back to its understanding and imitation. Fourteen years before the
company which John Robinson had trained and sent forth from Leyden with his blessing, landed on the rock of Plymouth, they had banded themselves together into a Congregational Church,' - the mother
Church of New England- on those principles, hinted at in the previous chapter, which have given so much of vitality and of victory
to the reformed religion in this land, and which, gradually leavening
the lump of modern Society, have inwrought themselves into the religious life of the age to that extent which has been indicated in the
statistics already given.
SECTION 4. Proof from Scripture and Reason of the Truth of the
Essential Principles of Congregationalism.
Having thus glanced at the teachings of Christ and his apostles,
and the history of the churches founded by them, and so taken preparatory notice of the general drift of the four Gospels, and the Book
of the Acts, and the state of the facts, in the direction of the cardinal
doctrines of Congregationalism, we are now prepared, more intelligently, for a more rigid inquiry how far its essential and distinguishirg features bear the complexion of common sense, and of that word
of our God which is to stand forever?
We may safely take the seminal Congregational principle -that
the Bible, rightly interpreted, is our only and sufficient guide-  for
granted, and proceed to test those doctrines which, under the guidance
of that principle, the system announces as imperative upon men. In
doing so, it will be convenient to follow the order in which they have
been already announced - (pp. 2, 3, 4).
I. ANY COMPANY OF PEOPLE BELIEVING THEFMSELVES TO BE,
AND PUBLICLY PROFESSING THEMSELVES TO BE CHRISTIANS, ASSOCIATED BY VOLUNTARY COMPACT, ON GOSPEL PRINCIPLES, FOR
CHIRISTIAN WORK AND WORSHIP, IS A TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST.
Here are four distinct points, namely:
1. A true Church must be composed of those who believe themselves to be, and publicly profess to be, Christians.
1 Hunter's "Founders of new Plymouth." p. 89.
25 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
2. To constitute a true Church, these professedly Christian persons must be united together, on Gospel principles, by voluntary compact, or covenant.
3. That covenant must be for purposes of Christian work and
worship.
4. Every such company of professing Christians, united by such a
covenant, for Christian work and worship, is a true Church of Christ.
1. A true Church must be composed of those who believe themselves to
be, and publicly profess to be, Christians.1
They must believe themselves to be Christians, or their movement
toward a Church estate becomes stamped at once with hypocrisy or
total misapprehension. They must profess themselves to be Christians - and do so publicly- because the very idea of a Church involves the idea of confessing Christ before men;2 of letting the light
of their piety shine before men, that God may be glorified. That
such hopeful piety in its members is essential to the existence of a
true Church, will appear to be true from the testimony of several
classes of passages.
(1.) From those texts which describe the Church as being a holy
body. Such as:   Heb. xii: 23. The General Assembly and Church of the first
born, which are written in heaven.
Acts ii: 47. And the Lord added to the Church daily such as
should be saved.
I " Now how marvellous a thing is it, and lamentable withal, that amongst Christians, any
should be found so far at odds with Christian holiness, as to think that others than apparently
holy, at the least, deserved admittance into the fellowship of Christ's Church, and therewith of
Christ! Do, or can, the gracious promises of God made to the Church, the heavenly blessings
due to the Church, the seals of divine grace given to the Church, appertain to others than
such? "-John Robinson. WVorks. Vol. iii. p. 66.
"Both the Scriptures, and common reason teach, that whomsoever the Lord doth call, and use
to, and in any special work or employment, he doth in a special manner separate and sanctify
them thereunto. And so the Church, being to be employed in the special service of God, to the
glory of his special love, and mercy in their happiness, and to show forth his virtues, must be
of such. persons, as, by and in whom, he will, and may thus be worshipped and glorified."Ibid. Vol. iii, p. 127.
"Est societas fidelium, quia idem illud in professione constituit Ecclesiam visibilem, quod
interna et reali sua natura constituit Ecclesiam mysticam; id estfides."  Amesius, MeduU.
Theol. Lib. Prim. Cap. xxxii. sec. 7.
"By a visible Church, we are to understand a society of visible saints." — Emmons.  Vol. T.
p. 444.
I Matt. x: 32; Luke xii: 8; Matt  v: 16, etc.
26 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Rom. ii: 29. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;
whose praise is not of men, but of God.
(2.) From those which describe the vital union between Christ and
the Church.  Such as:
John xv: 5. I am the vine, ye are the branches, etc.
1 Cor. vi: 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of
Christ?
Eph. i: 22, 23. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave
him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body,
etc.
Eph. ii: 20-22. And are built upon the foundation of the Apostlfies
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in
whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy
temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together, etc.
(3.) From those which announce the design which Christ has in
regard to the Church. Such as:  Titus ii: 14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us
from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works.
"Eph. v: 25, 26.  Even as Christ also loved the Church and gave
himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it... that he might
present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle,
or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
(4.) From those which affirm a radical distinction between the
Church and the world.  Such as:  2 Cor. vi: 14-18. For what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion  hath light with darkness?
and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of
God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God.. wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
etc.
Eph. v:11.  Have no fellowship with the. unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them.
2 John: 10, 11. If there come any unto you, and bring not this
doctrihe, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed:
for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
27 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
(5.) From those which require such preparation for the reception
of Church ordinances as only believers can have.  Such as:
Acts ii: 38. Repent and be baptized.
1 Cor. v: 8. Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Cor. xi: 27-29. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread,
and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so
let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth
and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself,
not discerning the Lord's body.
(6.) From those which require the discipline of unworthy members.
Such as:
1 Cor. v: 11-13. But now I have written unto you not to keep
company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with
such a one, no, not to eat.... Therefore put away from among
yourselves that wicked person.
2 Thess. iii: 6. Withdraw yourselves from every brother that
walketh disorderly.
Tit. iii: 10. A man that is a heretic, after the first and second
admonition, reject.
To these might be added, also, that great class of texts which represent the Church as the Christianizing element in human society;
as the'salt of the earth,' the' light of the world,' the'pillar and
ground of the truth,' etc. But it is hardly necessary to multiply
proofs of so plain a point. If the Church is appointed to be peculiarly a holy body, if its members are to be united to Christ by the
bond of a living faith, if Christ's design for the Church involves holiness in its membership, if it is to be radically distinguished from the
world, if only believers can rightly partake of its ordinances, and if
the unworthy in its ranks are to be cut off; it becomes very clear
that only those who believe and profess to be Christians have any
right to its privileges, or any share in its promises. The worldlyminded man, however correct in outward morality, has no place there.
His salt is without savor. The light that is in him is darkness. The
idea that all persons who live a life outwardly reputable, or who have
28 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
great respect for Christian things, or who -to use the language of
the Methodist "Discipline," 1   have merely a "desire of salvation,"
may rightly belong to the Church, was not an Apostolic, as it is not a
Scriptural idea,2 but was begotten in the day when the Church and
the world began to fraternize.
2. To constitute a true Church, these professedly Christian people
must be united together by voluntara_C_   or c   cve_ nt.3
The necessity for this arises out of the very nature of things. A
Church is an organization. But every organization must have some
organizing bond. The very act of associating implies a purpose, and
the act of associating for a purpose implies some mutual understanding of, and agreement in, that purpose, and such understanding and
agreement is a covenant - express or implied; written, verbal, or of
inference.
God bound his people to himself and to each other, in the olden
time, by covenants, references to which are scattered along the pages
of both Old Testament and New.4 And there are many Biblical
principles and precepts which imply that it is God's will for his chil
1 "Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church." Ed. 1856, pp. 27, 28.
2 " A Church, consisting of the indiscriminate mass of a nation, where the great majority
have no semblance of Christian character, would have astounded the early fathers  though
their successors were by degrees familiarized, but not always reconciled, to the mischievous
perversion of terms., - Bennett. "Theol. of Early Church." p. 142.
" There is no evidence in the New Testament of the term Ecclesia ever being applied to a visible baptized society consisting of a mixed multitude, godly and ungodly."-Davidson. "Eccl.
Pol. ofthe New Test."' p. 130.
3 " That whereby the Church is as a city compacted together, is the Covenant. -John Davenport's "Power of Congregational mhurches asserted and vindicated."' p. 37.
"Mutuall covenanting and confoederating of the Saints in the fellowship of the faith according
to the order of the Gospel, is that which gives constitution and being to a visible Church."Hooker's "Survey ofthe Sum?ame of ClUs'rch Discip." p. 46.
"For the joyning of faithfull Christians into the fellowship and estate of a Church, we finde not
in Scripture that God hath done it any other way then by entering all of them together (as
one man) into an holy Covenant with himselfe."  John Cotton's "W Vay of the C('iurches." p. 2.
"Corpus sumus de conscientia religionis, et disciplinse divinitate, et speifoedere.  -Tertullian. Apol. 39. This is misquoted by John Wise, who adds "whereas such a body, or religious
society, could not be united but by a covenant; he (Tertullian) calls it a covenant of hope, because the principal respect therein was had unto the things hoped for."- John Wise's "Vindication." p. 8, Ed. 1772.
"Vinculum hoc estfoedus, vel expressum, vel implicitum."-Amesi'ss, Lib. i. Cap. xxxii: 15.
"Materia Ecclesiee, sunt tum communiter vocati, et in fcedus gratise recepti. IVollebius,
Lib. i. Cap. xxv: 10.
4 Gen. xvii: 7; Exod. xxxiv: 27; Deut. iv: 13, ix: 11, xxix: 12; Josh. xxiv: 16-25; Neh. ix:
38; Ps. ciii: 18; Rom. ix: 4: Gal. iii: 17, iv: 24; Eph. ii: 12; Heb. viii: 7, eta.
29 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
dren to become united, as a covenant, only, would unite them. His
Church is a'city,' a'house,' a'body fitly joined together and compacted;' a'body' in which there should be no'schism.'  Its acts
are directed to be such as imply the union of its members in covenant; otherwise it could not'withdraw' itself'from every brother
that walketh disorderly,' nor'love the brotherhood,' nor'walk by
the same rule,' nor'mind the same thing.'
3. This covenant must be for purposes of Christian work and wor
ship.  Good people affiliated for good purposes are not a Church, unless
those purposes are distinctively Church purposes; that is, unless they
aimn directly at the promotion of the worship and service of God on
Earth. This is evidently true in itself, and it finds proof in all which
the Scriptures say of the churches of Christ. Turning to the first
admission of members to the Christian Church after the ascension,2
we see that they'that gladly received the word' were baptized and
' added to the Lord;' that they'continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayer.'
So the uniting one's self to the Church is called8'3 confessing Christ
before men,' that is, publicly pledging one's self to personal faith in
Christ, and a life of obedience to him. It is laid down as the duty of
the members of the Church,4 to'consider one another, to provoke unto
love, and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of themselves
together.'  All which (coincident with the whole tenor of the Gospel) goes to show that when men form a Church or join themselves
to one, they enter into a covenant for sacred purposes; - the maintenance of all Christian doctrines, the practice of all Christian duty,
the salvation of men and the glory of God.
4. Every such company of professing Christians, so united by covenant for Christian work and worship, is a true Church of Christ.5
1 " Christ, believed on and confessed, is the rock whereupon a particular visible Church is
built."- John Davenport. "Power of Congregational Churches vindicated." p. 10.
2 Acts ii: 41-46.
a Matt. x: 32.
4 Heb. x: 24, 25.
5 " This we hold and affirm, that a company, consisting though but of two or three, separated
from the world - whether unchristian or anti-christian- and gathered into the name of Christ
30 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
This will be seen to be true from two considerations.
(1.) From the Scriptural use of the word' Church.'  The Greek
word  ixx~6[-a -ekklesia, is derived from a verb  meaning'to
call out,' and hence,'to assemble,' and is the word that had been
long in use at Athens to signify the general assembly of the citizens, in which they met to discuss and determine upon matters
of public interest; - regularly about four timnes a month, and, on
occasions of sudden importance, whenever summoned by express
for that purpose.1 The word is used in three senses in the New
Testament
(a.) It sometimes has this primary meaning; as in the account of
the tumultuous gathering at Ephesus, where the' town clerk' says: 2
"if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly,". "and he dismissed the assembly."
Stephen seems to have used it in much the same general sense
of'a gathered multitude,' where he said of Moses,3 "this is he that
was in the IXat'.Oa, in the wilderness, with the angel," etc.
(b.) It is sometimes used to describe the general assembly of Christian people on earthi - the Church universal. Thus, in these passages: -
"God hath set some  in the  Church, first apostles, secondarily
prophets," etc.4
by a covenant made to walk in all the ways of God known unto them, is a Church, and so hath
the whole power of Christ." -John Robinson.   Works, Vol. ii. p.132.
"And for the gathering of a Church I do tell you, that in what place soever, by what means
soever, whether by preaching the Gospel by a true minister, by a false minister, by no minister,
or by reading and conference, or by any other means of publishing it, two or three faithful people do arise, separating themselves from the world into the fellowship of the Gospel, and covenant of Abraham, they are a Church truly gathered, though never so weak,'" etc. - Ibid. Vol.
ii. p. 232.
"Every congregation or assembly of men, ordinarily joined together in the worship of God, is
a true visible Church of Christ." -Bradshaw's "Engl,ish Puritanism."  Neal, Vol. i. p. 428.
"A congregation, or particular Church, is a society of believers joined together by a special
band among themselves, for the constant exercise of the communion of saints among themselves."-ArnAmesizts,. Iedull. Theol. Cap. xxxii. Sec. 6.
"The visible Church state which Christ hath instituted under the New Testament, consists
in an especial society, or congregation of professed believers." -John Owen. Works. Vol. xv.
p.262.
"Sed ubi tres, Ecclesia est, licet laici." - Tertullian. De Exhor. Cast. Sec. 7.
1 See Article Ecclesia, in Smith's " Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities." p. 49.
Also Hermann's "Political Antiquities," Sec's 125, 128.
2 Acts xix: 3941.                              4 1 Cor. xii: 28.
8 Acts vii: 38.
31 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
"I persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it," etc.   "Head over all things to the Church." 2
"The general assembly and Church of the first born, which are
written in heaven," etc.8
(c.) Its most distinct and frequent sense is, however, that of an assembly of Christians in a particular place: that is; a local Church.
Thus we read of:
"The Church which was at Jerusalem." 4
"A whole year they assembled themselves with the Church [in
Antioch] and taught," etc.5
In like manner we find mention of the Church at Cenchrea,6 that
at Corinth,7 and those at Ephesus,8 Laodicea,9 Thessalonica,l~ Smyrna,"
Pergamos,12 Thyatira,13 Sardis,14 and Philadelphia.15
We find, also, the same use of the word in its plural form in many
passages; 16 such as, "the churches had rest throughout all Judea, and
Galilee, and Samaria," etc.,7 "the churches of Galatia,"18 "the churches
of Macedonia," 19 " the churches'of Asia," 20 and, indefinitely, "the
churches of the Gentiles." 21
So, again, we have mention made of" the Church," in "the house"
of Priscilla and Aquila; 22 that in the "house" of Nymphas; 23 and
that in the "house" of Philemon.24
There is no record of the use of this word zxxixaa by Christ himself, except upon two occasions. One was when he said to Peter,
1 Gal. i: 13.                                    9 Rev. iii: 14.
2 Eph. i: 22.                                   0lo 1 Thess. i: 1; 2 Thess. i: 1.
3 Ileb. xii: 23.                                 11 Rev. ii: 8.
4 Acts viii: 1, xi: 22.                          12 Rev. ii: 12.
5 Acts xi: 26.                                   13 Rev. ii: 18.
6 Rom. xvi: 1.                                   14 Rev. iii: 1.
7 l Cor.i: 2; 2Cor.i: 1.                         15 Rev. iii: 7.
8 Rev. ii: 1.
10 A local Church is also clearly implied, though not mentioned by name, in Samaria (Acts
viii: 5), Damascus (Acts ix: 10-19), Lydda (Acts ix: 32), Saron (Acts ix: 35), Joppa (Acts ix:
36-38), Cesarea (Acts x: 4448), Antioch in Pisidia) Acts xiii: 14-50), Iconium (Acts xiv: 14,
21-23), Lystra (Acts xvi: 2), Derbe (Acts xvi: 1, 2), Philippi (Acts xvi: 1240). Berea (Acts
xvii: 10-14), Troas (Acts xx: 5-11), Tyre (Acts xxi: 4), Ptolemais (Acts xxi: 7), Puteoli (Acts
xxviii: 13, 14), Rome (Acts xxviii; 14-16), Colosse (Coloss. 1: 2), Hlierapolis (Coloss iv; 13), and
Babylon (1 Pet. v: 13).
17 Acts ix: 31.                                  21 Rom. xvi: 4.
1i I Cor. xvi; 1, Gal. i: 2.                     22 Rom. xvi: 3, 5, 1 Cor. xvi: 19.
1s 2 Cor. viii: 1.                               23 Col. iv: 15.
20 1 Cor. xvi: 19.                               24 Phil. v: 2.
32 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS
"upon this rock will I build my Church; " 1 and the other where he
instructed his disciples, if one of his followers should have cause of
complaint against another, and other suitable efforts to remove the
difficulty should fail, to "tell it unto the Church, and if he neglect to
hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man, and a publican." 2 On the first of these occasions he clearly referred to the
Church universal, and to his great work of human redemption. On
the second, he, as clearly, could not have referred to the Church universal, and the only natural inference is that - looking forward to the
time when his followers on earth should be crystallized into local
churches - he framed this law to meet their necessities in those
churches, through all coming time, and meant for them to take the
comfort of his gracious promise: "where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 8
The weight of New Testament authority, then, seems clearly to
decide that the ordinary and natural meaning of the word t6[xx6S,t
is that of a local body of believers associated for the enjoyment of
Christian privileges, and the performance of Christian duty.4  If this
I Matt xvi: 18.                   2 Matt. xviii: 17.                    3 Matt. xviii: 20.
4 " The word Ecclesia [in the New Testament] signifies, either the whole Christian Churchthe total number of believers, forming one body under one head; or a single Church, or Christian society.'- Neander.  "Planting and Training of the Christian Chiurch." Amer. edit. p.
92, note.
"The term' Church' signifies a number of believers habitually assembling for the worship of
God in one place....  The word uniformly bears this signification when applied to any of the
separate assemblies of Christ's servants on Earth."- Davidson. "Ecclesiastical Pol. of New
Test.'" pp. 59, 60.
" These things being so plainly, positively, and frequently asserted in the Scripture, it cannot
be questionable unto any impartial mind but that particular churches or congregations are of
divine institution, and consequently that unto them the whole power and privilege of the
Church doth belong; for if they do not so, whatever they are, churches they are not." - John
Owsen. "Inquiry into the original, etc., of Evangtelical Ch'urches." Works. (Edit. 1851) Vol. xv.
p. 277.
" Its use [the word Ecclesia] as signifying the ministers of religion in distinction from the people, or as embracing all the persons professing Christianity in a province or nation, is unknown
in the sacred Scriptures. We read in the New Testament of the Chlerch at Jerusalem, of tilhe
Chturrh in the hoarse of Priscilla and Aquila, and of the church/es in Judeea and the churches in
Galatia; but we meet with no such phrase as the Church of Judsea, or the Church of Galatia.
This application of the term was reserved until the time when Christianity became established
as a' part and parcel' of the kingdoms of this world." - Vaughan. " Causes of the Corruption
of Christianity."J p. 403.
'" The Greek word Ecclesia, which the New Testament, after the Septuagint, employs, and
which we translate Chutrch, was adopted by the Latins, who derived sacred terms, as well as
ideas, from the Greeks. To them the word being in familiar use, was known to signify a con                               3
33 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
be so, then any company of believers so associated, have a right to
hold themselves to be an kxx.Cia[-a true Church of Christ, in the
place of their abode.
(2.)  This view is confirmed and established by the obvious consideration that the precepts enjoined upon the primitive churches, and the
functions assigned to them by Christ and his apostles, were such as
inmplied, and could only consist with, the action of independent local
bodies.
The Scriptural exhortations to Christian fidelity, and usefulness,
imply such free opportunities for labor, as local and independent
churches only can furnish. The responsibilities that are set forth, are
such as could rightly rest only on the members of such churches.
It is easy to see that the method of discipline for offenders which
our Saviour prescribed would be both unnatural and absurd, if attempted to be carried out in any Church having any form other than
that of a local associate body of believers; while it is plain that, in
such a body, it becomes most sensible, suitable, and sufficient.
So also of the elective franchise. When we come, further on, to
consider the fact that the Divinely ordained method of Church action is for the whole brotherhood to cast their votes for Church officers,
and in regard to the management of all Church affairs, we shall be
able to set in a strong lighlt the unscripturalness of any theory of the
Christian Church, which does not involve the direct and responsible
participation of all of the brotherhood in its affairs.
We conclude, then, that any company of professing Christians, associated by voluntary covenant, on Gospel principles, for Christian
work and worship, is thereby constituted a true Church of Christ.
II. SUCH A CHURCIIH  AS A RULE- -SHOULD INCLUDE ONLY
THOSE WIHO CAN CONVENIENTLY WVORSHIP AND LABOR TOGETHER,
AND WATCH OVER EACH OTHER.1
gregation. This idea pervades all the earliest Ecclesiastical writings, though translations have
frequently misled their readers." - Bennett.  " Theology of the Early Church." p. 133.
Ircnoeus, as late as the fourth quarter of the second century (Contra Hsereses, Lib. 2, Cap.
xxxi. Scc. 2), uses the word in this sense; speaking of the Church' Kara& rror," or, as the
Latin translation gives the phrase,' ea, quse est in quoquo loco." - Opera. (Massuet's Edition, A. D. 1734.) vol. i. p. 164.
1  We, on the contrary, so judge, that no particular Church under the New Testament, ought
34 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
This accords with what we shall find to be one prominent element
in the manifestation of the divine idea of the constitution of the
Church on earth, namely, that of an organization which shall
place each individual believer in direct contact, on the one hand
(in the way of responsibility), with his ascended Lord, and on the
other (in the way of labor), with that practical every-day work
for the salvation of men and the glory of God, which the Church
must perform in order to be'the salt of the earth,' and'the pillar
to consist of more members than can meet together in one place." -John Robinson.  Works.
Vol. iii. p. 12.
"The Church must not exceed the quantity and compass of one congregation.  For the
Church must meet ordinarily together with their officers," etc. -John Davenport. "Power of
Cong. Churches vindicated." p. 56.
"Such cohabitation is required, which is necessary for the dispensation of God's ordinances,
the administration of Church censures, for otherwise, the end of the covenant would be made
frustrate, and the benefit of the whole prejudiced "-Hooker's "Survey." p. 49.
" Neque est ecclesia hsec a Deo instituta proprie Nationalis, Provincialis aut Dioecesana (qusa
formse fuerunt ab hominibus introductne ad exemplar civilis regiminis, prsesertim Romani)
sed Parochialis, vel unius congregationis, cujus membra inter se combinantur, et ordinarie conveniunt uno in loco ad publicum religionis exercitium."-Amesius.  Medull. Theol. Cap.
xxxix. Sec. 22.
" To such a body " -a particular Church- " how many members may be added, is not limited expressly in the word, onely it is provided in the word, that they be no more than that all
may meet in one congregation, that all may heare, and all may be edified. For the Apostle so
describeth the whole Church as meeting in one place. 1 Cor xiv: 23. But if all cannot heare,
all cannot be edified. Besides the Apostle requireth, that when the Church meeteth together
for the celebrating of the Lord's Supper, they shall tarry one for another, 1 Cor. xi: 33, which
argueth the Church indued with onely ordinary officers, should consist of no greater number
then that all might partake together of the Lord's Supper in one congregation, and therefore
such Parishes as consist of 15,000, though they were all fit materialls for Church fellowship,
yet ought to be divided into many churches, as too large for one. WVhen the hive is too full,
bees swarme into a new hive; so should such excessive numbers of Christians issue forth into
more churches. Whence it appeareth to be an error, to say there is no limitation or distinction of Parishes, meaning of churches (jure divino), for though a precise quotient, a number
of hundreds and thousands be not limited to every Church, yet such a number is limited as
falleth not below seven, nor riseth above the bulke of one congregation, and such a congregation
wherein all mnay meete, and all may heare, and all may partake, and all may be edified together."
-John Cotton. "Way of the Churches." pp. 53, 54.
' Wherefore, no society that doth not congregate, the whole body whereof doth not meet
together, to act its powers and duties, is a Church, or may be so called, whatever sort of body
or corporation it may be." -John Owen. "Inquiry," etc. Works. Vol. xv. p. 270.
" I appeal to all authentic Greek writers - Thucydides, Demosthenes, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, etc., -out of whom plentiful allegations may be brought, all of them showing that this
word Ecclesia did ever signify only one assembly, and never a dispersed multitude, holding
many ordinary set meetings in remote places, as diocesan and larger churches do. Now according to these, and other Greeks, living in the Apostle's days, do the Apostles speak." -Henry
Jacob's "Attestation." (A. D. 1613.) p. 209.
" The matter of the Church, in respect of its quantity, ought not to be of greater number
than may ordinarily meet together conveniently in one place, nor ordinarily fewer than may
conveniently carry on Church work." -Cambridge Platform.  Chap. iii. Sect. 4.
35
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
and ground of the truth.' Unless each Christian is a member of a
Church which naturally draws him into direct connection with all its
services, so as to lay upon him his share of accountableness to the
Great Head for every vote that is taken, and of participation in every
labor that is attempted; that idea cannot be reached, and that highest
degree of development of the Christianl life, which is inseparable from
it, cannot be realized.
We have seen that this is the most prominent suggestion of the
term EXXZ6ata (ekklesia).  In more than sixty instances this word is
used in the New Testament under circumstances which naturally imply a single congregation of believers.
Moreover, as many as thirty-five different churches are - directly
or indirectly - referred to by name in the New Testament, in addition to the general mention of churches'throughout all Judea, and
Galilee, and Samaria,' 1 through Syria, and Cilicia,' 2 the' churches
of Asia,' 3 etc. When we consider how soon after Ohristian churches
began to be formed at all, this language was used, we are naturally
led to the conclusion that the apostles and their colaborers were accustomed to organize a Church in every place where they found believers enough to associate themselves together for that purpose.
This inference gains force when we consider that some of these
churches were undoubtedly sufficiently near each other to have readily
permitted their fusion into one, if it had not been thought essential to
include in a single Church no more believers than could regularly and
conveniently unite together in the enjoyment of its privileges and the
performance of its duties. For example, Cenchrea was the port and
suburb of Corinth, yet there were churches at both places. Hierapolis was visible from the theatre of Laodicea, and Colosse was near
-  some think directly between -them; 4 while Nymphas5 appears
to have lived in, or near, Laodicea, and it is almost certain that Philemon was a resident of Colosse.6 So that there is the strongest probability that these five churches - at Hierapolis, Laodicea, Colosse,
and those in the houses of Nymphas and Philemon- were all situated
within a very few miles, probably within eye-shot, of each other;
Acts ix: 31.                   2 Acts xv: 40, 41.                  3 1 Cor. xvi: 19.
4 See Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible.  Art.'"Hierapolis."
5 Coloss. iv: 15.
6 Philem. v: 10; Coloss. iv: 9. Onesimus was a Colossian, and the obvious presumption is
that they belonged to the same place.
36 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISH IS.
near enough, at least, to demonstrate, by the fact of their individual
existence, that it was the aim of the Apostles to include within a
given Church only those who could conveniently and regularly assemble together to share its duties.
We are, of course, aware that it has been objected to this view that
the churches at Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus and Corinth must have
been too large to be gathered into any one room. But, although
many thousands of Jews believed at Jerusalem, a very large proportion of them were converted at the time of the Pentecost, which assembled the representatives of the entire nation in the metropolis, so
that we are without information as to the number of residents of Jerusalemi who became Christians, while we are expressly told that tho
multitude that heard were'out of every nation under heaven,' -
' Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in MAesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappedocia, in Poltus aid Asia, Phrygia,
and Pamphlylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene,
and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians;' g
and it is settled by Inspiration that the resident Church at Jerusalem
did meet'all with one accord in Solomon's porch,' 3 and did act
Cong,regationally together; -in the choice of deacons, in hearing
delegates from Antioch, and sending'chosen men' thither.  So wo
find that Saul and Barnabas'assembled themselves with tho
Church'4 at Antioch during'a whole year,' and that when Saul
and Barnabas returned from the missionary journey on which they
had been sent from Antioch,'they gathered the Church together,' 6
and' rehearsed all that God had done with them.' And, at a later
period, when the delegation from Jerusalem went down to Antioch,
'they gathered the multitude'  6 of the Antiochean Church'together,' before  they'delivered the  Epistle.' 7  With regard to
1 Acts ii: 5.                    3 Acts v: 12.                     5 Acts xiv: 27.
2 Acts ii: 10.                   4 Acts xi: 26.                    6 Acts xv: 30.
7 " Antioch, the capital of Syria, where the disciples of Jesus, attracting by their numbers the
public attention, were first called Christians, is shown by the letters of Ignatius, to have had, in
the second century, but one congregation of the faithful. It was still one in the days of Theophilus.  When its bishop, Paul of Samosata, was, towards the end of the second century, dposed, he refused to resign the churches' house -not houses. Carthage was a kind of African
Rome, and enjoyed the services of the most eminent men; but both Tertullian and Cyprian
speak of only one congregation, which chose its bishop, Cyprian, by public acclamation, in the
third century. Alexandria, an immense city, the seat of what may be called the first Christian
university, contained, in Origen's time, but one congregation It was not till the end of the
third century that we read of Christians in the extreme suburbs of a city in Egypt, having sep
37 
C ONGREGATIONALIS31.
Ephesus, we find no hint in Paul's Epistle to that Church that it differed, in this respect, fiom other churches, but many precepts which
would be most natural if it did not so differ; and, as to the Church at
Corinth, it is clear that Paul twice recognizes it as one homogeneous
body when he says: -" when ye come together, therefore, into one
place," etc.,' and "if, therefore, the whole Church be come together
into one place," etc.2
When we add to these considerations the remembrance of the fact
that it would be always inconvenient and unnatural, and often impossible, to carry into effect Gospel discipline in any Church, or to elect
its officers and carry on its government by the action of the whole
body, unless it is of that size that all of its members can meet to discuss its affairs and decide upon them; we have sufficient evidence
that the Scriptural theory of a Church is of one composed only of
so many members as can conveniently act together in the performance of its functions.
III. EVERY MEMBER OF SUCH A CHURCH HAS EQUAL ESSENTIAL RIGHTS, POWERS, AND PRIVILEGES, WITH EVERY OTHER
(EXCEPT SO FAR AS THE NEWv TESTAMENT AND COMION SENSE
MAKE SOMIE SPECIAL ABRIDGMENT IN THE CASE OF FEMALE AND
YOUTHFUL ME3MBERS); AND THE MEMIBERSHIP TOGETHER, BY MAJORITY VOTE, IhAVE THE RIGHT AND DUTY OF CHOOSING ALL
NECESSARY OFFICERS, OF ADMITTING, DISMIISSING, AND DISCIPLINING TIIEIR OWN MEMIBERS, AND OF TRANSACTING  ALL  OTHER
APPROPRIATE BUSINESS OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Here are two points:  1. Every member of a Congregational Church has equal essential
rights, powers, and privileges with every other member.
2. The membership, by majority vote, have the right and duty of
choosing all necessary officers, admitting, dismissing, and disciplining
members, and transacting all other appropriate business of a Christian Church.
1. Every member of a Congregational Church has equal essential
arate places, not called churches, but cvvaywya,, synagogues; and not for meetings on the
Lordis day, but on Wednesdays and Fridays, when they convened for prayer, [Eusebiues, lib.
vii. c. 30] or held prayer-meetings.- Bennett. " Theology of the Early Chr. Church." p. 139.
1 1 Cor. xi: 20.
2 1 Cor. xiv: 23.
38 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
rights, powers, and privileges with erery other member. This is the
dictate of reason in regard to the membership of a body constituted
as the Church is. Its members-however diverse in natural powers,
or in point of intellectual attainments, or social position- all come
into it upon the same conditions, make  the same promises, and seek
the same ends. All stand upon an equality before God as to their
need of salvation, as to the way of salvation, and as to the duties of
salvation.  The king and the beggar must alike'repent and be converted' before they can offer themselves as suitable candidates for
admission  to the Church - both passing into it through the same
'strait gate.'  And, when entered, both must depend with the same
humility upon the same grace, for daily sustenance in the divine life.
Of the two, indeed, the king will be apt to need most grace, and be in
greatest danger of falling, because of the sorer temptations which, from
his position, will be likely to' beset him behind and before.' So that
there will be nothing in the fact that, in one aspect of his life, he is a
king,, to give him any preeminence in the Church over his brother,
who, in one aspect of /is life, is a beggar.  They stand before God
togethler there as sinful meis for whom Christ died, to be comparatively estimated not by their worldly station, but'according as,God
hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.'  And if' this will be
true of them, it will be true of all.
The same conclusion follows from the voluntary, associate, character of the Church, considered as an organization. It is expressly
confederated on the basis of equality among its members; and on
that basis every member - as the rule - must necessarily have the
same righlts, powers, and privileges as every other.
This view the Scriptures confirm.  They nowhere hint any reason for, or Divine intention of, any inequality of privilege in the
Church.   But they expressly state that the'multitude s1 was accustomed to gather together for action on business requiring action, and
that it was when it'seemed good'2 to'the whole  Church'- being' assembled with one accord'-that action followed.
The only exception to this is the express curtailment, by Paul, of
some portion of the prerogatives of females; with such practical modification as good sense may suggest in the case of very young and in
1 Acts vi: 5, xv: 12, xxi: 22.
39
2 Ibid. xv: M. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
experienced members - which exceptions will be subsequently considered in another connection.1
2.  The membership, by majority vote, have the right and duty of
ehoosing all necessary officers, of admitting, disciplining, and dismissing members, and transacting all other appropriate business of  a
Christian Church.2
This follows inevitably from the very theory and constitution of
the body, and is abundantly established by Scriptural authority.
(1.) The right and (duty to choose all necessary officers. The right
of an equal voice in the election of the officers of the body, is one of
the inherent rights of the membership of every such voluntary association as - in one aspect of it - every Church is. And if we turn
to the New Testament, we find that the membership of the primitive
1 See Appendix A.
2 ii Christ hath given this power to receive in, or cut off, any member, to the whole body together of every Christian clongregation, and not to any one member apart, or to more members," etc.- ConfJssion of Low County Exiles. Hanbury, Vol i. p. 95.
"Every particular society of visible professors agreeing to walk together in the faith and order
of the Gospel, is a complete Church, and has full power within itself to elect and ordain all
Church officers, to exclude all ofenders, and to do all other acts relating to the edification and
well-being of the Church." — avoy Confession. Ne\al, Vol. ii. p. 178.
"Nor may any person be added to the Church as a private member, but by the consent of
the Church," etc. lbid. p. 179.
Cambridge Platform says Church power is in the hands of the " brethren formally and immediately from Christ." Chap. v. Sect. 2.
See, also, an eloquent passage-too extended to be quoted here -in John Robinson's answer to Bernard.  TI orks, Vol. ii. pp. 140, 141.
"The subordinate ordinary power of acting Church affairs, in the order appointed by Jesus
Christ, for attainment of t'e eI nds of Church communion, is given by Christ to a visible congregation of confederate believers, as the first and proper subject of it." -Jo/to  Davenport,
"Power of Congreg,ational Chitrches,' etc.  p. 90.
"Wee do not carry on matters either by the overruling power of the Presbytery, or by the
consent of the.7najor part of the Church  but by the generall and  joynt consent of all
the members of the Church; for ve read in the Acts of the Apostles, the Primnitive Church
(which is a pattern for succeeding ares) carried all their administrations, oe v/y      a e(i, that
is, with one accord, Acts ii: 46, as becometh the Church of God;  which ought to be of one
heart, and one sot!, of  ne   id, and ore jzitdgesnent, and all to speak the same thing. Acts
iv: 32; 1 Cor i: 10; Phil. ii:'2, 3 " John Cotton's i' Wlay of the Chirc/hes.' p. 94.
"A particular Ciurch or c        ongre,atiol of saints, professing the faith, taken indefinitely for
any Church (one as.ell as anot ilc), is the first subject of all thle Church offices, with all their
spirituall gifts and power, vwhich Christ hath given to be executed amongst them,.' etc.  Johni
Cotton's "Keyes of t;ie o Kifgtio,,' etc. p. 67.
" The people, or fraternity, under the gospel, are the first subject of power." -John TVise.
" Vindtcation of the Go,cerz;,,cnit of.\TNew.E,gWIltad Churches.'' (Ed. 1772.) p. 44.
"The admilinistrative power in each Church is the voice of its majority, from which there is
no appeal, except by the consent of both parties, and even then simply in the spirit of arbitrati on."-Vaug/lan's " Ccngregationalism; or the Polity of Independent Chturches viewed in relation to the state and tendencies of Modern Society." London.  1842. 2d Edit.  p. 3.
40 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
churches held and exercised this right. The Church at Jerusalem
chose a twelfth apostle to be the successor of Judas; 1 and this was
done by vote of the whole brotherhood, as we have before shown.2
In like mannier we have seen that the brotherhood chose the seven
deacons;8 their presbyters or pastors; 4 and the messengers to Antioch.5
In fact there is no record in the New Testament of any other method
of electing Church oflicers than by vote of the whole brotherhood, nor
do we know of any precept, or even hinit, looking in any other direction.
(2.)  The right to admit asid dismiss members.  Somebody, and
somebody who has intelligence, time, and opportunity, must have this
right, or that fundamental principle that they only are entitled to
membership who give credible evidence of piety, could not be maintained; nor could transfers be made from one Church to another.
And firom the democratic form of the Church, this power would nlaturally inhere in the entire membership. Furthermore, the power of
choosing officers, which are the greater; involves and includes the
power of choosing private members which are the less.  It is clear,
moreover, that it was not enouIgh6 for Barnabas to be satisfied of
Paul's worthiness; but the fears of' the brethren' had to be allayed
concerning him, before hle could enter into fellowship with them.
And, in the presence of the strong presumption in favor of the residence of this power of admission in the hands of the membership, and
the absence  o? all hint of its residence elsewhere, we think that the
matter is made Scripturally clear by the fact - which will be presently set forth - that the power of casting out of the Church is expressly lodged in the body of covenanted believers. It is a familiar,
and a sound maxim-  ejusdem est potestatis aperire et clatudere, instituere et des.titere;7 and its application in this case would settle the
question that as the membership are expressly commanded to act in
excision, with them must lie the power of admission, as well.
(3.) Thle right to discipline and exclude members. Here the Scripture is so explicit, and even minute in its directions, that there is
room fir no reasonable doubt as to the divine intention.  As we have
already seen,s Christ most expressly committed the duty of discipline
in every Church to its members, and made their decision final.9 And
1 Acts i: 15-26.                       3 See page 15.                  5 See page 19.
2 See page 14                          4 See page 15.                  0 Acts ix: 26-30.
7 "The same power that can open, can shut; that can set up, can set down."
8 See page 9.                                  9 1 Cor. v: 13: 2 Cor. ii: 6.
41 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
we find many passages which were evidently intended to stimulate
the membership to the performance of this disagreeable and most
solemn duty, in some of its lighter or severer aspects.  Such is the
following; -" Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause
divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned,
and avoid them."'l So the passage,2 directing the Corinthian brethren
not to'company' with certain offenders, saying "do not ye judge
them that are within," (that is, in the Church), and closing "therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person," is in point.
So is that,3 beginning "now we command you, brethren, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every
brother that walketh disorderly," etc., and that in the Epistle to
Titus;4-" A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admionition, reject," etc. It will not be denied that all these precepts are
addressed to'the brethren' of the churches -and not to any Bishop,
or other Church officer, nor to any Session, Presbytery, or other
Church court - and the conclusion becomes inevitable, that the
whole right and duty of that form of Church action which is contemplated by and provided for in them, is solely with'the brethren.'
Paul-as if to remove any lingering doubt that the responsibility was
upon the membership, and upon them all,- distinctly says,5 it must
be, when they "are gathered together," that they "deliver such a one
unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit  inay be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."  This, Paul elsewhere " calls
"a punishment inflicted [     -zt cOr:t).evc, Jv - hlpo ton pleiono)n] of
the many," or, as we familiarly say,' by the crowd.' —" Thus," says
John Davenport,7 upon this passage, "he establishethli their power to
bind, and teacheth them how to use it; and, in like.manner, he exhorteth them, upon the man's repentance, to turn the key, and to
open the door of Christian liberties to him, and to loose him from the
former censure, by forgiving him, in a legal, or judicial sense."
Thus Christ's minute commands, with Apostolic precepts, and the
obvious practice of the Primitive churches, unite to put beyond( a
doubt the fact that the power of'the keys' in discipline -  to its last
results - is vested in the brotherhood of the Church.
1 Rom. xvi: 17.                   3 2 Thess. iii: 6.                5 1 Cor. v: 1-.
2 1 Cor. v: 9-13.                 4 Titus iii: 10.                  6 2 Cor. ii: 6.
7'; Power of Congregational Chaurchtes asserted and vindicated."  p. 131.
42 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
(4.)  The  right  to transact all other appropriate  6usiness of a
Christian Ch~(rch. This right to transact all business that is incidental to the functions of Church life-being subordinate to those
rights which are vital to that life-must follow from them.   If the
membership are empowered to admit, dismiss and discipline their
own members, and to elect their officers, they must have the lesser
right to do all other needtful things.  And the fact of the actual exercise of such subordinate rights by the membership, is Scripturally
shown by cases already referred to,1 where the entire body wtts consulted by the Apostles themselves, in cases of doubt and difficulty.2
IV. EVERY SUCII CHURCH IS INDEPENDENT OF ANY OUTWARD
JURISDICTION  OR CONTROL- W,VHIETHIIER FROI POPES, PATRIARCIIS, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHiOPS, OR OTHERS ASSUMING TO BE
VICEGERENTS OF CHRIST; FROMI ANY ASSEMIBLIIES, SYNODS, PRESBYTERIES, CONVENTIONS, CONFERENCES, ASSOCIATIONS OR COUNCILS, ASSUMIING TO SPEAK IN TIHE NALME OF'THE CHURCH';
OR FROM OTIIER  CHURCHES- BEING ANSWERABLE  DIRECTLY
AND ONLY TO CHRIST ITS IIEAD: AND EVERY SUCII CHURCH IS
ON A LEVEL OF INHIERENT GENUINENESS, DIGNITY, AND AUTHORITY WITH EVERY OTHER CHURCII ON EAIRTH.3
1 See pages 18, 19.                          2 Acts xi: 1-18, xv: 4-31, ctc.
3,, AlthougI all th e churches were, in this first stage of Christianity, united together in one
common bond of faith and love, and were. in every respe(:t t, ready to promote the interest and
welfare of each other by a reciprocal interchange of good offices, yet, with regardl to goverinment,
and internal economy, every individual Church considered itself as tan inlelpeldent communit-, none of t.hem ever looking beyond th e circle of its own members for assi:tance, or
recognizing any sort of external illuence or authority. Neither in the New Testament, nor in
any ancient document wh atever, do we final any thing recorded from which it might be inferred
that amy of the mrinor churches were  at all dclepcndent on, or looked up for direction to, tlloseo
of greater magnitude or consequence. "-Ios.hei,,. De Rebzits C'rist..,$c i. Sec 43.
"Christus vero sic instituit Ecciesiam, ut a sese semper pendeat, tmqutam a capilce."-Amesius. dllelull. Theft. Lib. i. Cap. xxxii. See. 95.
*' Christ has not subjected any Church to any other superior ecclesiastical jurisdiction than
that which is within itself."-Br adshaUv's " E,~1-ish P.ritanisim." Chap. ii. Art. 4.
"The Lord Jesus is the king of his Church alone, upon whose shoulders the government is:,
and unto whom all power is given in heaven and earth.  -Joltn Pobestson. 11srks. Vol. ii.
p. 140.
" The truth is, a particular congregation (Church) is the highest tribunall.... If dinicullties
arise.. the counsell of other churches should be sought to clear th.le truth, but t'.e pow.-.-er
.. rests still in the congregation, where Christ placed it.'"-Hooker's  "Strt'ey'" Parrt iv. p. 19.
" Every particular ordinary congregation of faithful people... is a true or proper visiblo
Church, jure divino, - by right from God. Every such congregation here, and everywhere, is
43 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Here are two main points: -
1. Every Congregational Church is, by divine right, independent
of all control fiom without, except that of Christ its Head.
2. Every Congregational Church is on a level of inherent genuineness, dignity, and authority, with every other Church on earth.
1. Ete2y Congregational Church is, by (divine right, independent
of all controlfrom without, except that of Christ its head.
(1.)  There is no Biblical precept conferring any control over the
local Chuzrch upon any nman or body cf ijen.  Those directions which
Paul gave with reference to subjection to'principalities and powers,'1
have sometimes been twisted in that direction, as if the Apostle were
then persuading Church members to submit to a Bishop or a Pope,
rather than admonishing citizens toward a due subordination to the
laws of the land. And the two precepts in the last chapter of the
Epistle to the Hebrews (vv. 7, 17), have been claimed, by Papists
and others, as establishing the right of a hierarchy to the obedience
enduLed with power immediately from Christ, to govern itself ecclesiastically, or spiritually." -
Hernry Jacob's " Reasons for Reforming Chztrch of E,rg,'l-ad.1" tlanbury. Vol. i. p 222.
"Every Church hath power of government in, and by itselfe; and no Church, or officers,
have powver over one another but by way of advice or counsaile."-Leclfosrd's "talin Dealing."' Mass. Ilist. Coil. Third Series. Vol. iii. p. 74.
"A Congregational Church is, by the institution of Christ, a part of the militant visible
Church." -  Canbridge Platform. Chap. ii. Sec. 6.
"Christ's gospel churches in their fraternities are not such cyphers as they stand in some
men's accounts; but are really and truly proper bodies, full of pow.vers, and authorities, for the
government of themrnselves, and all their concerns, as all democracies are." -John IVise. " Vindication of Governm-entt of New England Churches." (Ed. 1722.) p. 56.
Neither were they [the early churches] subordinate to one another. No example of this subordination has yet been adduced from the New Testament.  Even those called mother-churches,
such as were at Jerusalem and Antioch, did not claim exclusive power over others.  All were
distinct independent Societies."- Davidson.  "Eccl. Pol. New Test."' p. 133.
"The churches constituted on this strictly voluntary principle, and thus wholly spiritual
in their character, were churches possessing each a separate and independent character."Va,sy/a-n. " Causes of the Corruption of Christianity." p. 408.
' Independence and equality formed the basis of their [the churches] internal constitution.' -Gibbon.  "Decline and Fall of the Roman Emnpire."' Smith's Edit.  Vol. ii. p. 191.
"' The exigences of the Christian Church can never be such as to legitimate, much less to
render it wise, to erect any body of men into a standing judicatory over them." - Pres. Stiles.
"Convention Sermton." (A. D. 1761.) p. 91.
" Nothing in the history of the primitive churches is more incontrovertible, than the fact
of their absolute independence, one of another. It is attested by the highest historical authorities, and appears to be generally conceded by Episcopal authors themselves." - Coleman's
"Apostolical and Primitive Cthurch." 3d Edit. 1853. p. 50.
" The several churches are altogether independent of one another."-Uhden's "New England Theocracy." p. 68.
1 Titus iii: 1.
44 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
of the churches. But those precepts clearly refer to the relation of
the members of a Church to its own Christian teachers, and not to
its subordination to any external authority - whether of one or'of
many.
The first (v. 7):-" Remember them that have the rule over you,"
is explained by the clause succeeding: "who have spoken unto you
the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their
conversatlionl."  The words translated "that have the rule over you,"
[trov j;,ovtte'ov v'yro — to n   hg9oumen?n hunumoiS], rather mean'your
teachers or leaders in faith,' and the reference - involved in the
word'remember,'- apparently is to those who were already dead,
whose example was to be had in constant and affectionate imitation,
as both a stimulus and a guide. So that there is not here the remotest reference to any'rule' over the Church at all; as our translation
(prepared by prelates) wrongly suggests.
The other verse (v. 17), unquestionably does make allusion to rul
1 "- He first sets before the Jews the example of those by whom they had been taught; and
he seems especially to speak of those who had sealed the doctrine delivered by thenm, by their
own blood,' etc. - Calvin.  Comnment. in loco.
"Sanctitatens in olmni vita exhibuerunt, et in ea perstiterunt ad mortem usque.... IIanc
sanctitatemni per fidem acceperant atque servaverant; quare videte eandem fidem retineatis, ut
par sit et vester exitus."- Groties.  Commennet. in loco.
" By the description following, it is evident that the Apostle here intends all that had spoken
or preached the word of God unto them, whether apostles, evangelists. or pastors, who had
now finished their course," etc. - Johan Oweci. Con7iment. in loco.
" That is, calling to mind the peaceful and happy death of those religious teachers among
you, who gave you instruction respecting the word of life, imitate their faith; that is, persevere in your Christian profession, as they did, to the very end of life." - Stuart. Commene2t.
in loco.
" IIere dead teachers are intended; as appears from the word M7ste-orever, from the past
tense of -A i,\t7a:. and especially from the followving part of the sentence..... The reference
seems to be to those holy preachers of the gospel, like Stephen and James (Acts vii: 59, 60,
xii: 2), who died for Christ:'remember them and consider their deaths, in order to imitate
their steadfatstness in the faith.' "-' SaTpson. Comnmcent. in loco.
" We shall have to understand a reference to such men as Stephen, James the son of Zebedee, and James the younger, who was stoned in a tumult. A. D. 62, -men whose death was
known to the readers, and whom  they even now doubtless acknowvledge as  lyoievaol."Ebrard.  Coenenit. in loco.
' Innuit ergo doctores ex primis Christi testibus et apostolis, eorumve discipulis et sociis,
qui paulo ante decesserant, vel j:am jamque decessuri erant.' - Bengel. Gnomnon. in loco.
" Renmember them that were your leaders, who spoke to you the Word of God; look upon
the end of their life. and follow the example of their faith." - Conybeare and Hovseon. (Atew
translation.) "Life and Epis. St. Paul." First 4to Edit. vol. ii. p. 547.
"The sentiment here is, that the proper remembrance of those now deceased who were once
our spiritual instructors and guides, should be allowed to have an important influence in
inducing us to lead a holy life."-Barnes. Comment. in loo.
45 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
ing in the Church, but not to ruling over it. Our translation says,
"obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for
they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they
may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for
you."  But here again, "them that have the rule over you," is bong
i7ovp.'votg, it c  [tois hj7youmenois hurmnn], signifying, as before, simply the spiritutal teachers, or yttides, of the Church, whose proper authority over them'in the word and doctrine,' its members are bound
to recognize and respect.'  That those ordinary ministers of religion
who labor in, and with, a Church, are here intended, and not any hierarchy without, is made evident by the declaration that the'guides'
referred to, are those which' watch for souls,' which' watching' was
assigned to Timothy,2 as a part of his work as an Evangelist; and
they are to'watch' not as those who are to reign over the Church and
1 " Doubly foolish are the Papists, who from these words confirm the tyranny of their own
idol:' the Spirit bids us obediently to receive the doctrine of goodly and faithful Bishops, and
to obey their wholesome counsels; he bids us also to honor them.' But how does this favor
mere.pes of Bishops? "'-Calvin.  Comsnent. in loco.
" The rulers, or guides, here intended, were the ordinary elders, or officers of the Church,
which were then settled among then." - Johlt Olvwen.  Comnmeent. ill loco.
' Obey your leaders and be subject to them; for they watch over  your souls, as those
who must give an account." - Stiuart. (Aewtv translation.) in loco.
"Proper attention and obedience to spiritual guides is here inculcated," etc.- Turner.
Con7zmme,t. in loco.
" Doctoribus defunctis mnemorian prsestate (v. 7,) viventibus obedietian.....        Obedite in
iis, quTe praxcipiunt vobis tanquam salutarin; co?lecedite, etiam ubi videntur plusculuns postulare..... Auditores debent ductoribus suis obedire et concedere, ut cum gaudio,' etc.- Bengel  Gnomon. in loco.
' In the former verse the Apostle exhorts them to remember those who had been their leaders, and to imiitate their faith; in this he exhorts them to obey the leaders they now had, and
to submit to their authority in all matters of doctrine and discipline, on the ground that they
watched for their souls, and should have to give an account of their conduct to God. If this
conduct were improper, they must give in their report before the great tribunal with grief;
but in? it must be given: if holy and pure, they would give it in with joy. It is an awful consideration that many pastors who had loved their flocks as their own souls, shall be obliged to
accuse them before God for either having rejected or neglected the great salvation.'" -Adam
Clarke. Comentinel. in loco.
"lender unto them that are your leaders obedience and submission; for they, on their
part, watch for the good of your souls, as those that must give accoutnt; that they may keep
their watch with joy and not with lamentation; for that would be unprofitable  for you." -
Conybeare andl Hssson.  (Nece translation.) Vol. ii. p. 548.
"Gehorchet eurten Fihrtert und folget ihnen; denn sic wachen fiber eure Seelen, als die
einst liecheuschaft geben sollen," etc.- De TVette's translation, in loco.
"The reference here is to their religious teachers,.... and the doctrine is, that subordination is necessary to the welfare of the Church, and that there ought to be a disposition to
yield all proper obedience to those who are set over us in the Lord." -  Basnes.  Commnent.
in loco.
2 2 Tim. iv: 5.
46 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
call it to an account, but as themselves'they that must give account'
to the  Great Head, for the faithfuhiess with which they have led
and fed their flock' like a shepherd.'
So that, rightly read, neither of these precepts suggests any ruling
over a Church firom without, except that of Christ, in his Word and
by his Spirit, ever shaping that ruling that is within it, to the praise
and the glory of his name.
(2.)  There is no evidence furnished by the Scriptures of the exer cise of any outward control over the primitive churtches.  We have
already seen (i)p. 19, 20), that the Apostles neither claimed nor exer cised such control over those churches which they had founded. There
is no record of the assumption, or exercise of such control by any
other man or body of men. And we shall more clearly see how ad verse the supposition of any such control is to the facts in the case,
when we come to the particular consideration of those texts which are
urged - as indirect evidence - on its behalf.
(3.) The whole drift of the New Testament is in a direction opposite to any theory of control over the individual Chuzrch.  Not only
did the individual churches, in obedience to Apostolic counsel, and
under the Apostolic eye, perform untrammelled all the functions of
their Church life; but the sole responsibility of their life and labor
was laid and left upon them by Christ and his Apostles, who everywhere recognized the right and duty of I the brethren' to make final
decision upon all matters.   Men, fiom reading the New Testament
alone, could hardly be led to conceive of any supremacy, whether of
one or many, over that local Ekklesia, whose'works' and' labor' and
'patience' had-  among  others - this praise; -"thou hast tried
them which say they are Apostles and are not, and hast found them
liars." 1
(4.) The general arguments of the advocates of some externaljurisdiction over the local churches do not sustain that doctrine. A late
earnest writer in the interest of the Papacy, has argued that since
the Church must have some government, and Christ does not himself
visibly preside over it, he must have delegated his power either to
some one man, to an order of men, or to the whole Church collectively.
The former and latter suppositions he throws out as insufficient for the
1 Rev. ii: 2.
47 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
duties to be performed, inconsistent with His rights as the founder of
the institution, and incompatible with the end intended; and then
draws the conclusion that the power of the Church was actually vested,
by its Great Head, in "several offices, in due subordination to each
other," all centering in the occupant of the Papal chair.' But this
argument is most evidently founded upon a low view of the power of
truth over the minds of men, and a complete ignoring of the possibility of that constant influence by Christ himself over the affairs of his
kingdom on earth, which his own words,'Lo I am with you alway,'
entitle his people to expect. It is kindred to that old assumption of
despots that men cannot be trusted to govern themselves, without
forts forever frowning upon them, and an omnipresent police peering
into their affairs. Self-government is inconceivable to many minds, as
a system that can be trusted to be a regulator of human conduct; and
many even who accept it as sufficient in civil affairs, distrust it still
in regard to spiritual things. But, if there were only one man on
earth, and he loved God, and'willingly walked after the commandmenlt,' doubtless he could be governed by the influence of Christ
through the Word, and the Spirit, without a Pope. It is difficult to
see why, if there were two such men, the.same might not be true of
them; and so of ten, or one hundred. It is difficult, indeed, to see
why, on these conditions, the same might not be true of any number
of men up to the whole of the race. So that to deny that the Congregational theory - that Christ committed the government of the
Church to its own members, under His constant supervision -is adequate to the performance of all that the nature of the case demands,
is to deny the sufficiency of truth to do its work, or the omnipotence
of Christ in the superintendence of that work, or both.  And all reasoning toward the Papacy as a necessity that the Church on earth
may be suitably governed, is, in the face of the facts, as baseless and
impertinent, as the assumption would be in regard to civil matters,
that there can be no just and suitable order, and subordination, without absolute monarchy everywhere.
The same, for substance, is true of the assumptions of the prelacy
of the Episcopal Churcl, and of the aristocracy of Presbyterianism;
1 " The Path which led a Protestant Lawyer to the Catholic Church," by P. H. Burnett. New
York. 1860). pp. 61-107.
48 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
all practically denying that Christ can procure the propl  government
of his Church on earth without solc:, ~archal help.
(5.)  The texts cited  by,.2 advocates of so27?-  external jurisdiction
over the local churches, in proof of its Scril'it-rctltess, do not sustain
that doctrine.  We  have already seen 1 how bLaseless is the Papal
assumption that Christ, in the  16th of MIatthew,  K,)nmitted the
government of the Church to the hands of Peter, as future Bishop of
Rome, to be administered in the line of Episcopal succession from
him.
The Episcopal arguments for the supremacy of'the Church' over
all local congregations and all individual believers, are mainly founded
upon such an interpretation of the word' Church' as sanctions their
claim. But we have seen2 that the Scriptural usage of the word
txxx6[at' (ekklesia) does not countenance such an interpretation, and
that those functions which Christ appoints to his churches  do not
comport with it.
The central idea of the Presbyterian theory- which places the
board of Elders, the Presbytery, the Synod, and the General Assemnbly, over the local Church -is that "the several different congrega
tions of believers taken collectively, constitute one Church of Christ?
called emphatically the Church; - that a larger part of the Church,
or a representation of it, should govern a smaller, or determine matters of controversy which arise therein; -that, in like manner, a representation of the whole should govern and determine in regard to
every part, and to all the parts unitcd; that is, that a majority shall
govern: and consequently that appeals may be carried from lower to
higher judicatories, till they be finally decided by the collected wisdom and united voice of the whole Church." 4  But we have already
seen5 that this fundamental assumption is erroneous, and that the
local Church is the only one known to the New Testament; whence
it follows that all arguments founded on the theory of any other
Church, must be without warrant from the word of God. The same
conclusion will be inevitable if we examine those texts which are
specially relied on to sustain this assumption. The main passage
1 Pages 10,11.           2 Pages 31-33.           8 Page 34.
4 " The Constitution of the Presbyterian Chiurch in the United States of America." Form of
Government. Book i. Chap. 12, note.
Pages 31-33.
4
49 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
quoted, for that purpose, in the "Book of Disci.pline," is Acts  xv:
1-29. By turning to that passage, our readers will see that certain
Judeans had insisted, in the Church at Antioch, that all Christian believers from the Gentiles should be circumcised. A discussion arose.
Paul and Barinabas participated in that discussion, but made no attempt authoritatively to decide it.  The Cl'urchi finally sent Paul and
Barnabas, with several lay delegates, to Jerusalem, to consult about
the matter. It is stated that they were sent' unto the Apostles and
Elders about this question.' But that this language was not used
to exclude, but rather to include (by specifyiing its most prominent
persons) 1 the whole Church at Jerusalem, is made evident by the
fact that (v. 4)'when they were come to Jerusalem they were received of the Ch'urch, and of the Apostles and Elders,' and declared
their errand.'And the Apostles and Elders came together for to
consider of this matter,' and when they had fully considered it,'it
pleased she Apostles and Elders, with the whole  Church,' to send  a
delegation to A;ltioch with their reply, and they wrote letters by
them, after this manner:' The Apostles and Elders and  brethren
send greeting, etc.... It seemed good tnto?ts, being assembled with
one accord, to send,' etc.  And the dele,gation went  to Antioch with
this epistle, and'when they had gathered the multittude' of the
Church at Antioch together, they delivered it, etc.
We submit that nothing can well be plainer than that this was a Congregational, rather than a Presbyterian procedure. The entire membership of the Church at Antioch send delegates to the entire membership of the local Church at Jerusalem, to ask their advice on the
question whether circumcision is still a rite in force upon them. The
entire membership of the local Church at Jerusalem -under the
guidance and coun,:cl of the Apostles- meet those delegates, consider
I " Now the Apostles and Elders are mentioned first and foremost as members in this assembly. But that we ought to think of this assembly as an universal olse, is implied as self-evident;' for,' as Meyer says,' the deliberation of the Apostles and Presbyters took place in the
presence and with the cooperation of the whole assembled Church, as appears from v. 12, compared with v. 22, and most distinctly from v. 25.' "-Baumgarten's "Aspostolic Hist." Vol.
ii. p. 13.
"The brethren were also present at the meeting.  In this respect it was unlike modern Synods, from which the people generally are excluded as members.," - Davidson. "Ecclesiastical
Ptol. of Nyw Test." p. 323.
" The Apostles and Elders are mentioned on account of their rank, not as comprising the
entire assembly. It is evident from v'. 23, that the other Christians at Jerusalem were ao
present, and gave their sanction to the decrees enacted." — Hackett on Acts, in loco.
50 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
the matter, and send a reply, which the Church at Antioch receives,
and is comforted. We do not see how any man who does not read
this chapter through a Presbyterian glass darkly, can, by any possibility, distort it into any semblance of support of the Ecclesiastical
judicatories which belong to the Presbyterian system.
Equally fruitless are other attempts to graft that system upon the
honest sense of the New Testament. The "Book" says,' "The
Church of Jerusalem consisted of more than one." It then cites, in
proof, the following passages:
Acts vi: 1.  "When the number of the disciples was multiplied,
there arose a murmuring of the Grecians," etc.
Acts ix: 31.  "Then  had  the churches rest throughout all Judaea," etc.
Acts xxi: 20.  "Thou  seest, brother, how many thousands of
Jews there are which believe," etc.
Acts ii: 41, 47.  "The same  day there were added unto them
about three thousand souls. And the Lord added to the Church
daily such as should be saved."
Acts iv: 4.  "Many of them which heard the word believed; and
the number of the men was about five thousand."
We can find in these passages no assertion, nor even hint, of more
than one Church at Jerusalem. There were other churches in Judea.
And, beyond doubt, thousands of those who were converted at Jerusalem were foreign Jews come up to the feast. And even if all were
residents, and all remained, there is still no particle of evidence that
they were associated into more than one Ecclesiastical body. We
have seen2 that they all met together in one place for business, apparently as other churches met; which is the clearest proof that they,
however numerous, were but one Church.3 And the attempt which
1 Book i. Chap. 10, note.                            2 Page 37.
s " The entire multitude of the Christians [were called together] not the one hundred and
twenty. (Acts i: 5.) That the Christian community in Jerusalem was divided into seven
distinct churches, each of which assembled by itself and chose a deacon (as some assert, i.e.,
Mosheim, Kuinoel) is untenable and improbable. The difficulty of apprehending how many
thousand Christians could have assembled in one place, is lessened by the probability of the
fact that many of them had left Jerusalem, where they were present merely on account of the
feast." - De IVette, in loco.
So, of the Church at Corinth, the following thoughts are worthy of consideration:
i' The place (1 Cor. xiv: 23) that speaks of the whole Church coming together into one place,
doth unavoidably prove (for aught we can discern) that Corinth had their meetings, and not
by way of distribution into several congregations, but altogether in one congregation: and
51 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
the "Book" makes, to prove that there were several churches in Jerusalem which had a practical Presbyterial union for purposes of
business, by first assuming that there were so mnany believers there
that they could not all have belong,ed to one Church, and then quoting such passages 1 as speak of the Church action at Jerusalem as
being that of one body, which they say must then have been a Presbytery, is a begging of the very question in debate, which no man
would tolerate, for a moment, in a secular argument.
Equally absurd seems to us the attempt of the "Book," to prove
from the burning of the books of those'which used curious arts' at
Ephesus, taken in connection with other passages which speak of
Paul's'tarrying at Ephesus until Pentecost,' and of  a great door and
effectual' as being opened to him there, etc.,2 that "the Church of
Ephesus had more congregations than one, under a Presbyterial government." 8 Unquestionably there was a time when there was more
than one Church in Ephesus. The first fruits of Paul's preaching
there, appear to have been gathered into a Church in the house of
Aquila. Subsequently, on his second visit, converts so multiplied
that a new assembly was gathered elsewhere.  But when Aquila removed to Rome,4 the Church that had been in his house appears to
have coalesced with the other assembly, and thenceforth we hear
only of' the Church' at Ephesus; as in Acts xx: 17 (A. D. 58), Rev.
ii: 1 (A. D. 67, or as some think, A. D. 96), without any added incidents, upon which the liveliest imagination could hang the Presbyterial theory.5
It is indeed wonderful with what calm assurance the Presbyterian
Book" attaches its code to Scripture references which have not
doth also answer your reason drawn from the variety of teachers and prophets in that Church;
for it is plain from that very chapter, that the Church of Corinth had many prophets: let
the prophets speak two or three, and let the rest judge (v. 29); and many that spake with
tongues, who must speak by course two or three, and one interpret (v. 27); yea every one generally had a psalm, or a doctrine, or a revelation, or an interpretation (v. 26): as indeed they
came behind in no gift (1 Cor. i: 7); and yet for all their variety of gifts and gifted men, prophets, interpreters, speakers with tongues. and the like, both they and the whole Church also,
even women and all, used to come together into one place." -- ";Vrodest and Brotherly  A
swer," etc., by Richard Mather and William Tompson.  London: 1644. 8vo. p. 37.
1 Acts xv: 4, xi: 22, xxi: 17, 18, etc.
2 1 Cor. xvi: 8, 9, 19; Acts xviii: 19, 24, 26, etc.
8 Book i. Chap. 10, note.
i He was there in A. D. 57, when Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans. Rom. xvi: -5.
6 See the subject well and thoroughly discussed by Dr. Davidson.  "Eccl. Pol. New Test."
pp. 98-112.
52 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM 18.
even the semblance of remotest possible connection with the subject.
The vivid imagination which led the ancients to picture an ursa major in the northern heavens, on the strength of a cluster of stars that
much more decidedly suggests to the less poetic modern mind the
form of a humble kitchen utensil, was feeble in comparison with it.
For example, we learn 1 that "three ministers, anrid as many elders as
may be present belonging to the Presbytery, being met at the time
and place appointed, shall be a quorum competent to proceed to business," from Acts xiv: 26, 27, compared with Acts xi: 18; passages
which declare that when  Paul and  Barnabas "had  gathered the
Church togetlher, they rehearsed all that God had done with them,
and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles," and
that "when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life!"
So all the proof adduced by the "Book," from Scripture, in support of the power of Church'judicatories,' over the churches and
their membership, is 2those passages in the 18th of Matthew  (vv.
15-20), which record Christ's confiding of all matters of discipline
expressly to the hands of the Church itself and the direction of Paul
(also to the Church itself,) when'gathered together,' to cast out
the unworthy!  We  are also referred for proof 3 that "the Church
session consists of the pastor or pastors, and ruling elders, of a particular congregation," solely to the same direction of Paul,4 "in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and
my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ," etc. So we
find5 the position that the Church session "have power to inquire into
the knowledge and Christian conduct of the members of the Church,"
educed from one single passage, and that the following, in the Old
Testament: 6 __  the diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have
ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which
was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven
away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force
and cruelty have ye ruled them,"-a text which, it seems to us, would
prove any thing else, at least, equally as well! So the power of the
1 Book i. Chap. 10, Sec. 7, note.
2 Book i. Chap. viii. Sec. 2, note.
a Book i. Chap. ix. Sec. 1, note.
53
4 1 Cor. v: 4, 5.
r- Book i. Chap. ix. Sec. 6, note.
6 Fzek. xxxiv: 4. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
PresbyterT1I to "issue and receive appeals from Church sessions,'
to "examine and license candidates for the holy ministry:" to "ordain, install remove and judge ministers;" to "resolve questions of
discipline;" to "condemn  erroneous opinions;" and, in general, to
"order whatever pertains to the spiritual welfare of the churches
under their care;" is wholly rested - so far as Scriptural authority
is concerned-upon those passages which narrate the discussion at
Jerusalem in regard to circumcision;2 the exhortation of the brethren
in Eplhesus to the disciples at Achaia to receive Apollos; 3 the separation of Barnabas and Saul to the work whereunto God had called
them; 4 the address of the twelve apostles to the Church at Jerusalem
in regard to the choice of the seven deacons; and Paul's advice to
the Ephesians,5 to pray "always with all prayer and supplication in
the spirit, watching thereunto," etc.; and to the Philippians 6 to "be
careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God!"
Our Presbyterian friends regard these passages as so overwhelming
in demonstration of the Scripturalness of their views and of the unscripturalness of all opposing ones, that they calmly say, on proceeding to speak of Synods and of the General Assembly:7 " as the proofs
already adduced in favor of a Presbyterial assembly in the government of the Church, are equally valid in support of a Synodical assembly, it is unnecessary to repeat the Scriptures to which reference
has been made, or to add any other." We find it easy to agree with
them on the point of the equal validity of such texts in support of
Synods- and we might add, of Ecumenical councils, and of the
whole system of the Papacy, as well -but we can hardly concur in
their conclusion that nothing more is needed to establish their system
as the natural outgrowth of the Bible. However those who take
Presbyterianism first for granted, and then go to the Bible with both
the expectation and determination to find there the evidence of its
truth -or, if not that, at least not to find there the evidence of its
errors - may regard these' proof texts;' it seems to us abundantly
clear that they who take the Bible for granted, and go meekly, pray
1 Book i. Chap. x. Sec. 8.
s Acts xv: — 24.
8 Acts xvii: 24, 27.
Acts xiii: 2, 3.
6 Eph. vi: 18.
6 Phil. iv: 6.
7 Book i. Chap. xi, note.
54 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
erfully, and studiously, to its pages to find out what form of Church
government will be the simple and unforced outgrowth of its records,
and its precepts; could by no ordinary possibility educe from it the
Presbyterian theory.
(6.) Christ, by his own voice, and through that of his Apostles,
placed upon the local Church the sole and final responsibility of its
affairs - under himself.  That he did this in respect to the discipline of members, we have already seen.- We have seen also that
he did it in regard to the election of Church officers.2  We  have
seen that he did it in reference to all other necessary business of a
Christian Church.3 This ought to decide the matter.
He never hinted to his churches that they were to carry their work
to others to be done, or their troubles to others to be settled, or their
trials to others to be borne; but he directed them to'fight the good
fight of faith,' and to'endure hardness' for him.  And in the extremest case of difficulty and discipline, he did not instruct Paul to assume
to interfere- either for himself, or for the twelve apostles-as being
officially authorized to settle it; nor to advise or command the Church
to lay the matter before Presbytery, Synod, or any other tribunal,
but directed him rather to inform those interested, that the painful act
of excommunication that had become necessary, would be properly
done if done' in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,' by them, when
' gathered together.' He charged them to remember the words which
their martyred teachers had spoken to them while they were yet
present with them, and to obey the pious counsels of the living who
were breaking to them the bread of life; but he never commanded
them as churches to'give place by subjection' to any power but his
own; -' no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with them.'
But, if Christ laid the direct responsibility of all their affairs upon
the local churches; and if the texts cited by the advocates of some
external jurisdiction over these churches are guiltless of any such
suggestion; and if the general arguments of those advocates for such
jurisdiction are equally baseless; and if the whole drift of the New
Testament is in a direction opposite to that of any theory of control
over the individual Church; and if there is no evidence furnished by
2 Se pages 1-18, 40.
55
I Bee,pa   9, 41, 4-.
8 See pages 18,19, 43. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
the Scriptures that any such jurisdiction was even attempted over the
churches planted by the Apostles; and if there is no Biblical precept
whatever, conferring the control of the local Church upon any man
or body of men- it is anl easy and inevitable inference that every
true Christian Church is, and ought to be, inherently independent of
any jurisdiction from without, except that of Christ its Head; who,
though ascended'unto his Father and our Father, and to his God
and our God,' is yet never' far from every one' of his churches,
which' in him live, and move, and have their being.'
2. Every true Coigregational Chlurch- whatever may be the lowliness of its outward estate- is on a level of essential genuinzenzess, dignity and authority, with every other Church on earth.  This is a necessary consequence of the obvious fact that a true Church of Christ
gets its vitality, and value, not from the number of its members, or
their wealth, or honorable position in human society; nor from the
magnificence of its temple, or the splendor of its worship; nor from
its affiliation with some wide-reaching and imposing hierarchy; but
from its living union to its great Head.   Since it is Christ's life,
rooted in him, branching in them -that must be the life of every
true Church; and his wisdom and power, flowing from him through
them, that must be their wisdom and power; it follows that wherever'two or three' truly gathered in His name, have Him' with
them alway,' their wisdom may be -and, if they are faithful to their
possibilities, will be-  Christ's wisdom, and their dignity will be the
dignity of Christ'in the midst of them,' and their authority, the
authority of Christ acting and speaking thlrough them; while the
largest and most imposing organization cannot have any wisdom
that is wiser than that, nor any dignity that is more august than
that, nor any strength that is stronger than that, nor any authority that is more imperial than that.
The function of a Church on earth is to let its "light shine before
men,"l to be "the pillar and ground of the truth,"2 - by" manifestation of the truth," to commend itself "to every man's conscience in
th e           sight of God." 3  To do this, fidelity to the truth is the main
essential. The'little candle' that throws its beams afar -
"So shines a good deedl in a naughty world; "
l~att~v:16.  21Tim~jii:~5.          i~cor~iy:2
56
2 1 Tim. iii: 15.
I Matt. v: 16.
3 2 Cor. iv: 2. 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
if it is only always burning, may be even more useful as a guide to
the benighted traveller, than if it were a bonfire dazzling his vision
by the brief brilliance of its blaze, only to make the night afterward
darker around him, by the contrast. The little pilot-boat, that seems
hardly more substantial than a cockle-shell on the heaving bosom of
the sea, if it only know the way, may go before and pilot an Indiaman safe up the windings of the channel, to her wharf, even better
than the Great Eastern could do in its place. And no Church can be
so small in numbers, or so feeble in its pecuniary resources, or so
humble in all its outward seeming, that- if it live the life of Christ
-it may not safely'bring unto their desired haven' all those around
it who'labor and are heavy laden,' and who seek the way to that
'rest that remaineth to the people of God.'
MIoreover, a Church that is few in numbers, and feeble in its temporalities, is, by those very circumstances, thrown the more on its
sense of dependence upon the strength of Christ, and is therefore the
more likely to be in quick and constant sympathy with him. Driven
to look to his Providence for its daily bread, it is not exposed to that
temptation which proved too much for the Laodiceans,l and its religion will almost necessarily be more pure and fervent and effectual,
than if its outward circumstances should seduce it to say'I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;' the fact being
that this very worldly prosperity had blighted its spiritual life, until,
with all its outward seeming of thrift, in the eye of God it is'wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.' Piety is both the
strength and the dignity of a Church of Christ. And piety is nurtured by the feeling of dependence for temporal, as well as spiritual
blessings. There is often most prayer where there are fewest to
pray; and there can be no doubt that many a log cabin on the Western fiontier, which rudely shelters'two or three' devout men, in the
overlooking eye of Heaven lifts itself under the Sabbath sun with a
loftier glory, than the proudest cathedral pile whose towering summit
flushes with that sun's earliest and latest kiss. The voice of Christ
will be just as true, just as wise, just as imperative, when it speaks
through the conscience (enlightened by the Spirit, and the Word) of
a little company of farmers in the back-woods, as when it utters itself
1 Rev. iii: 14-22.
57 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
through the medium of the' influential' and'cultivated' membership
of a thronged city Church; while reason and observation suggest
that the obstacles to the pure deliverance of that voice, will be many
more in the latter case, than in the former.
That little handful of North of England men - William Bradford,
and George Morton, and Francis Jessop, and Richard Jackson, and
Robert Rochester,' and their humble associates -as they used to
steal along the green lanes between Austeifeld, and Harworth, and
Bawtry, toward the manor-house of the Archbishop of York, in
Scrooby - then tenanted by William Brewster, who, as they "ordinarily mett at his house on ye Lord's day... with great love entertained them when they came, making provission for them to his great
charge " 2_ to take sweet counsel together, and shake off the "yoake
of antichristian bondage, and as ye Lord's free people, joyn themselves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a Church estate, in ye felowship of ye gospell, to walke in all his wayes, made known, or to be
made known unto them, according to their best endeaours, whatsoever it should cost them, the Lord assisting them;" 3 were not only a
true Church, but we milght almost claim,-  though so few, and, in outward seeming, so feeble and unprophetic of great results,- were the
truest Church at that moment existing on the earth; having more of
Christ's authority than any other, and concentrating within themselves
since the germs of American Christianity, and American missions,
and even of American freedom, were there- more irresistible and
more benignant might than any other. So it has again and again
come true, that God hath "chosen the foolish things of the world to
confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of
the world and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and
things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh
should glory in his presence."
V. A FRATERNAL FELLOWSHIP IS YET TO BE MAINTAINED
AMONG THESE INDEPENDENT CHURCHES, AND, WHEN INSOLUBLE
DIFFICULTIES ARISE, OR SPECIALLY IMPORTANT MATTERS CLAIM
1 Hunter's " Founders of New Plymouth," pp. 102-129.
2 Bradford's "Plimoth Plantation." (Ed. 1856.) p. 411.
58
8 Ibid. p. 9. 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
DECISION (AS WHEN A PASTOR IS TO BE SETTLED OR DISMIISSED,
OR A CIIHURCH ITSELF IS TO ADOPT ITS CREED, AND CO-IMIENCE
ITS ORGANIC LIFE), IT IS PROPER THAT THE ADVICE OF OTHER
CHURCIIES SHOULD BE SOUGHT AND GIVEN, IN COUNCIL; SUCH
ACTION IN NO CASE IIOWEVER (EVEN WERE ADVICE THUS GIVEN
TO BE SO REJECTED, AS TO NECESSITATE A TEMIPORARY WITHDRAWAL OF FELLOWSHIP), BEING ANY THING MIORE THAN A
LABOR OF FRATERNAL SUASION, OR SELF-JUSTIFICATION.1
1 Even Robert Browne -with all his Brownism - held to "a joining or partaking of the
authority of elders, or forwardest and wisest, in a peaceable meeting, for redressing and decid ing of matters in particular churches, and for counsel therein."-"  Points and Parts of all
Divinity.'' (A. D. 1582.) Def. 51. Hanbury. Vol. i. p. 21.
John Robinson held that the elders of the churches should be called in council upon doubt ful matters, and gave (A. D. 1624) as a reason why he had not earlier answered a letter sent to
his Church at Leyden, from the Congregational Church in London, that " he conceives it not
orderly that the bodies of churches should be sent to for counsel, but only some choice per sons," etc.- -WVorks. (Ed. 1851.) Vol. iii. p. 382.
" Though the Church of a particular Congregation, consisting of Elders and Brethren, and
walking with a right foot in the truth and peace of the Gospel, be the first subject of all Church
power needfull to be exercised within itself; and consequently be independent from any other
Church or Synod in the use of it; yet it is a safe, and wholesome, and holy ordinance of Christ,
for such particular churches to joyn together in holy Covenant or Communion, and consulta tion amongst themselves, to administer all their Church affairs (which are of weighty and diffi cult and common concernment), not without common consultation and consent of other
churches about them. Now Church affairs of weighty and difficult and common concernment,
wee account to be the election and ordination of Elders, excomnininication of an Elder, or any
person of public note and employentt - the translation of an Elder from one Church to another,
or the like. In which case wve conceive it safe and wholesome, and an holy ordinance to proceed with common consultation and consent." -John Cotton. "Keyes of the Kingdonm."' (Ed.
1852.) p. 102.
"When the matter is weightie, and the doubt great on both sides, then (with common consent) wee call in for light from other chaurches; and intreat them  to send over to us such of
their Elders, or Brethren, as may be fit to judge in such a cause; upon their coming, the
Church meeting together in the name of Christ, the whole cause, and all the proceedings in it,
are laid open to them; who by the help of Christ, pondering and studying all things according
to the rule of the Word, the truth is cleared, a right way of peace and concord discovered and
advised, and the spirits of the Brethren on all parts comfortably satisfied."- John Cotton.
Waye of the C7hurches." (Ed. 1645.) p. 96.  See also pp. 105-107.
" Although churches be distinct, and therefore may not be confounded one with another;
and equal, and therefore have not dominion one over another; yet all the churches ought to
preserve Church communion one with another, because they are all united unto Christ, not
only as a mystical, but as a political head, whence is derived a communion suitable thereunto.
This communion is exercised sundry ways; (1.) by way of mutual care; (2.) by way of consultation one with another; (3.) by way of admonition; (4.) by way of participation; (5.) by way
of recommendation; (6.) by way of relief and succor in case of need," etc.- CaGssbridge Plat.
form. (A. D. 1648.) Chap. xv.
" Intireness of Church-government, in a particular Church compleated with its officers, in
re propria, will well consist with that communion of churches which the Scripture establisheth. The reason is, because both are the Ordinances of Christ, and Christ's Ordinances do
59 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
As was said in the beginning (p. 2), Congregationalism differs
from Independency, by its recognition of this practical fellowship be
not interfere..... Therefore Church-communion must be only in a way of Brotherly association, for mutuall helpfulness, in matters of this nature, but not in way of subordination orsubjection of one Church to the Ecclesiastical Government, whether of another Church, or of
the Elders of several churches assembled in classes or synods," etc. -John Davenport. "Power
of Congregational Chiturches asserted anid vindicated." p. 140.
* Their determinations (i. e., those of Councils,) take place, not because they concluded so,
but because the churches approved of what they have determined. For the churches sent
them, and therefore are above them; and therefore may send others if they'see fit, who may
vary in their judgements, and alter their sentences if they see fit."- Hooker.  "Survey."
Part iv. p. 47.
"The decree of a Council bath so much force as there is force in the reason of it." - Richard Mlather. "Church Government." (A. D. 1643.) p. 66.
" As all Protestant writers of note (Grotius only excepted,) approve of the Necessity and
Usefulness of Ecclesiastical Councils, so do those of the Congregational Discipline. It has ever
been their declared Judgment, that when there is Want of either Light or Peace in a Particular Church, it is their Duty to ask for Council, with which Neighbour Churches ought to assist
by sending their Elders, and other Messengers, to advise and help them in their Difficulties.
And that in Momentous Matters of common Concernment, Particular Churches should proceed
with the concurrence of Neighbour Churches. So in the Ordination of a Pastor, much more
in the deposing of one.  Thus it has ever been in the Churches of New England."- Increase
Mather. " Disquisition concerning Ecclesiastical Councils." (A.D. 1716.) p. ix.
" The Synods of New England know no Weapons but what are purely spiritual. They pre tend unto no Juridical Power; nor any significancy, but what is meerly Instrlective and Sua sory. They are nothing but some Wise and Good Men meeting together to advise the Churches
how to observe the rules of the most Inoffensive Piety.  When they have done all, the
Churches are at Liberty, to judge how far their Advice is to be followed.  They have no Secu lar Armn to enforce any Canons; They ask none; They want none." - Cotton Alather. "Ratio
Discipline."' (A. D. 1726.) p. 173.
"It is entirely consistent with Reason and the Revelation of God's mind in Ils Word, that
there should be Councils and Synods called upon requisite Occasions..... But there is great
Danger, lest such Meetings should be httrtfitl to the Principles and Liberties of particular
Chultrches, and so degenerate from the good Ends which ought to be designed and pursued in
them..... Wherefore it is to be hoped, that the Brethren in these Churches uwill always main tain their Right to sit and act in Councils and Synods; but yet that they will never think of
placing any juridical power in them, but will always continue to assert the Powers and Privi leges of Particular Churches, which are sacred Tltings, by no meants to be slighted and under tealuedl, nor to be left at the Nlercy of any (!lasses or Councils, Synods or General Meetings." -
Samuel Ilather. "Apology for the Liberties of the Clturches in Neto England." (A. D. 1738.)
pp. 109, 128.
See also John Wise's "Churches' Quarrel Espoused,. passim.
"All the.present disputes about Councils mutual, and ex-parte Councils, in respect to their
authority, are vain and useless: because they have no divine authority at all.....The human
device of giving power to Associations, or Consociations, or CounciLs, to decide in Ecclesiastical
causes, has been a fruitful source of Ecclesiastical injustice, tyranny, and persecution." - Dr.
Einmons.  WIorks. (Ed. 1860.) Vol. iii. pp. 584, 586.
"It is an acknowledged principle in respect to Councils, that they possess only advisory
powers; in other words, their decisions are addressed to the understandings and consciences of
men, and are enforced solely by moral obligations. They are considered by the churches as
interpreters or expositors of what is right, expediency, and duty, in the particular cases subs
nitted to them.  Their proper busliness is to GIV. LsIGT." —  Upham.'-Ratio Discipline'."
p-. 185.
60 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
tween the churches. Such fellowship, we believe to be both Scrip
tural and reasonable.
1. We hold it to be Scriptural, as being involved in Scriptural
principles, and substantially enjoined by Scriptural precept and example. The unity of the visible Church,1 and the family relation
" Councils may be called, and may give advice; but this advice may be accepted or rejected."- Dr. Pond. " The Church." (Ed. 1860.) p. 33.
"They believe that it is the duty of Christian churches to hold communion with each other,
to entertain an enlarged affection for each other, as members of the same body, and to cooperate for the promotion of the Christian cause: but that no Church, nor union of churches,
has any right or power to interfere with the faith or discipline of any other Church, further
than to separate from such as, in faith or practice, depart from the Gospel of Christ." - "Principles of Church order," etc., of Congregational Union ofEngland and Wales.  Sec. 10.
"This, then, I suppose to be the doctrine of ancient and modern Congregationalists: -In
cases of difficulty, a Church, or the aggrieved members of a Church, may call for the advice of
a council of sister churches; and this advice the Church is bound respectfully to consider and
cheerfully to follow, unless manifestly contrary to what is right and Scriptural; but of this,
the Church has an undoubted right to judge; and to act in accordance with its deliberato
judgment." - Punchard.  "View of Congregationalism." (Ed. 1860.) p. 117.
"In a multitude of counsellors there is safety.  Whatever wisdom be centered in a single
Christian society, cases will arise in which it may be benefited by the counsel of others. Yet
it is not wise to resort to them [Councils] too often. Their assistance may be sought far too
frequently. Matters comparatively trifling, which might be adjusted in another way, may be
brought before such tribunals. This is not judicious. There must be a felt, urgent necessity
for councils. They ought not to be lightly summoned, or hastily appealed to. Nothing but
unusual difficulty or injustice should bring them into being., - Dr. Davidson. "Ecclesiasti
cal Polity of the lVew Testament." p. 341.
"The communion of churches with each other, and especially of' neighbor churches' in
mutual recognition, mutual helpfulness, and mutual responsibility, is not something forced
into the Congregational system, ab extra, by the pressure of experience; a merely empirical
expedient borrowed from Presbyterianism; a new piece of cloth sewed upon an old garment;
but is an essential element of the system, as laid down in all the ancient platforms, and as explained and defended by the Congregational fathers more than two hundred years ago, on both
sides of the ocean."- "Newo Englander."  Vol. xiv. (1856.) p. 22.
"Councils often assume authority which they do not possess.  The style of language which
they use in their results is often exceedingly objectionable. WVhen called, for instance, to advise
a Church with regard to dismissing its minister, the Council not unfrequently takes the business entirely into its own hands, and, after hearing a representation of the case, of its own
authoritypronounces the minister dismissed.'And hereby,' they say,'he is dismissed.' Other
assumptions of authority, equally glaring and equally inconsistent with the fundamental
principles of Congregationalism, are frequently made by Councils; and there are reasons of the
most imperative nature why every practice of this kind should be at once corrected..... An
Ecclesiastical Council should always make the impression, both by their demeanor and their lan.
guage, that their work is advisory orpersuasive; or, as in the case of their actually ordaining
a minister, that they act simply as the servants of the Church, performing the work of its members for them, and only at their request. It should not only be understood, but it should be
more distinctly and formally acknowledged than it usually is, both by the ordaining Council
and the members of the Church, that the ordaining power is vested in the Church, and not in
the Council."-Well?nan's  "Church Polity of the Pilgrims."  (Ed. 1857.) p. 114.
I 1 Cor. xii: 13; Eph. iv: 4; John xvii: 20-22.
61 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
subsisting between its branches,' make it at once a natural and proper
inference that a constant fellowship between those branches, should
conserve that unity.
So the general suggestions -" with the well-advised is wisdom," 2
"he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise," 8 " where no counsel is,
the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors, there is safety," 4
"without counsel, purposes- are disappointed; but in the multitude of
counsellors they are established,"5 are calculated (and no doubt intended) to suggest to churches, as forcibly as to individuals, the value
of advice and sympathy in cases of doubt and difficulty. Moreover,
those precepts which make it the duty of all Christians to "walk by
the same rule," and "mind the same thing," 6 to "have fellowship one
with another,"7 to be "fellow-helpers to the truth," I to be "fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God,"9 to be "kindly affectioned one
to another, with brotherly love,"10~ to be "likeminded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus," n to "be of one mind," and "live
in peace," 12 to "keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace," 13
to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us," 14 to "stand fast in
one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel,"15 to "love one another with a pure heart, fervently,"16 to "withdraw yourselves," and "admonish as a brother, him that walketh
disorderly," 17 neither to "bid him God speed" 18 who  bringeth not
Christ's doctrine; to "come out from among them" who touch the
"unclean thing,"19 - all involve those duties for all individual
churches, as truly as for all individual Christians, and require, for
their proper exercise, such a theory of natural Church communion,
and watchfulness, and counselling, as distinguishes Congregationalism from Independency, properly so called.
Add to this the direct force of the example recorded in the 15th
chapter of the Acts, where counsel was asked of the Church in Jerusalem, by the Church at Antioch, in its difficulties - even while the
Apostles still remained, and still retained the authority of inspiration
1 Thess. iv: 9, 10; Heb. xiii: 1; 1 Pet. i: 22, ii: 17; l John iii: 11-23, iv: 7-21.
s Prov. xiii: 10.                 8 3John:  8.                       14 Eph. v: 2.
3 Prov. xii: 15.                  9 Col. iv: 11.                     15 Phil. i: 27.
4 Prov. xi: 14.                   10 Rom. xii: 10.                   16 1 Pet. i: 22.
5 Prov. xv: 22.                   11 Rom. xv: 5.                     17 2 Thess. iii: 6, 15.
6 Phil. iii: 16.                  12 2 Cor. xiii: 11.               s18 2 John:  10.
T 1 Johni: 7.                     13 Eph.iv:  8.                      9 2 Cor.vi: 17.
62 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
within reach of the Church - and there seems to be clear warrant
from the Bible, for the custom of Councils called by churches, in
the Congregational manner.
2. Beinzg Scriptural, we hold that manner to be also reasonable.
I t    is founded upon the facts:-that all Congregational churches
stand upon the same grace of God in the regeneration of the individuals of whom they are composed; upon the same platform of
Bible doctrine as the foundation and rule of their life; upon the same
Holy Spirit as their Comforter and Guide; and upon the same Jesus
Christ as the Saviour of their individual members, and the Great
Captain and Head of their associated host. Having the same nature,
need, and temptations, the same salvation, the same origin and end,
the same rule and aim, the same stimulus and reward, the same love
and life; being thus one in all their constituent elements and aspirations; it is reasonable for them to befriend each other, to watch each
other's progress as they march side by side along the'king's highway,' and fraternally to say:
"We'11ll bear each other's loads, for we,
Neighbors in aim, in toil should be.
So shall our wayfare easier hold
More long for peace, more short for pain;
Such kindness yields a thousand fold
In blessings sown and reaped again."
As separate members of the one body of Christ, it must always be
true of all the churches, that "whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members
rejoice with it;" or one member be perplexed, all the members sympathize and consult with it - and this is all which the Congregational
doctrine of Councils involves.
It is proper to add here a word in regard to their details- though
they will be discussed more fully in another place.1
The theory of a Council always is, that the Church desiring advice,
asks that advice of such of its sister churches as it may select for that
purpose. And as those churches cannot respond, and tender the
desired counsel en masse, they send a delegation of their membership
-usually headed by their pastors - to act in their stead. By con
1 See Chap. iii.
63 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
sequence, it is the churches, constructively, that are present and form
the Council; and the pastors, and other delegates, are not there by
any official or individual right, but simply because they were sent by
bodies which could not attend in person, and which therefore act
through them.
Councils are of two kinds - mutual and ex-parte.
A mutual Council is one in the calling of which, all parties to the
difficulty, or perplexity concerning which relief is sought, unite. An
ex-parte Council is one which is called by one of those parties, after
every proper effort to induce all interested to call a mutual Council,
has failed; and no ex-parte Council has a right to proceed to the consideration of the case before it, until it has satisfied itself that every
reasonable endeavor to secure a mutual Council has been tried, and
failed, and until it has offered itself as a mutual Council to all parties,
and been rejected as such. This grows out of the simple principle
that advice for the relief of perplexity, and the healing of difficulty,
should be founded upon the full and candid consideration of all related
facts, - which implies the cooperation of all concerned; while such
advice will be the more likely to produce a salutary effect, the more
fully all parties have previously presented their views of those questions on which it is sought. Where Christian principle fully governs
all those minds which are interested in the matter in debate, an exparte Council can never be necessary; for a mutual Council can always be agreed upon by those who are sincerely desirous of finding
the path of duty, and honestly willing to follow wherever it may lead.
But, as Christian principle sometimes loses its hold upon Christian
professors, "it must needs be that offences come," which will sometimes require an ex-parte Council for their adjustment.
Councils  have  no authority whatsoever-  properly so called.
They are invited to give advice, and it is advice which they give;
which the parties inviting them, may accept or reject, according to
their own conscientious conviction of their duty to God in the matter.
Yet there is a moral and spiritual weight in their decisions, growing
out of the facts:-that when good men, the representatives of Christian
churches, meet, and in the fear of God, and with invocation of the wisdom of the Spirit, prayerfully investigate a point, and deliberately
make up their minds concerning it, there is great inherent probability
64 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM Is8.
that they will be right; and-that since this way of Councils is Christ's
appointed way out of difficulty for the local Church, it is reasonable
to hope and expect that his special guidance- as its Great Head -
will make itself appear in their decisions, when reached as carefully,
humbly, thoughtfully, patiently, and prayerfully, as they always ought
to be. So great, therefore, is the weight of probability in favor of the
rightness of the advice of such a Council, and so strong the presumption that it ought to be followed by those to whom it is given, that
nothing but the clearest evidence of its being in error, can justify
the honest followers of Christ in failing to comply with it.
Presbyterians who have become Congregationalists - or who act
as Congregationalists, without becoming such -are very apt to confuse our Councils with their own judicatories; and, finding it difficult
to imagine how we can live without somehow being governed from
without, are apt to conceive of Councils as bodies having authority,
and set, like the centurion, to say'unto one, Go, and he goeth; and
to another, Come, and he cometh; and to its servant, Do this, and
he doeth it.' And - partly from the presence of those trained in
Presbyterianism, and partly from the forgetfulness of many Congregationalists of their own first principles, favored by that love of control which is natural to man -our Councils have not unfrequently
assumed, or seemed to assume, in their'results,' the language of
power, rather than that of persuasion; decreeing, rather than dissuading from the wrong; enacting, rather than exhorting toward the right.
But, as it is one of our fundamental principles,L that no Church
has, or can have, any authority over any other Church, and as the
members of all Councils have their seats in them only as representatives of their churches-which can communicate to their delegates no
authority which they do not themselves possess; it is plain that no
Council can have any Scriptural right to do any thing more than advise those who have called it together. And as Christ has placed
upon every local Church the sole responsibility of its own affairs, it
would have no right to submit itself to the authority of ani Council,
if any authority were assumed by one.
The whole truth is tersely stated thus, by one of the ablest of our
younger writers: 2     The Congregational doctrine of the authority
2 Rev. A. H. Quint, in Cong. QuarterZly. Vol. i  pp. 63, 64
5
65
I Pages 44-56.' 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
of Councils, therefore is this: Councils come into being by the call of
parties inviting. They have power to organize; power to examine
credentials- with no power to enlarge or diminish their number;
power to examine the subject specified in the'Letters Missive,' but
no other subject; power to hear evidence; power to deliberate on the
proper course to be taken in reference to that subject; power to
advise the parties inviting them what to do in the matter - with no
power to direct or order any particular course, or to reverse individual Church action; and - with power to pray a good deal more for
Divine assistance than many Councils have done   they have power
to dissolve."
It may be asked, in case a Church should decline to adopt the advice of Council, is there any remedy; and is there any good of that
Council? We reply that there is at least this good of that Council
-if it has done its work as it ought to do it; namely, its result has
placed in a clear light before that Church, and the world around it,
that course of duty which it is morally bound to pursue; and as passion cools, and those unchristian elements which have warped it firom
its better judgment by and by subside, that advice of Council, by the
silent appeal of its justness, will constrain the Church to its adoption.
It is no small matter to have a comparatively impartial community
looking on and justifying such a result, and condemning such a
Church. In the end, that which ought to be done will be done, and
that supremacy of Christian principle over the community which is
temporarily imperiled by the aberration of the offending Church, will
be meanwhile maintained by that Christian result of Council, representing the moral force of the Church universal there, and saying to
all concerned,'this is the way, walk ye in it.'
Technically, there is no remedy for the refusal of a Church to follow the advice of Council; that is, the Council has no power to
enforce its advice - for it ceased to exist, as a Council, and became
resolved into its constituent members, as soon as its advice was given.
The case *ay indeed be conceived of, where -in case the non-following of advice of Council involves the fellowship of the churches,
or some breach of morality, or heresy of doctrine - the churches
whose delegates had composed the Council, might feel themselves
compelled to suspend fraternal intercourse with the offending Church,
66 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
during its aberration from the commonly received path of duty; but
they would take such action on the merits of the main question, and
not because the advice of their delegates in Council had not been
followed; standing, in all respects, in the same position with other
sister churches which had not been invited to send delegates to the
Council, but which are moved to unite together in this cessation of
fraternity, on the Scriptural ground of'withdrawing' firom those who
'walk disorderly.'
Thus the Congregational doctrine of Councils   like other of our
doctrines- throws us back immediately upon the Saviour, and compels us to exercise a quick and living confidence in him, and his
watchful care over those churches which he has'redeemed unto God
by his blood.' We are not suffered to rest in the decrees -easily
obtained, however dull may be our perceptions of truth, and however
sluggish our faith in Christ-  of any human tribunal; but we are
perpetually driven to clarify our sense of Divine things, and quicken
our hold upon the Spirit, and deepen our consciousness of dependence
upon Him who is'head over all things' to us, by that ever and
everywhere recurring motto of our system, which has as real a meaning to us in things Ecclesiastical, as in the matter of our personal salvation   " we walk by faith, not by sight."
VI.  THE PERMANENT OFFICERS WHICH CHRIST DESIGNATED
FOR HIS CHURCH, ARE OF TWO, AND ONLY TWO CLASSES; TIHE
FIRST, - FOR THE CARE OF ITS SPIRITUAL CONCERNS - PASTORS
(INDISCRIMINATELY STYLED, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, PASTORS
AND TEACHERS, PRESBYTERS OR ELDERS, AND BISHOPS OR OVERSEERS,) THE SECOND,- FOR THE CARE OF ITS TEMPORAL  CONCERNS- DEACONS; BOTH TO BE CHOSEN BY THE MEMBERSHIP
FROM THEIR OWN NUMBER.
Here are four points for proof:  1. Christ- by the precept and example of his Apostles- designated only two classes of permanent officers for a Christian Church.
2. The first class- for the care of its spiritual concerns- are
indiscriminately styled, in the New Testament, Pastors, Teachers,
Presbyters or Elders, and Bishops or Overseers.
S. The second class - for the care of its temporal concerns - ae
called Deacons.
67 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
4. Both are to be chosen and set apart by the Church, from its
own membership.
1. Clhrist designated only two classes of permanent officers for his
churches.1 The following, it is believed, are all the titles which
have been supposed to be associated with office in connection with
the churches of Christ in the New Testament; namely: Apostles,2
1 "It remaineth therefore, that the ordinary Officers of the Church which are to continue
to the comming of Christ Jesus, are either Elders (whom the Apostle calleth also Bishops,
Tit. i: 5, 7; Acts xx: 17-28) or Deacons," etc. -John Cotton. " Way of the (Churches." p. 10.
"Finding the first Epistle to Timothy passing from the Directions for the good Conduct of
Bishops, immediately to those for that of Deacons, without any mention of Presbyters distinct
from them, is it not as evident as a Noonday Sun can make any tihing in the world unto us,
that there are only those Two Ordinary Officers instituted by the LORD for the Service of His
Churches, and that there is no Institution for any other Bishops, but the Pastors of Particular
Congr,.gations? -Cotton Ilather. "Some Seasonable Inquiries."  (A. D. 1723.) p. 2.
" When we look at the settled state of the churches, after charisms had generally ceased -
when the minds of Christians were no longer elevated and enlightened by extraordinary influences of the Spirit- when all that remained of the gifted brethren appeared in the eldersmen favored with less remarkable manifestations; we shall find no other office-bearers besides
them, than those attending to the secular affairs. Bishops and Deacons were intended to continue in the churches of Christ; other offices were temporary." - Davidson's'Ecclesiastical
Polity of the ANew Test'ament.,' p. 13.
"The original and ordinary officers of the Church consisted of two classes; the first, known
by different names.  ivri,rotL - overseers, superintendents, bishops;  rpco~6rcj)t-presbyters,
elders;  i'JaKsAt~L - teachers; rotlscse —pastors, etc.: the second, itKioot -servants, dea
,cons." -Coleman's "Ancient Christianity.'" p. 127.
"All the distinction we can admit between bishops and presbyters then, is that the latter
was particularly the name of dignity, the former the name designating the function, or particular sphere of activity.... Besides these, we find only one other Church office in the Apostolic age-that of Deacons." —Aeander. "History of the Christian Ciurch." Vol. i. pp. 186,188.
"Can any thing be made more plain, by Scripture testimony, than the correctness of this
doctrine of Congregationalism, that elder, pastor, bishop, are different titles of the same Church
officer?.... If this be an admitted fact, and the soundness of the first principle of Congregationalism be allowed -that the Scriptures are our safe and only guide in respect to Church
polity- then it must follow, that no distinction should now be made between elders and bishops. This is Congregational doctrine. Deacons are the only other permanent Church officers
recognized by Cangregationalists."  Punchard's "Viewu." pp. 97, 98.
"WVe come back. then with entire confidence upon what we conceive to be the doctrine of
the New Testament, that there are but two distinct orders, or classes of officers in the Church
of Christ; the one having charge of the spiritual concerns of the Church, the other of its temporal concerns: the one commonly denominated bishops or presbyters, the other deacons." -
Dr. Pond's "t The Church." p. 71.
"They believe that the only officers placed by the Apostles over individual churches, are the
bishops or pastors, and the deacons; the number of these being dependent upon the numbers
of the Church; and that to these, as the officers of the Church, is committed respectively the
administration of its spiritual and temporal concerns -subject, however, to the approbation
of the Church.  - "Principles of Church Order."  Congregational Union of England and
Wales. v.
2 Lukevi: 13; 1 Cor. xii: 28; Eph. iv: 11, etc.
68 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Evangelists,1 Prophets,2 Pastors," Teachers,4 Presbyters or Elders,2
Bishops,6 Angels of the Church,7 Deacons,8 and Deaconesses.0
Of these it will probably be conceded at once that the Apostles
and Prophets, having been divinely endowed and commissioned with
miraculous gifts for a special work in connection with the early days
of Christianity, are to be regarded as extraordinary laborers, having
no successors in the peculiar relation which they sustained to the
churches.10~ The office of Deaconess seems also to have had relations
so peculiar to the condition of women in the East in the early times
of the Church, - by rigorous social usage, nearly inaccessible to the
helpful visitation of the male functionaries of the Church- as to
have become outgrown in that onward march of society which Christianity has caused, by which the condition of women has been raised
to a level with that of the other sex; so that -in the absence of any
precept for its continuance- this too may be classed among extraordinary offices, the supply of which has ceased - and was intended
to cease-  with the demand.u
1 Eph.iv: 11; Actsxxi: 8; 2Tim. iv: 5.    2 I Cor. xii: 28; Eph. iv: 11; Acts xiii: 1.
3 Eph. iv: 11.                                4 Eph. iv: 11; Acts xmil: 1; 1 Cor. xii: 28.
5 Acts xi: 80; xiv: 23; xv: 2,4. C, 22,23; I Tim. v: 17; Tit. i: 5; Jamesv: 14, etc.
6 Phil. i: 1; 1 Tim. iii: 1,2; Tit. i: 7.     7 Rev. i: 20; ii: 1, 8, 12,18; iii: 1,7,14.
8 Acts vi: 1-7; Phil. i: 1; 1 Tim. iii: 8, 10, 12, 13.
9 Rom. xvi: 1; 1 Tim. iii: 11.
10 " The Apostolical office, as such, was personal and temporary; and therefore, according
to its nature and design, not successive or communicable to others in perpetual descendence
from them. It was, as such, in all respects extraordinary, conferred in a special manner, designed for special purposes, discharged by special aids, endowed with special privileges, as was
needful for the propagation of Christianity, and founding of churches."- Barrow.'"Pope's
Sapremacy." WTorks. (Ed. 1845 ) Vol. iii. p. 115.
"This office, [the Apostle's] from its nature, was temporary, and was confined to those who
had been with him [the Saviour] during his public ministry, and whom he had specially called
for this purpose, with Matthias. who was chosen to fill the vacated place of Judas, and Paul,
who was called to the specral work of the Apostleship among the Gentiles, and permitted to see
the Saviour in a miraculous manner, after his ascension, in order that he might have the nppropriate qualification of an Apostle.. There is no evidence whatever that the office of
'prophet' was intended to be permanent." -Barnes. "Apostolic Church." pp. 191, 196.
11  Phebe our sister," was a J,tamc,vv-deaconess  [servant] "of the Church, which is at
Cenchrea."  Neander (S. u. Leit. Ed. 4, pp. 265-267) proves that the deaconesses, of whom
Phebe was one, ought not to be considered as identical with the "widows" of I Tim. v: 3-16.
The " Apostolical Constitutions" settle it that, when they were written, there was no identity
between the two, for it is commanded that the deaconesses be selected from among the virgins,
but when this could not be, they must, at least, be widows.  (See Chase's " Apos. Con." p.
374.) The reason for their appointment comes out in Book iii. Chap. xv. "Apos. Con." where
it is commanded: - " Ordain also a Deaconess, who is faithful and holy, for the ministrations
to the women. For sometimes thou canst not send a Deacon, who is a mans to the women in
69 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
The precise meaning of the term Angel of the Church, as used in
the Apocalypse,1 has been the subject of some controversy. The
word  77eXog   (aggelos) literally means'one who is sent,''a messenger,' and perhaps its most natural sense in this connection would be
to understand it as referring to the pastor of the Church as the mes
senger of God to it for instruction, and its messenger to God in the
offering of worship.  At any rate it is clear that no hint is given in
the New Testament of any other officer of the Church who might
more appropriately bear the name, and the weight of critical author,
ity2 is altogether in favor of such an exposition of the phrase as
certain houses, on account of the unbelievers. Thou shalt therefore send a woman, a Deaconess, on account of the imaginations of the bad."
Pliny, in his celebrated letter to Trajan, says "necessarium credidi, ex duabus ancillis quse
ministrye dicebantur, quid esset veri et per tormenta quserere; "-" I deemed it necessary to
put two maid-servants, who are called deaconesses, to the torture, to ascertain the truth."
The "even so must their wives be grave," etc., (1 Tim. iii: 11) most probably refers to this
order of female officers.  Literally it is "Even so must y/vuSaKa -[the women] bc grave," etc.
Alford says (Corn. in loco.) that these are deaconesses:-" In this view the ancients are, as far
as I know, unanimous. Of the moderns, it is held by Grotius, Michselis, De Wette, Wiesinger,
and Ellicott."
I Rev.i: 20; ii: 1,8,12,18; iii: 1, 7,14.
2 ii Certain it is, u"y,o.s signifieth no more than is common to all ministers, namely, to be
God's messengers, and move upon his errand." - Poole's Annotations, in loco.
"By ay,e~, we are to understand the messenger or person sent by God to preside over this
Church, and to him the epistle is directed, not as pointing out his state, but the state of the
Church under his care. Angel of the Church here answers exactly to that officer of the synagogue amnong the Jews, called sheliach tsibbur, the messenger of the Church, whose business
was to read, pray, and teach in the synagogue." -Adam Clarke, Comment. in loco.
"And to the angel, or minister, of the Church which is in Smyrna, Pergomos," ete.-Dodd.
ridge's "Family Expositor," in loco.
"He holds in his hand the seven stars which are the angels, or ministers, of the churches."
-Wordsworth "On the Apoca!Myse."' p. 139.
"By Angels of the Churches must be here understood those rulers of the Christian Church,
whose office it was to offer up public prayers in the Church, to manage sacred concerns, and
discourse to the people." - Vitringa. "Anakr. Apoc." p. 25.
"' As the Gospel is preached only by men, this' angel' who has it to preach to' every nation
and kindred and tongue and people' must be the symbol of a human ministry." -Dr. J. M.
Mason. W5orks. Vol. 2. p. 147.
"The word [angel] designates here the leading teacher, or religious instructor in the Asiatic
Churches."-Stuart. Comnment. in loco.
"The conclusion, then, to which we have come, is that the' angel of the Church' was the
pastor or the presiding presbyter in the Church; the minister who had the pastoral charge
of it, and who was therefore a proper representative of it."-Barnes.  Comment. in loco.
Archbishop Whately refers the term'angel' here to the pastor of the Church, but supposes him to have been nominated by the Apostles, and so an ayyecAso in virtue of being sent
by them. Hle says:- -" It seems plainly to have been at least the general, if not the universal, practice of the Apostles, to appoint over each separate Church a single individual, as a
chief Governor, under the title of' Angel,' (i. e. Messenger, or Legate from the Apostles:'), etc.
-"Kingdom of Christ." (Carter's Ed.) p. 44.
70 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
takes it out of the catalogue of separate functionaries ordinary or extraordinary, and makes it but another special synonyme for the chief
permanent officer of the Church.
The term Eva(ngelist 1 occurs three times in the New Testament.
It literally means'a messenger of good tidings.' Such were Philip
the deacon, Timothy and Titus. Evangelists seem to have corresponded almost precisely with what are known in our day as missionaries - whose business it is to preach the Gospel in'the regions beyond' the already Christianized part of the world. Some indeed
have supposed that they were temporary laborers,2 whose special
duty ceased with the age of the Apostles and of miracles; but whether
this be so or not, it is generally agreed that, as their function was a
peculiar one, leading them out where churches did not exist, they
Those who wish to study the subject thoroughly, are commended to an article in the Biblio.
theca Sacra, for April, 1855, from the pen of Rlev. Isaac Jennings, of Ongar, England, who
gives nine different previous expositions of the phrase, and then proposes two more. That
which he favors is a reference of the word angel to its literal sense. understanding it of delegates or messengers sent by the seven churches to visit John in Patmos, and bearing thence
these epistles to the respective bodies which sent them. This he thinks "meets the exigentia
loci; is perfectly natural in itself; meets and removes various difficulties, and is open to no
fair grammatical, logical, or theological objection." (p. 348.)
1 Acts xxi: 8; Eph iv. 11; 2Tim  iv: 5.
2 ", Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets were bestowed on the Church for a limited time only,
-except in those cases where religion has fallen into decay, and evangelists are raised up in an
extraordinary manner, to restore the pure doctrine which had been lost." -Calvin. Comment.
Eph. iv: 11. (Calvin Translation Society's translation.)
"But for the continuance of this office of an Evangelist in the Church, there is no direction
in the Epistles either to Timothy or Titus, or any where else in Scripture." - John Cotton.
"Keyes,"' etc. p. 78.
"Although the office of Evangelist corresponded with that of a modern missionary, it may
be fairly inferred that it was temporary, being so connected with the Apostolic functions, that
when the latter ceased, it necessarily ceased at the same time. There are no Apostles in the
present day to send forth Evangelists on special errands; neither do men possess the extraordinary gifts which belonged to the primitive Evangelists. Paul makes no mention of them
along with bishops and deacons; in his directions to Timothy. The office in question, like that
of an Apostle, was not confined to one Church; whereas, no office-bearers intended to be permanent in the Christian dispensation belong to more than one Church. Modern missionaries,
improperly said to be ordained before their departure to heathen lands, sustain no office.
They do not become office-bearers till a Christian Church invite them to take oversight of them
in the Lord, and they accept the call." -Dr. Datvidson.  "Eccles. Pol. of New Test." p. 145.
"If all are not agreed that this office [of Evangelist] was temporary, they are agreed that it
does not belong essentially to the structure of a local Church." -Art. "I Church Offices." Spirit
of the Pilgrims. Vol. iv. (1831), p. 186.
See an excellent article on "Evangelists," by Dr. Pond  in the New Englander,  (1844),
Vol. ii. pp. 297-303.
See also an article, of an opposite tenor, by C. Colton, in the Monthly Christian Spectator,
(1828), Vol. x. pp. 292-296, 337-30, 393-398.
71 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
cannot — whether intended to be temporary or not- properly be
considered as a class of permanent officers in the churches.
There are in the New Testament two instances of the formal enumeration of laborers and gifts in connection with the Church. The
first is,' -" God bath set some in the Church, first, Apostles; secondarily, prophets; thirdly, teachers; after that miracles; then gifts
of healings, helps, governments,2 diversities of tongues." The other
is,8-" Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, Apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers."
Here are, in addition to those we have already considered, and in
addition to those which we reserve for consideration under the next
head, these five specifications; namely:'miracles,''gifts of healings,'
' helps,''governments,' and' diversities of tongues.' The connection
in which the words are used, evidently implies that there were in the
primitive churches, either distinct classes of laborers, or distinct conditions of laboring, intended to be characterized by the different terms
of this enumeration. It is obvious, moreover, from the tenor of a
large portion of these catalogues, that they were rather designed to
chronicle those facts which existed in the semi-miraculous age of the
Church, than to lay down rules and prescribe officers for its future.4
Still, since the normal platform on which Christ intended his Church
permanently to rest, may be presumed to underlie, or interlie, whatever was miraculous and adapted specially for its initial necessities,
we may hope to gain light as to the Divine plan for it in all ages, by
studying these unusual provisions for its exigencies in the beginning;
remembering, all the while, that the mere mention of a name here,
1 1 Cor. xii: 28.
2 The authorized (King James') version (A. D. 1611) translates these two "helpes in governments;" running the two together.  So far as we know, this was the first instance of such a
rendering.  The Rheims version (A.D. 1582) has it "helpes, gouernements," etc.  That of
Geneva (A.D. 1557) renders it "helpers, gouernors;" as does Cranner, (A. D. 1539.) Tyndale
(A.D. 131) gives it like the Genevan rendering; while Wiclif (A.D.1380) says "helpyngis,
gouernailis."
8 Eph. iv: 8, 11.
4 " In the catalogue of the spiritual men given here, there is no mention made of Bishops,
Elders, and Deacons, the standing ministers in the Church. The reason is, the Apostle mentions only those to whose offices the [miraculous] spiritual gifts were necessary, and who were
to be laid aside when the spiritual gifts were withdrawn. Now Bishops, Elders, and Deacons
were not of that kind." - Macknight on the Epistles, p. 189.
72 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM Is.
provided it occur no where else in the Bible, and particularly if it
have no recognition in those portions of the New Testament which
specially set forth the nature and duties of those offices which confessedly were meant to be permanent, can hardly warrant the conclusion that it describes a functionary vital to Christ's idea of the
working of his Church in every age. A very probable theory, indeed, is that urged by Doddridge, and others,1 that the reference here
is not at all to distinct offices or officers, but rather to different methods of labor in which the skill and usefulness of the same persons
found expression, at different times, and under different circumstances; making these, catalogues rather of ways of usefulness, than
of separate helpers.
Still another explanation deserving mention is that of Dr. Owen,2that the reference here is to persons endowed (for the special needs
of the Church in its beginning), with extraordinary gifts "which did
not of themselves constitute them officers," but which "belong to the
second head of gifts which concern duties only." So that, in his
judgment, if these texts describe different workers, they do not necessarily describe so many different officers for the Church.
A careful examination, however, of the terms employed must be
our best guide to their meaning.
Miracles (6vVttetg -  dunameis)3 is obviously an abstract noun put
1 " I have met with no remark here, which seems more pertinent than that of Mons. Amyraut; who thinks that the same persons might possess many of these gifts, and sustain several
of these characters, which were not stated distinct offices; and might be called helpers in reference to their great dexterity and readiness to help those in distress; and governments in regard
to that genius for business, sagacity in judging the circumstances of affairs, and natural
authority in the councils and resolutions of societies, which rendered them fit to preside on
such occasions."-Doddridge. "Family Expositor," in loco. Works. (Leeds, 1805.) Vol.
ix. p. 67.
"It may indeed have happened, that one individual was endowed with many gifts, and
sustained two of the offices here enumerated; nor was there in this any inconsistency."Calvin. Comment. in loco.
"It is a matter of course that one individual might enjoy at the same time several gifts, and
that the principal Apostles especially possessed many Charismata."-  Olshausen. Comment.
1 Cor. xii: 7-11. (Kendrick's Ed.) Vol. iv. p. 345.
"He here passes to the abstract nouns from the concrete; perhaps because no definite class of
persons was endowed with each of the following, but they were promiscuously granted to all
orders in the Church."-Alford. Comment. in loco. Vol. ii. p. 552.
2 WVorks. (Ed. 1852.) Vol. iv. p. 439.
3 The Tigurine version of the New Testament by Petrus Cholinus, and Rodolphus Gualtherus - on the basis of that of Erasmus -(A. D. 1543) translates the verse thus: -"Et alios
quidem posuit Deus in Ecclesia, primum Apostolos, deinde prophetas, tertio doctores, deinde
potestates [the Vulgate says   here-' virtstes'] deinde dona sanatiorum, subsidia, gubern
73 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
here to a concrete use,1 standing for workers of miracles; thus, by its
necessary significance, excluding itself from any application to the
Church in its permanent existence, after the day of miracles should
cease.
Gifts of lealings (XaQt6talt   t'at'rov -.charismata iamaton) has,
as obviously, reference to those miraculous endowments for the cure
of disease, which were conferred by the Holy Spirit upon early
Christian teachers;2 and by the same necessity is in like manner excluded from our consideration as a permanent element in the agencies
of the Church.
iHelps (avrt;ipet- antilepseis) primarily means laying hold of,
whence it gets a secondary meaning of laying hold of for the purpose
of aiding and supporting, whence it derives the sense, in which it
seems to be employed here (its only use in the New Testament,) of
those who help, or support. The most natural reference of it is to the
deacons of the Church, whose office it exactly describes.3
Governments (xvge6et; - kuberneseis) is a word found no where
else in the Bible. Its primary significance is sufficiently plain from
tiones, genera linguarum." And Gualtherus, in his "Homilia  in Priorem D. Pauli Epistolam
ad Corinthios," comments on this translation thus: -   Quarto loco Potestates numerantur,
pro iis, qui potestatem in Ecclesia legitimam exercent. Erant hi seniores, qui disciplinss
prsefecti eos corrigebant, qui aliquid contra hominis Christiani officium fecissent: impios vero
et contumaces majori spiritus virtute cohercebant." - (Ed. 1572.) p. 196.
1 "More Hlebroeo abstractumn pro concreto, ut in sequentibus."- Grotius. Comment. in loco.
"Abstractum pro concreto, etiam in sequentibus."-Bengel.  " Gnomon," in loco.
"After that, such as have the gift of miracles." —Heylyn. "Lectures." (Ed. 1671.) Vol. ii.
p. 116.
"Here, and in what follows, abstract terms are used for concrete -miracles mean  men
endowed with the power of working miracles."-I-odge.  Comment. in loco. p. 262.
2  Eos qui morbos sanandi potestatem accepere."-Grotius.  Comment. in loco.
3s Hoc est, sustentare inirmos." -Athanasius, in loco. (Ed. Erasmi, 1522.)
"Nimirum qui egentibus opem ferunt, sire illi Ecclesise domestici, sive peregrini fuerint."
-Gualtherus, in loco.
"Pro auxiliatoribus vel adjutoribus eorum quos supra memoravit supremos ecclesise doctores, in spiritualibus ministeriis." —Brennius. "Notme," etc. in loco. (Ed. 1664.) p. 84.
"Qui aliis opitulantur per opera misericordise, sen spiritualia, seu corporalia, circa egros,
pauperes, miseros, peregrinos, nempe Diaconos."-Menochius and 7rinus, in loco. in "Synopsis Criticorum." (Ed. Lond. 1676.) Vol. iv. p. 493.
" Whether he meaneth Deacons, or Widows [deaconesses] elsewhere mentioned as helpful in
the case of the poor, or some that assisted the pastors in the government of the Church, or
some that were extraordinary helps to the Apostles in the first plantation of the Church, is
very hard to determine."-Poole's "Annotations," in loco.
"Persons qualified and appointed to help the other officers of the Church, probably in the
care of the poor and the sick. These, according to the common understanding from Chrysostam to the present day, were deacons and deaconesses."-Hodge. Comment. in loco. p. 262.
74 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
its relationship to the verb which means to steer, thence to pilot,
and thence to direct or govern a state. But what specific persons, if
any, it means here to describe in the primitive Church as being its
pilots, or directors, it is difficult to determine.1 Our Presbyterian
friends, of course, take it as referring to those ruling elders which
make an essential part of their system; and if there had been any
ruling elders-  in their sense- in the primitive Church, or if there
were any allusion to such officers elsewhere in the New Testament,
this might be a good proof-text for them. But- if we mistake not
- we shall see, by and by, that there is no good ground for such
reference.2 The most probable sense of the word appears to be that
which refers it to the pastors who presided over the administration
of government in the Church; 3 though Li,ghtfoot, Horsley, Mosheim,
and Macknight may be right in their opinion that the term was intended to designate persons of special discretion and prudence to
whom the spirit of wise counsel was imparted in miraculous measure
by the Holy Ghost.
1 Gualtherus supposes here a reference to a class of officers in the Church to meet the want
arising from Paul's prohibition to " go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints."
(1 Cor. vi: 1.) He says: - Quibus comprehenduntur viri politici, qui in rebus hujus seculi
quosuis juvabant, et causas cognoscebant, si quee inter Christianos orirentur. Nam ut Capite
sexto dictum est, nolebant Apostoli, ut qui Christuni profitebantur apud Ethnicorum tribunalia de fortunis suis aliisque rebus ad hanc vitam pertinentibus litigarent.  Prseficiebantur
ergo ejusmodi causis viri prudentes et rerum usu exercitati, quorum authoritate et consilio
lites dirimerentur."-lHom. p. 196.
2 See pp. 110-121.
8 " Alii hosce Presbyteros regentes designari putant, 1 Cor. xii: 28, ubi inter munera nomminantur gubernationes, sed locum inspicienti manifestum est, loqui illic Apostolum de muneribus extraordinariis: tum, incertum est, quale donum hoc fuerit; et ex nuda voce argumentum
velle petere, admodum frivolum est."-Limborch. " Theolog. Cihrist." Lib. vii. Cap. iv. p. 751.
" Hi sunt qui ex Syriaco pastores (Eph. iv: 1) qui presunt (Rom. xii: 8) alibi seniores, qui
singulas regebhnt ecclesias."-Grotius.  Comment. in loco.
" Qui antea doctores, a docendo dicti, iidemque hic gubernationes, a regimine illis commisso."
Hammond.  Comment  in loco.
Neander teaches that the persons here referred to were those elsewhere styled' elders' and
'overseers.'-"Planting and Training." Book iii. chap. v.
"Who these persons [' governments'] were, it is difficult to determine with certainty; but it
is most probable that elders or bishops are principally meant."-Davidson. "Ecclesiastical Polity of the Neiv Tes'ament." p 193.
"When these' helps' and the extraordinary functionaries are left out of the Apostolic catalogues. it is rather singular that, in the passage addressed to the Ephesians, we have nothing
remaining but: Pastors and Teachers.' and in that to the Corinthians, nothing but' Teachers'
and' governments-' There are good grounds for believing that these two residuary elements
are identical- the' Pastors' mentioned before the Teachers in one text, being equivalent
to the'governments' mentioned after them in the other.   Nor is it strange that those
75
11 
CONGREGATIONALISI
The phrase Diversities of tongues (71vl 2'oJ6a6v - gene glosson)
so evidently refers to that miraculous gift'of tongues,' which,
whether it enabled its recipients to speak in languages unknown to
them before, or only to interpret such languages from the lips of
others (see Barnes on 1 Cor. xii: 10), was an unusual bestowment
upon the Church during the exigencies of its earliest years, ceasing
afterward, as to make any delay upon its exact significance foreign
to the necessities of the inquiry which we have now in hand.
We infer then that of these five, whatever was included in the
terms'miracles,''gifts of healings,' and'diversities of tongues,' belonged to the age of miracles, and had no perpetual relation to the
Church, and describes no permanent office in it; while'helps' and
'governments' refer to those officers usually spoken of as Pastors
and Deacons. So that all the names which the New Testament uses
to describe the permanent officers of a Christian Church, reduce
themselves to these, and their synonymes, namely: Pastors, Teachers,
Elders, Bishops or Overseers, and Deacons. If now it be true that
Pastors, Teachers, Elders, and Bishops or Overseers, are all different
names for one and the same laborer, it will follow that this office,
and that of the Deacon, constitute the only two permanent offices
which Christ has designated for his churches. To the proof of that
proposition we now advance.
2. The frst class of permanent officers which Christ designated
for his Churche? -  to take oversight of their spiritual concernsis indiscriminately spoken of in the New Testament under the names
of Pastor, Teacher, Presbyter or Elder, and  Bishop or Overseer.
The truth of this proposition we propose to establish by reference to
three sources of evidence, namely: the opinion of men of learning
and candor who have investigated the facts; the declarations of
ecclesiastical history, and of the early writers of the Church; and
the testimony of Scripture itself. In order to facilitate as much as
entrusted with the ecclesiastical government should be styled Pastors or Shepherds; for they
are the guardians and rulers of the' flock of God.' "-Killen's "Ancient Church." p. 231.
"The conception of offices is subordinated to that of gifts. Thus there was in the Church
no separate prophetic office, but the Apostles were at the same time prophets, although every
prophet was not necessarily an Apostle; so also the so-called'Evangelists,' i.e. travelling
teachers, who preached where as yet no church had arisen. The teachers, however, were alike
teachers proper and rulers (Kvlepv(Svrct); their official appellation was 7rptco'3rEpot or traxosro:."-Olshausen. Comment. in loco. (Kendrick's Ed.) p. 348.
76 
WHEiINCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
possible the compression of this argument, it may be premised here
that all writers who limit the number of the officers of the primitive
Church to two-  one of which is that of Deacon- do for substance,
of course, affirm the identity of Pastors, Teachers, Elders, Bishops,
and Overseers, as constituting, under whichever name, the other
class; and that the main question always must be whether Bishops
are identical with Pastors, Teachers, and Elders, or officially superior
to them.
(1.) We adduce the opinion of eminent and candid scholars who
have inzvestigated the facts.  WICKLIFFE - who struck the first spark
of the Reformation- (A. D. 1324-1384) spake, in the face of the overbearing hierarchy of his time, as follows: —" By the ordinance of
Christ, Priests and Bishops were all one.... I boldly assert one thing,
namely, that in the primitive Church, or in the time of Paul, two
orders of the clergy were sufficient; that is, a priest [presbyter] and
a deacon. In like manner I maintain that, in the time of Paul, presbyter and Bishop were names of the same office. All other degrees
and orders have their origin in the pride of Caesar. If indeed they
were necessary to the Church, Christ would not have been silent respecting them." 1 JOHN of Goch (A. D. 1400-1475), also a' Reformer
before the Reformation,' has left on record his judgment of the equality
of the priest, or presbyter, with the bishop; stoutly maintaining that
the position of a priest is the highest position in the Church.2 LUTHER,
in his Essay "concerning the power of the Pope," concludes, from his
examination of various passages of the New Testament, that "it is
proved that Bishop and Presbyter are the same;,"3 and he sums up
the whole essay by saying, "therefore, by Divine Law, the Pope is
neither superior to the Bishops, nor the Bishops superior to the Presbyters," 4 etc. CALVIN, in his exposition of the teachers and ministers
of the Church, says: "In giving the name of Bishops, Presbyters,
and Pastors indiscriminately to those who govern churches, I have
1 As quoted in Conant's "English BiblZe." (New York, 1856.) p. 69.
2 " Ordo sacerdotalis est summus in ecclesia militante.... Ipse ordo est superior alis et
consummativus aliorum omnium ordinum," etc.- "Dialogus de quatuor Erroribus," etc., in
Walchl's "Itonimenta Med..vi." (Goettingen, 1760.) Vol. i. fasc. iv. p. 105.
3 "In quo manifestissime comprobatur, eundem esse Episcopum atque Presbyterum.1""De Potestate Papa,." Lutheri Opera. (Ed. Jense, 1612.) Vol. i. p. 279.
4 " Ergo nec Papa est Episcopis, nec Episcopus est superior Presbyteris jure divino," etc. —
Ibid. p. 283.
77 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
done it on the authority of Scripture, which uses the words as synonymous."l   So, in commenting  on 1 Tim. iii: 1, he  says:  "it is
necessary to observe what it is that Paul calls' the office of a Bishop;'
and so much the more, because the ancients were led away, by the
custom of their times, from the true meaning; for, while Paul includes generally all pastors, they understand a Bishop to be one who
was elected out of each college to preside over his brethren. Let us
remember, therefore, that this word is of the same import as if he had
called them ministers, or pastors, or presbyters."2 He reiterates the
same sentiment in his comments on Acts xx: 28, Philip. i: 1, and
1 Pet. v: 2, and in his treatise on "the necessity of reforming the
Church."'   CRANMER says, Bishops and Priests [presbyters] "were
not two things, but both one office in the beginning of Christ's religion."4  MILANCTHON, in his "Outlines of Theology," uses the terms
Bishop and Presbyter, or Elders, as synonymes.5 MIYLES COVERDALE (A. D. 1488-1569) - though himself Bishop of Exetersays, the Apostles "gave unto every Church their peculiar bishop, to
keep th'e Lord's flock, whom they also called priest, or elder; giving
them a title of reputation, either because of their age, or by reason
of their excellent gravity and virtuous conversation....  As for high
Bishop, under Christ, they knew none. They had all like authority,"6 etc. POLANUS argues that Presbyters and Bishops are the
same by divine enactment, "that is, they administer the same office,
in the same way, and by the same  authliority."7   LI,MBORCI  declares
it to be the "common  opinion  of Protestants,  that the Scriptures
recognize no difference between the Bishops and Presbyters, or
Elders, so that the two terms are interchanged as equivalents."8
o
1 "Institutes." (Calvin Trans. Soc. translation.) Vol. iii. p. 64.
2 Comment. in loco. (Calvin Trans. Soc translation.) p. 75.
8 Calvin's Tracts. (Calvin Trans. Soc. translation.) Vol. i. p. 155, 156.
4  Quiestions and Answers concerning the Sacraments." Miscellaneous Writings, and Letters
of Thomas Cranmer. (Parker Society's Ed. 1846.) p. 117.
5 " Episcopi seu Presbyteri dicebantur, qui docebant, lavabant, et benedicebant Mensse.
Diaconi, qui eleemosynas partiebantur inter inopes.'-""Hyp. Theol." De Par. Alen. Dom.
(Ed. Lipsise, 1821.) p. 157
o "Remains of Bishop Coverdale." (Parker Society's Ed.) p. 464.
7 " Iidem Episcopi vocantur etiam Presbyteri.... Proinde etiam Presbyteri et Episcopi sunt
jure divino pares; id est, administrant idem officium, eodem modo et eadem autoritate," etc."Syntagma Theologio." (Ed. Genevse, 1617.) p. 538.
8 " Communis Protestantium sententia est, nullum inter Episcopos et Presbyteros Scripturam agnoscere discrimen; eo quod voces illse, tanquam nequipollentes, inter se permutentur."-" Theologiaz Christianae." Lib. vii. Cap. iv. sec. 5. p. 749.
'78 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Episcopius, in remarking upon  1 Tim. v: 19, says, "by'Elder'
here we may understand Bishop, as the terms are used in the Scriptures as one and the same."'   ARMINIUS argues that, after the days
of miracles, the offices of the Church were imposed "mediately on
those who were called pastors or teachers, and bishops or priests,
[presbyters] who were placed over certain churches.... These are
so ordered that one person can discharge them all at the same time."2
WOLLEBIUS teaches, that "the name of Bishop rightfully belongs to
all Pastors." 3  AMEs says, that the "Elders of one congregation, in
the same sense, are also called Bishops in the Scriptures."4  JOHN
ROBINSON habitually uses these terms as synonymous, as where he
says, " whensoever the Scriptures do mention elders, or bishops, either
in respect of their calling or ministration, they still speak of them, as
in or of, such and such particular churches, and none otherwise."5
LORD PETER  KING says, as the Apostles "came to any city, town,
or village, they published to the inhabitants thereof the blessed news
of life and immortality through Jesus Christ, constituting the first
converts of every place through which they passed Bishops and Deacons of those churches which they there gathered." 6  SCLATER, in
his reply to Lord King's volume, confesses that " the names of Presbyter and Bishop were indifferently used at first," 7 and then attempts
to show that there was no "danger of misunderstanding about it,"
in that Apostolic age.  TURR,TIN argues, that the terms Bishop and
Presbyter were originally identical in use, and that the Episcopal
distinction between them is a subsequent and arbitrary one, growing out of the custom of the Church, and human wisdom, rather
than from the will of God.8 STAPFER refers to the same identity,
1 " Per Presbyterum enim hoe leco intelligi potest Episcopus, prout in Scripturis pro uno et
eodem accipiuntur."-"Lectiones Sacro in Cap. ii. & iii. Apoc." WIVorks. (Ed. Rotterdam, 1665.)
Vol. ii. p. 552.
2 "Private Disputations."  Writings.  (Nichol's Ed.) Vol. ii. p. 150.
3 " Pastoribus omnibus nomen Episcopi competit." - "C-ristian   Theologiz."  Lib. i.
Cap. 26, p. 128.
4 "Marrow of Sacred Divinity." Lib. i. Cap. 39, sec. 28.
5 Works. (London Ed. 1851.) Vol. ii. p. 416.
0 "Enquiry into Constitution, etc. of thie Primitite Church." (Ed. 1712.) p. 10.
7 "Origina,t Draught of thie Primitive Church." (Ed. 1833.) p. 181.
S " Episcopate Regimen aliud est primitivum et Apostolicum, quod idem est cum  Presbyterali, quod ab Apostolis ex Christi voluntate et prsecepto institutum est: aliud secundarium et
Ecc,,'esiasticumrn a Presbyteriali distinctum, Ecclesis consuetudine, et humano consilio, potins
quam dispositionis Dominiese veritate introductum."-Opera. (Ed. Edinburgh.) Vol. iii. p. 176.
79 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
and considers Paul and Peter both, (Tit. i., Acts xx: 17, 28, 1 Pet.
v: 1, 2) as rendering it certain.1  RICHARD  HOOKER concedes that
the same officers of the Church, "in their writings they [the Apos ties] term sometimes presbyters, sometimes bishops." 2
MILTON devotes his whole treatise on "Prelatical Episcopacy" to
the proof of the position for which we are now arguing, in which, after
a thorough review of those arguments from'the Fathers' accustomed to be alleged in proof of the superiority of Bishops over
Presbyters, he sums up his argument by saying:  "I do not know,
it being undeniable that there are but two ecclesiastical orders,
bishops, and deacons, mentioned in the Gospel, how it can be less
than impiety to make a demur at that, which is there so perspicuous,
confronting and paralleling the sacred verity of St. Paul with the
offals and sweepings of antiquity, etc... Certainly if Christ's Apostle have set down but two, then, according to his own words, though
he himself should unsay it, and not only the Angel of Smyrna, but
an angel from heaven should bear us down that there be three, St.
Paul has doomed him twice:' Let him be accursed;' for Christ has
pronounced that no tittle of his word shall fall to the ground; and
if one jot be alterable, it is possible that all should perish; and this
shall be our righteousness, our ample warrant, and strong assurance,
both now and at the last day, never to be ashamed of, against all the
heaped names of angels and martyrs, councils and fathers, urged upon
us, if we have given ourselves up to be taught by the purest living precept of God's word only; which, without more additions, nay, with a
forbidding of them, hath within itself the promise of eternal life, the
end of all our wearisome labors, and all our sustaining hopes. But
if any shall strive to set up his ephod and teraphim of antiquity
against the brightness and perfection of the Gospel, let him fear lest
he and his Baal be turned into Bosheth. And thus much may suffice
to shew, that the pretended Episcopacy cannot be deduced from the
Apostolical times."3  LARDNER says, "there were at the very time
I " Non magna tamen, aut temporibus Apostolicis plane nulla, inter Episcopum et Presbyterum fuit diiTerentia, cum nomina hsee inter se commutentur. Ita Apostolus Paulus jussit
Titum Presbyteros constituere, requisita autem illorum indicans Episcopum describit iisdem
nomen Presbyterorum et Episcoporum datur. Similiter Apostolus Petrus id facit." —"Institutiones Thleol,gip." (Ed. Tiguri, 1743.) Vol. i. p. 431.
2 " Ecclesiastical Polity." Book vii. ch. 5, sec. 1.
3 Milton's Prose Works, (Bohn's Edition.) Vol. ii. p. 4386. See also pp. 457-459, and Vol. i.
pp. 438440.
80 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS8.
of forming such societies, [the early churches] or soon after, appointed in them officers and ministers, called bishops, or elders, or
pastors, or teachers; and deacons: men who had been before approved, as persons of integrity and capacity for the work to which
they were appointed. (1 Tim. iii: 10.)  The peculiar work of the
former of whom was to preach the word and feed the flock of which
they were overseers, with wholesome and sound doctrine and instruction,' to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long,-suffering and doctrine;'
of the latter -the'serving of tables,"' etc.1 GIBBON says of the early
Christian churches:-"the public functions of religion were solely
intrusted to the established ministers of the Church, the bishops and
the pres!/yters; two appellations which, in their first origin, appear to
have distinguished the same office, and the same order of persons.
The name of Presbyter was expressive of their age, or rather of
their gravity and wisdom. The title of Bishop denoted their inspection over the faith and manners of the Christians who were committed to their pastoral care." 2  BAXTER  says, " what is meant by
'Emtax:tov.; (episkopous) bishops or otverseers, here [Acts xx: 28] is
thus far agreed on: that they were officers appointed to teach and
guide those churches in the way to salvation; and that they are the
same persons that are called elders of the Church of Ephesus before,
and bishops here.... By a pastor or bishop here is meant an officer
appointed by Christ for the ordinary teaching and guiding a particular Church and all its members, in order to their salvation, and the
pleasing of God." 3 DODDRIDGE says, the first class of officers in the
Church "are frequently called Elders and Presbyters, as the Jews used
to call those who presided in their ecclesiastical or civil assemblies;
and from their office of overseeing the people, the name of im'[cxototo or
Bishops, was also given them, and whatever alteration might afterwards
be made in the sense of that word, and whatever distinction might
early be introduced between bishops and presbyters as signifying two
different ranks of ministers, it is certain that in the New Testament the
words are used promiscuously. Bishop Hoadley and Dr. Hammond
do both of them allow this; and it is Dr. Hammond's opinion that
there were only presbyters or bishops, and deacons, in each Church,
1 IForks. (Ed. London, 1233.) Vol. ii. p. 14.
2 "Decline and Fall."  (Smith's Milman's Ed. 1854.) Vol. ii. p. 191
3 " Gildas Salvianus." (Carter's Ed. 1860.) pp. 61, 69.
6
81 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
at first." 1  OWEN says, "in the whole New Testament, bishops and
presbyters, or elders, are everyway the same persons, in the same
office, have the same function, without distinction in order or degree
-which also, as unto the Scripture, the most learned advocates of
Prelacy begin to grant."2  JOHN  COTTON says, "it is apparently
contradictory to the institutions given by Paul in the Epistles to
Timothy and Titus, to set up any eminent or transcendent Bishop
in the Church in respect of rule, or exercise of office of more honour
and power than pertaineth to all the ministers of the Word." 3 JOHN
DAVENPORT says, " we read of Bishops in the New Testament, but
what? not one Bishop over many churches, but many Bishops over
one Church; not Diocesan, but Congregational Bishops-the Bishops
which the Apostles acknowledge to be Christ's ordinance, to continue
in the Christian Church, are Congregational Elders," etc.4  THOMAS
HOOKER says, "though the nakedness of the assertion, that would
difference Episcopus and Presbyter by Divine right, hath been. of
former, and much more of latter times laid open to the view of the
world, so that there needs nothing to be added here; yet to leave it
upon record, that we concur with these worthies in the defence of the
same truth, we shall, in short, set down our witness against them;"
and then devotes several pages to the proof that Bishops "have  no
distinct operations from Presbyters." 5  COTTON MATHER says, "the
churches of New England think that the Apostles knew of no Bishops, but only those pastors, whereof there may be several in a
parity, feeding one small congregation;" and quotes many Fathers
and learned men  to the effect that it is "as  plain as the noonday sun could make any thing in the world," that "Bishops and
Presbyters were of old the very same." 6  Dr. CHARLES  CHAUNCY
published a volume in Boston, in 1771, devoted to the refutation of
the Episcopal theory of the inequality of Bishops and Presbyters,
which he sums up by declaring that that theory has " no support,
either in point of right, or practice, from any thing met with in the
writers within the two first ages of the Christian Church." 7 EDWARD
1 "Lectures on Divinity." Works. Vol. v. p. 299.
2 "True Nature of a Gospel Chzurch."  Works.  Vol. xvi. p. 44.
3 "Way of the Churches." p. 48.
4 "Power of Congregational C7urches," etc. p. 79.
5 "Surtey of the Su,?nze of Church Discipline." Part ii. p. 22.
6 "Ratio Discipline." (Boston, 1726.) pp. 198-205.
7 "Compleat View ofEpiscopacy." p. 474.
82
i 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
WIGGLESWORTH  says- after an examination of the New Testament, covering one hundred and nineteen pages-" we plainly find but
one order of officers, the eleven Apostles, left in the Church by Christ
himself at his ascension into heaven; and one order more, the seven
Deacons, instituted afterwards by the Apostles under the conduct of
the Spirit of God. These two orders are unquestionably of Divine
Institution; but more we cannot find to be so.  We  desire to preserve to each of these all the ordinary powers they were entrusted
with by divine appointment, and not to thrust either of them into
employments which the wisdom of God never allotted to them. We
are far from saying that either of these offices was temporary. We
only affirm that the former of them had some powers at the beginning which were extraordinary and temporary, and expired with the
persons they were committed to; but that, as to their ordinary powers,
they have been, and shall be succeeded to the end of the world, by
Presbyters or Bishops, whom we everywhere find in Scripture to be
one and the same order." 1  THOMAS FOXCROFT says, "we know of
no ministers in Scripture that were Presbyters in the modern (Church
of England) sense of the word.  We  deny any such officer in the
Church as a mere Presbyter; that is, a minister of the word destitute
of Episcopal power over the flock. The Elders, or Presbyters, we
read of in 1 Peter v: 1, were Bishops. Such Bishops we are for,
and such Elders; but we know of no institution for Elders that do not
rule over the flock, or for Bishops that rule over Elders. We are for
Congregational Bishops, and such, we conclude, were the Presbyters
that ordained Timothy."2  JONATHAN  DtCKINSON argues that the
New Testament ascribes to Bishops and Presbyters a community of
names of office and of order; that there are no Gospel ministers in a
regularly constituted Church, but Bishops, and that Presbyters are
the only ordinary ministers of the Gospel; that Presbyters have
power of ordination, and that the Apostles were Presbyters, while
there is no mention of Bishops superior to Presbyters -from all
which he infers that by the Scriptures the two offices are coordinate,
and says "there is a community of order and office, as well as of
name, between Bishop and Presbyter." 3  THOMAS WALTER says,
I "Sober Remarks on the'Modest Proof.'" (Boston, 1724.) p. 120.
2 "Ruling and Ordaining Power of Cong. Bishops defended," etc. (Boston, 1724.) P. 8.
8 "Defence of Presbyterian Ordination."  (Boston, 1724.) pp. 4043.
83 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
"not only is a Presbyter called a Bishop, but a Bishop is called a
Presbyter. - Which is of more force than if either a Presbyter were
called a Bishop, and a Bishop called nothing else but Bishop, or a
Bishop were called Presbyter, and Presbyter called only Presbyter;"
whence he argues the complete identity of the two.1 THOMAS SHEPARD says, "we read in Scripture of many Elders and Bishops in the
same Church (Acts xx: 28), but never of any one ordinary minister,
or officer over many churches, either to govern or to baptize." 2
WILLIAM JAMESON says, " under the Gospel the Apostles retaining
the name, and the manner of ordination, but not conferring that judiciary power by it, which was in use among the Jews; to shew the
difference between the Law and the Gospel, it was requisite some
other name should be given to the Governors of the Church, which
should qualify the importance of the word Presbyters to a sense
proper to a Gospel state; which was the original of giving the name
ittax6tot (Bishops) to the Governors of the Church under the Gospel; - a name importing duty more than honor, and not a title above
Presbyter, but rather used by way of diminution and qualification of
the power implied in the name of Presbyter." 3  JoHN WISE says,
"though there were some distinctions in point of a titular dignity and
degree between a Bishop and a Presbyter; yet they were really
equal in order, and in the nature of their trust. For that in an Ecclesiastical sense, Bishops and Presbyters are synonymous terms, setting, forth the same office; and signify no more but an elder, a pastor,
ruler or overseer of a Church." 4 DR. SAMUEL HOPKINS says of the
two offices appointed by Christ for his churches, "of these, Pastors,
Elders, Presbyters or Bishops are the first and most important. By
these names, not different orders, higher and lower, or different
offices are meant; but one and the same person, in one and the same
office, is called by all these names, and, therefore, they denote the same
office." 5  DR. E.MMONS says, " in a Christian Church there are only
two distinct officers, Bishops and Deacons. The Bishop, in the Apostolic times, was a mere pastor, teacher, or watchman, without any
1 "Essay upon that Paradox,'Infallibility may sometimes mistake,'" (Boston, 1724.) p. 100.
2" Wholesome Caveat for a time of Liberty." Works. (Ed. 1853.) Vol. iii. p. 333
8 "Fundamentals of the Hierarchy examined and disproved." (Glasgow, 1697.) p. 208.
4 "Vindication of the Government of New England Churches." (Ed. 1772.) p. 9.
5 Works. (Ed. 1852.) Vol. ii. p. 75.
84 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
superiority or power over any of his fellow pastors.  He had only
the watch, and care, and instruction of the particular Church in
which he was placed." 1 DR. DWIGHT devotes two sermons to the
proof "that there are but two classes of permanent officers in the
Christian Church, designated in the Scriptures," the first of which
"is spoken of under the names Elders, Pastors, Bishops, Teachers,"
and the second "under that of Deacons." 2  Dr. J. M. MIASON says,
"that the terms Bishop and Presbyter in their application to the first
class of officers [of the church] are perfectly convertible, the one
pointing out the very same class of rulers with the other, is as evident as the'sun shining in his strength."' 8  DR. WOODS says, " the
Presbyters were Bishops. The two words were used interchange
ably. They were applied to the same men, and denoted the same
office."4 GUIZOT'S exposition of these officers of the early Church
is: -"in the various Christian congregations, there were men who
preached, who taught, who morally governed the congregation,"making all as, at first, one order.5 COLERIDGE says, "in the primitive
times, and as long as the churches retained the form given them by
the Apostles and Apostolic men, every community, or in the words
of a Father of the second century (for the pernicious fashion of
assimilating the Christian to the Jewish, as afterward to the Pagan,
ritual by false analogies, was almost coeval with the Church itself),
every altar had its own bishop, every flock its own pastor, who derived his authority immediately from Christ, the universal Shepherd,
and acknowledged no other superior than the same Christ, speaking
by his Spirit in the unanimous decision of any number of bishops or
elders, according to his promise,'where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."'6 DR.
SMYTH says, "throughout the whole New Testament the words Pres-.
byter and Bishop, with their cognate terms, both as they refer to the
office and its incumbent, are used interchangeably, and as perfectly
synonymous."7 DR. BENNETT says, "of the ordination of a Pres
l Works. (Ed. 1860.) Vol. iii. p. 580.
2 Sermons, CL. CLI. Works. (Ed. 1819.) Vol. V. pp. 167-200.
8 "Essays on Epis.copacy."  Works. Vol. ii. p. 41.
4 " Church Government." Works. Vol. iii. p. 517.
5 "History of Civilization." (Hazlitt's Trans.) Vol. i. p. 50.
6 "Idea of the Christian Church." Works. (Shedd's Ed.) Vol. vi. p. 100.
T "Presbytery and not PreZlacy the &riptural and Primitive Polity." (Ed. Ggow.) p. 8a
85 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
byter that was not a Bishop, the Scriptures say nothing; for their
Presbyters are Bishops, and their Bishops Presbyters," etc.1 DR.
COLEMAN devotes one hundred and twenty-one pages of his very
learned work, entitled, "The Apostolical and Primitive Church" to
the proof of the original equality of Bishops and Presbyters, shewing
that they had the same names, titles, and functions, and that the fact
of their original equality continued to be acknowledged even down to
the time of the Reformation.2  DR. SCHMUCKER says, "the different
names applied to ministers, such as bishops, presbyters or elders, etc.,
are used as convertible terms, and therefore must imply equality of
rank."8  DR. N. W. TAYLOR said, "there are but two classes of
officers known in the Church, Bishops - or Elders, or Presbyters, or
Pastors, or Teachers - and Deacons; and but one order of ministers.
All of these except Deacons are the same, and have the same powers,
duties, and qualifications." 4  SAWYER says, "Bishops are in the New
Testament called Presbyters; and their titles are used interchangeably
to denote the same officers." 5 DR. BRECKENRIDGE  says, God gives
to each Church "a Pastor or Bishop - or two, or three, or more, if
need require. And all these Pastors, Bishops, and Elders, are alike
Presbyters; and all jointly rule, and the Pastors or Bishops besides
this, labor in word and doctrine." 6  DR. POND states it, "with entire
confidence" as "the doctrine of the New Testament, that there are
but two distinct orders or classes of officers in the Church of Christ;
the one having charge of the spiritual concerns of the. Church, the
other of its temporal concerns; the one commonly denominated
bishops or presbyters, the other deacons."7 DR. DAVIDSON says,
"there were no gradations of office among elder, bishop, pastor,
and teacher in the Apostolic age. Character and talents were the
only ground of distinction. There was then a simplicity in the
arrangements of God's house, unlike the cumbrousness introduced in
later times of degeneracy." 8  PUNCHARD says, "the case is so plain
that no one need doubt that the same order of men are called either
Elders, Bishops, or Overseers, interchangeably." 9  UPHAM says, "it
1 "Theology of the Early Church." p. 159.              2 (Ed. 1853.) pp. 124-245.
3 "Elements of Popular Theology." (Ed. 1860.) p. 221.
4 MSS. report of Lectures. "The Church."                5 "Organic Christianity." p. 4.
6 "Knowledge of God subjectively considered." p. 635.   7' The Church." p. n1.
8  Ecclesiastical Polity of the New Testament." p. 157.
9 " View of Congregationalism." (Ed. 1860.) p. 94.
86 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS8.
would seem that Elders and Bishops, or Overseers, whatever might
be their appropriate duties, and whatever relation they might sustain
to the subordinate office of Deacons, were one and the same grade, or
species, of Church officer." 1  GARRATT says, "at first this threefold
distinction of Bishops, Elders, and Deacons does not appear to have
prevailed, at least universally; the words Bishop and Elder being used
interchangeably in St. Paul's Epistles, and in the Acts of the Apos tles." 2  DR. VAUGHAN says, "the word Bishop, which, beyond con troversy, is synonymous with the word Elder or Presbyter, occurs in
such a manner in the introduction of the-Epistle to the Philippians, as
to show that more than one person in that Church sustained this
office; and that among the persons sustaining it, there was no official
precedence." 8 DR. HILL says, the same persons whom the writers
of the New Testament, in speaking of other churches, call Presbyters,
in the Epistle to the Philippians, are termed Bishops, and adds, "as
Presbyters are thus called Bishops, so the Apostles, the highest officebearers in the Church, did not think it beneath them to take the
name of Presbyters." 4  JACOBsON says, "in the Bible the two words
[Presbyter and Bishop] are synonymous, so that the offices of Overseer and of Elder are the same.... There is not the least trace of
difference between  Tttl'xomo; and   eC#eg soog."r  F. W.  NEWMAN
says, these officers of the Church "were ordinarily called Elders
from their age, sometimes Bishops from their office.... That during
St. Paul's lifetime no difference between Elders and Bishops yet existed in the consciousness of the Church, is manifest," etc." PROF.
PLUMPTRE says, "that the two titles were originally equivalent, is
clear, etc.  CONYBEARE AND HOWSON say, "of the offices concerned
with Church government, the next in rank to that of the Apostles was
the office of Overseers or Elders, more usually known (by their Greek
designations) as Bishops or Presbyters. These terms are used in the
New Testament as equivalent, the former (~ktioxos) denoting (as
its meaning of overseer implies) the duties, the latter (ZQ       zog)
1 "Ratio Discipline." (Ed. 1844.) p. 80.
2 "Scriptural Viewv of the Constitution of a Christian Church." (London, 1846.) p. 155.
3 "' Causes of the Corruption of Christianity." p. 416.
4 "Lectures in Divinity." (Carter's Ed ) p. 723.
5 Bomberger's Herzog,'s'Real Encyclopedia.' Art. "Bishop." Part iv. p. 435.
6 Kitto's " Cyclopedia.*' Art',Bishop." Vol. i. p. 333.
7 Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible." Art. "Bishop." Vol. i. p. 217.
87 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
the rank, of the office." 1 ULLMAN says, " the Apostolical age, at
least in its first stadium, knew no difference between Presbyter and
Bishop." 2  DR. HALL says, "the two Apostles, Peter  and Paul,
entirely agree in making the Bishop, the Presbyter, the Pastor, one
and the same office in one  and the same  person.... The  Bible
Bishop is uniformly the Pastor, or one of the Pastors of a congregation; never is the name Bishop given to a Diocesan, or an Apostle,
either by the Apostles, or in the Apostolic age.  It is absolutely certain, that for a hundred years after Christ, the name Bishop, whether
used by Apostles or Fathers, signified the Pastor of a Church; never
a person holding a degree above that office." 8  DR. BACON says, "it
is admitted on all sides, that in the New Testament, the words translated respectively' Bishop' and' Elder' are used interchangeably." 4
MR. WELLMAN says, " those who held this office [that of the Pastorship] in the time of the Apostles were called Elders, Bishops, Overseers, Presbyters, Teachers, Guides; all these terms being used to
designate one office -just as we now use the terms Minister and
Pastor- to designate, not two distinct orders in office, but the same
order." 5
To these witnesses from the ranks of the learned in all ages, since
the dark ages, and of all schools of faith, might be added as many
from the professed commentators on the Bible. We append only
a few of the more striking of their testimonies. ATIIANASIUS, explaining Phil. i: 1, and Tit. 1: 5, fully recognizes the identity of
Bishops with Elders.6  CARDINAL  CAJETAN distinctly affirms the
same original identity, in his comment on Acts xx: 28.7 GUALTHERUS emphatically bears the same testimony; in his homily on
1 Cor. xii: 28, denouncing the assumptions of the Romish hierarchy,
and asserting that all the officers which the Church of Christ needs
1 "Life and Epistles of St. Paul." (London. 4to Ed. 1853.) Vol. i. p. 465.
2 "'Reformers before the Reformation."' (Clark's Ed.) Vol. i. p. 124.
8 "Puritans and their Princtples."  (Ed. 1847.) p. 310.
4 Review of Clhapin's "Primiitive Ch'urch.'"  Alew Englander.  (1843.) Vol. i. p. 405.
5 "Church Poltty of the Pilgrims." p. 34.
0 "Cum impositionem manus Presbyterii, hoc est, episcoporum....  Presbyteri Episcopi
nomen sortiebantur, ut qui curse populi invigilarent, purgarentque, et illuminarent quos foret
necesse."- Con?ment.  Phil. i: 1. (Ed. Argent.  1522.) folio 133.
"Presbyteros hoc loco Episcopos dicit, sicuti et in  epistola ad Timotheum presdixerat."
-Ibid.  Tit. i: 5. folio 194.
7 " Ilinc apparet quod eosdem appellat hic Episcopos quos prius appellavit Lucas presbyteros,
officii siquidem nomen est Episcopus."- Comment. Acts xx: 28. (Ed Venice, 1583).) p. 281.
-88
I 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
for its spiritual direction, are Pastors and Teachers.l  ZANCHIUS
says, in his remarks on Phil. i: 1, that Paul, by Bishops, here means
the Elders in the city of Philippi, and its suburbs.2 GOMARUS, in
commenting on the same passage says, that "by Bishops, Paul here
intends the Elders or Pastors of a Church." 3 GROTIUS, in expounding Acts xx: 17, says that "the Elders of the churches are called
Bishops, because they were the overseers of the flock;" and in his
comment on verse 28 of the same chapter, he adds, they "were called
Pastors, because Pastors (Shepherds) are [E, gxotot 7totixvov -  episkopoi poimniou] Bishops [overseers] of their flocks." 4 BRENNIUS,
in commenting on 1 Pet. v: 1, uses the terms Elder, Bishop, and
Pastor, as synonymous.5  POOLE'S ANNOTATIONS set down "Bishops," as used by Paul in Phil. i: 1, as meaning, with the deacons, the
"two orders of ordinary standing officers which are appointed for the
Church."6  HENRY, in remarking upon Phil. i: 1, says it refers to
"the Bishops or Elders," and "the Deacons," adding -" these were
all the offices then known in the Church, and of Divine appointment."7
BENGEL, on Acts xx: 28, says, that at that time the title of Bishop
pertained to all Presbyters.8   MACKNIGHT, in  his  exegesis of
Phil. i. 1, refers to the fact that the Elders whom the Apostles set
over the churches were called Bishops.9  ADAM CLARK bears similar testimony in his exposition of Phil. i: 1, and 1 Pet. v: 2.10
1  "Omnes enim illi antichristi creaturse sunt, nec digni, qui in Ecclesia locum aliquem
habeant Nobis sufficiat, si in Ecclesia fidi et idonei Pastores atque Doctores sint,"' etc.-Horn.
in 1 Epis. ad Cor. (Ed 1572.) p. 197.
2'" Intelligit parochos omnes in urbe et pagis ejus, ut sit synecdoche in voce Philippis."In loco. Poole's Syn. Crit  Vol. iv. p. 831.
8 " Per Episcopos hic intelligit Presbyteros, sive pastores Ecclesise." —In loco. Pooles
Syn. C,tit. Ibid.
4 " Vocantur iidem et Episcopi, nempe quia inspectores erant gregis.... Explicat nomeu
muneris, quod erat pastores, nam  pastores sunt inspectores gregis." —In loco. Opera.  (Ed.
1679.) Vol. ii. p. 642.
5 " Presbyteris, quorum proprium munus est pascere gregem Dei, et episcoporum ac pastorum instar curam ejus gerere, se tanquam compresbyterum conjungit tantus Apostolus, ut
eos propositio sui ipsius exemplo ad officium faciendum exsuscitet."-Corn. l Pet. v: i.  "Notzs
in Secundum Parteni, New Test." p. 127.
0 Vol. ii. (Ed. 1700.) In loco.
7 In loco. "Comprehensive Commentary.: Vol. v. p. 407.
8 " Hoc tempore appellatio episcoporum nondi-m erat solennis et propria, sed competit in
omnes Presbyteros," etc.-Com. in loco. (Ed. Tubingas, 1855.) p. 501.
9 " That the Apostles ordained Bishops and Deacons in all the churches which he planted, I
think evident from Acts xiv: 23, where they are called by the general name of Elders," etc.
-"Epistles." (Ed. 1841.) p. 356.
10 "Episcopois- the overseers of the Church of God and [deacons] those who ministered to
89 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
WHITBY  says, the "names  were then common to both orders, the
Bishops being called Presbyters, and  the Presbyters,  Bishops." 1
SCOTT, in remarking upon Acts xx: 17, says, "the same persons are
in this chapter called elders or presbyters, and overseers or bishops;
it must therefore be allowed that these were not distinct orders of
ministers in the Church at that time," etc.2  The "ASSEMBLY'S ANNOTATIONS" say, upon the word' overseer' (Acts xx: 28), "this
name of Bishop here, as elsewhere, is put for a Pastor of the Church,
or minister of the word." 8  BLOOMFIELD says, on Acts xx: 17, "the
best commentators, ancient and modern, have, with reason, inferred
that the terms [elder and bishop] as yet denoted the same thing." 4
BAUMIGARTEN affirms the same identity in his exposition of Acts
xx: 28.5  EADIE says, on Phil. i: 1, "the official term  ~u'a6xoro;,
(Bishop), of Greek origin, is in the diction of the New Testament
the same as gre,v're,)oOs (Elder) of Jewish usage-the name expressive of gravity and  honor."6  HODGE  says, on  Eph. iv: 12,
"the Apostle intended to designate the same persons as, at once,
pastors and teachers.  The former term designates them as i[to golo
(Bishops - overseers), the latter as instructors. Every Pastor or
Bishop was required to be apt to teach." 7  BARNES  sarys, on Acts
xx: 28, " this passage proves that the name was applicable to Elders,
and that in the time of the Apostles, the name bishop and presbyter,
or elder, was given to the same class of officers, and of course that
there was no distinction between them." 8  ALEXANDER sums up his
remarks on the same passage by saying, "there is no tenable ground,
therefore, but the obvious and simple one, now commonly adopted
even by Episcopalians, that bishops and presbyters, when Paul
the poor, and preached occasionally. There has been a great deal of paper wasted on the inquiry,' who is meant by bishops here, as no place could have more than one Bishop'  To
which it has been answered:' Philippi was a metropolitan see, and  might have several
Bishops!'  This is the extravagance of trifling.  I believe no such officer is meant as we now
term Bishop."-Commentary. Vol. vi. p. 490.
"This is another proof that Bishop and Presbyter were the same order in tle Apostolic
times," etc.-Ibid. p. 868.
1 Cited in "Comprehensive Corn." Vol. v. p. 407.  2 Commentary.  (Ed. 1812.) Vol. v.
3 In loco. (Ed. London.  1657.)                     4 Comment. in loco.
5 " He speaks of the Elders of Ephesus as the Bishops and Pastors whom the Holy Spirit
had appointed."-Apolt. Hist. Sec. xxx.
6 "Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle to the Philippians." p. 4.
7 "Commentary on Epis. to the Ephesians." p. 226.
8 Cbmmentary on Acts. p. 280.
90 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM Is.
spoke, and when Luke wrote, were the same thing; a fact affirmed
also by Theodoret -and Jerome." 1   IHIACKETT reaches the same  conClusion.2   MAcK  even-  a  modern  Roman  Catholic  expositorconcedes the full identity of the New Testament Presbyters and
Bishops; 8 and ALFORD- himself a Church of England manspeaks very strongly  in the same  vein.   He says, on Acts xx: 17,
"the English version  has hardly dealt fairly in this case with the
sacred text, in rendering Et'tgxoiov!s, (v. 28,)'overseers;' whereas it
ought there, as in all other places, to have been'bishops,' that the
fact of elders and  bishops haviing  been originally and  Apostolically
synonymous, might be apparent to the ordinary English reader, which
now it is not." 4  So, on 1 Tim. iii: 1, he says, "it is merely laying
a trap for misunderstanding to render the word, at this time of the
Church's history,' the office of a Bishop.' The s[t'uxo(tot [Bishops]
of the New Testament have officially nothing in common with our
Bishops.... The identity of the Bishop and Elder in Apostolic times
is evident from Tit. i- 5-7."5
It is worthy of notice in this connection that the Peshito-Syriac
version of the New Testament - supposed to have been made within
less than one hundred years after Christ -renders Phil. i: 1, thus
"Paul  and Timothy, servants of Jesus  the Messiah, to all the saints
that are in Jesus the Messiah at Philippi, with thle elders and deacons."6  IMICHAELIS uses this fact as an  argument  in proof of the
venerable  antiquity of this version -  that  it  was  evidently  made
when no difference between Bishops and Presbyters was as yet
known.7
I Comme?ntary on Acts. Vol. ii. p. 250.
2 " The Elders, or Presbyters, in the official sense of the term, were those appointed in the
first churches to watch over their general discipline and welfare. With reference to that duty,
they were called also ir,io-'rOt, i. e. superintendents or bishops.  The first was their Jewish
appellation, transferred to them perhaps from the similar class of officers in the synagogues;
the second was their foreign appellation, since the Greeks employed it to designate such relations among themselves. In accordance with this distinction, we find the general rule to be
this: those who are called Elders in speaking of Jewish communities, are called Bishops in
speaking of Gentile communities. Hence the latter term is the prevailing one in Paul's Epistles.
That the names, with this difference. were entirely synonymous, appears from their interchange
in such passages as Acts xx: 17, 28. and Tit. i: 5-7." —Comment on Acts. (Ed. 1858.) p. 286.
3 "Commentar fiber die Pastoralbriefe des Ap. Paulus."-(Tiibingen, 1836.) p. 60.
4 Greek Testament. (London Ed.) Vol. ii. p. 2)9.
5 Ibid. Vol. iii. p. 305.
8 Murdork's Translation (Ed. 1851.) p. 359.
T "Der Enleitung," etc. T. 1. p. m. 165, sq.
91 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Having glanced, thus, at the vast amount of evidence furnished by
the opinion of the learned, in proof of the proposition before us, we
are prepared to advance to the consideration of the evidence in the
same direction, which is found:   (2.) In the declarations of Ecclesiastical History, and of the early
writers of the Church.  As the latter must largely furnish the basis for
the judgments arrived at by the former, we will take them first in order.
CLEMENT OF ROME  (who wrote about A. D. 96) knew only two
orders of Church officers; the first of which he speaks of indifferently
as Presbyters, or Bishops. In his first Epistle to the Corinthians, he
says, "the Apostles preaching in countries and in cities, appointed
the first fruits of their labors bishops and deacons, having proved
them by the Spirit." 1 And he adds, in another place, "it would be a
great sin to reject those who have faithfully performed the duties of
the office of a Bishop.  Blessed are those Elders who  have finished
their course and gone to their reward,"2- evidently referring, in both
sentences, to the same men under different names. It is particularly
noticeable that when speaking of those officers whose authority will
suitably regulate the Church, he especially says, "the flock of Christ
can abide in peace only when Elders have been set over it."8
POLYCARP,  (who wrote about A. D. 140, and was a pupil of the
Apostle John), in his Epistle to the Philippians, evidently was unacquainted with any Bishops in the churches, inasmuch as he never
mentions the name of such an officer.  He opens his Epistle by saying, "Polycarp, and the Elders that are with him, to the Church at
Philippi," etc.4  He next exhorts that Church to "be subject to the
elders and deacons," 5 and then goes on to enlarge upon the qualifications necessary for the right discharge of the offices of both elder6
1 (Kara YC,p,,; oal           A Kay  r6-at6; Kq/pfo'' pre; kaO.rayov rdg darapxg aar(vT, zotLsaC'vrT;
r~o  lr,,E,ear, si  jTr r6ov  Kai  LaK6Vovtg rTcv isXAA6vrwy  rtarTcv~y."-1-. Epist. ad  Cor.
Sec. xlii. (Ed. Tubingae, 1889.) p. 57.
2 ",'Aapria yap (o  It,l)p!11t?v &'afat,  &ay to0; dliipirro; Ka[ boiotg  rpoalVeyKovra; 7ta
JPpa  r45 i'rtICKIrIl;  a,M'otaX,t,eV.   M     ~iiptot o    po,Jotropfia ares  7peo'(repot, o'rtve;
&y,Kap,rov K'it TeXciay t''Xov rv davty."-ibid.  Sec. xliv. p. 58.
3  M6vov JO M  r6olov TOO XptLOTrv cippvcvura, I  rA rt C   KiaOeTraTriYvcov 7rprafvripcov."Ibid. Sec. liv. p. 64.
4 ", I6VaKpro; KaL ol acv aOr,T  rprafVrTpo  TJ CKKAxala," etc.-Epis. ad Phil. (Ed. Tubinge, 1889.) p. 117.
6 "Ato Jiov dr~Xeo'Oat dird vii,r-  r6vr&)v, V~orTa'o'oltcvov! rots r'pe,afuripoi$ Kai &aK6
VoL<, cas O0) rai Xptorca."-ibid.-Sec. v. p. 120.
6 Ibid. Sec. vi. p. 120.
92 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
and deacon,1 but makes no allusion to any such office as that of a
Bishop in the sense in which the word is now used, or in any sense
different from that which makes it entirely synonymous with'elder'
or'presbyter.'  JUSTIN MARTYR, (died A. D. 165), refers to only one
office in the Church in his time, besides that of the deacon. In describing the order of worship then practised, hle says, "there  is
brouoght to him who presides over the brethren, bread and a cup of
water and wine, etc. And he who presides having given thanks, and
the whole assembly having expressed their assent, they whom we call
deacons distribute the bread," etc.2 He in another place, also, describes
their worship, specifying the same officers, and never alluding to
others.3 Whence we gather the fair inference that there were no
Bishops- in the modern sense, in his time, but that the only officer
beside the deacon, was this president, or Elder.   IRENmUS,  (died
A. D. 202,) -a disciple of Polycarp, and so a spiritual grandson of
John- often uses the terms Elder and Bishop with reference to the
same persons, and in a sense entirely synonymous.   In his "Treatise
against Heresies," he says of MIarcion and certain others, "when we
appeal to that Apostolic tradition, which by the succession of Elders
remains in the churches, they resist the tradition, assuming to be
more wise, not only than the Elders, but than the very Apostles, and
to have found out the exact truth."4  He then immediately, in the
next section, refers to these same Elders as "Bishops, instituted by
the Apostles in the churches." 5 So, in another place, he says, "we
ought to obey those Elders in the Church, who-as we have shownhave succession from the Apostles, who, witha the office of a Bishop,
received also the charism of truth," etc.6  Again, on the next page,
he says, after having alluded to the kind of teachers who fairly
1 lIbid. Sec. v. p. 120.
2 "'"ErcEtra 7rpsc.rpsrat r. irposcarcort rv d,EAX v a5proc Kta  7rorptoV ZJaro5, etc.  EeXaptorfiravros  Ji rgv 7rplcarEwroc, Kai rlircvob,7paaaer,)g rayVr7  ros  Aav. oe' Kasoa#evot rap jitv
rhdroeot, (5tL6,atv E&aar(o rcoa, rap6vrav yeraAa[rlv." —Apol. I. c. lxv. p. 82.
3 ibid. I. c. lxvii. p. 83.
4 " Quum autem ad earn iterum traditionem, quse est ab Apostolis, quse per successiones
Presbyterorum in Ecclesiis custoditur, provocamus eos; adversantur traditioni, dicentes se non
solum Presbyteris, sed etiam Apostolis exsistentes sapientiores, sinceram invenisse veritatem.?
-" Contra Her." Lib. iii. Cap. 2  Opera.  (Massuet's Ed. Venice, 1734.) Vol. i. p. 175.
5 " Eos qui ab Apostolis instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis," etc.-Ibid. Cap. 3. Vol. i. p. 175.
6 "Quapropter eis qui in Ecclesia sunt, Presbyteris obaudire opertet, his qui  successionem
habent ab Apostolis, sicut ostendimus; qui cunt Episcopatus successione charisma veritatis
certum, secundum placitum Patris acceperunt."-lbid. Lib. iv. c. 26. Vol. i. p. 262.
93 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
represent the Apostles, "such elders the church cherishes; concerning
whom, also, the Prophet says:'I will give your princes in peace,
and your bishops in uprightness,' "-which  last is the  Septuagint
rendering of Isaiah lx-: 17.1  So again, further on in the same treatise, he speaks of "the Bishops to whose care the Apostles  left the
churches," 2 and then says, "they who  give  up preaching to the
Church, prove their ignorance of the duty of the consecrated Elders,"
etc.   So he calls Polycarp, whom he had elsewhere called a bishop,
a "blessed and Apostolic elder;" 4 leaving no doubt that in his time,
and in his-opinion, the two words were synonymous. CLEMENT OF
ALEXANDRIA, (died A. D. 220,) also uses interchangeably the words
'elder,' and'bishop,' and though he sometimes speaks of "' bishops,
presbyters, and deacons," when he seems to mean by'bishop,' the
presiding presbyter, who acted as moderator in meetings of the elders
of the churches, he yet distinctly recognizes only two offices in the
Church, for he says- after having observed that in most other things
there are two orders of service, one of which is more dignified than
the other -"it is the same in the Church, where the elders are entrusted with the dignified, the deacons with the subordinate ministry."5
HILARY (A. D. 384) says, "the Apostle calls Timothy-whom  he
had made an Elder - a Bishop, (for the first Elders were called
Bishops,) that when he departed, the one who came next might succeed him," etc.6  But JEROME  (died A. D. 420) gives us perhaps the
most important testimony of any of the Fathers, inasmuch as he
recognizes the original equality of the offices of elder and bishop, and
states the reason of the change which afterward took place, in the elevation of the latter above the former; and as he was the most learned
man of his time, and perhaps of the early ages, his witness should
1'"Totorovv Trpe.8vripo1v  dvarpipct 7 EKKAr7ala, rept (Lor KaLt rpo,rrlg?7g 0r7tv,, o'acO
ro'il ap'Xovrr a ov Ev ilpfl,7r Kai roL g ict'nKUdlU oov ov    alKaloabvrl."-Ibid. Lib. iv. c. 26.
p. 263.
2 i Episcopi, quibus Apostoli tradiderunt Ecclesias."-Ibid. Lib. v. c 20. p 317
3  Qui ergo relinquunt prseconium Ecclesia, imperitiam sanctorum Presbyterorum arguunt,"' etc.-Ibid. p. 317.
4, IE's.iVo   b.aKtiptog Kcai dro'rotsKo; rapsccvrespog."-"Fragmentum Epistole ad.Fori
nurm."  bid. Vol. i.p. 340.
5 "'OpoioiC   g 1a' Ka ra rips ecKK7Ct'iav, riIv Elc gcArtoriKrjv Ot' rpEcvrrepot'aogova'v,
ttc6V" rhlv VraprtKciv oL tlaKOVOI."-"Stromata." Lib. vii. p 700.
6 "Timotheum, presbyterurn a se creatumre, Episcopumn vocat, quia primi presbyteri episcopi
appellabantur, ut recedente uno sequens ei succederet," etc.-"Corn. on Eph. iv. 11,12."
Opera Armbros. (Ed. Ben.) Vol. ii p. 241.
94 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
be conclusive upon the point before us.  He  says, in a letter to
Oceanus, "with the ancients, bishops and elders were the same, the
one being a name of age, the other of office." 1  So in his Epistle to
.Evangelus, after asserting the identity of elders and bishops, he goes
on to prove his point from Phil. i: 1, Acts xx: 17, 28, Tit. i: 5,
1 Tim. iv: 14, and 1 Pet. v: 1; and then says, "does the testimony of
these men seem of small account to you? Listen then to the
clang of that gospel trumpet- that son of thunder, whom Jesus loved,
who drank at the fountain of truth from the Saviour's breast,'the
ELDER to the elect lady and her children,' (2 John i: 1); and in another epistle,'the ELDER to the well beloved Gaius,' (3 John i: 1).
As to the fact that afterward one was elected who should preside
over the rest, it was done as a remedy against schisms, lest every one
drawing his disciples after himself should rend the Church of Christ,"
etc.2 So, most emphatically, he says again, (in commenting on Tit.
i: 5,) "an elder is the same as a bishop, and before there were, by
the instigation of the devil, parties in religion, and it was said among
different people,'I am of Paul,' and'I of Apollos,' and'I of Cephas,'
the churches were governed by the joint counsel of the elders. But
afterwards, when every one accounted those whom he baptized as
belonging to himself, and not to Christ, it was decreed throughout the
whole world, that one chosen from the elders should be called to preside over the rest, and the whole care of the Church be committed to
him, that the seeds of schism might be taken away. Should any
think that this is merely my private opinion, and not the doctrine of
the Scriptures, let him read the words of the Apostle in his epistle to
the Philippians:'Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all
the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with the bishops and
deacons.' Now Philippi is a single city of Macedonia, and certainly in
one city there could not be several modern bishops; but as they then
called the very same persons bishops whom they called elders, the
1 " Apud veteres idem episcopi et presbyteri fuerint; quia illud nomen dignitatis est; hoc,
etatis."-"Ep. ad Oceanum."  Opera. (Ed. Erasmi. Basle, 1537.) Vol. ii. p. 320.
2 " Parva tibi videntur tantorum virorum testimonia? clangat tuba evangelica, filius tonitrui,
quem Jesus amavit plurimum: qui de pectore salvatoris doctrinarum fluenta potavit:' Presbyter electse dominse et filiis ejus, quos ego diligo in veritate.' Et in alia epistola:' Presbyter
Caio carissimo, quem ego diligo in veritate.'  Quod autem postea unus electus est, qui ceteris
preponeretur, in schismatis remedium factuam est, ne unusquisque ad se trahens Christi ecclesiam rumperet.1"-" Ep. ad Evang," or "Etagr."  Ibid.  Vol. ii. p. 329.
95 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Apostle has spoken without distinction of bishops as elders." 1 And
a little further on, he says again, "I say these things that I may
show that among the ancients, elders and bishops were the very same;
but that little by little, that the plants of dissension might be plucked
up, the whole oversight was devolved upon one. As the elders therefore know that they are inferior, by the custom of the Church, to him
who is set over them, so let the bishops know that they rank above
elders, more by custom than by any desire of Christ." 2
Equally distinct proof of the point before us might be added from
CHRYSOSTOM 3 (A. D. 407), and from TIHEODORET 4 (died A.D. 457);
but space enough has already been devoted to this branch of the
argument,5 and we only reserve room for a remarkable concession of
Pope Urban II (A. D. 1091), before proceeding to cite the opinion of
the professed historians of the Church.  He says, " we consider the
1 " Idem est ergo presbyter, qui et episcopus, et antequam diaboli instinctu, studia in religione
fierent, et diceretur in populis *' Ego sum Pauli,'ego Apollo,'' ego autem Cephae,' conmum
presbyterorum consilio ecclesise gubernabantur. Postquam vero unusquisque eos, quos, bap.
tizaverat, suos putabat esse, non Christi; in toto orbe decretum est, ut unus de presbyteris
electus superponeretur coeterie ad quem omais ecclesie cura pertineret, et schismatum semina
tollerentur. Putat aliquis non Scripturarum, sed nostram, csse sententiam episcopum et
presbyterum unum esse; et aliud estatis, aliud esse nomen officii; relegat Apostoli ad Philippenses verba dicentis;' Paulus et Timotheus servi Jesu Christi omnibus sanctis in Christo Jesu
qui sunt Philippis cum episcopis et diaconis, gratis vobis et pax, et reliqua.' Philippi una est
urbs Macedonise, et certe in una civitate plures ut nuncupantur Episcopi esse non poterant.
Sed quia eosdem Episcopos illo tempore quos et presbyteros apellabant, propterea indifferenter
de Episcopis quasi de i'resbyteris est locutus." —Corn. in Tit. i: 5.  Ibid. ol. ix. p. 245.
2 "Hsec propterea, ut ostenderemus apud veteres eosdem fuisse presbyteros et episcopos;
paulatim vero, ut dissentionum plantaria evellerentur, ad unum omnem solicitudinem esse
delatam. Sicut ergo presbyteri sciunt se ex ecclesise consuetudine ei, qui sibi propositus fuerit
esse subjectos, ita episcopi noverint se magis consuetudine quam dispositionis dominicae veritate, presbyteris esse majores."-Ibid. Vol. ix. p. 245.
3 See Chrysostom's Epis. ad Phil. and Epis. ad Tim. Opera.-Vol. xi. p 194, and p 604
4 See Theodoret's Epis. ad Phil. and Epts. ad Tim. Opera -Vol. iii. p 445, and p. 459.
5 To these might be added many less clear and forcible testimonies, which are yet interesting
to the student and essential to a complete view of the evidence on the question. Among these
may be mentioned that of ISODORE, of Seville (A.D. 636) (Etyinol. vii. c. 12); of BERNALITUS
CO:STANTIENSIS (A. D. 1088) (De Pres. offic. Tract -in Monumentorum r,s Allemannorum S
Bas. 1792.4to. Vol. ii. p. 384); of TUDsscHus (A. D. 1428) ( Super prim?a parte Prmst. cap. v Ed
Lugdun. 1547. fol. 112, b); and of NICOLAUS CUS.KNUS (A. D. 1435) (De  concordantia  cath. lib
iii. c. 2.-in Schardii Syntagma tractatuum, p. 358.)  And even Jo. PAUL LAUNCELOT (A. D
1563), the Papal Canonist, quotes Jerome's strong and clear assertion of the identity of Elders
and Bishops, without any attempt at confutation. (Institut. Juris Canon lib 1 tit. 21. Sec.
8.) AUGUSTINE mentions it as a heresy of AERIus and his followers, that they were able to discern no difference between an Elder and a Bishop. (" Dicebat etiam presbyterum ab episcopo
nulla differentia debere discerni."-" Liber de Hexresibus."  Sec. lil. Opera.   Ede Antwerpi,
1700. Vol. viii. p. 14).
96
i 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
eldership 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 Apostolic authority." 1
Of the best Ecclesiastical Historians the judgment is one and the
same in this matter.  MOSHEIM says, "the rulers of the Church were
denominated, sometimes presbyters or elders,- a designation borrowed
from the Jews, and indicative rather of the wisdom than the age of
the persons; and sometimes, also, bishops; for it is most manifest,
that both terms are promiscuously used in the New Testament, of
one and the same class of persons." 2  WADDINGTON -an Episcopal
historian -concedes, "it is even certain, that the terms bishop and
elder, or presbyter, were, in the first instance, and for a short period,
sometimes used synonymously, and indiscriminately applied to the
same order in the ministry." 3 MILNER - also a Churchman - says,
"at first, indeed, or for some time, Church governors were of only
two ranks, presbyters, and deacons," etc.4  CAMPBELL sums up an
elaborate discussion of the question, covering near fifty pages, thus"the bishops or presbyters (for these terms, as we have seen, were
then used synonymously) appear to have been all perfectly coordinate
in ministerial powers." 5 GIESELER says, "their [the early churches']
presidents were the elders (oead,Versfoo, E[ttaorot), officially of equal
rank;"6 -a proposition which he establishes in a long note, filled
with citations from the Scriptures and the Fathers. GUERICKE
says, "that both names [elder and bishop,] originally denoted the
same office — as is conceded even in the fourth century by Jerome;
by Ambrosiaster, or Hilary of Rome; also, to some extent, by the
Constitutiones Apostolicav; for substance, by Chrysostom also, and
Theodoret-is plain from the New Testament passages in which
the names are used interchangeably; and in which bishops and deacons, without the mention of presbyters intermediate, are mentioned
as the only ecclesiastical officers in the single churches. The original
1 " Sacros autem ordines dicimus diaconatum et presbyteratum.  HIos siquidem solos prim
tiva legitur eceles., habuisse; super his solum preceptum habemus Apostoli."-Conc. B
vent. (A. D. 1091.) Canon 1.
2 Murdock's translation. Vol. i. p. 69.
8 "History ofthe Church," ch. ii. sec. 2.
4 "History of the Church of Christ." (Philadelphia Ed. 1835.) Vol. i. p. 92.
6 "Lectures on Eccl. Hist."  (Ed. London. 1840 ) p. 99.
6 "Compendium of Eccl Hist."  (Davidson's trans. Harper's Fd. 1849.) Vol. i. p. 90.
7
97 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
identity of elders and bishops is also proved by those passages in the
New Testament in which, the office of bishop being passed over, that
of elder is spoken of as next to that of the ApostIes; in which the
term elder denotes the one only office of ruling and pastoral care;
and in which the Apostles denominate themselves co-elders." 1 SCHAFF
says, "the two appellations belong to one and the same office; so
that the bishops of the New Testament are to be regarded not as
diocesan bishops, like those of a later period, but simply as Congregational officers. This is placed beyond question by every passage in
which we meet with this title."2  KURTZ says, "that originally the
~t(c6Vt8eot (elders) were the same as the;(qt6omot (bishops), we
gather with absolute certainty from the statements of the New Testament, and of Clement of Rome, a disciple of the Apostles," and then,
after reference to three points of that witness which they furnish, he
adds, "in the face of such indubitable evidence, it is difficult to account for the pertinacity with which Romish and Angelican theologians insist that these two offices had from the first been different in
name and functions; while the allegation of some, that although,
originally, the two designations had been identical, the offices themselves were distinct, seems little better than arbitrary and absurd.
Even Jerome, Augustin, Urban II., and Petrus Lombardus admit that
originally the two had been identical. It was reserved for the Council of Trent to convert this truth into a heresy." 3   KILLEN says,
"the elders or bishops were the same as the pastors and teachers;
for they had the charge of the instruction and government of the
Church." 4  And NEANDER- prince of all who  have devoted their
labors to the exposition of the affairs of the early  Church -says;
"that the name  itt:xotot or bishops, was altogether synonymous with
that of Presbyters, is clearly evident from those passages of Scripture, where both appellations are used interchangeably." 5
I "Manual of Church History."  (Shedd's trans. 1857.) p. 107.
2 "History of the Apostolic Church." (Yeoman's trans. 1858.) p. 523. See also "History of
the Christian Church," by the same author. p. 134.
3 " Text Book of Church History." (1860.) Vol i. p. 67.  See abo "History of the Chtristian
Church," by the same author. (Clark's Ed.) Vol. i. p. 68.
4'The Ancient Church."  (1859.) p. 232.
56 "General History of the Christian Religion and Church." (Torrey's trans.) Vol. i. p. 184.
So also, in his "Planting and Training of the Chr. Church. (Ryland's trans.) (p. 92.). he enlarges on the same point, and concludes; "originally both names related entirely to the same
office, and hence both names are frequently interchanged as perfectly synonymous."  And in
98 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISH IS.
Having thus observed with what singular unanimity and force,l the
current of learning and the judgment of antiquity sets toward that
his Introduction to Dr. Coleman's "Apostolical and Prim. Church," (p. 20), he says, "the
name of presbyters denoted the dignity of their office. That of bishops, on the other hand, was
expressive rather of the nature of their office, to take the oversight of the Church. Most cer tainly no other distinction originally existed between them."
1 The question may here naturally arise in the reader's mind, how, if the voice of the past is
so clear and strong as would appear from the foregoing testimonies, the advocates of Papal and
Episcopal power can attempt to maintain their theory also from antiquity? They do it mainly
on the testimony of certain documents which are claimed to be Epistles of Ignatius (who died
A. D. 107, or 116), which contain frequent and decided reference to bishops, as a rank above
presbyters, and bearing authority. These Epistles are fifteen in number, namely: (1) Ad
Ephesios, (2) Ad  Iagonesianos, (3) Ad Trallianos, (4) Ad  Romanos,  (5) Ad Philadelphenos,
(6) Ad S?nyrneos, (7) Ad Polycarpum, (8) Ad _lariam, (9) Ad Tarsenses, (10) Ad Antiochenos,
(11) Ad Heronem, (12) Ad Philippenses, (13) Ad Joansis Evan., (14) Ad Eundem, (15) Beat6e Virgini. They were brought to the attention of the learned world at different times, and, after all
were printed, they seem to have been received without question until about the middle of the
sixteenth century. Then, when scholarship began to be more critical, and the Reformation
turned special attention to some portion of their contents, doubts began to be expressed in regard to them.  They contain such precepts as these: "all should follow the Bishop, as Jesus
Christ, the Father," (Ad Snyrnveos, Sec. viii.); " It is not allowable, without the Bishop, either
to baptize or to administer the eucharist," (lbid); " Whoso honors the Bishop, shall be honored of God' (Ibid. Sec. ix.)  So, they intimate that the Bishop ought to be reverenced as
Christ himself, (Ad Ephesios, Sec. vi.); that he presides in the place of God, (Ad Magnesianos,
Sec. vii.) etc It was not strange that such passages -so wholly unlike the ordinary tenor of
the speech of that age - together with others concerning Lent, and many corruptions which had
crept into the Church, should lead, first to doubts, next to a rigid examination, and then to a
rejection of large portions, if not the whole, as being the work of a later date- seeking, by forgery, to gain the reverence natural to the letters of such a man. The authors of the Centuri&e
Magd,burgenses led off in this work.  Calvin soon expressed his opinion, saying: " nothing can
be more nauseating than the absurdities which have been published under the name of Ignatius; and therefore, the conduct of those who provide themselves with such masks for deception
is the less entitled to toleration." (Institutes, Book i. chap. xiii. sec. 29.) The fight waxed
warm; Churchmen generally contending on the one side, and Reformers on the other. The
three Epistles last enumerated- which were extant only in Latin versions - were soon given
up as spurious. In 1623, Vedelius arranged the first seven of the remaining twelve, apart from
the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th, pronouncing those seven to be, for substance, genuine -
with interpolations, which he endeavored to indicate - and the others to be forgeries. The
controversy went on for several years, until, in 1666, Daille6, one of the most eminent of the
French Protestants, vigorously attempted to establish the fraudulent origin and character of the
entire list. To him Bishop Pearson replied, in 1672, saying all that could wvell be said in defence
of the genuineness of a portion of the list. The result of the contest thus far, was the general
conviction on the part of Churchmen that the first seven- at least in their shortened form,
after the interpolations should be thrown out -were reliable; and a concession on the part of
their ant-igonists that this might be so.
A recent discovery has re-opened the discussion. In the library of the Syrian Convent at
Nitria, in Egypt, was found, a few years since, a Syriac version of the 1st, 4th, and 7th Epistles,
(Ad E,hes.:os, Ad Romanos, and Ad Polycarpum,) which was purchased for the British Museum. This version has been translated and published by the Rev. W. Cureton (London, 1845).
It now turns out that this old Syriac 5ISS. omits two-thirds of the Epistle to the Ephesians,
and large portions of the oth'er two -as compared with those Epistles after they had been previously reduced by throwin- out all which seemed to be interpolated; thus prompting the inference that a still farther important excision is necessary before the letters of Ignatius, as A*
.
99 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
view of the parity - under whatever name- of the first officers of
the early Christian Church, which our Congregational Fathers held;
we are prepared to advance to the direct examination, in the last
place:   (3.) Of the testimony of the Scriptures themselves. Those passages
which bear upon this subject are few and unambiguous. It will be
borne in mind that the exact question before us, concerning which
they are to be examined is, whether the four terms,'Pastor,''Teacher,'
' Presbyter' (or elder), and' Bishop' (or overseer), are intended to designate one and the same office, or two or more offices, of different rank.
(a.) The first proof that they designate one office only, is afforded by
an examination of the words themselves.  The term Pastor (totlr;vpoimen) is the word which is usually translated' Shepherd.' It occurs
eighteen times in the New Testament. In thirteen of these it is applied,
either in the way of narrative or of parable, to the ordinary relation of
a shepherd to his flock. In four instances it is applied metaphorically
to Christ; as the'good Shepherd,' the'great Shepherd,' etc.  In the
remaining instance (Eph. iv: 11), it is used to designate those persons whom Christ gave to his Church, in connection with Apostles,
wrote them, shall be in our possession. It is remarkable also that the portions thus thrown
into discredit as being fraudulent additions of a later date than the genuine Epistles, bear
directly upon the Episcopal and Arian controversies; rendering it almost certain that these
additions were the work of some party interested in those controversies, and desiring shelter
under the name of Ignatius.  It may be noted here, also, that the translator of Guericke suggests that these passages, if genuine, exhibit merely "the high Church tendency of a locality
(Asia Minor), and not the theory of polity universally established and prevalent at the time."
(Shedd's  "Guericke." Vol. i. p. 113, note.)
Such being the facts in regard to these Epistles - it being wholly uncertain whether those
passages which Episcopalians quote from them in proof of the early existence and authority of
Bishops as an order superior to Elders, were ever written by Ignatius, or even within two hundred years of his time; and it being entirely certain that the general testimony of the Fathers
before and after him, is against any such Bishops - as we have seen; we feel that sound reasoning and the decision of common sense will rule Ignatius out of court as a witness against the
great array on the other side.
Those who desire to review this controversy, can consult Vedelius, (4to Geneva, 1623); Archbishop Us/ler, (4to, Oxford, 1644); Daille's " De Scriptis qua sub Dionys. Areop. et Ignatii Antioch. circumferent.,,r, Libri duo." (4to, Geneva, 1666); Pearson's " Vindicia, Ignatianv," (4to,
Cambridge, 1672); Cureton's "Ancient Syriac version of Epis. of Ignat."' (Svo, London, 1845);
Bunsen's "Ignatius von Antiochien, und seine Zeit." (Hamburg. 1847).  Cave's "Hist. Litt."
(Oxford, 1740), Vol. i. p. 41.; Oudin "de Scrip. Eccl." Vol. i. cod. 71.; and Ceillier's "Auteurs
SaLcrs." Vol. i. p. 620.  See also Neander, (Torrey's trans.) Vol. i. p. 661.  See also Articles
in Princeton Review, Vol. xxi. p. 378; Newt Englander, Vol. vii. p. 501; Edinburgh Review,
Vol. xc. p. 82; Monthly Chiristian Spectator, Vol. v. p. 393; Church Review, Vol. i. p. 566,
and Vol. ii. p. 194; London Quarterly, Vol. vlxxxiii. p. 36; and Kitto's Journal, Vol. v. p.
899.
100
I 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
prophets and evangelists, for' the perfecting of the saints,' and' the
work of the ministry,' etc. Here it is expressly said that these persons are'pastors and teachers;' the grammatical construction of the
sentence being such as to render it certain that, in this only case
where' Pastors' are spoken of, they are the same persons as'Teachers.' 1
The term Teacher (&$da6gao; -  didaskalos) is the word usually
translated'master.'  It is found fifty-eight times in the New Testament.  In forty-seven of these cases it is rendered'master;' in one
instance'doctors,' and in the remaining ten,'teacher,' or' teachers.'
In four of these ten, (John iii: 2, Rom. ii: 20, 2 Tim. iv: 3, Hieb.
v: 12), the application is to the ordinary function of imparting knowledge. In two, (1 Tim. ii: 7, 2 Tim. i: 11), of the remaining six,
Paul applies it to himself; describing himself as'a preacher and an
Apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.' In the remaining four cases
(Acts xiii: 1, 1 Cor. xii: 28, 29, Eph. iv: 11), it is used to describe
those officers of the churches who taught the people; and in no case
in such a connection as to destroy that identity between them and the
Pastors, which is affirmed in Eph. iv: 11, and intimated in the way
in which Paul- as we have just seen - takes the word as a synonyme for his own office as a preacher.
The term Presbyter, or Elder, (~o         eo — presbuteros) occurs
in sixty-seven places in the New Testament. In thirty-one instances
it is employed to designate the Elders of the Jewish Sanhedrimofficers so often mentioned in connection with the Chief Priests, and
not wholly unlike the Aldermen of our own time; both terms in their
structure recalling the unquestionable fact that age originally was a
1 " Non dicit atios pastores, alios doctores, sed alios pastores et doctores, quia pastores omnes
debent esse et doctores. —Estius and Erasmus, in loco.  Poole, Syn. Crit. Vol. iv. p. 789.
" The union of the two, [pastors and teachers] in general as one class, to which either designation might in some degree apply, seems to be intimated by the construction of the Greek,
which places before each of the preceding nouns, the same article which qualifies these twvo."Turner's "Ephesians," p. 125.
"The absence of the article before AJdaoa.adov5 proves that the Apostle intended to designate
the same persons as at once pastors and teachers.... This interpretation is given by Augustine
and Jerome; the latter of whom says,' non enim ait: alios autem pastores et alios magistros,
sod alios pastores et magistros, ut qui pastor est, esse debeat et magister.' In this interpretation,
the modern commentators, almost without exception, concur."-Hod,-e's "Ephegians,'" p. 226.
"From these latter teachers not being distinguished from the pastors by the rois d1, it
would seem that the two offices were held by the same persons."-Alford. in loco.  Vol. iii. p.
113.
101 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
prominent qualification for such a dignity. In twelve instances it is
applied to the'four and twenty elders' of the Apocalypse. Once
(Heb. xi: 2), it is used of the Ancient Hebrews. In six cases it is
simply the adjective of age -' elder,''eldest,' etc.  In the remaining
seventeen instances - ten being in the Acts- it refers to those officers of the Christian churches who were called Elders, and who, in
fifteen of the seventeen cases, were, so far as record is made,' the
only officers, except the deacons, which the churches had; leaving
the necessary inference that they must have been the same persons
who are elsewhere styled'pastors' and'teachers.'
The term Bishop or Overseer ('TZtxonog - episkopos) occurs only
five times in the New Testament. Once (1 Pet. ii: 25), it is applied
to Christ as' the Shepherd and Bishop' of souls; where it is coupled
with the word usually translated'Pastor,' as already mentioned.2
Three times it is used in such connection as to make it obviously the
title of the one office of the Church beside that of deacon; viz: (1 Tim.
iii: 2), where Paul, after describing the qualifications needful for a
Bishop, passes at once to say, "likewise must the deacons be grave,"
etc.; and (Tit. i: 7), where he speaks of Timothy's "ordaining elders
in every city," and proceeds to say that they [the elders] must "be
blameless," etc., "for a Bishop ought to be blameless, as the steward
of God,"- there being no possibility of any sound logical or grammatical construction which shall avoid the identity of the Bishop with
the Elders just spoken of; 3 and (Phil. i: 1,) where Paul addresses
the saints at Philippi "with the Bishops and deacons "- no mention
1 Acts xi: 80; xiv: 23; xv: 2, 4, 6, 22, 28; xvi: 4; xx: 17; xxi: 18; 1 Tim. v: 17, 19; Tit.
i:5; James v: 14; 1 Pet. v: 1.
2 See page 100.
s " This passage plainly shows that there is no distinction between a presbyter and a bishop;
for he [Paul] now calls indiscriminately by the latter name, those whom he formerly called
presbyters; and farther in conducting this very argument, he employs both names in the
same sense, without any distinction; as Jerome has remarked, both in his commentary on this
passage, and in his Epistle to Evagrius."- Calvin.  Comment. in loco. p.294.
"That the expression elders (v. 5) designates the same office as Bishop in v. 7, is acknowledged by all who can acknowledge it." —Olshausen. (Kendrick's Ed.) Vol  v. p. 566.
," We see here a proof of the early date of this Epistle, in the synonymous use of'eirivKTrog
n(d rp,v/.{repos; the latter word designating the rank, the former, the duties of the presbyter."-Conybeare and Howson. Vol. ii. p. 477.
"'For it behooves an' (r6o, as so often, generic, the, i.e., every: our English idiom requires
the indefinite article)' overseer  - (here most plainly identified with the presbyter spoken of before)' to be blameless,' " etc.-Alford. Corn. Tit. i: 7. Vol. iii p. 391.
102 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
being made of any other office as being known to him, or them, in
connection with the Church. The only other instance of the use of
the word is (Acts xx: 28,) where, at Miletus, Paul expressly tells
the elders of the Church at Ephesus, that the Holy Ghost has made
them'"t'azotov; (episkopouts) Bishops, or overseers, over that'flock,'
to' feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own
blood.'
So far as the usage and signification of the words themselves are
concerned, then, it is obvious that they are irreconcilable with any
other theory than that which applies them to one office only. There
are also two instances of the use, by Paul, of kindred words, in such
a way as to prove the same point. One is (1 Pet. v: 2, 3) where
he, as a' fellow-elder,' exhorts " the elders which are among you," to
"feed the flock of God which is among you, ~itaoVo,res' (episkopoutntes), [the verb which signifies the activity of the noun' Bishop,']
acting the Bishop over them, not by constraint, but willingly," etc.
But if Paul exhorted Elders to act as Bishops, it could only be
because he understood them to be Bishops! The other is (1 Tim.
iii: 1), where the same Apostle says, "if a man desire 7ttaxo,;s'
(episkopes) [the noun  denoting the activity of the noun'Bishop']
the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good work," etc., going on immediately to discourse of the qualifications of bishops and deacons, as if
they were the only Church officers concerning whom  he had  any
knowledge, or any counsel to give; a thing simply incredible on the
Episcopal theory. It is noticeable in this connection, also, that the
name'Apostle' is never, in a single instance, used interchangeably
for that of Bishop or Deacon; while the Apostles did sometimes style
themselves'Elders;' 1 which would argue that (if either are) Elders
rather than Bishops must be "successors of the Apostles," in an official sense.
(b.) The secondprooffrom the Bibble that the terms Pastor, Teacher,
Eldter, and Bishop, designate one acld tie same office, is found in the
fact that the same qualihfcations are demanded of all.  We have seen
that the terms'Pastor' and'Teacher' are never used to distinguish
offices different from the Elders and Bishops.  So that the real question is whether the Scriptural qualifications of Elders and Bishops
are the same, or not? Paul has given, at some length, the requisites
I 2Johni: 1; 38 Johni: 1; 1 Pet. v: 1.
103 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
for the faithful performance of both offices, and when arranged in
parallel columns, it will be easy to see how far they agree, and
whether, anywhere, they differ.
FOR AN ELDER.
Tit. i: 6-10.
If any be blameless, the husband of
one wife, having faithful children-not
accused of riot, or unruly.
FOR A BISHOP.
I Tim.'ii: 2-7
A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, one that ruleth well
his own house, having his children in
subjection with all gravity. For if a
man know not how to rule his own
house, how shall he take care of the
Church of God?
Vigilant, sober, of good behavior,
given to hospitality, apt to teach.
A lover of hospitality, a lover of good
men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as hlie hath
been taught, that he may be able by
sound doctrine both to exhort, and to
convince the gainsayers. Blameless, as
the steward of God, not self-willed, not
soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre.
Not given to wine, no striker, not
greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not
a brawler, not covetous. Not a novice,
lest being lifted up with pride, he fall
into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover he must have a good report
of them which are without, lest he fall
into reproach, and the snare of the
devil.
These qualifications are identical. Elders and Bishops must both
be blameless, the husband of one wife, faithful parents, circumspect,
sober, hospitable, temperate, patient, humble, quiet, long-suffering,
and able to teach others. If, in these catalogues of necessary graces,
either has the advantage of the other, the Elder has it in the fact
that Paul mentions it as of importance for him to possess and use
"sound doctrine" for exhortation and conviction, a thing which he
leaves to inference in the case of the Bishop. How inevitable the
conclusion that, in Paul's mind, the two offices were the same!
(c.) The third proof, from the Bible, that the terms Pastor, Teacher,
Elder, and Bishop designate one and the same office, is found in the
fact that the same  duties are assigned  to all.  These duties  are
to guide; to instruct; to administer the ordinances; and perhaps to
104 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
ordain. We shall see that they are made the duties of Elders and
Bishops alike, or, at least, that the Bishops have no preeminence in
regard to them.
(aa.) It is their duty to guide the Church by counsel and authority. All will, of course, concede that if there were any such Bishops
in the days of the Apostles as are now known by that name, this must
have been, by emphasis, their duty. But the New Testament makes
it clear that the Elders were charged with it as a part of their function, for Paul says (1 Tim. v: 17), "let the Elders that rule well,
(Ot x0c.S' 7tQoes6are  ItQeg6epvot -  hoi kalos proestotes presbuteroi),
be counted worthy of double honor." So Paul tells the Elders
of the Church at Ephesus who assembled at Miletus to meet him
(Acts xx: 28), to'take heed unto themselves, and to all the flock,
over which the Holy Ghost had made them Bishops, that they (votiXvet, -poimaineiii) feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.'  In the classic Greek this verb here
rendered'feed,' had the mleaning'to take care of, to guide, to govern,' 1 and in four of the eleven instances of its use in the New Testament, the common version renders it'rule.' 2 Its natural sense seems
to be, however, that of acting the shepherd to a flock, which includes
prominently the idea of leading and guiding- driving, if need be
them to such fields and streams as are best fitted for their nourishment and repose. And it is quite worthy of notice that this same
word which is applied (Matt. ii: 6) to the rule of Christ over his
Church, is here used as descriptive of the relation of the Elders to the
churches. It may be remembered here, also, that in all the record of
the council at Jerusalem (Acts xv: 1-31), the Elders are the only
officers of the churches who are mentioned as taking part in the debate or the decision, with'the Apostles' and'the whole Church.'
(bb.) It is the duty of Bishops and  Elders alike to instruct the
Chui-ch. This is clear indirectly from the tenor of many passages,
but directly from the demands before quoted,3 that the Bishop be
'apt to teach,' and the Elder'be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.'
(cc.) It was the duty of Bishops and Elders alike to administer the
ordinances of the Gospel. We are left indeed without the direct tes
I See "Liddell and Scott."    2 Matt. ii: 6; lev. ii: 27; xii: 5; xix: 15.    8 See page 10
105 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
timony of any Biblical record, or command, to settle this, but the circumstantial evidence in proof of the position is very strong. It is
clear that somebody must have administered the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and that such administration was a thing
of standing necessity, not only for the introduction of all believers into
the Church, but for their edification afterwards -since it is in evidence that the Lord's Supper was first administered daily; 1 and subsequently every week.2  These ordinances -  being thus a part of the
ordinary demand of the churches for their regular service, their administration must be presumed to have formed a part of the regular duty
of those who had the oversight of the churches, and performed the ordinary functions of the pastoral office, unless some special reservation is
made of this duty for some one class of laborers.  No such reservation
in favor of Bishops is found on the record of the New Testament;
while it is noticeable that the Apostles seem to have thrown off the
administration of the rite of Baptism upon the ordinary teachers of the
Church. Paul thanked God that he baptized none of the Corinthians
but Crispus and Gaius, and the household of Stephanas, saying that
Christ'sent him not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.' Peter
did not baptize Cornelius.' The inference is an easy one that God's
design was that the'administration of the ordinances of Baptism and
the Lord's Supper should devolve upon the ordinary ministers of the
Church; whether named Pastors, or Teachers, or Elders, or Bishops.
(dd.) If it was the duty of Bishops, it was also of the Elders to ordain. It would be claimed by the advocates of the modern theory
of the Episcopal office, that, if there were any Bishops in the Apostolic Church, it must have been a part of their business to induct their
fellow laborers into office, by ordination. But the New Testament
-while it says not a word about ordination by Bishops- does speak
of what may have been the ordination of Timothy by the laying on
1 Acts ii: 4246; 1 Cor. x: 21.
2 See "Pliny's letter to Trajan," and Coleman's "Ancient Christianity " p. 425.
3 Tertullian argues that even laymen have the right to baptize and to administer the sacrament.  He says: -" Vani erimus, si putaverimus, quod sacerdotibus non liceat, laicis licere.
Nonne et laici sacerdotes sumus? Scriptum est: Regnum quoque nos et sacerdotes, Deo et Patri
suo fecit. Differentiam inter ordinem et plebem constituit ecclesise auctoritas, et honor per
ordinis consessum sanctificatus. Adeo ubi ecclesiastici ordinis non est consessus, et offers, et
tinguis et sacerdos es tibi solus."-De Exhorta. Cast. c. 7. (Ed. Lipsise.) Vol. ii. p. 105.
See Grotius' comment upon this, and on the general subject, in his tract "De ccnx admin
itratione, ubi pastores non sunt."- Works.  (Ed. 1679.) Vol. iv. pp. 507-509.
106
i
I 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
of the hands of the Presbytery; that is, of the company of Presbyters,
or Elders.1 While, therefore, there is neither precept, nor very clear
example of what we call ordination, as a custom of the primitive
Church recognized as imperative and perpetual by the Scriptures, it
is at least true that, so far as there is any hint in that direction, it is
in favor of Elders rather than of Bishops, as those by whose hands
it should be given.
(d.) The fourth proof that the Scriptures recognize Pastors, Teachers, Elders, and Bishops as names for one offce only, is found in the
fact that those texts which have been claimed as indirectly implying
that Bishops were a superior order, fail to sustain that claim. It has
been asserted that James was Bishop of Jerusalem, Titus Bishop of
Crete, and Timothy Bishop of Ephesus; though tradition, rather
than Scripture, has been mainly relied on for proof.2  Reference has,
however, been made, by those who maintain that James was the first
"Bishop of Jerusalem," to the fact that Peter told the company who
were praying at the house of lIary on the night of his deliverance
from prison, to "go show these things unto James and to the brethren;"8 to the fact that James presided when the multitude "gave
audience to Barnabas and Paul," 4 and said, "wherefore my sentence
is that we trouble not them," etc.; to the fact that Paul, in describing, a certain matter to the Galatians, refers to the arrival of some
brethren from Jerusalem, as that of certain who "came from James;"5
and to the record that Paul went in "unto James, and all the Elders
were present,"6 on his arrival at Jerusalem from Miletus. But
there is only one of these passages which would not be just as appropriate on the Congregational theory that James was Senior Pastor of
the Church at Jerusalem; and that was unwarrantably modified
from the original in the process of translation, by those who believed
that James was Bishop of Jerusalem, and desired to harmonize the
record  with  that belief.  The  "wherefore my sentence is," is Ao'
eyoqvtco (dio eg5 krino), which simply means; "wherefore I am of
1 " Of the presbytery'-i. e. of the body of Elders who belonged to the congregation in
which he was ordained. Where this was, we know not: hardly in Lystra, where he was first
converted: might it not be in Ephesus itself, for this particular office? "-Alford. Corn. on 1
Tim. iv: 14. (Vol iii. p. 326.)
2 Bingham refers to Jerome, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, Eusebius, Hilary the Deacon, and
Theodoret, in proof; but quotes no Scripture in evidence.-"Antiquities." Vol. i. pp. 20, 21.
s Acts xii: 17.    4 Acts xv: 1319.      5 Gal. ii: 12.    6 Acts xxi: 18.
107 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
opinion that," etc. So that this amounts to nothing in the way of
argument.
All the Scripture claimed as evidence that Titus was Bishop of
Crete, is the record that Paul left him in Crete to "set in order the
things that are wanting, and ordain Elders in every city, as I had
appointed thee."2  But this passage is much more consonant with
the Congregational theory that Paul desired him to act as an Evangelist, or temporary Missionary Superintendent of these semi-heathen
churches; to comfort and instruct them, and perfect their organization.
That Paul did not intend for him to assume any permanent office
over them, is rendered sure by his direction to him to fail not to
'come unto him at Nicopolis,' 3 before winter,4 and the mention of his
subsequent departure to Dalmatia.5
The Episcopal claim in the case of Timothy rests on a foundation
in the New Testament so slight, that it is amazing with what cool
assumption he is asserted to have been "Bishop of Ephesus."  When
1 "There does not seem to be in the following speech, any decision ex cathedra, either in the
aKoOaJri iov, or in the iydo Kplw: the decision lay in the weightiness, partly no doubt of the
person speaking, but principally of the matter spoken by him."-Alford. Commnent. in loco.
Vol. ii. p. 151.
"'I-for rniy part, without dictating to others-judge, i. e. decide as my opinion.'  The verb
affords no proof that the speaker's authority was greater than that of the other Apostles."Hackett. Acts, p. 245.
"Id est, ita censeo."- Grotius, in loco. Vol. ii. p. 620.
"' Wherefore I think that we ought not to trouble,' etc.... We may gather out of this
narrative that they made no small account of James, forasmuch as he doth with his voice and
consent so confirm the words of Peter, that they are all of his mind.... The old writers think
that this was because he was Bishop of the place; but it is not to be thought that the faithful
did, at their pleasure, change the order which Christ had appointed.'" —Calvin. Comment. in
loco. pp. 63-70.
"'I judge' - a common formula, by which the members of the Greek assemblies introduced
the expression of their individual opinion, as appears from its repeated occurrence in Thucydides; with which may be compared the corresponding Latin phrase (sic censeos of frequent
use in Cicero's orations. That James here settles the whole question by a decision ex cathedra,
is as groundless an opinion as that Peter had already done so by his dictum."-Alexander.
Acts. Vol. ii. p. 83.
2 Titus i: 5.                              3 Titus iii: 12.
4 " At this latter date (A: D. 67) we find him [Titus] left in Crete by St. Paul, obviously for
a temporary purpose, viz: to' carry forward the correction of those things which are defective,'
and among these principally, to establish presbyteries for the government of the various
churches, consisting of iTriKOr,Ot. His stay there was to be very short (Ch. iii: 12) and he was,
on the arrival of Tychicus or Artemas, to join the Apostle at Nicopolis. Not the slightest trace
is found in the Epistle, of any intention on the part of St Paul, to place Titus permanently
over the Cretan Churches: indeed, such a view is inconsistent with the data furnished us in
lt."-Alford. Introduction to Epis. to Tt. Vol. iiL p. 107.
5 2 Tim. iv: 10.
108 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM31 IS.
Paul (A. D. 57 or 58), left Asia Minor for Greece, he desired Tim othy to take temporary charge of the Church at Ephesus- as it is
written: "I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went
into Macedonia " - not to become its permanent head, but for a specified purpose-  "that thou mightest charge some that they teach no
other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies,"
etc.1  With the exception of an incidental allusion to his " ministering" 2 to Paul while there, this is the only intimation in the New Testament that Timothy ever was at Ephesus at all! And that the
purpose fbr which Paul commissioned him was a temporary one, is
clear from the tenor of the Epistle.  Paul says, "till I come, give
attendance to reading," etc.3  So he says, "these things write I unto
thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; but if I tarry long," etc.4
Nor do we find the least hint that Timothy, or any one else, was, or
was ever to be, Bishop- in the Episcopal sense - of the Church at
Ephesus, either in Paul's address to its Elders when they met him at
Miletus,5 or in his Epistle to it; while the tenor of the Epistle coincides with his recorded counsel to those Elders to take care of it, as
being themselves its Bishops- in the Congregational sense.6 Moreover, long after the date when Paul is claimed to have set Timothy
over the Ephesian Church as Bishop, he writes to him to "do the
work of- an Evangelist." 7 We dismiss, then, these assumptions on
behalf of the Episcopal dignity of Timothy, and Titus, and James, with
the irresistible conclusion that, but for the reactionary influence of a
corrupt subsequent condition of the churches, leading early writers and
later historians to seek to manufacture precedents in the very time of
the Apostles, no man in his senses would ever have dreamed of attempting to draw such inferences from such premises.8  And we conclude also - since these texts, claimed to establish the New Testament origin of Bishops as an order superior to Elders, fail thus to
justify that claim; and since the duties and qualifications recorded
1 1 Tim.i:3.         2 Acts xix:22.        3 l Tim.iv:13.         4 1 Tim. iii: 14,15.
5 Acts xx: 1738.    G Acts xx: 28.         7 2 Tim. iv: 5.
8 "How little does all this look as if Timothy were the permanent Bishop of Ephesus! A
man who is never mentioned as being there but for a temporary purpose; who received no
charge, even in a letter addressed to him there, but such as might be given to any minister of
the Gospel; who is repeatedly mentioned as being elsewhere united with Paul in his toils and
trials; and of whom there is no intimation that he ever did return, or ever would return, for
any purpose whatever! Such is the strong case on which so much reliance in placed in sustaining the enormous fabric of Episcopacyin the world! "-Barnes' "Apostolic C,urch." p. 106.
109 
C1O:GR EGATIONALIS].
of Bishops and Elders are identical; and since theme is nothing il
the sense, or use, of the words themselves to warrant any other deduction -  that the Scriptures teach the full identity of these offices.
Whence  also we further judge —since the voice of Scripture, of
Ecclesiastical History, and of the early writers of the Church, and
the opinion of so many eminent and candid scholars concur in the
affirmation, - that the first class of permanent officers which Christ
designated for his churches, is indiscriminately spoken of in the New
Testament under the names of Pastor, Teacher, Elder, and Bishop.
Here, as well as anywhere, may be considered a question which
must be answered somewhere, namely:
Does the New Testament teach, or authorize, any such distinct office
in the Church as that of Ruling Elder?  The Presbyterian "Form
of Government" teaches that there is such an office.1 The Dutch
Reformed, and American Lutheran, and some other churches, are
of the same opinion.2 And it is well known that our Pilgrim Fathers
originally held to a distinct office of Ruling Elder, though it soon
went into disuse in New England.  This - as now held -is a lay
office, and an office of ruling simply, as distinguished from teaching;
the Presbyterian' Book' declaring that: "the ordinary and perpetual
officers in the Church are Bishops or Pastors; and the representatives
of the people, usually styled Ruling Elders and Deacons "- so that the
claim of its advocates is that there are three orders of permanent officers
in the Church; one of the ministry, and two of the laity. Of course,
then, Ruling Elders must be radically distinguished from those Elders
who are the same as "Bishops or Pastors;" and the question becomes two-fold; — whether there are any Elders whose sole business
is ruling, distinct from other Elders; and, if so, whether they are
laymen?
The following are the passages by which it is claimed that this
office roots itself in the soil of the New Testament, namely:
1 " Ruling Elders are properly the representatives of the people, chosen by them for the purpose of exercising government and discipline, in conjunction with pastors or ministers. This
office has been understood, by a great part of the Protestant Reformed Churches, to be designated in the Holy Scriptures, by the title of' governments,' and of those who' rule well,' but
do not' labor in the word and doctrine.' "-Form of Gov. of Pres. Church. Book i. ch. 5.
2 See Formula of Government and Discip. of Evang. Luth. Church. Chap. iii. sec. 6; and a
" Mssage to Ruling Eiders," etc.  Board of Pub. Ref. Prot. Dutch Church, passim.
110 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
"Let the Elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honor,
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine."1  "And God
hath set some in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily prophets,
thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, gov ernments, diversities of tongues." 2  "Having then gifts, differing
according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let
us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us
wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that
exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with
cheerfulness."8  " It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one
accord, to send chosen men unto you, with our beloved Barnabas and
Paul; men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ." 4
These are all the proof-texts which the Presbyterian'Book' cites
in evidence. Dr. Owen refers to two or three others, which are collateral and prove nothing unless the office be first established from
these; 5 so that we may feel quite sure that if the divine right of the
Ruling Lay Eldership is not here, it is not anywhere in the New
Testament. But is it here? The last text quoted, clearly says
nothing about Ruling Elders. Judas and Silas, we are told in a
previous verse 6 (where, if they had had any official relation to the
Church, such a fact must have received mention), were - not Ruling
Elders, but -  a-/v6oa;  7,ovltlvovg (andras heuoumenous), [literally],
'leading men among the brethren;' who were here selected to be
sent as delegates to the Church at Antioch. A little further on,7 we
read that they were'prophets;' and the history of Silas is such as
to make it to the last degree improbable that he sustained any permanent official relation to the Church at Jerusalem.8 Unless every
delegate which a Church chooses from among its'leading men' to
represent it before another Church, or a council of churches, is thereby
made a Ruling Elder, this text has no bearing upon the question in
1 Tim. v: 17.                    2 1 Cor. xii: 28.             3 Rom. xii: 6, 8.
4 Acts xv: 25, 26.               5 Acts xx: 28; 1 Tim. iii: 6; Heb. xiii: 7, 17; Rev. ii, iii.
0 Acts xv: 22.                   7 Verse 32.
8 He accompanied Paul on his second Missionary journey through Asia Minor to Macedonia,
(Acts xv: 40; xvii: 4), remained behind in Berea (xvii: 10. 14), and joined Paul again in Corinth (xviii: 5; 1 Thess. i: 1; 2 Thess. i: 1), where he preached with Paul and Timotheus
(2 Cor. i: 19), he being called also Silvanus. See Alford Corn., Acts xv: 22.
III 
CONGREGATIONALISMo
hand. The second text quoted is as good in proof of eight different
kinds of Church officers, as of three; and - so far as its mention of
'governments' is concerned-its etymological force, as we have already
seen,' is exhausted when it is held to refer to those persons in the
Church who'p1)ilot' its movements. It does not assert that they are
officers specially appointed for this duty and doing nothing else; nor
does it intimate that, if so, they are laymen   The most which can be
claimed from it is, that if any other passages can be found establishing the lay Eldership, it may refer to such lay Elders as'governments;' otherwise not.  The same remarks apply to the third passage.  It will hardly be safe to infer from it that there are to be
seven officers in every Church'- one to prophesy, another to minister, another to teach, another to exhort, another to give, another to
rule, and another to show mercy, yet there is as much (~v'dence
from it of seven distinct officers, with those respective functions, as
there is from it that " he that rulethl - with diligence," is a distinct
officer known as a lay Ruling Elder.  If any other texts settle it
that there were in the Apostolic churches, and were Divinely intended to be in every Church, lay Ruling Elders, to whom  belongs
the administration of government and discipline, then this'ruling,
with diligence,' doubtless refers to them; otherwise not. The whole
question of direct Scriptural testimony establishing the Divine origin
and authority of lay Ruling  Elders is then thrown upon the single
text first cited above, namely: "let the Elders that rule well be
counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the
word and doctrine." If this passage establishes the office of lay Ruling Elders, then it will explain into harmony with itself the other
texts to which allusion has been made, and we shall have Scriptural
warrant for such an office; if it fails, the whlole theory falls to the
ground.   Concerning it, we suggest:  1. These' Elders' here spoken of, it is reasonable to infer — in
the absence of any hint to the contrary, in the structure of the text -
must be the same  oeeeo, (presbuteroi), of whom Paul has been
speaking in the earlier portion of the Epistle,2 and whom he speaks
of again 8 before its close; the same persons, in fact, who are commonly referred to, under that name, in the New Testament. Unless
2  iTim.  iii: 1-7;  v: 1.
112
4
I See pp. 74, 75.
8 Verse 19, 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
this is so, the Apostle here violates the first principles of the use of
language, and could not expect to make himself rightly understood.
But, if the Elders here spoken of are the same as have been everywhere else called by that name, they are the same persons who are
also called' Bishops,' and' Pastors,' and' Teachers;' namely: the
Spiritual guides of the Church; and hence they cannot be lay Elders
- whether' Ruling,' or otherwise.
2. The very structure of the verse is such as grammatically to
compel the inference that the Elders who'rule well,' are of the same
kind of Elders who'labor in the word and doctrine.' This results
from the necessary force of the adverb f'tt.6Ttz (maista),' most of
all,' whose force is not to divide into classes, but to indicate a distinction of emphasis between individuals of the same class. It is used
only twelve times in the New Testament. Of these, in three cases,1 it
simply adds energy to the assertion which is made.  In every instance
of the remaining eight (the passage under consideration being left out
of the account), it introduces the mention of particulars on which
stress is laid, which are included in the general mention of the first
member oi the sentence.2  So that to read this adverb here as seclud
1 Acts xx: 38  "Sorrowing most oy all for the words which he spake, that they should see
his face no more;" Acts xxv: 26,-"Specially before thee, 0 King Agrippa," etc.; Acts
xxvi: 3, -" I think myself happy, King Agrippa, etc., especially because I know thee to be
expert," etc.
2 Gal. vi: 10.  "Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them, [that portion of'all
men'] who are of the household of faith."
Phil. iv: 22.  "All the saints salute you, chiefly they, [that portion of' all the saints'] that
are of Coesar's household"
1 Tim. iv: 10. "Wvho is the Saviour of all men, specially of those [that portion of'all men']
that believe"
1 Tim  v * 8. "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those [that portion of
' his ovn' that are of] his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
2 Tim. iv: 13. "The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with
thee, and the books, but especially [(all books were' parchments' then) that portion of his
'bo,ks' which Timothy would understand by the term ram iEai3pvas] the parchments."
Titus i: 10 " For thern are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially [worst
among the' many'] thev of the circumcision."
Philemon v. 16. "A brother beloved [of all who know him] specially to me [of that all] but
how much more unto thee," etc.
2 Peter ii: 9, 10  "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to
reserve the unjust unto the day ofjudgment to be punished: but chiefly them [the Lord knoweth how to' reserve' that portion of the' unjust'] that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness," etc. If, now, we read the text under consideration by this invariable usage of
#iXtarax in such connection in the New Testament, it will stand thus: -': Let the Elders that
rule well be counted worthy of double honor; especially they [that portion of, the Elders thati,
rule well'] who labor in the word and doctrine."
8
113 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
ing Elders that'rule well,' into a class different from those who
'labor in the word and doctrine,' would be to do violence to the
analogy of its use in every kindred passage in the New Testament.
But if the Elders that'rule well,' are of the same class as those who
labor in the word and doctrine,' they cannot be lay Elders.
3. Further, if these' elders that rule well,' are of such a kind that
any of them also'labor in the word and doctrine,' they cannot be
distinguished into a class which shall have ruling solely for its function; for the ruling Elders of which this text speaks, are to be doubly
honored for'laboring in the word and doctrine;' that is,-  on the
Presbyterian theory- they are to be specially commended for forsaking their own function, and doing that, the not doing of which is
the only ground for the separate existence of their office in the
Church.
4. There is, then, not only nothing in this text which can be made,
without violent perversion of its plain sense, to teach the Divine intention of lay Ruling Elders as a distinct and permanent ofice in the
The inevitable suggestion of this text is, then, that ruling belongs to all Elders, and laboring
in the word and doctrine only to some; while those who rule best must be honored, particularly if, in addition, they also teach.
See Davidson (Ecclesiastical Polity of the New Testament." p. 183, 184.)
Olshausen says: " It is evident that the Apostle here distinguishes between two kinds of
ruling presbyters - those who labor in the word, and those who do not   Both are ruling presbyters, and from this it already appears that it is not lay presbyters, as many have thought,
that are here spoken of in contradistinction to clerical presbyters; for by 7rlopscrccr, rcrpec,6lrepot can he understood only presbyters merely as they are already known to us.""Kendrick's Trans." Vol. vi. p. 135.
Alford says of the 7rpea/ - ep..tl generally in the New Testament (including those mentioned
here), "they are identical with iclj,',ro."-Vol. ii. p. 118.
Even that eminent Presbyterian, Rev J  P Wilson, D.D., who investigated the question
most thoroughly, in his work on the "Primitive Government of Christian Cittrc/hes,,' concedes
in regard to this text (1 Tim. v: 17) that it "exp3resses a diversity in the exercise of the presbyterial office, but not in the office itself." pp. 282, 283.  And he consistently refused to have any
Ruling Elders in his own Church. See Princeton Review (1843.) Vol. xv. p. 325.
So, too, an able writer in the Spirit of the Pilgrims on "Church Officers," says of this text,
"here the Elder is seen to be one who' labors in the word and doctrine,' i. e., who is in the
ministry; and another word would not be necessary, were it not that some have thought two
classes of Elders are here spoken of-one gover?ning and the other teaching the Church.  But
it does not appear that the Scriptures elsewhere appoint, or even recognize, a second and subordinate class of Elders.  A single passage, it is true, if it fairly taught the doctrine, were
enough; and, like the oath of confirmation. should be' the end of all strife' But inasmuch
as this text is alone, even in seeming to intimate such a sentiment; and inasmuch as the intimation, if it be one, is very remote, while the passage may well be interpreted differently; -in
such a case to graft the sentiment in question upon the Bible, as an item of Scriptural doetrine, seems quite gratuitous. The question may well arise whether the ruling, spoken of in
this passage, is not the prerogative of the ministry? Of this, I think, there can be no serious
doubt."-Spirit of the Pilgrims.  (1831.) Vol. iv. p. 190
114 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Church, or as an office in it at all,' but there is nothing in the least
degree inharmonious with the Congregational theory that these Elders
are the same as the Bishops, Pastors and Teachers elsewhere mentioned as being - with the Deacons- the only officers of the Church.
We hold that there is an important sense in which every Pastor and
Teacher of a Church is also its rutler.  Ruling implies guiding and
instructing, and also the carrying into execution of laws, not made
by the Executive. The Governor of MIassachusetts suggests to its
Legislature such guidance and instruction in regard to laws that
ought to be enacted by them, as his position prompts him to do; and
then he puts in execution whatever laws they are pleased to enjoin.
Thus he is the Chief Ruler of the Commonwealth, while, at the same
time, the State, in its Legislatuire, retains the power to adopt, or reject,
his every proposition, and to enact every law, his execution of which
makes him its Chief Ruler.  Similar is the relation of the Cong,regational Pastor to his Church.   Fie brings to its notice such matters as
seem to him to require action, and seeks to enlighten it in regard to
the nature of that action, which, under the circumstances, he judges
will be most grateful to Christ; and then, as its executive officer, he
puts in operation such action as it may decide upon -whether in
coincidence with his own suggestions or not. Thus he is, in a sense,
its ruler; such a sense as, in no degree, impairs its sovereignty under
Christ over all its affairs, or its responsibility to Christ for them all.
In a large Church, so situated as to make this double work of ruling
and teaching onerous for one Pastor,- as in some great MIission
Church in a heathen land, whose members need more, both of teaching and ruling, than if they had not come out of recent paganismtwo or more Pastors may be needful, and of their number, one or
more, peculiarly fitted by divine grace for that department of the
work, may become Elders' that rule well,' and so' be counted worthy
of double honor;' while if they can both'rule well,' and'labor in
the word and doctrine,' they will be'especially' worthy of this augmented regard and reward.  We  have only to suppose the Church
in Ephesus - where Timothy was when Paul thus wrote to him
1 " Fuerunt, qui in duas potissimum classes presbyteros primsevseecclesise digererent, quarum
altera regentium sive laicorum; docentium altera sive clericorum esset. Quorum  sententia,
quum jamnidudum explosa sit vitringse, Ilugonis Grotii, Blondelii, aliorum hac de re inquisitionibus, - decies repetita haud placebunt."-Lucke. Corn. p. 103.
115 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
to be of this description - a supposition in itself every way a probable
one-and this text describes exactly what would be natural and proper
in a Congregational Church conducted on the ordinary principles of
Congregationalism.   But if it can be explained into harmony with
all the other passages in the New Testament, in which Elders are
mentioned always as being the same as Pastors, Teachers, and
Bishops, it ought to be so explained.
Nor are we without collateral proof from other passages, that, only
when so explained, do we get its true force. Paul, speaking to the
Hebrews, says: 1 Remember them which have the rule over you," by
which he must mean'Ruling Elders,' if there were any such in the
Presbyterian sense; yet hlie proceeds immediately to add: "who have
spoken unto youtt the word of God," etc.; proving that the Ruling Elders whom he had in mind, were not separate lay officers, but their
ordinary Pastors and Teachers.2 And in the same spirit, in the
same chapter, he says again:  "obey them that have the rule over
you, and submit yourselves,"- (surely these must be the lay Ruling
Elder.<, if there were any), yet he describes them as being those who
"watch for your souls as they that must give account," etc.: -an expression that implies, if any thing emphatically can, the function of
Pastors, and Teachers, and Bishops of the Church.4 So Paul, writ
1 Heb. xiii: 7
2 "Daces, purfs des-leaders, guides. directors, which here means teachers, as the explanatory clause that follow.vs clearly shows." —Stuart's'Hebrews." (Robbins' Ed.) p. 494.
':  syoveveoo is here applied to the Presbyters or Bishops of the Church."-Conybeare and
Howson.  Vol. ii. p. 547.
"Principes quod nomen hic optimo jure aptatur iis qui apud Christianos, per excellentiam,
turn pr,esides, turn Episcopi dicuntur, quorum munus est non tantum prseesse presbyterio sed
et laborare in verbo."- Grotius. in loco. Vol. iii. p. 1066.
" H1oilVeot (compare verses 17, 24) are their leaders in tILe faith." -A.:ford. in loco Vol.
iv. p. 253.
3 Verse 17.
4 " These two things [' obedience' and' honor'] are necessarily required, so that the people
might have confidence in theirpastors, and also reverence for them."- Calvin. in loco. "He.
brews.', p. 35-2.
"Pastoribus ut quibus data est potestas, et ducendi, non cogendi jus."-Jacobus Capellus, in
Poole. Syn. Crit. in loco. Vol. v. p. 1406.
" Verbum iypVertele curam et solicitudinem significant, qute maximd in Episcopis requiritur."-Gerhardus   Ibid. p 1407
'lspi sr.tSre   yv ~E,vt."-f-Ecumenius. Alford. in loco.  Vol. iv. p 269.
-wAyprvT- atch; the image seems to be taken from the practice of shepherds, who
watch with solicitude over their flocks in order that they may preserve them from the ravages
of wild beasts."-S-tuart. (Robbins' Ed.) in loco. p. 498.
116
I 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
ing to the Church at Thessalonica, urges them "to know them which
labor among you, and are over you in the Lord,"I - (the very expression one would think it natural for him to have selected to designate
their lay ruling elders, if they had any) -and yet he immediately
describes the persons intended by him as being those who "admonish
you," [-ovOezops-  nouthetountas], a word which here, as in sevral other passages,2 seems clearly to imply the labor of the Pastor
and Spiritual guide.
5. Again, the Presbyterian theory of this text conflicts with records
made, and directions specially given by the New Testament in regard
to the right method of ruling in the Church. That ruling must respect either the admission, dismission, or discipline of members; the
choice of officers; or the transaction of current business. But we have
already seen I that, by precept and example, the New Testament
demands this action directly from the Church itself, in its entire male
membership. Particularly clear is this in the matter of discipline -
the gravest and most solemn subject with which the ruling of the
Church can ever have to do -of which Christ himself said' tell it
unto the Church." 4  How can this direction be complied with if a
Session of Elders5 steps in between the Church and the offender,
and rules him out, (or in); with no direct action -perhaps even no
knowledge -of the Church itself in the premises?  And how, in the
absence of any other passage claimed to teach directly any such doctrine of Ruling Elders, can it be right to interpret this passagewhich will bear a natural interpretation that will harmonize with the
entire record -in such a manner as to nullify all those texts which
I 1 Thess. v: 12
2 Compare Acts xx: 31, "I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears; " 1 Cor.
iv: 14, "As my dear chlildtren I warn you;" Col i: 2S, *' WVhom we preach, wcarning every
man, and teaching every man," etc.; where the same Greek word, translated in the text above
'admonish.' is used to describe the tenderest and solemnest function of the Pastor's office.
" The persons indicated by KoTrldra;,rpo?lra/Ero, t  and y~JvOT'ovJrac% are the same; viz:
the rp(a/36repsL or   aoim..rs."-Alford. Co.  1 Thess. v: 12. Vol. iii. p. 265.
3 See pages 9, and 40-43.
4 Matt. xviii: 17.
5 The assumption sometimes made by Presbyterians that Christ's command to "; tell it uimto
the Church," means "' tell it to the Session of Ruling Elders," (see "Message to Ruling Elders," p. 8, etc.) is beneath refutation, and can only amaze the mind which reflects upon it,
and inquires how, with such principles of interpretation, are the Papists, and Swedeuborgians,
or even the Mormons, to be logically foreclosed from any conclusions their fancy may incline
them to attach to any passage of the Bible!
117 
C ON GREGATIONALISM.
place the responsibility and privilege of ruling, distinctly upon the
Church as a body?
6. But it becomes to the last degree improbable, that this text was
divinely intended to be the corner-stone of a special lay office in
every Church, of a species of Elder whose sole business should be
ruling, when we remember that the New Testament, in its mention
of the qualifications of Elders, says of them as a class, and without
exception, that they must'hold fast the faithful word as they have
been taught, that they may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort,
and to convince the gainsayers.' 1 It is strange that all elders should be
required thus to be'apt to teach,' if a portion of thenm were intended
to ignore teaching altogether, and indeed to get the peculiarity of their
office from so doing; while it is incredible that a separate office so
easy to be confounded with that of the teaching Elder, and yet so important to be distinguished from it, could have existed in the Apostolic Church, while no reference whatever is made to it by the Holy
Spirit, even when the general subject of the class, of which this is
claimed to be a species, is under its consideration!
We conclude, then, that this text fails utterly to announce, to hint,
or even to be in any manner, however remote, consistent with, the
theory of a lay Ruling Eldership in the Church of Christ; or of any
office of Ruling Elder distinct from the ordinary Elder, who labors' in
the word and doctrine,' and is the Pastor, or Bishop of the Church.
And since this text falls, all the other texts which we have considered,
and whose explanation waits to be determined by it, fall also to the
ground, and leave the Presbyterian theory on this subject without
the support of a single passage from the New Testament.
As to the testimony of antiquity, Vitringa,2 Rothe,8 and Neander,4
have fairly shown that the few passages usually quoted by Presbyterians from the Fathers, in proof of the existence of a lay Ruling Eldership in the early Church, will not warrant the interpretation which they
put upon them; and that the office originated in the mind of John Calvin.5 The same concession has been honorably made by Rev. J. P.
1 Tit. i: 9.                                    2 De Synag. Vet. Lib. ii. Chap. 2.
3 Die Anfange, etc. i: 221.                      4 Apos. Kirche. i: 186.
5 The passage of the Institutes by which Calvin first suggested the office - so say Gieseler,
Davidson, and others -is the following: "Duo autem sunt quse perpetuo manent: gubernatio, et cura pauperum.  Gubernatores fuisse existimo seniores e plebe delectos, qui censurs
morum, et exercendae disciplines una cum Episcopis prseessent.  Neque enim secus interpretari
118
4
I
i 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Wilson, D. DI., a learned and eminent Presbyterian in this country,
who published twenty-one articles in the Monthly Christian Spectator
(A. D. 1823-1828), which were afterwards enlarged into an elaborate
work, the object of which was to disprove the antiquity of the lay
Eldership; to dislodge it from any imagined proofs in the patristic
writings; and to show how, at Geneva, in 1541, Calvin -as the best
thing which could be done to meet an exigency which had arisen
then, and there, - devised and brought into operation the system
of lay Eldership, and afterward attempted to justify it from the
Bible.2 To the research and reasoning employed by him, nothing
needs to be added, for they do the work thoroughly and forever; so that
it is difficult to see how those who master the facts of his essay, can
resist their force, and continue to uphold the office whose pretensions
to any Divine origin, or authority, it utterly demolishes. Indeed the
ablest Presbyterians are accustomed to rest the claim of the office
upon expediency, rather than upon Divine enactment, or Biblical
warrant; taking the ground that "having constituted the Church a
distinct society, he [Christ] thereby gave it the right to govern itself,
queas quod dicit (Rom. xii: 8):' Qui prmeest, id faciat in sollicitudine.' Habuit igitur ab initio
unaquseque Ecclesia suum  senatum, conscriptum ex viris piis, gravibus et sanctis  penes
quem erat illa, de qua postea loquemur, jurisdictio in corrigendis vitiis. Porro ejusmodi ordinem non unius sseculi faisse, experientia ipsa declarat. Est igitur et hoc gubernationis munus
seEculis omnibus necessarium."-'"Institutes."  Lib. iv. cap. iii. sec. 8.  (Ed. Tholuck, 1846)
p 218.
Dr. Davidson says: i' The office now termed the Ruling Eldership was invented by Calvin
After creating it, he naturally enough endeavored to procure Scripture proof in its favor Dr
King quotes the usual passages from Cyprian, Origen, and Hilary, to show that these fathers
were acquainted with this office; but the proof will not suffitce to convince an honest inquirer.
Surely if he had known the thorough examination to which these quotations have been subjected by Rothe and Neander, he would have allowed them to sleep undisturbed, rather than
affix interpretations to them which they refuse to bear. We repeat our assertion that Calvin
created that office.  Vitringa demolished it with learned and unanswerable arguments   Let
the advocates of it refute him if they be able."-Ecclesiastical Polity of New Test."  p 193.
1 Calvin himself says in regard to it, after its establishment. -" Nunc habemus qualecunque
Presbyterorum judicium, et formam  discipline  qualem ferebat temperum  infirmitas."Epist. 54.
2 Dr. Wilson sums up his argument, as follows  -" It has now fairly resulted from this investigation, that a special form of ecclesiastical government was adopted by the Genevese at the
Reformation; not because it was found, by Scriptural precept or example, to have been the
original Apostolic scheme; but because the nearest approach to the true one, which the peculiar circumstances of the Canton, and the exigencies of the times, would admit.... Had Calvin
justified the expedient by the necessity of the case, he would have betrayed his design, and
prevented others from the benefit of his example; but he gave ease to his conscience, and
plausibility to his conduct, by seeking a defence from the Scriptures."-Monthly Christian
Spectator. Vol. x. (1828.) p. 64.
119 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
according to the general principles revealed in his word;" and, if it
be objected against this that it opens the way for "human devices,"
replying that "if Christ has given his Church the power of self-government, what the Church does in the exercise of that power - if
consistent with his revealed will 1 - has as much his sanction as it
well could have under any theory of Church government."2  Upon
this question of the expediency of the government of the Church by
lay ruling Elders, we shall have something to say hereafter,3 only
here remarking that the acceptance of such a vital change in the
method of Church ruling which Christ suggested, and the Apostles
arranged, and the early Churches practiced, avowedly on the ground
of simple expediency, seems to us a procedure opening a very wide
log,ical door for error in other directions, which its advocates must
speedily hasten to shut, if pressed by the hypothesis of'expediency'
in regard to other doctrines and practices. This danger has, indeed,
been seen by some, and has led them to throw out this claim of expediency altogether, and the more earnestly to return to the Bible in
the attempt to engraft the office upon some passage there.4 Dr. Breckinridge and Dr. Thornwell have recently made a new effort to adjust
the question, by taking the ground that the Presbyterian'Ruling
1 Is a Session of Ruling Elders coming between " the Church " and duties Scripturally enjoined upon it from the lips of Christ himself, " consistent with his revealed will?"
2 Princeton Review, (1843.) Vol. xv. pp. 319-332.
8 See p 260.
4 WVell say the authors of the "Divine Right of Church Government: wherein it is proved
that the Presbyterian Goverisnent niay lay the only lawful claim to a Divine Right," etc.; " If
mere prudence be counted once a sufficient foundation for a distinct kind of Church officer, we
shall open a door for Church officers at pleasure; then welcome commissioners and committee
men, etc, yea, then let us return to the vomit, and resume prelates, deacons, archdeacons,
chancellors, officials, etc,for Church officers. And where shall we stop? Who but Christ
Jesus himself can establish new officers in his Church?... Certainly if the Scriptures lay not
before us grounds more than prudential for the Ruling Elder, it were better never to have
mere Ruling Elders in the Church."-(Ed  New York, 1844.) p. 114.
So the author of a series of articles in the Presbyterian, on the "Rights of Ruling Elders,"
urges, with great force, the fact that the office must rest upon the ground " either of human
expediency, or divine warrant   If upon the former, then it is a human device, etc.. If the
Ruling Elder is not a Scriptural' presbyter,' and his office a Divine institution, then of course
we claim for him no part of the powers of ordination, or any other presbyterial power; it would
be manifestly inconsistent to accord him any, and in this view our constitution has done what
it had no right to do, viz: added to the appointments of God, as to the government of the
Church."  So, in speaking of Acts xiv: 23, this writer affirms: "if these [Elders ordained in
every Church] were all preaching Elders, it is fatal to Presbyterianism;" and adds again- " if
the Ruling Elder be not a Scriptural Presbyter, but a mere layman - an officer of human appointment-why say so, and let him be shorn of all his assumed presbyterial powers," etc.See the Presbyterian, (Nos. 614-626.)
120
I
i 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Elder' is the'Presbyter' of the New Testament -of which generic
office the Preaching Elder constitutes a species; whence they argue
that Ruling Elders ought to be admitted to take part in ordination
with the Preachling Elders, in the "laying on of the hands of the
Presbytery," 1 etc.  This view, which certainly has the advantage of
looking more Scriptural than that of Calvin,-yet which is radically
destructive of the whole Presbyterian polity - has been earnestly assaulted by Rev. Dr. Smyth, in the Princeton RPeview for 1860, at the
length of more than one hundred and thirty octavo pages.2  It may
reasonably be presumed that the end of the discussion is not yet.
M'eanwhile it is difficult to see how, on either theory, are to be explained the practical facts that this Elder - who is specially commissioned to rit1e in the Church, whether of the same class with the
Preachling Elder, or not - in reality never does rule in the judicatorie, of t]l.c Clhurch, but must always yield the claim to the mere
Preacling Elder;'  and that, when he is declared worthy of "double
maintenance" 4 if hlie can "rule well," the Ruling Elder is never supporited by the Church at all, but only the Preaching Elder!
In order to understand the position of our Pilgrim Fathers on this
I;'Knozoledg,e of God, subjectively considered." pp. 629, 641, and Southern Presbyterian Re —
view, (1859). p. 615.  Dr. Adger ('"Inau,gural Discourse on Church History," etc., in Southern
Pres. Rev. (1859), p. 171, and Rev. Dr. Thompson, late of Buffalo, (in his opening discourse before the i\~eo School General Assembly of 1859, as reported in the Newo York Observer) are understood to take substantially the same ground with Drs. Breckinridge and Thornwell.
2 Princeton Review, vol. xxxii- pp. 185-236, 449-472, 702-758. Dr. Smyth thinks he proves
that this new theory (1) destroys the argument for Presbyterianism; (2) destroys the ministry
as a distinct order; (3) undermines the argument for the truth of Christianity, (4) destroys the
Ruling Eldership; and (5) destroys the Deaconship.
3 " Thie Pastor of the congregation shall always be the moderator of the session."-"Book,
Chap ix. sec. 3. So the moderator of the Synods, and of the General Assembly must preach,
and, of course, must be a preaching Elder.-"Book." Chap  xi. see 5, and Chap. xii. sec. 7.
4 This is the conceded force of the J,-,,rX  r-,,p a daoisaO.,aa, of 1 Tim  v: 17.
"It is evident that not merely honor, but recompense, is here in question."-Aford. Cornm
1 Tim v: 17. Vol. iii. p 3.35.
"It is honor, but an honor which finds its expression in giving, as verse 18 proves."-1-Olshausen (Kendrick's Ed.) in loco. Vol. vi. p. 135.
"Qui vero ita occupati erant, minus vacabant opificio, et rei familiari, et digni erant compensatione.:"-Bengel.  " Gnornon." in locos. p 832
"Videtur autem dup.icem hooremrn dicere et alimenta, qune et ipsa illis cum honore dantur,
ut Regibus tributa."- Grotius. in loco. Vol iii. p 975
"Duplici, id est copioso honore, sub quo etiam comprehendit alimenta, aliaque subsidia ad
vitam sustentandam, munusque quod gerunt recte administrandum, necessaria, ut qui multos hospitio excipere debeant (1 Tim. iii: 2) 1"-Brennius. in loco. Fol. 88.
121
i 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
subject, and to know the exact type and force of their idea of Ruling
Elders, we need to consider two facts.  In the first place, they were
led, in the outset, by their great reverence for the very letter of the
Word of God, to put too close an interpretation upon Rom. xii: 7, 8,
and its kindred passages; while, in the second place, they were constrained, by their reluctance to commit themselves to that democracy
which was then so dreaded in the State, to repress the breadth and
fullness of their exposition of such texts as throw the whole responsibility of the affairs of the Church, under Christ, upon the entire
membership. Hence they started with the theory of five officers in
every Church, namely: Pastor, Teacher, Ruler, Deacon and Deaconess,' because they supposed that number to be required by those
I Browne, in his "I Points and Parts of all Diviripty," etc. (A. D. 1582. 4to, pp. 112), calls the five
officers,'4Pastor, Teacher, Elder, I?eliever, and Widow."-Defs. 53, 54. Hanbury. TVol. i. p. 21
The "True Description, out of the Vorrl of God, of the Visible Ch'urch," attributed to Clyfton,
or Sumyth (A. D. 1589, 4to, pp. 8), says of the Church, " she enjoyeth most holy and heavenly
laws, most faithful and vigilant Pastors, most sincere and pure Teachers; most careful and
upright Governors; most diligent and trusty Deaco),s; most loving and sober Relievers; and a
most humble, meek, obedient, faithful, and loving people," etc.-Hanbury. Vol. i. pp. 29-34.
So, Strype tells us that in the examination of Mr Daniel Buck, Scrivener, of the Borough of
Southwarlt, taken before three magistrates March 9, 1592-3, he saith -(in reference to the
affiairs of the Congregational Church of which he was a member) that'; Mr. Francis Johnson
was chosen Pastor; and Mr. Greenwood, Doctor [Teacher]; and Bowman and Lee, Deacons;
and Studley and George Kniston Apothecary, were chosen E'ders, in the house of one Fox, in
St Nicholas Lane. London [this house is now known as No. 80, King William Street], about
half a year sithence, all in one day, by their congregation; or at Mr. Bilson's house in Cree
Church; he remembereth not whether," etc.-I'Anitals." Vol. iv. p 174.
John Robinson, in his "Catechism" annexed to Mr. Perkins'  Six Principles," has the following answer to a question asking for the " gifts and works "7 of the five officers of the Church.
a (1) The Pastor (exhorter) to whom is given the gift of wisdom for exhortation. (2) The Teacher, to whom is given the gift of knowledge for doctrine. (3) Thile GvIersist,. Eflder, who is to
rule with diligence (Eph. iv: 11; 1 Cor. xii: 8; Rom. xii: 8; 1 Tim. v. 17). (4) The Deacon
who is to administer the holy treasure wfith simplicity. (5) The IVidow (or Deaconess), who is
to attend the sick and impotent with compassion and cheerfulness. (Acts vi: 2-7; 1 Tim. iii:
8 10, etc.; v: 9, 10; Rom. xvi. 1).-IVorks. Vol. iii. p. 429.
Governor Bradford, in his account of the rise of the movement in England, which culminated
in New England, says: " The one side laboured to have ye right worship of God & discipline
of Christ established in ye Church, according to ye simplicitie of ye Gospell, without the mixture of mens inventions, and to have & to be ruled by ye laws of Gold's word, dispensed in those
offices, & by those officers of Pastors, Teachers ~ Elders, &c., according to ye Scripturs," etc.
"Plimouth Plantation." (Ed. 1856.) p.4.
Gov. Bradford also has recorded the following interesting facts in reference to the emigrant
churches sojourning in Holland; He says: " At Amsterdam, before their division and breach,
they were about three hundred communicants, and they had for their pastor and teacher those
two eminent men before named, [Johnson and Ainsworth] and in our time four grave men for
Ruling Elders, and three able and godly men for Deacons, one ancient widow for a Deaconess,
etc.. And for the Church at Leyden [Robinson's own] they were sometimes not much fewer
in number, nor at all inferior in able men, though they had not so many officers as the other;
t
122 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
passages which bear upon the subject in the New Testament; and
then- in order to assign work for the' Ruler' which should harmonize with the functions of the'Pastor' and'Teacher,' on the one
hand, and with the rights of the membership of the Church on the
other,-they evolved a theory of Ruling Eldership which was yet not
very consistent with itself, nor with the Scripture on which they rested it; while it proved to be so inconsistent with other vested rights,
and with the general teaching of Providence in the course of subsequlent affiirs, as to compel them at last to abandon the experiment,
give up the office, transfer a part of the powers they had entrusted
to it to the Pastor, and a part to the membership, and boldly avow
that the power of Church ruling is put by Christ upon the Church, as
a body, under the guidance of its Pastor and Teacher.
The function of the Ruling Elder, according to their original concei)tion of the office, was ten-fold; namely: (1) to take the initiative
in the admission and dismission of members;1 (2) to moderate the
meetings of the Church  2 (3) to prepare all matters of business for
the action of the brotherhood; 8 (4) to exercise a general oversight
over the private conduct of the members of the Church, with a view
to see that none walk disorderly; 4 (5) to settle all offences between
brethren privately, if possible;5 otherwise (6) to bring offenders to
the judgment of the Church, and execute its censures; 6 (7) to call the
Church together and dismiss it with the benediction; 7 (8) to ordain
for they had but one Ruling Elder, with their Pastor, a man well approved and of great integrity; also they had three able men for Deacons."-"Dialogue between some Young Men, etc.
an,/ s,l,dry Ancient niez,'" etc., in Young's " Chronicles ofthe Pilgrimn Fathers," etc. pp. 455, 456.
Lechiford (A. D. 1641), writes of the churches in New England, that they have five offices,
"that is to say, Pastors and Teachers, Rlhling Elders, Deacons and Deaconesses (or widowes)."
-"Plaine Dealing."1 Mass. Hist. Coll. Vol. iii Third Series  p 69.
1 See Robinson's'Just and Necessary Apology," etc. }Vorks Vol. iii. p. 31; John Davenport's
"Power of Coolgregatiolal Churches Asserted and Vindicated." p. 95; John Cotton's " TWay of
the C',rches," p 36; Hooker's " Sur'ey of the Summe of Church Discipline." Part ii. p. 18;
Cambridzle Platform, Chap. vii. sec. 2. (1); Chap. x. sec 9.
2 Cotton's " TVay." etc. p. 37; Platform, Chap. vii. sec 2. (4); Chap  x. sec. 8.
3 Rob)inson's "Apo'ogy/."  Works.  Vol. iii. p. 31; Cotton's;'Keyes," etc. p. 52;  Platform,
Ch'Lp. vii. see 2. (3); Hooker's';,3rvey," Part ii. p. 16
4 Cotton's "'Keyes?" etc. p. -5; Platform, Chap. vii. sec. 2. (6); Hooker's "Simmne," Part
ii. p. 18.
5 Cotton's   t iay," etc. p. 37; Platformn, Chap. vii sec. 2. (7); Hooker's'Summe."  Part
ii p 18.
6 Cotton's "Keyes," etc. p. 52; "Way," etc. p 38; Platform, Chap. x. sec. 9; Robinson's
"Apolroy.," Vol. iii p. 43.
7 Platform, Chap. x. sec. 9; Cotton's "Keyes," etc. p. 63.
1123
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
those persons whom the membership may choose to office; 1 (9) to
visit the sick;2 (10) to teach, in the absence of the Pastor and
Teacher.3
Such varied -  and much of it delicate- work as this, must have
required specially wise men to do it, or it could not be well done.
Moreover, such an Eldership must everywhere have threatened the
rights of the membership; and must have been hard to class, and
especially difficult to fill, without breeding discord in the Body. Our
Fathers were not quite sure whether it was a I(ly office or not; Robinson demanding that all Ruling Elders should be "apt to teach," 4
and Cotton'utterly denying' them to be'Lay-men;',5 while the
Cambridge Platform declared that "the Ruling Elder's work is to join
with the Pastor and Teacher in those acts of Spiritual rule which
are distinct from the ministry of the Word and Sacraments," 6 and
shrank their teaching into the poor lay privilege "to feed the flock
of God with a word of admonition."  It was agreed, however, that
the Ruling Elders must act in connection with the Teaching Elders,
who - in the words of Thomas Prince - " have the power both of
Overseeing, Teaching, Administring the Sacraments, and Ruling
too;" and "that the Elders of Both Sorts form the Presbytery of
Overseers & Rulers, which shou'd be in every particular Church;
And are in Scripture called sometimes Presbyters or Elders, some
times Bishops or Overseers, sometimes Guides & sometimes Rulers." 7
1 Cotton's "Keyes," p. 51; Platform, Chap. ix. sec. 3. See also Mather's Magnelia, (Ed.
1853.) Vol. ii. p. 241.
2 Cotton's *lW'ay," etc. p. 37; Platforn, Chap. vii. sec. ii. (9).
3 RIobinson's "Apology."  ]Vrks. Vol. iii. p. 28; also Robinson's and Brewster's "Letter to
Sir John  TTVol.stnholme."  arorks.  Vol. 3. p. 488;  Cotton's  " IVay," etc. p. 37;  Cotton's
"Keyes," etc. pp. 49-51; Prince's "Annals." Vol. i. p. 92.
4 It'orks. Vol. iii. p. 28.' Vay," etc. p. 33.
6 Chap. vii. sec. 2.
7 "INei Englatid Chronology." (Ed. 1736.) Vol. i.p.92.  The actual work done by the New
England Ruling Elder is perhaps better described by Gov. Hutchinson, than anywhere else;
though his account indicates that there was a discrepancy on some points between the practice
of the churches, and the theory set forth above.  He says: —" In matters of offence, the Ruling Elder, after the hearing, asked the Church if they were satisfied; if they were not, he left
it to the Pastor or Teacher, to denounce the sentence of excommunication, suspension, or admonition, according as the Church had determined.  Matters of offence, regularly, were first
brought to the Ruling Elder in private, and might not otherwise be told to the Church. It
was the practice for the Ruling Elders to give public notice of such persons as desired to enter
into Church fellowship with them, and of the time proposed for admitting them, if no sufficient
objection was offered; and when the time came, to require all persons who knew any just
grounds of objection to signify them.  Objections were frequently made, and until they were
124 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
It is not difficult to see that such an office contained within itself
the elements of its own dissolution. It could not be pract:cally inwrought into the working of a Congregational Church, without a
friction on all sides, that must inevitably lead, sooner or later, to its
abandonment. If its duties were zealously performed, they would
clash in several obvious particulars; on the one side, with those of
the Pastor -who was already subdivided (by a process, wbhich, if
clear in theory, never became entirely so in practice), by the ereeCion
of a Co-Pastor by his side, under the name of Teacher,' and on tshe
other, with those of the Deacon-so that sensible men looking on, soon
came to the practical conclusion of Gov. Hutchinson, -who argued
that every thing appertaining to "the peculiar province of the Ruling
heard and determined, the Ruling Elder seems to have moderated in the Church, l]it the
Churchl's consent to the admission was asked by the Pastor or Teacher," [Leehford s,ays, (A. D.
1641), that the    Ruling Eder put the question to the Church, " Plain Dealing,"' MaTss. Hist.
Coil., Vol. iii. Third Series, p. 71], "who also rehearsed and proposed the Church covenant,
and declared them members.  When a minister preached to any other than his own (hurech,
the Ruling Elder of the Church after the psalm sung, said publicly,' if this present brother
hath any word of exhortation for the people at this time, in the name of God, let him say on.'
The Ruling Elder alsvays read the psalm.  When the member of one Church desired to receive
the sacrament at another, he came to the Ruling Elder, who proposed his name to the Church
for their consent.  At the communio(n they sat with the minister.  I find nothing further relating to this officer in their public assemblies.  They were considered, without doors, as men
for advice and council in religious matters; they visited the sick, and had a general inspection
and oversight of the conduct of their brethren."-" T History of the Colony of Mass. Bay,"
(Ed. 1765.) Vol. i. p. 426.
1 " The Pastor- on whom chiefly devolved the care of the flock when out of the pulpitwas expected to spend his strength mostly in exhortation, persuading and rousing the Church
to a wvise diligence in the Christian calling.  The Teacher was to indoctrinate the Church, and
labor to increase the amount of religious knowledge.  His workshop wan the stud; whlile the
Pastor toiled in the open field...... In the estimation of our fathers, the Pastor's station was
considered to have rather the priority in importance and dignity."- McClure's Life of John
C,otton. pp. 115, 116.
The only instance in which this distinction was practically recognized in the churches of
New IIampshire, is believed to have leen by the Church in HIampton -. the oldest in that
State -which, in 1639, invited Rev. Timothy Dalton to act as Teacher, with Rev. Stepihen Biachiler as Pastor; and which subsequently associated with Mr. Dalton two other ministers in succession.  (See Lawrence's Net Htampslhire Chlurches, pp. 64, 65 ) Some idea of the respective
salaries of Pastor, Teacher, and Ruling Elder (when the latter had any paty,) may be got from
the following entry in the Church Record of the Second Church in Boston, of date.-" 21.t day
of ye 6th mo. 1632." - "The Church of ye North end of Boston met at Bro. C,,liicott's, and
there did agree yt MIr Mayo [Pastor] should have, out of what is given to ye Church annually
~65, Mr Mather [Increase, who was' Teacher'] ~50; and Mr Powell [Ruling Elder] ~-25): and
this annually, provided they that have engaged perform their engagement.  And of ye contributio?e, Mr Mayo to have s.20 weekly, and MIr Mather s.2,), and Mr Powell s.15 weekly, - provided ye contribution hold out; and, if it abate, each one of the above-said to abate according
to proportion; and if ye contribution superabound, then ye overplus to be kept, till occasion
call for it, and then to be disposed of by the Church's order.  And to this we are all agreed,"
(See Robbins' History of the Second Church, pp. 11,12.)
125 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Elder, so far as it is in itself necessary or proper, may with propriety
enough be performed by the minister." 1  The main objection, however, to the office, consisted in the fact that so far as this' Presbytery'- composed of the Teaching and  Ruling Elders- really attempted to rzle the Church, they came into conflict with the claims
of the membership to rule themselves- founded on one of the great
first principles of the Puritan movement, and guaranteed by the conceded force of clear Scriptural warrant; while if they only'made
believe' rule, they stultified themselves, and by practically emptying
the passages on which the office was based of all real force, they, for
substance, acknowledged that it was a sham and a failure.  This led
to inconsistencies, in both theory and practice, fiom which even the
clear mind of John Robinson did not relieve itself. Differences arose
I History of llIfassachusetts lay. Vol. i. p 426.
2 When pressed towards the democratic aspect of the Church, we find him acknowledging it
tD the full.  He says (Works, Vol. ii. p. 132), "This we hold and affirm, that a company consisting thoug,h but of two or three, separated from the world (whether unchristian or anti-christian), and gathered into the name of Christ by a covenant made to walk in all the ways of God
made known unto men; is a Church, and so haths the whole power of Christ." So he says (Vol.
iii. p. 31), " we deny plainly that they [Church acts] are, or can be rightly and orderly done,
but with the people's privity and consent." So he says (Vol ii, p 191), that "by'two or
three  having this power [' binding and loosing'] cannot be meant two or three ministers, conSidered severally from the body (which alone are not the Church for any public administration,
but the officers of the Church), but by' two or three' are meant the meanest communion or
society of saints, whether with officers or without officers." So he sums up one part of his
argument against Bernard (Vol. ii. p 448) thus: "The people have power to censure offenders: for they that have power to elect, appoint, and set up officers, they have also power, upon
just occasion, to reject, depose, and put them down," etc
On the other hand, when pressed with objections against the Democracy of this system, we
find him retreating to the theory of the Eldership as a retort.  Thus he replies to Bernard,
when expressly charged by hinm wits putting the "power of Christ" into' the body of the
congregation, the multitude called the church" (W orks, Vol. ii. p. 7), " on the contrary we
profess the bishops, or elders, to be the only ordinary governers in the Church," etc And in his
"Just and necessary Apology," he says, (Works, Vol. iii. p 42, 43), " but now lest any should
take occasion, either by the things here spoken by us, or elsewhere of us, to conceive, that we either
exercise amongst ourselves, or would thrust upon others, any popular or democratical Chlurchl
goveraiment; may it please the Christian reader to make estimate of both our judgment and
practice in this point, according to the three declarations following."  He then goes on - with
other statements -to suggest what was doubtless the method in which his own mind harmonized the two conflicting positions which he held, namely: " it appertains to the people freely to
vote in elections and judgments of the Church. In respect of the other, we make account it
behoves the Elders to govern the people, even in their aoting." "' Let the Elders publicly propound, and order all things in the Church, and so give their sentence on them; let them reprove
them that sin, convince the gainsayers, comfort the repentant, and so administer all things according to the prescript of God's word: let the people of faiith give their assent to their Elders'
holy and lawful administration: that so the ecclesiastical elections and censures?nay be ratified,
and put into solemn execution by the Elders, either in the ordination of officers after election,
or excommunication of offenders after obstinacy in sini."
126 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
concerning it in the Church at Amsterdam, under the charge of
Francis Johnson and Henry Airinsworth, as Pastor and Teacher. The
former, with a portion of the Church, desired to restrict Church
power to the Elders and officers; the latter to lodge it in the entire
membership.   Robinson consistently proposed, as a plan of settling
the difficulty, that all the business of the Church should first be considered and resolved on by the Presbytery privately, and then submitted to the membership for confirmation only; but the proposition
was not accepted, and the Church was divided into two, upon the
issue.!
It looks very much as if Robinson and his Church, while yet in
Leyden, were tacitly distrustful of the practical effect upon their fundamental principle of the power of the people under Christ, of that
theory of five distinct offices which they yet nominally held to be
the demand of Scripture for every Church; for Gov. Bradford tells
us that, although they had sometimes. near three hundred communicants, nor were " at all inferior in able men," they had "not so many
officers as the other" [Church at Amsterdam], and mentions only the
Pastor, one Ruling Elder, and three Deacons, as serving them in
Leyden;2 while Elder Brewster's place was never filled there, so
that, for the last five years of Robinson's life, his Church was officered
only by Pastor and Deacons,8 although, by the express agreement oe
parting, those who staid, and those who went, were each to be "an
absolute Church of themselves."4 However  this may have been,
that terrible'democracy'- which was such a bugbear in England,
1 See Robinson's'Works, Vol. iii. p. 464, etc.
The objection to such an arrangement - by which the Elders were to tell the people what to
vote, and then the people were to vote accordingly - that it degraded the action of the body
of the Church to a mere farce, and really left them in the hands of the Presbytery, as fully as
Presbyterianism itself, does not appear to have occurred to Robinson;-who seems  to have
been mainly solicitous to reconcile his misinterpretation of 1 Tim. v: 17, etc., withl those texts
which deposite all power in the membership; and who, not seeing that the inevitable drift of
his opinions, on the whole, was toward democracy in Church and State, was not disposed to submit them to the popular odium then associated with sentiments of that description.
2 "Dialogue between Young Men and Ancient M1en," etc., in Young's Chronicles of Plymouth, p. 456.
3 Roger White writes to Gov. Bradford, giving the sad information of Robinson's death, and
describes the condition of the bereaved Church as " wanting him and all Church governers,
not having one at present that is a governing officer [i.e., a Preaching, Teaching, or Ruling
Elder] amongst us."-See Letter, in Young's Chronicles of Plymoluth, p. 479.
4 See Young's Chronicles of Plymouth, p. 77; also Gov. Bradford's Plimouth Plantation,
p. 42.
127 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
and which, only after the long process of years, by its seen and felt
safety and benefit, conquered the prejudices of the aristocratic' gentlemen' of Massachusetts-was a legitimate outgrowth of the Leyden
teachings, and became a practical necessity in the state in that condition of affairs in which the Plymouth Colonists vacated the  Mayflower.
The facts that, in the Providence of God, Robinson did not accompany
his Church on its emigration, and that they failed of obtaining Mr.
Crabe,1 while, by their hope of PRobinson's following, they were long
kept from choosing another Pastor, and so continued under Ruling
Elder Brewster, (who was practically their Pastor, although he did
not administer the Sacraments 2) enabled the Plymouth Church to try
thoroughly the experiment of a more popular government than their
creed would have favored; and doubtless had its influence in hightening their faith in the practical value of the democratic principle in
the Church, as well as in the state. Certain it is that the tap root
both of American Congregationalism, and of American  Democratic
Republicanism, runs its deepest and vitalest fibers back into the doctrines of Robinson, as Providentially developed and self-larmonized
in the practice of the Plymouth company.2  Their study was rather
of the Acts than of the Epistles; their main endeavor, to reproduce
exactly the Apostolic pattern 3S- where they found more of the
democracy of the action of the whole Church, than they did of the
1 Sec Robert Cushman's Letter, in Gov. IBradford's Plimott,'h Peantation. p. 58.
2 " Now touching ye question propounded by you, I judg it not lawvfull for you, being a
Ruling Elder, as (Rom. xii: 7, 8, & 1 Tim. v: 17) opposed to the Elders that teach & exhorte
and labore in yc word and doctrine, to which ye sacraments arc anexed, to administer them
norconvenient if it were lawvfull.'s-llobinsonzs "Letter to Eiler Brewster," A. D. 1623, in Bradford's':Plirnoezth Plantation," p. 1u6.
3 " Many philosophers have since appeared, who have, in labored treatises, endeavored to
prove the doctrine, that the rights of men are unalienable, and   nations have bled to defend and
enforce them, yet in this dark age, the age of despotism and superstition, when no tongue
dared to assert, and no pen to write this bold and novel doctrine- lwhich was then as nsuch at
defiance with common opinion as with actual power, (of which the monarch was then held to be the
sole fountain, and the theory was universal, that all popular rights were granted by the crown)
-in this remote wilderness, amongst a small and unknown band of wandering outcasts, the principle that the wil of the majority ef the people shall govern was first conceived, and was first
practically exemplified.  The Pilgrims, from their notions of primitive Christianity, the force
of circumstances, and that pure moral feeling which is the offsprin,g of true religion, discovered
a truth in the science of governent which had been concealed for ages.  On the bleak shore
of a barren wvildcrness, in the miidst of desolation, with the blasts of winter howling around
them, and surrounded with dangers in thleir most awful and appaliing forms, the Pilgrims of
Leyden laid the foundation of Amierican liberty." —Baylies' " Oldt Coloiy." Vol. i. p. 29.
4 See an eloquent argument in Edward Wlinslow's eBrief Narration, in Young's Plymoutl
Chronicles. pp. 386-408.
4
129
I 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
aristocracy of ruling by an Eldership. So that gradually, yet inevitably, they seem to have drifted on the stream of Providence to the
conclusion that the practical remedy for all perplexity growing out of
needless Church offices, was to let them quietly die out of usage.
It is well known that- through the "inidefatigable and ubiquitous
Dr. Fuller" A    the Plymouth Colony had great influence over the
Church foundations which were afterwards laid in the Massachusetts
Colony, nor is it matter of doubt that that influence was not of a
character to weaken the effect of the democratic principle upon the
general mind.  It was only after many years,2 and many struggles,3
1 See Young's Plymouth Chronicles, p. 223; also Clark's Congregational Cisurches of Massachusetts, pp 7-9.
2 In 1686, John Cotton wrote to Lord Say and Seal, in reply to his (and Lord Brooke's) proposals of conditions on which they, and other " persons of quality" might be induced to favor
New England with their presence: " Democracy, I do not conceyve that ever God did ordeyne
as a fitt government eyther for Church or Commonwealth. If the people be governors, who
shall be governed? "' [Hutehiizson, Vol. i. p. 497.] So we find Thomas Shepard of Cambridge,
in 1652 (in his lIllolesome Caveatfor a tinae of Liberty), using the following language: " though
the estate of the Church be democratical and popular, and hence no public administrations or
ordinances are to be administered publicly, without notice and consent of the Church, yet the
government of it under Christ the Mediator and Monarch of his Church, it is aristocratical,
and by some chief, gifted by Christ, chosen by the people to rule them in the name of Christ,
who are unable and unfit to be all rulers themselves; and to cast off these, or not to be ruled
by these, is to cast off Christ," etc. —Torks. (Ed. 1853.) Vol. iii. p. 332. And so late as 1702,
we find Cotton Mather, while acknowledging that " partly through a prejudice against the
office [of Ruling Elder], and partly - indeed chiefly - through a penutry of men well qualified
for the discharge of it, as it has been heretofore understood and applied, our churches are now
generally destitute of such helps in government,'  pleading that the Elders (i e., the Presbytery
of Teachlling and Ruling Elders in each Church), should' have a negative on the votes of the
brethren; "' on the ground that, " to take away the negative of the Elders. or the necessity of
their consent unto such acts," is to i take awtay all government whatsoever, and it is to turn
the whole'regimen of the Church' into a pure' democracy! I "-illagna7ia, Vol. ii. pp. 239,249.
3 Some of the shifts which were adopted in order to save the power of the Eldership on the
one side, and of the membership on the other, seem now truly laughable; though grave matters enough at the time.  In 133-7, several Puritan clergymen in Old England, sent over
thllirty-tvo questions in regard to the facts of Church matters here, to which answver was requested. The tenor of the questions would indicate a feeling of distrust in England lest the Colonists here were getting on too fast in freedom, and one of them (Ques. 17) asks, in so many
words, " whether, in voting, doe the najor part alwayes, or at any time, carry ecclesiasticall
mnatters with youz," etc.  To th.is it was duly replied, for substance, thiat if the "Elders and
major part of thie Church' agree, all is well.  If dissent is made, the brothers dissenting are
patiently heard, and if they dissent on good grounds [the "Elders and major part of the
Church" of course being the judges], the " whole Church will readily yield."  If not, the dissentients are " admonished," -and so " standing under censure their vote is nullified." After
further detail, the answer naively concludes: "these courses, with God's presence and blessing
(which usually accompany his ordinance), faithfully taken and followed, will prevail either to
settle one unanimous consent in the thing, or, at least, to preserve peace in the Church by the
dissenters' s'tbtnission to the jucdgment of the majorpart." — See Felt's Eccl.'ist. of New Englana. Vol. i. pp. 278-282, and pp. 380-386.
9                                                     A.
129 
C ONGREGATIOIALISM,
however, that the fundamental tenets of the Congregational churches
were harmonized with themselves, and put into a position of logical
repose, by the straight-forward recognition of the Supreme power
under Christ- of the membership of each Church over its own
affairs. The Elders (at least, the Teaching Elders) of the Mlassa chusetts Colony -who had mostly left England as Nonconformists,
and not as Separatists, and whose ideas of hierarchal and priestly
power, were by no means yet clarified- were a long time in becoming convinced that matters Ecclesiastical could be trusted to go right
without some absolute control, as well as guidance, from themselves.
Synod after Synod was held for the settlement of doctrine and practice,1 and it was long before the veto power, or, as they phrased it,
'the neyative of the Elders,' was relinquished, and rest gained in the
conviction that it is safe to trust the membership of a Church, under
Christ, to manage all its affairs with nothing more than the leading
and instruction of those officers which it has chosen for that purpose.
John Wise - writing in 1717 - is, so far as we know, the first of the
New England Theologians, who was not afraid to state, and demonstrate, thie proposition that "DEMOCRACY is Chlrist's government, in
Church and State." 2  And his vigorous "Vindication of the Government of the New England churches," not only had immense influence
in removing all obstacles out of the way of a consistent holding of
their own principles by Congregationalists, but also in preparing the
country for the Revolutionary struggle. But even he was not yet
clear on the subject of Ruling Elders.3
In the long run, the strongest Scriptural truths in a mixed and
partially discordant creed may be relied on to woik themselves clear,
and control the whole; and so, in the end, it came to pass that the
democratic principle strengthened its power over the Puritan doctrine
until it sloughed off the excrescence of the Ruling Eldership, even in
name, and placed the system upon a self-complete and simple basis,
which, in subsequent working, has proved itself to be in no respect
1 Gov. Winthrop gives account of t.iaree, held respectively in 1637, 1643. and 1647. Vol. i.
p. 237; Yol. ii. pp. 133, 264, 239, 303, 333.  Sava,ges WIitthrop. Ed. 1853. Others were subsequently convened. In reference to thle theory of Synods held by our fathers in Massachusetts,
see the Cambridge Platform, Chi.ap. xvi., and Mather's  Iagnalia, Vol. ii. p. 248, etc.; also,
Hooker's'"Survey of the Suo'?ne,"' etc. Part. iii. pp. 1-59.
2 See:Bancroft, vol. ii. p. 429.
8 See Clhurches' Quarrel Espoused.  Pet. iv.
4
.130 
tWHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
liable to the fears which were expressed with regard to it, by those
who still fondly clung to the old encumbrance.'
The custom of choosing Ruling Elders hardly became, at first, a
univers.al one in the churches of New England,2 while, in fifty years
from the settlement of the country, it had gone into comparative
disuse; 3 and has long since disappeared altogether,4 leaving a record
behind it which well illustrates the acute remark made of it by one of
the leading civilians of 1760, that "the multiplying unnecessary and
uiere nominal officers, or officers whose duties and privileges are not
with certainty agreed upon and determined, seems rather to have a natural tendency to discord and contention, than to harmony and peace." 5
In brief, then, it may be said of the Ruling Eldership of our Pilgrim Fathers, that it was an illogical and unscriptural,-and therefore
1 Joshua Scottow (A. D. 1691) published a most moving appeal, under the title of " Old Men's
Tears for their own Declensions, mzixed witlh Fears of their and their Posterities' fitrtherfalling
offfrosz in ew Es.Eglan7d's Prinmitive Constitution," in which, after mournfully inquiring " where
are the Ruling Elders, who as porters wvere wont to inspect our Sanctuary gates, and to take a
turn upon the wvalls? " etc., he adds, " it is questioned by some among us, whether such an offi cer be jure di vie o, or any rule for them in God's word, wvhich occasions a Reverend Elder to take
up the argument against such, and bewails the neglect of them in the churches, as a sad omen
of their turning popular or prelatical, and if so, then to be regulated either by Lord Bretlhren,
or Lord Bishops. Is not this a great derogation from Christ's authority to say, that deacons
may serve the churches' turn, who may oisiciate to do these Elders' work?  Is it not a prefer ence of men's politics before Christ's institutes?  Did not the practice of men's prudentials
prove the ruin of the churches and rise of Antichrist? " — See Savage's IVintlhrop, Vol. i. p 38.
2 See Clark's Historical Sketchi of the Congregatioana  Ciurc,',es  in illassacusetts, p. 93.
3 See H,,tc,'insost, Vol. i. p. 423; Savage's Winthrop, Vol. i. p. 37.
4 Elder Brewster was the only Ruling Elder in the Plymouth Colony (as well as Church), during the first tuwenty-nine years of its existence; MIr. Thomas Cushman, the first chosen by
them in this country, having been elected in 1649 -five years after Brewster's decease. Elder
Cushman served the Church until his much lamented death, in 1691.  Ir 1699,'the Church
filled th'le vacancy by the election of Dea. Thomas Faunce, who oticiated until his death, at the
age of 99, in 1746; and was the last who sustained the office in llvirouth. (See Steele's "Chiief
of thie Pi,'grins," p. 398, and Thacher's Iistory ofP,'y.nouth,, pp 270-285.)  The name of but
one'0uii- g Elder appears upon the records of the Ol(  South'. Church in Boston, though it is
supposed others were chosen, without record   (See Wisner's Iitstory of the Old South Clhutrch,
p. 79.)  The present meeting hotse (built A. D. 1730). originally contained an elevated "'Elder's
Seat," above the "'Deacon's Scat,"' and below the pulpit.  The last record on the books of the
First Church in Boston, of the election of a Ruling Elder is believed  to be of date August 3,
1701.  An ceffort was made in the New Brick Church, in 1733, to reintroduce this i; obsolete a
office, but, in Nov. 1733, only one person had been found to accept the office, and the Church
voted not to choose cunother.  Mr. William Parkman (chosen Sept. 1743, died 1775-6) was the
last Ruling Elder of the New North Church.  (Appendix. Wlisncr's Old Southl, p 80 ) It appears from Dr. Felt's Itstory of Salesn, that the North Churech in that towvn, in 1823, "as the
only continuation of an ancient custom," chose Jacob Ashlton, Ruling Elder. Probably thlis may
have been the last instance of such an election by any Congregational Church of New England.
(Felt's Salen, Vol. ii. p 608.)
5 Hutchinson, Vol. i. p. 426.
131 
CONGREGATIONALIShM.
temporary- concession, in part, to the too literal sense of two or three
texts which they were in a most unfortunate position rightly to interpret, and in part to the spirit of the age; that it never, either in their
theory or their practice, approximated to the Presbyterian idea of the
Ruling Eldership; and that its entire disuse - throwing its old functions partly upon the Pastor, partly upon the Deacons, partly upon
the "Examining Committee "1 (where one exists), and partly upon
the membership at large - is a thing which causes the denomination
no regret, except that it had not earlier entered as a tranquilizing element into some of the anxieties of the Fathers.
3. The second class of permanent oficers set by  Christ in his
Churches-for  the care of their temporal  concerns- are called
Deacons.  This is made sure by the record of the appointment of the
"seven," in the Acts; by the records and precepts of the Epistles;
and by the testimony of early history.
(1.) Let us examine the record of the Acts of the Apostles.2
Reference has been already made to this.8 The simple facts were
that -  in consequence of'murmuring' from the foreign, or Greekspeaking portion of the Church, as if they had not received their
equitable share of the daily distribution of food, etc.,'as every man
had need'4 -  the Apostles-'at whose feet' (i. e. in whose sole control) the whole matter had been previously'laid'- called the whole
1 We have been sorry to see occasional suggestions to the efftect that it might be well for
our denomilnation to revive this office, or to use the name as a designation for the " examining
committee "-it being assumed that there would be a fitness in such an application.  It is true
that that committee usually performs a part of the service which used to be done by the Ruling Elders - in paving the way for the admission of new members to the Church, etc. But
this vwas not tsat function of the Ruling Elders from which they were na7ned. That was such
an approach to a real control over the Church - doing its work, and then permitting it to
assent to, and confirm their acts - as is totally at variance with the true principles of Congregationalism Mr. Eddy - a late eminent lawyer of the Old Colony, of wvide renown in our churches
-says in the " Book" of tile Church in Middleboroulgh, to which he belonged, " we have
never had any Ruling Elders in this Church.  There is not much in a name." [Book, p. 29.]
But there is a good deal in a' name.' if it will mislead Presbyterians into the idea-as it often
has, in reference to our early history - that we are either aping their system, or approaching it.
There is no possible resemblance betw.veen our " examining committees," (renewed every year,
and simply preparing business for the Church's vote -often without even recommending
action, yea or nay, upon the propositions which they make), and a Presbyterian Session
chosen for life, and ultimnating the business of the Church- without its presence, and, likely
enough, without its knowledge or consent. We go for calling things by their right names, and
for leaving the old yoke which our fathers were not able to bear, to rot where they left it,
afield.
2 Acts vi: 1-6.                  8 See page 15.                4 Chaps. ii: 45; iv: 35.
'a
132 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Church together, and declaring it was'not reason' that the sole caxe
of both the temporal and spiritual exigencies of the multitude of believers should longer remain upon them, desired the Church to choose
seven' men of honest report,' to whom' this business' might be entrusted.'The saying pleased the whole multitude,' and they chose
Stepl-hen, Philip, Prochorus. Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas,
a proselyte of Antioch; 1 whomn the Apostles then publicly and solemnly' appointed' to' serve tables.'
Four things seem to be self-evident in this narrative, namely: that
these seven were appointed to take the chlarge of the temporalities of
the Chlurch, and particularly of the distribution of its charities to its
poor members; that they were chosen by the free suffrage of the
brotherhood, that they were set apart to their work by prayer and
the laying on of the hands of the Apostles; and - since every Christian Chiurch has'temporalities' which require somebody's care and
thought -that here was intended to be given a hint and pattern for
the copying of every such organization to the world's end.2 It is true
that these seven are never called' Deacons' in the Acts, but only
' the seven, 3 but it is likely that this grew out of the fact that the
office was so familiarly known as not to need special naming,4 as tho
Apostles were familiarly called' the twvelve.'5 5loreover, they are,
for substance, namred' Deacons,' in the very Greek words which record the work to which they were chosen (v. 2), which are atxoVEt
- artratg-diakoiiein trapezais; which literally mean  to deacon
1 " These names are all Greek, but we cannot thence infer that the seven were all Hiellenists;
the Apostles Philip and Andrew bore Greek names, but were certainly not Ilellei:i."t.'..  Tho
title of  deacons' is nowhere applied to these seven in Scripture, nor does tile word occur in
the Acts at all.  In 1 Tim. iii: 8, etc., there is no.absolute identification  of the duties of deacons with those allotted to these seven, but, at the same time, nothing to imply t'Alt they were
different   And up sy rol, vers e 10, seems to refer to our  aprvposesv'ov5, verse 3....  The
only one of these seven mient.oned in the subsequent history (ch. xxi 8) is called'              5t.,i st~
o Eso1yyeXtrs, probably from the success granted him as recorded in ch. viii: 12.  In these
early days titles sprung out of realities, and were not yet mere hierarchichal classifications."Alford. Cnm. Acts vi: 5. Vol. ii. p. 57.
2 " Manente ratione, manet ipsa lex."                        3 Chap. xxi. 8.
4 " Nor is it any objection, that in Acts xxi: 8, they are merely called' the seven,; for as the
name of Deacon was then the usual appellation of a certain class of officers in the Church, Luke
uses this expression to distinguish them from others of the same name, just as' tIe tw elre   I de
notedl the Apostles."-Neander. Planting and Training, etc p 34, note.
s See Matt. xxvi'  14, 20, 47 i Mark iv: 10, vi: 7; ix: 35; x: 32; xi: 11; xiv: 10, 17, 2,
43; Luke viii: 1; ix: 12; xviii: 31  xxii: 8, 47; John vi: 67, 71; xx: 24; Acts vi: 2; 1 Oac
xv:5
133
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
[i.e. to officiate as deacons at] tables'- -axovgtv being the verb expressing the activity of the noun  i,hovo; -  diakonos' deacon.'
It has been urged that this office existed before this date. Mosheim,
Kuincel, Olshausen and even Whlately have supposed that the'young
men,' 1 who carried out the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira, were the
deacons of the Church at Jerusalem. But the weight of authority is
against this theory, and common sense condemns it.
(2.)  The records and precepts in the Epistles, afford further evidence of the fact that the deaconship is the second, and temporal, office
in the Church.   Paul, in writing to the Philippians, addresses "the
saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with the Bishops  and
.Deacons," 2 showing that, so far as this Church was concerned, this
office had existence then- A. D. 63,-probably thirty years after the
choice of Stephen and his fellows at Jerusalem.
And, in addressing Timothy,' the same Apostle, after having given
at length the qualifications to be regarded by the Churches in their
choice of Pastors, proceeds to say, "likewise must the D)eacons be
grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy
lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.  And
let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a Deacon, being found blameless," etc. These directions clearly imply
Paul's judgment that the office of a Deacon was the second, and-since
he names no other besides the Pastor -the only office in the Church
remaining to be referred to, while the nature of his counsel would indieate his care to secure the selection of such men as would be eminently suitable to its peculiar functions.  It is true that the specific
duties connected with this office in the 6th of Acts, are not here recounted, but, evidently, because they were so well understood that
there was no need of it; so that Paul - assuming that every Christian knew then, as now, what are the duties of a Deacon-proceeded
to speak of the qualitcatiotis which he needs to possess, to secure the
due discharge of those duties.
(3.)  The history of the early days establishes the fact that the of
1 See Davidson's Eccles. Pol. of New Test. (pp. 167-170), for a thorough examination and
refutation of this theory.  See also Mosheim (Comm. de reb. Clzr. etc. p. 114, etc.) Mack (Commentar uber die Pastoral-briefe, p 269), and Kuinoel, Meyer, and Olshausen (on Acts V: 6, and
vi: 1); also Conybeare and Howson (St. Paul, i. p. 466.)
2 Phil.i: 1.                                  3 1 Tim.3:1-15.
134
I 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
fice of Deacon was, in primitive times, the second and only office in
the Church, and had the care of its temporal affairs.   NEANDER
says, "besides these [the Presbyter-Bishops], we find only one other
Church office in the Apostolic age; that of Deacons. The duties of
this office were, from the beginning, simply external, as it was insti tuted in the first place, according to Acts vi., to assist in the distribu tion of almns.  The care of providing for the poor and sick of the
communities, to which many other external duties were afterward
added, devolved particularly on this office." 1  GUERICKE says, " the
second Ecclesiastical office in the single Church, was that of Deacon
(zl,txovot-diakonoi, Phil i: 1; I Tim iii: 8, 12), of whom originally
there were seven.   This office was at first established for the collec tion and distribution of alms, and for the care of the poor and the
sick," etc.2  SCIAFF says, "Deacons, or helpers, appear first in the
Church of Jerusalem, seven in number, appointed in consequence of
a complaint of the Helleniistic Christians that their widows were neglected in favor of the Hebrew Christians. The example of that
Church was followed in all the other congregations, though without
particular regard to the number seven. The office of these deacons,
according to the narrative in Acts, was, to attend to the wants of the
poor and the sick. To this work, a kind of pastoral care of souls very
naturally attached itself; since poverty and sickness afford the best
occasions and the most urgent demand  fbr edifying instruction and
consolation. Hence living faith and exemplary conduct were necessary qualifications for the office of Deacon." 3   KURTZ  says, "Conjoined with, but subordinate to, the office of Presbyter or Bishop,
of' which the Apostles themselves for so considerable time discharged
the duties at Jerusalem, was the office of Deacon.   It was first instituted by the Apostles, with consent of the people, for the purpose of
cariilig f)r the poor and the sick at Jerusalem.   Thence it spread to
most other Christian communities," etc.4  COLEMAN says, "Besides
the Elders, there was, in the Apostolical and Primitive ages of the
Church, only one other office-  that of Deacon.   The specific duty
to vlwhich the Deacons were originally appointed, was to assist in the
distribution of alms. The care of providing for the poor, the sick,
1,s Genera? History of Christian Religion and Church," etc Vol. i. p. 188. (Torrey's Trans.)
2 Shtiedd's Guericke. Vol. i. p. 109.  3 History of the Christian Church, p. 134.
4 Text Book of Church History, p. 68
135
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
and of bestowing other needful attentions upon the members of the
community, for the relief of those who were occupied with the duties
of the ministry, devolved upon them." 1
This office did not escape perversion in the general corruption
which soon came upon the churches.  When Bishops were elevated
above pastors, deacons were raised( out of the ranks of the laity, and
made a third order in the mini.strvy. As early as the time when
Ignatius is claimed to have written the epistles called by his name,
there are symptoms of this change,2 and in the third century it became
still clearer.3 The Puritans re-discovered and re-introduced the
office as it was known to the Apostles and the Primitive Church, but
to this day, the Hlierarchal churches pervert it as the third order of
the clergy.4
4. Both, Pastors (or Bishops, or Elders, or Teachers), and Deacons, are to be chosen and set apart by tthe Church, fromn its ouwn rlaemberslhip. Here are three points, namely: that the Church is to
elect; to ordain- or otherwise set apart to office, its Pastor and
Deacons; and that that election should be from among its own membership.
(1.) Every Church is to elect its Pastor or Pcisto(rs, and Deacons.
That is, the right and duty of such el,ection is resident in the Church,
and not in any other power or body whatsoever. This has been
already suffliciently dwelt upon.'
(2.) Every Church is to ordain- or otherwise set apart to office
-its Pastor, or Pastors, and Deacons.  To many minor officessuch -as Clerk, Treasurer, Committees, and the like - election, with
notification, is a sufficient'setting apart;' and this, the nature of the
transaction necessarily implies, must be done by the Church. The
only question is whether, when the Church has chosen its Deacons,
or its Pastor, and notified them, any further and special action is
requisite on the part of the Church, or of any other party, in order so
1 Ancient Cliristianity. p. 96.
2  "05 yhp,Rp' liris Kayi ror,c-v eCLtv J6iK'voI,  aXAa EKIA171a; OEv- 1i7praL."-Epist.
ad Tral". Sec. ii. p. 98.
3 See A,;ostolic Constituztions, iii. c. 19; ii. c. 57; also Justin Martyr, Apol. i. c. 67; also
Isodore, in c. i. sec. 13, Diss. xxi; Also Cone. Trident. s. xxiii. c. 17.
4 See Congregational Quarterly, Vol. i. (1859.) pp. 66-70.               5 See pp. 40-42.
I
136 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
to'set' them'over' the Body, that all the functions of their offices may
be rilghtly administered?  This question may be answered from the
proprieties of the case, from the Scripture record, and from the
usage of the past.
(a.) The proprieties of the case suggest that induction into, and
entrance upon the duties of, offices of so much weight and solemnity, may suitably be connected with some service of special consecration of the new incumbent to those duties, and of special supplication to God, —that he may have grace to discharge them wisely
and well. Such service -aside firom its probable relation to God's
pleasure in the matter - may be regarded as naturally tending, on
the one hand, to highten the beginner's conception of the importance
of the work which he undertakes, and so to increase his humility,
prayerfulness, and self-consecration; and, on the other, to deepen those
convictions in the minds of the Church which may lead them to all
due submission, respect, and cooperation.  So that a merely reasona.
ble view of the matter would prompt some ceremony of induction into
these high offices; and suggest that since the Church, under Christ,
is supreme in the matter, she should assume the sole responsibility
of that ceremony. So far as the office of Deacon is concerned, there
is no contact between the appointing Church and the sisterhood, so
that that comity and cooperation which create the difference between
Cong,regationalism and Independency, make no claim that, with regard to the incumbency of this office, conference should be had with
other churches.  In the case of the Pastor, however, the fact is different. He sustains a quasi relation to all Congregational churches, as
well as to that Church which has chosen him. He is to be recognized
by other churches, as the Pastor of his own Church; and, in exchange with their Pastors, and in the varied courtesies and activities
of the Pastoral life, all neighboring Congregational churches have an
interest in his personal ability, discretion, and soundness in the faith.
It is, therefore, a prompting of the cobperative and Congregational
spirit, that, when a Church has made choice of its Pastor, it invite
its sister churches to assemble, by their Pastors and appointed lay
delegates, to review their action, and examine the candidate for their
Pastorship, that so-being satisfied of the suitableness of boththey may pronounce the benediction of the fraternity of the churches
upon the union, and extend the right hand of cordial fellowship from
137 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
that fraternity to the new comer. And, in token of its honesty in the
transaction, and by way of concentrating upon the act which sets its
Pastor in his place, all the weight of character and piety in Council
assembled, it is every way suitable and fraternal for the Church to
confide to these gathered representatives of the fraternity, its power
of setting its Pastor in office over itself. And this is called ordina tion - which is the mere formal consummation of the act of election,
and consecration of the elected officer to his new duties. The power
which sets the new Pastor over his Church, is Christ, the Great
Head, speaking through the Church.  Therefore, the power which
should formally call the new officer to his work, should be the Chliurch
speaking for Christ its Great Head.
(b.) The New Testament view of ordination is very simple, and
would never have been misunderstood, but for the mnuddling of its
clear stream by hierarchal influence.  The word'ordain'- in the
apparent sense of a solemn setting apart to the functions of officeis found only twice.'  The first instance is in the  14th of Acts,
(v. 23), where it is said of Paul and Barnabas, that when they had
" ordained them Elders in every Church," etc., they commended them
[the converts of Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch] to the Lord, and
passed on to Pisidia and Pamphilia. The second, is where Paul declares that he left Titus (Tit. i: 5) in Crete, "to ordain Elders" in
every city, etc.  Careful examination, however, reveals the fact that
the first of these passages simply teaches us that the Apostles
prompted, and secured, the choice and service of Elders  in every
Church - without any implication of any ceremony whatever of the
induction of these Elders to office; 2 and that the second, merely re
I Other apparent instances are only apparent. For example, our translation makes Paul
may (1 Tim. ii: 7), "I am ordained a preacher, and an Apostle," etc.  But the Greek is ir,coV
Gym Kr/pv5,ski dir'6(l7v1I, which simply means (see Alford, in loco), "I was poaced as a herald
and Apostle," etc.; which carries no such sense as is conveyed by the word "ordination."  So
our translation says (Mark iii: 14) that Christ "ordained twelve, that they should be with
him," etc.  But the Greek here is Kai ilroitqnE  JwJEKa, which suggests nothing more than
that he selected out and appointed twelve to be Apostles, etc. (See Alford, Alexander, and
Owen, in loco.) So, again. our translation says that Peter (Acts i: 22) told the discipies that
one "must be ordained " to be a witness, with the eleven, of the resurrection of Christ.  But
here the Greek is,iparvpa -n-  dvar6ar,st5 ireode,v?',#?P yEcrgOat, etc., which means no
more than that 1' one must be made (i.e. chosen) to be a witness," etc.
-1   The word I ordain' we now use in an Ecclesiastical sense, to denote a setting apart to an
office by the imposition of hands. But it is evident that the word here is not employed in that
sese.... The word here refers simply to an election or appointment of the Elders."- Barnes.
Cbmment. Acts xiv: 23.
138
I 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS. 
peats the sense of the first, implying action on the part of Titus,
resembling that of Paul and Barnabasl- there  being no hint, in
either case, of any thing of a character like what is commonly called
'ordi nation' in our time.   Naturally  enou,gh -  being themselves
Bishops and ordained  clergy, in the  High Church  sense —King
James' translators took it fbr granted that Paul and Bariabas and
Titus must have made wlat they [the translators] understood by
ordination, a part of the business of organizing the work of the Eldership with the churches, and that view colored their rendering; but,
as every.schiolar can see, there is no hint of such'ordination' in the
Greek.   Fairly translated, and unmodified by any coloring from subsequelnt unscriptural  Ecclesialstical usage, these texts would never
have su,ggested any such act as that which is called'ordination,' by
the common speech of men.
The true Scri-iptural ground of ordination is found in other passages-like that whielh infborms us 2 that after the Holy Ghost had
desired the'separation' o. PBarrnabas and Saul to the ministry unto
the Gentiles, the Church at Antioch, after fasting and prayer,' laid
their lland3 on them," and sent them to their workl; and those where
Paul directs Timothy to'neglect not the gift that is in lim, which
was given him by prophecy, wvith the laying ol1 of the hands of the
presbytery;' 3 and also commands him'to lay hands suddenly on no
man.' 4  Tihee texts, taklen in connection with the general tenor of
the Bible, warrant the inference that it was the way of the Apostolic
days, to set apart Gospel laborer, to a new work,5 by prayer and the
See, also, Ilackett, Calvin, Alexander, Er,tsmus, Grotius, and Alford, its loco.  Alford Aays,
"the wvord will not bcar Jeronme's sense of  lat ing on of hands,' adopted by Poman Catholic
expositors. (Vol. ii. p. 14'.) See, also, pp. 15o-1 of this book.
1 Barnes says agtain, on this text, - " the word' ordain' has now acquired a technical signification  lwhich it caInnot be sho.wn that it h-i in the Ncv Testament.... But the word used
here does not necessarily convey this meaning  or imply that Titus was to go through what
would now be called  an ordination service,'  ctc. ( Co,nmment. on Titus i: 5.) Calvin says on
this text;' IIe [P.tul] does not give permission to Titus, tlat he alone may lo every thing in
this matter, and may place over the churches those whom he thinks fit to appoint to be bishops; but only bids hils preside, as moderator, at the elections, which is quite necessary.  This
mode of expression is very common.   In the same manner, a consul, or regent. or dictator is
said to ha.-' created consuls,' on account of having presided over the public assembly in electing them  Thtus also Luke relates that Paul and Barnabas  ordained Elders in every Church,"
etc. ( Commwst on Ti'. i: 5. Ca!vin Transant;o5, Society's tra,s'atiols, p 29(.) C(onyleare and
Howsos  reniler the verse " Appoint  Presbyters in every city."' (Vol. ii: p. 477), and Alford
translates it -' Mightest appoint, city by city, Elders,' etc. (Vol. iii. p. 3E91.)
2 Acts xiii. 2.. 3.                      1 Tim. iv: 14                     4 Chap. v: 22.
6 We say to a new work.  This transaction which took place at Antioch, was not the ordina
139 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
laying on of the hands of the Elders.  It had been, from the early
ages, the practice to lay hands on the head of one on whom special
blessing was invoked, and for whom specially solemn prayer was offered; as Jacob did upon the sons of Joseph,1 as Christ did upon the
little children whom he blessed,2 as Peter and John did on the believers in Samaria,3 as the Apostles did upon the seven deacons,4 as Paul
did upon John's disciples at Ephlesus,5 as Ananias did upon Paul, at
Damascus.6  This was a well-settled Jewish custom, and being pertinent and every way pleasing and appropriate, it was naturally adopted
by the disciples. But it had no official intent. It conveyed no official grace -  although it was sometimes connected with the bestowment of those charismata which distinguished its miraculous, from
every succeeding age, of the Church.  It was not even necessarily
the symbol of the consecration of the subject of it to any distinctively
spiritual work at all, inasmuch as we find one of its clearest records
in connection with the setting apart of the seven deacons to the discharge of a purely temporal function.  As Dr. Tracy has well said,
"it was mergly a customary gesture, performed by any one, on any
occasion, in praying for another." 8 And so far as the sacred record
informs us, it was always done - when done at all in connection with
the setting apart of a Church officer to his work-by  "the Presbytery," that is, the assembled Elders of the churches.9  It would seem
also that, in this ceremony, they acted for the Church. If ordination
is the meie solemn installation of a functionary previously appointed,
in the place to which he has been chosen; since the putting in place
is a lesser act than the electing to the place, and since the Church
has done the greater, it must follow that the power rests with it to
do the less. So that if a Church may elect its Pastor, it may ordain
tion of Paul and Barnabas to the Apostleship, nor to the office of the ministry; for Barnabas
never w.vas an Apostle. andt Saul received his commission directly from Christ (Acts ix: 20; Gal.
i: 11-17). and both had been preachers of the Gospel before (Acts ix: 27; xi: 22, 23). It was
the solemn setting apart of these men to a new and special work, viz: to be missionaries to the
Gentiles.
I Gen. xlviii: 14.               2 Matt. xix: 13-15.                    3 Acts viii: 17.
4 Acts vi: 6.                    5 Acts xix: 6.                        G Acts ix: 17.
7 Acts vi: 1-6.
8' Report on the induction of Deacons,' etc., in Appendix to Punchard's " View."  (Ed.
1860.) p. 313.
9 Barnes says, " there is not a single instance of ordination to an office mentioned in the New
Testament, which was performed by one nan agone.'-Comment. 1 Tim. iv: 14.
140
iI 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISt! IS,
him -which is but carrying out that election to its full completion
and result. And as there is nothing in Scripture to forbid or modify
this view, so there is clear inference for its support.
There is no command that this practice be continued in the churches,
but there is a pleasant fitness in it which will secure its continuance
to the world's end. And - on the whole - Milton has well rendered
the sense of the Bible concerning it, where he says, "as for ordination, what is it, but the laying on of hands, an outward sign or symbol
of admission?  It creates nothing, it confers nothing,; it is the inward calling of God that makes a minister, and lhis own painful study
and diligence that manures and improves his ministerial gifts." I
(c.) The opinions and usages of the past speak to the same purpose. Our Fathers were clear that ordination should be the act of
the Church.  JOHN ROBINSON says: "I was ordained publicly, upon
the solemn calling of the Church in which I serve, both in respect of
the ordainers and ordained," 2 and maintains  that "if the Church
without ofthicers, may elect, it may also ordain officers; if it have the
power and commission of Christ for the one, and that the greater, it
hath also for the other, which is the less." 3  JOHN COTTON held
not only that "the warrant by whllich each particular Church doth
depute some of their own body (though not Presbyters), to lay their
hands ul)on those whom they have chosen to be their Presbyters, is
ground(led upon the Power of the keys which the Lord Jesus Chlrist
(who received all fullness of Power fiom the Father) hath given to
the Chlur.ch," 4 but that a Church which has no officers of its own,
"wants  a warrant to repair to the Presbytery of another Church to
impose hInds upon  their elect Elders." 5  JOHN DAVENPORT says:
"their ordination of officers, by deputing some chosen out of their
own body thereunto (in the want of officers), is an act of the power
of tihe keys residing in them. For, though the offices of Elders in
general, and the authority of their office, as they are Rulers, is from
Christ immediately; yet the investing of this or that elect person
with this Office and authority, in relation to this or that Church, by
application of it to him in particular, rather than to another-this is
1 Animadversions, etc Prose Works. (Bohn's Ed.) Vol. iii. p 78.
2 Defence of Synod of Dort, etc  Works.  Vol. i. p. 483.
3 Bernard's Resson's discussed,"' etc. Works. Vol. ii. p. 445.
4 Way of the Churches. p. 43.                              5 Ibid. p. 50.
141 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
by the Church." 1  THOlMAS HOOKER says: "it is plain that ordination presupposing an officer constituted, does not constitute; therefore
it is not an act of Power, but of Order; therefore those who have
not the power of office may put it forth; therefore, though it be most
comely that those of the same congregation should exercise it, yet the
Elders also of other congregations may be invited hereunto, and interested in the exercise of it in another Church, where they have no
power, and upon a person who hath more power in the place than
themselves." 2  So he says, again, "thoulgh the act of Ordination belong, to the Presbytery, yet the jus et potestas ordinandi,3 is conferred
frstly upon the Chtrch by Christ, and resides in her.  It is in them
Instrumeiitaliter; 4 in her Originaliter.5  They dispense it immediately; she by them mediately." 6  SAMIUEL MITIIER says: "Elders
meeting in a Council or Synod, with Brethren, may at the desire of a
particular Church, ordain its officers. But then, as it has been the
judgment of these [the New England] churches in times past, there
is yet no good reason why these churches should change their judgment, that the Elders so convened in Council or Synod, with their
Brethren for this service, have no power or jurisdiction of their own,
but act by virtue of the power derived fiom the particular churches
which sent for them; so that, in short, particular churcihes are the
first subjects of this power of ordaining; as it is for particular
churches that Councils or Synods convene, when they meet in order
to ordain officers for them."7  The CAMBRIDGE PLATFORM says:
"Ordination we account nothing else, but the solemn putting of a
man into his place and office in the Church, whereunto he had right
before, by election; being like the installing of a magistrate in the
Commonwealth; " 8 and further, "in such churches where there are no
Elders, imposition of hands may be performed by some of the brethren orderly chosen by the Church thereunto. For if the people may
elect officers, which is the greater, and wherein the substance of the
office consists, they may much more (occasion and need so requiring)
impose hands in ordination, which is less, and but the accomplishment
1 Power of Congreg,ational Chlurches, etc. p. 104.    2 Surtey, etc.  Part ii. p. 59.
3 The Right and Power of Ordination.                      4 Instrumentally.
6 Originally.                                             6 Surrey, etc.  Part ii. p. 76.
7 "'Apolog,y for the Liberties of the Churches in New England,'  etc. (Ed. 1738.) p. 60.
P Chap. ix. sees. 2, 4.
1 l
142 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
of the other."  COTTON  MATHER says, that "our Fathers reckoned
not ordination to be essential unto the vocation of a minister, any more
than coronation to the being of a king; but that it is only a consequent and convenient adjunct of his vocation; and a solemn acknowledgement of it, with an useful and proper benediction of him in it;"
yet he adds "setting aside a few'plebeian ordinations' in the beginning, of the world here amoing us, there have been rarely any ordinations managed in our churches but by the hands of Presbyters: yea,
any ordinations but such, would be but matters of discourse and wonder."1  INCREASE AIAT'HER says, "the old doctrine of New England
was, that if the Church where ordination is to be performed has not
Elders of its own, they should desire neighbor Elders to assist in the
ordination of their Pastor, and that with imposition of hands as well
as with fasting and prayer." 2
These citations, we think, fairly represent the opinions and feelings
of our New England Fathers, while their practice is well set forth by
COTTON MATHER.3  In the beginning, there were a few of what he
1 loIaonaoia. (Ed. 1853.) Vol. ii. pp. 242, 243. 2 Order of the Gospel. (A. D. 1700.) p. 100.
3 Is ordination for life? Yes; in the sense that no other result is contemplated by it than
that the newly elected Pastor will remain Pastor-he desiring to do so, and the Church desiring him to do so - until the relation be terminated by death. No, in the sense that when,
for any reason, the good of the Church, or the welfare of the Pastor, require a separation, it
can, and should, take place. Such was the way of our Fathers. They acted like men of piety
and common sense, who were not afraid to trust both churches and Pastors to act manfully,
and honestly, and in a kind and Christian spirit, in whatever cxigencies might unexpectedly
arise. The early Pastors were set over their churches in thile hope and expectation that they
would live and die with them; yet changes were always made when there was need of them.
"Master Hooke " remained first Pastor of the Church in Taunton only seven years, when at
the earnest request of the Church in New Haven, he became associated with John Davenport,
as Teacher of that Church, in 1644-5; and Nicholas Street, his colleague and successor at
Taunton, became also his successor at New Haven. John Norton left the Teachership at Ipswich, to become John Cottonis successor at Boston. Thomas Cobbet left the Church at Llynn,
to become Roger's successor at Ipswich.  John Wheelwright was minister to the churches in
Braintree, Mass; Exeter, N.H.; Wells, Me.; HIlampton, N. If.; and Salisbury, N. II. John Iligginson wvas Pastor at Guilford, Conn., and Salem, Mass.  John Davenport left New Ilaven, to
become Pastor (in his seventieth year) of the 1st Church in Boston. Charles Chauncy left the
Pastorship of the Church in Scituate, Alass.; among other reasons, because they did not support
him, and was on his way to England, when he wvas chosen second President of HIarvard College.
Samuel Newman was Pastor at Weymouth and Rehoboth.  John Woodbridge left Rowley for
England, and England again for Newbury, where he ceased to be pastor before his death.
Joshua Moody left Portsmouth for Boston, and Boston again for Portsmouth  Scores of such
instances mnight be enumerated, showing that the practice of the first century of the churches
in New England did not differ in this regard, in point of principle, from that which is now common; though less change took place as a matter of practice. [For a statement of the principles
which governed our Fathers in this matter, see Ilatler's }lagnalia, (Ed. 1853.) Vol. ii.
pp. 250, 251.]
143 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
calls'plebeian' ordinations,1 but afterward the churches generally
ordained, as now, their Pastors, through delegation of their power to
It is deeply to be regretted that it has become common among the churches in some sections
of the country, to introduce into the terms of settlement, a clause that either party may terminate the relation by giving three or six months' notice in writing.   We most earnestly object
to this practice; among other reasons, for the follow.ving: -
1. It is linscriptural. The tone of Scripture implies that the term of the Pastoral office is for
life, or'for good behavior.' And there is no hint of any opposite principle, or practice.
2. It is zlncss,gregatioaal.  No man familiar wit the record   the the denomination, wvill contend that it is not a novelty in point of practice, and we do not see how any one who understands the principles of our system, can fail to see that it is radically inconsistent with them.
It is one of the most important principles of our s          yrstem that t/'e Clturc/ and not the Parish, is
the body which ought to choose or refuse its Pastor, and -et this clause puts it in the power of
a bare majority of another body - not one of whom is necessarily a Church  member - practically to terminate the relation betwveen the Chlrch.nd its Pastor.  Permanence, coetaneous
with faithfulness, is the fundamental idea on which  Congregationalism rests its difference of
practice from those systems which favor an itinerant ministry. and this' six months' novelty
is an important step down from the vantage ground of Apostolic and Puritan principles towards those of Wesley.
8. It is unnecessary.  No Parish of common sense would wish to retain its Pastor when his
sense of duty constrained him to go; no Pastor of common sense would wish to impose himself
upon his Parish, when their sense of duty clearly indicated that he ought not to stay.  But
Parishes and Pastors are - and must be- presumed to have both common sense and somle degree of Christian principle; so that no extraordinary provision is needed by either party for release, if Providence does not smile on the union.  And if et.thler party should prove to be lacking, there are ways and means enough which may legally and properly be used to force a criminally unwilling partner to the dissolution of the copartnership, without welding a flaw into
the very joiit wlichi unites thenm.
4. It is inexpedient. It enables the relation to be sundered without the calling of a Council,
and so may deprive the departing minister of any stuchll' ppers: of dismission  as will justify
him to be settled elsewhere.  It holds out constait ilViteLtion to sunder the relation for every
little breeze of dissatisfaction. which otherwise would at once blow harmless over;  thus affecting the pastoral relation much  as the marriage rela,tion wouldl be affected by a similar'six
months clause' in the marriage contract.  It maly also very easily precipitate a parish upon
legal rocks, which may involve them in years of didiculty, if their action does not happen  to
square with the decisions of the courts.
5.  It is disgrracefl I   to both partis entering into it.  It concedes that neither has confidence
that the other can be trusted to do ri,gt, without extraordinary precautions - which is a metlhod of doing business well enough between knaves, but out of place between Christian gentlemen.
6. It sends btot/ parties to the wron,g resort in case real diffic,lties arise.  Christian principle,
humiliation before God, and subjection to his wisdom, are the means of extrication from diffi culty, which Christ approves for his Church; not the going down into the Egypt of some
shrewd device in the ordination bargain, for help   Churches and Pastors ought to trust in the
Lord and do good; so shall they dwell in the land, and verily they shall be fed!
1 "In general, the ordination of ministers was by imposition of the hands of their brethren
in the ministry, but some churches, perhaps to preserve a more perfect independency, called
for the aid of no ministers of any other churches, but ordained their ministers by the imposi tion of the hands of some of their own brethren. The ordination at Salem, Aug. 29, 1660, was
performed in this manner, as I find minuted by a gentceman just arrived from England, who
was present."-IIutchinson.  MIassaclztsetts Bay.  Vol. i p. 424.
Lecliford says that' Master Hooke'" received ordination at Taunton (A. D. 1637-8) "from the
hands of one MLaster Bishop, a schoolmaster, and one Parker, an husbandman, and then Mas ter Ihooke joyned [with Bishop and Parker] in ordaining Master Streate" [the Teacher of tho
Church.] -Plain Dealing, etc. p. 96. (Mass. Hist. Coll. Vol. iii. Third Series,)
144
f 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
the Elders of neighboring churches assembled in Council for that
purpose.1
A word of allusion to the hierarchal theory of Ordination, may be
pertinent here.  That theory is that the Apostles, in virtue of their
Apostleship, ordained the first Bishops of the churches, and committed
to them the official duty and right of ordaining those who should
come after them, and so on in endless succession to the world's endnone but Bishops ordained by Bishops having that power. This is
sought to be established by the assertion that the Apostles'ordained'
the seven deacons, and consecrated James Bishop of Jerusalem, Timothy Bishop of Ephesus, and Titus Bishop of Crete.  But we  have
seen that the case of the seven Deacons involves no such inference,2
and that there is no evidence that either James, Timothy, or Titus,
was ever a' Bishop' in any such sense as this.3 It is further urged
that the writings of the Fathers establish the fact that "for 1600 years
all Christian churches were governed by Bishops," 4 who ordained all
clergy. But we have already seen that for the first two centuries
this claim is false, and that it was not until those corruptions which
overspread the Church -and which begin to show their influence in
the pretended Epistles of Ignatius - had swept away the primitive
purity and simplicity of the faith, that this claim for the power of
the Bishops, becomes true.5 Furthermore, on the Episcopal theory,
the world is now destitute of a  regularly ordained  ministry, for
it is impossible anywhere to establish a perfect succession- link
touching link- from the hands of the Apostles.   Even Archbishop
Whately says, "there is lno Christian Minister now  existing, that
can trace up, with complete certainty, his own ordination, through
perfectly regular steps, to the times of the Apostles."6 And when one
Messrs. Higginson and Skelton were ordained at Salem (A. D. 1629), by "three or four of the
gravest members of the Church;" John Wilson was so ordained at Charlestown (A. D. 1630),
and Mr. Carter, at Woburn (1642).  John Cotton, at Boston (A. D. 1633), and Mr. Hooker at
Newtown, were ordained by the Church in presence of "neighbor ministers," who gave the
right hand of fellowship, -which Hubbard says was' according to the subsequent practice in
New  England." -See Gov. Bradford's Letter Book in Mass Hist. Coll., Vol. iii. p. 67; Appendix to Morton's Memorial, (Ed. 1855), p. 419; Eliot's History, in MIass. Hist. Coll., 1st
Series, Vol. ix. p. 39. Hubbard's History of New England, in Mass. Hist. Coll., 2d Series, Vol.
v. p 189.
1 See Cotton Mather's Ratio Discipline, pp. 14-42; Increase Mather's Disquisition concaer
ing Ecclesiastical Councils, p. ix.; and Palfrey's History of New England, Vol. ii. p. 39.
2 See p. 140.        3 See pp. 107-109.        4 Hook's Church Dictionary, pp. 410, 411.
5 See pp. 77-110.    6 Corruptions of Christianity, (Gowan's Ed. 1860), p. 170.
10
145 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
thinks of the filthy lives of some of the Popes, it seems amazing that
any Church, or portion of a Church, or any holy man, should desire
to establish, much less to rest his claims to ministerial character upon,
it. Yet Bishop Brownwell, of Connecticut, in a charge given some
years since, to his clergy, said, "if a regular ministerial succession in
the order of Bishops, be not conformable to Scripture and Apostolic
usage, Episcopacy is an unjustifiable usurpation." 1
(3.) The Church must select and set apart its offcers from among
its own number. In a government of the people, the essential idea of
an officer is of one elected by the people from themselves, to do for
them the work which is the function of that office. Monarchies and
aristocracies put officers authoritatively over the people, by the action
of a power without; but republicanism knows no such procedure, and
since a Congregational Church is the simplest and purest form of a
republic, it can consistently know no officer whom it does not raise
out of its own ranks, and itself- under Christ - invest with his
official dignity and power.
This is so simple, and follows so inevitably from the first principles
of the Congregational Church Polity, that it could hardly have been
questioned, for a moment, if Presbyterian theories and practices had
not stolen in insensibly to modify their working. We never heard
of any Church which doubted that its Deacons should be chosen from
its own membership, but an idea obtains, to some extent, that a Pastor need not necessarily be a member of his own Church; nay, that
it is expedient that he should not be! But any theory which would
make it right for a Church to choose its Pastor from the membership
of another Church, would make it right, as well, for it to choose its
I See on this general subject, an earnest discussion in Hall's Puritans and their Principles,
(pp. 310-409); Davidson's Ecclesiastical Polity of the New  Testament, (pp. 218-262);  Dr.
Owen, WVorks, (Vol. xiii. p. 219);  Chauncy's View of Episcopacy, passim; Barnes' Inquiry
into the Organization and Government of the Apostolic Church, etc., (pp. 39-138); Coleman's
Primitive Church. (pp. 297-300), etc.
Also consult articles on Apostolical Succession, in Princeton Review, Vol. xix. (1847), pp. 539564, and Eclectic Review, 4th Series, Vol. iv. p. 547; on The Validity of Congregational Ordination, by Dr. Lamson, in the Chlristian Examiner, Vol. xvii. (1834), pp. 177-202; on Ordination, by Dr. J. P. Wilson, in the Monthly Christian Spectator, Vol. i., New Series, (1827), pp.
605-512; on Episcopacy, by Dr. Bacon, in the New Englander, Vol. i. (1843), pp. 390, 545, 586,
and Vol. ii. (1844), pp. 309, 440; by Dr. Bushnell, Vol. ii. p. 143-175; by Dr. J. P. Thompson,
Vol. iii. (1845) pp. 140-149; by Albert Barnes, Vol. iii. (1845), pp. 333-373; in American Biblical Repository, 3d Series, Vol. i. (1845), by A. D. Eddy, pp. 315-359; and on the Primitive
Episcopate. in the Eclectic Review, 4th Series, Vol. xii. p. 47.
146 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Deacons, or its clerk, or treasurer, from another Church. No logi cal difference can be shown between these offices in this particular.
Any attempt to make such a distinction in favor of a Pastor, must
ground itself upon some theory of the nature and tenure of his office,
which is uncongregational, and unscriptural. If he is their guide and
teacher, sent by Christ through their calling and election and conse cration of him, he must be one of themselves, or they have no such control over him as makes it fit for them to order that he assume- under
Christ- pastoral leadership over them. Of course they will not invite
a non-Church member to be their spiritual guide; but if he must belong to some Church, why not to that Church? If, when attention be
first turned toward him as a candidate for the pastoral office in one
Church, he be a member of another, why should he not, when invited to
become Pastor, on acceptance of that invitation, remove his Church
connection, as well as his personal presence, to the inviting Church?
If he were simply a private Church member, it would be his duty to do
so, for no principle is better settled than the duty of Church members
removing from one place to another, within a reasonable time, to remove their Church relation also; but his private Church membership
always underlies his official character and relation. Is he afraid to
trust the Church over which he is to be settled, with the custody of
his Christian character? Does he intend to commit acts worthy of
discipline, and does he aim to embarrass discipline by distance?
Does he love his old Church better than that to which he now promises to give his best affections and all his strength?  Has he some
vague notion that if it should ever be his misfortune to be brought to
trial on any charge, he ought to have such trial by his'peers;' and
so he will say'hands off,' to his own Church, without remembering
that they are quite as really his'peers,' as the membership of any
other Church can be; and without reflecting that in his permanent
and fundamental character of a private Church member, he will be
tried by his'peers,' if tried by them?  Does he conceive that because the Holy Ghost has made him "overseer" of his Church, he
is therefore raised above accountability to it; when even the Governor
of a Commonwealth, if he were to commit a crime, must be tried by
the common Courts of that Commonwealth, like any other criminal,
and not by a jury of Governors? Does he esteem it the course likeliest to ensure that mutual confidence and entire trust and love, which
147 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
are'the bond of perfectness' between a successful Pastor and his
Church, by standing off from them in the beginning, as if he distrusted,
and expected always to distrust, them so far that he will never become one with them to that degree that they will have his honor and
his usefulness in their fraternal keeping?
So far as the Scripture bears upon this question, it intimates that
'Elders' are to be ordained'In every Church,' not over it; and
the voice of our Congregational Fathers is one and earnest to the
same effect; 1 while it is believed that the churches are growing in
1 John Robinson in his Appendix to Mlr. Perkins Six Principles, says, in an answer  to the
question by whom Church officers are to have their "outward calling?"  "By the Church,
whereof they are me,mbers for the present, and to which they are to administer,"' and he adds
that if such an officer be found " unftithful in his place," he" is by the Church to be warned
to take heed to his ministry he hath received, to fulfil it; which, if he neglect to do, by the
same power which set him up, he is to be put down and deposed, being dealt with as a brother."
-I_orks, Vol. iii. pp. 433, 431.
Thomas Welde (" Pastor of the Church of Roxborough, in New England,") says in his Answer
to IV. R. etc. (London, A. D. 1644) " it is our usual and constant course, as hath been said, not
to gather any Church until they have one amongst tlhe,tselives fit for a minister, whom with all
speed they call into office, and account themselves a lame and imperfect body till that be effected.' And to this he adds: " is it not a thing most natural for a body to employ its own members? Is not the mutual interest, in each other, the stronger tie? Do not all bodies and
societies in the world, the very same?  Was ever any man of another corporation elected sheriff
or mayor, or unto any special office in London, unless he were first seasoned with this same
salt, of membership of the same body? " —Hailbtry, Vol. ii. p. 329.
John Cotton says ( Wray of the (zhurches, etc.) "I They look out from amongst themselves such
persons as are in some measure qualified, etc." But if they "find out none such in their own
body, they send to any other Church for fit supply."  That these members of another Church,
must transfer their membership on receiving office, is made clear, however, by Cotton's own
example, who became a member of the Church in Boston, a month before he became its
Teacher.-See iBay, p. 39, and M'Clure's Life of Cotton, pp. 107-110.
John Davenport says. that a Church when formed, "must look out from among themselves
for such officers as Christ hath given to his Church; these they must chuse and ordain, professing their voluntary submission to their office rule, and authority, in the Lord.'"-Power of
Congregational Cturches, etc. p. 94.
Thomas hooker says that an offcer'is a brother as well as any of the rest, and therefore
the processe of our Saviour lieth as fair against him, as against another."-Survey, etc. Part i.
p 52; also pp. 155, 192, and Part ii. p. 6S.
Cotton Mlather says, (Ratio Disciilime, A. D. 1726), " in these proceedings [settling a minister], there is a seasonable care taken, that if he were a member of some other Church, he have
his dismission (his relation declared to be transferred) unto that which now have their eye
upon him, to be their pastor; that as near as may be, according to the primitive direction, they
may chuse from among themselves."-Ratio Discipline, p. 22.
Isaac Chauncy says, (Di,tine Institution of Congre,gational Churches, A.D. 1697,) "none
can be an officer of a corporation, but he that is incorporate first as a member."-Div. Instit.
etc. p. 104.
Cambridge Platform says, "in case an Elder offend incorrigibly, the matter so requiring. as
the Church had power to call him to office, so they have power according to order (the council
of other Churches, where it may be had, directing thereto), to remove him from his office; and
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WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
creasingly to feel the importance of fidelity to the first principles of
their Polity, and the dictates of common sense, in this particular,
and many have made it one of their'standing rules' that their Pastor shall be a member of their own body -an example which we
think it would be well for every Congregational Church to follow.
A word may pertinently be added here in reference to what have,
of late, been commonly called STATED SUPPLIES; that is, ministers
acting as pastors for churches, without assumning the official relation
of Pastor to them. It will be an obvious inference from the principles before laid down, that Congregationalism recognizes no such
Church officers as a part of the regular force of her laborers. A
'Stated Supply' is not a Deacon; equally he is not a Pastor - because the Church has neither chosen nor ordained him to that postand since Congregational churches have no other officers than Pastors
and Deacons, he is not an officer of the Church; and as a mere private member of some Church (usually another than that with which
he labors) he has no authority to perform the work of the ministry,
except ex necessitate - in the absence of a qualified person, or while
he is regularly on his way to the Pastorship.
Congregationalism indeed recognizes the right of any person whom
God seems to have called to the ministry- by gifts, graces, and opportunities - and whom any Church of Christ may elect as its
Teacher, to preach and teach; though -to avoid frequent mistakes,
and imposition, and the precipitant running of over-fast men whom
being now but a member [of course, then, it is implied that in every case a Pastor will have become a member of his own Church] in case he add contumacy to his sin, the Church that had
power to receive him into their fellowship, hath also the same power to cast him out, that they
have concerning any other member."-Platform, Chap. x. sec. 6.
Prof. Upham (in his Ratio Disciplinv), argues this point, (1.) because private Church members ought to remove their relation to that Church with which they worship, and so, for example's sake, should the Pastor; (2.) because he meets and acts with the Church, which ought not
to be done, merely as ex officio; (3.) because his refusal to become a member of his own Church
will tend to generate feelings of distrust and alienation; and (4.) because ministers, as well as
private Christians, need the benefit of Church watch and discipline.-Upham's Rat. Dis. pp.
1274-130; also p 170.
Dr. Dwight held that "a minister is a member of the Church of Christ at large. but is never,
in the proper sense, a member of a particular Church," (Sermon clvii.) but his head was befogged with Consociationism, and he seems to have regretted that we were not all Presbyterians, at least in our Church Judicatories. (See Sermon clxii.) The same remarks will measurably apply to Dr. Woods. (See his Works, Vol. iii. pp. 572-583.)
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CONGREGATIONALISM.
the Lord has not sent, and to insure the needful preparatory training
-the system favors a regular'lieensure' of candidates for the ministry, after thorough examination by some competent persons (either
a Church or an Association of Ministers), the possession of which
'licensure' shall be recognized as prima facie evidence that its possessor is'called of God as was Aaron,' and is therefore, a suitable person to be employed to preach the Gospel, and to be thought of by a
Church as its Pastor. But all this is preliminary. Such a preacher,
clearly, remains a lay exhorter, until some Church has elected and
ordained him to be its Pastor. Then first he ceases to be a mere
private Church member (more gifted than his brethren), and becomes
a'minister of reconciliation,' fully empowered to perform all the
labors and discharge all the responsibilities of the Pastoral office.
Strictly speaking, and as a matter of pure logical deduction from
the principles of the ease, it follows that when such a Pastor ceases
to hold his official relation to the Church from which he received his
elevation to the ministry, he descends into the ranks of the laity again,
and is no more a minister, until some other Church shall have elected
and ordained (or installed - as all ordinations of a man after his first,
are usually called) him as its Pastor; when he resumes the official
rank which he had demitted, rising again out of the ranks of the
laity, to the function of the ministry. He has the same right to
preach in this interim that he had after his lieensure before his first
ordination, namely: a temporary right of courtesy and general consent, until-  finding that the Great Head does not call him to any
pastorship -  he shall subside into a mere layman; or until he shall be
chosen and ordained by some other Church as its Pastor, and become
a minister again. This, we say, is the necessary verdict of the
principles of Congregationalism in regard to this matter; as it was
the practice of the Fathers.1 But- partly through forgetfulness of
1 " They did not allow the Priesthood to be a distinct order, or to give a man an indelible
character; but, as the vote of the brotherhood made him an officer, and gave him authority to
preach and administer the sacraments among them, so the same power could discharge him
from office, and reduce him to the state of a private member."-Account of the Brozonists. Neal.
Vol. i. p. 150.
John Robinson held that a minister's relation to his own Church was such that he had no
official character away from it, even in another Church. He says: "it is not lawful for thee,
reverend brother, to do the work of a Pastor where thou art no Pastor, lest thou arrogate to
thyself that honor which appertains not unto thee. Thou art called, that is elected, and or"ned a pastor of some particular Church, and not of all churches.... We will illustrate this
K
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WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
these principles; partly through the subtle influence of surrounding
hierarchal notions, as if the ministry were a'standing order' of men
by a similitude. Any citizen of Leyden may enjoy certain privileges in the city of Delft, by
virtue of the politic combination of the United Provinces, and cities, under the Supreme heads
thereof, the States-general; which he is bound also to help and assist with all his power, if
necessity require; but that the ordinary magistrate of Leyden should presume to execute his
public office in the city of Delft, were an insolent, and unheard of usurpation.  The very same,
and not otherwise, is to be said of pastors, and particular churches, in respect of that spiritual
combination mutual under their Chief and sole Lord, Jesus Christ." - Works, Vol. iii. p. 17.
The New England Elders say, in their answer to the questions sent over from England,
(A D. 1637), "1 we have no such indelible character imprinted on a minister, that he must needs
be so for ever, because he once was so. His ministry ceasing, the minister ceaseth also."Answer 77.
Allin and Shepard (A. D. 1648) say, "If a minister be [even] unjustly deposed, or forsaken, by
his particular Church, and he also withal renounce and forsake them, so far as all office and relation between them cease; then he is no longer an officer or pastor in any Church of God, whatsoever you will call it; and the reason is, because a minister's office in the Church is no'indelible character,' but consists in his relation to the flock. And if a minister once ordained, his
relation ceasing, his office of a minister,' steward of the mysteries of God' shall still remain;
why should not a ruling Elder or deacon, remain an Elder or deacon in the Church as well?
All are officers ordained of Christ, alike given to his Church; officers chosen and ordained by
laying on of hands alike; but we suppose you will not say a deacon, in such a case, should remain a deacon in the' Catholic' Church; therefore not a minister." - Defence of the Answer,
etc., by John Allin, Pastor of Dedham, and Thomas Shepard, Pastor of Cambridge, in New
England. London. 1648, 4to, in Hatnbary, Vol. iii. p. 42.
Cambridge Platform says, "Church officers are officers to one Church, even that particular
Church over which the Holy Ghost hatll made them overseers. Insomuch as Elders are commanded to feed, not all flocks, but that flock which is committed to their faith and trust, and
dependeth upon them..... He that is clearly loosed from his office relation unto that Church
whereof he was a minister, cannot be looked at as an officer, nor perforn any act of office in
any other Citurch, unless he be agaiss orderly called unto office; which, when it shall be. we
know nothing to hinder, but imposition of hands also in his ordination ought to be used towards
him again. For so Paul the Apostle received imposition of hands twice, at least, from Ananias."-Chap. ix. Sec's. 6, 7.
This Platform was agreed upon in 1648.  In 1679, a Synod held at Boston' considered'it,
and voted that they " do unanimously approve of the said Platform, for the substance of it."
Cotton Malther explains (Magna!ie, Vol. ii. pp 237-247) what they meant by the use of this
language, and says that, at that time, it was the general opinion that "the pastor of a neighborin" Church may, upon the request of a destitute Church, occasionally administer the sacraments unto them;" and adds, "I suppose there are now few ministers in the country but
what consent unto the words of Dr. Owen,'Although we have no concernment in the figment
of an i,jdelible character accompanying sacred orders, yet we do not think the pastoral office is
such a thing as a man must leave behind him every time he goes from home.-'
John Cotton did not baptize his child' Seaborn,' on the voyage hither, because he held that
"a minister hath no power to give the seals but in his own congregation.'- Savage's Winthrop, Vol. i. p. 131.
Winthrop says of Mr. Ward's (of Ipswich) being chosen by some of the freemen to preach the
Election Sermon, "' they had no great reason to choose him, though otherwise very able, seeing
he had east off his Pastor's place at Ipswich, and was now no minister, by the received determinlation of our churches."- Savage's lWinthrop, Vol. ii. p 42.
"A Church officer, of whatever degree, was an officer only in his own congregation. The
primitive doctrine of New England was, that no man was a clergyman in any sense, either before his election by a particular Church, or after his relinquishment of the special trust so, con
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CONGREGATIONALISM.
invested, by ordination, with an official dignity of which nothing short
of deposition can divest them; and partly through that natural and
praiseworthy kindness of heart which leads men to refrain from
reminding a man of any change in his position from a higher to a
lower - the practice of the denomination has, of late years, been to
consider a man who is once a minister as always a minister, unless
he be deposed; even when he has left the work of the ministry and
become permanently engaged in secular pursuits for his daily bread.
This has led the churches so far to forget the only real ground on
which a man's right to the ministry rests, that they seem largely
to have come to suppose that right to be lodged in the'licensure'
of some Association of  Ministers, or the action of an Ordaining
Council, rather than in their own choice and consecration. And,
being, perhaps, feeble and doubtful how long they may be able to
maintain the ministry of the word among them; being, it may be,
uncertain how great will be the success of that preacher whom
they, on the whole, desire to undertake the work; and being, not
unlikely, frightened by the misfortune of some neighboring Church
with a bad Pastor who was unwilling to follow his departed usefulness -holding on to his legal settlement as a drowning man grips
the rope which lie took overboard with him in his fall -they think it
may be a more excellent way to'hire a stated supply' for the Pulpit, as they'hire a stated supply' for the farm-yard or the meadow;
both preacher and ploughman to go when wages are stopped, or
when they can'do better' elsewhere.  This mercenary practice has
strangely enough -been favored by some ministers, who think to
make it convenient to leave when a'field of broader usefulness'
opens elsewhere, and who esteem it a convenience to be hampered by
no necessity for advice of Council, as to staying or going.
All this is uncongregational, and unscriptural, and- as facts abundantly are testifying -evil for the churches; and for the ministry, as
well. The New Testament idea of a Christian Church is of a brotherhood guided and led by one of its own members, in whom all have
so much confidence and love as to entrust him, under Christ, with the
responsibility of the Pastoral office;-one whose interests will be
ferred; and that, even while in office, he was a layman to all the world except his own congregation, and had no right to exercise any clerical functions elsewhere. "-Palfrey's History of
New England, Vol. ii. p. 39.
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WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
identical with theirs, and who will'dwell among his own people;
who will be such a Shepherd of the flock that the sheep will follow
him because they know his voice.' But he that is an hireling and not
the Shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming
and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and
scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling,
and careth not for the sheep.' Thie more feeble a flock may be, the
more it needs the tender care of a shepherd, who loves it because it
is his own, and who is even willing to give his life for the sheep.
And the more feeble a Church may be, the more it needs the service
of a Pastor; who will make its lot his own, who is willing to spend
and be spent for it, who is not mainly occupied in looking out for a
better place for himself elsewhere, but whose whole soul is intent
upon the growth in grace of the people of God and the conversion of
sinners there, until Zion shall find enlargement and the little one became a thousand, through the affluent descent of that celestial influence which alone can make a Church rich, and add no sorrow
thereto.
It is readily conceded that exceptional cases may exist, where a
minister may rightly labor with a Church temporarily, without the
intention, on either side, of a permanent union. But it is questionable even then, if it would not be better for that minister to remove
his relation to that Church, and to be elected by it its Pastor, for the
time that he may remain; throwing in his lot heartily with them,
and being one with them, so long as his labor is there.  It cannot,
we think, be questioned that the Divine idea of churches is of a
brotherhood led by a Pastor; and that God may much more reasonably be expected to further, with his continual help, a Church which
in this respect complies with the spirit of his Word, than one which
ignores, or tramples on it.  And as for the'Stated Supplies' themselves, it may be commended to their earnest and prayerful thought,
whether the old-fashioned Congregational pastorate is not more favorable to the permanence, happiness, and usefulness of the relation of a
minister to his Church, than this illogical, unscriptural, and, to say
the least, practically doubtful modern practice? Meanwhile it is
clear that so long as a'Stated Supply' is neither an officer nor a
member of the Church to which he temporarily ministers, he is not
in any Congregational sense its Pastor, and has no right to represent
153
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
it, as such, in Councils to which that Church may be invited to send
its'Pastor and Delegate;' and, since he derives no ministerial character from any vote or action of the Church to which he preaches, he
is not, in any proper official sense, a minister of Christ at all; as, if he
has never received Ordination from any Church, he never was officially
a minister, and if he was ever ordained over -ome other Church, his
dismissal from it has reduced him again to the position of a laymanhaving only that right to preach which any gifted layman has, after
the approval of his gifts by some'licensing' body.
But suppose him to have been'Ordained as an Evangelist,'would not that give him power to exercise his ministry everywhere
and always, without action from any particular Church? To this we
reply that, strictly speaking, on pure Congregational principles there
is no such thing as'ordaining' men as'Evangelists.' Ordination is the
act by which - usually through a Council - a Church solemnly inducts to his position the Pastor whom it has previously elected over
itself.' Congregationalism knows of no other ordination than this.
Our Fathers knew of none other.2  There is neither Scriptural jus
1 See pages 137-143.
2 Hooker says, " There ought to be no ordination of a minister at large, namely, such as
should make him Pastor without a people."- Survey, etc. Preface, p xvi.
Isaac Chauncy says, "Christ never constituted such a ministry, but what were set in a particular Church by election."-Divine Institution of Congregational Churches. (London, 1697).
p. 18
John Owen (in his Tr'te Nature of a Gospel Church), argues at length that "no Church
whatever hath power to ordain men ministers for the conversion of infidels' [i.e. Heathen],
"antecedently unto any designation by divine providence thereunto."  tie further argues that
no man can be ordained but unto a determinate office over some particular Church. because,
(1.) it is against the practice of the Apostles; (2.) it was absolutely forbidden in the ancient
Church, by the Council of Chalcedon; (3.)such ordination wants an essential constitutive
cause, and is therefore invalid; (4.) it makes a relate without a correlate, which is impossible;
(5.) it is inconsistent with the whole nature and end of the Pastoral office.-Works, Vol. xvi.
pp. 92-94.
Increase Mather (in his Order of the Churches in New England vindicated) answers, in the
negative, the question whether "a man may be ordained a Pastor except to a particular Church,
and in the presence of that Church?" on these grounds; (1.) there is no instance of any such
ordination in Scripture; (2.) Pastor and flock are relates, and therefore one cannot'be without
the other; (3.) a Pastor is under obligation to feed every one that is of the flock which he is a
Pastor unto (Acts xx: 28, IIeb. xiii: 17), which would be impossible; (4.) if a man is Pastor of
the Church universal, no particular Church has any jurisdiction over him; (5.) ancient experiment proved the inexpediency of such general ordinations, and led to their suppression;
(6.) they are contrary to the judgment of the most eminent divines, and the practice of the
best Reformed churches.- Order, etc. pp. 101-109.
The practical question as to what should be done in the case of missionaries to the Indians,
early arose in New England, and the manner of its answer shows the conscientious convictions
of our Fathers. Stephen Badger was ordained a missionary to the Indians, at Natick, but he
154 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
tification nor suggested need of any other. The supposed need, in
the case of' Evangelists' and Missionaries, grows out of the assumption that only an ordained person has the right to administer Baptism
and the Lord's Supper. But that assumption is a legacy of Popery
which Congregationalism will do well to decline; since the Bible does
neither affirm nor endorse it.' Scripturally, one of the Deacons or
was called and ordained in connection with a Church gathered there. The officers of the
churches of the converted Indians at Martha's Vineyard were ordained only after choice of those
churches  In 1733, 173-, 1754, and 1762, missionaries were ordained at Boston and Deerfield, to
labor among the Indians.  Some who took part in them seem to have had scruples which they
quieted on the theory that the action was only anticipatory of that wvhich would come from the
churches which would be gathered; and this is the only logical ground on which a Congregationalist can assist in such an ordination. But such an Evangelical fiction is needless, and
therefore indefensible. -See Upham's Ratio Disciplinae, pp 130-137; Cumming's Congregational Dictionary, pp 170, 276-279.
I The great command of Christ to baptize all nations, was indeed addressed to "the eleven "
Apostles, but not in such a sense as to indicate that they alone should have the right to baptize.  It is clear, (from John iv: 2, and Acts ii: 41,) that the "disciples" baptized.  Philip the
Deacon baptized the Eunuch. Ananias seems to have baptized Paul. Peter did not himself
baptize Cornelius and his company  (Acts x. 48).  Paul (1 Cor. i: 14-17) was accustomed to
leave his converts to be baptized by others. There is not- -we make b,.  to say -a single
passage in the New Testament which, directly or indirectly, lays down as a precept, or portrays
even in the form of an example, the duty of baptizing, as one that inheres in the Pastor of a
Church.  Doddridge,  indeed, says, (Lectures on Divinity, Lect  cc., Sec. x. 3) "it is fit that
baptism should be administered only by the teachers and ministers of the Church where their
assistance can be had, not only because it appears that these were the persons by whom it was
administered in the New Testament, but because (cceteris paribus) they must be most capable
ofjudgingwho are the fit subljects of it" But this, in the first place, concedes all that we claimfor we only hold that baptism may be administered by duly authorized laymen, twhen the assistance of a Pastor cannot be had; while, in the seconl place, it makes a questionable inference
from the New Testament -since there is no evidence that all of the disciples who baptized,
were "teachers and ministers" of churches; and, in the third place, it rests upon an argument
without practical foundation- inasmuch as it is the business of the administrator of Baptism,
to baptize only those whom the Church directs him to seal with that ordinance; as being either
the infant children of believers whose right is recognized in its articles of faith and covenant, or
individuals whom it has voted to be suitable candidates for its membership - the Church thus
always assuming judgment "who are the fit subjects " of the ordinance
As to the Lord's Supper, there is no precept from the lips of Christ himself prescribing any
person or persons, as the proper officiators His words were (Paul says) to the whole body,
"this do, in remembrance of me."  Nor is there a word in Paul's description of the scene, or
comments upon it, to imply that, in his apprehension, the validity or propriety of the ordinance depended, in any manner, upon the person who was the mediunm of the words said, and
the actions done   All the stress is laid on the social character of the rite, as one in which the
whole body of believersjoin; -" this do ye," " as often as ye eat and drink," etc., "ye do shew
the Lord's death till he come," "when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another," "that
ye come not together unto condemnation,:' etc It would, of course, be natural for the Pastor
to officiate, where there was a Pastor, but no law of that sort is enacted, no advice'thereto
given.
In conformity with this freedom, was the practice of the early Church. Dr. Coleman says,
(Ancient Christianity, p. 390) "the duty of administering the ordinance [of Baptism] does not
155 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
any brother of the Church, whom it may authorize for the purpose,
is competent- in the absence of its Pastor - to baptize, or to preside
appear to have been restricted to any officer of the Church.... Lay baptism, of which frequent
mention is made in the early history of the Church, was undoubtedly treated as valid by the
'laws and usages of the ancient Church." So he says (p.427) of the Lord s Supper-" nothing
is said in the New Testament respecting the person whose prerogative it is to administer this
sacrament.... According to the earliest documents of the 2d and 3d centuries, it was the appropriate office of the president of the assembly to administer the Eucharist." Tertullian
(A. D. 200) asserts the right of the lay members of the Church both to baptize and to administer the Lord's Supper, (De Exhort. Cast. Opera. Ed. Lipsise, Vol. ii. p. 105)  See also, to the
same purport, Erasmus (Ed. Lib. xxvi. Vol. iii.), and Grotius (De Ccene. Ad ubi pastores non
Sunt Opera. Vol. iv. p. 507
A few more modern endorsements of the opinions here advocated will now be quoted.
"We nowhere read in Scripture of the Lord's Supper being distributed to the first Christians by an appointed minister; wve are only told that they partook of it in common, and that
frequently, and in private houses  (Acts ii: 42.)  I know no reason, therefore, why ministers
refuse to permit the celebration of the Lord's Supper, except where they themselves are allowed
to administer it; for if it be alleged that Christ gave the bread and wine to his disciples, it
may be replied, first, that we nowhere read of his giving them to each individually - and, secondly, that he was then acting in the character, not of a minister, but of the founder of a new
institution."-John Milton  Christian Doctrine, (Sumner's translation), p. 445
"When a pastor died, or was removed, the Church was not obliged to desist from commemorating the Lord's death, any more than from receiving or excluding members; and it was as
lawful for them to appoint a Deacon, or any senior member. to preside in the one case, as in
the other."-Andrew Fuller. WVorks, Vol. v. p. 285.
" What they conceive to be in th,,t ordinance especially-either in the blessing and giving
thanks which accompanies it, or in the distribution of the bread and wine among the disciples,
which makes the presence of Elders [Pastors] more necessary in it than in praise, or prayer, or
reading, or mutual exhortation, etc, it is hard to say. But this is certain, that one of the
main pillars of clerical assumption is the idea that men -possessing a certain function, distinct from the mass of the disciples -are necessary to adzminister the Supper of the Lord "John Walker. Renmains, etc., Vol. i. p. 343.
"It is supposed by some that none may in any case administer it [the Lord's Supper] except an ordained Elder Viewing the ordinance in the light of the New Testament, it does not
seem to us that it would be necessarily desecrated if observed in the absence of Pastors Others
may preside, without impairing the value of it to the recipients; and without the guilt of presumption It may be as worthily received in the absence of a presiding office-bearer, as in his
presence. When an Elder is present, he properly presides at the ordinance, inasmuch as he is
the ruler of the Church. Entrusted with the constant oversight of the society. he is perpetuial
President, at every meeting of the brethren This is involved in his office of ruling, or governing. But yet no virtue is transferred from the individual who thus presides - whether he be
styled clergyman, priest, or elder- to the communicant.  Ie simply invokes the Divine blessing, and distributes the bread and wine; addressing, perhaps, a few words of exhortation to the
assembled Church. Thus, when a Church has no Elders, the members may legitimately partake of the Supper. An Elder's presence is not essential to the validity of it. It is desirable,
because the presumption is that such an one is better qualified to lead the devotions of the
brethren more profitably than an individual selected from among themselves. IHence it may
be most advantageous to have an official person presiding. But it is certainly unnecessary to
send for the Elder of another Church; for such an one bears no official relation to any society
except his own Standing among the brethren of another Church, he occupies the same position with one of the brethren themselves. All that he brings with him is the experience he
has gained in profitably presiding at the ordinance in his own Church.  When a Church,
156 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
at the remembrance-of Christ in the Lord's Supper. This being so,
there is no need for the missionary to the Heathen, abroad or at
home, to receive ordination before he commences his work. Let him
go on the ground, and gather together there a Church, and then let
them call, and ordain him, as their Pastor - with counsel from other
churches if they can get it, without it if need be - and then he will
be Scripturally, and Congreg,ationally, their Pastor and minister.
Of course there is no objection to his being "consecrated and set
apart" to his work as a missionary, before his departure, by the
Church of which he has been a member, if they do not mistake the
nature of that service as if it were strictly ordination - which, (however pleasant and edifying and desirable such a service may. seem in
itself,) it cannot be.
If these principles are true, it follows that one who has been'ordained as an Evangelist,' stands, in the matter of his official relation
to the churches of Cl-hrist, exactly where he stood before that ceremony. He has the same right to preach which any layman has,
whose gifts and graces invite and warrant the confidence of good people, that God calls him to the pulpit; he has the same right to baptize and to administer the- Lord's Supper in emergencies where any
Church may be disposed, in the absence of a Pastor, to authorize
him by its vote to do so, which he had before, or which any other
layman would have under similar circumstances- and no more.
therefore, is without Elders, or Pastors, let them by all means partake of the Sacred Supper.
It is their duty and privilege to do so.  To neglect it is highly culpable.  A Deacon selected by
the brethren may preside.  This is sufficient. The view now given is in accordance with
the New Testament  From the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, we infer that the Church at Corinth had no office-bearers at the time when Paul wrote to them. IIe regarded the ordinance
of the Supper as peculiarly belonging to the disciples, to be attended to by them, even in the
absence of ordinary pastors...  The New Testament intimates, in other places, that the first
churches partook of the Supper before they had Pastors.... There is, besides, nothing in the
nature of the Lord's Supper which would render the presence of an Elder essential to its right
observance.  The ordinance is simple.  It is chiefly commemorative.".... So "there is no
one passage in all the New Testament, which proves that it is the exclusive prerogative of the
Elders to baptize. And yet the notion is tenaciously held. Comling, as it does, from the Church
of Rome. and received from that source by the Protestant Episcopal Church, it has taken hold
of other denominations."'-Davidson. Eccles. Polity of _\ew Test. pp. 280, 283-286.
Dr Watts (in his Foundation ofa Chiristian Clurch) says, "The Church may appointprivate
members to administer seals [Baptism and the Lord's Supper] rather than to neglect them."Works, Vol. iii. p. 222.
Samuel Mather quotes approvingly Fabritius, where he says, "if any man, even a Laic, be
appointed by the Church to administer the Sacrament, if he does it, he does nothing but his
duty, and neither offends against the faith, nor against good order "-Apology, p 61
157 
CONGREGATIONALISM,
His' ordination' service may have been an edifying and profitable
one in its exercises and influence, but it has made him no less a lay
man, and no more a minister than it found him; simply because it
was not the act of a Church deputing to a Council its power to solemnize his entrance to the Pastoral office over it, to which its vote
had previously called him; and that is the only kind of ordination
which the Bible, or Congregationalism, knows or warrants.' Of
course, then, a'Stated Supply' gains no official rank, or power, from
the fact that he may have commenced his career by being'ordained
as an Evangelist.' 2
1 " Those notions which conceive of it [ordination] as some mysterious gift or prerogative -
in fact degrade it to a cabalistic process, and are neither more nor less than the disgui-ed remnants of popery."-Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. v. (1848.) p 517.
For light upon the process by which the hierarchal element gradually invaded and overthrew
the primitive simplicity and purity of the faith in the particulars above-mentioned, introducing
the fiction of mystic grace in ordination, and making Baptism and the Eucharist to depend upon
priestly administration, see Neander's Hilstory of tihe Christian Religion and Church, Vol. i. pp.
182-204, and 304-332; also Schaff's History of the Christian Church, pp. 130, 131; and Shedd's
Guericke, pp. 139-145. See also, particularly, Dr. Colman's Ancient Cliristianity, pp. 3682450.
2 Having read the proof-sheets of these last nine pages to a valued friend learned in Congregationalism, he objected to our doctrine of the demission of the milnistry - upon dismission
from the Pastorship of a particular Church- acknowledging that we were correct in our representation of the views of the founders of New England Congregationalism in that particular;
but suggesting that it might be a more excellent way upon which our time has fallen; an improvement upon the rigid practice of the past, which it might be wiser to cherish, than to
condemn.
But can an illogical inference from the fundamental principles of a system be safely engrafted
upon that system? If suffered to root itself in the popular conviction as true and wise, must
it not inevitably react to undermnine and uproot such first principles as cannot be true if it is
true?' It is a poor rule that will not work both ways.' If it become good Congregationalism to hold that ordination impresses upon a man the indelible character of a minister, no matter into what secularities his subsequent life may plunge itself, so long as he avoids that moral
delinquency which would lead to formal deposition; must not the people be educated by that
concession to understand that ordination is really, for substance, all that is claimed by the
Papists and Episcopalians, and that to be a minister is, after all, to be an official personage,
irrespective of all Church action and consent, or even Church existence? And is it for the interests of Congregationalism, or of the cause of piety, for such unscriptural notions to find a
lodgment in the community?
And- wholly aside from all the bearings of the matter as a question of principle- is it not
clear that in point of practice, the prevalence of such notions is damaging to the true dignity
of the ministry, the best welfare of the churches, and the common fame of Christianity? VWe
can easily recall to mind more than one person, once a settled pastor, but now a farmer, or a
merchant, or a physician, or a lawyer, or the keeper of a boarding-house- six days in the
week perhaps only discernible from other laymen by the superior whiteness of his cravat, and
the inferior tenderness of his conscience in all little matters where money is to be made in bargaining, and on the seventh, always willing to supplement his six days' earnings by the Sabbath day's wages of some "vacant"  pulpit - whose general course in this regard is not a credit
to the profession to which he still claims (unscripturally and uncongregationally) to belong.
Nor should we have to travel far to identify churches which have been brought almost to the
158 
WHENCE CONGREGATIONALISM IS.
Such we understand to be the necessary results of the first principles of our faith in their application to these questions. It is not
denied that the present practice of the denomination varies, more or
less widely, in some particulars, from them. But it is firmly believed
that all such variance is the result of illogical and inexpedient retrocession fromn pure Congregationalism, in the way of concession to the
influences of Presbyterianism and the Papacy; which every lover
of the purity and simplicity of the'faith once delivered to the saints,'
is called upon to deplore and resist.
verge of extinction by that wicked economy which has led them to drag on a lingering existence, year after year, with the "Stated Supply" of two heartless (and yellow) sermons on the
Sabbath, fron some layman, who, because he has a barrel of them, which only, now: costs him
house-room, and because he earns his living at some secular employment during the week, can
afford to administer them " cheaper" than the Church could support a Pastor; and whom the
Church suppose, because he was once a minister, to be a minister still. Nor would it be difficult
to show that the cause of Christ has sorely suffered from such a mean and mercenary procedure.
Here is a case, we must feel, demanding the zeal of those who inquire affectingly for "the old
paths"
Let nothing here said be construed, however, to the disparagement of those who are evidently
called of God to serve the churches in some other capacity than that of Pastors; as Professors
in Theological Seminaries, or Colleges, Secretaries and Agents of Benevolent Societies, and the
like. Though neither Pastors nor Deacons, they yet have some special and creditable relation
to the churches collectively - in the case of those acting as instructors, not wholly unlike that
of the'Teacher' of the early days of New England.  While it may be difficult, on Scriptural
principles, to class and name them, it is not diflcult to appreciate their indispensableness to the
general cause.
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CHAPTER III.
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
IHIAVING thus considered that groundwork of principles on which
the Puritan system rests, we pass next to some brief consideration of
the practical application of those principles in the various processes
of Church life and action; endeavoring to set forth, under its several
heads, what we understand to be tlhe right method of doing all Church
work- in carrying out Christ's way of Congregationalism for his
people.
SECTION 1. How to form a Church.
That which constitutes isolated individual believers a Church, is
their solemn agreement together to become a Church, by covenanting
with God and each other to "walk in all his ways made known, or to
be made known unto them, according to their best endeavors, whatsoever it shall cost them- the Lord assisting them."
The first question must always be  " is it expedient to form a
Church in this place?" Three things may usually be considered
essential to an affirmative answer to this question, namely: (1.) the
absence of needful Church privileges; (2.) the interest of a sufficient
number of suitable persons in the movement; (3.) a reasonable
prospect of permanence and self-support for the enterprise. With
regard to the first, it may be said, in general, that the convenience of
professing Christians is one element in its decision, and the welfare
of the impenitent, and the need of Church labor anong the people, is
another, and a very important one. For example, in the outskirts of
cities, and large towns, it may often be the duty of professing Christians who might themselves be quite conveniently accommodated
with Church privileges in connection with existing organizations, to
(160) 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
associate together to form a new Church, in order -as Home mis sionaries - to bring the ordinances of the Gospel to bear upon a destitute portion of the community. With regard to the second, no
definite number can be fixed upon as absolutely essential to the formation of a Church; but if the Great Head clearly press present duty,
and open a reasonable prospect of future enlargement, where only
'two or three agree as touching this thing,' and are' gathere(:together
in His name,' they need not fear that He will not be in the midst of
them.- With regard to the third point, we think it is clear that- in
all ordinary cases-there ought to be a fair prospect that the demand
for a Church organization will be a permanent one, and that a new
enterprise may reasonably anticipate self-support. It seems to us
that the formation of a Christian Church is too solemn a thing to be
associated with any movement that, on the face of it, must be spasmodic and temporary.
These questions having been affirmatively settled- they ought to
be settled with prayer and fasting -those persons who intend to
become  associated in the movement, who  are  members of other
churches, should apply to them for letters of dismission and recommendation, for the purpose of aiding in the formation of the proposed
new Church.2  It would be well also for them to appoint a committee
1 Our Fathers generally held that seven was the least number who could rightly associate to
form a church (See Cotton Mather's Ratto, Art. I. Sec. 1) This was not, however, from any
absurd and superstitious reverence for the number seven, as Mr. Peter Oliver so gratuitously
suggests, in his pert and violent Puritan Commonwealth, (p. 155) but because, according to
their calculation. the directions of our Saviour in the 18th of Matthew, in regard to Church
discipline, could not be literally carried out with a less number; namely, the offender, the complainant, the two witnesses, and two members with the moderator, who might constitute the
body to hear and try the case -making seven in all. (See also Cotton's WVay, p. 53, and
Mather and Tompscu's AnsVer to Herle, in Hanbury, Vol. ii. p. 172.) John Robinson, however. held that Xtwo  r three" were sufficient, in necessity  (Answer to Bernard, Works, Vol.
ii. p. 232.)
2 The following would be an appropriate form of request for a letter of this description:
To the         Church in
Dear Brethren:
Whereas the Providence of God has led me to this place, and seems
to make it my duty to become associated 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 msay be suitable in these circumstances.
Faithfully and Affectionately,
Your brother,
(Date, and place of date.)                                    A         B
* If it should so happen that any of the proposed members of the new Church are members
11
161 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
of (say, three) brethren to prepare a list of all proposing themselves
as members, anrid a form of Confession of Faith and Covenant, to be
the basis of their union.
If they are so situated - as they might be in some extreme border
wilderness -that it is impossible for them to secure the counsel and
cooperation of existing Congregational churches in the act of their
formatin; they may then, on receipt of letters dismissing those who
have been members of other churches, proceed, by solemn vote, to
associate themselves as a Christian Church upon the basis of the
Articles of Faith and Covenant to which they have agreed, and may
then go on to elect necessary officers. Such a Church, so constituted
without the concurrent advice and tendered fellowship of other Congregational churches, is a Congregational Church, if its Independency
is a mere necessity of position and circumstance -to be removed
whenever other churches come near enough to it to be reached by
the right-hand of its fellowship.
In all ordinary cases, however, the next step after the appointment
of the Committee to prepare the Articles of Faith and Covenant,1
of churches in other denominations, - whose practice may not be to give letters to their members who ask for them under such circumstances, it might be well for the phraseology of
the above letter to be modified by the insertion of the following clause in place of what comes
after "this is, etc." in the third line, so as to make it read:  "to notify yo?t of the same, and respectfully to request you take such action, under
the circumstances, as may seem to you expedient."
If no ansver should be received to such a request within a reasonable time, it might be repeated, so as to make sure agA,inst accidents by mail, and if no notice were taken of the repeated
request, the person asking for a letter - having done his duty in the premises - might then
report the ficts to the Council called to advise with reference to the formation of the Church,
or to the Church, if it had been already formed, and the way would be open for his reception,
by special vote, without any letter.
It would be a violation of Christian courtesy, and of covenant, however, for a member
of such a Church- even if he were sure, beforehand, that no notice would be taken of his
request for dismission to a Congregational Church -to join another Church without first
asking to be released from his previous relation. He ought to do his duty, and leave the Church
to do what they think is theirs: and no expectation of refusal on their part can excuse neglect
on his.
1 The following forms of Articles of Faith and Covenant, are submitted as brief and pertinent- in case aid is desired in drawing them up:
ARTICLES OF FAITH.
1 We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, and
the only infallible rule of faith and practice, and -in accordance with the teachings of those
Scriptures: -
2. We believe in ONE GOD -subsisting in three persons. the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost- eternal, unchangeable, and omnipresent, infinite in power, wisdom, and holiness; the
162 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
would be the appointment of another-or the designation to the same
committee of the new duty -to call a Council of the neighboring
Creator and Preserver of all things, whose purposes and providence extend to all events, and
who exercises a righteous moral government over all his intelligent creatures.
3. We believe that man was originally holy; that our first parents disobeyed the command
of God; and that, in consequence of their apostasy, all their descendants do also transgress
His law, and come under its just condemnation.
4. We believe that God has provided a way of salvation for all mankind,  that the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, having taken upon himself our nature, has, by his voluntary sufferings
and death, made an atonement for sin; and that every one who, with repentance for sin, reeives Christ as a Saviour, will be pardoned, justified, and saved through that faith alone.
5. We believe that while salvation is thus freely offered to aA' men, none do truly repent and
believe in Christ but those who, according to the sovereign grace and eternal purposes of God,
are renewed and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, in obeying the Gospel; and that none who are
thus renewed and chosen to eternal life, will ever be permitted so to fall away as finally to
perish.
6. We believe that the Christian Sabbath, the Church, and the ordinances of Baptism and
the Lord's Supper, are of divine appointment, and the duties connected with them, of perpetual
obligation; but that only members in good standing of the visible Church, have a right to partake of the Lord's Supper; and that only they, and their households, can be admitted to the
ordinance of Baptism.
7 We believe that there will be a resurrection of all the dead; and that God will, after that,
judge all men - manifesting the glory of his mercy, in the award of eternal salvation to his
people, and of his justice, in the everlasting condemnation of the wicked.
COVENANT.
We, who are called of God to join ourselves into a Church state, in deep sense of our unworthiness thereof, disability thereto, and aptness to forsake the Lord, and neglect our duty to him
and to each other, do hereby - in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and trusting in his gracious help - solemnly covenant and agree, with Him and with each other, to walk together
as a Church of Christ, according to all those holy rules of God's WVord given to a Church
rightly established, so far as we know them, or may gain further light upon them. And, particularly, we covenant and agree: -
To consecrate ourselves, our offspring, our worldly goods, and all that we have, and are, unto
the Triune God, as the supreme object of our love and our chosen portion, for this world, and
for that which is to come;
To give diligent heed to His word and ordinances;
To maintain His worship in the family;
To seek in all things His glory, and the good of men, and to endeavor to live a holy and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty;
To contribute from our substance, and by our active labors and continual prayers, to the
work of this Church;
To submit to its Gospel discipline;
To labor for its growth, and peace, and purity;
To walk with each other in Christian fidelity and tenderness;
And, finally, to hold and promote suitable fellowship with all sister churches of the common
Head, especially with those among whom the Lord hath set us, that the Lord may be one,
and his name one, in all his churches throughout all generations, to his eternal glory in Christ
Jesus.
And now the good Lord be merciful unto us, pardoning, according to the riches of his grace,
as all our past sins, so especially our Church sins, in negligence and unfaithfulness of former
vows, and accept, as a sweet savor in Christ Jesus, this our offering up of ourselves unto him in
163
0 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
churches, to advise the brethren and sisters who propose to form the
new Church, whether- in the judgment of the Council -the cause
of Christ will be promoted by their proceeding according to their
plan,1 and of laying the whole subject before the Council when assembled. It would be a part of the duty of this committee, also, to request some member of the Council to come prepared to preach a sermon appropriate to the occasion, if the Council should advise them to
proceed; and to designate some brother of the Church to receive the
right hand of fellowship from the other churches, which the Council
in that case- will tender them.
The Council being as.seminbled, as invited, is organized by being
called to order by some one of its older members, who reads the
Letter Missive which is the authority for their procedure, and nominates a Moderator - sometimes calls for a ballot for one - who,
being elected by the Council, assumes the chair, opens the session
with prayer, calls for the election of Scribe (sometimes, in large Coun
this work; filling this place with his glory, making us faithful to himself and to each other so
long as this transitory life shall last, and, after that he has kept us from falwing, presenting us
faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.*   Amen!
[See APPENDIX B. for a briefer form.]
1 The following would be a proper form of Letter for calling such a Council:
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 our duty to become associated as a Congregational Church, we respectfully
request you, by your Pastor, and a delegate, to meet in Council at             in this place,
on the         of, at        o'clock in the         to consider the expediency of
the course proposed by us, and advise usgin reference thereto; and should the formation
of such a Church be deemed expedient, to assist in the public service appropriate to its
formation and recognition.
Wishing you grace, mercy, andpeace,
We subscribe ourselves,
Your brethren in Christ,
)  Committee of
those proposing to
become a Church.
(Date, and place of date.)
N. B.   The Churches invited to sit in this Council are the following; viz:        Congregational Church in.  Bev. Mr.              Pastor.
1"          "    ".     "    "                "1      etc., etc.
0 The general scope, and some of the specific clauses of this Covenant, are taken from the
original covenant of the Old South Church in Boston, in use by it for more than one hundred
yea.   (See lw.isner's History of the Old South Church, p. 8, and p. 76.)
164
6 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
cils, for that of Assistant Scribe) and, the Council thus being fully
organized and ready to proceed to its business, the committee who
signed the Letter Missive should present to it a list of those who
are willing to become members of the new Church, and state briefly,
yet fully, the reasons which have led them to desire to take such a
step, and to decide that such a course is their duty, and the demand
of the Great Head  upon them-answering any and all questions
connected therewith, which any member of the Council may desire
to ask. All the facts in the case being in, the Council would thenif there is any call for discussion upon the matter, asking all others
(including, of course, those who seek their advice) to withdraw, that
the discussion may proceed most freely-vote either that it is, or
is not, of opinion that the proposed movement is wise, and one
which its members are prepared to advise and sustain by their
fellowship. This vote being favorable, the Council would then proceed to hear the Articles of Faith and Covenant, and to examine
candidates for membership in the new Church, as to the regularity of
their letters of dismission, or the fact of their personal piety, if they
present themselves as new members. If it be satisfied that a Church
ought to be formed; that it ought to be formed upon the basis of
these Articles and Covenant; and that these applicants are suitable
persons to become its members; the Council will then vote to advise
these persons to proceed to form the proposed Church, and will appoint some of its own number to take such part in the public servia,
of the occasion as may be desired, and desirable; the more important
services usually performed by members of the Council, being the following; namely: (1.) Invocation and Reading of appropriate Selections from the Scriptures, (2.) Sermon, (3.) Reading of the Articles
of Faith and Covenant, (4.) Prayer of Recognition and Consecration,
(usually by the Moderator), (5.) Right Hand of Fellowship to the
new Church, (6.) Address to the Church, (7.) Concluding Prayer,
(8.) Benediction. These preliminary arrangements being completed,
at the appointed hour, these services would be publicly performed;
the members who are to form the new Church, after the reading of
the Articles and Covenant, assenting to the same, by solemn vote (all
rising) - thus, in accordance with the advice of the Council, constituting themselves a Church, by their own act.
If it were so to happen that the Council should not agree in ap
165 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
proval of the Articles, or Covenant, or of some portion of the procedure of the brethen calling them together, it would so report, and conference would be had with a view to the adjustment of the difficulty.
And if the Council should, in the end, vote itself unable, for any reason, to advise the formation of the Church, it would remain for the
applicants to consider the matter, with much humility and prayerfulness, and either to acquiesce in the opinion of the Council, and give
up their intention; to modify it in such a manner as to remove the
objection; or - if that seems to them impossible - to proceed (as -
if they are unconvinced by the adverse opinion of the Council, and
still feel bound in conscience to go forward -they have the right to
do) to organize themselves into a Church, without the aid and recognition of a Council; in which case they would remain an Independent
Church, until such time as their neighbor Congregational churches
should receive them into their fellowship.
SECTION 2. HTOW to choose and induct C'hurch officers.
(1.)  Choice of lesser offcers.  As an organized body cannot exist
and act without officers, it will be the first duty of the Church, after
its constitution, to elect those officers without whom it cannot commence its proper work. A moderator is the first necessity, and some
brother of age and experience will naturally call the Church to order,
and call for the choice of such a moderator -either by nomination,
or by ballot; counting and declaring the vote, after which the elected
moderator would take his seat. The next business would properly
be the choice of a clerk, whose duty of record would run back to
include a brief, yet accurate minute of those preliminary steps by
which the formation of the Church has been initiated; and a treasurer, to take charge of all monies belonging to the body. The choice
of a committee would naturally be next in order, who should have in
charge the whole matter of procuring a suitable place for public worship, and a minister to conduct that worship - including conference
with the" Society," (if one exists, or is to be formed) or the securing
by some other method, of the amount that may be needful to defray
the necessary expenses of.worship, and of Church life. It would be
well, also, for steps to be immediately taken looking toward the election of two or more Deacons - say the assignment of some future
166 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
day for that election, at an interval long enough to allow of that prepa.
ration of thought, and prayer, and mutual conference, so desirable be fore action involving so much the peace and prosperity of the organization. If deemed expedient, an Examining Committee -to confer
with applicants for membership, make inquiry in regard to their
qualifications, and recommend such as seem to them qualified to the
Church for admission- might also be soon chosen; though in small
churches it is more usual, and perhaps quite as expedient, for this
duty to be done in committee of the whole.
(2.) C(hoice and induction of Deacons.  When the occasion previously designated for the duty has arrived-the Church being assembled
with full ranks, and a moderator being chosen- it would be well for the
moderator - stating the business assigned to the hour- to read from
the Word of God the first seven verses of the 6th chapter of Acts, the
six verses following the seventh verse of the 3d chapter of Paul's first
Epistle to Timothy, with any other passages which seem to be appropriate to the occasion -for wisdom, and for comfort; and then to invoke- or to call upon some brother to invoke - the special blessing
and direction of the Great Head of the Church upon them in their performance of the work to which they are called; that they may choose
for their office-bearers, good men, full of thie IIoly Ghost, and of faith,
who may not only use the office of a Deacon well, but by whom much
people may be added unto the Lord.
Such an election should always take place by ballot, in order that
each l)rothler may be able to indicate his real choice in the freest possible manner. While it is very desirable that the result of such a
balloting should be unanimous, and while few candidates would think
it wise to accept such an office by the choice only of a bare majority,
it will yet often happen that no one person will so concentrate the
suffrages of all, as to give him the clean record of an election without any opposing vote -so that to take the ground that absolute
unanimity is essential to acceptance, would often be to keep the office
vacant.
The election having been made, and the brother (or brethren)
chosen having signified a readiness to accept the trust, there may
appropriately be some formal entrance upon the office. The record
in the Acts states that the Apostles prayed, and'laid their hands on'
those who were first chosen Deacons in the Church at Jerusalem.
167 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Some have supposed this to involve a regular public service of formal
ordination. But we think it is clear 1 that the intent of that precedent will be better followed, by a simple recognition of the new officer (or officers) in prayer, at the first communion season followingor on some other suitable and convenient occasion; in connection with
which public recognition, let the duties of the office be commenced.
After the induction of Deacons, it will be appropriate for one of
them to act as the treasurer of the Church - either with or without
special designation tQ that trust; inasmuch as the care of the seecularities of the body inheres in their office.
It is usual in many churches, also, for the Deacons, in the absence
of a Pastor, to preside over all meetings, according to their seniority
in election- though some churches prefer (and every Church - unless it deprive itself of the right, by some standing rule which cannot
be set aside - has always the right) to elect, from the membership at
large, a moderator for every business meeting at which its Pastor is
not present. Sometimes this right is a very important one to be exercised, and it is well always to remember that by the common law
of Congregationalism, the Pastor is the only official standing moderator of a Church, so that unless, by a special statute of its own, the
Church entrust the moderatorship to the Deacons, in the Pastor's
absence, it reverts always to the hands of the body,-which should
choose a moderator for every meeting, either by nomination, or by
ballot.
It is usual, moreover, for the Deacons to have the oversight, on tho
part of the Church, of the supply of the pulpit, in the temporary ab sence of the Pastor. When there is an Ecclesiastical Society connected with the Church, a committee appointed by it might co6perate
with the I)eacons to this end, and where a new Pastor is to be sought,
the Church might well appoint a special committee (upon which, how ever, it would naturally place its Deacons) to act with the Parish
committee, in bringing about the settlement of a suitable Pastor.
(3.) Choice and induction of a Pastor. The first public step
toward the choice of a Pastor is usually a report to the Church, by
the committee previously appointed to have the matter in charge, of
the name of some minister of the Gospel, who, in their judgment,
1 See page 140; also Tracy's Report, in the appendix of Punchard's  iew, pp. 3408.
168
t 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISH WORKS.
might be obtained, and would be a worthy incumbent of the office.
Such report being made, time enough should be taken to allow all the
members of the Church opportunity to make suitable inquiry in regard to the candidate, when- after a day of fasting and prayer for
the special direction of the Great Head of the Church -the question
is put to vote by ballot.  The ballot may be either'yea,' or'nay,'
upon the name reported by the committee, or may be by names upon
the ballots, in which case, a negative vote for this candidate would be
a positive vote for another.   Perfect - or  sufficient - unanimity
manifesting itself in the result, the next step would be the appointment of a committee to make known this vote to the Ecclesiastical
Society with which the Church is associated (if there be one), and to
ask a concurrent vote from its members, fixing upon the yearly salary
to be offered to the candidate. Should that Society concur, and vote
to offer the candidate a reasonable stipend, and appoint a committee
to cooperate with the committee of the Church in communicating
these facts to the Pastor elect, the next step would be for those committees to forward to the candidate a'call' to become their Pastor,
covering the votes passed, and urging his acceptance of the invitation
conveyed in them.1
I The following may suggest a proper form of'call.' Those portions marked in brackets are
to be modified accerding tc the flicts in the car, as to whether the candidate has been ordained
or nct, so as tc be knewn as'Rev.' or merely as'Mr.' and is now to be'ordained' or'in
stalled;' and as to whether there is an 1cclesiastical Society acting with the church, or not.
Rev. [Mr.] A B
Dear Sir:
The undersigned, on behalf of the Congregational Church of Christ in A- [and
the Leclesiastical Society connected therewith] beg leave respectfully to subsnit to your
consideration the following certefted copies of recent votes of that Church, [and Society].
At a regularly called meeting of the Congregational Church in A-, on the -
day of it was unanimously [os' state the vote]
Voted, That the Rev, [Mr.] A- B- be invited to become the Pastor and
Teacher of this Church.
Voted, That Brethren A- B-, C- D, and B- F, be a cornmittee to conssssnnicate these votes to Rev. [Mr.] A-B-; to urge hisn to coniply
with the request which they contain; and to make all arrangements whiob may become
necessary to carry out the wishes of the Church in the premises.
Moderator.
Scribe.
[At a legal meeting of the Ecclesiastical Society connected with the Congregational
Church in A-, on the -  day of-, it was unanimously [or otherwise]
169 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Should the Society fail to concur, and prefer some other candidate,
the Church committee would report that faict back, and it would then
become necessary for conference between the Church and Society,
and for such modification of the action of one, or both, as the best
interests of all should seem to demand.
Should there be no Ecclesiastical Society in connection with the
Church, the Church itself would vote what it felt to be a suitable salary to the candidate, should he become their Pastor, and proceed by
its committee to forward the' call,' covering its votes, to the Pastor elect.
On receipt of his acceptance, the next step is for the committee of
the Church (with that of the Society - if there be a Society), in
conference with the Pastor elect, to agree upon the churches which
shall be invited to meet in Council for the purpose of the examination
of the candidate, and, if they are satisfied with his character and
qualifications, and with the doings of the people, of tendering the
fellowship of the churches in the ordination [or installation] service,
Voted, That the Rev. [Mr.] A          B   be invited to become the minister of this
people;
Voted, That, in case of his acceptance of this invitation, with that extended by the
Church, this Society will pay Mr. A-   B —  the annual sumn of                 dollars, in
quarterly instalments, on the first days of January, April, July, and October, in each
year, so long as the relation shall continue.
Voted, That Mr. A-   B            be offered a vacation of        weeks, during which
this Society will supply the pulpit, under the direction of the Deacons of the Church.
Voted, That Messrs. G          H-,  and I          J-, be a  Committee to act with
the Committee of the Church in this matter.
A true copy of record.
(Signed.)
Moderator.
Clerk.]
Atlow us, Dear Sir, to add to the invitation contained in these votes, the expression
of our earnest hope that you will feel it to be the desire of the Great Head of the Church
that you should accept this call to be our Pastor, and name an early day for the [ Ordination] Installation service.
Praying God to bless you, and all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,
We subscribe ourselves,
Yours in the Gospel,
A    B
C        D           Committee of
BE        F            Church [and
G         H             Society.]
170
[Date, and place of date. I 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
and send out the Letter Missive to them.- These are usually the
neighboring Congregational churches, adding, sometimes, remoter
churches, whose Pastors it is desired should perform some part of the
public service of the occasion.
The Council having assembled and organized itself by the choice
of Moderator and Scribe, it is then the business of that committee'to
lay before it, (1.) all the records of the Church relating to the proposed Pastoral union; (2.) all the records of the Society (if there be
one) to the same purport; (3.) all the communications received from
the Pastor elect, in reference to the acceptance of their invitation,
with any other documentary, or other facts, bearing upon the matter
before the Council. If the Council is satisfied with these, as being
regular and suitable, it will so declare itself by vote, and proceed
next to examine the fitness of the candidate for the place.
That examination will respect, (1.) his evidence of being in good
standing in some Christian Church, and his intention to become a
member of the Church over which it is proposed to ordain him-if
he is not already so; (2.) his evidence of approval to preach the
1 The following would be an appropriate form for such a Letter Missive: -
T7e Congregational Church in A              to the Congregational Church in B
sen2deth greeting;
Dear Brethren:
The Great Head of the Church has kindly united us, and the Congregation statedly
worshipping with us, in the choice of Mr. [Rev.] A             B-as  our Pastor and
Tea(-cher, and he has accepted our invitation to that office. We, therefore, affectio'iate7y request your attendance by your Pastoi' and a delegate, at -, on the -
day of  -  next, at -     o'clock in the -, to examine the candidate, review our proceedings, and advise us in reference to the same; and if judged expedient, to assist in
the Ordination [Installation] service.
Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace,
We arefraternally yours,
Committee of
the Church.
Committee of
t the Society.]
[Date, and place of date.]
The other Churches invited to this Council are as follows:
[Name them all I
It is proper also to append to those letters sent to churches whose Pastors are desired to take
part in the public service, a postcript, notifying them of that fact - that such Pastors may
have suitable time for preparation.
171 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Gospel, from some customary body; (3.) his evidence (if he has been
before settled as a Pastor) of orderly dismission from his former
charge, and his commendation by the dismissing Council as a suitable
candidate for another settlement; (4.) his religious experience, and
the quality of motive which leads him to the ministry; (5.) the sufficiency of his literary acquisitions, and the Scriptural soundness of his
theological faith. It is usual for this examination, so far as it involves
categorical inquisition, to be mainly conducted by the Moderator, but
to be completed by the calling of the roll of the Council, and by giving to each of its clerical and lay members, the opportunity to question the candidate.
This examination- which is always public -  being concluded, the
Council vote "to be by themselves," when  the candidate, and the
committee calling the Council, should retire, with all others not members-to give opportunity for the fullest confidential conference. Being
satisfied upon all the points before them, the Council would so declare
itself by vote, and - calling in the candidate and the committeewould proceed, in conference with them, to assign the parts in the
public service; which are usually, (except singing), (1.) Preliminary statement by the Moderator, (2.) Reading of the Result of the
Council, by the Scribe, (3.) Invocation and Reading the Scriptures,
(4.) Sermon, (5.) Installing [or Ordaining] Prayer, [withl, or without, the Imposition of hands, as the candidate has, or has not, been
settled before], (6.) Charge to the Pastor, (7.) Right Hand of
Fellowship, (8.) Address to the People,  (9.) Concluding Prayer,
(10.) Benediction, by the new Pastor.1
The Church having thus chosen its Pastor, and ordained him,
through the fraternal hands of the delegates of its sister churches, he
is now fully set over them in the Lord.
SECTION 3. HOW to transact the regular business of a Church.
(1.) Standing Rules. It is well for every Church -however
1 It is vital to the best effect of a service of this description that each of these parts should
be brief, and be confined strictly to its own sphere. We have heard, for example, sermons
which included the Right Hand of Fellowship and Charge, and an Address to the people; and
Invocations and Concluding Prayers, both of which invaded each other's province. and left little that was special for the prayer of Ordination. Weariness is the inevitable result. But if
each is brief and pertinent, the general effect may be admirable.
172 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
small-to adopt some few standing rules which may give definiteness to its procedure, and, by pointing out beforehand right ways for
the performance of all necessary business, avoid that trouble which
sometimes arises from doing simple things in a mistaken manner.
These may sometimes be very few; in other cases, the best interests
of all concerned would be promoted by their greater fullness.'
1 The following are suggested as adapted to meet the case of a Church desiring a full and
careful code.
STANDING RULIES.
This Church is Congregational in its recognition of the fellowship and fraternity of the
churches, yet Independent in assuming, under Christ - after advice from others, when desired
-the sole responsibility of its own actions.  It will, accordingly, extend to sister churches, and
expect from them, that communion, council, and aid, which the law of Christ demands; while
it controls the administration of its own affairs according to its own understanding of the word
of God   And to promote good order in its life, it adopts the following rules of action:  1. The Pastor of this Church shall be a member of it, and shall be its standing Moderator.
2 In the absence of the Pastor, or in any case when he may become a party in interest to
Church action, so as to make it improper for him to act as moderator, a moderator pro tempore
shall be chosen - by ballot when any three brethren so request, otherwise by nomination.
3. The annual meeting of the Church shall be held in the month of. on such day as
the Pastor and Deacons may appoint.
4. Business may be done at the close of any regular Church prayer-meeting; ad a special
business meeting may be called at any time, when in the opinion of the Pastor and Deacons, it
may be expedient; and shall be called, on the written application to the Pastor - or, in his absencc, the Senior Deacon- of five members.  I2Iale members of the Church clly are entitled to
vote upon the business before it. Ten male members shall constitute a quorum.
5. Special business meetings shall always be notified from the desk on the Sabbath, or by
written notice served upon every resident member, at least two days before the time of meeting.
6. All meetings for business shall be opened with prayer.
7. At the annual meeting, the following elections shall be made for the ensuing year -all
officers to serve - during good behavior - until others shall be regularly chosen in their places.
(1.) A Clerk,* who shall keep the records of the Church.
(2.) An Examining Committee- of which the Pastor and Deacons shall be ex officio members, who shall examine all applicants for admission to the Church, and present to the Church
a written report of the names of those whom they approve; any candidate whom they may
not recommend, having the right of appeal to the whole Church. This Committee shall also
act as a Committee of preliminary inquiry in regard to all cases of discipline, and shall make a
report to the Church of its condition, and of their doings, with a list of all absent members, at
the annual meeting.
(3.) A Treasurer, who shall take charge of all Church monies, and contributions for charilyble purposes, and make a full written report of the same at the annual meeting.
(4.) An Auditor, who shall supervise the Treasurer's annual account, and report thereon.
(5).) A Committee of Collections for religious and charitable objects, whose duty it shall be
* It is always better that the Pastor should not be Clerk of his own Chureh. We have seen
so many cases of difficulty arising from alleged falsification of the record,.or imperfection in it,
at the hands of a Pastor, who was Clerk, and with whom there was trouble, as to convince us
that no Pastor should run into such needless danger. It is, of course, often convenient for the
Pastor to have the records i handy," but that can be secured by requiring the Clerk to keep
them where they will be accessible to all who need to see them.
173 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
. (2.) Rules of order.  The best definition which we know of Congregationalism, as a working system, is that it is Christian common
- under direction of the Church- to collect and pay over to the Treasurer such gifts of the
Church and Congregation to benevolent purposes as may not be raised through the contribution
box; who shall annually report their doiungs.
8. The order of procedure at the annual meeting shall be as follows: -
(1.) Prayer.
(2.) Reading the record of the last annual business meeting.
(3.) Choice of the Clerk- by ballot.
(4.) Reports of the Treasurer and Auditor.
(5.) Action on these reports.
(6.) Choice of the Treasurer -by ballot.
(7.) Choice of the Auditor.
(8.) Report of the Examining Committee.
(9.) Action on that report.
(10.) Fixing the number of the Examining Committee for the ensuing year.
(11.) Choice of Examining Committee - by ballot.
(12.) Report of the Committee on Collections.
(13.) Action on that report.
(14) Choice of Committee on Collections.
(15.) Deferred business.
(16.) New business.
(17.) Adjournment.
9. Candidates for admission shall be propounded before the Church and Congregation
weeks previous to their admission.
10. All persons admitted to the Church shall affix to the Confession of Faith and Covenant
their full names- in a book to be kept for that purpose.
11. The Lord's Supper shall be observed on the          Sabbath of the months of   - -
in every year.
12. The regular weekly meeting of the Church for prayer and conference shall be held on
-   evening; and the         evening last preceding each communion season shall be specially devoted to preparation for the proper reception of that ordinance; and at its close a contribution shall be taken for Church expenses, and the relief of the poor, under the direction
of the Deacons.
13. The necessary expenses of the Pastor in attendance upon all Ecclesiastical Councils, as a
representative of the Church, shall be paid by the Treasurer from the funds of the Church.
14. Delegates to Ecclesiastical Councils shall make brief report of their doings, and of the
action of the Council, at the meeting of the Church next following.
15. Members of this Church removing elsewhere, will be expected to take letters of dismission
and recommendation to the Church with which they worship, within one year from the time
of their change of residence, or render reasonable excuse for not doing so.
I6. All letters of dismission given by this Church shall be valid six months only from their
date; and no member who has received such a letter shall vote in business meetings of the
Church, except on return of the letter.
17. Members of this Church who have habitually absented themselves from its worship and
ordinances for one year, without rendering satisfactory excuse, shall be debarred from voting
with the Church, so long as such habitual absence continues.
18. When any officer of this Church shall cease statedly to worship with us, his office shall
be vacated from the time of his departure.
19. When any member of a sister Church shall statedly worship and commune with this
Church for more than one year, without removing his relation to us, it shall be the duty of the
Examining Committee to notify the Church to which he belongs, of that fact.
174 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
sense applied to Church matters. And since a Congregational Church
is simply a pure democracy, those common rules by which democratic
assemblies are usually governed- by which order is maintained,
and each member quietly secures his full rights of debate, and of decisio.-  exactly apply to the government of Congreg,ational churches
in the doing of their Church work. As differences of opinion sometimes arise, however, when sudden points require adjustment, and an
unpractised moderator may be in the chair; it may be well briefly to
lay d-3wn here the substance of those rules which are most essential,
and whose strict observance will conduct any assembly to a satisfactory result.1
(a.) Coming to order. If the Church have a Pastor, or other
standing moderator (by its rules), and he is present; it is his duty to
request the Church to come to order. If it have none, or he is absent, the senior Deacon, or some one of the older male members,
may call the membership to order, and call for the choice of a mod
20. At their first meeting after each communion season, it shall be the duty of the Examining
Committee to examine all entries made in the Church record by the Clerk, since the Communion preceding the last, and, if found correct, approve them; an entry of such approval to be
made upon the record, signed by the Chairman of the Committee.
21. The following shall be deemed the regular course of procedure in all cases of discipline:  (1.) The brother offended or aggrieved, should seek the removal of the offence, in the spirit
of the Gospel, by fraternal conference with the offender alone.
(2.) Failng in the removal of his difficulty thus, he should take with him one or two judicious brethren. and with their mediation, strive for Christian satisfaction.
(3.) This proving in vain, he should bring the matter to the notice of the Examining Committee, who shall endeavor to bring about a reconciliation, and who (if this cannot be effected, or
does not result in harmony) shall prefer a formal complaint before the Church against the offending brother.
(4 ) If the Church entertain the complaint, they shall appoint a time for a hearing of the case,
and summon the offender to be present at that hearing, furnishing him- at least one week before the time of the hearing - with a copy of the charges against him, together with the names
of the witnesses who will be relied on for proof.
(5; If, on such hearing, the Church are satisfied of the guilt of the party accused, they may
vote to admonish him publicly, to suspend him for some definite period from the privleges of
the C'_-_rch, or to excommunicate him from its membership; according to the aggravation of
the ofence, and the state of mind in which he is.
(6.) No such vote of censure shall be passed, except by the concurrent vote of two-thirds of
the male members present at a regular meeting.
(7.) In case of the excommunication of any member, public notice shall be given of the fact.
22. No alteration shall be made in the foregoing rules, unless at a regular meeting of the
Church,. after notice of the proposed change at a previous regular meeting, and by vote of
three-tourt'hs ol the members present. This rule shall not, however, be so construed, as to forbid the ttmpcrary suspension of any rule, when the Church shall see fit unanimously to order
such suspension.
2 So far as any manual has been referred to in this connection, it is Cushing's well-knowa
Manuba of Parliamentary Debate.
175 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
erator, in the usual manner. On his election, the moderator will
take the chair, and inquire it the standing Clerk be present; if not,
a Clerk pro temnpore should next be chosen, to insure proper record
of all business done. The moderator will then entertain anD put
all motions, decide all questions of order, announce all votes, nad, in
a word, preside over the meeting.
(b.) Motions. Every item of business should be introduced in the
form of a motion; which is simply a proposal to proceed to the doing
of that business-put into a succinct and suitable form of words. All
such motions, and all remarks upon them, should be addressed to the
moderator. If a member wishes the Church to do any particular
thing, he should, therefore, move that the Church do that thing. Any
member has a right to make any motion, not against the rules, but,
to protect the Church from having its time wasted upon foolish and
impertinent propositions, it is required that every motion be seconded
-so as to be endorsed by two responsible parties-before it can
claim discussion and decision. After having made his motion, and it
has been seconded, the mover will naturally proceed to set forth such
reasons as prevail with him to decide that it is expedient for the
Church to follow the course suggested by him. Others may follow,
in approval or condemnation of his view. All must discuss only the
specific question that awaits their decision in that motion. If any
speaker wanders to disconnected subjects, or if members interrupt
each other, or violate the rules of courteous debate, it is the business
of the moderator to call them to order, for so doing. The proper
time- unless some specialty (like the assignment of a fixed hour to
close the debate, or something of that sort) interpose itselt to modify
the case- to take the vote upon the question under discussion, is
when all who desire to say any thing, for or against it, have spoken,
and thus the debate has closed itself.
Any member has always the right to demand that any motion be
reduced to writing, by its mover, for more definite understanding.
The moderator is obliged to put all motions to vote - however distasteful they may be to himself, personally- unless they are clearly
against the standing rules of the Church, or the common law of deliberative bodies.1 No new motion can be entertained while one is
I Moderators - especially if they are Pastors, in times of trouble and excitement- sometimes assume a right to veto Church action, to embarrass the movements of the Church, to
176 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
yet under debate, except it be of the nature of an amendment to it,
or what is called a privileged motion; and no speaking is in order in
a business meeting that is not upon some motion previously made, remaining, undecided, except that a member who is about to make a
motion, may preface it with an explanation.
(c.) Amnendmnents. Any proposition to modify the motion which is
under discussion, by striking out words firom it, or by adding words
to it, or both, in order to bring it more nearly into harmony with the
views of the membership, is always in order, except when some privileged question is interposed, or when its insertion would too much
complicate the question. The former bar will soon be considered.
The latter is easily explained. An amendment to a simple motion is
in order. So is an amendment to that amendment. But there the direct
right to amend ceases, since an amendment to an amendment to an
amendment, would so pile questions upon each other, as to lead to
confusion. The line must be drawn somewhere, and, by common
consent of legislative bodies, it has been drawn here. If it is desired
to amend the amendment of an amendment, it must be done indirectly,
by voting down the proposed amendment to the amendment, and then
moving the new proposition in its place, as a new amendment to the
refuse to put motions which are distasteful to themselves, or even to adjourn the meeting at
their pleasure, or declare it adjourned at the call of some friend for such adjournment, without
putting the vote to the test of the' contrary minds' All this is an absurd and wholly inexcusable violation of the proprieties of the case. The moderator - and if he is moderator in virtue
of being Pastor, it makes no difference - derives all his power from the body over which he
presides. and he has no more right than any other individual, to interfere with the due course
of business. His duty cannot be better condensed than it has been by the standard writer on
parliamentary usage (Cushing's Manual, Sec 27',, viz: "to represent and stand for the Assembly- declaring its will, and. in ail things, obeying, implicitly, its commands,"
But, it may be asked, what ought a moderator to do, in case he should see the course of
Church action going - in his judgmnent - wholly wrong, even to that extent that it is likely to
commit himn to what will be against his conscience?  The answer is easy.  Let him explain, as
clearly as he can, to the body, the wrong they are about to do; if that is not enough, let him
solemnly protest against it, and even -if, in his judgment, the gravity of the case calls for so
extreme a course- let him retire respectfully from the chair, leaving it to be filled by the
choice of another moderator by the Church. This will clear his skirts of complicity with the
result, while, at the same time, it preserves the rights of the Church, and the good order of the
whole transaction; while it cannot help being much more effectual in its tendency to restrain
the body from rushing to any wrong result, than any arbitrary and unwarrantable interference,
of the nature of an attempted veto, or an enforced adjournment; which must almost certainly
react to confirm the majority in their ill judgment.  There is absolutely no justification in
Congregational usage, or in common sense, for that ministerial folly which seeks to'lord it
over God's heritage,' by assuming to veto Church votes, or to adjourn Church meetings, or
arbitrarily to dictate, in any manner, to a Church, the course it should pursue.
12
177 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
amendment. In this case, he who desires to move such new amendment in place of the one before the meeting, may give notice that if
the amendment to the amendment on which the question now rests
shall be voted down, he will move this new proposition in its place,
thus enabling members to vote understandingly.
Any amendment must be' seconded,' like an original motion, before
it can claim the consideration of the assembly. It is usual, however,
where the mover and seconder of the original motion, or of an amendment which an amendment is proposed to modify,'accepts' the new
amendment, for it to be quietly incorporated - without vote -into
the question as it stands, awaiting decision.
It is not necessary that an amendment should be cordial in its tone
toward the proposition which it proposes to amend. It has long been
considered allowable, by parliamentary usage, to propose to amend a
motion in a manner that would so entirely alter its nature, as to compel its friends to vote against it, should it be so amended; or to amend
it by striking out all after the words "Resolved that," or "Voted
that," and inserting a proposition of a wholly different tenor.'
An amendment -or an origiral motion- that has been regularly
made, seconded, and proposed from the chair, is thereby put into the
possession of the assembly, and cannot be withdrawn by the mover,
except by general consent, or by a vote giving him leave so to do.
The motions for the "previous question," and "to lie on the table,"
cannot be amended, because their nature does not admit of any change.
(d.) Privileyed motions   Ti-here are certain motions which, on account of their superior importance, are entitled to supplant any other
motion that may be under consideration, so as to be first acted on, and
decided, by the body; and which may, therefore, be made at any time.
Privileged motions in a Church meeting, would be the following: —
1 In the House of Commons, April 10, 1744, a resolution was moved, declaring "that the issuing and paying to the Duke of Aremberg the sum of ~40.000 to put the Austrian troops in
motion, in the year 1742, was a dangerous misapplication of public money, and destructive of
the rights of Parliament." The object of the motion, of course, was to censure the British
ministry  Their friends being in a majority in the House, preferred - instead of voting the
proposition down -to turn it into a direct resolution of approval of the course referred to; and
they accordingly moved to amend, by leaving out the words "a dangerous misapplication,"
etc., to the end, and inserting, instead, the words " necessary for putting the said troops in
motion, and of great consequence to the common cause "  This amendment wVas adopted, and
the motion as amended was passed -in a form the precise opposite, in sense, of its mover's
design -See Cushing, p. 75,
178 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
(aa.) The previous question. The object of this motion is to bring
debate upon the motion under consideration to an end -if commenced -or to suppress it altogether. It cannot itself be debated.
Its form is, "shall the main question be now put?" If decided in the
negative, debate may be resumed. If decided affirmatively, the question before the body must be put to an immediate vote.
(bb.) The motion to withdraw the question under discussion, by its
mover. When the mover of a question wishes to withdraw it, for any
reason, and has asked- but failed to obtain - the general consent to
do so, he may move for leave to withdraw it, and his motion will take
precedence of the question itself. It may itself, however, be debated.
(cc.) The motion to lay on the table. The object of this, is to lay
aside the subject to which it is applied, for the present; leaving it
where it may be brought up for consideration at any convenient time.
It is itself debatable.
(dd.)  The motion to commit the question to a committee.  The
object of this is to obtain more light upon the question; to amend its
form, if defective; to incorporate additional provisions, if needfiul;
and in general, to put into a form more satisfactory than its present.
It may be committed with, or without, instructions to the committee,
as to the precise manner in which their function shall be discharged.
This motion may be debated.
(ee.) The motion to postpone to a fxed time.  The object of this
motion is to gain time for all the delay that may be desired for more
light upon the question, or for any other reason, yet to fix the date
when the subject shall recur. This motion may be debated.
(i) The motion to postpone indeftnitely. The object of this motion is to suppress the question to which it is applied, without committing the body to it by direct vote. If negatiyved, the matter stands
where.it stood before it was proposed.  If carried, the effect is to quash
entirely the motion so postponed. This motion may be itself debated.
(gg.)  The motion to adjourn.  This motion is always in order,
except when a member is speaking- when no motion can be made
without his consent, and no interruption is to be tolerated, except a
valid call to order (if the speaker is out of order in his remarks), the
adjustment of which gives him the floor again. The motion to adjourn,
in its simple form, takes precedence of all others. If no motion is before the body when the motion to adjourn is made, it is susceptible of
179 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
amendment, like other questions. But if it is itself made with a view
to supersede some question before the body, it cannot be itself amended.
It is then undebatable.
The effect of the adoption of a simple motion to adjourn, in the
case of a body not holding regular sessions from day to day, would be
equivalent to a dissolution. Otherwise it would adjourn the body to the
next regular sitting day. In either case, the previous adoption of a
resolution that "when the body adjourn, it adjourn to some other future time fixed," would modify the case. But the motion to adjourn
to some future time fixed, is not a privileged question.
An adjourned meeting is a continuation of the previous meetinglegally the same meeting - so that the same officers hold over.
When a question has been interrupted, however, while under discussion, and before a vote has been taken upon it, by a motion to adjourn,
the vote to adjourn takes it from before the meeting, so that it will
not be under consideration at the adjourned meeting, unless brought
up afresh.
(e.) Voting. When a motion has been made and seconded, if no
alteration is proposed, or it admits of none, or has been amended, and
the debate upon it appears to have reached its close, the presiding
officer inquires whether the body is "ready for the question?" Such
being the fact, he should then clearly restate that question, so that no
member can possibly fail to understand it, and then say, "as many of
you as are in favor of the passage of this motion, will please say aye,"
[or hold up the right hand]; then "as many of you as are of the
contrary opinion will please to say no," [or hold up the right hand].
Then, judging the quality of the vote by eye and ear, he should announce it accordingly, "the ayes have it," or "the noes have it," -
or by some equivalent phraseology- as the case may be. If members
are equally divided, the presiding officer has the right to give his
casting vote, but is not obliged to do so. If he does not vote, the
motion does not prevail.
When the vote is declared, any member who thinks the moderator
to be in error, has the right immediately to demand that the vote be
taken again, by saying "I doubt the vote."  It must then be put
again, and the votes carefuilly counted. Where excitement exists,
and the vote is close, it is sometimes well for the moderator to appoint
a teller from each party, to count and report the vote.
180 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
Debat3 may be renewed-unless'the previous question' has been
voted -at any stage before the negative vote is called for-in any
form of voting where the affirmative is first taken. But if debate
should be reopened after the affirmative has been called, in whole or
in part, the affirmative vote must be taken over again when debate
lheas again ceased.  In taking the yeas and nays, where both affirmative and negative are called together, debate is not in order after the
call has been commenced.
In voting, the motion last made is always the one for decision, so
that when an amendment has been offered to an amendment, the order
of voting on them will be the reverse of the order in which they were
presented. If several sums are proposed, the question is put with
regard to the largest, first; if several times, the longest.
(f.) Recon?sideratioiz.  Although it is a fundamental article of
parliamentary law, that a question once settled by a body, remains
settled, and cannot be again brought into judgment before the same
body; yet, as a means of relief' frown embarrassment, or to enable advantage to be taken of some near light upon the matter, it has now.
become a well settled principle that a vote once passed may be recon —
sidered. Where no special rule regulates the matter, a motion to
reconsider a vote once passed, may be made, and seconded, and considered, and acted upon, in the same way as any other motion. It is
usual in legislative bodies, however, to limit the conditions of this
motion so far, at least, as to require that it shall be made by some
one who voted with the majority on the question; sometimes, also, it
is made essential that as many members shall be present, as were
present when the vote was passed.
The effect of the passage of a motion to reconsider a vote, is not to
reverse that vote, but simply to annul its adoption, so that the motion
comes back under discussion again, and is the motion before the body
requiring disposal first of all- the whole matter standing where it
did before any vote at all was taken on it.
(g ) Questions of Order. It is the duty of the moderator to enforce the rules of the body, or, if it have no special rules of order, to
enforce those which commonly govern similar bodies.  If any mem —
ber interrupts another while speaking; or proposes a motion that is
out of order; or insists on debating an undebatable question; or
wanders from the matter in hand into irrelevances, or impertinences, or
181 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
personalities, it is the duty of the moderator, and the right of any member, immediately to call him to order. Should any question of fact as to
whether any given conduct is out of order, arise, it is the duty of the
moderator to decide the question, and to enforce his decision. If any
member, however, thinks his decision incorrect, he may object to it,
and appeal the matter to the assembly. The moderator would then
state this as the question: "shall the decision of the chair be sustained?"  This question may then be debated and decided by the
assembly, in the same manner as any ohller, only that the moderator
here has the unusual right to share in thie debate; the decision of the
body being final.
(h.) Committees. It is very often a matter of convenience to place
business in the hands of a select number of individuals to be, by them,
conducted through its preliminary stages. Much time may thus be
saved, and information may often be obtained, and action initiated,
with more ease and freedom than would be possible, if the work were
undertaken by the whole body.
(aa.) Special Cornmittees. The first thing to be done after the vote
to refer any matter to a special committee, is to fix upon the number;
which is usually three, five, seven, or some odd number- to ensure
a majority in case of difference of opinion among its members. The
number being fixed, there are four modes of selecting the individuals
who shall compose it: (1.) by ballot; (2.) by nomination from a
nominating committee appointed for that purpose by the chair;
(3.) by direct nomination from the chair; (4.) by nomination from
the membership at large -all such nominations requiring a confirmatory vote from the body. The first named member usually acts
as chairman of the committee; though every committee has, if it
please to exercise it, the right to select its own chairman.
(bb.) Standing Committees. These are yearly appointed to meet
certain constantly occurring necessities- usually by ballot.
(cc.) Committee of the whole. It is sometimes a convenience for
the whole body to release itself, for the time being, from those strict
rules which govern its ordinary debates, so as to discuss some topic
before it, in the freest and fullest informal manner. It then - on motion made, seconded, and carried- resolves itself into a committee of
the whole; when the Moderator nominates some member as Chairman and retires, himself, to the floor. The main points in which
182 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
procedure in committee of the whole differs from the ordinary routine
of the assembly are, (1.) the previous question cannot be moved;
(2.) the committee cannot adjourn, as a committee, to another time
and place, but must report its unfinished procedure to the body, and
ask leave to sit again; (3.) every member has the right to speak as
often as he can obtain the floor; (4.) the committee of the whole
cannot refer any thing to a sub-committee; (5.) the presiding officer
can take part in the debate and procedure, like any other member.
When the committee of the whole have gone through with their
work, they vote to rise, the moderator of the body resumes his seat,
and the chairman of the late committee of the whole makes report of
its doings.
(i.) Reports. When any committee presents a report, the vote to
accept it, takes it out of the hands of the committee, and places it
upon the table of the body- where it can be called up, at any time,
for further action-and discharges the committee. When the report is
taken from the table and considered, it may be rejected, re-committed,
(to the same, or to a new committee - with, or without instructions)
or adopted. Its adoption makes whatever propositions it may contain, the judgment and act of the body; and it would often be better
(because more perspicuous) to bring the matter directly to a vote
upon those propositions; rather than to reach the same result indirectly, upon the question of'adoption.'
(j.) Closing a meeting. Business being completed, the moderator
may call for a motion of adjournment, or of dissolution -which is
better, where the same meeting is not to be continued. "Adjournment
sine die," is, strictly, a contradiction in terms. If a vote has previously
been passed, that, at a given hour, the body shall be adjourned to
some future time fixed; the moderator, on the arrival of that hour,
would pronounce the meeting adjourned, in accordance with the terms
of the vote.
(3.) Admitting members. It is usual for a Church to fix some
regular seasons for attention to requests for admission by persons desiring to become members. Some churches which are small in numbers, and situated in a sparse population where additions are infrequent,
leave the matter in the hands of the pastor to request them to remain after any Preparatory Lecture when a candidate may desire
examination. The proper course then, is, for the candidate to make
183 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
known his desire to the Pastor, who -if, on inquiry, he is satisfied
of the probable fitness of the applicant - will request the Church
(sometimes merely the male members, but usually all) to remain after
the next Lecture, or appoint a special meeting for the purpose; when
the application is made, and the examination is conducted by the
Pastor in presence of all, any member having the right to interpose
an inquiry at any point. The candidate retiring, the question is then
put, whether he shall be "propounded for admjission?"  If this is
carried, the candidate's name is announced to the congregation, two
weeks, or more, before the date of intended admission, so that if
any person has complaint to make, affecting his Christian character,
there may be seasonable opportunity to lay it before the Church.
No such objection being made, the final question of his admission
comes before the Church, usually at the close of the next Preparatory
Lecture, when a majority vote will admit him- which vote is, however, usually unanimous, because if any member has any good ground
of objection, it has been mentioned, and had its due weight beforehand.
Larger churches, and churches where requests for admission are
more frequent, and in communities where a more thorough examination is sometimes expedient than can well be managed before the
whole Church, usually find it most expedient to depute these preliminaries to an "Examining Committee," notice of whose regular
meetings is publicly given. Candidates then present themselves before that Committee, who examine them - sometimes appointing a
sub-committee to make special and rigid inquiry in doubtful casesand who report to the Church the names of such candidates as they
are prepared to recommend for admission. These candidates are
then propounded-usually without a vote to that effect by the Church
(the vote in committee being equivalent, in effect, to the vote to propound where the whole Church examine); and at the close of the
Preparatory Lecture, or at some other regular time, the question of
the admission of the propounded candidates is put to the vote of the
whole Church.
Candidates bringing letters from other churches are often examined
-though hardly so rigidly as others- for admission; nor is such
examination considered any token of disrespect, or hint of unsoundness in the faith, toward the sister Church whose letters of dismission
184 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
and recommendation they bear. It is sometimes made specially important, by the length of time that has elapsed since the dismissing
Church has had direct cognizance of the Christian walk of the party
to the letter - by reason of his long absence from its direct watc i
and care.
The public admission of members who have been received by vote,
usually takes place just before the Communion service, when the new
members range themselves before the pulpit, and give their public
assent to the Articles of Faith and Covenant, as they are read by
the Pastor. Baptism is usually administered to those who have not
received it, after the reading of the Articles, and before assent is
given to the Covenant. The signature of every new member to the
Articles and Covenant in the book kept for that purpose, should follow, at the first convenient moment. Some Pastors make a brief
address, and give the right hand of fellowship to new members, as a
part of the public service of their admission.
(4.) Dismissing members. When members remove their residence
to the nearer neighborhood of a sister Church, or when, for any good
reason, it seems to thenm expedient to transfer their regular attendance
to the ministrations and worship of a sister Church, they ought to
ask, and the Church ought to grant them, letters of dismission and
recommendation.- It is well that this request should be in writ
1 It is evidently - as a rule - better for a Christian to be in direct fellowship with the Church
with which he statedly worships, and so under its immediate watch and care. He ill not
only Le more careful in his walk and conversation, but he will feel more at home, and so both
do, and enjoy more. It is always a bad sign when such a professor hangs off from the removal
of his Church relation, and makes excuses - that' he has n't made up his mind hgw long he
shall stay;' he may return to his old home.' etc.  His heart is either very cold, or he is afraid
to risk that attention to his actual character which his request for a letter would draw after it,
at both his old and new home, or he grievously over-estimates the trouble of the transfer.
When, then, an absent member has so far overcome the temptation to' keep dark,' as a Christian in his new home, as to write for a letter of dismission; his Church ought, by all means, to
encourage the removal of his relation. Grant that they fear that his Christian character has been
in eclipse, and has failed to honor the Saviour; his very request is an encouraging sign of a
reawakened conscience; and - at all events - his recovery to a consistent and earnest walk
with God, will be more likely under the proposed new relation, than in the mere formal continuance of the old. Unless, then - as we have said above- some charge is on the table affecting his Christian character, and involving a process of discipline - it is usually best that his
request should be complied with. In fact such a member has a right to claim to be either disciplined, or dismissed, as - technically - in "good and regular standing; " which means simply that he is a member against whom no charge of unchristian conduct is made.
That is a very weak-minded error into which some churches- in both city and countryhave been led, of disfavoring the desire of absent members to be dismissed, because such did
185 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
ing.1 On its reception, the Pastor will read it to the Church, at the
first meeting when business is in order, when - if no charge is before
the Church, affecting the Christian character of the applicant, and no
reason is known why the request is not a proper one - some brother
usually moves (and another seconds it) that the request be granted.
If this motion pass, it becomes the duty of the Clerk of the Church
immediately to fill out a letter of dismission and recommendation in
some ordinary form, and forward it to the party to whom it has been
granted.2
mission would reduce the numbers of the Church, and so detractfrom its apparent consequence
in the annual statistical returns! If the annual report of more Church members, by a large
fraction, than the average number of its Sabbath congregation, does not involve a Church - or
its Pastor - in some sort of false pretence; there must be a very curious and abnormal state
of things in that community
1 This would be a suitable form for such a request:
To the Congregational Church in
Dear Brethren.
Having, in the Providence of God, been led to remove my residence to this place, and
having been led to think it my duty to remove my Church relation to the             Congregational Church here; this is to request you to grant me a letter of dismission from
your body, and of recommendation to its fellowship.
Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace,
I subscribe myself,
Affectionately, your Brother in Christ,
[Date and place of date.]                                      A         B
2 The following is a good form for a letter of dismission and recommendation:
The  Congregational Church in             to the Congregational Church  in
senreth greeting:
Dear Brethren:
The bearer, Bro. A         B, is a member with us in good and regular stand    ing. He has desired a letter of dismission from us, and of 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 of date.]                      C        D, Church Clerk.
N. B. Please to inform us, by a return oJ the accomnpanying certificate - 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-.
Attest.
(aadl.E -  F    Church Clerk.
186
[Date and place of date.] 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
Sometimes, churches- by standing rule- commit all such requests
to a committee, whose duty it is to inquire into the circumstances of
the case, and report whether any reason exists why the request should
not be complied with. Other churches require that such an application lie upon the table one or two weeks, before action; to give time
for inquiry, and to guard against precipitancy.
If a member should request dismission to some Unevangelical
Body, it would become the duty of the Church to attempt to dissuade
him from such a course, and, if he persists, to make him a subject of
discipline, in some form. No Church can give letters to a body with
which it is not in full and fraternal fellowship. Neither can a Church
dismiss to no Church; that is, terminate a member's relation without
censure, and without transfer 1
If a member of the Church proposes to be absent on a long journey,
or permanently to remove his residence, but is uncertain whither, or
doubtful as to what Church in the place of his new abode he may, on
further acquaintance, think it best to join; he should take with him a
certificate of his good standing in the Church, which will introduce him
to Christian communion wherever he may go, and postpone asking for
a letter of dismission and recommendation until he ascertains to what
particular Church his duty calls him.2 It is neither good Congregation
[When this form is printed, the foregoing certificate may be printed on the second leaf of the
sheet, so as to be readily torn off, filled and returned If a postage stamp were enclosed with
this certificate, it might facilitate its return, and - since the good of the certificate is mainly
for the dismissing Church, that it may keep its record exact - that slight expenditure really
belongs to it.]
1 Sometimes persons who have become convinced that they were deceived in regard to their
own condition when they joined the Church, and that they really are not Christians, ask to be
dismissed, or dropped, or to have their relation terminated, in some way, without discipline
Compliance with such a request is simply impossible. Union to the Church is an act of triple
covenant, namely: between the individual, the Church, and the Great Head of the Church;
and no request of the first party, or consent of the second, can discharge that first party from
his obligation to the third party. He has solemnly promised to be the Lord's, and covenanted
with the Lord that he will be His, and no vote of the Church can make void that obligation.
Is it asked, what shall the man do who finds himself in the Church, without being, in his
own conviction, a child of God?  We answer, he has promised to be a child of God -  let him
keep his promise. If he is not now worthy to be a Church member, he has sworn to be worthy
- let him keep his oath; for no power on earth can discharge him from it, and he must either
keep it, or go up to the judgment seat, and answer, in addition to all his other sins, for that
great guilt of vowing-unto the Lord, and failing to redeem his vow. Cambridge Platform says,
explicitly, "the Church cnot make a member no member,  but by excommunication."
{Chap. xiii. Sec. 7.)
2 A letter of this description may be given by the Pastor, or the Clerk, without special vote
of the Church. The following would be a suitable form:
187 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
alism, nor good common sense, for a Church to grant one of its members a "general letter "of dismission "to any Church to which the Providence of God may lead him." Such a Church is very apt to prove
no Church, and such a letter to lead to confusion, and the losing sight
of members through unprofitable and ungodly years; and the Church
member who cannot afford a new postage stamp to ask for a special
letter, when he has found out to what particular Church it should be
directed, deserves no letter at all.
It is, for many reasons, often a wise course to superscribe and send
the letter of dismission to the Pastor of the Church to which it is directed, rather than to the individual asking for it. It notifies the
Pastor, at once, that there is such a member of his flock proposing
union to his Church, and smoothes the way to a pleasant introduction
of acquaintance between the two - where none has been formed;
while it facilitates the speedy use of the letter, in the union of the
member dismissed by it to the Church of his new home.
All dismissed members remain members still of the dismissing
Church, until that relation is terminated by their actual reception into
that to which they have been dismissed; though some churches, by
special rule, withdraw from such dismissed members the right of voting (unless they return their letter.) When the tenure of a letter of
dismission is limited to one year, or six months, as it often is, by
standing rule, and the letter lies unused during that time, it becomes
null; and the member falls back into full membership in the Church
which gave it, and must get a new letter; while he becomes the subject of inquiry and of discipline, if he has improperly failed to use his
letter during its validity.
(5.) Disciplining members.  Since "it must needs be that offences
come," it is necessary that some regular method of procedure in re
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 kind offices of all the people of God.
Witness my hand,
Pastor for Clerk] of the
a- ngregat." Caurc
[ Date, and place of date.]
188 
lOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
gard to them should be followed by the Church; and our Saviour, in
the 18th of Matthew, laid down the general principles on which
Church discipline should be founded.1 The more faithfully any
Church can succeed in carrying them out, the more healthful and
useful will be the results of its action. Four classes will include all
those offences with which churches are called to deal, namely: private offences where but one individual is concerned; private offences
between two or more; matters of public and notorious scandal; and
departures from the covenant, on the part of those whose lives are
otherwise blameless.
(a.) Private offences where only one individual is concerned. Such
an offence would be an instance of drunkenness, or profaneness, or
falsehood, or of any unchristian conduct, on the part of an individual
Church member, where it is known only to another, or at most to a
very few- the body of the Church, and the community, being ignorant of it. In such a case it becomes, by the mutual covenant between them, the duty of the brother who knows it, and is grieved by
it (not because it is an offence against him, but because it is an offence
against God, which has been forced upon his cognizance,)2 to go to
his erring brother alone, and confidentially, and seek to bring him to
repentance. Should he be successful -the offender acknowledging
and bewailing his guilt, and promising repentance toward God, and
reformation of life -that would end the matter. Should the result
be otherwise, the brother should take - confidentially as beforetwo or three judicious brethren with him, and all of them together
should labor to bring the offender to penitence and reformation. If
now successful, this will end the matter~ If the offender continue
obdurate, and furnish new proof of the unchristian posture of his
heart, nothing remains but to'tell it unto the Church.' Yet this
may wisely be done in a cautious and unhasty way, giving the offender time to think the matter over in all its aspects, if perchance he
1 See pp. 41, 42.
2 Let it be said here, once for all. in answer to all inquiries as to whose duty it is to commence Christian labor with an offender; It is often assumed that Christ's " if thy brother trespass against thee," etc., refers exclusively to a personal quarrel between the two, so that it is
nobody's business to try to reclaim an offender but the brother with whom he had the quarrel
- very likely the last man to try it, or to succeed in it.  But the mutual covenant between all
the membership, makes the quarrel of one brother with another a trespass against the peace
of all, so that any brother having cognizance of the fact may go, and ought to go, and labor to
have the wrong righted, and the scandal removed.
189 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
may come to a better mind - since the first object of all Church discipline must always be the reformation of the guilty. To favor this
wise delay, many churches make it a standing rule,1 that all complaints, in cases of discipline, be made first to the Examining Committee;2 that they may review the facts, with the steps already taken,
and privately endeavor to bring the offender to that state of mind
and heart, which his covenant vows demand. Failing in this, the
Committee would bring the matter to the attention of the Church, by
entering a formal complaint, charging definitely upon the offender the
offence committed, and stating the evidence by which the charge can
be substantiated.8 If the Church vote to entertain this complaint,
1 See page 175, (note), Art. 21. (3.)
2 Where there is no Exanining Committee, and no Committee of any kind charged with the
care of cases of discipline in their early stages, the complainant would most naturally carry his
complaint to the Pastor and Deacons, who might bring it before the Church themselves, or secure some brother to do so, and have it referred to a special committee for investigation- on
whose report the Church would drop the matter, or proceed to ultimate it by a regular charge,
and trial. The advantage of having some Standing Committee before whom such cases may be
quietly brought, is that, in a majority of cases - we might say in all cases, where misapprehension, and not a chronically unchristian state of the soul is the cause of the difficulty- the
whole trouble may be settled without any public cognizance of the Church, with its inevitable
attendant scandal, to the cause. The raising of a special committee to investigate a case that
might be so settled by a standing committee. is, of itself, an evil.
8 Such a complaint might take some such form as this:
To the Congregational Church in 
Dear Brethren:
It becomes oir painful duty to bring to your notice the offence of a brother, and to
ask you to deal with it according to the latv of Christ. Itaving become satisfied of his
guilt, and having failed - in the tse oJ the first steps of Gospel discipline - to bring
him to a better mind, we are compelled, in great sorrow of heart, and with the earnest
prayer that the Great Head of the Church may bless th is labor to the restoration oj our
erring brother, to make the following complaint against him.
We charge Brother A           B        with being guqi7ty of the sin of; and
particularly on the  day of-   last, tq,d at other times]; and of denying the
same, [or remaining obdurate in regard to the same]: in violation of his duty as a
Christian, and of his covenant vows.
Brothers C —  D              and E         F, are witnesses of the subject-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.
Your brethren,
Fxamining
Committee
of the Can
gregatio%tal
Church in
j
(Date.)
190 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORlKS.
they will then appoint a time for a hearing of the case, and summon
the offender to be present and take his trial upon the charge preferred
against him - furnishing him seasonably with a copy of the charge,
and with the names of the witnesses on whom reliance will be had
for proof.1 If, at this hearing, he should acknowledge his guilt, the
matter could be settled by his making a public confession of his sin;
(his private confession to the party who labored with him, would not
now suffice, because the offence has been made public, and the confession must be as public as the scandal), and asking forgiveness of
God, and of the Church. If he should deny his offence, or seem insensible to it, and remain obdurate, while the Church become satisfied
of his guilt, they must vote to admonish him, to suspend him for some
definite period from Church privileges, or to excommunicate him altogether, according to the aggravation of his offence, the state of
mind in which he is, and their conviction of the requisitions of the
general good. It is usual, however-for better security against hasty
and unjust action- to demand the concurrence of two-thirds, or
three-fourths, of all the male members present, for the passage of any
such vote of censure.
Such admonition would have no effect upon his Church privileges.
St,spension would deprive him of them all during the period of its
continuance. Should that be for some definite period of time -as
six months, or one year - and no action then be taken, his sentence
of suspension having terminated itself, his full Church privileges
would revert to him. Should his suspension, however, have been
made operative "until he shall show penitence, and ask to be restored,"
it would continue indefinitely until terminated by vote - consequent
upon his confession and desire for restoration; or upon renewed evidence of his hardness of heart, leading the Church to feel that he
ought to be excommunicated.  Excommunication would cut him off
ignominiously from all relation of privilege to the Church, while it
would leave upon him all relations of duty, inasmuch as he has for
1 It is usual to hold the confession of the party accused, the concurrence of two or more
competent witnesses (Matt. xviii: 16), or circumstantial evidence to the same amount, to be sufficient for conviction. One witness - without added circumstantial evidence enough to amount
to the testimony of a second witness - would not justify discipline. Witnesses, however, need
notbe themselves Church members, to be competent. Any whom a court of justice would receive, the Church may- reserving the right to take all testimony at its own estimate of value.
191 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
feited all privilege by his own misconduct, while he cannot forfeit the
claims of duty which rest upon him in virtue of his covenant with
God - a covenant frtm which God never will release him. Hence,
he remains an excommunicated Church member, not a non-Church
member; as the criminal imprisoned for life ceases not to be a member of human society, but is an imprisoned member. And, as such a
prisoner resumes his status in society when he is "pardoned out;"
so, should an excommunicated Church member repent, and ask to be
forgiven, the lifting of the sentence of excommunication from him, on
his humble confession, would at once restore him to'good and regular standing' in the Church without his needing to be admitted'by
profession,' de novo.1
Public notice ought to be given to the congregation usually worshipping with a Church, of any vote of extreme censure; because the
scandal which rendered it necessary, has become public, and the cause
of Christ is entitled to the public benefit of its acts of self-purification.
(b.) Private offences between two or more. These are, perhaps,
the commonest form of Church offence; as when two members "have
a difficulty," or when one member  "has a difficulty" with a nonChurch member - when the matter has not been noised abroad so as
to become a public scandal. In the former case, one or the other of
the two who are aggrieved, would naturally commence to labor with
the other, and, failing to secure satisfaction- upon the attempt to do
1 It used to be held that excommunication was a delivery to Satan, and that the meaning of " let
him be unto thee as an heathen man, and a publican,'" required civil and social non-intercourse.
(See Cummings' Congregational Dictionary, pp. 171-181.) It was held, of course, that the act
put one out of the Church in such a manner as to " make a member no member." But Samuel
Mather sets the matter right (in his Apology, p 108), where he says, the churches pretend to
no more power and jurisdiction over their members " than a society of discreet and grave Philosophers over such as are admitted into their society, whom they see meet to admit when they
are duly qualified; and they think themselves obliged to censure, and exclude from their society, when they have forfeited the privileges of it by their exotic sentiments or indecent carriages'Tis true, some of our Congregational brethren, who verge toward Presbyterianism,
pretend to much more in their discipline than that for which I have been pleading; but all
such as are thoroughly Congregational will be content with this. I must confess, that this is
all the power to which the churches have any rightful claim; and, I conceive, all that they
pretended to exercise in the early times of Christianity."' So Hornius says  (Hist. Eccles. p.
145,) of the excommunications of the Apostolic Church, " neque vero excommunicatio aliud
tum erat quam separatio, non-communio, renunciatio communionis; non vero damnatio, execratio," etc.  Alford's comment. on Matt. xviii: 17, is " let him no longer be accounted as a
brother, but as one of those without -as the Jews accounted Gentiles and Publicans'e
even then not with hatred; (See 1 Cor. v: 11, and compare 2 Cor ii. 6, 7, and 2 Thess iii: 14
15)." Vol. i. p. 177.
192 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
so in the presence of witnesses -would bring it to the notice of
the Examining Committee (or the Pastor and Deacons), who would
proceed as before. If neither of the two commence to labor with the
other, it would be the duty of any brother who should become cogni zant of their disagreement, to commence labor with both of them, for
its removal; and to pursue it until the end should be reached. There
is no greater hindrance within the Church to the progress of the Re deemer's kingdom, than the sullen, or violent, differences of those
who have covenanted to walk with each other in all brotherly love
and fellowship, but who fall out by the way, and even stay away from
the table of the Lord, because they will not partake with their enemy.
Such a scandalous state of things should not be suffered to exist, and
the surest way to end it, is for the first brother who gets knowledge of
such a quarrel, to commence Gospel labor with both parties to it, and
to pursue that labor until the breach is healed, or the Church purified
by the excision of the offenders.
In the latter case referred to, the party to the difficulty who is not
a Church member may properly tell his grievance to some one who
is; who may undertake the work of reconciliation, and of the discipline of his brother- if he seems to deserve it.
(c.) M4atters ofpublic sca)dal,l.  It has been said by some Congregational authorities, that in matters of open and notorious offence on
the part of a Church member (as where he should have committed
murder, or eloped with the wife of another, etc.,) there is no need
of any preliminary and private steps, but the Church ought to purify
itself by the instant expulsion of the criminal. But this forgets that
the first aim of Church discipline must always be the reformation of
the offender, and that the'blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all
sin.'  And although the Cambridge Platform (Chap. xiv. Sec. 3)
warrants such a course, it seems to us that nothing can be lost, while
much may be gained by adhering rigorously, in all cases, to the rule
that the Church will not entertain a complaint against one of its
members, except in the regular way, and on assurance that the'private steps' have been rightly taken.1 The only difference which we
1 We say " rightly taken," because we have known the most absurd misapprehension to exist
in regard to those steps. We have known one Church member, who' had a difficulty' with a
brother, to have a conversation with him which contained not the most distant allusion to their
' difficulty,' nor the fintest attempt to reconcile it on Gospel principles, and then to turn back
13
193 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
should allow, then, between procedure in cases of open scandal, and
those of a private nature, is that in them it would be the duty of the
Examining Committee (or, in their absence, of the Pastor and Deacons) to commence their labor preparatory to discipline, without waiting for complaint from any individual.
(d.) Violations of the Articles of Faith and Coveniant. This class of
offences sometimes grievously perplexes a Church. Where a man of
irreproachable- even of an eminently useful, and beautiful -life, gradually, under the influence of friends, or it may be of mental idiosyncracy,
strongly inclining him toward some plausible error, departs from the
faith once delivered to saints until he holds and advocates doctrines
destructive of the creed of the Church with which he is in covenant
relation, that Church must necessarily take cognizance of the change.
It has covenanted to'watch over him' and to'seek his edification.'
No charge can be made against his moral character; perhaps, even,
those who know him best are confident that he is still a true disciple
of the Saviour. Under these peculiarly trying circumstances, what
shall be done?
In reply, it is clear that not all who are hopefully Christians, can
rightly belong to any given Church, but only those who, as Christians,
hold, for substance, the faith as the Church holds it.  Baptists and
Methodists, though ever so eminent as Christians, could not walk
with a Church holding the ordinary Psedo-baptist, and Predestinarian
Congregational creed. It is not a foregone conclusion, therefore,
that the withdrawal by a Church, of its fellowship, from a person
whose faith has lapsed from the articles of its creed, is necessarily a
remission of him to hopeless destruction, or even to uncovenanted
mercy. The Church is responsible before God to walk according to
as he was walking away, and tell him' he might please to copsider that the first step according
to the 18th of Matthew, had been taken with him!'  And we have known the second man,
thereafter, to dodge the first, as if he were an assassin waiting to fire the pistol of the' second
step' at him, and the first - after long patience- to corner his victim, and follow his opening
salutation with the words,' I hereby notify you that I have taken the second step, in the
presence of these witnesses, and shall immediately enter a complaint before the Church against
you!'
All such formal and merely technical procedure disgracefully violates the Saviour's intent -
who had in mind, evidently, a tender fraternal conference in the use of every means of persuasion from error, in the first place; and, in the second, the seconding of that by the added entreaty and influence of the' one or two more' - who might also serve as witnesses of the subequent reconciliation, or renewal of the offence.
194 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
its covenant with Him; and the individual is responsible before God
for his own belief, whatever it may be. Each must do its own duty.
The first step in such a case, should then be careful, and faithful,
and most fraternal labor with the individual-either by some brother
specially interested in him, and grieved by his position, or by the
Pastor-in the hope to persuade him to return whence he has
strayed. This failing, a regular process of discipline must issue, in
ordinary form (which will most likely be cut short by the frank avowal
on the part of the individual, of his changed belief) ultimating in final
separation from the Church. Some would argue from Paul's use of
the phrase "withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us," (2 Thess.
iii: 6) that the proper Church act in this case would be called "withdrawal of fellowship," rather than excommunication; urging that
the latter implies forfeiture of Christian standing, the former only forfeiture of Church standing.  Mr. Punchard ably argues thus, in the
appendix of his View of Congregationalism (pp. 329-336), but acknowledges a lack of Congregational authorities in support of his position. The truth would seem to be that there is little, if any, difference between the two methods of cutting off a member -in
their practical results, and that if it would make it easier for any
Church to discharge its painful duty by calling the act of excision by
the milder name, there can be no objection to its doing so. Whether
it do so, or not, all who are cognizant of the transaction, will always
understand the difference between expulsion for a faith against the
covenant, and for a life against the Gospel.
Other cases of violation of covenant sometimes arise- as when
members remove, and are gone years without taking letters of dismission; or when they, for some fickle reason, neglect their own
spiritual home, and wander about from Church to Church, in the
vicinity, ever on the watch for the last new pulpit light, etc. Such
cases must be dealt with tenderly, and always in the loving aim of
reclamation; yet, where worst comes to worst, they should not be
spared-from the extreme sentence of the law of Christ.
SECTION 4.  How to vacate Church o2ces.
The general understanding with which the lesser officers of a Congregational Church are chosen, is that they will serve until the next
195 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
annual meeting; or -if that meeting should not take place at the
usual time -  until others are chosen in their places.  With regard(l
to Deacons and Pastors, the understanding is, usually, that they will
serve during good behavior, or until such time as the best interests
of the Church may require their removal; though, of late years, some
churches have introduced the custom of choosing Deacons for a term
of years, taking care that they shall be so chosen that all shlall not retire, or take their chance of reelection, at the same time.  Cases
sometimes occur, however, when the best interests of the Church demand the removal of an officer, while his official term is unexpired,
and when he himself is not forward to move in the matter. It is ilmportant to the welfare of the Church that whatever steps may be
taken, in such a case, should be taken prudently.
(a.) flow to vacate lesser Ch?tirch offices.  It may often be best,
where it is unquestionably the desire of the majority of the Church
that such an officer should retire from  his official position, to allow
him to serve out the remainder of his term until the annual meeting,
rather than to risk' hard feeling' in his removal.   But there may be
cases where the loinger continuance of a brother in office would clearly
be so detrimental to the Church, that less lharm would result from his
removal, than fiom his continuance.  In such a case, the Church
should pass a vote requesting him to resign his office, and, if that
prove ineffectual, a second vote, removing him from  that officewhich it may then proceed to fill.  The claim that a man once chosen
has a right to his ofice during the whole term for which he was expected to hold it when elected, and in expectation of which he based
his acceptance, is good only while the state of things in which he was
elected remains essentially unchlanged.   If he has developed traits of
character which were unsuspected before, and which, if known, would
have prevented his election; that changes the whole aspect of the matter, and terminates his right. Or, if any circumstances have arisen,
affecting his usefulness, which the Church did not anticipate when
electing him, and which, if anticipated, would have made his election
impossible, that terminates his right. The general principle which
must always govern, in such a case, is that the welfare of the Church
is of more importance than the pride or the desire of office of an individual, and that the power which set up -always supposing it has not
hampered itself by any organic law which would take away its power
196 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
temporarily from itself- has the power to set down; and is solemnly
boundc to administer its affairs in the interest of Christ and his cause,
and not of any person, or persons, whatsoever.
Hir) How to vacate the Deaconship. The principles just referred
to apply with even augmented force in the case of the Deacons of a
Church, especially when they are chosen for life. It has not been an
unheard-of thing among us, for Deacons to have officially'outlived
their usefulness,' and for churches to be greatly troubled with them,
and still more troubled to know how to be rid of them. This has
been sometimes specially the case where Deacons have mistaken the
nature of the trust confided to them by the Church, and supposed
themselves - instead of being merely its servants, appointed to take
care of its temporalities, to comfort and help its poor members, and to
minister at the communion table- to be an oligarchy for its supreme
control, including the management of the Pastor-whose'usefulness'
in their judgment, is measured directly by the degree of his subserviency to their dictation.
It is impossible to deny that a Deacon has no moral right to continuance in his office, when that continuance is not for the best good
of the Church -because he was chosen for its help, and not for its
hindrance. And if he has, then, no moral right to continuance in
office, the Church has no moral right to let him continue in it; and
if' they have no moral right to let him continue in his office, they are
morally bound to remove him from it.
When such a case unfortunately exists, where a decided majority
of the Church are of opinion that the longer continuance of a Deacon in office is not for the good of the Church, the first appropriate
stel would be, for some influential members of the Church to converse with him privately, and inform him of the feeling of the Church,
and urge him to resign his office. If he should doubt the truth of
their representation, or refuse, altogether, to do any thing about it,
it would be wise for one of these brethren to bring the matter before
the Church, and for the Church to pass a vote requesting him to resign, and to appoint a committee to endeavor to induce him to comply with that request.  This failing to produce the desired result, the
way is then open for the Church to pass a vote removing him from
office, and to make arrangements to fill the vacancy thus created.
Such a vote is not a vote of censure upon such a Deacon's Chris
197 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
tian character, but merely a declaration on the part of the Church,
that however good a Christian he may be, he is not the most desirable man for the office of a Deacon with them. We have known a
Deacon so deposed to endeavor to persist in serving, on the ground
that he was chosen for life, and that the office could not be taken from
him except for some disciplinable offence, destructive of his Christian
character; and claiming that such a vote of deposition was an attempt
to discipline him in an unconstitutional manner. This absurdly confuses Christian character, with fitness for important office in the
Church. Such a Deacon, so deposed, has no more ground of complaint against the Church for an attack upon his personal piety in the
vote of deposition, than each of the'ninety and nine just persons'
who were not chosen Deacon, when he was chosen, have, that their
non-choice was an attack upon thaeir personal piety. True, a Deacon
in such circumstances neejs to use great caution, or he will be betrayed into saying and doing things which will furnish just ground of
complaint against his Christian character.
So, on the (ther hand, we have known a Church to suffer for years
under the malign influence of a Deacon who, though nobody doubted
that he would go to Heaven when he died, continued, yet, to make
himself so unlovely in his office, that there would have been a general
willingness on the part of the Church to have him go, if the Lord
wanted him; because it labored under the impression that having
once chosen him, he could not be removed except he committed some
'disciplinable offence.' But nothing can be clearer - in point of
principle- than that a Church not only has the right, but, in ordinary cases, is bound to exercise the right, by majority vote, to remove
a Deacon whenever the Church feels that its good clearly requires
such removal-and to base their action distinctly on that ground
as its justifying cause.
(c) How to vacate the Pastorship.  It is a little remarkable that
those very Deacons who- being chosen for life, or good behavior -
fail to see the right of the Church to remove them except they have
committed some disciplinable offence, are yet usually prompt to recognize the propriety of the removal of a Pastor -chosen on the
same tenure of office as themselves-when the Church desire him
to go, even when h, hath not'committed things, worthy of stripes!'
So far as the Church officer-ship of the Pastorship is concerned, how
198 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
ever, the same principles apply to both cases. And when the decided
majority of a Church have become conscientiously persuaded that the
good of the cause of Christ requires their Pastor's removal, it is both
their right and their duty to move in the matter. The process of the
dissolution of the Pastoral office is, however, complicated  first, by the
fact that, as the public officer of the Church, through whom especially
it comes into contact with other churches- and who was inducted by
their advice- the fellowship of the churches requires that their advice should be taken also upon the question of his rermoval; and second, by the fact of a contract 1 between the two parties, of which the
law takes cognizance, and which it holds itself bound to enforce.
The first appropriate step would be that of private conference
with the Pastor, in which, in the freest, frankest, fullest, and most
Christian manner, prominent members of the Church should acquaint him with the judgment ot the body upon the matter; stating
all the reasons which  lead them  to believe that the common good
would be promoted by his removal. They ought, at such a time,
moreover, to remember that they are asking their Pastor to make a
sacrifice of reputation, and probably of worldly goods, for their advantage; and, since it is almost inevitable that a large share of the blame
of the existing state of things rests upon them, they ought, in a generous spirit, to offer to share with him - so far as their pecuniary aid
can go- the inconvenience and loss to which they ask him to submit
for their sake. A little more mag(rnanimity and Christian generosity
in this direction would have relieved many a retiring Pastor's heart
from great suffering, and would have saved some Churches and  Parishes from expensive difficulties in "fighting off" one who so smarted
under a sense of injury from thlem, as pertinaciously to claim the
fullest protection of the law for the contract between them.
1' According to early New England Congregationalism, the pastorate is simply an office in a
particular Church, of Divine origin, but to which the Church elects the incumbent as it would
any other officer. Ordination was merely inauguration into the office pertaining to that
Church. not to a grade of clergy. Removal from office was under the control of the Church,
and when effected by vote of the Church, was called "deposition," - a term which is now ap plied to degradation from the ministry itself. Yet when so performed, it was held that it ougat
not to be done without the advice and approbation of neighboring churches represented in
Council. There very soon arose the idea that the relation was really a contract, and that so long
as both parties performed their share of the contract, neither party had a right to break it; and
when an actual contract for support entered, this theory was confirmed. That the relation is a
contract, and determinable for proper causes, and in a. proper manner, all agree." - Rev. A. H.
Quint. " Connection of Pastor and People." Cong. Quarterly. April, 1859. p. l-O170.
199 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
In nine cases out of ten -we might say in every case in which the
Pastor is a man of both sense and piety - if the state of mind of the
majority of the Church is a kind and legitimate one, and one which
they ought to have; such a conference will be followed by his resig nation. If he lack evidence, however, of the truth of the alleged
facts, it may be well for the Church, by formal vote upon a resolution
declaring  them,  to  furnish  that  evidence.   And  if, admitting  the
facts, he doubts the expediency of his resignation in consequence, the
Church and Parish 1 should then request him to unite with them in
submitting the matter of his removal 2 to the consideration and advice
of a Mutual  Council; 3 distinctly stating to him  the several reasons
which they propose to  lay before that Council.4   Should he refuse
thus to submit the question, the Church and Parish may properly proceed to call an impartial ex-parte Council;5 laying the facts before it,
" The offer of a Mutual Council, to be effectual, must have been made by virtue of authority from the Parisi."'-Case of Thompson e. Rehoboth, Mass. Reports. 7 Pickering, 159.
2 " When asked to agree in a Mutual Council, the minister ought to have a general statemnent of the grounds and reasons of the call upon him; not in a precise technical form, but
substantially set forth, so that he may exercise his judgment whether to unite in a Council, or
not. "-Ibid.
8 The following form of Letter Missive would be appropriate for use under these circumstances:The Congregational Church in          to the Congregational Church in, send  eth Greeting.
Dear Brethren.
tVhereas, unhappily, a state of things exists among us which, in the judgment of
a majority of this Church, and of the Ecclesiastical Societyconnected therewith, renders
it expedient that the  elation between the Church and its Pastor should be dissolved * we
affectionately invite your attendance by your Pastor and a Delegate, at, on
the       day of        at        o'clock in the, to examine the facts and advise us in the premises.
Wishing you grace, mnercy, and peace,
We are yours in the Gospel,
Pastor.
Committee
of the
Chu,rc/h  and
,Soczety.
(Date, and place of date.)                                                J
N. B.   The other Churches invited to this Council are the Church in, Rev.
Mr.         Pastor; etc. etc.
4 See Whitmore v. Fourth Congregational Society in Plymouth, 2 Gray.
C In this case the above letter might be varied so as to read thus: -
Whereas, unhappily, a state of things exists among us which, in the judgment of a
200 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISMI WORKS.
and asking its advice as to the course to be pursued.1 Such a Council,
as its first act after organization, should send a special communication
to the Pastor, informing him that they are assembled, and inviting him
to make the Council a mutual one by appearing before them, and presenting his view of the case on which their judgment is desired.
Should he refuse to comply with their request, they would then go on
to obtain the completest view of the facts possible, and base upon
them their advice to those who called them together. They should
be careful to state distinctly the grounds on which that advice is
founded, as the courts may revise their action, and annul it if those
grounds are not specified,2 or seem to be insufficient to justify the
result.3 They may- if they concur in the opinion arrived at by the
majority of the Church - express their solemn and decided conviction that the interests of the cause of Christ as connected with that
Church seem to them to require a dissolution of the Pastoral relation,
and may advise the Church and Parish to urge again upon the Pastor the duty of laying down his office.  But such a Council would
have no right to declare the pastoral office vacant. Here again it
may be repeated. that if the Pastor is a man of sense and piety, he
will, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, immediately follow the
sugr,,estion of the Church and  Society, now backed by the moral
weight of the solemn judgment of impartial representatives of the
churches in Council assembled. He cannot be justified before the
Christian public, or the world, if he does not do so.
majority of this Church and Society, renders it expedient that the relation between us
aced our Pastor be dissolved, yet he declines to take action for such dissolution, and refuises to submit thefacts to a Muztual Council for advice, although such a Council has
been askedfor, in the legal and ustial ianner, by the said Church and Society, we affectionately invite your attendance upon an Ex-parte Council, by your Pastor, etc., etc.
1 " if, in a proper ease for the meeting of an Ecclesiastical Council to be mutually chosen,
either party should unreasonably and without good cause, refuse their concurrence to a mutual choice, the aggrieved party may choose an impartial Council, and will be justified in conforming to the result."-Avery v. Tyringham, 3 Mass. 160.
Great care should be taken that the members of such an ex-parte Council be such as the
community will feel to be, and the Pastor himself acknowledge to be, able, candid, and impartial men.  " In the case of Thompson v. RIehoboth, a member of a former unfavorable Council
was declared to be unqualified to serve again."- Rev. A. H. Quint, Conyg. Quar, 1859, p. 174.
They [the Council] find only that some of the charges were proved, without specifying
which of them.  Now as some of the charges do not, of themselves, furnish grounds of compulsory removal, it may be, for ought the record shows, that these alone were proved." Thompson v. RIehoboth. 7 Pick. 159. In this case the Court would not allow parole evidence to be
Introduced to show which were the charges established before the Council.
8 See Stearns v. Bedford, 21 Pick. 114.
201
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
. But what shall be done if he is not a man of sense and piety, and
still obstinately refuses to free the Church from the incubus of his
presence?
The answer to this partly depends upon the state of the civil law,
and the decisions of the courts. We shall treat of the matter as it is
under Massachusetts law, because it is presumed that no State is more
stringent in this regard, and therefore that whatever changes may be
needful to make those processes which are necessary here applicable
elsewhere, will be the easy ones of omission.
By Massachusetts law, the decision of a properly constituted
Mutual Council- or of such an impartial and rightly managed ex
parte Council, as we have referred to - that the Pastoral relation
ought to be dissolved, would have precisely this effect; namely:
1. It would not dissolve the contract, and of course would not dismiss the Pastor. But,
2. It would, when accepted and acted upon by the Church and
Society, legally justify them in treating him as no longer their Pastor, and would be a good defence in law against any suit which he
might bring on a claim for salary subsequent to that result of Council;
provided that result has been founded upon any reason which the
law holds to be valid in such cases.1
3. Valid reasons, in the eye of the law, are these three; namely:
(a) Essential change of doctrinal belief and  teaching;  (b) Wilful
neglect of duty; (c) Immoral or criminal conduct. These are held
to be good and sufficient grounds for forfeiture of the ministerial relation, when fairly made out -as being not "occasional inadvertencies," or "imprudencies," but "of the grosser sort; such as habitual
intemperance, lying, unchaste or immodest behavior." 2
If; then, the advice of Council has been based upon these, or any
1' The effect of the orderly decision of a Mutual Council. or of a properly constituted Exparte Council, is simply this: It does not. and cannot dissolve the contract; but it decision
is a leg,al jstifcatton of the party adoptin,g t..'-Rev. A. It Quint.  Cong  Q(Qtar  (1859) p 179.
" The effect of the advice of a Council is nothing more then a legal justification of the party
who shall adopt it.'"-Burr v Sandwich, 6 Mass 277.
i Either party conforming thereto [that is, to the fair result of a fair Councilj weill be justified."-IIollis Street v. Pierpont, 7 Mletcalf. 495.
" These decisions [of Councils] are not conclusive in all respects, as already stated, and they
do not operate ex proprio vigore as a judgment, but only as a justification of the party conforming to them "-Stearns v. Bedford, 21 Pick. 114.
2 See Sheldon v. Easton, 24 Pick. 281' - Burr v. Sandwich, 9 Mass. 277; and Hollis Street V.
Pierpont, 7 Metcalf, 495.
202 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM  WORKS.
one of them, as its strong reason, the Church and Society accepting
and acting on it, will be practically freed by it from any further responsibility to the man who has been their Pastor, and can, by vote,
declare the office vacant, and proceed to take measures to fill the
vacancy.
But if the advice of Council is founded upon something less and
other than these reasons, the legal relation will not be affected by it.
The mere unacceptableness of a Pastor to his people, or his unpopularity with them, is not recognized in law, as, of itself, a sufficient
ground of removal, ror the law takes it for granted that the. Church
and Parish have taken time to become thoroughly acquainted with a
man before inducting him into such a position. It is distinctly held
that having "capriciously and causelessly withdrawn their confidence,
they cannot allege their own misconduct, as a ground for their discharge from the contract which they entered into."1
But is there no relief for a Church and Parish who find themselves yoked to a Pastor by legal contract, whose continuance they
-in their vast majority- deeply and most conscientiously feel to be
disastrous to their prosperity; whom they have urged to retire, or
even to submit the matter to the advice of a Mutual Council, in vain;
and whose further continuance an impartial ex-parte Council have
advised against and deplored; yet who has not been guilty of any
offence which the law as heretofore administered by the Massachusetts courts, would cognize as justifying them in sundering their contract with him?
We think there is. In the first place it is our very decided impression that a Parish which should make the fair result of a fair
Council advising their Pastor's dismission on the ground of general
anl manifest unfitness for the proper filling of his place- on grounds
less than those which the Courts have heretofore required, yet which
are morally and religiously sufficient,-their justification for treating
him as no longer their Pastor, would now find themselves sustained
by the Massachusetts courts, in case of his suit for salary.  The
bench has shown progress in the treatment of these cases. The old
decisions which we have cited, were made thirty or forty years ago,
under the former territorial Parish system. If we mistake not, there
1 See Sheldon v. Easton, 24 Pick. 281.
203
0 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
has been but one case decided under the present Parish arrangement,
and every thing indicates an advance toward future decisions of a
more equitable and less technical character; so that we can hardly
doubt that a new suit would gain  a judgment sustaining a Parish
against unreason, as well as against heresy, neglect of duty, or immorality in its Pastor.
And even in the failure of such an expectation, it certainly could
not be the duty of a Church and Parish, to sit down in quiet submission to their own suicide. We think that under those peculiar circimstances, where the matter is reduced, by the Pastor's unreason, to a
contest upon the arena of bare legal ri,lght, a Parish would be justified in what, under other circumstances cannot too much be condemned; namely, such a legal reduction of his salary as may remove
that inducement for his persistent hold upon the contract. It will do
no good to close the meetinghouse against him, because the Courts
have repeatedly decided 1 that the Pastor who holds himself at all
times ready to discharge his legal duties, may lawfully claim his salary, even when the Parish do not allow hiln to perform them. But
if a Pastor could be so lost to all sense of the decencies -not to say
proprieties - of his position, as thus to persist in inflicting his presence upon a loathing people, in the face of the advice of his brethren in Council; we do feel that his people would be justified in all
legal efforts, by way of reprisals, to make his position uncomfortable
among them - until he should be driven to cut the knot by his reluctant resignation. We thlank God, however, for the belief that
there cannot be one Congregational minister in ten thousand, who,
under any circumstances of sanity, could be brought to allow himself to be thus "an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword " on the
earth.
One word in reference to that'result' of Council which dismisses a
Congregational Pastor - as in nearly all cases he is dismissed- by
the mutual reference of the question of duty for him, and for his people,
1 In the case of Sheldon v. Easton, before cited, the court decided that the plaittiff was entitled to his salary though locked out of the meeting-house, because he had "at all times been
ready to perform all duties to them," etc   So the court held, in Thompson v. Rehoboth, (5
Pick 470.) that Mr Thompson was " a minister defacto, as well as de Iure, until lawfully dismissed, and might lawfully claim his salary, on the ground of service, notwithstanding the
meeting-house was shut against him."  See also Whitney v. Brookhouse, 5 Conn. 405.
204 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
to the representatives of the neighboring Churches.  Such a'result'
should contain - always supposing just ground for it in the facts -
such an expression of respect for, and confidence in, the Christian
character and ministerial qualifications of the retiring Pastor, as may
be his credentials to any future field of labor, and the warrant for the
action of any Council that may be called to instal him elsewhere.1
It is sadly necessary to refer here, also, to the procedure proper by
a Church in the possible case of gross heresy, or immorality, on the
part of its Pastor. By virtue of his Church-membership with them
-or, if not that, by virtue of his Pastorship over them -the unworthy Pastor of a Congregational Church is amenable to its discipline;2 and it has the inherent right to proceed to his trial and
excommunication, as if he were a private member. But because the
fellowship of the churches was involved in his settlement, and because of the greater conclusiveness before the general public, of the
verdict of an impartial Council over that of a single Church-itself
deeply interested; this should always be done with the advice of
Council.8
The proper course to be pursued, in the melancholy case supposed,
would, then, be this: (1) all the preparatory steps should be taken
as in the case of a private member, and the case be brought to a
1 The following may be regarded as a suitable common form for such a clause in this
'result: I -
In coming to this result the Council are able to declare, with great satisfaction, that
they havefound nothing in their investigation of the causes which have led to this dismission, to impair their confidence in the essential integrity of the Christian, or ministerial, character of the retiring Pastor; whom, accordingly, they hereby commend to the
confi(lence of the churches as-in their judgment-an honest, faithful, and useful
minister of the Lord Jesus Christ; who carries with him their tender sympatiies, and
earnest prayers for his futurtte prosperity in the work of the Lord, wherever Providence
may assign his labors.
2 ", In case an elder offend incorrigibly, the matter so requiring, as the Church had power
to call him to office, so they have power according to order (the Council of other churches,
where it may be had, directing thereto) to remove him from his office," etc., etc. - Cambridge
Platform, chap. x. 6.
See also, Cotton Mather's Ratio, Art. ix, sec. 2, p. 162; Sam. Mather's Apology, pp. 80-85;
Cotton's Keys, pp. 3143;  Chauncy's Divine Institution, etc., chap. xii. sec. 8; Hutchinson,
vol. i p 432; Hooker's Survey, Part iii. p. 3; Davenport's Power, etc., p. 136; Wise's
Churches' Quarrel, etc., p. 118; Punchard, p. 209.
3 The forms of Letter Missive given on p. 200. might be used, without change, for calling
,uch a Council.
205 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
judgment before the Church; (2) the Church, instead of passing
the vote of excommunication, should vote that they are satisfied of
the truth of the charges, but, in view of the importance and solemnity of the subject, will take the advice of sister churches before proceeding further; (3) they should then invite their Pastor to join
them in a Council to advise in the premises, and, if he refuse, call one
without his concurrence; (4) this Council hears the case, and if satisfied
of the Pastor's guilt, and he remain obdurate, or the circumstances
of the case are so aggravated that. even if he be now penitent, it is
unsuitable for him to retain his official relation, they advise the
Church to depose him from his ministry over them- perhaps to
excommunicate him from its fellowship; (5) the Church, if they see
fit, follow this advice of Council.
This we understand to be the truly Scriptural and Congregational
way, though most Consociated Churches have a different practice.1
SECTION 5.  Church and Parish.
There are three methods under which the ordinary work of an
ecclesiastical organization in any given locality may be performed,
its offices be sustained, and its labors upon the world around be managed. The Church, in its pure simple New Testament sense, may
do the whole; or the Church acting, for all purposes of civil relation,
as an Ecclesiastical Society, or Parish, may do the whole; or the
Church and a distinct organization called an Ecclesiastical Society,
or Parish, may act together, on terms mutually agreed upon. Which
of these methods may be best in any specific case, must be determinable, in part, by the law of the State in which the work is to be
done.
(1.)  The Church, simply and alone. This is the New Testament
plan; so far as it hints any plan at all. And there is no legal hindrance2 of which we are aware in any State, which would neces
1 See Mitchell's Gusrde, pp. 235, 236.  Also, Punchard, p. 316   See also p. 221.
2 Churches - as such - are generally recognized as bodies corporate; either by legislative
enactment, or by common law, and as such, it is usually held that they may hold propertyindependently of any Parish -for the purposes for which they are formed. This was the doctrine in Massachusetts until, in the Unitarian controversy, it became important for the Unitarian interests to have a different decision, and then, (as we believe, in the face of the precedents
of the past, and of the justice of the case,) Chief Justice Parker decided that "the only circum
I.
206 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
sarily forbid any Church that pleases to do so, from assuming the
entire charge of its temporalities, building and owning its own house
of worship, pledging and raising all monies needed for the stated
support of public worship, and doing all, that, in any case, is done by
both Church and Society.-  In the West, particularly, it is believed
that this plan has been extensively tried, and is held to be safe, expedient, and successful.2  In New England there are few instances
of its adoption, as the mixed Parish system here inherited from the
past prevails, and the State laws are so adapted to that method, as to
work more kindly with it than with any other. Where a Church -
in any State - desires to undertake the whole work, without the cooperation of any Parish, it should, by all means, consult some able
lawyer familiar with the State law, and govern itself, in the minutiae
of its arrangements, by his advice. No general directions can be
given which it would be entirely safe to follow, without special regard
to local statutes, which may change in any year.
(2.) The Church -for all secular purposes - acting as a Parish.
This would involve the existence of a legally formed "Society," or
Parish, whose constitution should identify its membership with that
of the Church. The result would be, that the same individuals would
constitute both the Church and Society, and, when acting in one
form, and under one set of By-laws, would be the Church, and, when
stance which gives a Church any legal character, is its connection with some regularly constituted Society."  [See Dedham case, MIass Reports, Vol. xvi. p. 505, etc.]  This decision has
never been acquiesced in by Massachusetts Congregationalists, and never will be; and it is
hardly too much to say that there can be little doubt of its being overruled whenever any new
case shall bring the matter before the bench.
On the general subject, consult "Legal rights of Churches and Parishes," in the appendix to
Upham's Ratio. Discipline, p. 317; Mass. Reports, Burr v. Sandwich, and Baker v. Fales; and
Dr. Pond's MSS. " Rights of Congregational Churches in their connection with Parishes," in the
custody of the Congregational Library Association. Especially read the argument of Hon.
Lewis Strong, in the Brookfield case, Pickering, vol. x. p. 172, etc.
1 We presume such a course must involve an assumption on the part of the Church of the
entire pecuniary responsibility (without reliance upon any systematic aid from non-churchmembers) and - in some of the States- a relinquishment, on the part of both Church and
Pastor, of some legal safeguards; to the end of a more entire dependence upon the Christian
honor of all parties.
2 " There are, at this moment, hundreds of Congregational churches in different parts of our
land, which have no connection with incorporate parishes, or religious societies, and never had
any. Some of these churches are in the cities and in the older States, others are in the newly
settled parts of our country. They own their meeting-houses; they settle and support their
ministers; they exist and they flourish without the help or the hindrance of connected
Parishes." Dr. Pond's " Rights of Cong. Churches," etc., cited above. See also, an article by
Rev. II. M. Storrs, [in the Cong. Quar., for 1860, (vol. ii.) pp. 329-336], on "Church and Society."  See also the [Kansas] Congregational Record, for Oct., 1859, pp. 65-68.
207 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
acting in another form, and under another set of By-laws, would be
the Parish. The only object of such an opus operatum would be to
bring the proper secular work of a Parish technically under some
State law, while still retaining it exclusively in the hands of the
membership of the Church.
(3.) Church and Parish. This is the Massachusetts method, and
grew out of the peculiar history of its religious affairs.  Originally,
none but church-members were citizens,' so that the town-meetings
1 " To the end the body of the comons may be pserued of honest & good men, it was likewise
ordered and agreed that for time to come noe man shalbe admitted to the freedome of this
body polliticke, but such as are members of some of the churches within the lymitts of the
same." -(May 18, 1631,) Records of the Colony of MTass. Bay, vol. i. p, 87.
The Connecticut Colony passed a similar law, May 19, 1643. See Felt. Ecclesiastical History
of New England, vol. i. p. 517.
This fundamental principle explains the law passed at Nlewe-Towne [Cambridge], March 3,
1635-36, as follows:   "Forasmuch as it hath bene found by sad experience, that much trouble and disturbance
hath happened both to the church & civill state by the officers & members of some churches,
wch have bene gathered within the limits of this jurisdiccon in an vndue manner & not with
such publique approbacon as were meete, it is therefore ordered that all psons are to take
notice that this Court doeth not, nor will hereafter, approue of any such companyes of men as
shall henceforthe ioyne in any pretended way of church fellowshipp, without they shall first
acquainte the magistrates, & the elders of the greatr pte of the churches in this jurisdiccon,
with their intencons, & have their approbacon herein. And ffurther, it is ordered, that noe
pson, being a member of any churche which shall hereafter be gathered without the appro bacon of the magistrates & the greater pte of the said churches, shall be admitted to the ffree dome of this comonwealthe.'"-Records of Cot. of Mlass. Bay, vol. i. p. 168.
"Whereas the way of God hath always beene to gather his churches out of the world, now
'the world, or civill state, must be raised out of the churches."-John Winthrop.  Reply to
Vane's Answer, etc.
"None are so fit to be trusted with the liberties of the commonwealth as church-members
/for the liberties of the freemen of this commonwealth are such as require men of faithful inI tegrity to God and the State, to preserve the same.' —John Cotton. Answer to Lord Say and
Seal, etc.  Hutchinson? vol. i. p. 436.
"Viewed from whatever point of observation, the civil power during those early years was
only a convenient, or perhaps we should call it a necessary, arrangement whereby a company
of intelligent and pious people grouped into a number of affiliated churches, were working out
a great religious problem."-Clark's Congregational Chtzrches in Mass., p. 68.
' The English Magna U.arta restricted the right of suffrage in the choice of their own rep resentatives in the Commons to freeholders. Puritanism restricted the right of suffrage to
Christians. It tried to evolve a State out of a Church. There have been many more fanciful,
many less inspiring aims than this, proposed in the great schemes of men."-North American
Review, vol lxxxiv. p. 453.
"The conception, if a delusive and impracticable, was a noble one.  Nothing better can be
imagined for the welfare of a country than that it shall be ruled on Christian principles; in
other words that its rulers shall be Christian men -men of disinterestedness and integrity of
the choicest quality that the world knows, -men whose fear of God exalts them above every
other fear, and whose controlling love of God and of man, consecrates them to the most gener ous aims. The conclusive objection to the scheme is one which experience had not yet re vealed, for the experiment was now first made.,"-Palfrey. Hust. Newv England, vol. i. p. 345.
208 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
were just church-meetings in another form, and the "General Court"
but a delegated mass meeting of the churches.   Then  the churches
not only chose their own ministers, but contracted with and supported
them, and built and owned their meeting-houses and parsonages;
assessing and collecting money for the same, not merely of church members, but of others.  A  few years later, the towns were expressly
authorized to assess and collect church dues like other taxes.' When,
after 1665, other than church-members were admitted to citizenship,2
the towns still continued to act as Parishes for the support of the
minister, while the Church had the sole voice in his selection; until
the "Parish  controversy" arose, which, after being carried through
1692- 5, resulted in arranging a concurrent action between the town
as a Parish, and the  Church, in such elections.    Subsequently -in
1833- after long effort on the part of those who felt aggrieved by
the law as it stood, an act was passed severing all connection between
Church and State, and introducing the voluntary system. The result
of this was to organize the present Parish system, in place of the old,
by which the body of male worshippers- under such restrictions as
may be agreed upon, (as pew-holders, or as subjects of election by
vote, or in some other way)- becomes thus associated to carry forward the secular affairs of the enterprise, in a way of amicable cooperation with the Church.
This general plan, having thus a basis in our history, and existing
laws, still remains the usual New England method; having some
obvious advantages and disadvantages,4 but likely -  in virtue of pre
" The Church instructed the town, 2nd the town provided for the Church."-Newman's
Rehoboth in the Past, p 16.
1 The usual conditions on which early grants of townships were made, were that a sufficient
quantity of land be reserved for the use of a gospel ministry, and of a school.-See Washburn's
History of Leicester, lass., p. 9.
Johnson in his Wondersorking, Providence (A. D. 1654), says that " it being as unnatural for a
right New England man to live without an able ministry, as for a smith to work his iron without a fire,' therefore, the people delayed " seating themselves " in a town estate, until they
"came to hopes of a competent number of people as might be able to maintain a minister."
(p. 177.)
A " meeting-house place" was usually nearly the central lot upon the ground-plan of the
town, and among the first town votes involving expenditure were usually those for the erection of a meeting house, and the support of a pastor.
2 See Records of the Colony of Mass. Bay, vol. iv. part ii. pp. 117,118.
8 See Christian Examiner, 1830, p. 3.
4 The general ill result of the old town parish system is well stated by Rev. Jacob Scales of
Plainfield, N. H., who says, after describing the fortunes of the Church in Henniker, N. H.,
14
209 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
cedent, if nothing more - to hold its own for the present here.
Several particulars may be usefully noted, for the benefit of those
who desire to know the methods usually pursued under it.
(a.) Organization of a Parish. State law must always be consulted, to avoid any fatal informality. Some specific form of public
notice is required.  In MIassachusetts, Articles of Association should
be signed, and public notice given and filed with the town, or city
clerk, and County Register, in which some person is authorized to
call the first meeting of the Corporators.1  The first meeting must be
held in rigid conformity to this notice. In New York, trusteesfrom three to nine - chosen in a specified manner, hold the Parish
property; in their corporate name can sue and be sued; have power
to build, repair, and alter, the meeting-house (and parsonage); may
make rules for managing the temporal affairs of the Society; may
dispose of its income at their judgment, and regulate the prices and
order the renting, of the pews -but have not power to fix the
amount of the Pastor's salary, which is determinable by a majority
of legal voters at a meeting called for that purpose.2
(b.) By-laiws of a Parish, etc. The first work of such a Parish
after organization would be the adoption of some appropriate code of
"A voluntary society, united in the bonds of love to the truth, is the main pillar of Congregationalism. The old bonds formed by town lines, pressed together by an equal regard to the
welfare of the inhabitants of every class, and of every age. may be firm and strong for some
uses. But though they may secure a convenient attention to many temporal things, they
uniformly fail in regard to those which relate to spiritual and everlasting interests.. "-MSS.
History of Cong. in Henniker, N.H., in custody of Cong. Library Association, (p. 23.)
On the general subject, consult "Rights of Churches v. Parishes," Spirit of the Pilgrims,
vol. i. pp. 57-74, 113-140; " Difficulties in Parishes," [by Rev. Dr. Walker] Christian Exami.
ner, vol. ix. pp. 1-20; I Life and Times of Rev. Isaac Backus," pp. 158-264.
1 The following are "Articles of Association" actually used for this purpose in a recent
case.
The undersigned, all of, in the County of, in the Commonwealth of
-, do hereby associate ourselves together, under the name of the "         Congregational Society," as a Parish, or religious society, at said; and the purposes
for which this corporation is established are the support of the public worship of God.,
and the promotion of Christian knowledge, and charity, according to the general usages
of the Congregational Churches, and Parishes, of Massachusetts.
Mr., is authorized to call the first meeting of the corporation.
(Date.)                               Signed.
-, etc., etc.
2 See Digest of New York Ecclesiastical Laws, published with the Manual of the Plymouth
Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., pp. 27-29.
210 
HOW CONGREGATIONALI$SI WORKS.
By-laws, to regulate its future action; 1 after which it would proceed
to the election of the officers which those By-laws require, in the
1 The following are By-laws adopted for the government of one of the more recently formed
Societies in Massachusetts, and are believed suitably to cover all points needed to be met in
such a code.
BY-LAWS OF THE        CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY.
I.
This Society shall consist of the persons who signed the call for its organization; of those
who, by special ballot, may become associated with them, until the erection of a meetinghouse; and of those who shall hereafter become owners of pews in the meeting-house.
II.
The following officers and standing committees shall be chosen annually, by ballot: -
1. OFFICERS.-First, a Clerk, who shall be sworn to keep the records of the Society, notify
its regular meetings, and preside at all meetings, till a moderator be chosen.
Second, a Treasurer, who shall issue the bills of rent or taxes on pews, take charge of all
moneys belonging to the Society, disburse the same only under the direction of the Prudential
Committee, and report to the Society at the annual meeting.
Third, an Auditor, who shall examine the Treasurer's accounts.
2. STANDING COMMITTEES. - First, a Prudential Committee, consisting of five persons, to take
charge of the meeting-house owned or occupied by the Society; to make such repairs as, from
time to time, may be necessary; to provide for warming and lighting the house and chapel;
to appoint the Sexton, fix his salary, perquisites, and duties; and generally to attend to the
concerns of the Society, with authority to expend such sums of money as are not specially appropriated by the Society.
Second, a Committee, consisting of the Treasurer and two other persons, to sell and let pews
and sittings.
Third, a Committee, consisting of two persons, to superintend the music, on the part of the
Society, to act jointly with a Committee of three persons, to be chosen for this purpose, on the
part of the Church; said Committee to expend only such sums of money as may  be appropriated for the purpose by the Prudential Committee.
M.
The annual meeting for the choice of officers and standing committees shall be held in the
month of —.
IV.
Every member of the Society shall be entitled to one vote; but no person, and no pew, shall
be entitled to rwore than one vote, on any occasion.
v.
The taxes on pews shall be collected quarterly in the months of-, -, -, and -,
of each year.
Vi.
The deeds of pews shall be given on such terms as the Society shall direct, and shall be signed
by the Treasurer, countersigned by the Clerk, and sealed with the corporate seal of the Society,
which the Treasurer is authorized to affix.
VII.
The Pastor and Deacons of the           Church, for the time being, shall grant the use of the
meeting-house as they may judge expedient, for all religious meetings properly so called; but
for all other meetings and purposes, the right to grant the use of it shall rest with the Prudential Committee.
vm.
The Clerk shall, on application made to him, in writing, by any five legal voters in the Society, warn a special meeting thereof, by causing notice of the time and place of such meeting
to be given from the pulpit on the Sabbath, or by sending written or printed notices of the
211 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
manner which they fix, and in all things shape its future course by
them.
(c.) Rulesfor joint action of the Church and Parish.  These will
be next in order of adoption after the Parish is fully organized.
They should be brief, and simple, yet sufficient to prevent any possible misunderstanding or collision between the two bodies.1
The question sometimes arises as to the status of a Pastor concerning whom a difference of opinion exists between the Church and the
Parish, to that degree that the Parish vote to terminate his relation,
while the Church have taken no action in regard to it; such a contingency being usually unprovided for in any rules of joint action.
same to each pew-proprietor; notice, in one of these ways, to be given at least seven days
before the meeting. The notice of a special meeting shall, in all cases, specify the particular
business for which the meeting is called.
IX.
No alteration shall be made in these By- laws, unless the same shall be agreed to by two thirds
of the members of the Society present, at a special meeting regularly notified for that purpose.
I The following is a form in use in a recently formed Massachusetts Parish:
RULES FOR JOINT ACTION OF THE -  CHIURCH AND SOCIETY.
I.
Whenever the          Church and Society shall be destitute of a settled Pastor, and a new
one is to be obtained, a joint Committee of the church and Society, consisting of seven persons,
of whom four shall be chosen by the Church and three by the Society, shall provide a supply
for the Pulpit, and take all necessary measures to that end. The Church shall have the right,
in all cases, to select a Pastor (or Colleague Pastor, when it may be deemed expedient by the
Church and Society to settle a Colleague Pastor), to be proposed to the Society for its concurrence. If it shall concur in said selection with the Church, a call shall be given by the
Church and Society jointly, to the person selected; but if the Society do not concur in the selection, the Church shall select again, and so again, from time to time, until the Church and
Society shall agree in a choice, and when so agreed, a call shall be given to the person so selected, by the Church and Society as stated above; that is, jointly.
II.
The amount of salary to be given to the Pastor shall be fixed by the Society.
III.
Temporary supply of the pulpit, during the absence or sickness of the Pastor, shall be provided by the Pastor and Deacons of the Church, and the bills of necessary expenses incurred
for that purpose shall be submitted to the Prudential Committee of the Society, and, when approved by them, shall be paid by the Treasurer.  By the word "Church "herein before used,
is meant all male members of the Church in good and regular standing, of the age of twentyone years and upwards.
iv~
A Committee to regulate the matter of singing and of Church music shall be appointed jointly
by the Church and Society (annually), three persons by the former, and two by the latter.
v.
No alteration shall be made in these rules, on the part of either Church or Society, unless
the same shall be agreed to by two thirds of the members of each, present at special meetings,
regularly notified for that purpose.
212 
H1OW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
Several cases have arisen under the uncongregational and inexpedient "three" or "six months notice system,"1 where the Parish have
given the "notice," without immediate concurrent action on the part
of the Church.
It is obvious, to a moment's thought, that the power of the Parish
thus to terminate the contract, must depend entirely on the terms
of settlement.  If the Pastor was settled in the old, and ordinary man
ner, such a vote of theirs is not worth the paper on which it is
written.2  If he was settled on the "three" or "six months notice"
plan, their vote - if the terms of the notice are properly complied
with - does ultimate his legal relation to them, and terminate his
claim for salary; and must almost inevitably draw after it, sooner or
later, such action on the part of the Pastor and the Church, as shall
complete the severance.8
SECTION 6. Coutncils.
An Ecclesiastical Council is a meeting of churches by their delegates, assembled in response to the invitation of a Church- or of an
..A.
1 See p. 144.                                  2 See pp. 203, 204.
3 In the year 1829, Rev S. Nott, Jr., was settled over the Congregational Church in Wareham, Mass., the Parish voting that " the conditions under which the Parish agree to settle Mr.
Nott, are that Mr. Nott shall have the liberty of dissolving the contract by giving the Parish six
month's notice, and the Parish reserve the liberty of dissolving the contract by giving Mr.
Nott six month's notice." On the 7th March, 1842, the Parish, regularly convened, voted to
give Mr. Nott," notice that his connection with said Parish be dissolved at the end of six
months from this date."
Concerning this, Messrs. Zechariah Eddy and Timothy G. Coffin - then the two ablest lawyers
of Southern Massachusetts (the former a hearty, devout, and emiucunent Congregationalist) -
said, in giving a legal opinion upon the matter, -"  Thus al legal civil relation between them,
was at an end. There was an ecclesiastical relation still remaining,. which has indeed a very
slight hold upon the Parish, being nothing but what the law of courtesy and Congregational
usage provide for the benefit of a Pastor who leaves his people, in order that his ministerial and
Christian character may not be thereby injuriously affected...  The Parish have no reason
to wish for an Ecclesiastical Council, in a case like this, when the contract for settlement is
dissolved in pursuance of their express agreement with him, and if hle does waive, or suspend, his request for a Council, no law, human or divine, will allow a man to obtain an advantage from his own negligence or neglect....... If he made an agreement which dispensed
with the action of the Church, the Church may complain, but he is estopped, and his mouth
is shut...... It has been said that an act of the Church, assenting to the vote of the Parish,
was necessary   Not so, in respect to this civil, or legal, connection."- See "Legal Opinion."
April 30, 1845, pp 189-192. Sixteen Years Preaching and Procedure at IWVareham, fc. Boston,
1845
See also the 2d Article in the result of the Manchester (Mass.) Council, Dec. 9, 1857, dismissing Rev Rufus Taylor - where it was held that his civil contract was terminated by his unconditional resignation to the Parish of April 22d previous, and their acceptance of the same on
the 6th of May; while he remained the undismissed Pastor of the Church up to the Result of
Council reached on the 16th Dec 1857 -See Congregationalist, Jan. 1, 1858.
213 
CONGREGATIONAL1I'.
aggrieved individual member whom his Church has (apparently without sufficient reason) refused to join in such an invitation- where
either light or peace is desired, to consider some matter of common
concernment, and give advice thereon.   The fundamental idea of a
Council is an outgrowth from that of the fellowship of the churches;
and the necessity of Councils grows not out of any want of power in
each Church to decide finally upon its own affairs, but from the desire
of each so to order its doings as to satisfy and secure the fraternal confidence and cooperation of, all. The following points, it is believed,
cover all matters of practical inquiry concerning the calling and ordering of these bodies.
(1.)  Who may call a  Council?.  A  Clurch must always  be the
party moving to call a Council;2 with the two exceptions of the formation of a Church, when the individuals desiring to become the
Church call it, and of an  Ex-parte Council, where an aggrieved
member expressly bases his call upon the fact that he has asked his
Church to convoke a Mutual Council, and has met with what he conceives to be an unjust refusal to do so. The reason of this rule is
the simple one that the Christian community cannot hold itself bound
to interfere, in cases of private difficulty, with the proper business of
a Church. Where two members disagree, it is the duty of their
Church to reconcile them; and only when difficulties surmount the
wisdom of a Church, so as to give it a claim upon the collective wisdom of its sister churches, can attention be rightly called toward
them from without. If, then, at any time, any member, or members,
feel that the advice of a Council is needed, they should ask their
Church to call one together. In most cases where there is sufficient
warrant for such a procedure, the Church will accede to their request. Should it, however, arbitrarily and unjustly refuse to do so,
those aggrieved brethren have, then, the right to invite an Ex-parte
Council- in form and manner as will subsequently appear.
(2.) How a Council is called?  In the ordinary cases of calling
ordatining, and dismissing Councils, it is usual for the Church to ap
1 See page 3. Also, particularly, pp. 59-6.
2 " A party in a Church complaining of another party, cannot demand of the other to join
in calling a Council; nor can the two together call one; but they can bring matters directly
before their Church; and if that Church sees fit, it can call a Council to advise as to its internal difficulties. A Church must, in all cases, be a party concerned. "-Rev. A. H. Quint.  Cong.
Quar., vol. ii. p. 54.
214 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
point a Committee to select the churches to be invited, and the form
of the letter of invitation. These are reported to the Church, and
if adopted the letters are then signed by the Committee, and sent
to the selected churches. In case of difficulty, it is usual for each
party in difference to select one half of the churches I-sometimes
both parties uniting upon one Church, whose pastor it is understood
would be acceptable to all as moderator.2
In a case of difficulty where members feel aggrieved by Church
action, and have tried, in vain, to persuade the Church to take action
for a Mutual Council, those members may then proceed themselves
to send out Letters Missive for an Ex-parte Council; stating the
case briefly and fairly, and especially recounting their unavailing endeavor for a Mutual Council.
(3.) Letters Missive. These have the same relation to the action
of the Council that the "warrant" has to that of a town-meeting.
They furnish the authority on which the Council meets, define its
membership, and limit its powers.3  The Council, when assembled,
has no power to invite any man to sit in consultation with it, who
was not invited by the party calling the Council; no right to exclude
the delegates of an invited Church; and no right to consider and
offer advice upon any subject not fairly embraced in the terms of the
Letter MIissive.
1 Sometimes, in instances of bitter feeling spreading over the adjacent community, it has
been thought wise to secure impartiality by selecting churches mainly from a distance, who
must necessarily be, in great part, strangers to the place, the persons, and the perplexity.
2 In such a case the Council would be under no obligation to be governed by this fact in
their selection of their moderator, yet - if no special objection were in the way - such a course
would be both natural and expedient.
3 For a suitable form of Letter Missive for the organization of a Church, see page 164; for
one suitable to an Ordaining, or Installing Council, see page 171; for one proper for an ordinary Dismissing Council, see page 200; for an Ex-arte Council, see page 201.
The following would be a correct form for calling a Mutual Council in a case of Chureh difficulty not connected directly with the dismission of the Pastor, viz: -
The  Congregational  Church in            to the Congregational Church  in            send  eth greeting 
Dear Brethren:
Difficulties having arisen between the Pastor and some of the members of this
Church [or between various members of this Church] [or between the Church and A.
B., a member feeling himself aggrieved and injured by Church action] for the adjustment of which we desire your Christian Council, this is to request your attendance, by
your Pastor and a delegate, at-              on the -     of -     at-     o'clock in  the
to advise us on the follosving points, viz:
[here state every material question on which light is desired.]
215 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
(4.) Quorum. The common sense rule is that a present majority
of all having the right of membership, constitutes a quorum. Thus,
if ten churches have been invited to send each a pastor and delegate,
eleven members would constitute a quorum. If two of those churches
have no pastors, and have not been invited to send delegates in their
place; ten would constitute a quorum. It would be better to make a
present majority of the churches sent to, the basis of a quorum, provided a return was also made to the old way of voting by churches;
but until the latter is done, the former would not be just.
(5.)  Organization.  The simple question of organization is, "who
bring full credentials in accordance with the terms of the Letters
Missive?" This determined, the choice of moderator,' of scribe -
and sometimes of assistant scribe - is next in order. Then prayer;
then a call for the business in due form.
(6.) Scope of business. Every Council is necessarily limited to
and such other incidental matters as may inseparably belong to these main difficulties
between us.   Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, Ac.,  -c., &c. Signatures, &c.
The following would b.a correct form for the calling of an Ex-parte Council, by an individual
[or individuals,] feeling himself agrieved by Church action for which he can obtain no redress, viz: -
To the Congregational Church in
Dear Brethren:
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
Mfutual 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] grievances 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 beg[s] to request of your sense of right, and
your Christian sympathy and friendship, your participation, by Pastor and 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, Sc.)
The Churches invited to sit in Council are the following -[name all.]
A form for calling an Ex-parte Council with regard to the dismission of a minister who will
not unite with his Church to call a mutual one, may be found on page 201.
1 In Eastern Massachusetts, the Council is usually called to order by one of its oldest clerical
members, who reads the Letter Missive and "takes the lilerty" to  nominate a moderator.  In
Western Massachusetts it is more usual - if we are rightly informed - to choose the moderator
by ballot. This, we submit, is always the better way.
216
t 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
action upon the subjects directly stated in the Letter Missive calling
it together. It has no right to go one step in any direction beyond
that letter, because the party calling it has expressly asked its advice
upon those points and none other, and because the churches have
sent its members expressly to consult and advise with reference to
those points and none other; and therefore it has been organized and
has existence as a Council, for the purpose of consulting and advising
upon those points and none other.   (7.) Method of business. As there is no code special for Councils, they fall under the ordinary rules governing deliberative bodies.
In examining witnesses they should ordinarily receive only such as
would be received in a court of justice; as the courts may review
their action. If one rule more than another commends itself to such
bodies, it is that of the most absolute and scrupulous Christian impartiality. This, with Christian common sense, will carry any Council safely through the most trying experience.
(8.) Result. In coming to a result it is usual, after the testimony
is all in, and those who called the Council have said all that they
wish to say in elucidation of the matters at issue, for the Council to
vote to "be by themselves."  Privacy thus being secured for their
deliberations, it is usual for the Moderator to request the Scribe to
call the roll of the Council, giving each Pastor and delegate an opportunity to express, as briefly and clearly as possible, the opinion which
he has formed, and the advice which he thinks ought to be given to
the parties in interest. When all have spoken, and thus the general
drift of the sentiment of the Council has become clear, it is usual
for a Committee of three- where there are decidedly two opposing
opinions in the Council, this Committee may wisely include one representative of each of these opinions, and one occupying middle
ground-to be appointed to draw up a form of result which shall
embody the judgment of the Council upon the subjects before them.
That report when made, is freely discussed and amended until it is
1 " For example: a Council is called for organizing a new Church, for the alleged reasons
that great want of harmony exists in another in the same town; it is then perfectly competent
for the Council to inquire as to the existence of the alleged dissensions, and whether they are
such as to furnish good reasons for advising a new organization, and whether they are irre.
movable; but they have no right to proceed to an investigation into the merits or demerits of
the dissensions, - because the parties are not before them, and if they were, the case is not."
-Rev. A. H. Quint.  "Authlority of Councils."  Cong. Quar., vol. iL p. 59.
217 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
brought into such a shape that it will secure the unanimous assent
of the body, or that of its large majority, when it is formally adopted,
authenticated by the signature of the Moderator and Scribe, and communicated to the parties.
The vote is usually taken by calling the roll of members, and determined by their majority. There would, however, be obvious advantages in a return to the method formerly practised, of a vote by
churches; each Church giving one vote. In that case any inequality of attendance would be adjusted; sometimes to the great gain of
the moral force of the result.
In form, such a "Result" should first contain a correct list of the
churches represented, and of the Pastors and delegates comprising
the Council; second, a condensed journal of its sittings and procedure; and third, the document containing the conclusion to which it
comes.1
(9.)  The Force of the Result of a Council.  As all true Congregational Councils are called to give advice, and for this only, it necessarily follows that it is advice, purely, which they give.2 Those who
1 The following may suggest all that is needful as to the exact phraseology of such a
"Result."
Pursuant to Letters Missive from the Congregational Church in, [or, name
the exact source of the letters] an Ecclesiastical Council convened at, on
for the purpose 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.
[and so arranging the churches either in alphabetical order, or by their seniority of
formation.]
It was organized by the choice of Rev. -, Moderator; Rev. --             Scribe,
land Rev. - -, Assistant Scribe.] 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 is 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.] 
(Date.)
2 See this more at large, pp. 64 —5. See also, pp. 200-4. See also, S. Mather's 4pology, p.
118; I. Mather's Disquisition, p. 28; John Norton's Responsio, pp. 112-119; Pres. Stiles' Convention Sermon, p. 46. See also one true statement in the famous Dedham "Statement,"
(1819), viz: "the power of Councils is merely advisory; nor can they volunteer that service
218
Signed,
(1.) M1oderator.                  (2.) Scribe. 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISHM WORKS.
have called a Council are morally bound to accept, and act upon, its
advice, in good faith, if it commend itself to their conscience as the
will of God concerning them. The presumption must always be that
the result of every fairly constituted and properly managed Council
is binding upon the parties calling it, unless they can show good
cause, in conscience, for neglecting it.
But there is, purely speaking, no authority in the result of any
Council.1
By the decisions of the Massachusetts courts, the result of a Council in its legal aspects, may be stated in these four particulars.2
1. Such a result is of no force until accepted by the parties.8
2. If accepted by one party and not accepted by the other, it will
They cannot come till they are asked. nor extend their inquiries beyond the point submitted;
and then their decision may be regarded or not, as shall seem best to the party asking." p. 55.
See also some very pungent reasoning on this subject (pp. 31-39), in " a Neighbor's" Second
Treatise on Church Government, called out by the Bolton case, (1773), with this pertinent
statement, (p. 39). "it is the churches' prerogative to judge, and Council's main province to
reflect light in order that churches may judge uprightly."  See also the admirable reasoning of
Gov. Thomas Fitch, in his Explanation of Say-Brook Platform, (published anonymously in
1765), passim, and specially this passage, (p. 24), " if we conceive of Councils as having jurisdiction [properly so termed], and consequently a judicial authority in any case, endless disputes will arise, nor will it be possible to reconcile Our Ecclesiastical Constitution with itself:
such a power in Councils is quite inconsistent with the rights and duties of particular churches,
clearly and expressly asserted and maintained by these churches, &c. But if we view Councils
as helps, counsellors, advisers, &c., affording light, assistance, &c. for the conviction, peace,
and edification of the churches, and the like, our constitution will appear in a good light, consistent with itself, and agreeable both to the principles and genius of the Gospel of Christ."
1 Sometimes all parties calling a Council enter, before its session, into an agreement to abide
by its Result, whatever it may be - thus making it strictly a Board of Referees, rather than a
Council. [See Bliss's Rehoboth, p. 209, and the Manchester (Mass.) Council, Dec. 1857.] In
that case there will, necessarily, in virtue of the previous agreement, be a binding force in the
Result, and the courts will enforce it, in all pecuniary details [see Stearns v. Bedford]; but as
a Reference and not as a Council. Nor is it clear that such agreement beforehand is any suggestion of real Congregationalism. [ Cong. Quarterly, Jan. 1860, p. 63.] On this point, see New
England's Lamnentations, by Rev. John White, of Gloucester, who says [p. 165, Wise's Quarrel, etc.] "Some Councils have perswaded the Church and aggrieved to promise to acquiesce in
the determination of the Council before they heard the case, by which their consciences have
been ensnared, and the Council turned into a solemn arbitration. This, therefore, is matter of
just lamentation."
John Norton, in his Responsio [the first Latin work ever written in this country; as his
Orthodox Elangelist was the first treatise of systematic Divinity ever composed here], takes
strong ground as to the duty of a Church to accept the advice of Council, yet even he presup.
poses the danger of error in such a result, and its consequent invalidity. His reasoning is
ingenious: " Errorem Synodi et Ecclesiarum non esse fundamentalem, quia tumrn cesserant Ecclesiae esse Ecclesze, et, consequenter, Synodus non esset legitima.?  p. 112.
2 See Congregational Quarterly, vol. ii. pp. 60-64.
8 " The result of a Council, of its own intrinsic validity, is never obligatory upon the parties."
Stearns v. Bedford, 21 Pick. 114.
219
I 
CONGREGATIONALISM..
justify the party adopting it, in acts done in consequence, but will not
bind the party rejecting it.'
3. Such a result is conclusive as to facts -  adjudged to be facts
by the Council.2
4. The court may, however, revise (all but the facts) the modus
operandi; to assure itself that all processes have been fair and
regular.s
So that the legal aspect of the result of a Council is, in short, this:
— if "a Council has been properly called, it' tilhe subject-matter is
such as should come before a Council, if its m(_ in)crs are impartial, if
its investigations are fair, if its decision is clcar, - then its result,
while it must be adopted before it is of any authority, will justify
either party conforming thereto." 4
(10.) Dissolution. When a Council has concluded its preliminary
sessions, and reached its Result, its function is at an end, and the
proper vote to be passed, is that "it be dissolved."  It has no longer
any legal existence, and can never be recalled.5 It has no right to
adjourn for a definite period, or "subject to the call of the moderator;" in the view of waiting to see whether the parties it has advised will follow its advice; and with the intention of another session,
and another judgment, if they do not follow  it.  It was not invited
to oversee the execution of its advice, but merely to give it, and
when once given, it is an impertinence for it to assume to become a
tribunal for its enforcement. Such an attempt to assume authority
over the churches is a Presbyterian heresy, which Congregationalists
should be vigilant to eschew.6
1 See page 202, with the legal references there given. See, also, Avery v. Tyringham,
8 Mass. 160.
2 Stearns e. Bedford, and Burr i. Sandwich.
3 " The court always look behind the adjudication, and before the result can be received as
evidence, or allowed to have any validity, they will examine the proceedings, to ascertain
whether there was a suitable case for the convocation of an Ecclesiastical Council; whether the
members were properly selected; whether they proceeded impartially in their investigations
whether their adjudication was so formally made that it might be seen that they acted with
due regard to the rights of the parties, and that they founded their decision upon grounds
which will sustain it." Thompson v. Rehoboth, 7 Pickering.
4 Conzgregational Quarterly, vol. ii. p. 62.
5 See this point argued in the Result of the famous Reading Council, June 15, 1847, p. 14.
6 In Felt's Annals of Salem, vol. ii. pp. 593-9, is an account of an attempt by a "grand
Council," (A. D. 1734-45), to excommunicate Rev. Mr. Fiske and his Church: the Council assembling and reassembling, and appealing to the churches of the Commonwealth to sustain
them.  Mr. Cummings says, (Dict. p. 74,) "Mr. Fiske, the minister, and a majority of his
220
i 
HO'W CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
. In very rare instances, we are aware, circumstances may arise
which may make it desirable for the same churches to be again convened in Council upon the same subject. But this can only be done
by a new Letter Missive,' and a course of procedure, in all respects,
de novo.2
SECTION 7. Consociation.
A  Consociation - in the sense in which the word is now  com
Church, did not approve of this' third way of communion,' disregarded the sentence, and outlived the storm." The pamphlets published on this controversy, fill a volume, and may be
consulted in the Salem Athen,um.
1 " Councils expire when they have given the advice for which they were called."-Cumming's Cong. Dict., p. 128.
" To reassemble, therefore, by their own authority, and without the originating power of a
new Letter Missive, and to prosecute inquiries anew in relation to the Church and people, or to
do any thing else as a Council, would be considered at variance with Congregational principles."-Upham. Ratio Disciplin&e, p. 188.
See the Reading case (1847), for illustration of the bad policy of the reassembling of a Council, where [Protest, p. 75, Appendix to Result], it is said of such a reassembling [April 7, 1847,
of a Council which met March 4, 1846], "we deem it an entire perversion of Congregational
principles for a Council to retain a permanent authority to inspect the conduct of any Church,
or any member of a Church."
2 Some of the most important published results of Councils of recent days, are that at Salem,
Mass., 1849, (Howard Street Church), in which, and in the Review of it [attributed to Rev. S.
M. Worcester, D. D.] is thoroughly discussed the question whether a Congregational Church
can disband itself by the force of majority vote; that at Reading, Mass., (South Church), 1847,
above referred to, in which the claim of a Pastor to negative Church acts is discussed; those at
the same place in 1882 and 1884, in which opinion is given on the question of making Infant
Baptism imperative upon Congregational Church members; that at Danvers, Mass., 1852,
where the "three month's notice" plan is referred to; that at New York (Church of the Puritans), 1859, where arbitrary and summary exclusion from the Church is advised to be null.
For good examples of the Councils that were held in the days of the Unitarian apostacyand exhibiting the trickiness and dishonesty sometimes practised by the opposers of the Trinity,
see the Fitchburg. Mass. case (1801), [Life of Dr. S. Worcester, vol. i. pp 263-856]; the Dorchester case (1811-12), [reviewed in the Panoplist, 1814, pp. 256-807]; the Princeton case (1817),
[reviewed in the Panoplist, 1817, pp. 264-278]; the Sandwich case (1817), [result published in
the Panoplist, 1817, pp. 274-279]; the Dedham case (1818), [reviewed by Judge Stebbins, in the
Spirit of the Pilgrims, 1829, pp. 329-881]; the Groton case (1826), [reviewed in the Spirit of the
Pilgrims, 1829, pp. 3870-403]; and the Cambridge case (1827-29), [reviewed in the Spirit of the
Pilgrims, 1829, pp. 559-571].
For fine specimens of the older method of Councils in New England called to advise in reference to matters of doctrine in the alleged heresy of ministers, see Report of a Conference held
at IVestford, [Mass.], Dec. 4, 1781, in Congregational Quarterly, 1861, pp. 268-278, and Result of
a Council of Churches at Grafton, Mass., Oct. 2, 1744, in the collections of the Congregational
Library Association. It is noticeable in these old results, that the names of the Pastors and Delegates are not given (with the exception of the Moderator, and Scribe); the stress then being
laid upon the assumed presence of the churches, and not on the personal dignity, or sagacity,
of the tndiriduals composing the Council.
In the rich collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and of the Salem Athensaeum;
may be found many curious documents illustrating the ancient ways in these particulars.
221 
CONGREGATIONALIS.',I.
monly  used 1-  is a  Standing  Council,2 which  some  Congregational churches, and especially those of Connecticut, have sub
stituted for the common Method of Councils.3 Strictly it is, with
I Our fatiers talked about the " Consociation of Churches,:' when they only meant by it their
fellowship. Peter Thacher and John Webb, in their " Brief Declaration," [Boston, 1720], say,
(p. 6), "as to the Consociation of Citurches, we find our Synods speaking very honorably of it,
and with great Light and Force urging the strict Union and holy Communion of all particular
Churches one with another, in all the proper acts of that communion; such as Mutual Direction, lPr.y-er, Admonition, &c."  They then go on (pp. 7, 8) to show that this involves no co'.trol over the churches, but simply good fellowship between them.
2 " The Consociation is a Standing Council, both judicial and advisory, competent to ordain,
dismiss, and discipline Pastors; to unite, organize, and discipline churches; to revise the decisions of the constituent Churches, and to consult their general welfare." Rule IV. of Litchfield
North Consociation, Conn. Historical Sketch, p. 32.
3 It is usual to claim Hooker as the originator of this plan of judicature. Dr. Ilawes says,
[ Contributio'is to the Ecclesiastical History of Connecticut, p. 87], "he was the father of the
system of Consociation. It was a favorite and oft repeated remark of his -' we must have
the Consociation of the Churches, or we are ruined.' " But Hooker appears to have used the
term in its ancient and loose, rather than its modern and technical sense, as he repeatedly
repudiates the idea of any control over the churches from without. He says, [Survey,
Part iv. p. 19], "the truth is, a particular Congregation is the highest tribunal, unto
which the grieved party may appeal.... If difficulties arise in the proceeding, the council of
other churches should be sought to clear the truth; but the power of censure rests still in the
Congregation, whiere Christ placed it."  Again he says, [p. 51], " if Synods and such meetings
be attended only in way of consultation, as having no other power, nor meeting for any other
end; then, as they are lawful, so the root of them lies in a common principle, &c."
About 1656-1662, a movement was made in both Connecticut and Massachusetts toward Consoelation. [See Trumbull's Connecticut, vol. i. ch. xiii.; Alew Haven Colonial Records, vol. ii. pp.
196-7, and Rec,,Irds ofMassachusetts Colony, vol. iv. part 2, pp.38, 60, 62.] The Connecticut Synod
failed of a majority for the plan, John Davenport vigorously opposing it there, and afterward in
Boston. The Boston Synod recommended it; first ameliorating it of juridical power. But the
matter then died away for the time in both Colonies. About the beginning of the 18th Century
[see Pres. Stiles' Convention Sermton, pp. 68, 69; Trumbul, vol i pp. 478-488, Wise's Qutarrel,
passim; Cotton Mather's Ratio, pp. 182-184, and JIagnalia, 5th Book, Congregational Quarterly, vol. i. p. 49], under the leadership of Pierpont in Connecticut, and of Cotton Mather in Massachusetts, the effort was renewed.  The Saybrook Synod adopted their famous "Platform "
(1708); and the " Boston Association " (1705) proposed a system of Consociation. Butler's History of Groton, Mass. [p. 169], contains the record of a proposition to the Church in Groton
to unite in a Consociation, which had been proposed by an Association, met at Marlborough,
July 16, 1707; which proposition was adopted, nem. con. by the Groton Church, July 21,1707
But I have met with no further record of that movement. In Massachusetts, the general plan
was violently assailed by John Wise, and others, and found little favor. There are frequent
traces of an impulse in this direction, however. in after years   In 1732, Wi4iliam  homes, of
Chilmark, published his " Proposals of somze things to be done in our adninststering Ecclesiastical Govertesnent, whereby it  nay  more effectually reach its end in some respects," etc.. in
which he advocates a Consociation under the name of an Ecclesiastical Cotencil or Presbytery,
(pp. 6-30). His Proposals came to a second edition some fifty years after, [Newburyport, 1774,
pp. 43], but never came to any thing else.  The Records of the -Iendon Asseciation show that
a proposition was entertained and digested in 1756, by its members, for a Consociation; and
that they proposed it to their churches. Mention is again made of the subject in the records
of 1757, but then it drops into oblivion, and there is no trace of any movement of the churches
in response.  [Hist. IlIendlon Association, pp. 47-52.]  In 1774, Dr. Whitaker, of the Taberna
222
i 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
those who accept the plan, the highest Ecclesiastical judicature.1
A Consociation is usually composed of the Pastor and one Messenger from each of the Congregational churches of a County, or of half
cle Church in Salem, " confuted " John Wise (now in his grave forty-nine years) in a vigorous
attempt [A4 confutation of two Tracts, entitled'A Vindication of the New England Chiurches,'
and' Te'e Churcihes Quarrel Espoused,' written by the Rev. John Wise, ~c.  Boston: Isaiah
Thomas.  1774.  pp. 98] to commend Presbyterianism to Massachusetts; but the pernicious
old Puritan would n't stay confuted, and the churches remained obstinately deaf to the voice
of the charmer. In 1814, the plan was again urged in the General Association of Massachusetts, in the form of appointing a Committee to examine an "Ancient Document," found
among Cotton Mather's papers, on the question "what further steps are to be taken, that
Councils may have due constitution and efficacy."  The Committee (of Drs. Morse, Austin,
Woods, Worcester, and Lyman, and Rev. Messrs. Hale and Cooley), reported, in 1815, proposing the establishment of Consociations. The matter was laid over to the next session, and
then resulted in a vote that, they " had no objection to" the organization of Consociations,
wherever ministers and churches were so inclined. But so decided was now the repugnance
of the Massachusetts churches to the system, that even this qualified endorsement led to the
withdrawal of several of the District Associations from the State Body, and the whole project
was again abandoned. [See Panoplist, 1814, pp. 320-8; 1815, pp. 359-73; and 1816, p. 369.J A
committee, consisting of Rev. Drs. Woods, Humphrey, Snell, Shepard, Cooley, Ind Storrs, and
Rev. Parsons Cooke, was appointed at a public meeting in Boston, May 29, 1841, to " take into
consideration what measures are necessary for the reaffirmation and maintenance of the principles and spirit of Congregationalism." Their report was made in 1846, " to the Congregational
Ministers and Churches in Massachusetts." Dr. Clark says [ Cong. Churches of Mass, p. 283,]
"though the whole subject of Church-Government was laid open by the committee, their leading object evidently was to magnify the office-work of Councils, and to strengthen the authority
of their decisions." This new attempt, however, fell still-born from the press which printed
the report, and now, after the lapse of sixteen years, the churches hardly remember that such
a movement ever took place.
In Connecticut, the Saybrook "Articles "-which were practically a compromise between
the Presbyterian and Congregational interests [Bacon's Historical Discourses, p. 191], and are
obviously susceptible of a strict construction, elevating the Consociation into a virtual Presbytery; and of a looser construction, making it merely a stated Council- were, gradually, and
with some jealousy, adopted by the churches; the New Haven Association (where Davenport's
influence was still felt), refusing to accept the Platform, till they had put upon record their
understanding of it. Among the majority of the churches of the State, the strict, or Presbyterian, construction of the Articles prevailed for many years, and was used to prevent the formation of" New Light" churches in the days of Whitfield.  [Cont. Eccl. Hist. Conn., p. 122.]
After the first half century, or more, the Congregational construction of its articles became
more general, and so remains.
1 " When any case is orderly brought before any council of the churches [i. e., any Consociation], it shall there be heard and determined, which (unless orderly removed from thence),
shall be a final issue; and all parties therein concerned shall sit down and be determined thereby." -Art. V., Saybrook Platform.  Trumbull, vol. i. p. 484.
" The churches of Connecticut have adopted the Consociating principle, as best supported
by God's word, and established the Consociation, as the highest Ecclesiastical judicati,re." -
John Elliott's Sermon at Guilford, 1817. p. 7.
" ye pastors met in our Consociation have power, with ye consent of ye Messengers of our
Churches chosen, and attending, authoritatively, juridically and decisively to determine Ecclesiastical affairs,'c."-Art. II., Old Consociation of Fairfield Co., Conn.  Cont. Eccl. Ilist.
Conn., p. 356.
223 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
a County, where the territory is too large for convenience in one. This
body meets at stated periods. Whenever any special need for advice
arises in one of the Consociated churches, provision is also made for
calling it together- though not always the whole of it is required to
be assembled.- The advice of Consociation is strictly, and according
to the Say-Brook Platform, and the ancient understanding, in the
nature of an authoritative adjudication, and must be followed, on pain
of being "reputed guilty of scandalous contempt, and dealt with as
the rule of God's word in such case doth provide, and the sentence
of non-communion shall be declared against such Pastor and Church.
And the churches are to approve of the said sentence, by withdrawing from the communion of the Pastor, and Church, which so refuseth
to be healed." 2
It is but just to add that there has always been a Low Church as
well as a High Church theory of this system;- and that practically
at the present day, Consociation amounts, in many places, to nothing
more than a Council of the neighboring churches.
The churches of Connecticut4 appear to be strongly attached to
this way of Church fellowship; but although advocated by many
eminent men,5 it is difficult to see that it offers, or secures,6 any ad
1 See Cont. Eccl. Hist. Conn., p. 333.
2 Say-Brook Platform, Art. IV. Trumbulzl, i. p. 484.
8 See Trtsmbull, i. p. 487. See also Bacon's Historical Discourse, (pp. 41-70. Cont. Eccl.
Hist. Conn.) See also Gov. Fitch's clear, candid, and forcible Explanation of Say-Brook Platformz, [pp. 89, small 4to., Hartford, 1765], passim.
4 Cont. Ecel. Hist. Conn., pp. 70, 87, 126, 127, 305, 317, 333, 419, 444.
5 See Dr. Dwight. Sermon clxii. Dr. Woods also favored this plan. He said, " the best
way, I think, would be for the ministers in their District Associations to form small Consociations; and, once formed, their benefits would be so obvious, that I think they would be generally and gladly adopted." [MS. Lectures.] See also his Works, vol. iii. pp. 578-583. There is
a passage worth reading in this connection, in Turell's Life of Dr. Coleman, [Boston, 1748],
pp. 98-108.
6 The Records of Consociationism in Connecticut show that its decisions are not always more
just, or effectual, than those of Councils. The Rev. Mr. Robbins, of Branford, was excluded
[1742] from the New Haven Consociation, and deposed - for preaching to a Baptist Church. He
quietly went on with his work, and after about seven years was invited back to Consociation.
[ Trumbull, vol. ii. pp. 196-233]. Dr. Bacon says of Consociation-  that it had any efficacy at
all in preventing, or in adjusting those local controversies which are inevitably incident to the
government of all self-governed churches, does not appear in all the history of its first halfcentury."' [Cont. Eccl. Hist. Conn., p. 38.] He says indeed [Hist. Discourses, p. 192], "for
the first half-century, or more, the Saybrook Platform made more quarrels than it healed."  In
the famous " Wallingford case," Rev. Mr. Dana was settled by an "Old Light" Council [1758],
in the face of the remonstrance of the New Haven Consociation. The Consociation convoked
to its aid that of Hartford South, and casting out Mr. Dana and his Church, recognized a
minority opposed to him as "the Church."  That minority, after keeping up worship a little
224
I 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
vantage sufficient to offset the Presbyterian tendencies which inhere
in it.'  Nor is it to be wondered at that Congregational churches, in
general. l)re.(fer a method more purely an outgrowth of their fundamental principles.2
In consociated churches, the trial and deposition of ministers is
done by the Consociation.3
SEcTION 8.  Association.
An  Association, is a meeting of Pastors in the aim to help each
other in their common work.   Such meetings have existed in New
England since a very early date.4'lie Pastors of ten, twenty, or
thirty neighboring churches -grouped, and limited, by considerations
of mutual convenience-come together thus, twice, thrice, or four
times a year, and spend a day, or more, in exercises for intellectual,
spiritual, and professional improvement.  As a matter of convenience,
a(lvantag,e has been taken of these regular assemblages of the Pastolrs, by candidates for the Pulpit, to present themselves, after thorough
training, for examination for a certificate of approval- in common
parlance, "for licensure." 5
more than twenty years, "caved in," and went back.  [ Trumbull, vol. ii. pp. 480-526.]  See
Dr. Bacon's Norwich Historical Dlscoorse, pp. 51-56, for allusion to many such cases.
Particularly mournful is the Rev. Levi Nelson's recent [1854] exposition of' Tie trials of.
Church and Pastor in attempting to mnsintain Gospel Discipline under Consociational interjerence,* in Lisbon, Conn. [See his pamphlet, pp. 50, 8vo.]
1 The one good thing in Mr. Lesley's "address to the Suffolk North Association," [Boston,
1849 pp. 130], is where he calls Consociationism the " railed Presbyterianis?n of the New lhaven
and Hartford Colony." (p. 43.) As long ago as 1772, John Cotton, of Plymouth, accused the
1Rev. Chandler Ibobbins of attempting to bring in "the Connecticut discipline;;" adding, in a
note, "Scarce any are ignorant that the discipline in Connecticut verges towards Pre,tbyterians5n.": See ihis General Pr,, ctice of tlhe Clhurches of New England, relating to Baptism, vindicated. [Boston. E. Russell. 12mo. pp. 73. p. 71.]
2 i; A Congreg,ttional Church holding that mode of Church government, cannot, while such,
become consoeiaLed."-Address to the Rev. Iloses C. TWelch.  [WVindham.  1794. p. 32.]
Consociationismi leads to Presbyterianism  Presbyterianism leads to Episcopacy; Episcopacy leads to l,onman Catholicism; and Roman Catholicism is an ultimate fact."-Dr. Emmons. Park's M3emoir, p 163.
3 See page 206.
4 President Stiles [Convention Sernone, p. 68] fixes the earliest date, in his knowledge, of
such a meeting, in New England,. at about 1670. The Library of the Mass. Histor,c:l S cie ty contains the MS. record of i Canbridge Association," formed at the house of Charles Morton, in
Charlestown, Mass., Oct. 13, 1690.  This was the Association which Cotton Mather so often refers to in his Magnalia, and this MS. contains the originals of most of the votes reported by
him.
5 The theory of New England Congregationalism has always been that a Church of Christ
is the only body possessir..' authority to empower any person to preach the Gospel   But as
15
225 
CONGREGATIONALISHM.
In some of the States, delegates from these District Bodies meet
once a year to constitute a General Association of the State; the
printed report of whose annual meeting is made to include the statistics of the Congregational churches in that Commonwealth.1
While these Associations are very helpful to Pastors, and through
it is an important aid to the churches in this work to have beforehand the carefully formed
judgment of Pastors in reference to the qualifications of candidates, the practice has grown up
of having all candidates present themselves to some ministerial association for thorough exami
nation as to their fitness- in learning and piety - to pIeach; and, on the part of the churches,
of entertaining no candidate who does not bring, from some recognized and respectable body ol
ministers, a certificate of their approbation as a fit occupant of the pulpit. Such a certificate is
not a license to preach.  It confers no power, and ought not to be so named   It is merely'.
letter of commendation, designed favorably to introduce its holder to the churches   Any one
of them, that pleases to do so, on the strength i,f the letter. and its own subsequent investiga
tion, has power to license the candidate, by making him its Pastor; with the counsel ot others.
David Thurston was the first commended by the Mendon Association, Nov 8, 1751. The late
Thomas Gray. D. D., of Roxbury [3d Churchl was the first "approbated" in this way. by the
Boston Association, in 1792. The Mendon Association, now in its second century. has always
scrupulously refused to use the term "license," and therein deserves the commendation of all
true Congregationalists.  See Centurzal IH...t,ry q/f  Lledo' Assloation.  [Boston, 1853 ] p 75
In 1651, the Church in Malden was fined ~50. by the Massachusetts General Court, for settling a minister without previous approbation; and in 1653, the Court orbade the - new"
Church, in Boston, to settle "Mr. Powell," because they thought him too unlearned. and ordered that no one should be allowed to preach who was not approved by "the elders of the
four next churches, or the County Court;" but the order was repealed at the next session, on
petition from members of the Church and town of Woburn, as being an infringement on the
liberties of thie churches. [See Records AMass. Colony, vol. iii. pp. 237. 250, 293. 294. 317., 331.
359; and Mlass. Hist. Coll., 3d series, vol. i. pp. 38-45, where the petition is given in full, with
signatures.]
1 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, have General Associations based purely
on delegations from local clerical Associations. Vermont, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and California have substantially such bodies, with a lay element superadded. In
Rhode Island, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oregon, the State bodies seenm to be made up
of Pastors and delegates coming directly from the churches, without delegation from any intermediate body whatever.  An effort was made, in 1818,-under the pressure of the Unitarian
movement. and its admonitions to the friends of Orthodoxy to strengthen themselves in every
possible manner- to unite all the General Associations of New England into one Grand Unity,
by means of a sort of" Committee oI Union." Naturally enough, this plan came from Consociational Connecticut. The General Association of Massachusetts appointed Drs. Worcester
and Hyde and Rev. Thomas Snell to meet co~.nmittees of conference from other State Bodies in
regard to it.  They reported (1819) in favor of the plan, and advised that such a "Committee
of Union " meet annually on the 3d Wednesday of October.  This "Committee " met accordingly in Hartford, in the October following -Drs Flint of Hartford, and Lyman Beecher (then
of Litchfield). representing Connecticut; Dr. Hyde and Mr Snell representing Massachusetts,
and New Hampshire and Vermont declining to go into the arrangement.   Dr Hyde was chairman and Dr Flint scribe, and Dr. Hyde preached, and two days were devoted to "business "such as it was; Dr. Beecher being appointed to preach next year.  But. in 1821, this "Committee " had good sense enough to see that they were ineffectually endeavoring to attach a fifth
-superfluous and so pernicious- wheel to the denominational coach, and they accordingly
recommended their own dissolution. The recommendation was adopted, and the scheme was
decently and speedily buried in obli;vion, the only monumental erection to keep alive its memory that we recall in print, being a page in the Cong Quarterly, for Jan 1859, (p 48)
226
I
I
t 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
them to their flocks, it is a fundamental principle, usually, if not universally, expressed in their constitutions, that they have no direct
connection with the churches, and no claim to any shadow of authority over them.
SECTION 9.  Conferences.
A Conference is an assemblage of Pastors and delegates of
churches, assembled, not, like a Council, on the special call of a sister
Church for some isolated service toward light and peace, but in virtue of a Constitution providing for periodical meetings, for mutual
prayer, communion, advice, and helpfulness.' As in the case of
Pastoral Associations, the size, boundaries, etc., of these Conferences,
are dictated by convenience.
As with Associations, a distinct disavowal of all ecclesiastical control, is usually, and very properly, a fundamental article of their confederation.
In some of the States, delegations from these local conferences
meet annually, in a General Conference representing all the Congregational churches in the State 2 and their "minutes" carry the
annual statistics.
SECTION 10. Church Extension.
Where population is steadily increasing, it is necessary that religious privileges should perpetually be enlarged by the establishment
of new centres of hallowing influence; that the Gospel may keep
pace with the need for it. The peculiar fitness of Congregationalism-notwithstanding its lack of organization outside of the local
Church-to extend itself, will be more particularly discussed here
I The New England Synod of 1662, seem to have had Church conferences in mind in some of
their suggestions [See M,gnalia] Book v., vol ii., pp. 300-301.]  Increase Mather, in his First
Principles of New  England, cites a plan which he says John Cotton drew up just before his
death, defining and recommending this practice of the conference of churches. Upham [Ratio
Disciplince, p 246,] however thinks that the first efficient measures to carry out this plan, took
place in the County of York, Me., 1822-3; whence the system spread over Maine, and thence
largely over the United States.
2 In Maine and Ohio, the State Body is thus a General Conference, made up of delegates, lay
and clerical, from local conferences. Massachusetts has recently formed such a Body, in addition to her General Association
227 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
after.  It is enough to say here, that it is- and from the beginning
has been2- eminently missionary in its spirit; and that -  on the
commion sense principle that "when there is a will there is a way "it has never found any difficulty in working upon the destitute and
dying world; whether in near localities,3 or distant states,4 or nations.5
This it has found it most suitable and convenient to do by the
means of Societies for City, Home, and Foreign iMissions, etc., into
the hands of whose well-selected officers, and to the care of whose
wise and well-studied agencies, the local churches commit their altms.
Of late years the American Congregational Union has been established,' in order to be the medium of conveying aid from these Congregational churches who have some strength to spare, to their feebler
brethren; and has accomplished incalculable good in the way of helping young churches at the West to their first houses of worshipwithout which they can accomplish little; hardly hope even to keep
themselves alive.
It is greatly to be hoped that Congregationalists everywhere will
increasingly perceive, and use, the benefit of these helps toward a fit
obedience to the Saviour's last command.
1 See page 238.
2 See Acts viii: 1, 14, 26: x: 19; xi: 19-29; xiii: 2, 3, 45-51; xiv: 21, 22, etc.
Very touching are Gov. Bradford's words in regard to the motives of the Leyden Pilgrims in
coming hither: "lastly, (and which was not least,) a great hope & inward zeall they had of
laying some good foundation, or at least to make some way thereunto, for ye propagating & advancing ye gospell of ye kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of ye world; yea, though they
should be but even as stepping-stones unto others for ye performing of so great a work."Plimouth Plantation, p. 24.
3 Our fathers began by colonizing new churches from those already vigorous. Three
churches (Duxbury, Marshfield, and Eastham), were colonized from the Mother Church at Plymouth in the space of twenty-six years. Branch churches were also formed in destitute localities, and sustained by sap from the trunk.  [See Early'lIet/ods of Church Extension, Cong.
Quar., vol. i. pp. 53-59.]  See also Clark's Cong-regatioal Curcles in llI(sschlsetts [pp. 95,
96], for a discussion of these branch churches.  [He says it was our fathers' "mode of conducting domestic missions, and may be regarded as the first form which this enterprise took in,
New England."  Hle adds that " as the members of a branch were still enrolled with the
Church from which it sprung, till a formal separation was effected, so its minister was included in the Eldership of the other, and was often sent with the Pastor to sit in Ecclesiastical
councils.
4 The American Home Missionary Society was Congregational in its origin, and soon will be
in its entire quality. [See Puritans and Presbyterians, Cong. Quar., vol iv. pp. 38-57.]
5 The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 31issions was founded by the Mass. General Association, in 1819. [See Cong. Quar., vol. i. pp., 46-48.]
I The Union was formed at New York City in May, 1853. In the last ten years its receipts
have been $236,178.91.  Last year (1867) they were $32,530.22; and with this money it aided
sixty-five feeble churches to enter houses of worship free of debt.
228 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM  WORKS.
SECTION 11. Denominational Relations.
Congregationalists have some peculiar advantages in the matter of
denominational relations, arising from the simplicity, breadth, and
catholicity of their first principles. Believing that the vitality of the
Church organism does not reside in the outward form, but in the
inward substance, they are not compelled to unchurch any body of
sincere believers, banded under whatsoever form differing from that
which is usual to themselves. While they have their own decided
preferences, both as to the manner of all church work, and the fash ion of all public worship, they are not compelled by fealty to their
own fiundamentals, proudly, or sadly, to cast all who differ from them
upon the "uncovenanted mercies" of the Lord.  They ratherwhile they seek to conserve among themselves and promote among
others what they esteem to be the faith once delivered to the saints,
-trust and believe that "God is no respecter of persons: but in
every [denomi]nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him. "1  They therefore hold out the hand of
Christian fellowship -as Paul did i-to all those " that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours;"
and delight to work with them in missions, moral reforms, and all
practical ways of cooperation.
It is usual for Congregational ministers to tender the exchange of
pulpit services, and the interchange of all manner of Christian courtesies, with ministers of all other denominations; except those from
whom they are necessarily debarred by the fact of their "not holding
the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the incease of
God." 4  And Congregational Churches endorse and enjoy this action
of their Pastors; and are always ready, for their own part, to prove
their fellowship with all other branches of the invisible Holy Church
universal, by dismissing members in good standing to them, and re
1 Acts x  34, 35.
21 Cor. i: 2.
3 It is not the fault of Congregational Pastors that their kindly fraternity does not practically
include al' who agree with them in doctrinal essentials. And we have occasion to know that
some Episcopalians mourn over that exclusiveness in their system, which prevents them from
meeting our courtesies with a cordial return.
4 Coloss. ii: 19.
229 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
ceiving such members from them, when Providence shapes the way
of duty in that direction.'
Aside from this informal reciprocation of Christian courtesies
with other denominations of believers, there has been to some extent
an endeavor to further a more formal intercourse, by means of the
interchange of delegated attendance upon the meetings of State or
National associations. Experience has, perhaps, thrown doubt2 upon
the question whether such delegations promise enough of practical
good to insure the perseverance of this method of manifesting Congregational good-will to "them that have obtained like precious faith
with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ," 8 but who do not "walk according to this rule." 4
SECTION 12. How to Dissolve a Church.
In the Providence of God it may sometimes happen that-by the
gradual depopulation of the locality where it was planted, or by the
emigration of its members, and of that portion of the population
among whom it can hopefully work, or for other reasons-the extinction of a given local Church becomes an inevitable necessity; so that
the question arises: what steps are orderly for its dissolution?
It was formed by the covenant of its members, each with all the
others; (usually) in connection with advice from other churches,
through the medium of a Council.5 It should be disbanded by a process which, to all intents and purposes, will reverse this. It is well,
(but not essential) that a Council be called, and the state of the facts
laid before it, so that sister Churches may have full and seasonable
cognizance of a movement of so much consequence, and may have
the opportunity to proffer aid, if aid may wisely be tendered to avert
the catastrophe. Such a Council 6 having advised to a dissolution,
1 See pp. 161, 162, (note) for some practical suggestions in regard to the procedure called for
where embarrassment arises from the fact that some denominations to which we give our members letters, will not grant their members letters to us, in reversed circumstances.
2 The Massachusetts General Association entered into correspondence with the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1811, and after the disruption of that Assembly, continued the correspondence with both branches, until 1856, when, both parties consenting, that
with the Old School section was dropped. The correspondence with the New School Assembly
still has a name to live.
8 2 Pet. i: 1.                 4 Gal. vi: 16.                    5 See pp. 160-166.
6 The form of Letter Missive given on p. 200, would be made suitable for the calling of such
230 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
the question would then come before the Church:l shall we follow
this advice, and shall this Church  organization be dissolved?  A
unanimous vote in the affirmative (which should include the grant of
authority to the officers, or to a special committee, to give to all the
members letters of dismission to such sister Churches as they may
wish to join) would annul the covenant, and terminate the organization- when the conditions implied in the vote should have been performed.2  So far as we know, there has never been any difference of
judgment as to the conclusion that such unanimous consent as this,
releases every member from his covenant obligation to that particular
organism, and releases that Church from its converse relation to
every member, and so allows the body to drop quietly into nonexistence, its constituent elements rearranging themselves in such other
combinations as the general good may dictate, and so keeping good
their covenant with God; which binds them irrevocably to some
Church, but not, necessarily, to that Church.8
a Council, by the simple substitution of the clause, "that the Church should be dissolved," for
I
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"ta1h]     eainbtenleCuc adisPso  hudb  isle.
1U fcus,i  ol   ebfr  h  hrh   ndteCuc   ol   aeapret[btat
rih~   od,  usaddcd  t i  oCuclwr   ed   reeni  h  dieo  h   oni
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(Signed.)  Commttee
authorized by
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to issue
(Date.)                                                                        Letters.
8 We suppose that the great majority of the more than sixty Congregational churches which
281 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
The difficulty which has not unfrequently made this a vexed ques
tion, lies in another (always possible) aspect of the case- when
there is not entire unanimity in the movement, and the dissolution of
the Church is resisted by a minority of its members, who claim that
their right in the organism, and its responsibility in covenant to them,
are such as cannot be vacated by the mere vote of a majority.
It is urged, on the one hand, that the very nature of a covenant
implies the mutual establishment of rights which cannot be resumed
without the consent of all parties; that as every Church exists by the
personal covenant of each with each, it can cease to exist only when
each releases each from that covenant; 1 and that the right to the
permanent enjoyment of Church privileges in that particular organization being the consideration on which the covenant was made, it
is unjust and oppressive to take away that consideration without coiinsent. On the other hand, it is urged that, as a Congregational
Church is a democracy, the common law of the power of the majority ought to apply to it; that every member comes into covenant
with it on that express understanding, and so has no ground of complaint if he is unchurched by it;2 and that to take the ground that
unanimous assent is requisite for the dissolution of a Church, is to
put the final decision always into the hands of that one factious and
unreasonable member, who contrives to slip into almost every
Church.
We suggest that the true ground lies between these two extremes.
There can be no doubt that the common rule of majority action is
measurably limited by the covenant, when it comes to touch the fundamental matter of the very existence of the body. On the other hand,
it is equally clear that the welfare of a whole Church should not be
left where it can hang upon the unreasonable and contumacious conduct of a solitary member. We hold, then, that if a Church ought
to be dissolved, it should be done by the unanimous consent of all its
members, who are in good and regular standing; and only for reasons so grave and clear that they ought to carry the consent of every
such member. And if a majority of one, or more, unreasonably and
have become extinct in Massachusetts - nine of them in Boston- since its settlement; have
gone through with this process - the movement not taking place until, by unanimous con.
sent, it was the only wise thing to be done.
I See Result of Howard Street Council (Salem, 1850, pp. 64), p. 26.
s See Review of that Result (Boston, 1850, pp. 140), p. 61.
232 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
contumaciously refuses consent; that minority becomes guilty of an
offense, and for that offense (unrepented of) should be labored with
- as if guilty of any other -until brought to a better mind, or cast
out from membership, when-in either event-the way is opened
for the regular dissolution of the body by unanimous assent.'
1 For various considerations affecting this general subject, see the Result of Council before
cited, and its Review, in extenso; also Clark's Congregational Churches of Massachusetts,
p. 281. A Council, held April 14, 1847, called to dismiss Rev. Joel Mann, from the Howard
Street Church, in Salem, advised the disbandment of the Church, as well as his dismission.
May 4, 1847, the Church voted, 17 to 10, to disband. The minority resisted, and continue as
the Church to this day. A Council convened in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., March 31, 1857, advised
the disbandment and reorganization of that Church, expressly to drop out some alien elements.
Dec. 15, 1857, the Church voted, 16 to 7, to follow the advice of Council. The minority
acquiesced, and the Church was reorganized. But the effect of the procedure was not considered happy, by those best acquainted with the facts.
I append here the judgment on this question of one of the clearest and ablest of our New
England thinkers, recently called home - Rev. Worthington Smith, D D., late President of the
University of Vermont. He says:
"My own observation has convinced me that it is no easy matter to terminate a Church
corporation. However loosely organized, and, I might almost say, however corrupt, it has a
wonderful tenacity of life. It ought not to be attempted unless we are quite sure of success.
Let the Church edifice be disposed of and vacated, Church furniture sold, and the avails given
to the poor, and letters of recommendation voted, before the power shall pass out of the hands
of the Church.
"I am  not clear that it is proper to disband a Church that has not forfeited its claims to
visibility, except it is by the unanimous consent of its members. The word volunotry, as
applied to Church organization, has an equivocal, if not a malignant import, and should be
used in a guarded sense, or not used at all. The Church is as much the imperative state of a
Christian people as the state of laws and society is the imperative state of rational beings.
Church associations are of the nature of a contract, and they are understood to be permanent.
Rights are created by these associations, or at least recognized by them; and these rights are
to be respected, until at least they are voluntarily surrendered. If, without common consent,
a Church is disbanded, some are forced into other churches against their will, or they are left
by the wayside, deserted of those who engaged to watch over them, and to walk with them in
all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. I have no difficulty in regard to the union
of the churches, or the distribution of the members of one Church among many, provided it is
done with the concurrence of those interested.  I do not say that any one is obliged to remait
in a Church because it is reduced in numbers; for the liberty of transferring one's relations to
another Church is understood when he joins a Church; but I know of no liberty he has, on
leaving a Church, to pull down the house where others have found a refuge, and would still
seek one "-Memoir, by Rev. J. Torrey, D. D. lBoston, 1861. 12mo, pp. 868,) p. 70.
On the other side the reader is referred to the following opinion of Rev. Calvin Hitchcock,
D. D., wlio warmly urges:  "Church covenants have been revised and altered in numerous instances and since the
days of Jonathan Edwards, some scores of' half-way covenants' have been dissolved.  Was nou
this done by majorities? Was Edwards obliged to wait till every man in the Church would
agree to abolish a hatf-way covenant, before the thing could be done?.......  It belongs
to the very genius of Congregationalism to have the right to modify a covenant, because it
arose, and has lived, in opposition to an established religion.  If we may not modify a cove
nant, we have as truly an established religion as any in the world. Any obstruction which we
throw in the way of so doing, would be suicidal. If the next generation shall introduce un
233 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
SECTION 13.-The Restoration of  Offenders.
The intent and hope of Church discipline is always of reclama
tion.
We have already intimated that the lifting of the sentence of
suspension, or exclusion, from a censured member by vote of the
Church, consequent upon their acceptance of his manifested penitence with its accompanying works, will restore him to the possession
of all which he had forfeited. The thus restored excommunicant
does not need to "join the Church" as if de novo, because he has
always remained a member, though under censure.
The only question relevant to this heading which needs consideration here, is this: Suppose a minister who for any reason has been
deposed, to desire - and in the judgment of charity, to deserveto be restored; what steps are orderly to that end?
We have explained2 what we conceive to be the proper Congregational method for the deposition of an unworthy Pastor, as being by
the action of his Church in connection with the advice of an Ecclesiastical Council. If such a deposed minister, becoming penitent and
worthy, wishes to resume the Pastoral office, and any Church shall
judge it suitable that he should do so, and desire him for its Pastor,
it may proceed to call him to that office, as it would invite any unor
christian covenants, and some future Edwards shall be raised up to reform churches, shall we
hamper him with the rule that on such a subject, a majority shall not govern, and all the
stereotype heresy and petrified folly which a godless generation shall have thrust into Church
covenants, must stand till every member of the Church shall agree to their removal?.....
It is self-evident that any authority which can modify a covenant, can abolish it. The Apostle
appealed to our common sense when he declared that only such things as cannot be shaken
are the things that remain. I therefore enter my remonstrance against the proposed rule,
that no Church can be dissolved until every member consents." - Remonstrance. Review of
Howard Street Council, p. 140.
I add an extract in the same line of thought from another eminent living New England
Congregationalist- Rev. N. Bouton, D. D., of Concord, N.H.  He says: -
"1. There may be good and sufficient reasons why a particular local Church should be di
solved. 2. Of these reasons, a majority have the right to judge. 8. The minority have the
right to protest, and, if they wish it, to have the advice of Council, before the act, or, if
aggrieved by the act of the majority, have a right to appeal to a Council........ But to
claim that they are the identical Church which was disbanded by vote of the majority, in
accordance with the advice of a Council, seems to me preposterous. On that principle a single
member may claim to be "the Church" in opposition to the disbanding vote of ninety-nine,
and contrary also to the advice of a Council thereunto." - Review of Howard Street Council,
p. 102.
1 See page 192.               2                See page 206.
234 
HOW CONGREGATIONALISM WORKS.
dained man, and then call an Ecclesiastical Council to advise with
them.  That Council will naturally desire to be exceedingly thorough
in its inquiries, and should proceed only on the best evidence.1 But
if its members are satisfied that it is for the good of Christ's cause
that this once deposed Pastor should be set over this Church in the
Lord, they will so advise, and the subsequent co-action of Church and
Council in ordaining him as Pastor will, in effect, be his restoration
to the ministry.2
1 " A deposed minister is restored by becoming a pastor of a Church; and whoever is competent to install is also competent to remove a censure, at least to the extent to which its
authority is recognized; and the authority of no Ecclesiastical Council can extend beyond their
limits........An installing body ought to be satisfied with the qualifications and fitness
of the candidate; and, if they restore to office one who has been deposed, it must be on their
own responsibility, and for reasons that will commend themselves, first or last, to the religious
public, or they become liable to reproval themselves." Worthington Smith, D. D., Torrey's
Memoir, p. 76.
2 Rev. Thomas Cheever [son of the famous Master Ezekiel] was deposed from the pastorship
of the Congregational Church in Malden, Mass., May 20, 1686, by a Council, and, nearly thirty
years after, restored by a Council which ordained him first pastor of the new Church at
Rumney Marsh [Chelsea], Mass., October 19, 1715.
The case of the Rev. J. H. Fairchild is slightly exceptional. He was conditionally deposed
by a Council which met at Exeter, N. H., July 24, 1844; their language being, "unless he can
present a clearer vindication of himself before some tribunal more competent than ourselves
to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the utterance of all the truth; and till such act be
done; he ought not, and so far as our decision goes, does not, longer hold the place of a minister in the Church of Christ." When acquitted by the civil court of the infamous charge in
reference to which the Council had acted, Mr. Fairchild assumed that the deposing clause of
the Result of Council had expired by its own limitation, and thenceforth resumed his ministry. We think he was right in his judgment; which was, at the time, sustained by Drs.
French, Cogswell, Bouton, Richards, Woods, Burgess, Perry, Ely, Blanchard, Vaill, Cummings, and other eminent Congregationalists; and subsequently fully endorsed by the Council which installed him over the "Payson Church," in South Boston, November 19,1854.  See
Life of Rev. J. H. Fairchild, pp. 53-110.
235 
CHAPTER IV.
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER FORM
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
We hold that this Congregational system, which we have shown
to be founded both upon Scripture and common sense, is essentially
superior to any other form of Church government; in what it is,
and what it is fitted to be and to do in the world. We speak of its
natural tendencies and legitimate possibilities. We do not affim
that it has ever yet done itself full justice; nor that other forms of
Church life may not sometimes have seemed to earn preeminence
over it.  But we do insist that, taking the ages through, and fairly
considering the relation which it holds to the nature of individual
man, the tendencies of human society, the necessities of the world,
and the needs and aims of the cause of Christ, it is best, and can
justify its claim to be such.
We now proceed briefly to hint the grounds of that claim, in its
most important particulars.
SECTION 1.  It is more in accordance with the mind of  Christ
than any other.
We do not affirm that Christ will not aid his people in working
through any other system. He will do so; has always wrought
through all faithful men, however mistaken might be a portion of
their views; however inexpedient a moiety of their life. But He
prefers that which is best, and will most bless that which most
deserves his blessing. And three considerations indicate His preference for our simple polity.
(1) It is the New Testament Polity. We have seen very filly in the
preceding pages, that it is the only form of Church government which
can exactly respond to the few precepts on that subject which fell
(2) 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
from Christ's own lips;1 that it is the form which the  Apostles
impressed upon the early Church in the days of its purity;2 and
that it is the form which nearest answers to their epistolary
counsels.8 
(2) It is the Polity with which the Great IHead of the Church has
connected the most remarkable displays of his grace. The Reformation, though it did not at once consistently develop into Conregationalism, was yet founded upon our fundamental doctrine, and
derived its life from it,4 and modern revivals and modern missions,
where they have not been a direct outgrowth from our system, have
been indirect results of its essential principles. Furthermore it will,
if we mistake not, become clear to every reflecting mind that those
seasons of special activity and progress which, by the grace of God,
make occasional oases even in the dryest deserts of the history of the
Church, in old time, or new, have been characterized by the temporary
approach on the part of other systems to the methods and spirit of
our own.5
(3) It is the Polity that most favors that development of deep spirituality mingled with earnest personal activity, which alone can bring
on the Millennium. We merely for completeness name this here; it
will be the subject of discussion hereafter.
It is not arrogance, in view of these considerations, for us to claim
that Christ specially loves that system which he himself founded, and
which is inseparably interwoven with His Word, which he has already
peculiarly blessed, and which offers to him the most efficient aid in
His desire to see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.
SECTION 2. Congregationalism is more practicable in its working
than any other system.
If it be the duty of all who love Christ by the renewing of their
1 See pages 9, 34.       2 See page 13.        3 See pages 100 - 110.      4 See page 2.
5 The inherent propensities of every other form of Church government are, so to speak, centripetal - tending to throw life and power continually in from the membership, upon the
hierarchy in its high or low type, and so to develop weakness and dependence (and consequently a low spiritual life) in the individual. The inherent impulse of Congregationalism is,
so to speak, centrifugal, throwing out life and power into the individuals, and making its membership feel that the great work of Christ rests on them as individuals, and not on "the
Church."  But the periods of greatest progress of the cause of God on earth, have always been
when the many have had a mind to work, and when, therefore, the centrifugal, Congregational
has, for the time being, overcome the centripetal, hierarchal, tendency.
237 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
mind, in every place, to come out from the world and be separate,
and confess Him before men, not forsaking the assembling of themselves together; it becomes a matter of importance that due facilities for entering upon Church relations should be everywhere within
reach of the redeemed. If also the Church is the pillar and ground
of God's truth, the salt by which the putrescent moral tendencies of
men are to be counteracted, and the light wherewith the world is to
be lighted; the great reformning, regenerating agency by whose activity - divinely furthered and cherished - it is eventually to be
brought about that God's will shall be done in earth as it is in
heaven; it becomes a matter of moment that her influence should
be as easily as possible made operative in every community   And
as ages must necessarily pass during which the advancing wave
of population is rolling on, before it shall touch every habitable
place, so that emigrant peoples will habitually bear an important
percentage to the sum total of the race; which emigrant peoples
will, on the one hand, specially need, and, on the other hand, be
under special disadvantages for receiving, the influence and blessing of the Church; the element of practicableness becomes an important one in weighing the claims of competing forms of Church
life; and, other things being equal, that form of Church order which
can be easiest reached and handled by a new and remote community-which is most practicable in all communities- must be
best.
This superior practicableness is obviously a peculiarity of our
system.
(1) It is so in the formation of churches. - Wherever any company of persons may be, who are faithful believers in the Gospel,
and who desire to bless themselves and serve Christ in and through
a Church organization, they may do so in a Congregational form,
without any perplexity or delay. They do not need to geographize
and journey, to discover some well authenticated aqueduct, bringing
the stream of Ecclesiastical life down from the hoary past, to which
they must attach themselves, or else be dry; they may dig down anywhere in the sand, with the certainty of finding living water. Suppose they are grouped upon some far Pacific slope, hundreds of miles
from any Church, of any name, with communication almost interdicted by the distance and peril of the way; if they are to become
238 
WHi  CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
Papal, Patriarchal, Episcopalian,1 Methodist,2 or Presbyterian" in
their spirit and form of Church organization, they must wait and
work until they can put themselves into communication with the rest
of the world, so as to get hold of the arm of that particular hierarchy which they prefer, and procure its extension to their remote
locality, with all due conditions and ceremonies, for such cases made
and provided. All this involves delay, trouble, expense; often disappointment and dispersion.  Moreover,  in its very nature, this
necessity of going so far for, and making so much of, mere forms,
must tend to magnify forms unduly, and turn their thoughts away
from the simplicity of Christ. Still further they are, even when
formed, abnormal and incomplete; lacking the aid, for the perfect
doing of all their work, of the distant Pope, Bishop, or Presbytery.
But if they wish to become a Congregational Church, they can
become such, there by themselves, in a single hour - by solemn vote
affiliating for that purpose, and adopting our simple creed -just as
those North of England worthies, hunted by the hounds of the
Establishment, took refuge in Scrooby, and there, in the very manorhouse of the Archbishop of York, in 1606, formed -without any
external help- that Church which, going first to Holland, colonized
afterward on the rock of Plymouth. Such a Church, on our principles, is just as perfect in its order, as it could be if all the other
churches in the world had helped to make it. It is just as near to
Christ, as, and it may be a little nearer than, any other-as the babe
lies closer to its mother's breast than the older children. He is just
as really its Head, and it is just as truly the channel of his power
and grace, as the grandest metropolitan Church can be. And there,
1 On the Episcoplian theory - as in the Papal and Greek - nothing can securely be done in
the direction of a Church, except by the agency of a regular priest acting under Episcopal
orders, and nobody can be received into the Church by confirmation, but by the hands of the
Bishop himself. Humphrey's History of the Propagation Society, (p. 11), shows that the first
Episcopalian Church in this country was " upon an application made to the Bishop of London,
from several of the inhabitants of Boston, in New England, petitioning that a Church should
be allowed in that town," and " a Church was allowed."
2 A Methodist "Society" has the same relation in its origin to an "itinerant," that an
Episcopal Church has to a priest.
3 The Presbyterian rule is, "for the organization of a Church, application should be made
to the Presbytery, where the circumstances permit it. If this be not convenient on account
of distance, any ordained minister is competent to form such an organization. Application
must then be made at the earliest practicable moment, to be received into connection with the
Presbytery within whose bounds the Church naturally lies." Handbook of pares. Church,
p 83.
233 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
in its outward feebleness, and in that remoteness, its voice is just as
imperative as that of the oldest and numerically strongest body of
congenial faith on earth; because Christ says, that "where two or
or three are," there he will be, and because the comforting and controlling Spirit can dwell in a little Church just as well as in a large
one.  And so there it stands -  home-made and yet well made - as
true a Church as the Great Head anywhere surveys. There it can
advance from strength to strength, burdened with no extraneous connections or responsibilities; going to the Bible with humble prayer,
and not to General Conference, Convention, or Assembly, to find out
what shall be its creed, and what its life. So soon as the growth of
a community around it shall evoke the element of the fellowship of
the saints, it will affiliate with other Congregational churches as any
shall grow up within its neighborhood; and then its entire completeness of relation, without as well as within, will be secured.
There is another feature of the superior practicableness of the
Congregational system in the formation of new churches, which was
illustrated in the early days of Christianity, and which is now particularly commended to our attention by the present and prospective
condition of our own country. It consists in its freedom from all
embarrassment in regard to form, where questions of form would be
embarrassing; and in its freedom from all entangling alliances and
inconvenient precedents, and awkward responsibilities, growing out
of the relations of a rigid and wide spread organism to the past. If
our Saviour had instituted a technical Church system, having a necessary embodiment in certain usages, and by certain officers, and
through certain far reaching relations- a centralized administration
with executive branches - its progress would have excited hostility
at every step, for it could have taken no step without colliding with
existing organizations, social, Ecclesiastical, civil. But a development of Christianity which presented a faith to be believed rather
than a formn to be adopted, could glide in between all barriers,
and establish itself noiselessly as an imperium in imperio everywhere; subsequently embodying its recipients according to local convenience, and perfecting their Church character and relation - and
so their thorough organic union to the Great Head - without the
need of conspicuous and obnoxious publicity, and premature positive
conflict with the things that were.
240 
WHYT CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
This flexibility of form, which did such service in the beginning,
and has, in our day, so much aided our missionaries in despotic
empires, admirably meets, also, the conditions of the newly forming
society at the South. Facts are proving that throughout those por tions of the rebellious territory which have been recovered by the
National Power, and which are beginning to crystallize into civilized society once more, there is a wide spread and bitter prejudice
against those old Church organisms which had so much to do in precipitating the reckless and luckless South into the gulf of secession
and of suicide. The great territorial Ecclesiastical organizations of
the Cotton States were so corrupted by slavery, their deliverances
on that subject were so bitter, and their present condition is so unsatisfactory,' that they are repudiated and loathed by multitudes who
now prefer to connect themselves with a polity which is not merely
historically purer in that regard, but whose organic nature makes it
impossible that, in any future event, its churches can be made responsible for the sins of some backsliding branch of the same great
whole elsewhere. [See Appendix C.]
Moreover it is now easy to establish Congregational churches in
the South, because no question is inevitably raised at the outsetreaching back to the former days and touching the raw spot - as to
what Presbytery, Conference, or Bishop, now has jurisdiction, and
must be propitiated in order to the "regularity" of the act.  Bygones are left to be bygones, and out of the old ashes rises a new
organism independent of the past, by the simple confederation of
kindred believers; whose sufficiency being of God is sufficient unto
itself (under Christ) with no thanks due- to any hierarchy.
(2) It is the most practicable system in the matter of the pastorate.
-A Congregational Church freely elects from its own membership,
1 Witness the following testimony from an intelligent Southern observer: -  The apostacy
of the Southern churches has been the main strength of the rebellion, stronger even than
their eannon, for without such professedly moral sanction, they could scarcely have brought
the machinery of war into existence, much less into use. Ecclesiastical systems that for a
long time have been drifting from the old paths, and have finally been perverted to the purpose of overthrowing our government, and establishing slavery, will be slow to return to pure
Gospel principles.  This is especially true of denominations the genius of whose ecclesiastical
polity forbids independent local church action. A local Church bound by the ecclesiastical
chain of a great denomination, cannot adjust itself to the present state of things, or take
thorough Gospel ground, without being denounced as radical and disorderly, by the body to
which it is amenable. The denomination must therefore be converted, before the local
churches can safely move in view of their systems." - Congregationalist, Feb. 24, 1865.
16
241 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
or invites to that membership and then elevates to its pastorship,
whatsoever fit person it pleases. It makes such arrangements with
him in regard to the matter, as it thinks will be most agreeable to
Christ, its great invisible Head, -taking fraternal counsel in the
matter from its sister churches, whenever possible.
But the local assemblies of the Papal, Patriarchal, English and
Methodist Episcopal churches have no such liberty or power, and
scarcely the semblance of it. They must take the person whom the
Bishop, or other constituted authority may send; like him or dislike
him as they may,' and they must wait for him until he is sent. The
American Episcopalian and Presbyterian hierarchies allow their local
bodies more seeming freedom in this matter, yet retain it essentially
in their own control. The Church Wardens of an Episcopalian parish
nominate a candidate for its rectorship to its Bishop- who confirms
or rejects that nomination at his pleasure.2  So a Presbyterian
Church - under the direction of its Session of Elders, and by "the
presence and counsel of some neighboring minister," by commissioners nominates its candidate for the pastoral office to the Presbytery under whose immediate care the candidate may happen to be.
If the nominee is unordained, that Presbytery present the call to him,
or not, as they please, in view of their judgment of all the circumstances. If the nominee is a pastor already, the Presbytery, upon
the whole view of the case, either continue him in his former charge,
or translate him, or refer the whole affair to the Synod, as they deem
to be most for the peace and edification of the Church.'
But it is not alone in its superior ability to secure the filling of
its vacant pastorates that our system has practical advantage over
others; it has no less preeminence in its method of putting its pas
1 This needs no proof with regard to the Romish, Greek, and English churches. The Methodist Book of Discipline (Part I., Chas. IV., Sect. 1, Quest. 3, Ans. 3, and Sect. 2, Quest. 4,
Ans. 3,) decrees the appointment of preachers to the hands of the Bishop, and temporarily, in
his absence to the Presiding Elder; the congregation having no duty in the matter, but that
of submission; for which Dr. Stevens argues as being better than the Congregational system
because (1) if left to the societies, the largest societies would choose the most popular men, so
that ministerial gifts would not be "distributed;" (2) the less able preachers would be starved
out; (3) many societies would choose the same men; (4) it would be fatal to the itinerancy. -
[say on Church Polity, p. 156 ]
2 " If the Bishop [or Standing Committee, where there is temporarily no Bishop] be not
satisfied, he shall proceed to inquire into the sufficiency of the person so chosen, &c., &c~, and
shall confirm or reject the appointment, as the issue of that inquiry may be."-[ Canon, xxx.,
&.%ct. 2.]
8 Book of Pres. Church, U. S. A., Chaps. xv., and xvi.
242 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
tors officially in place. As we have already seen,1 the Congregational conception of ordination (called installation, if repeated in
the case of the same individual,) is, that it is the solemn ceremonial
act by which a Church places its official head (under Christ) over
itself, and therefore that while the counsel of other churches in the
matter is desirable and always to be had, and followed, when possible, yet, in all exigencies, the right of ordination is in the hands of
the body itself; so that no Church need be hindered and endangered
by waiting for external aid, or authority, for that purpose. The
Church in Salem ordained its Pastor and Teacher in the month following its disembarking on these shores.2 The first Church in Boston followed the example, on the 27th August, 1630; the Church
having been formed on the 30th July previous.8 The first Church
in Charlestown ordained Rev. Thomas James as its Pastor, on the
day of its own formation, 2d Nov. 1632.4 And so in the case of
many other of our early churches.
Necessarily, the case is different with all whose theory of ordination involves certain fixed relations to the past, and to preexisting
organisms. The Episcopalians were greatly troubled, for years, to
get ordained ministers for their beginnings here; notwithstanding
the important aid received by them from the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." 5  The Bishop of London
1 See pages 136-145.
2 Prince's Annals, sub June 24, and July 20, 1629.
8 lbid, sub 30 July and 27 Aug., 1630; and Emerson's First Church in Boston, p. 11.
4 Budington's First Chtrch in Charlestown, p. 21
5 See Humphrey's History Prop. Soc., pp. 24 - 31, for details of some of these troubles.
Bishop Meade says, " immense were the difficulties of getting a full supply of ministers of any
character; and of those who'ecame, how few were faithful and duly qualified for the station! "
[Old Churches, Ministers, and F'amilies of Virginia, i: 14.] The Churchwardens of St. John's
Church, Elizabethtown, N. J., wrote to the Propagation Society, 26 Dec. 1747, mournfully
complaining,-"  the Dissenters can with great ease be supplyed with a Teacher; but alas!
our infelicity is such that we must have recourse to a distant aid." Two years later, 25 Dee.
1749, they write, we " have but a melancholy prospect before us, and can foresee nothing but
ruin of our Church. We have already been deprived for about two years of the ordinances of
our holy Church, unless occasionally administered by the neighboring clergy, as it could consist with their duty to their respective Parishes." And the next year they say further
(29 May, 1750) " as long as the Dissenters in this town have five ministers settled, constantly
to officiate, in publick, to visit them in private, ready to serve on any particular occasion, and,
in a word, that are always with and among them, and we can have none with us but once in
three weeks or a month, who resides at the same time at 20 miles distant, with a ferry between
him and us, which makes our dependence upon him at any particular time more uncertain, as
long as this is the case, without a prospect of being better provided for, the difference is so
great in their favor that most of our people might be persuaded to think it their duty, in that
243 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
at first sent over ordained clergymen," but subsequently candidates
for orders were raised up here and forwarded to the old country for
consecration, though with indifferent success.2  The question even
arose of sending to Denmark for help.8 At last an attempt was made
to procure the right of ordination on this side the sea, and in 1783,
Samuel Seabury having been elected Bishop by the Episcopalian
clergy of Connecticut, went to London to receive consecration from
the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury. But, after months of
condition to join with the Dissenters." [Clark's Hist. St. John's Church, pp. 58, 61, 67.] The
Virginia "Grand Assembly" passed an act, 17 Feb. 1644 - 5, do:,igned to relieve the difficulties
felt in that colony, growing out of their inability to procure ministers properly consecrated,
" that where it soe falls out that any minister have induction into two or more cures farr dis tant one from another, whereby one cure must necessarily be neglected, it shall be lawful for
the parishioners of such a cure to make vse of any other minister as a lecturer to baptise or
preach," &c., &c.  [ilening's Statutes of Virginia, 1619-1792, i: 289.]
1 Humphrey's History, p. 11; Anderson's History Col. Church, i. 261, 410; Ststh's Virginia,
p. 173.
2 " The exact number of those that have gone home for ordination, from these Northern
Colonies is fifty-two. Of these, forty-two have returned safely, and ten have miscarried; the
voyage or sickness occasioned by it, having proved fatal to near a fifth part of them." " Two
perished in one ship upon the coast of New Jersey, almost in sight of their port." " In several
instances our candidates have been carried into captivity - thrown into noisome prisons in an
enemy's country - and there languished for many months under the most hideous forms of
distress and wretchedness." "1 The members of the Church of England at Hebron, in Connec'icut, exerted themselves for near twenty years, and were at great expense in sending home
four candidates successively, before they had the satisfaction of enjoying a resident missionary.
They first sent home Mr. Dean, in 1745, who was admitted to Holy Orders, and appointed by
the Society [Propagation] their missionary for Hebron; but in returning to his mission, and to
a wife and several small children who depended upon him for their daily support, he is supposed to have perished at sea, neither the ship nor any person on board having ever been
heard from. The next was Mr. Colton; who in 1752, died on his passage from London to New
England, and was buried in the ocean. The third candidate sent home by this unfortunate
people was Mr. Usher; who, on his way to England, in 1757, was taken by the French, thrown
into prison, and at last died in the Castle of Bayonne. The fourth was Mr. Peters; who, in
1759, not long after his arrival in England, was taken with the small-pox, from which he had
the good fortune to recover, - and at length, to the great joy of the people, he arrived at
Hebron, where he is at present the Society's worthy missionary."- [ The Appeal defended; or
the pr,,posed Asmerican Episcopate vindicated, he., 4c., by Thomas  Bradbury  Clhazd'er, D. D.
New York, 1679. 8vo. pp. 268- pp. 120, 12l, 127.]  Another difficulty, Dr. Chandler frankly
confesses. He says, " a very glaring disadvantage to which the Church in America is manifestly subject, arises from the impossibility that a Bishop residing in England, should be sufficiently acquainted with the characters of those who go home from this country for holy orders.
To this it is owing, that ordination has been sometimes fraudulently and surreptitiously obtained by such wretches, as are not only a scandal to the Church, but a disgrace to human
nature." [A.ppeal, 8c., p. 36. Appeal defended, 8sc., p. 131. See also Clark's History of St.
John's Church.]
a The Theological Faculty of Denmark were consulted, and Count de Rosencrone communicated their favorable reply to the American Minister at St. James, from whom it was sent to Con.
gress, and through them to the States. But no steps were taken further in that direction.
[See Life and ]Vorke of John Adams, viii: 198. Also Memoirs of Bishop White, pp. 9, 10; and
Hawks, i: 182.]
244 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
casulstic delay, his application was refused. He then applied to the
non-juring Bishops of Scotland, who gladly made him as much of a
Bishop as they could, and he returned home "with authority." 1
But as everything- on the Episcopal theory- hangs on an unmistakable connection with the Apostolical succession (Pope Joan included), and as there were doubts whether this irregularity might
not vitiate the grace of the whole American Church,2 Rev. Samuel
Provoost of New York, and Rev. William White, of Philadelphia,
were sent to England, and, after special act of Parliament, consecrated at Lambeth, 4th Feb. 1787, by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Bath and Wells, and
Peterborough, assisting.3
Thus it was more than a century and a half after the country was
settled, and had Episcopalian residents, before those difficulties in the
way of the ordination of Episcopal clergymen here which were inseparable from their system,4 could be removed.
The Presbyterian Church here, had no existence which enabled it
to ordain regularly its candidates for the pulpit, until the formation
of a Presbytery in 1705, or 1706.5
It was eighteen years, also, after Philip Embury gathered the first
1 Hollister's History of Connecticut, vol ii., pp. 548-50.
2 The celebrated Granville Sharp doubted the sufficiency of the Scotch ordinations, and interested himself to dissatisfy American Episcopalians with them, to Bishop Seabury's disadvantage; making President Manning, of Brown University, his correspondent. Sharp had in his
possession documents belonging to his ancestor, an Archbishop of York, throwing doubt upon
the regularity and validity of the Scotch Episcopate; on the strength of which he labored
through Manning with Provoost of New York. The thing resulted in Provoo3t and White's
receiving English consecration. The same qestion of purity now lies, however, at the door of
every Episcopal ordination in this country since 1792, for when Bishop Claggett of Maryland
was consecrated, in that year, Seabury shared with the other Bishops in the ceremonial; so
that, to use the words of Dr. Hawks, [Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of the United
States, vol. ii: 312,] " not a Bishop has been consecrated since Bishop Claggett, who must not,
to make his consecration canonical, claim the succession, in part at least, through the Scottish
Episcopate." The most unkindest cut of all is, that this Scotch dilution was thus brought
about by the Maryland Church with malice aforethought; expressly "to prevent thereafter
forever, the possibility of a question arising in the American Episcopal Church, on the relative
validity of the English and Scotch Episcopate."  [Ibid., p. 311.  For interesting facts with
reference to this subject, read Bishop Seabury and Bishop Provoost, by the Rev. W. S. Perry,
8vo. pp. 20, 1862, and Bishop Seabury and the " Episcopal Recorder,"- a vindication. 8vo.,
pp. 48,1863, by the same.  Consult also Guild's Life of Manning, p. 358; Dr. Hawk, vol. i.,
chap. 10; and Anderson's History of the Colonial Church, iii: 284.]
s Anderson's History of the Colonial Church, iii: 285.
4 " For about two hundred years did the Episcopal Church of Virginia try the experiment of
a system whose constitution required such a head [a Bishop] but was actually without it."
[Bishop Meade's Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia, i: 15.]
5 Glllett's Rit. Pres. Church in U. S. A.. i: 18.
.l'.
245 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
Methodist assembly in the city of New York, before, in 1784, Methodism was formally organized here under Mr. Wesley's direction, so
that its movements became regular; although in its irregularity it
had accumulated 15,000 members, and 83 preachers.1 So great was
the annoyance experienced from this delay, that some of the preachers sought to remedy it by the Congregational ordination of each
other;2 but Mr. Asbury finally succeeded, after indefatigable toil,
in bringing back these seceders one by one, in procuring the conferences to pronounce these ordinations invalid, and in so reducing
things to "order;" being obliged, however, in doing so, to procure
some of the few Episcopalian clergy to travel over large circuits,3
for the purpose of canonically baptizing the children of the Methodists, and administering to them the eucharist.4
It is in place to add here, that the Congregational system has a practicableness in the matter of the pastorate, superior to those which oppose it, not merely in procuring and ordaining, but also-when painfully necessary - in deposing its incumbent. As we have shown,6
every Congregational Church whose pastor becomes unworthy, through
false doctrine or evil life, both may, and ought to, call him to immediate account. If fair investigation of the case compels the conclusion
that he has made himself unfit to be continued in his place, it should
so far regard the fellowship of the churches as to call a Council, to
whose advice the question of their duty should be submitted; after
which, no prevalent reason urging a contrary course, it is both their
right and duty to depose him from his ministry over them, and cut
him off from his membership with them. This is short and simple,
yet fair to all parties, and sufficient to all results. Such an offending pastor, as a churchmember, is tried by his peers in the Church;
and, as a minister, is tried - to all intents and purposes- by his
ministerial peers in Council - so that he has no ground of just
complaint. And if it be suggested that he is exposed to the force
of local prejudice, in such a local court, it is fair to urge in reply that
he also receives the full benefit of all local attachment of friends
1 Stevens's Memorials of Methodism, p. 35.
2 Hawks's Contributions, ic., i: 148; Tarratt's Life, p. 111.
8 Coke and More's Ltfe of IVesley, p. 351; Jarratt's Life, 114.
4 See rerris's Original Settlements on the Delaware, p. 147, for some details of the difficulty
experienced by the early Swedish settlements in this country, in securing a clergy deemed
competent by themselves; sending in vain first to Sweden, and then (1691) to Amsterdam.
See p. 205.
,..*:;'....:
.
246 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
and neighbors, and if he cannot justify himself there, with their aid,
it must be because he is essentially unjust. It is obvious also that
there is much less exposure to circumstantial impediments thrown in
the way to postpone or defeat the ends of justice, in this simple system than in any other.
In the Episcopalian Church, deprivation of the clerical office is
effected by the sentence of a court, presided over by the Bishop of
the Diocese, and if the offender be a Bishop, by trial before a court
of Bishops. This brings in the elements of distance, postponement,
and uncertainty. The Episcopal Church in Virginia, suffered for
nearly two centuries with "unworthy and hireling clergy," whose
"irregularities and vices, there was no Ecclesiastical discipline to
correct or punish." 1 And in our own day, that Church in this land
has borne the disgrace of being practically unable to secure the deposition of Bishops2 whose absence from that high office, in the
general judgment of the Christian community, would have both honored and purified it.
In the Methodist Church, a Bishop is amenable only to the General Conference; though he may be suspended until the time of its
meeting by a special court of Presiding and Travelling Elders. An
Elder is tried before a court of Travelling Elders, who suspend him,
if they think fit, until the next Annual Conference; which fully considers and determines his case; an appeal always lying from the
decision of the Annual, to that of the General Conference.3
In the Presbyterian Church, process against a minister must be
initiated before the Presbytery to which he belongs; the prosecutor
being previously warned that if he fails to prove his charges, he himself will come under censure as a slanderer. If condemned, the
accused has the right of appeal to the Synod, and thence to the
General Assembly. Months and years may thus pass, before the last
appeal is reached; which, when it is reached, may be under circumstances most unfortunate, by reason of delay, distance, the absence
of witnesses, &c., for the ends of justice.4
1 Bishop Meade's Old Churches, 8c., i: 15.
2 See the Proceedings of the Court for the trial of Rt. Rev. B. T. Onderdonk, D. D., pp. 333.
New York, 1845; also the trial of Bishop Doane, as given in his Life and Writings, i: 468 - 511,
The latter gloried in doing what he could to " MARE THE TRIAL OF A BISHOP HARD," on
principle, and for " the safety of the Episcopal order."-Ibid. p. 505.
8 Book of Discipline, Part I., Chap. 10.
4 See the case of Rev. George Bourne, who was deposed, 27 Dec. 1815, by the Lexington
247 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
(3.) Congregationalism is more practicable than any other form
of Church government in its methods of worship.
It is so in that it has no forms which are essential to its good
order and well being; but flexibly adapts itself to any just taste, and
every providential need.1 Its worship can be lawfully and acceptably rendered, by chant or song; through an exact and complete
liturgy,2 or in the freest extempore utterance; by a robed officiator,
or by one in the layest of all lay attire; under a
"High-embowed roof,
With antick pillars massy proof,
And storied windows richly dight,
Casting a dim religious light;"
or in the rudest and barest of all conventicle halls. It has absolutely but two forms which approximate toward fixedness, and these
are only so far fixed as that, by common consent of propriety and
duty, its ministry almost invariably use that formula for baptism,
Presbytery, and whose case was not finally settled, on its ultimate appeal to the General Assembly, until the session of 1818; and, on his request to be restored, was in 1824, sent down to the
Presbytery of New York, with instructions to " continue the sentence of deposition or restore
him, as they may judge proper." [Assembly's Digest, ed. 1858, pp. 165-167.] See also the
cases of Rev. Samuel Harker, deposed in 1763, after having been in process of trial during five
years, [Digest, pp. 624 - t627]; Rev. Hezekiah Balch, who was suspended in 1798 [Direst,
pp. 629-631]; Rev. William C. Davis, suspended and deposed, Oct. 1811, after having been
on trial four years [Digest, pp. 646 - 649];  and Rev. Thomas B. Craighead, suspended by the
Synod of Kentucky in 1809, and finally conditionally restored on the decision of the Assembly
in 1824; his offence having been committed in and before 1806, and he dying, after eighteen
years of delay, before the next General Assembly could get a return from the Presbytery of
West Tennessee, to whom it had sent down his case.-[Digest, pp. 649 - 655.]
1 It is sometimes amusing, to those who are irreverent enough to allow themselves to be
amused by it, to see the shifts to which some of the sects are put to save their homage to
forms. The first holding of an Episcopalian service in a strange locality, involves an amount
of solicitude on the part of the partially initiated as to the finding and keeping of their place
in the Prayer Book, which is perilous both to gravity and devotion. While the official- not
to say heartless - resort to the form of prayer for such cases made and provided. often robs
the visit of such a clergyman to the sick room, of all its tender comfort.
2 Some Congregational churches prefer a liturgy. That in use by the Church under the
pastorate of Newman Hall, worshipping in Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars' Road, London, which
was originally prepared by Rowland Hill, is an admirable specimen of what such a liturgy
may be. It is largely indebted to that of the Church of England, yet briefer, more simple,
more humanly touching, and leaving a large margin for the minister's extemporaneous words.
[See Rev. W. L. Gage, in the Congregationalist for Feb. 10, 1865.]  The Leyden Church in
Boston printed, in 1846, a manual for their own use, which partook largely of the liturgical
element. The "Church of the Pilgrims " in Brooklyn, N.Y., have lately sanctioned a moderate
infusion of the same element in their Sabbath service. There is nothing to hinder any Congregational Church which desires to do so, from worshipping God with the aid of the full Episco
palian service, or with that of the Presbyterian, or German Reformed churches, or with any
form which it may itself desire. No other Church has absolute freedom in this matter, like it.
248 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
which is suggested by Christ's parting words,1 and that method in
the administration of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper which follows most naturally the record of the three Gospels,2 and of Paul.8
All else is perfectly free to follow the choice of the local assembly,
the convenience of the hour, the suggestion of the genius loci, the
general judgment of what, on the whole, is best. This combines at
once the maximum of practicableness with the minimum of inconvenience.
It is not so tied down to any prescribed ritual growing out of that
order of fasts, festivals, and commemoration days, which the Church
of the past in its corrupt days established, that it cannot accept and
honor any new thought which Providence flashes upon the public
mind athwart that order.4  Nor are its ministers obliged to wait to
hear from a "Bishop," before they can offer prayer suitable to a
sudden exigence.5
(4.) Congregationalism is more practicable than any other form
of Church government in all Church work.
The proper work of a Church of Christ respects the admission
1 Matt. xxviii: 19.
2 Matt. xxvi: 26-29; Mark xiv: 22-25; Luke xxii: 19, 20.
1 Cor. xi: 23- 26.
4 The death of President Lincoln threw the nation into mourning on the Saturday before
Easter Sunday for 1865; so that those churches which are bound in the fetters of the " Ecclesiastical Year," were, in a manner, constrained to enter upon the most jubilant services of the
whole twelvemonth, while all others were weeping and mourning in their draped and darkened
sanctuaries under the dreadful pressure of the most sudden and poignant grief.
6 On the Saturday of the President's death, some of the Bishops of the Episcopal Church,
it is said, issued a form of prayer to be used in all the churches in their dioceses on the next day,
with reference to that event; but as it must have been well-nigh a physical impossibility for
that form to have seasonably reached their most remote parishes, some of their rectors must
have been embarrassed.  A curious instance of the infelicity of these rigid rules occured lately
in Richmond, Va., since its occupation by the National troops. " General Order, No. 29," enjoined that" in all churches where prayers have heretofore been offered for the so-called President
of the Confederate States, a similar mark of respect is hereby ordered to be paid to the President of the United States." The rules of the Episcopal Church prescribe that while omnissions
may be made in its prescribed prayers, no portion of them shall be changed, except by authority from the Bishop of the Diocese.  The prayers heretofore used included the words "Confederate States," and though the Richmond clergymen were at liberty, and were willing, to omit
the objectionable words, they had no authority to substitute therefor the words " United
States," and Bishop Johns being in IIalifax, no authorization from him could be obtained. In
this dilemma, the Episcopal clergymen waited upon General Ord, and stated the case. He
blandly replied, that the explanation was quite satisfactory, but the churches must be closed;
they were in duty bound to obey their Ecclesiastical, and he his military, superiors.- Richmond Whig, 17 April, 1865.
249 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
and care of its membership, the Christian culture of that membership, and through them the evangelization of the world around it.
The New Testament throws upon the individual members of the
Church, as we have seen,' the responsibility of keeping the body
pure from all who walk disorderly; which necessarily involves the
duty on their part both of scrutiny over the admission, and watchfulness over the life, of one another. This duty Congregationalism
makes practicable in the simplest and directest form, by committing
the admission and discipline of all, to the scrutiny and vote of all.
On the other hand, the Episcopal Church admits its members only
by act of the Bishop on the certificate of the Rector;2 the Methodist
Church, by the Elder in charge of the circuit, on recommendation
of a class leader; 3 and the Presbyterian Church, by vote of its Session - of the Pastor and Ruling Elders; 4 the membership, in such
case, having no direct voice, and so no opportunity to discharge
I See pp. 28, and 189-195.
2 It will be noted that hopeful piety is not hinted at as a requisite for admission to the Episcopal Church, the rubric being; "so soon as children are come to a competent age, and can
say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and can answer the other
questions of the short catechism, they shall be brought to the Bishop, and whensoever the
Bishop shall give knowledge for children to be brought unto him for their confirmation, the
minister of every Parish shall either bring, or send in writing, with his hand subscribed thereunto, the names of all such persons within his Parish, as he shall think fit to be presented to
the Bishop to be confirmed." - Prayer Book; Rubric for Confirmation.
8 The Methodist requisite for Church-membership is simply "a desire to flee from the wrath
to come, and to be saved from their sins," -such persons are received, as above. See Book,
Part I., Chap. II., Sect. 2. The Richmond, Va., Relitgious Herald, of 15 Feb., 1865, stated
-that the subject of "unconverted Church-membership" was exciting attention among Methodists in North Carolina, and added, " Their Annual Conference for that State, adopted at its
last session, a resolution expressing the opinion, that' unconverted persons are not entitled to
membership in the Methodist Protestant Church.' The Quarterly Conference of the Catawba
Circuit decided to regard that resolution' as not binding,' because it' comes in contact with
the second article of the Constitution.'"
4 The theory of the Presbyterian Church is open to the same objection, of looseness in the
admission of members without requiring evidence of regeneration as an indispensable condition; though its practice is believed to be better than its theory in this particular. Their
canon is, "children, born within the pale of the visible Church, and dedicated to God in baptism, are under the inspection and government of the Church; and are to be taught to read
and repeat the catechism, the Apostle's creed, and the Lord's prayer. They are to be taught
to pray, to abhor sin, to fear God, and to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. - And, when they come
to years of discretion, if they be free from scandal, appear sober and steady, and to hate sufficient knowledge to discern the Lord's body, they ought to b; informed it is their duty and privilege to cornm to the Lord's supper. The years of discretion, in young Christians, cannot be precisely fixed.  This must be left to the prudence of the Eldership.  The officers of the Church
are the judges of the qualifications of those to be admitted to sealing ordinances, &c., &o." —
Directory for Worship, Chap. ix., Sects. 1, 2.
250 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
themselves of their responsibility in regard to the increase of their
number.
So in the matter of keeping the Church pure, in all other churches
the trial of offences is removed from the people into the hands of the
hierarchy; where, if a disagreement occurs, the case is liable to pass
on and up until months, and very likely years, may pass before it
reaches ultimate decision at the hands of the highest authority -
Pope, Patriarch, King, General Convocation, Assembly, or Conference, as the case may be. As we propose, however, to refer to this
point more at large again, we do not dwell upon it here.'
In the Christian culture of its membership, Congregationalism has
superior practicability in the fact, that by its very nature it makes
continual appeal to the conscience, the judgment, and the volition
and activity of all its constituent individuals; while personal growth
in grace requires such continual appeal. In virtue of its fundamental principle, which makes every individual assume, under Christ,
his own share of the direct responsibility of the success or failure of
the Gospel; its natural effect is to make its members considerate,
prayerful, earnest - never allowing them to throw off the blame of
failure, or disaster, upon the hierarchy, or "the Church."  Its tendency is to bring each of its members into direct contact with all
practical duty, and to crowd home continually upon every conscience
the fact that Christ expects every one to glorify God in body and
spirit, which are His, and to do it in meat and drink and all things
-a tendency obviously of the highest value in promoting eminent
piety and earnest spirituality.
We would be very far from asserting that other families of believers do not appreciate the importance of entire consecration to
God, and do not realize eminent attainments in holiness. What we
claim, is that in doing so, they are obliged to work against some of
the centripetal and narcotic tendencies of their polities, while we
work thus in directest harmony with the individualizing and stimulating qualities of our own.
But this, and the special practicableness of Congregationalism for
furthering the work of the Church upon the world, we propose to
develop more fully hereafter.2
1 See pp. 260,  288.
251
2 S" P. 273. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
SECTION 3. Congregationalism is better than any other form of
Church government, because it tends more to promote general intelligence.
Its first principles throw it upon the sympathy and respect of the
masses, and claim for it their love and support; and in gaining their
love and support it works them into its service; and its service is a
service of thought, and so of intellectual quickening. The Church,
Congregationally administered, calls upon every one of its members,
even the humblest, to take a part with every other, in deciding its
great questions of faith and duty. It accustoms, therefore, all its
members to think, and compare, and choose, and act, under the most
inspiring and impressive sanctions. The humblest member of a
Congregational Church may, at any time, be called upon to discuss
- and perhaps, by his individual vote, to settle- a question, in its
temporal and eternal reachings and interests, infinitely graver than
any on which our Senators and Representatives are accustomed to
vote at Washington. No member can be received, none dismissed,
none disciplined, without the question being put to each member of
the fraternity: What is right concerning this; what ought to be
done; what disposal of it will most please Christ? Thus the habit
of acting under responsibility, and with intelligence, is nurtured in
the community, and the general mind is quickened, and independent
thought and action promoted. Each man is treated as if he were a
man, full grown, and as if Christ had a work for him to do; and as
if all his choices and labors were of everlasting account, and he must,
therefore, concentrate his whole mind upon the service. That intellectual labor which is done for the membership of the hierarchal
churches by their constituted officials,1 in the way of settling great
principles of doctrine and great questions of policy, Congregationalism compels her membership- either in the work of origination, or
the question of final concurrence - to do for themselves;2 and so,
1 When the man sinks under the polity, he loses somewhat of his impulse to form his own
opinions; and is sometimes persuaded to abnegate the right of private judgment."-Prof.
Park's Fitness,fthe Church to the Constitution of Renewed Men, p. 47.
2 "A poor man in an established Church is nothing but a poor man; but with the Dissenters, he is at the same time a moralist, a divine, a metaphysician, and an ecclesiastical politi
cian - in short, a kind of universal scholar and philosopher.  He has a character for knowledge to maintain as well as for morals and piety, and soon acquires a degree of acuteness and
information, to which his brethren in the establishment can make no pretensions. His acquirements, it is true, may occasionally be attended with some inconvenience-for every good
252 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
since they have thus to perform the work of Kings and Bishops and
Priests, she makes them to become "a royal priesthood, a holy na tion, a peculiar people, that they (individually) should show forth the
praises of him who hath called them out of nature's darkness into
his marvellous light," - which is just what Peter said Christians
oi(ght to be.
Congregationalism- to use the words of one of its most eminent
living transatlantic writers -" covets most earnestly popular intelligence, as the soil from which extraordinary minds may be expected
most naturally to spring up, and from which alone they can derive
permanent sustenance and power. It aims to form intelligent
churches; it mnust, in coinsequence, have an intelligent ministry; and
it must, as a further consequence, have its seminaries of learning to
realize that intelligence. It rests nothing upon privilege, or prescription, but everything upon truth and reason. It leans not on
extraneous support of any kind, but upon its own intrinsic merits.
It knows that the learning and science of the world may be arrayed
against it, and it is prepared to do battle with the learning and science of the world in its own cause, and to abide single-handed the
issues of that conflict. This is the spirit of our system, and if so,
where is the department of knowledge with which it may not be
expected to sympathize and intermeddle? It may content itself with
average attainments for average purposes; but it does not rest at
that point. Its argument depends on a wide range of philosophy
and history, and embraces a multitude of subtle questions relating to
social polity and the nature of man; - can these things be wisely
dealt with by the ignorant, or by only the moderately informed?
It contemplates changes which will affect the whole complexion of
modern society; and its reasons for these changes must be shewn, or
its pretensions be mockery." 1
Not without some honest pride may the Congregationalist point
to New England, with its world-conceded unusual average of general
has some corresponding evil very near it - and may lead him to imagine, that he is far more
learned than he really is.  But this folly is not one of the most dangerous kind; and.' fbr ourselves, we would much rather fall in with a poor and industrious peasant, though elated
perhaps a little too much with his stock of ecclesiastical, and theological, and metaphysical
words and knowledge, than with the most quiet and passive drudge which the country can
furnish. The former, whatever be his imperfections, is more of a human being than the
latter."- Ballantyne's Comparison of Established snd Dissenting Churches, p..200.
1 Dr. Vaughan's Congregationalism Viewed in Relation to Modern Society, 4c., p. 17
' 253
I 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
popular intelligence, as the demonstration of what that free religious
system, which founded her social as well as religious institutions, and
- with all dilutions and alien admixtures - has substantially made
her what she is, can do for the general culture of mankind. As
long ago as the colonial times, when the influence of Congregationalism in this particular was here almost unmixed, Governor HIutchinson remarked that "men took sides in New England upon mere
speculative points in government, when there was nothing in practice
which could give any ground for forming parties;" 1 and Edmund
Burke declared in Parliament, that the American "mode of professing" religion was a "main cause" of their " fierce spirit of liberty."
He characterised our Congregationalism as "the dissidence of dissent,
and the Protesta.tism of the Protestant religion - of that kind
most adverse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion," and in
remarking upon the position of the people with regard to intelligence,
he quotes Governor Gage to the effect, that "all the people in his
government are lawyers, or smatterers in law," and proceeds himself
to characterise them as "acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in
attack, ready in defence, full of resources. In other countries, the
people more simple, and of a less mercurial cast, judge of an ill
principle in government only by an actual grievance; here they
anticipate the evil, and judge of the pressure of the grievance by the
baseness of the principle." 2
The inevitableness of popular intelligence as the result of a living
Congregationalism is well set forth by one of our own lay writers"the priest gave way to the preacher, and the gospel was preached.
The ministers were now to instruct the people, to reason before
them and with them, to appeal to them; and so by their very position and relation, the people were constituted the judges. They
were called upon to decide; they also reasoned." 8 Like its counterpart in civil order - Republicanism - our religious system cannot
be true to itself without favoring, both directly and indirectly, the
fullest diffusion of knowledge among all the people. It is the friend
of the masses. Free schools are among its means of grace.4
1 Quoted in the The Pulpit of the American Revolution, p. xxvii.
2 Burke's Works, (Bohn's Ed.) i: 466, 468.
8 J. Wingate Thornton, Esq. The Pulpit of the American Revolution, xxvii.
4 " Our fathers acted out the real feelings which their ecclesiastical system inspired, when
they sent preachers to the red men, as soon as they had built churches for themselves and
254 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
SECTION 4.  Congregationalism is superior to any other form of
Church government, because it naturally tends, more than any other, to
promote piety in its membership.
There are four accessories of the highest form of piety in the
Church. It is needful that each individual Christian be thoroughly
aroused to his duty of personal responsibility, and then thathe be
I hrown earnestly upon the Bible, and the Spirit, and the Saviour,
for their aid and guidance, to the end that he be aroused to the full
comprehension of what he ought to be and to do, and what he can
be and do, for God; and that, in the full understanding of this, he
may grow up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Our system especially favors the success of each of these preliminary
works.
(1.) Congregationalism develops, as no other system naturally does,
the sense of individual responsibility in private Christians.
Christ left the command to his followers to disciple all nations,
and preach the gospel to every creature. That command was addressed to those who loved him, as individuals. And the only reason
which can be given why it has not been obeyed; why the earth is
not now the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; is that enough Christians have not yet felt their individual responsibility to that command, and obeyed it; by giving their prayers, their alms, and themselves, to missionary labor. No man will dare to say- since Christ
has been eighteen centuries waiting to see of the travail of his soul,
and help the work - that there has not yet been money enough,
and knowledge enough, and everything enough in the world to have
converted the whole of it long ago; provided individual Christians
enough had left money-getting, and politics, and all sorts of secularities, and devoted themselves, with all their hearts, to this preaching
the gospel to every creature. The great demand of Christianity, it
is confessed on all hands, now is, to arouse and deepen and quicken
that feeling in every Christian heart, which says; "Christ died for
had scarcely reared their own cottages, at the time of their beginning to erect a university for
the defence and dissemination of the Gospel; and they established a system of collegiate Instruction better fitted for their times than the present system is for our times." Prof. Park's
Fitness of the Church, se., p. 45. The Synod of 1697, urged, " the interests of Religion and
good Literature have been wont to rise and fall together." -Elliott's New England, i: 428.
255 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
me, and I must do something for him. That great command binds
me. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
But when we desire to awaken a sense of personal responsibility
in our children, we make them do responsible things. Give a child
a sum of money, and require him to expend it according to his best
judgment for the poor; or let him make such purchases as he
thinks wisest for the family -and you begin, at once, to develop
the feeling of personal responsibility.  He is "somebody," and he is
always more man-like thereafter.  Trust him to go a journey, and
carry a message of consequence, and no wealth of words, no abundance of books on journeying, will do half so much to train him, in
that direction, as this trusting him to do it. This is common sense
in everything to which it applies. And Congregationalism, by trusting everything to her private members, trains them to a sense of
individual responsibility, which must be unknown to the subjects of an
Ecclesiastical hierarchy. Every member of a Congregational Church
has as real a responsibility as any Cardinal who sat in the Council
of Trent; for his vote says yea or nay to every doctrine which that
Council had under discussion.  Does the Church languish, our membership cannot turn to each other, and say, " I wish our Bishops, or
our General Assembly, would see what is the matter, and tell us
what is to be done." Each one is compelled to sit down for himself
to devise what is to be done; feeling that no mitre, nor surplice, nor
convocation comes between him and blame, if things go wrong.
Congregationalism places its members, in regard to all Ecclesiastical
responsibility, precisely where they are in the matter of their personal salvation. To know what to do to be saved, they go to no
Bishop, and to no Body, and to no book, but the Word of God; and
bringing the naked truth of revelation to bear upon their necessity,
they get an answer to their question. So, to know what to do in
the Church- what is Orthodox, what is orderly- they go, as before, to no manual, and to no man, but to the self-same truth of God
- and bringing, as before, its light to bear upon their duty, they
decide and do. All this is simple, self-consistent, successfiul. It
makes intelligent, earnest, growing, usefuil Christians. It makes
them, consistently with all the principles of its system; and not in
spite of them, as other systems must. Hence Congregationalism is
marked by its missionary spirit and success, not merely in its work
256 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
in heathen lands, and in the waste places of the West, - but at its
own doors- in mission schools and tract distribution, and the general home work.
(2.) Congregationalism throws its membershtp more directly upon
the Bible, and the iHoly Spirit, and the Saviour, than any other system.
Nothing comes between the Congregationalist and these original
and celestial sources of light and love. No question of doctrine or
practice can be put to him which he may not, and must not, naturally, take to them for answer. We, of course, would be far from
intimating that good men of other systems do not ask God for wisdom, and open the Bible for light, but we do say that their systems
not only do not so much favor this, but do not even permit them to
do it simply and purely.  They have always a double question; "is
this in accordance with the Book of Discipline- with the established order of our Church? " as well as, "does it accord with the
Word of God, and the promptings of the Spirit, and the example of
Christ?"
Now, to any man who remembers how strong is the tendency of
poor human nature toward that which is material and visible, instead
of that which is unseen and eternal, it will be clear that any system
which propounds such double questions, will be apt to get its best
answers to its easiest inquiries, and that its tendency will be very
strong to incline the mind to rest in the lower authority - as to be
assumed to be, as a matter of course, in accordance with the higher.
It takes more faith to get an answer from God than it does from a
hierarchy, and therefore, when hierarchies are accessible to answer
questions, and assume the responsibility, faith in God grows dull.
Congregationalism has no ritual, no ceremonies, no book of discipline - nothing but the Bible in the hand, the Spirit in the heart,
and Christ overhead. That is all. Its prayers, its songs, its sermons, all get their vitality from the Bible, as the seed out of which
they grow; from the Holy Spirit, as the influence that makes them
grow; from the Saviour as the Good Master, under whose eye, and
to please whose heart, and promote whose cause, all is done.
Its methods of operation, also, all throw it directly upon the naked
truth, with nothing between it and the soul. If a Pastor is to be
17
257 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
chosen or removed; if a member is to be admitted or disciplinedwhatever is to be done affecting, in any way, the interests of the
Church or the general cause, no Pope nor Bishop settles it; no
organism sits in solemn conclave upon it, and decrees how it shall
be, - thrusting themselves and their dictum between the Church
and the truth; no Book of Discipline, or Chapter of Canons interposes the fossil judgment of the dead; but each Church-member is
called upon (before God, and in the love of Christ, and out of the
Bible, as interpreted to him by the Holy Ghost,) to say how it
shall be.
All this magnifies the truth and makes it honorable. It forms the
habit of reliance upon the Bible in all things- the custom of submitting every concern of life to the same truth for decision. It
makes independent thinkers, who are almost necessarily the most
efficient laborers. It accustoms its subjects to the most constant
practical communion with God, through his Word, and his Spirit,
and his Son; because it so places them that they must daily do
many things which they necessarily feel that they cannot do suitably - not even safely- except by the results of such communion.
They navigate the ship which carries them - they can lean upon no
captain or mate- and the urgency of their own interest in its fortunes, as well as their desire, for Christ's sake, that it should safely
reach its desired haven, drives them daily to the quadrant and the
sun, and hourly to the log, and momently to the compass; that they
may work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
It is agreed that the Scripture theory of the most perfect Christian life, is of one united to Christ "as the branch is to the vine;"
living in him; going directly to him with all perplexities, and getting
from him a resolution of all doubts. Now we maintain that our system falls in with this theory of life, and works directly toward its
realization throughout the length and breadth of the Church, training its membership to do that very thing-  to lean upon God, without any hierarchal inventions, which are interventions - putting
nothing between the visible Church and its invisible Head, and distracting the mind with no side issues, confiusing it with no jar and
din of machinery. As in the old-fashioned saw-mills, where one
shafh went directly from the crank on the end of the water-wheel to
the saw -,so here, the motive power is geared directly to the work
258 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
that is to be done. There is the least possible friction, and if anything is out of order, there is but one place to be visited to discover
what it is. Whereas these great affiliated hierarchies are like huge
cotton-mills, where thousands of looms and tens of thousands of
spindles are belted together -there is story piled on story; there
is confusion and clatter, and enormous friction, and, when something
breaks, hundreds of places may need to be visited before it can be
determined what it is that needs repair.
We do not claim that every, or even any, Congregational Church
is,- few things are what they might be - but we do claim that
any and every one ought to be, and could be, and would be, if it did
justice to its own peculiar principles, such a nursery of the highest,
purest, clearest, holiest, most blessed and beneficent communion with
God, and walk with him, as the earth can see nowhere else, and as
heaven would look upon with strange joy.
SECTION 5. Congregationalism is superior in that it more favors
true Gospel discipline, and so especially tends to promote the purity
of the Church of Christ.
This has been hinted already,1 but it demands further exposition.
If a member of a Congregational Church - be he officer or private
member- becomes guilty of faith or practices contrary to Godliness,
and inconsistent with Christian purity; the directions of the Saviour
in the eighteenth of Matthew are literally followed. He is labored
with, in the intent to bring him to repentance and reformation, by some
suitable fellow member, who tells him of his fault "alone," seeking to
"gain" his brother.  But if the effort be unsuccessful, and he will
not "hear," the affectionate endeavor is repeated, in the presence of
"one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses,
every word may be established."2  If he remain incorrigible, the
matter is brought to the notice of the Church, in its collective capacity; who labor with him. Should he deny his guilt, a fair trial is
granted, in which his rights are scrupulously guarded, and if its
result prove him in the wrong, they suspend him from all privileges
of communion, until his day of penitence, or cut him off from mem.
bership, and make him to them "as a heathen man, and a publican."
l1 e pp. 41, 188 et seq., and p. 241.
259
2 Matt. xviii: 16. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
If he feels that he has been misunderstood and hardly used, he can
ask them to call with him a council of the delegates of sister churches
to review the case, and give advice. If they decline to aid him in
such a review, he can call such a council, by himself, which council,
examining the case, would advise all parties to adhere to, or suitably
to modify, the former decision. And then the Church, and the
offender, follow this advice, or not, as in their judgment, duty, and
the will of Christ, demand.
This way of discipline commits the custody of the rectitude of the
Church to the Church itself, and so stimulates the individual conscience, and promotes fidelity and purity. As every member of the
brotherhood is charged before God with his own share of the responsibility of maintaining a conscience and a life void of offence, not
only for himself, but for the whole body of which he is a member, a
degree of watchfulness and care is secured which is highly favorable
to the ends of Church discipline, and which almost necessarily goes
beyond what is easily attainable in other communions.
With them, the trial of offences is removed from the people into
the hands of the hierarchy. The Presbyterians provide that the
"judicatory " shall initiate and carry forward all Church discipline.1
By consequence, until the oligarchy of the session is ready to proceed
in the matter, nothing can be done. If- through prejudice, or
indifference, or the fear to offend important men- it is never ready,
the process of discipline is made impossible, since the complainant
has no right of appeal to the Church as a body, and the higher
Church courts, if requested, may decline to interfere. In the Prot
I Directcryfor Worship, 8c., Chap. x., Sect. 2.
2 A case in point, not long ago occurred in the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, in New
York city. In the course of business transactions, difficulties arose between Mr. George D.
Phelps and Mr. William E. Dodge, which involved grave charges of moral delinquency- of
"gross misrepresentation,"  "malignancy,"'   "false and wicked insinuations," "vindictive
ness," &c., &c. -by the latter against the former. This led to a correspondence, continued
at intervals for three years, or more, in which the offender declined either to confess the wrong,
or to refer the whole matter to mutual friends for advice and settlement. Failing in all such
efforts to right himself, Mr. Phelps, in April, 1862, brought the matter to the notice of the
Session of the Madison Square Church. A committee was appointed to confer with the parties
and endeavor to bring about a settlement, but Mr. Dodge persistently refused to see either the
committee, or Mr. Phelps. On the 20th October, the committee reported to the Session that
they "had been unable to accomplish the objects for which they were appointed."  The Session, 4th November, adjourned consideration of the subject to allow another effort at pacifica
tion, and 8th December, an agreement was signed by the parties to submit all matters to five
mutual friends; but Mr. Dodge the next day erased his name and repudiated the contract.
260 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
estant Episcopal Church the duty of purifying the Church from
scandal and offense, seems to rest primarily on its rector. The first
two rubrics of the Communion service require the minister to prevent (1)" open and notorious evil livers," &c., and (2) those "betwixt whom he perceiveth malice and hated to reign," from coming
"to be partakers of the Holy Communion;" and to give account of
the same "to the Ordinary [that is, the Bishop] as soon as conven
On the 18th December, the Session, to whose hands the matter now reverted, voted, "that, in
view of all the circumstances of the case, and in the exercise of the discretion enjoined upon
the Session by our Book of Discipline, it is inexpedient for the Session to entertain the charges
and specifications of Mr. Phelps against Mr. Dodge, and that the same are hereby dismissed."
Mr. Phelps carried his case up, by appeal and complaint, to the Fourth Presbytery of New
York. The Presbytery met 19th January, 1863, specially to hear the case. It immediately
adopted the " General Rules for Judicatories " in the appendix of " the Book" for the governnient of its business, and by Rule XI., of that code, appointed a " Judicial Committee" of five
ministers and one Elder. The papers containing the appeal and complaint were placed in the
hands of this committee. Mr. Phelps attempted to address the Presbytery, but was ruled out
of order by the moderator. He appealed, but the Presbytery sustained the decision of the modorator. The Judicial Committee reported that " the matter be dismissed," because an appeal
or complaint presupposes a trial with a result, and in this case there had been no trial in the
court below [the Session] and so no appeal could hold. The Presbytery then heard Mr. Phelps
and the Session, after which they sustained the report dismissing the case. Mr. Phelps gave
notice of appeal from the Presbytery to the Synod, but despairing of obtaining justice by the
Presbyterian Church courts in face of an opposition so determined and violent as he had
already encountered, he desisted from all further attempts in that direction. The case, however, came indirectly before the Synod at its next meeting, in their review of the records of the
Fourth Presbytery of New York; when the Synod approved the record, with the exception of
the principle on which the Presbytery acted, viz: that there could be no appeal except after
trial of a cause with a result, on which state of the case, however, they took no action, inasmuch as they said "the assumption of the false principle has led to no result which makes it
the duty of the Synod to require the Presbytery to revise and correct its proceedings."
This case, then, sums up thus: One Christian brother receives gross and repeated injuryas he thinks - from another; he labors for years in vain personally, and through mutual friends,
to have the difficulty settled; he brings the matter on complaint before the Session of his
Church; they dismiss his case -as he feels, most injuriously, and through the predominant
influence over its small number, of relatives and special friends of the offender; he carries the
case up to Presbytery, who coolly tell him that nothing can be appealed but a judgment, after
trial, so that his grievance (which has been specially aggravated by the fact that he has not
been able to get any judgment upon it in the lower court,) can receive no attention there; discouraged, the injured man gives up all hope of receiving a reasonable settlement of his case by
the vaunted Church courts of Presbyterianism, but- as if to clinch the nail, and prove beyond the possibility of a doubt, the essential weakness of their system in this respect - the
Synod, having the matter subsequently indirectly before them, condemn the principle on which
the Presbytery dismissed the case, and yet approve that dismission!
For the facts in the case, see The Polity of Presbyterianism, in a review of proceedings of a
&ession, Presbytery, and Syncd in a recent ease of discipline, by J. Holmes Agnew, D. D., New
York, 1864, 8vo., pp. 40; A New Phase in Ecclesiastical Law and Presbyterian Church Government, 8c, tc.  New York: 1863, 8vo. pp. 64; Supplement to a New Phase, 8c., hc. NeW
York: 1864, 8vo., pp. 30; Review of the Report of the Committee of Investigation into the
Affairs of the Delaware, Lackawana, and Western R. R. Co., hc. New York: 1858, 8vo.,
pp. 64; Railroad Mismanag,ement; the dangers of exposing it, and the difficulty of correcting
it, illustrated, he., he.  New York: 1859, 8vo., pp. 61, &c., &c.
261 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
iently may be." 1 But the Canons provide that it shall not be the
duty of the Bishop to act in the case, unless there be a complaint
made to him in writing by the injured party. If such complaint be
made, the Bishop may restore him if he think fit, or institute an
inquiry into the case according to the rules of the diocese; when in
case "of great heinousness of offence" offenders may be proceeded
against, to the depriving them of all privileges of Church-membership, according to such rules of court procedure as the General Convention may provide.2  Thus, the whole matter is taken even more
entirely out of the hands of the local body of believers than in the
Presbyterian Church, where it first goes to the session. The Methodist Episcopal method, ordains that discipline shall be conducted by
the local preacher before the local society, or a select number of
them, at his pleasure. If found guilty by a majority vote, the
offender is to be expelled by the preacher having charge of the circuit, appeal being allowed the accused to the next Quarterly Conference; the preacher himself having the same right of appeal- if, in
his judgment, the majority vote has not been right.3 It will be necessary to bear in mind, however, that in its practical working, this
rule is modified by the fact that the offender may always be tried by
a small committee selected by the preacher in charge- if he please
to have it so 4 while the lay members of the Quarterly Conference
are either directly or indirectly made such by the same preacher;5
so that the accused is practically tried, in the first instance, by a
court appointed solely by the preacher, and, on appeal, by a court in
which the preacher's power is still controlling, so far as the representatives from his own locality is concerned; and to which neither
the accused, nor the people, have so much as the right of nomination
-involving possibilities of monstrous injustice.6
1 Prayer Book. Order of Communion. Preliminary note.
2 Canon XLII., Sect. 2.  IVilmer's Episcopal Manual, p. 286.
s Book of Discipline, Part I., Chap. 10, Sect 4.
4 " The expulsion of Church-members by a vote of the society is as absurd in theory, as it
would be ruinous in practice." - Christian Advocate and Journal, Nov. 25, 1840.  "I never
knew one case conducted by the society. This committee is constituted by the sole will of the
preacher in charge." Polity of the M. E. Church, by D. Plumbe, p. 26.
6 "Nearly every member of the Quarterly Conference is appointed to that body by the
preacher himself, or holds his seat at the preacher's will." Hawley's Congregationalism and
Methodism, p. 219.
I A few years since, a member of the M. E. Church having failed in business, was charged
with dishonesty.  A committee was appointed to try the case; the accused plading not guilty
262 
CONGREiGATIONALISM.
they will, ordinarily, be approved of man, and be esteemed very highly
in love for their work's sake. But if not, they can take shelter behind no vote of Presbytery, nor act of Conference, nor Bishop's
mandate. MIoreover, they are freed from much temptation which
inevitably, though often doubtless unconsciously, assails the ministers
of the hierarchal churches.  When once Pastor of a Congregational
Church, such an one is essentially as high in office as he ever can be;
for each Congregational Church is on a par of essential dignity with
every other. There is no ascending grade of ecclesiastical promotion stretching before him up toward a Bishop's lawn, or an Archbishop's crosier, admonishing him not so much to' take heed to the
ministry which he has received in the Lord, that he fulfil it,' as to
take heed to that moderate, and conservative, and conciliatory course
towards those parties in whose hand it is to make great and to make
small in the Church, which may be likely to result in the gratification of that ambition which the hierarchal systems create. Many of
the noblest and most truly memorable Divines whose ministrations
have adorned the annals of Congregationalism, have been, through
life, the pastors of some of the quietest and most unassuming of her
country churches.1
Congregationalism favors its Pastors, also, by the independence
of position which it secures to them. Albert Barnes could not
preach the truth of God as he understood it, and as his people rejoiced to hear it, without being intermeddled with by the Presbytery? on a charge of heresy, and being driven out of the pulpit, and
silenced for weary months. An Episcopalian Rector cannot expound the thirty-nine Articles, though his conscience demand it, and
his parish desire it never so much, essentially above or below the
grade of Churchmanship of his Bishop, without risk of trial, and
perhaps suspension and deposition. In the Book of Discipline of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, we read, "remember! a Methodist Preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist Discipline! 2 and, on the following page, his seven Bishops, in
1 William Hubbard and Joseph Dana, lived and died at Ipswich; Joseph Bellamy, at Bethlem, Conn.; Samuel Hopkins, at Newport; Moses Hemmenway, at Wells, Me; Stephen West,
at Stockbridge; Nathaniel Emmons, at Franklin; Samuel Niles, at Abington; Charles Backus,
at Somers, Conn.; Alonzo Hyde, at Lee; and John Hubbard Church, at Pelham, N.H. Nor
should it be forgotten that Richard Salter Storrs still abides at Braintree, Leonard Withington
at Newbury, Jacob Ide at Medway, Noah Porter at Farmington, Conn., &c., &c.
2 Book of Discipline, Part I., Chap. 4, Sect. 9.
264 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
whose hand his ecclesiastical breath is; who can send him to Siberia
or Ethiopia, to exercise his ministry, as they please- say to him, as
the condensation and consummation of all their counsel in regard to
his duties as a minister -" Above all, if you labor with us in the
Lord's vineyard, it is needful you should do that part of the work
which WE advise- at those times and places which WE judge most
for his glory!"  This is " a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear." 1
So, also, Congregationalism favors her ministry, above other forms
of Church order, in the facilities which she afford them for usefulness.
It is an old maxim that the less the harness chafes, the better the
beast will draw; and our ministers are left to judge for themselves
what field of labor will most befit their abilities. Each knows himself, and when a Church invites his service, he can tell, much better
than any remote or stranger Bishop, or Presbytery, whether it is the
place for him to work to the best advantage or not. And when his
decision is made, there is a freshness and affection about it which
peculiarly open the way for usefulness.  They have chosen him, and
he has chosen them- both of free will. He is their Pastor. They
are his flock. They support him. He serves them in Christ's name.
Here is no outward interference to awaken jealousies, and confuse
the mind. All is natural, and favors the fullest working of the Gospel. If he is faithful to them, and they to him, this affection, so
largely facilitating usefulness, may grow stronger through many delightful years.  He can say, as did the good Shunamite, "I dwell
among mine own people;" A2 or as Ruth said to Naomi, "thy people
shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest will I
die, and there will I be buried, the Lord do so to me and more also,
if aught but death part thee and me."8 Friendships of years are
formed.  They know him, and he learns to know them; and they
trust each other, and do each other good all the days of their life.
Such a life-union, which accords with the genius of our system, is
like the marriage relation, which makes home- and that is heaven
on earth; as much better for the real interests of all than the best
itinerant ministry, as marriage is always better than concubinage.
Having in the passage of the years followed them, one by one, to the
grave, he goes, at last, to lie down by their side. No sight is more
1 Acts xv: 10.               2 2Kings lv: 18.              8 Ruthi: 16,17.
265
I Acts xv: 10.
2 2 Kings lv: 18.
8 Ruth i: 16, 17. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
touching than some of the grave-yards of New England, where, before its Congregationalism became polluted by the invasion of the
itinerant element, from another communion, under the shadow of the
meeting-house, where all worshiped together, the bodies of Pastor
and flock sleep sweetly, side by side, waiting for the resurrection
trump.
Moreover, Congregationalism is fitted to stimulate its ministry, as
no other system can naturally do, toward the highest intellectual and
spiritual attainments, and the noblest and broadest influence. The
very facts - that they are not honored because of their office merely;
that they are free from Ecclesiastical temptations; that they are left
independent of all external advice or control, to be and to do for
their people all which they can be and do, tend to stimulate them to
the highest possible usefulness. They are thrown, by this very peculiarity of their position, directly upon God and Christ, and the Holy
Spirit, for the supply of all their wants, of counsel and sympathy and
strength; and, living thus near to God, and accustomed to ask wisdom directly from Him, they get wiser and kindlier answers to their
daily inquiries, than ever naturally fall from Prelatical or Presbyterial
lips. So, also, the independence of thought which prevails in our
churches, and the general intelligence which is stimulated by it, compel the Pastor to wider research and deeper thought, and a higher
level of general attainment, in order to retain his position as a servant of the Church, in teaching it, and guiding it, under Christ, in
the green pastures and by the still waters of prosperity and piety.
SECTION 7. Congregationalism has preeminence over all opposing
systems in that its fundamental principles are more favorable than
theirs to the promotion of the general cause of Christ.
The advancement of that cause unfolds itself especially in three
departments; the growth of individual Christians in grace, and the
promotion of associated Christian activity by every Church upon the
community around it - developing in revivals of religion, and in missionary labors reaching out of itself toward the distant heathen.
We have already urged that our system has special fitness under
the first of these heads.1  We  have alluded also to the seconds2
1 Seepage 25.                                   2 See pages.
266
I Sm pap 255.
2 See page 237. 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISX IS BEST.
But we desire to say a few words more upon it. We do not deny
that God has greatly blessed other denominations of Christians with
the outpourings of his Spirit; -he will always reward all true faith
and honest labor, however imperfect in its processes. We do not
affirm that the special advantages of Congregationalism in this regard have ever had justice done them among ourselves by a full application of their power. But we do claim that its fundamental
principles give it special adaptation to the promotion of revivals of
religion.1
(1.) We claim that they do so in virtue of its special freeness of
action, and flexibility of adaptation to varying circumstances that
may surround it. That state of high devotional feeling, and eager
interest in the great truths of the Gospel, which is commonly called
a Revival of Religion, is -we are not discussing now, whether it
ought to be, or not- exceptional to the ordinary conditions of the
Church and the world. It makes special claims upon the officers and
membership of the churches. Pastors are called upon, by it, to a
different presentation of truth; to warmer and more solemn appeals;
often to a multiplication of services undesirable before; and especiallyto an amount of personal labor with inquirers, for which opportunity is not given in the ordinary experiences of their office. And
individual Christians are often constrained by it to intermit, for a
time, the duties of their ordinary vocations, and give themselves to
the sweet work of persuading those to be reconciled to God, who
meet them half way in interest, and whose eager souls are asking
them,'what must we do to be saved?'
If, now, our religion is to imitate that laborious adaptation of itself to all classes and every condition of society, which is suggested
by the example of the great Apostle, who made himself a servant to
all that he might gain the more: -unto the Jews, becoming as a
I The Episcopalians, as a body, disbelieve in revivals of religion, and denounce them. Their
system has no place for them - although individual members of that communion, labor for
them. One chapter in a late work, written in the interest of that sect, is devoted to the exhibition of the "fanaticism and pernicious influence" of the great revival of 1857, when "all
sorts of profane places were opened for' special prayer,' and preaching day by day." A number
of the hymns then sung (such as "Just now," &c., &c.,) are referred to and ridiculed; several
sermons preached against the revival by eminent Episcopalian divines are quoted with approval;
and it is declared that "The Church is able to repel the assaults of fanaticism and does not
fail to stand unshaken by them when they rage around her." [Recent Recollections of the
Anglo-American Church, ii: 179-195.]
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CONGREGATIONALISM.
Jew, that he might gain the Jews; to them that were under the law,
as under the law, that he might gain them that were under the law;
to them that were without law, as without law (being not without
law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that he might gain them
that were without law; to the weak, becoming as weak, that he
might gain the weak; and being made all things to all men, that he
might by all means save some; - it must, not merely in its essential
spirit, but in all its forms and methods, possess that flexibility and
power of instant adaptation to every possible exigency of time, place,
and circumstance, which will enable it always, and at the shortest
notice, to do the right thing, at the right time, and in the right man ner. Congregationalism- as has been aptly and beautifully said,
by one of the brightest ornaments of the New England pulpit- is
nothing else than common sense applied to the matters of religion;
and common sense applied to matters of religion is just the thing,
and the only thing which is, or can be, equal to the peculiar exigen cies of a revival of religion. When the Spirit of the Lord has come
down in great power -as it did so wonderfully through all our borders in the Winter and Spring of 1857-8, - and crowds  daily
throng unusual places of prayer, as well as fill the churches at the
time of Sabbath worship; bringing special requests to be offered to
the Lord; bringing peculiar difficulties to be solved by the ministration of the Word, as a medium of the teaching of the Spirit; bringing unwonted states of mind to the hearing of the Gospel; bringing
spirits burdened, and even crushed, by the heavy anxieties of sin, to
be lightened by the manifestation of the truth; then what is needed
is not a Prayer Book, not a volume of Homilies, nor any service that
is foreordained to meet the chronology of the ecclesiastical year -
beginning at Advent, and proceeding duly through Septuagesima,
Sexigesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays, Easter, Ascension, WhitSunday, Trinity, and the twenty-seven Sundays after it; the circumcision of our Lord, the Epiphany, the conversion of St. Paul, the
Purification of the Blessed Virgin, St. Matthias the Apostle, the
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, and so on in the order prescribed in the Prayer Book, which no minister has any right, for
himself, to alter - no matter what the exigency that presents itself:
-but prayer that will be prayer for them because it will go up to
the throne of grace in simple, apt language, pouring their actual
168 
.WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
requests into the infinite ear, and calling down upon them the very
blessings of which at that moment they feel themselves to stand in
perishing need; and preaching that will array before them those motives, and burnish before them those appeals, and press upon them
those doctrines, which to them, as they are, may helpfully and therefore hopefully, become the wisdom of God and the power of God
unto salvation.
Other preachers may break over the formal obstacles that henl
them in at such a time, and may preach truth, and the truth which is
called for by the condition of the people; but we claim that Congregationalism especially favors that freeness and flexibility of religious
movement which may always easiest adapt itself to the exact phase
of the work which Providence appoints to be done. It has no system which claims particular Sabbaths for particular subjects and services; it is left to be guided always, in its selection of topics, by its
study of the need of the people for instruction, or reproof, or comfort — just as the physician never dreams of giving calomel to all his
patients on Mondays, and quinine on Tuesdays, and so on-  with the
days and with the drugs - but rather feels the pulse of his patient,
and notes all the symptoms of his malady, and shapes his prescrip
tions by the contemporaneous demands of the disease. It is perfectly easy to see, at a glance, that the Rubrical system of the English and American Episcopal churches never contemplates revivals -
never presupposes any particular exigencies of spiritual need- but
lays out its work on the theory of dispensing, in an orderly and progressive manner, about so much Gospel in each year -just as in
material things, it anticipates the usual fall of rain, and the ordinary
visitations of the sunshine. In case of fearful drought, or appalling
pestilence, or sudden invasion, the Archbishop of Canterbury- or
the Bishop, or Bench of Bishops here - must write a prayer, which
may then be circulated among the clergy, and not until that time can
the Lord be called upon, in a lawful manner, by the great congrega tion, to be merciful and to spare his people, and bless his heritage,
in the particular manner which their particular exigency requires.
It is over Episcopacy in all its forms that Congregationalism has
special advantage in this particular.  In like manner we claim that
it has advantage,
(2.) In its want of reliance upon anything formal, or ritual, for
269 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
salvation. The first necessity of right teaching in a revival of re.
ligion, or, in the aim to produce one, is to impress upon the soul the
indispensable and immediate necessity of penitently believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation. Every other reliance must be
swept out of the way. All confidence in good works must be
destroyed. All idea that the being baptized, or the partaking of the
sacrament, or the regular attendance upon the means of grace, or a
scrupulous morality, with the ability to "say the Creed, the Lord's
Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and also to answer such other
Questions as in the short Catechism are contained;"l or anything
that can be done by a man, or can be done to him, that is not repentance and faith in the crucified Redeemer, will save him, must be
renounced, at once and forever. Only when the sinner is convinced
that his sins are many, and great, and grievous to be borne, and fatal
in their tendency; that left to himself, he has no power at all, because he will never have any effectual desire, to work out his own
salvation; that all his sufficiency must be of God's grace; that that
grace is only promised to him who makes now the accepted time, and
the day of salvation; that there is, therefore, no reasonable hope
that he will ever be cleansed by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost, shed on him abundantly, through Jesus
Christ the Saviour, unless, without the delay of a moment, he becomes reconciled to God, by the death of his Son; only then is he
brought into that position of soul into which he can be saved.
Such teachings then must be considered essential to a Revival of
Religion. He who teaches sinners this, may rightfully be said to be
laboring to produce a Revival. And that system of church order
which especially favors such teaching may, without impropriety, be
claimed to be specially congenial toward that cooperative energy of
the Holy Spirit, which, in that teaching, it constantly invites.
Far be it from us to claim that such teaching as this is confined to
Congregationalism. Still, those creeds and methods of labor which
are most often found in connection with it, and with which it is popularly identified, do specially renounce and condemn all reliance uppn
rites, and forms, and do press upon the sinner the duty of immediate
repentance and faith, as the absolute condition of being saved; and
I 8ee "Order of Confirmation," Prayer Book of Protestant Episcopal Church.
270 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
hold that Church membership, and the reception of the sacraments,
require them as indispensable preliminaries; in opposition alike to
the Episcopal theory before noted, and the Methodist idea of admitting to quasi membership in the Church (and hence, by inevitable
popular inference, admitting to heaven also,) those who merely have
a "desire of salvation." I So that, however nearly some other denominations of Christians may share this advantage with it, it is nevertheless true that Congregationalism, more than some other systems, and
at least, equally with any, is in this particular specially adapted to
promote revivals of religion, by the point and practicalness and fervor of its public and private ordinary method of appeals. Consider,
again in immediate connection with this:  (3.) The high character of its spiritual demands. We are confident that no other form of Church order is naturally led to be so
vivid and constant in its appeals from the higher motives of the gospel, to those who are under its influence. The creed usually associated with it is thoroughly and earnestly evangelical; the preaching
of its ministry is nearly always direct and pointed- giving no quarter to sin, and demanding for God the instant and entire surrender
of the soul; while the preponderating influence of its working, as a
system, is calculated to highten the popular conception of the importance of religious verities over all other things. Truth - the truth
of God, sublime, eternal, saving or condemning- furnishes the root
and heart of its chief interest and influence; so that if it have not
that, it has nothing with which to grapple itself to the affections of
men. Its unadorned and often unimpressive sanctuaries, the plainness and simplicity of its methods of worship, the absence from its
public services of esthetic beauty and ritual splendor, and of almost
every such thing which, in connection with other forms of worship,
attracts and delights the multitude, throw it back with hightened
necessity upon its underlying doctrines, for its practical hold upon
men; and this is the main reason why it is nearly impossible for the
Congregational polity to work well in the hands of those who ignore
or deny the essential doctrines of the Cross; and why it sets them to
complaining of its barrenness, and coldness, and lack of interest, and
1 " There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these
Scieties [Methodists call their churches United Societies,] viz:' a desire to flee from the wrath
to come, and to be saved from their sins.' "- Methodist Discipline, Part I., chap. ii., sec. 1, (4).
271 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
puts them to inventing new elements of variety, and to hankering
after some liturgical additions to its worship, and some  "Broad
Church "method of working up toward it the sympathy of the masses.
Being that system of religious working which we believe was
divinely intended to put the least machinery of ceremony and office
between divine truth and human hearts - which all will at any rate
probably admit actually does so- it must follow, on the one hand,
that Congregationalism will fail powerfully to affect men unless the
truth which is in it affects them, and, on the other, that when it is
true to itself-  and so to its Divine Author- it must specially press
upon all who come under its influence, the vast import of the plan of
salvation, and the glorious realities of the government of God.
But, in so far as it does this, it works specially and directly toward
that state of things which we call a Revival of Religion -which
never can exist until men are brought face to face with truth, and
which God's promises make sure, whenever and wherever that truth
is pressed upon the soul, with no disturbing or beclouding medium
between; and when, in all its length and breadth, and hight and
depth, its claims are crowded into direct contact with human consciousness.
(4.) Furthermore, we submit that Congregationalism is specially
adapted to promote Revivals of Religion, in virtue of its constant
training toward dependence upon Divine aid. Revivals are, in a
special manner, God's work. It must be the Lord of Hosts who
opens the windows of heaven to pour upon the ministry of his word,
and the individual labor of his professed followers, a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it. No dependence upon
an arm of flesh will avail anything for this end. The Divine sovereignty, while merciful in its intimations of willingness to bless on
prescribed conditions, is yet jealous of the honor of the great work
of saving men; and where attention is diverted from God, as the sole
as well as supreme source of spiritual healing, by the intervention of
any ecclesiasticism, there is, by so much, a lessened likelihood of
Divine interposition, for it is " not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord." Accordingly, that system of religious faith
and order which trains it adherents to look most directly to God as
its guide and strength; which rests most entirely and lovingly upon
his Word for constant direction in little things and great things;
272 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
which most appeals to his Spirit for light upon all its ordinary works
and ways, will - so far as it is faithful to its principles - permanently abide in that condition of special nearness of access to the
Great Head of the Church, which will most favor and promote his
intervention in the form of Revivels of Religion.
Now it is the distinguishing characteristic of Congregationalism,
that it puts nothing between the individual soul and God - as a
friend, counsellor, and guide. In the matter of personal salvation, it
prescribes no baptismal purification, no atoning life of penance or
good works, no ecclesiastical grace of any kind, but remits the inquiring soul directly to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sins of the world. And when that soul has believed, and hopefully
been washed and sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, and has come into the covenant
relations of the Church, it puts it under the tutelage of no Priest
nor Bishop nor Council nor Articles nor Canons; it relieves it in no
one particular of the entire responsibility of all its relations to God
and to man; and sends it directly to God and to Christ, in the
Word, and in the teaching of the Spirit, for all light- for its own
conduct, and for its share of the responsibilities of the organization.
If a question of import arises- as whether such or such a doctrine
is to be taught or suffered in the Church; or whether such or such
conduct in a brother is consistent with Christian principle and covenant obligations, every individual member of the Church is directly
charged, as before God, with the responsibility of the decision; and
must go to God, in prayer and faith, to find the answer which pleases
Him. No rubric fetters it; no decree of General Assembly, or Presbytery, or Bench of Bishops, or Council, or of any other Church;
no judgment of the past; not even any suggestions of the present,
can come in to take off, hardly to lighten, this load of direct responsibility to God, and absolute dependence upon Him, which Congregationalism, in its very essence, fastens upon every believer. And
by this training, we hold that this system proves itself specially congenial to Revivals of Religion, by pressingthe Church to ask for and
receive them.
(5.) But that peculiarity in Congregationalism as a system of
Church order and labor, which, in contrast with all other systems,
most clearly gives it an advantage in the matter under consideration,
18
273 
WHY  CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
which most appeals to his Spirit for light upon all its ordinary works
and ways, will - so far as it is faithful to its principles - permanently abide in that condition of special nearness of access to the
Great Head of the Church, which will most favor and promote his
intervention in the form of Revivals of Religion.
Now it is the distinguishing characteristic of Congregationalism,
that it puts nothing between the individual soul and God- as a
friend, counsellor, and guide. In the matter of personal salvation, it
prescribes no baptismal purification, no atoning life of penance or
good works, no ecclesiastical grace of any kind, but remits the inquiring soul directly to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sins of the world. And when that soul has believed, and hopefully
been washed and sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, and has come into the covenant
relations of the Church, it puts it under the tutelage of no Priest
nor Bishop nor Council nor Articles nor Canons; it relieves it in no
one particular of the entire responsibility of all its relations to God
and to man; and sends it directly to God and to Christ, in the
Word, and in the teaching of the Spirit, for all light - for its own
conduct, and for its share of the responsibilities of the organization.
If a question of import arises- as whether such or such a doctrine
is to be taught or suffered in the Church; or whether such or such
conduct in a brother is consistent with Christian principle and covenant obligations, every individual member of the Church is directly
charged, as before God, with the responsibility of the decision; and
must go to God, in prayer and faith, to find the answer which pleases
Him. No rubric fetters it; no decree of General Assembly, or Presbytery, or Bench of Bishops, or Council, or of any other Church;
no judgment of the past; not even any suggestions of the present,
can come in to take off, hardly to lighten, this load of direct responsibilityv to God, and absolute dependence upon Him, which Congregationalism, in its very essence, fastens upon every believer. And
by this training, we hold that this system proves itself specially congenial to Revivals of Religion, by pressing the Church to ask for and
receive them.
(5.) But that peculiarity in Congregationalism as a system of
Church order and labor, which, in contrast with all other systems,
most clearly gives it an advantage in the matter under consideration,
18
273 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
is its intense development of individualism in all its Church member ship. It is the only form of Church working in which the responsi bility of activity and success, or of sluggishness and failure is thrown
directly, always, and fully, upon each one of those who are associated
under it; in which the duty and the privilege of every Church act,
as well as of all individual Christian acts, are lodged with the individ uals who compose the Church. In the monarchic forms of Church
government, the responsibility and the power are with the hierarchy,
in whatever guise it appears, and each private member is taught that
for him obedience is the first duty, so that if things go right, or go
wrong, no immediate responsibility rests upon him, unless he has
failed to do something which it has commanded him to do. In other
words, the hierarchy steps in between the individual Christian and
his God, adjusting his relations, assuming his responsibility, and
claiming his submission.  In the aristocratic form of Church government the same thing, for substance, is done by the "Session," or the
"Council," who receive members and dismiss them, and discipline
them, and so, in like manner, step in between the individual and the
Great Head; and train all the membership practically to feel that
the responsibility is with the Church, as a body, or with its judicatories,
and not upon them, and each of them, as before God bound to give
answer for all. But Congregationalism rests all upon each. Every
member of its churches it holds responsible, in his measure, for the
soundness of its creed, the wisdom and energy of its management,
the success or failure of its endeavors to do good. It trains each one
to feel that if things go wrong, he cannot reasonably throw off the
blame upon the shoulders of "the Church" as a body, nor upon the
pastor and officers, nor upon any person or persons other than himself. It teaches each one that there is a responsible sense in which
he may use Paul's words: "Who is weak and I am not weak?
Who is offended and I burn not?"  It hightens all motives to individual activity, not merely by pressing them upon the souls of its
members with all the force of the Word of God, but by arranging
all its processes so as to favor their development, and further their
working. It is always repeating the last command of Christ in the
ear of each of its faithfiul ones; "Go ye into all the world and preach
the Gospel to every creature." It stimulates its laity to work in
Sabbath Schools, and Mission Schools; in tract distribution, and
274 
WHY OONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
visiting from house to house, among the poor and the abandoned; to
fill their pockets with appeals and their mouths with arguments, that
they may sow the seed of Divine truth beside all waters, and in all
way-side paths.  "BY ALL MEANS SAVE SOME," is the motto which
it embroiders, from the lips of Paul, upon the pennon waving from
the lance which it puts into the hand of every one of its private soldiers, as it sends them forth to the battle of the most high God. We
do not deny that other forms of Church government do often seek
to stimulate their membership to these same individual toils and
triumphs, but what we claim is that no other system does, or can,
logically do so. It is only by deserting, and in some cases, by doing
violence to, its own first principles, that any other system can appeal,
as ours always and inevitably does, to the individual force of its
communion. Most others are afraid to trust the people. A prayer
meeting, even, that should not be presided over by the "proper
authorities," - likely enough, then, so programmed beforehand as to
prevent all but persons previously invited from taking part in its
services- would seriously alarm them. They cannot understand
how there can be freedom without misrule and misfortune; any
more than the old subjects of the European despotisms can understand how we can be safe in this country without bayoneted sentinels
on every corner. But Congregationalism trusts the people; educates
them; leans upon them and each of them; trains them to understand that God has left the work of reconciling the world to himself
through the death of his Son- so far as human agency goes- for
them to do, and commands them to do it in his name, and for his
sake, and in personal dependence upon him; tells them, however
ignorant and weak they may be, to remember that God hath "chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" tells
them that a Church is not a mysterious galvanic battery of spiritual
power, but rather a regimental organization, by means of which the
individual soldiers can best be trained for, and marched into the fight;
that pastors are captains under the "Great Captain" of salvation,
whose function is rather to lead and guide the masses in their work,
than to do the work in their stead.
Thus teaching, we claim that Congregationalism equally fits its
membership for that individual labor with the impenitent, and that
275 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
individual faithfulness in prayer and every good work, which the
Holy Spirit demands as the great requisite of human cooperation in
its redeeming work in revivals of religion. The great revival of
1857, was peculiarly marked in this dh-irection. The Congregational
churches every where fell in at once and entirely with its claims for
individual work, while other systems were obliged to desert their
own peculiarities, and, in a manner, Congregationalize themselves,
before they could become largely the channels of its power of spiritual healing.  Daily noon-day prayer meetings, in  unconsecrated
rooms, presided over by Christian laymen, and open to the speech
even of the young, were strictly Congregational means of grace; 1
and all remember how vast and vital was their connection with the
glorious result. Nor will it be forgotten that such Congregational
churches as departed most widely from the democratic freedom of
their own system, and most assimilated their methods of labor and
worship to those of the hierarchal systems, shared least in the blessing that then descended.
While, then, Congregationalists have never in one single instance
done full justice to the capabilities of their simple and Scriptural system in the direction now indicated, and while God will bless all who
truly love him, and sincerely try, at whatever disadvantage, to advance the coming of his kingdom; these considerations urge, that no
form of polity so invites, or can so readily and naturally cooperate
with the Holy Spirit in its copious descents of mercy, as that which,
reproducing here the Apostolic pattern, first planted itself, in this
hemisphere, on Plymouth Rock.
A similar especial fitness, as might be anticipated from the fact
that it worked so well in the Apostolic times, has been developed by
our system for the foreign missionary field. The Congregational
1 It is only a few years since so much, and so bitter, objection was made in the Episcopalian
Church in this country against prayer meetings (as being of evil tendency and subversive of
the principles of "the Church;" that lay exhortation is unlawful, and extempore prayer
schismatic, &c., &c,) that Bishop Griswold was moved to write a pamphlet on the subject, [Remarks on Social Prayer-.Meetings, by Rt. Rev. A. V. Griswold. Boston, 1858, pp. 99]; and the
"High" portion of that Church remains of the same mind still.
An eminent and catholic Englishman wrote, not longer ago than 1848, " the Anglican
churches have sunk into a low religious state.  In a great majority of Parishes, as we have too
much reason to fear, the Gospel is not preached, and the people are indifferent to religion." 
Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel's Essay on the Union of Church and State, p. 420.
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WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
churches were the first in this country to move in that direction,1 and
experience has settled it, that in remote missionary work the system
of local Church organization, unhampered by vital connections with
other, distant, and uncongenial fields and central organizations, is
the best 2 nay, that something like it, is almost the only one practicable.3 [See Appendix E.]
SECTION 8. Congregationalism is better than any other form of
governmentfor the Church, because it furnishes a more effective barrier than any other, against heresy andfalse doctrine.
(1.) It favors less than any other the development of doctrinal
error. The history of the Church teaches that the sources of heresy
have been mainly four, viz: corrupt tendencies in human nature;
paganism; unchristian philosophy; and ambition, with other motives
connected with and growing out of hierarchal influence. To the
first of these, the Congregational churches- if they are true to themselves - are less exposed than any others, because their system, in
throwing them upon God, and Christ, and the Spirit, more practically
I The "American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions" was formed by the General
Association of the Congregational Churches of Massachusetts, at Bradford, 29 June, 1810.
2 See Report of the Special Committee on the Deputation to India. 1856, pp. 43-47.
5 The members of the Ceylon Mission say, in 1855, " in regard to the form of organization
and the officers most proper for native churches, we stand on higher than sectarian ground.
Our commission is not to proselyte, but to preach the Gospel; and whatever preferences we
individually cherish for specific forms of Church government and discipline, however desirable
or necessary they may be considered in those lands that have been long favored with the light
and influence of the Gospel and its ordinances, we are convinced that the most plain and simplb
organiza.ions are, by far, the best for the training and discipline of the native converts in this
field." [Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Ceylon Mission, May, 1855, p. 34.] So the Madura
Mission say, " Mission churches obviously require the utmost simplicity of structure; and' all
that they require, and all that is good for them, may be learned from the New Testament. A
local Church is God's instituaion...... No improvement can be made on the simplicity and!
the efficacy of the New Testament plan for propagating the Gospel among the heathen; whatever may be thought of the application of it to the old Christian communities of Europe and
America." [Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Madura Mission, held at Madura, March,
1,'55, pp. 112, 113.] A Conference of Missionaries held at Constantinople in November, 1855,
said, "when, in 1846, the Armenian Mission was called to propose a basis of Church organization, there were brethren of several different Ecclesiastical connections engaged in the discussion and charged with the responsibility of this great work; yet no one sought to have his
denominational peculiarities transferred to the infant churches of this land. It was agreed,
without a single dissenting voice, to propose for the adoption of our Armenian brethren, a simple, Scriptural organization, without any reference to the particular constitutions or rules of
our respective organizations." [Report, p. 13.] Something a little different and more Presby.
terian was tried in the Sandwich Islands, but worked badly and had to be modified into some
thing much nearer Congregationalism.  [ The Hawaiian Islands, pp. 307-314.]
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C ONGREGATIONALISM.
and continually than any other, and promoting revivals and a high
tone of piety among their members, antidotes those tendencies of
human nature, and tends to keep their piety from losing its savor
through them. To the second, Congregationalism opposes special resistance in the fact that its peculiarities are exactly antipodal to those
peculiarities of paganism by which it most tends to corrupt the faith,
and so make it less in danger from them than if it lay more within
the range of their probable influence. The three most dangerous
elements of paganism have proved to be its fondness for gorgeous and
pompous ceremonials, its multiplicity of objects of worship, and its
absolute reliance upon things done (opus operatum) at appointed
times - rather than motives behind them, and states of mind revealed
by them- for acceptance. So long as the simplicity of early Congregationalism remained, it was able to resist these tendencies, and to
keep itself pure. But so soon as the churches began to lose their
original peculiarities, and to take on a hierarchal form, they fell into
these temptations, and became corrupted by them, until in a little
time it was not always easy to distinguish between a pagan and a
"Christian" assembly and service.1  When, in the days of the Reformation, and after, the spirit of original Congregationalism reasserted itself, its urgency was especially manifest in casting all this
paganism out of the churches, and recovering them to the old-fashioned simple, and simply-administered doctrines of grace. And it
is a fact to-day, that no churches on the earth are so pure from all
taint of the old leaven of paganism, as the Congregational churches
of England and America.2 To the third source of false doctrine,
1 " In these times [the times of early hierarchal corruption] the religion of the Greeks and
Romans differed very little in its external appearance from that of the Christians. They had
both a most pompous and splendid ritual, gorgeous robes, mites, tiaras, wax tapers, crosiers,
processions, lustrations, images, gold and silver vases; and many such circumstances of pageantry were equally to be seen in the heathen temples, and the Christian churches." - Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. i, 393, 394.
" The sublime and simple theology of the primitive Christians was gradually corrupted: and
the monarchy of Heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtleties, was degraded by the introduction of a popular mythology [of saints and martyrs,] which tended to restore the reign
of polytheism....... If in the beginning of the fifth century Tertullian or Lactantius, had
been suddenly raised from the dead, to assist at the festival of some popular saint or martyr,
they would have gazed with astonishment and indignation on the profane spectacle which had
succeeded to the pure and spiritual worship of a Christian congregation...... The religion
of Constantine achieved, in less than a century, the final conquest of the Roman Empire: but
the victors themselves were insensibly subdued by the arts of their vanquished rivals." - Gibbon. Roman Empire, iii., 432.
I The hierarchal churches need not be specified as redolent of the taint of heathenism at
278 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
the speculations of an unchristian philosophy, Congregationalism
opposes the influential fact that she rests the purity of the faith of
her churches upon the masses who compose their membership, and
not upon the few cultivated and ambitious- and likely to be erratic
- who set themselves up as a hierarchy over them. The philosop'ly of the subject, and the history of the past combine together to
give equal and abundant proof that there is no security so absolute,
under God, for a pure faith, as the Christian common sense of the
great mass of believers enlightened and purified by the constant influence of the Holy Spirit; when it is allowed to do its proper work.
In point of fact it is almost impossible to get a vote for any invasion
upon the old creed of orthodoxy from a Congregational Church, that
has remained true to Congregational principles, after never so long
and labored endeavor on the part of the few of learning and influence who desire the change.x The Unitarian heresy came into New
England only through the fact that many of the Congregational
churches had, for years previous, departed from one of their fundamental principles, and received unregenerate members to their
communion; so that here and there the body of the Church had thus
become corrupt, and in that manner the way was prepared for corruption in the creed. From all hierarchal corruptions, our churches
are radically free. Their purity of faith is not endangered by a
latitudinarian pastor forced upon them whether they will or no; nor
by a creed modified without their consent, by "the Church;" nor by
the ambition of a few leaders of some new movement for power,
which can be most craftily accomplished by a new rendering of the
old dogma; nor by the calmer and more natural corruption of a great
corporation settled upon its lees, conservative of all its past peculiarities however unsuited to the genius of the present, and nothing if
every pore. The Presbyterian Churches still retain in their semi-hierarchal government the
impress of that grasping for power on the part of-the few, and that distrust and contempt of
the people," which characterized the old paganism.
1 " Laymen, when our polity has its normal influence upon them, are not so easily pushed
into sidelong measures. They must perceive some broad tangible good to be gained, or they
will not rally around a turbulent dogmatist. If a false doctrine, or a clannish scheme begin
to fascinate the community, every distinct Church is a new obstacle, and in the Church itself,
every distinct member is a new impediment to the proposal, unless the proposal have some
palpable and sterling merit. Hence, it is notorious, that when false doctrine has inundated
the Church, it has flowed from the clergy and not from the people, and when the people have
been trusted with power commensurate with their spiritual culture, they have stimulated their
pators to a maintenance of the simple truth." - Prof. Park.  Fitness of the Church,,c., 38.
279 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
not consistent. The Congregational system offers little field for
great discoverers of "new light" which invariably turns out to be
old darkness. They may publish their books, and ring out their rallying cries long and loud, and gather their little "schools" of disciples, but the great mass of the lay believers will still go "to the law
and the testimony" to test their pretensions, and are very sure in
the end to reach the prophet's decision -" if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." New England Congregationalism has been supposed by many, who have taken
the dictum of interested opponents of her system for truth, without
investigation, to have been the hot-bed of heresies. But the truth
is, as all who really know the facts must concede, that there is no
harder soil on earth in which to germinate successfully the seeds of a
religious error, than the membership of her Orthodox Churches.
It may be said, indeed, that they are conservative almost to a fault.
And however much they may admire the intellectual ability, and enjoy
the eloquence, and respect the life of the proposers of new theories
of the Gospel, they are apt to remain essentially unmoved by them.'
(2.) Congregationalism furnishes a much less favorable shelter for
religious error than any other system. Grant that, by some method,
some unsound view of truth has gained a lodgment in each of the
main systems of Church government, our assertion is that it is less
safe under Congregationalism than anywhere else. It is always
open to review there. Any member of the Church, who is grieved
by it, has the right of bringing it at once to the test of the prayerful and labored investigation of his entire co-membership. Nay, if it
exists in any other Church than his own, he has the right of indirectly
procuring the same result, through the principle of the communion
of churches.  So that such a heresy is at once exposed to attack
from the widest possible range. Moreover, the process of assault is
so simple, and feasible, that the man whose conscience is disturbed
in the matter, has no excuse for not bringing it immediately to trial
There is no certainty of vast trouble, and uncertain expense, and incalculable delay, discouraging him, in the outset, from any such duty.
l I mention in this connection, without design of opprobium toward an honored brother,
whose general faith I respect as much as I admire his pure and faithful life, the fact, that while
housands of copies of the Conflict of Ages - one of the abllest books of the century - were
bought, and read, in New England and elsewhere, there are not, probably, three scores of converts to its hypothesis in all the Congregational churches of the land.
280 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
There are no forms of trial to be gone through with, so elaborate
that nothing short of a life devoted to their study can make entirely
safe any intermeddling with them.1 If a Church member becomes
a heretic, the others deal with him and cast him out.'If a Pastor
becomes a heretic, the Church terminates his relation, and that very
fact warns other churches against him. Each Church being selfcomplete, there is very little danger of any taint - if there be such
-in one, spreading from one to another. So far as other churches
are concerned, it affects them only as another is added to the many
bad examples that already exist around; to stand for warning before them. Whereas, in an affiliated hierarchy, so many steps are
to be taken, and so many trials had; there is so much inter-dependence and so many chances for contagion to spread, that the case
becomes as much more difficult to manage than it is among us, as
scarlatina in a crowded school is worse than in an isolated dwelling.
So that in its antagonist forms of Church government, difficulties
such as we have hinted hedge the way, and often render the securing
of a really just result the exception more than the rule - after the
intervening years of constitutional delay.2
(3.) Congregationalism has actually proved itself a safer barrier
against heresy than its competing systems. We have referred to
the fact - which no well-informed person will be likely to deny
-that it was only as the hierarchy superseded the primitive Con
I "The practice of law in the Presbyterian Church has become so much a science and profession, that long ago reports of cases and precedents began to be published by the General
Assembly, which have now grown to a large volume of cases, precedents, and commentaries
constantly swelling in its dimensions with every new edition, under the title of the As.sembly's
Digest. It is manifest that none but a lawyer can now understand the law of the Presbyterian
Church."  Colton's Thoughts on the Religious Sta e of the Country, 61.
2 Bishop Eastburn tried, in vain, for long, to stem the tide of Puseyism which was flowing
into Boston through the " Church of the Advent," but was at last compelled to succumb, and,
after years of refusal to visit the Church and perform confirmation there, to do so, as if in approval of what he himself had characterized as a "pointed and offensive resemblance to the
usages of the idolatrous papal communion," as "superstitious puerilities," and irregularities
degrading to the character of the church and perilous to the souls of the people." [See
Correspondence between the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of Massachusetts, and the Rectors of the Parish
of the Advent, ic., ]856, pp. 123 ]  And the issue of the Colenso case, in England, is well
known. In regard to the burdensome formalities which under the English Church it is needful to go through in order to settle the question of heresy, the London Times, of 21 December, 1864, said: - "Considerations so abstruse and subtle, even when divested of their legal
guise, are more within the province of lawyers than clergymen. Unless they were all taken
into account by the Bishop of Cape Town and his two Episcopal assessors, a most serious responsibility was undertaken without adequate information; yet to suppose that they were taken
into account would be absurd."
281 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
gregationalism, that those doctrinal corruptions came on which re.
sulted in the "dark ages." 1  It is the avowed principle of the hierarchal churches that it belongs to the clergy, and to the clergy alone,
to settle "questions of doctrine, or such as in any way involve deci
sions upon doctrine." 2 The American Episcopal Church has been
declared by Dr. Pusey to have "abandoned a bulwark of the faith,"
in admitting laymen to her counsels.3 So that the issue is directly
joined as between those who trust everything to the membership,
under Christ, and those who trust nothing to them. And we claim
that our own system has uniformly favored a purer doctrine than
that of our opponents.
The Roman  Catholic body has so far departed from the "faith
once delivered to the saints," toward actual paganism and practical
idolatry, that it can only by stretch of courtesy be called a Christian
Church at all. The Church of England was never more than half
reformed, and to-day undeniably includes within its pale all forms of
error,4 from the lowest rationalism of the Broad Churchmen to the
1 " The entire perversion of the original view of the Christian Church was itself the origin of
the whole system of the Roman Catholic religion,- the germ from which sprang the popery
of the dark ages." [Dr. Neander.- Introduction to Coleman's Apostolical and Primitive Church,
22.]  "It is remarkable that the lax penitential discipline had its chief support from the end
of the second century, in the Roman Church...... Callistus, whom a later age stamped a
saint, because it knew little of him, admitted bigami and trigami to ordination, maintained
that a bishop could not be deposed, even though he had committed a mortal sin..... in
short, he considered no sin too great to be loosed by the power of the keys in the Church. And
this continued to be the view of his successors.         i..... Here we perceive also, how the looser
practice in regard to penance was connected with the interest of the hierarchy. It favored the
power of the priesthood, which claimed for itself the right of absolution; it promoted the
external spread of the Church, though at the expense of the moral integrity of her membership, and facilitated both her subsequent union with the state and her hopeless confusion with
the world - -Schaff's Hist. Christ. Church, 447.
2 See Thie Councils of the Church, p. 17.
8 " It must be said plainly, that the precedent set in the United States is radically wrong,
and in fact, is so far, the adoption of a principle belonging to bodies who reject the Apostolic
succession, and the whole principle of a deposit of faith," &c. Ibid. 25.
4 " There is no church in the world that has, in fact, so great a diversity of opinion in her
own bosom, as the Church of England, and not a little of downright infidelity." [Colton's
Religious State of the Country, 200.]  "Lord Chatham  said, in his time, that the English
Church had Calvinistic articles, a Papistical service, and an Armininian clergy. The saying has
become a general opinion, but the designation of the dogmatic sentiments of the clergy, is only
now in so far correct, that the great majority of the clergy agree with the Arminians in rejecting the favorite doctrines of the Reformation age,' justification by imputed righteousness,'
and' Calvinistic Predestination.' The fact, however, that the Established Church has not so
much as the semblance of unity of doctrine and character, is well known to every educated
Englishman, and appears as something quite natural, and as a matter of course." Dollinger's
The Church and the Churches, 169.  " The pulpit is as little trusted for sincerity, as that appointed resort of hired advocacy - the bar."  Westminster Review, liv. 485.
282 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
straitest Romanism of Dr. Pusey, and John Henry Newman, and
Father Ignatius.3 The Lutheran churches on the Continent have
a strong government, but have become almost entirely corrupt in
doctrine and practice,2 more especially in Sweden and Norway. In
Switzerland, Calvin's pulpit is occupied by Rationalists,8 while in
Geneva, few care for the great Reformer, and nobody knows where
his body molders; but Jean Jacques Rousseau lies in the Pantheon,
and his bronze statue on the Isle of Poplars is one of the principal
attractions of that beautiful city.
And this reminds us of the general fact that Presbyterianism has
proved itself in the old world especially powerless as a conservator
of purity of doctrine. In the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the
"Moderates " - many of whom ranged from Arminianism down to
bald Deism- were long in the ascendant.4  Essentially the same
has been true of a large part of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.5
The Presbyterian Church in England has become, and remains, almost
wholly Unitarian; 6 while the Congregational churches of Scotland
I Nor is the presence of doctrinal error the only rotten symptom in the Church of England.
It is notorious, that many of her clergy are men giving no evidence of piety, not merely, but
sometimes of questionable morality. Says a faithful witness, "it is neither truth nor piety that
gives clergymen their livings. Numbers of them preach a gospel neither more pure nor more
evangelical than was done by Socrates and Plato, and other heathen moralists; and some of
the most deserving of their brethren, who ought to know, are continually bringing against
them the most pointed accusations."-Ballantyne's Comparison, Ic., 171.
2 In Germany the strongest infidels have been in the Church, and accredited teachers of its
formula. While so totally has Christian discipline been disregarded there, that according to
the declaration of a devout minister of the Lutheran Church persons known to be of abandoned
character, and the most notorious slaves of lust, are publicly and indiscriminately received to
the Lord's Supper. - See Liebetrut. Tag des Herrn, s. 331.
8 " Protestant to the back-bone, even to Unitarianism, and very proud of its Protestantism."
[Rev. E. E. Hale's Ninety Days' worth of Esrope, 162.] " Confessions of faith are abolished,
and the Church grounds its belief on the Bible, and allows to every one the right of free
inquiry; among the clergy prevails the most absolute confusion with respect to doctrine.' -
Genf's "Kirkliche und Christliche Zustande" in Der Deutschen Zeitschrijt, i., 248, 253..
4 "The tone of their theology was moral, mitigating the strictness of the old Confessions."
[Smith's Hagenbach, ii., 430.] "For the last half century, the leading clergy and laity have departed from the simplicity that is in Christ, having been spoiled through philosophy and vain
deceit. The General Assembly has presented a considerable majority approving sentiments and
practices in opposition to which the ancient Covenanters would have laid down their lives.
Ministers selected by patrons have been placed over many of the churches against their con.
sent, driving most of their pious members into the churches of the Seceders."-Marsh's Eccles.
Hist., 3183.
6 See Alexander's M-sst. Pres. Church in Ireland, pp. 301 - 42.
6 " During the life and popularity of Dr. Priestly, who abhorred a middle course, the Presby.
terians generally renounced their ancient discipline. From Arianism they have descended to
Bocinianism, and now choose to be known as Unitarians:" [Marsh, 350.] "The old PresbYterian
283 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
and England,1 have been models of unity and purity in their Evangelical belief.2
Looking at our own country, we find the same causes producing
the same results; though not always in a manner so obvious, and
even striking. It has been the fashion among the opponents of our
system to denoufnce it as responsible for the "great Unitarian apostacy" in New England.8 But the father of Unitarianism in this
community, once the most powerful and influential among non-Episcopal connections, has, in
the course of the last century fallen completely into decay in England. The cause of this is to
be found chiefly in the change of doctrine. The most distinguished Theologians of the party -
Richard Baxter and Daniel Williams -had demonstrated so clearly and convincingly the contradictions in the Calvinistic doctrine of justification, and its inevitable moral consequences,
that most of the congregations renounced this doctrine, and became, according to the customary mode of expression, Arminian."  [Dollinger's The Church and the Churches, 178.]  "Scores
of Presbyterian congregations admitted heretical assistants to their orthodox pastors, and
heretical successors too In most of their principal congregations it became the order of the
day..... Arianism was the grave of the Presbyterian congregations." - Bogue & Bennett's
History ofthe Dissenters, ii., 303, 813.
1 An Aberdeen Presbyterian writing to the Presbyterian Banner, bears the following testimony to the relative purity and soundness of Congregationalism and Presbyterianism in Scotland,- "Scottish Congregationalism, in connection with the resurrection of the old Gospel
which Knox had preached, was for years a light in a dark land.  It supplemented what was
wanting elsewhere. More than this, while many did not join it, and were Presbyterians still,
its Sabbath evening services were largely attended by them, and there they found refreshment,
consolation, and blessing to their souls. Many of the parish [Presbyterian] ministers were then
ungodly men, without unction or earnestness, and Congregationalism, setting up its small
meeting-places in the different parishes, led many formalists to the Saviour's feet, and was a
living witness within the region of a holy and unselfish Christianity. Even now, although
there are not more than one hundred Congregational churches in Scotland, and except two at
Edinburgh, one or two at Glasgow, and a considerable body in Dundee, they are comparatively
weak as to numbers; yet they present noble specimens of healthy piety, and of zeal in every
good work. The name of Wardlaw is still fragrant, and others there are who, having sat at his
feet as students, perpetuate his spirit, and his message, and his influence. I have been providentially brought into contact, this week, with Congregationalists, both ministers and people,
and, as a Presbyterian, I give you my honest impressions, and pay to them such a tribute,
which truth and love demand."
2 " It is doubtful whether a single strictly Congregational Church passed over into heresy."
[MS. Letter from Joshua Wilson, Esq., Tunbridge Wells, Eng.] "Instead of the diversity of sentiments which prevailed among the Presbyterians, the religious principles of the Non-Conformists
were maintained by the Independents, in all their purity: it may be questioned whether an
Arian, or even an Arminian, was to be found in the whole body. There was no denomination
in England which could boast of so much unanimity as to doctrine."- Bogue & Bennett, ii 313.
8 " Congregationalism is constantly charged with the Unitarian defection in Massachusetts.
Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and even the advocates of that singular mixture of ecclesiastical
ideas which in Connecticut is called' Consociationism,' all cry out in chorus- ILook at the
fruits of Congregationalism in Massachusetts!' This is like charging upon Bowditch's Navigator, the wreck of a ship set out of her course by an unknown tideway or a deep ocean-current.
The current opinion, among those who know little or nothing of the facts, that the Congregationalism of Massachusetts is responsible for the Unitarian defection, is of a piece with the idea
which prevails through the benighted South, that Democracy is responsible for a slimy brood
of infidelities and heresies and immoral philosophies, from' socialism' to' free love,' with which
284 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
country, was the rector of the first Episcopalian Church that was
ever founded in New England, who, in 1785, succeeded in transforming his Church into the first Unitarian Church in America; l
while that Church which, in 1803, ordained Dr. Channing -the
great heresiarch of his day - as its pastor, was the first Scotch-Irish
Presbjterian Church ever founded in the State.2  It is true, that of
its tropical imagination has peopled our Yankee land. It is well to remember that people may
be neighbors who are not relations, anid that contiguity is not necessarily causation." —Rev.
J. P. Gulliver. Independent, March, 1865.
1 " This important change is to be attributed mainly to the judicious and learned expositions
of Mr. Freeman, who preached a series of doctrinal sermons to his people, and by the aid and
influence of the word of God, moved them to respond to his sentiments. The first Episcopal
Church in New England, became the first Unitarian Church in America, and our venerated
senior minister, though not absolutely the first who held or even avowed Unitarian opinions,
still on many accounts deserves to be considered as the father of Unitarian Christianity in this
country." [Greenwood's History of King's Chapel, in Boston, p. 189.] There appears to have
been, at this time, a decided Unitarian tendency in many of the Episcopalian churches of this
country. A convention for three New England States met in Boston, in Septcmber, 1785, which
resolved that the Athanasian and Nicene creeds, and one article of the Apostle's creed ought to
be omitted; that several amendments should be made in the liturgy, and that the Offices of
baptism, matrimony, visitation of the sick, and burial of the dead, should be altered. A convention assembled at Philadelphia, in October, 1785, resolved to reduce the 39 articles to 21
The feeling then prevalent expressed itself in a pamphlet published the following year, which
said, "There are many parts of the Liturgy, 39 Articles, &c., which were by the bigotry of the
age, conformed to Papistical and CaLlvinistical errors, and other doubtful systems, which are
not well understood. They have occasioned many well disposed Christians to dissent from the
Church of England; and they are esteemed great obstacles to its increase."-[Remarks on the
proceedings of the Episcopal Conventions, 8c., by a Layman. Boston: J. Hall. 1785.] But all
this was corrected, as the regulating influence of the mother Church of England was brought to
bear upon the Colony, and it became understood that it was a much better plan to ignore all
inconvenient clauses in the Articles, or the Liturgy, or the Offices, than to change them, and so,
with the exception of King's Chapel, which had been hasty in its honesty, the Episcopalian
body here relapsed into quietude under its accredited forms, with the single exception of the
Athanasian creed, which it omitted in deference especially to Connecticut, where, it was said,
the insisting on it "would hazard the reception" of the prayer-book.  [Hook's Church Diction.
ary, 89.J This reference to Connecticut, finds explanation in the fact mentioned by Dr. McEwen
[ Contributions to the Eccl. Hist. of Connecticut, 274,] that "that class of the population which
in Massachusetts became Unitarians, have in our commonwealth [Connecticut] chosen to be
Episcopalians." And Anderson says that great numbers of the people of Connecticut " thankfully repaired" to the Episcopal Church "as the ark which could alone carry them in safety
over the raging floods"  of the great revival of Whitfield's time.-Hist. Colonial Church, iii.,
8'9.
2 The Scotch-Irish founded aPresbyterian Church in "Long Lane," Boston, soon after 1727,
under Rev. John Moorhead. Rev. David Annan succeeded him, after whom were Rev. Jeremy
Belknap, D. D., and Rev. John S. Popkin, D. D., whose successor Dr. Channing became, in 1803.
The Church now worship, under the pastorate of Dr. Gannett, in Arlington street. The Rev.
Alexander Blaikie organized a Presbyterian Church in this city, in 1l46. which he assumed to
be this original Church, and entitled to the property of the "Federal Street Parish," and sued
for the same before the Supreme Court in 1849. 6 March, 1855, Chief Justice Shaw decided
adversely to the claim. Mr. Blaikie, with characteristic pertinacity, appealed to the Supreme
Court of the United States, whence, in 1862, he was dismissed "for the want of jurisdiction."
-See Judge Davis's Memoir of the Federal Street Church and Society, 3380, and Boston Recorder, 2 April, 1868.
285 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
the three hundred and sixty-one Congregational churches in  Iassachusetts, in 1810,1 ninety-six - or a little more than one in four -
passed over to Unitarianism. But the Socinian tendency came to
them from the mother-country of " strong" Church government, and
they had first exposed themselves to its contagion by departing from
fundamental Congregationalism in imitation of the "strong" governments, in admitting those who were not believers to their communion; while their system, as such, showed its vitality and self-purga.
tive power by very soon sloughing off these new converts to a lax
faith, and rendering itself pure; -which is more than Presbyterianism
has done in England, Scotland, or Ireland; 2 more than Episcopacy
ever did or can do anywhere.8 It may, indeed, well be doubted
whether any other form of Church government in Massachusetts, at
that time, would have saved the State from being delivered over bound
hand and foot to Socinianism. It was the fact that God's faithful
ones in the local churches had power there, and were not, in a manner, compelled to follow their eminent leaders, which stayed the defection.4 " The gracefuilness of Buckminster, the amenity of Green
1 The Presbyterian Church in Peterborough, N. II., having got rid of two ministers- the
first as a sceptic and profligate, and the second for immorality - were now preparing to follow
the third into Unitarianism. [Lawrence's New Hampshire Churches, 240.] A portion of the
First Presbyterian Church in New York City, in 1754, objected to Dr. Bellamy's becoming their
pastor, because he did not " preach so free and generous a Gospel" as they had been used to,
and as was agreeable to them. - Bellamy, Memoir, xvii.
2 Of the two hundred and twenty-nine Unitarian chapels which existed in England in the
year 1851, one hundred and seventy had been originally Presbyterian.- Mann's Census of
Religious Worship, pp. 1- lxviii.
8 " The Church [of England] has no fixed doctrine; its formulas contradict each other; and
what one part of its servants teach is rejected by the other as a soul-destroying error." [Dollinger's Thle Chztrch and the Churches, p. 72.] Its " Articles " are no defence against any kind
of teaching which its rectors may be pleased to use.  "There is nothing," says the London
Times, "to prevent any one from going into the market, and buying a living for any silly,
fanatical, extravagant, or incapable booby of a son, and installing him forthwith as the spiritual
mediator between the Almighty and one or two thousand of his creatures."  [See Weekly Register, 11 May, 1861]. To understand the utter helplessness of the American Episcopal Church
to the work of any self-purification from the gravest doctrinal errors, it will be quite sufficient
to read the facts in regard to the "Smith and Anthon" controversy, in New York city in 1843;
where it was distinctly avowed that the issue was " between the Church and Romanism," and
where "Romanism"  triumphed. - See The True Issue for th? True Churchman, &c., 4c.  New
York, 1843.
4 " Unitarianism has not flourished so vigorously in this Puritan Commonwealth as Deism
has flourished under a more concentrated Church government; not so extensively as - in the
opinion of wise observers -it would have prevailed under any other than our free polity; for
if the churches of Massachusetts had been amalgamated into one State confederation, it is supposed that nearly all of them would have gone, where the few dominant spirits had led the
way. and the Congregationalism of that venerable commonwealth would probably have been -
what the Presbyterianism of England now is - penetrated with Socinianism." - Prof. Paxk'8
Fitness ofthe Church. &c.. 39.
286 
WI[Y CONGREG&TIONALISH IS BEST.
wood, the sober sense of Ware, the wit of Kirkland, the genius of
Channing, the strength of Theophilus Parsons - himself a hostthe fame of the University, the princely fortunes of the metropolis,
would have carried the churches headlong, unless every Church had
been trained to stand on its own foothold, and feel its responsibility
to God rather than to the dignitaries of the State. The life of the
churches in Massachusetts, after the irruption of Unitarianism, when
contrasted with the death-like torpor of the Prussian churches after
the irruption of Rationalism, affords an indisputable argument for
the policy which trusts the conservation of the truth to a free people.
It is a noteworthy fact, that those churches of New England, whose
Congregationalism was the most unshackled, remained the firmest
against the Unitarian onset. While ecclesiastics who had a centralized
government, were oscillating or yielding, the Baptists,l who stretched
Congregationalism into Independency, stood erect in the faith." 2
It is, moreover true, that the Congregational way has proved
itself especially efficient in dealing with individual cases of defection.
Its churches are enabled to let heresy alone -which is a great
blessing. If a pastor becomes tainted in doctrine, he is either sustained or condemned, as a matter of course, by the majority of his
Church. If the former, the minority protest; if the latter, the majority proceed; and the question comes to a Council, who throw the
moral weight of their opinion upon the side of truth. If the majority
of the Church sustain the heresiarch, surrounding churches withdraw
from him and them, as by instinct, and the spread of contagion is
checked. If the majority of his Church renounce him, he is thrown
off, and is no longer a Congregational minister in good and regular
standing, so that, in that way, the contagion is arrested. Possibly one
or two more councils may be called; but beyond that there is no opportunity for "persecution," and the generation of" sympathy," and the
formation of a party to follow the thing for years on its travels
through the upper courts.' There can be little doubt, in any rea
1 " In general our churches appear to stand steadfast in the doctrines of grace; and indeed,
the Baptist churches are almost left alone in defending them against Arminians and Universa
lists, as our brethren of other denominations, who are sound, appear much discouraged."Letter of Pres. Manning to Dr. John Rippon, 3 Aug. 1784. Guild's Lfe, Times, ic., of Manning, p. 328.
2 Prof. Park's Fitness of the Church, 4c., 39, 40.
8 The benefit of this " letting alone" process is clearly seen in the recent case of the Rev. L.
287 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
sonable mind, that the Presbyterian standards honestly do justif
the claim of the old school branch of the Presbyterian Church, that
their new school brethren are "lax" and "heretical;" but the efforts
of the constitutional party to maintain those standards and to try
and condemn prominent doctrinal offenders against them, and so
purify their Church, have nearly always signally failed; 1 and in the
A. Sawyer, the new translator of the Bible; who seems to have gone over to the extreme ranks
of Rationalism, but who, not being enabled to make any fuss about it, except in a civil form
by libel suits against those who have called him an Infidel, has carried nobody with him, and
relapsed into insignificance.  If we had been compelled to make a Colenso case of it; the end
would not be by and by.
1 A fair illustration of the spirit, wearisomeness, and ineffectiveness of the Presbyterian way
of dealing with heresy may be found in its process in the case of Rev. Albert Barnes, for holding and teaching " New School' errors.  In 1830, Mr. Barnes was called from Morristown to
Philadelphia, by vote of 54 to 1 in the First Presbyterian Church in that City. The Presbytery
of Philadelphia, after four days of discussion - by vote of 2i to 2 - gave the Church leave to
present the call. Mr. Barnes, on 22 June, after protracted debate. was received to the Presbytery, by vote of 30 to 16. Charges were then presented there against him with a view to prevent
his installation; which the Presbytery decided out of order, 32 to 17. The minority appealed
to Synod, which sustained the complaint, 30 to 8, and enjoined the Presbytery to hear and decide the complaint. Presbytery met 30 November, and adjourned to hear objections. Great
confusion followed, and the whole matter was appealed to the Assembly. That body appears to
have been slightly "packed" -at any rate Dr. Green so complained - and it recognized the
"conscientious zeal" of Mr. Barnes's opponents, but recommended a division of the Presbytery
"in such a way as to promote the peace of its ministers and churches," i.e., to get round the
difficulty by throwing Mr. Barnes and his friends into one Presbytery, and his opponents into
another. The Synod, however, refused to cooperate in this neat arrangement, and the Presbytery remained undivided. Whereupon Mr. Barnes's friends complained to the Assembly of 1832,
which "passed over the contumacy of the Synod as lightly as possible," but ordered the divi.sion. The Synod checkmated the Assembly, however, by dividing, but not in the way proposed- which made a bad matter worse. The next Assembly (1833) heard from all parties by
complaint and appeal: It referred the whole matter to a Committee who, after most patient
incubation, recommended a withdrawal of the complaints, and a general smoothing over of the
whole business, for which "amicable adjustment" God was publicly thanked.  The inveterate
Synod, however, proceeded to " re-arrange" the Presbyteries so as still to harass Mr. Barnes.
Of course appeal was made to the Assembly of 1834, which declared the action of the Synod
void, but " as a peace measure" did not disturb its result; a course against which 38 members
of Assembly protested. The Assembly further made a new Synod, in which the troubled Presbytery could be at peace. The next Assembly -packed again, the other way -(1835) dissolved
the new Synod, and carried Mr. Barnes back to the jurisdiction of his own enemies - he, meanwhile having been tried before his own Presbytery and acquitted. Dr. Junkin appealed from
this decision to the Synod (now once more all right for him- by the late reconstructive act).
But the past records of the Presbytery, covering the date of this trial, were subject only to the
revision of the Synod then existing, but now dissolved, and not to the Synod now having jurisdiction; and the Presbytery refused to furnish them to the Synod. The Synod was not to be
so bluffed off, but censured the Presbytery, and attempted to try Dr. Junkin's appeal; but Mr.
Barnes refused to appear. The Synod suspended him from the ministry, on the ground of holding fundamental errors, by a vote of 116 to 31, and proceeded to extirpate the offensive Presbytery by requiring its members to seek admission to other Presbyteries in six months, or be
declared ipsofarcto cut off from the Presbyterian communion. Whereupon Mr. Barnes demitted
his ministry and appealed to the next Assembly, and the Presbytery appealed also. That As
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WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
efforts now making to procure a reunion of the long separated portions
of that Church, the permanent dilution of the high orthodoxy of
those standards is imminently threatened, while the machinery by
which heresy is sought to be purged excites the criticism of many of
the best friends of the system in which it has its place.1
SECTION 9. Congregationalism is better than any other form of
Churchi polity, because it has a kindlier bearing than any other, toward a republican form of civil government.
We believe such a form of government is the best; and, with the
gradual advance of general intelligence, will be seen to be the best,
for all men. But whether this be so or not, it is our form of Government, and our national prosperity and happiness are so bound up
sembly (1836) - accused of being packed once more, on the " new side,"- spent a week on the
case, and lby 134 to 96, sustained Mr. Barnes's appeal, and by 145 to 78, restored him to the
ministry. Further action followed, including a protest signed by 101 members; but Mr. Barnes
resumed his ministry, and has gone on to the present time, preaching and printing things not
according to the strict standard of the Presbyterian faith; denying our responsibility for Adam's sin, and our inability to obey God, and teaching, generally, " New School" views.  So that,
after six years of turmoil in the attempt to cast him out, the Church by its courts only succeeded in fastening him, and his (by its creed) erroneous views, the more firmly upon itsell; and
in exciting toward him and them more widely the notice and sympathy of the Christian world.
[See Gillett's Hist. Presbyterianism, ii: 460-480; Stansbury's Report of the Trial of Rev. A.
Barnes. New York: 1&36. 12mo. pp. 416; Barnes's Defence, and other Documents. New York:
1836. 12mo. pp. 266; Thefacts in the case of the Rev A. Barnes, ~c. Philadelphia: 1836. pp.
20, &c., &c. Assembly's Dig,est, Ed. 1858, pp. 661 - 705;.dddress of First Pres. Church in POiladelphia to the Presbyterian Churches of the United States, pp. 11.] Similar facts occurred in
the case of Dr. Duffield and Dr. Beecher.  In regard to' packing" Church Courts, some queer
developments might be made.  Dr. Beecher states that on his trial, "the Old School had raked
and scraped all the old dead churches where they could get an Elder, and thought they might
carry the day; it looked squally."  [Autobiography, ii: 357.] - See for further facts on this general subject, Beecler's IVorks, vol. iii: 82-413; Trial of Lyman Beecher on the charge of Her.
esy. New York: 1835. 4to. pp. 83; Trial of Rev. Atex. Bullions. New York: 1831. 8vo. pp. 45.;
Official documents of Presbytery of Albany in Trials of John Chester, Mack Tucker, and Hooper
Curnming,. Schenectady: 1818. 8vo. pp. 255; Narrative of Proceedings of thie Judicatories relatine to Rev. D. Graham. Pittsburgh: 1811. 8vo. pp. 200; Trial of N. S. S. Beman, before the
Troy Presbytery.  Troy: 1827. 8vo. pp. 47; The several Trials of Rev. D. Barclay before the
Presbytery of New Brunswick, ~c. Elizabethtown: 1814. 12mo. pp. 4)5.
1 " Upon any fair calculation of probabilities, how likely is it that a promiscuous assembly
[General Assembly] at Indianapolis will decide a question aright for the whole Church? I have
long looked in vain for any Scripture or rational foundation for supreme' courts' having half
a continent for their scope." [Dr. J. W. Alexander's Forty Years' Familiar Letters, ii: 288.]
The same excellent man was at one time so pressed with his conviction of the evils of the great
Church Courts that he said, " I see but one plan - Reduce the Church to its constituent Pres.
byteries.  These are all that are essential to the notion of a Presbyterian Church." - [lbid, i:
251. See, in this connection, The Constitution of Courts of Appeal in the Presbyterian Church,
by a Pastor. 8vo. pp. 16.]
19
289 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
with it, as to make it of no small consequence that the prevalent religious faith should work kindly with it, and promote it.
Congregationalism was, historically, the mother of our civil liberties. It was so first at Plymouth, and in the Massachusetts Colony.'
It was so, later, in the days of the Revolution.2  And it would seem
1 Bancroft says, speaking of the compact executed 11 November, 1620, "This instrument was
signed by the whole body of men, forty-one in number, who, with their families, constituted
the one hundred and one, the whole colony,' the proper democracy,' that arrived in New England. This was the birth of popular constitutional liberty...... In the cabin of the Mayflower humanity renewed its rights, and instituted government on the basis of'equal laws' for
'the general government.' "- [History United States, i: 310.]  So he adds, "For more than
eighteen years,' the whole body of the male inhabitants' constituted the legislature; the State
was governed like our towns," -he might have added,' like the churches whose principles, expounded by John Robinson, had led to the adoption of this method of civil government  -  as
a strict democracy." - History United States, i: 322.
The historical truth on this subject has been very happily stated by a late able writer, who
says, " There is a connection between the Church Polity of the Pilgrim Fathers and the civil
polity which they adopted, and also between their civil polity and that which the nation subsequently accepted, which has not been sufficiently traced and pondered. The purely democratic
form of Government in the Church at Leyden, already entrenched in the warm affections of the
Pilgrims, led to the adoption of a corresponding form of civil government on board the Mayflower for the Colony at Plymouth. It has been said, and it is true, that it was a Congregational Church meeting that first suggested the idea of a New England town-meeting; and a
New England town-meeting embodies all the germinal principles of our State and national government." - [Wellman's Church Polity of the Pilgrims, pp. 68, 69.] It was the opinion of Mr.
Pitt, that if the Church of England had been efficiently established in the North American Colonies, they would never have refused allegiance to the British crown. - Park's Address before
American Cong. Union, Jan. 1854, p. 13.
One of the bitterest of all the bitter enemies of the Pilgrims has been compelled to concede,
"our country, reaching from sea to sea, received its first impulse in the homely meeting-houses
of Puritanism. Each little band of Pilgrims under its chosen shepherd, was a free and independent State. There was assembled the future caucus-loving nation. There preached the
future patriot, and there listened the war-worn army of liberty. In a century, behold the meeting-house has swelled into the capitol, and the Church members have become citizens of a stupendous empire."- [Oliver's Puritan Comnmonwealth, 493.] So De Tocqueville says our fathers
" brought with them to the New World a form of Christianity, which I cannot better describe
than by styling it a democratic and republican religion. This contributed powerfully to the
establishment of a republic and a democracy in public affairs."- [Democracy in America (Bowen's Ed.) i: 384.] And John Adams always named the Congregational churches of New Engand as chief among the causes of their civil progress.-[ 1rorks, iii: 400; v: 495.]  David Hale
said, "if Congregationalism does not unavoidably lead to the establishment of a democracy,
it certainly favors that form of government." - -Life and Writings, 276.
2 " The late Dr. Fishback, of Lexington, Ky., a few years since, made the following statement,
which he received from the late Rev. Andrew Tribble, who died at the age of about 93 years.
Mr. Tribble was pastor of a small Baptist Church, near Mr. Jefferson's residence, in the State
of Virginia, eight or ten years before the American Revolution. Mr. Jefferson attended the
meetings of the Church for several months, in succession, and after one of them, asked the
worthy pastor to go home and dine with him, with which request he complied.
Mr. Tribble asked Mr. Jefferson how he was pleased with their Church government? Mr
Jefferson replied, that its propriety had struck him with great force, and had greatly interested
him; adding that he considered it the only form of pure democracy which then existed in the
290 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
a natural inference that the same polity which gave us a Republic
would be most favorable, in all its workings, to the permanent welfare of the State.
And if we look into the structure of the system, we shall see that
being itself a democracy, training all its members to individual responsibility and labor -under the highest and purest pressure of
minotive-its natural tendencies and influences will be as much better
for a Republic than those of its antagonist systems,as the training of
a merchant-man is kindlier than that of a cotton-mill to fit sailors for
a man-of-war.
It has, indeed, been urged that the Presbyterian system is more
nearly allied to the American civil government than our own; it
being claimed that in its graded courts of Sessions, Presbyteries,
Synods, and General Assembly, it resembles our civil ranks of towns,
counties, States, and the Federal Union.' It is well nigh incredible,
however, how such a remark can be honestly made, by any person in
the remotest degree in possession of the facts in the case. The fundamental principle of our Republicanism is, that every man is equal
in the eye of the law, and that every citizen shall contribute his
share of sagacity, influence, power, and force, to the common task of
governing the nation. So long as it was possible, the republic met
en masse;2 and then, as a concession to necessity, a local community
deputed some one of their number to go and cast their votes and
utter their voice, coming back continually - through fresh election -
to receive anew their deputized will. As the States grew to a nation,
this system of deputed power and responsibility gradually expanded
world, and had concluded that-it would be the best plan of government for the American Colonies." - Belcher's Relig,ious Denominations in the United States, 184.
So John Wise's famous Vindication of the Government of the Churches of New England, was
twice re-printed a short time before the Revolutionary war, and its list of subscribers shows
that it was called for by a large number of men then prominent in civil life. This contains
[pp. 22 -43, Ed. of 1772,] a thorough discussion of forms of government, and an earnest plea
for a democracy in the State, in connection with its consideration of democracy in the Church.
"I regard the Revolution as the legitimate fruit of Congregationalism...... The principle
of the independence of churches or congregations..... is, in fact, the republican principle."
-Dr. Lamson's Congregationalism, pp. 16, 17.
1 " The Presbyterian Church possesses more analogies with our excellent confederated Republic than can be found elsewhere, and moves on with our political government pari passu;
two free federative republics, one spiritual, the other temporal; neither infringing on the
rights, nor curtailing the privileges of the other." - The Presbyterian's Handbook of the
Church, p. 17.
2 Bancroft's History United States, i: 322.
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CONGREGATIONALISM.
and framed and balanced itself into our present town, State, and Fede
ral system. But it never has been severed from its original stock, and
to-day every member of every State Legislature and every Senator
in Congress, gets the sap which keeps him in official life from this
old root of free, and frequently renewed, delegation from the votes
of the masses of individual citizens. This is in exact accord of prin
ciple with the working of Congregationalism, which indeed deputes
no legislatures nor senates, because all its republics are local, and
can meet and do all their work at first hand; and so it is not compelled to that concession to necessity which ha3 been referred to. Its
working, therefore, is identical with that of our government in its
initial, and purest form, being even more republican than it is possible for the huge Republic to be.
The system of Presbyterianism, on the contrary, is in essence a
purely aristocratic system. When one of its churches is formed, its
membership do indeed, elect their Elders by ballot; but subsequently
whenever the office- which is of life tenure- becomes in any one
case vacant, the Elders still in office nominate the new incumbent, or
he is nominated by a committee, appointed half by the Church, half
by the Session, and the Church confirm.' Years may thus pass during which the membership of the Church are never appealed to for
their judgment on any question whatsoever. They have no voice in
the admission of new members to their own body. They have no
voice in the discipline of members of their own body. They have no
voice in regard to any Church concerns. All is done for them by
the Session, which carries its judgments up to the Presbytery, Synod,
and Assembly.
To say that this is like our republicanism is as much as to say that
it would be no change in our civil system, if, instead of frequent
town-meetings, in which every voter expresses his preference for his
representatives in the Legislature, and in Congress; for Governor
and President, &c.; and-  directly or remotely -in regard to all
matters of town, county, State, and National concerns (e.g., like
the Slavery amendment to the National Constitution,) &c.; the
"Selectmen" of our towns, and the Mayors and Aldermen of our
cities should-  once chosen   hold for life, and take into their own
hands the election of all superior officials, and run the nation; the
1 Handbook of the Church, 34, 118.
292 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
people merely doing the drudgery and paying the bills! Possibly
some man may be so astute as to suppose that a proposition to make
such a little change as this, would meet with no opposition in this
land as a radically anti-republican measure; if so, let him with all
his might assert the "more analogies" which Presbyterianism has
than Congregationalism, to "our excellent confederated Republic!" 1
As to the hierarchal forms of Church government, they can, of
course, make no pretense to any sympathy, as such, with our civio
system.  They- as such - would prefer a regulated monarchy;
and should the question ever be left to them for settlement, they
would doubtless make such preference manifest.
SECTION 10. Finally, we urge that Congregationalism has preeminence over other Church polities, in the fact that its obvious advantages are organic and peculiar to itself, while what may seem to be its
disadvantages, in contrast with opposing systems, are merely incidental
to the imperfections with which it has been worked, and will be removed by a more faithful application of its principles.
We have claimed, as its inherent advantages over other systems,
its superior practicability, simplicity, and spirituality; its remarkable
development of general intelligence, and the sense of individual responsibility; its readier conservation of a just and faithful discipline; its influence in making its ministry studious, devout, independent, useful, permanent; its easier adaptation to the works of pious
benevolence; its safeguards against heresy; and its peculiar fitness
to American society, in its kindlier bearing toward our form of civil
government. All these advantages are structural, and not accidental; growing naturally out of the peculiarities of the system, and
therefore to be found, except as exotic, in none of its opposites.
On the other hand, those features in which other systems sometimes seem to excel us, put us at a disadvantage, in the comparison,
only because of our own unfaithfulness to the capabilities of our system.  Thus, it is an apparent advantage, which our Methodist brethren sometimes have over us, that- by means of their compact and
powerfuil organization, with its central trcasury - they can send a
I I have referred to Jefferson's estimate of Congregationalism, and to his conviction of its
salubrity for a Republic. It is not unfair, in this connection, to add a word of his judgment
of Presbyterianism, where, writing to Dr. Cooper, 14 Aug. 1820, he refers to "the ambitious
sect of Presbyterians, indeed the Loyalists of our country."-Works, vii: 70.
293 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
preacher to a place that cannot sustain him, and keep him there until
he can develop strength enough to build up a permanent Church upon
the spot. But when the sisterhood of Congregational churches becomes fully awake to its missionary responsibilities, and ready to perform all its Church Extension duties, its hand will be stretched out
toward all such remote places; and churches will be established
there, more in sympathy with the genius loci than the despotic Wesleyan system will permit. Nothing needs to be added to our system,
nor anything taken from it, to give it this new efficiency; we only
need to live better up to its fraternal capabilities. So, if we mistake
not, it will be found to be, in every other particular in which any
other system may have us at a temporary disadvantage. The superior' order' of the stately hierarchies, so far as it really is any better
than our own, is only supplemental, and not antagonist to it, and will
be superinduced upon ours, as we grow in grace, and in the knowledge and practice of Godliness.
It is curious, indeed, to see how the systems that oppose us are
compelled, when in stress of difficulty, to forsake their own first principles and appeal to ours. Thus, it is a first principle with us, that the
last appeal is to the people. It is a first principle in the English
Church, on the contrary, that the last appeal is to "the Church,"
meaning a hierarchal organism, headed by the Queen, and officered
by Archbishops, Bishops, &c. But, let some Churchman be censured
and degraded   as he thinks, unjustly - by the proper tribunal, and
you will at once see him appealing to the people, through the press,
and pleading his cause with them, in the hope of so stirring up a
popular commotion, as to convince his judges that their own safety
requires the reversal of his sentence. And, if he succeed well in his
effort, you will see his judges pleading their cause before the same
people in defence of what they have done, both parties thus committing a solecism to their first principles, coming over to our position,
practically confessing that the ultimate power and right of judging,
after all, are with the people; and seeking to do indirectly by public sentiment, what we do directly by vote. So, in the great Presby.
terian division, when the exscinding acts of the General Assembly
of 1837, cut off, at one blow, "nearly one-fifth of the entire membership of the Church;" 1 declaring- without trial, or even citation
1 GriUett's History Presbyterian Church, p. 517.
294 
WHY CONGREGATIONALISM IS BEST.
- by snap-judgment, a number of Synods and Presbyteries which
had made themselves obnoxious, for various causes, to the Old
School majority of that Assembly, to be "out of the Ecclesiastical
connection of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and no
longer in form or fact, an integral portion of said Church;" 1 that
Church was compelled to desert its own principles and appeal to
ours; to go before the tribunal of its own private membership for its
last appeal, and as the result of that appeal, great efforts are now
making, year by year, to undo all that was then done, and relieve
the good sense of the world of the absurdity of the one indivisible Presbyterian Church of the United States, showing itself in
the shape of "two denominations, each claiming the same title,
adopting the same standards, and, to a considerable extent, occupying
the same field, and represented by its General Assembly." 2
The Old School Assembly, which insists that the "standards" shall
be especially interpreted as teaching the "innate, hereditary, sinful
corruption of nature; the sinner's inability to repent and believe
without the supernatural aid of the spirit, and the sovereignty of
God in election,"3 is dependent upon the faith of its constituent Church
members in the strict construction of those doctrines; and in that
moment when the masses of those Church members favor the milder
interpretations of the "New School," the Old School ceases to be, as
inevitably, as if, like Congregationalists, they assumed that the power
is in the hands of Christ's people, under him.
In the matter of discipline, as well, the hierarchal sects are, in the
last result, driven to stand on essentially Congregational ground.
If a Church functionary, or Church Court, deposes or disciplines a
man, unjustly- in the judgment of the masses of its communionthe pressure of public sentiment will be almost certain soon to compel a reversal of the act.
We shall doubtless be reminded in this connection of the fact,
stated by us early in this volume,4 that there are some thirteen or
1 Gillett's History Presbyterian Church, p. 513.
2 Ibid, p. 553. This is not the worst of the matter, however. There are eight or ten distinct
Presbyterian organisms -each of which is "The Church " in this country, involving, according to the Princeton Review, (which ought to know,) " not only the evils of sectarian jealousy
and rivalry, but the enormous waste of men, labor, and money." -  Princeton Review, xxxvii:
272.
Princeton Review, xxxvii: 309.                                  4 See page 5.
295 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
fourteen hundred churches in this country which are, in substance,
Congregationally governed, and which are yet avowedly and fatally
heretical in their creed - so far as they have any; and shall be
asked to reconcile that fact with the argument of this chapter.
Nothing is easier than to do so. While their existence, and what
measure of thrift they possess, are a continued demonstration of the
needlessness of hierarchal institutions, and a proof that Congregationalism, even in its most imperfect and erroneous development, has
important advantages over all other forms of Church Polity; it is
enough to say that by ignoring two of its fundamental principles (that
the Bible is to be taken in its uttermost exactness of honest literal
meaning as our guide, and that hopeful piety be an indispensable condition of Church membership) they have hindered our system from
working its spiritually purgative work upon them, and made themselves thus exceptional to its beneficent tendencies, without, in any
degree, impairing the proof that they exist.
296 
CHAPTER V.
WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT IT?
This is the practical question which sums up all. We do not
propose to go into any answer in full detail, but merely to throw out
a few suggestions as the seeds of thought, and, so far as God please,
of action.
We have seen that Congregationalism is that democratic form of
Ecclesiastical order and government, which Christ and the Apostles
established in the earliest days of the Christian Church, and which
emerged from the hierarchal eclipse of fourteen hundred years into
which it was speedily thrown, in immediate connection with the
blessing of God upon the pious studies, labors, and sufferings of our
Pilgrim fathers. We have seen that it is grounded upon the teachings of Christ, and the testimony of the Apostles; that all its essential principles are immutably founded upon the rock of Scriptural precept, and example, and buttressed on every side by the clearest deductions of pure reason. We have seen how its system works in general,
and in detail. And we have seen how and why it is better than any
other form of Church polity:-in its nearer accordance with the mind
of Christ; its superior practicableness of working; its especial stimulation of general intelligence; its eminent furtherance of piety in its membership; its peculiar promotion of that discipline on which purity depends in the Church; its extraordinary kindliness toward its ministry, and their work; its singular adaptation to those revivals, which
are the life of the Church, and the hope of the world; its inapproachable facilities for the Gospel treatment of false doctrine and heresy;
and its unique congeniality with the working of those republican institutions, which are indeed its own gift to the world.   We have
further seen how all these considerations are hightened by the fact
that these advantages of Congregationalism are innate and organic,
while what sometimes seem to be its disadvantages in contrast with
(297) 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
the working of other and hostile systems, are incidental to present
imperfections in its development, and will disappear of themselves,
as it grows to do its perfect work.
In view of these considerations, and such as these, which will
crowd upon every reflecting mind having due cognizance of the
facts, it becomes an inquiry of special interest, what duty rests upon
the believers in this system of polity.
We suggest:   1. Congregationalists should recognize the fact that Congregationalism is a polity. They have been too apt to esteem it as rather
the negation of a system. They ought to see that it is an orderly,
self-consistent, compact, and singularly perfect plan of Christian
working; more nearly adapted than any other to the needs of individual human nature and the necessities of the advancing intelligence of
the world; and quite as sharply defined in its qualities, and as imperative in its duties growing out of them, as any polity with which
it competes among men. Like our form of civil government, it sits
loosely upon loyal shoulders, and seldom forces itself upon the
thought of the obedient and the faithfiul; but it has as distinct an
entity as that government itself, and, like that, will not fail to make
itself felt as a corrective upon the offender. So far from being nowhere as a philosophy and a doctrine; not Rome herself with her
canons and decretals has a position for her devotees, and a demand
upon them, any more thoroughly self-consistent, or distinctly defined,
than Congregationalism has for her disciples.
2. Congregationalists ought to comprehend the fact not only that
they have a polity, but that they have that polity which Christ especially loves and would promote. His own directions for Church
life, as we have seen, cannot be applied to any other system without
violence; while our simple, unostentatious, and spiritual methods are
such as most entirely comport with what he was, and what he loved,
and what he did, and what he desires. It must be that it is a part
of that "travail of his soul," which is the Millenium he shall be satisfied with seeing, that his cause here should be brought back from
all false and formal and worldly ways, to that simplicity that is in
him; until we all do this in remembrance of him, in that way in
which he did it, and in which it was done, and caused to be done, by
those who saw him oftenest, and loved him most, and knew him best,
and followed him nearest.
298 
WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT IT.
3. Congregationalists ought to master their polity in its grand
general scope, and in all its minutest details. The fact that it has
no "Book" in which is a written code; that it has no authoritative
exposition of what the Bible teaches, and the churches should practice; makes this duty of especial importance. The two foci of our
ellipse are, on the one side, the independence of the local Church,
and on the other, the mutual friendship and helpful co-working of all
local churches. Around and from these two centres, the circumference of duty is drawn, and it is for each man's conscience, enlightened by the word of God and by prayer, to sweep that including
line for himself, and decide what things fall of necessity within it,
and what things lie inexorably outside of it. The fact that others
have gone over the ground before, and have left more or less record
of their solution of the question at issue, may help him- must help
him-  but cannot supersede his duty of working out the problem
for himself. Common sense, guided by a devout spirit, can hardly
fail to lead the honest inquirer into essential truth in all his deductions from the first principles of our system; while the circumstance
that a great diversity sometimes exists in Congregational practices
of minor import, is much more an illustration of the historical fact
that we have heedlessly borrowed our usages from surrounding polities in some points incongruous with our own, than an argument
against the safety of the deductions of individual research.
It is a disgrace to our denomination, that, in so many instances, its
members are so helplessly ignorant of its plainest requisitions. But
the disgrace attaches to the weak concessions of the past to the influences of Presbyterianism, and the so great commingling of the
two polities in the broad field of the West, rather than to the system
itself; as if its natural tendency were to make its disciples unaware
what manner of spirit they are of. They owe it to themselves to
know. They owe it to their Master, and to the world for whom he
died, to know, and to know assuredly.
4. Congregationalists ought to appreciate the fact that no other
polity can be so helpfiul as their own to this land in its immense, and
now immensely augmenting need. The days when American Congregationalism was impudently assumed by those who did not desire
it at the West, and weakly conceded by those who did not understand it at the East, to be constitutionally ineffective, irrelevant, and
299 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
exotic beyonid Byram river, have passed a long way into history.
Eighteen  hundred and thirty- near two thirds- of her  2,947
churchles; 1,527 of her 3,063 ministers; and 99,116 of her 283,587
Church members, are now  catalogued in "the regions beyond."
Congregational churches have demonstrated to a not overwilling
world, that they can live and thrive anywhere and everywhere, where
Christ has redeemed people whom he desires should be banded together to serve him, and where it is his purpose to have his kingdom
come. The purity of the republicanism of our system, and the
stimulus which it affords to popular education, make it directly subservient to the cause of sound civil government in this nation, as no
other system can be; while, at the present time, when all the forms of
hierarchy are hampered by their unyielding organism, or by something
in their past record, which stands in the way of their meeting the new
demands of the opening free South for Christian aid, guidance, and reconstruction, it offers itself, as, on the one hand, actually fitted by all
its peculiarities, and on the other hand, passively prepared by all that
it is not, and has not been, and done, as no other can be for the great
and glorious work. Its professors ought to enlarge their minds to
the fullest comprehension of all that the Lord is now making possible
for them to do, that they may justify the Master's hope for them by
fulfilling that Master's purpose of blessing for the world through
them.
5.  Congregationalists ought to feel that their polity is preeminently the polity of revivals, and so the best hope of the kingdom of
God on earth; and feeling this they ought to work it in that aim,
and to that end. The watchword of glorious old Lyman Beecher,
"6 revivals are the hope of the Church," ought to be their battle cry.
They believe in revivals. They are not afraid of them. Their
whole system is congruous with them, and trains all whom it fitly influences, just as they need to be trained, to promote them. And the
history of the Congregationalism of New England, almost for the
last one hundred years, has been such a history of revivals as it is
believed no other churches on earth could ever show. And now
that the world, and our nation, need revivals of pure and undefiled
religion as they were never needed before, and as God is throwing
open avenues to human hearts as they were never opened before,
Congregationalists will be the most ungrateful, as well as faithless,
Soo 
WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT IT.
of all people of God, if they do not awake to righteousness, and
develop to the utmost the beneficent powers with which God has entrusted them.
6.  Congregationalists, understanding that they have a politythat polity which Christ founded and loves, and comprehending it
in all its breadth of detail, and appreciating the significance of its
healthy extension to the civil welfare of the nation, and to the religious welfare of the world; ought to determine, by the grace of
God, to use all honorable means to secure its prevalence through the
land and over the world. They need no longer be afraid of the cry
of "Congregational Puseyism." 1  They need no longer shrink before
the Presbyterian sneer at the sectarian propagation of their distinctive principles, as if for Congregationalists to do anything to promote Congregationalism, were to commit one of those blunders which
are worse than a crime. And why, forsooth, in the name of all goodness, may not Congregationalists propagate their distinctive principles-  so be that they do it in an honorable and Christian manner
with as much self-respect and as much other respect, as the believers
in any less Scriptural form of faith? Why ought they not to do it?
What is there "funny" in the idea, that they should have "distinctive" principles - except it may be that their own impotence for so
long in setting them forth, has prepared the world to believe that they
are without them? Is not the Gospel principle of the independence
and self-completeness of the local Church as really a "distinctive"
principle, as its corrupt hierarchal opposite; and, being taught of God
that it is the truth, and that all other theories of the Church are
grounded in error and fraught with harm, are Congregationalists to
be despised, because they contend manfuilly for the faith once delivered to the saints?
By no means. The world always respects earnest men, even
when it cannot agree with them. And it is because so many nominal Congregationalists have dillydallied and shilly-shallied over
their polity, so long and so apologetically, and proved themselves so
1 Dr. Rice came in this evening from his mission to the Massachusetts General Association at
Pepperell.  He says the Congregationalists are blowing up the sectarian flame very hard, and
laboring to propagate their'distinctive' principles.   Congregational  Puseyism  is funny
enough! "-Letter, of date, 29 June, 184. - Forty Years' Familiar Letters, of J. T. Alexander, D. D., ii: 54.
301 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
ready to leave it on the slightest occasion,1 and so anxious to have it
understood that it unites the maximum of agreement with everybody
else, to the minimum of self-coherence and self-consistence, that they
have excited toward it-  or toward this wretched caricature of it
the pity of some, the contempt of others, and the misapprehension
of all.
It is high time for every member of the denomination to awake
out of sleep, to study its system until he discovers that it has' distinctive' principles, and to become so steeped in them, and possessed
by the thought of the good that is in them for a clamoring country
and a waiting world, as to feel that nothing will suit his utterance
short of those energetic words of Peter and John, and he' cannot not
speak 2 the things which he has seen and heard. When he is thus
aroused, and has made himself intelligent in his own faith, appreciative of it, and enthusiastic for it, several things will be likely to
occur to him as desirable to be done to promote it- such as some
of these:  (1.) It should be preached as a system which Christ and the
Apostles shaped, and which ought to be made clear in what it is,
what it is not, and what it demands, to all true believers. As it is a
system especially for the lay masses- one which peculiarly honors,
blesses, and leans upon them- it should be made especially familiar
to them, until a public sentiment is created which esteems the quasi
boast not now infrequently heard from the lips of Congregational
ministers-" I believe I have never preached on the distinctive principles of Congregationalism, in my life, so that I surely cannot be
called very sectarian," to be, rather, a humiliating confession of professional malfeasance, and personal cowardice.   Without ringing
changes upon it, without tiring people with it, and making a hobby
of it, Congregationalism ought to be expounded from its own pulpits
with sufficient frequency to indoctrinate the people thoroughly in its
essence and excellence, and to save the young, especially, from those
snares which the systems of more hierarchal pomp and splendor will
be very likely to set for their giddy feet.
(2.) Distinctively Congregational Missions, home and foreign,
should be supported by all Congregational churches, in preference to
1 Of a Presbyterian call, provided it be reasonably " loud."
2 Acts, iv: 20. "ev  vvaj,ueOa Trl XaXctv."
302 
WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT IT.
all others. In regard to foreign missions, it is not indeed needful
that there be any pledge that mission churches should take the
Congregational form - that, Providence, through the inherent necessities of the case, will sufficiently secure.- All that is needed is
that the missions be not distinctively pledged to any hierarchy.
As to home missions, the case is different. Believing, as we do,
that no Church but a Congregational Church can be fully Scriptural,
reasonable, or preferable in this land, it is natural that we should demand that, in the matter of a Society whose work is to found churches
in the distant West and South, there should be some security that
our money does not go to pull down what we believe to be truth, in
the interest of that which we believe to be error. Of course any Evangelical Church is better than none, and where the question must be
(for any reason) between no Church at all, or one of Evangelical
faith of some other polity, we could not hesitate to authorize such a
concession to Providence. But the cases must be very few where,
when the especial fitness of Congregationalism for "fresh woods
and pastures new" is understood, it will not seem best to all concerned to let the new organism begin with the Scripture, and not
with the traditions of the Elders. The West is no longer preempted
to Presbyterianism. And in some parts of the South, they have had
quite Presbyterianism enough- such as it was - to last them until
the rebellion shall be forgotten, and its blood-stains fade. There is
no reason why- in due comity to all less Scriptural competitors,
and with no enmity toward anybody,- the Congregational churches
should not take the blessing of Napthali, and'possess the West
and the South.' 2
(3.) Congregationalists - since their system more than any other,
both promotes intelligence and depends upon it - should abundantly
endow, and then thoroughly use, their existing (and all needed additional) Colleges and Theological Seminaries. It is deplorable that
they have so long neglected their own interests in this regard. If
the Seminary at Andover had always been (as it now is, and is to be)
a thoroughly Congregational institution, with a trumpet uttering a
certain and a Scriptural sound upon the question of Church polity;
it may well be doubted whether our Congregationalism at the West
might not now have been of double its present strength. Men for
1 see page 277.                                 2 Deut. xx4Li: 28.
303
.1  page 277.
2 Deut. — 2Wi: 23. 
CONGREGATIONALISM.
many years went forth thence instructed that the Congregationalism
of New England lacked some of the very elements which Presbyterianism offered,1 and that, at any rate, "it was best for Congregationalists to become Presbyterians when they moved to the West." 2
That folly is now outgrown,8 and yet it may well be questioned
whether there is not room for improvement in the tone of all our
New England Seminaries upon this question. Congregationalists,
whom God has blessed with abundant wealth, should endow these
Seminaries so amply, that there shall no longer be inducement for
our young men to seek an education within their slender means in
other Seminaries out of New England, and become Presbyterianized
in the process.4
Every Pastor, and indeed every Church officer, ought to be inquiring now for young men of piety and talents, who may be, as soon
as possible, put in training in these institutions for the great need of
the churches and the world. There is danger of a speedy famine
of ministers, unless the ranks of preparation are quickly and amply
filled.
(4.) Congregationalists should purify the practical working of their
system from those inconsistencies which now, on the one hand, detract from its usefulness and acceptance within, and, on the other,
impair its good name, and so hinder its progress, without.5 We here
refer, more particularly, to those not very unusual crude, ill-judged,
and hasty procedures in which some simple fundamental principle of
our polity is violated, in the endeavor to right some felt wrong;as where a Council, called for some specific purpose, and for that
only, being in session, and becoming cognizant of some apparent evil
which it thinks it possible to cure, makes an uncalled for deliverance
in regard to it - to the alienation of those who may be aggrieved by
their procedure, and who have sense enough to perceive its unconstitutionality; or where a Conference of Churches, (by its very funda
I Dr. Woods's Works, ii: 577-83.                 2 Congregationalist, 15 Mar. 18(1.
8 Dr. Woods repented of his judgment in this respect before his death. In July, 1844, he said,
"I have altered my opinion. I think the Congregationalists ought to remain such, at the
West. The house is not large enough for two families, and each family ought to have its own
separate tenement."-Ibid.
4 It is greatly to be hoped not only that the new plans at Andover may be carried out, but
that the East Windsor Seminary may receive an ample endowment on its contemplated remoal to Hartford, so that those young men of Old School preferences, who would not be happy
-or think they would not -at Andover, or Bangor, or New Haven, need not be driven to
Princeton, as so many of them now seem to be.
5 See Appendix F
304 
WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT IT.
mental constitution, to the last degree, destitute of the faintest shad ow of power over the churches) with a good motive in a particular
case, practically decides, by some indirect yet effectual vote, that a
given Church is not a Church in good and regular standing; or
where an association of ministers (which is as purely a voluntary as sociation as a sewing circle or a debating club,) on what it thinks to
be due cause, and because it judges that the thing ought to be done,
and does not instantly discern in what other, and regular way, the
end desired may be reached, professes to depose from the ministry
some erring brother whose name may happen to be on its list of
membership. [See Appendix G.]
It is humiliating that the doctors of our law are not sometimes
better instructed in its principles than they prove themselves to be,
but so it is.  And some of them are in great danger of thinking
that because our system is not a very rigid one, therefore almost
anything, which it seems desirable to have done, may be rightly done,
in almost any manner. Any end which God in his Providence sets
before it may indeed be reached through it, - there is no doubt of
that. But there is a right way, and a wrong way of procedure toward every end, and it is of very great consequence that our system
be sufficiently understood by its professors, to secure the right doing
always of all that needs to be done in the churches.
Our great danger is from a distrust of our own first principles. We
are afraid to do right and trust God, and wait. Some among us often
long for a "strong government" by which a heretic could be at once
compelled to renounce our name, and his Church compelled to accept
some other teacher. They do not see that the only force that is
"strong" enough to deal successfully with such a case, is that of truth
and time which, under God, will bring all right, and quicker under
the moral appliances of our system than under the sharper force of
any other.
(5.) Congregationalists ought to cultivate a spirit of unity and
concord and co-working, that shall do such justice as has never
yet been done to their great fundamental principle of the communion of the churches. They do not need a General Assembly,
nor a General Convention, nor any great overshadowing all-engulfing
hierarchy. But they do need to understand each other, to love each
other, to trust each other, and to plan to work with each other.
20
305 
C ONGREGATIONALISM.
The good old Synodic way of meeting together for general counsel
upon matters of common concernment, is fragrant in our history, and,
as we experienced it a few years since, in the "Albany Convention,"
it did great good, and little or no harm. And it may be hoped, and
confidently expected, that that new Synod of Boston - under the
more appreciable and appropriate modern name of Council- which
is soon to be held, may make suggestions in this, and other directions,
which shall be of incalculable benefit; as the result of which the
world shall see that a denomination of churches, simply affiliated by
sisterhood in Christ, is more homogeneous, more strong, beneficent
and practical, than any hierarchy that the world ever saw.1
(6.) A few minor suggestions practical to the daily experiences
of the churches, and mainly in answer to questions actually raised on
points touched only remotely, if at all, in what has gone before, will
be considered in the Appendix.2
The Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers, -let
Him not leave us nor forsake us; that He may incline our hearts
unto Him; to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments,
and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our
fathers. AMEN.
1 s*o      U            See APPENDIx L
306
I B APPENDS H.
s See AppNsDix I. 
APPENDIX. 
f 
APPENDIX.
A.
SUFFRAGE IN CONGREGATIONAL
CHURCHES.
IN the first edition of this work, on page 39, it was said, "the
only exception to this [that every member of a Church has equal
rights, powers, and privileges with every other member] is the
express curtailment, by Paul, of some portion of the prerogatives
of females; with such practical modification as good sense may
suggest in the case of very young and inexperienced members -
which exceptions will be subsequently considered in another connection." It was one of the ill results of that fragmentary process
of preparation, which was inevitable under the circumstances of
its composition, and was freely confessed in the preface of the
book, that this promise of further discussion of the questions thus
referred to was overlooked, and so failed to be kept. That omission will here be remedied.
The question whether females and minors ought to vote in Congregational Churches, may be considered in three aspects, - in the
light of Congregational usage, of Scripture, and of reason.
I.  What is Congregational usage on this question?-  The
Congregational usage of the matter develops itself in the views
of the prominent expounders of the system,-whose judgment
at once shaped, and accorded with, the common practice. The
subject naturally thrust itself into the earliest discussions of the
whole topic of Church-membership, and references to it crop out
all along the extended discussion which preceded and followed
the settlement of New England.  A few of these allusions to it -
FEMALE AND MINOR 
APPENDIX.
fairly testifying their general quality- it may-be well to examine.
Let us begin with John Robinson.  In his 7ustzifction of Seiaration, A.D. I6IO, he says [ Works, ii: 215]: -
And for women, they are debarred by their sex, as from ordinary prophesying, so from any other dealing wherein they take authority over the man,
(I Cor. xiv: 34, 35; I Tim. ii: II, I2), yet not simply from speaking: they
may make profession of faith, or confession of sin, say amen to the church's
prayers, sing psalms vocally, accuse a brother of sin, witness an accusation, or defend themselves being accused, yea, in a case extraordinary,
namely where no man will, I see not l)ut a woman may reprove the church,
rather than suffer it to go on in apparent wickedness, and communicate
with it therein.
Now for children, and such as are not of years of discretion, God and
nature dispenseth with them, as for not communicating in the Lord's Supper now, so under the law for not offering sacrifices, from which none of
years were exempted; neither is there respect of persons with God in the
common duties of Christianity.
A few years later the Congregational Church in London sent a
letter, containing six qutestions, to John Robinson's Church in Leyden, asking for their judgment on the same. Robinson drew up
an answer to the letter, and read it to his Church, who adopted it
as their own by unanimous consent; and it was then sent to London. The sixth question asked was " whether women have voices
with men in the judgments of the churches?" The reply to it
was as follows [ Works, iii: 385]:
The Apostle teacheth plainly the contrary (I Cor. xiv:34; I Tim. ii: I2,
I4). And though he speak particularly of prophesying and teaching, yet
lays he down a more general rule, forbidding all such speaking, as in which
authority is usurped over the man, which is done specially in judgments.
And if a woman may not so much as move a- question in the church for
her instruction, how much less may she give a voice or utter a reproof for
censure?
Robinson again refers to the subject in his 7ust and Nrecessary
Apology for the Brownists, A.D. I625, where, in defining who are
the " people" for whose power in the Church he is pleading,'he
says [ Works, iii: 43]:
By the people whose liberty, and right in voting, we thus avow and stand
for, in matters truly public and ecclesiastical, we do not understand, as it
hath pleased some contumeliously to upbraid us, women, and children; but
31o 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
only men, and them- grown, and of discretion: making account, that as
children by their nonage, so women by their sex are debarred of the use of
authority in the church (I Cor. xiv: 34, 35; I Tim. ii: I2).
And, once again, Robinson refers more at large and argumentatively to the subject in his People's Plea for  the Exercise of
Prop~hecy,  against  YMr..7ohn 2ates his M~onopolie, A.D.  i6i8
[ Works, iii: 328]:  The prohibition of women by the apostle is perpetual, and not with respect to this, or that time, as appears by the reasons thereof both in this
place, and in the Epistle to Timothy, and such as equally belong to former
times and latter: and no more to the latter end, than to the beginning or
middle time of the manifestation of the grace and goodness of Christ.
What can be more absurd than to say that these reasons, "The woman
must be under obedience (i Cor. xiv: 34), and not usurp authority over the
man, but be in silence, because Adam was first formed, then Eve, and
Adam was not seduced, but the woman," &c. (I Tim. ii: I2-14), were not
moral and perpetual? Were not those reasons and grounds for women's
silence in the church, without extraordinary dispensation by miraculous
inspiration, of as great force seven years before, as when Paul wrote this
Epistle?  It is therefore most clear, that the apostle aims not at all at any
ceasing of the gift of extraordinary prophecy now going on, but at the
universal and absolute restraint and prohibition of womeni's prophesying,
not extraordinary but ordinary....
Doth the apostle in these places only forbid their speaking uncovered,
and permit them to teach so it be veiled? or forbids he only their being as
forward as their husbands, but gives them leave to speak in the church so
it be with good manners, and after them, which his answer insinuates?
Or, is it not evident to all that will not shut their eyes, that he simply, and
that severely prohibits them all speaking whatsoever in this exercise? Are
not the words plain enough?
This does not bear directly upon woman's voting, but it very
distinctly affirms indirectly the spirit of all that he has before said
upon that subject, and indicates his idea of the unchangeable permanence of the views which he draws from the word of God
upon it.
Cotemporary with Robinson was Henry Ainsworth, pastor of
the Brownist Church in Amsterdam.  In his Animnadversion, to
lAfr. Richard Clyfton's Advertisemnent, printed at Amsterdam,
in 16i3, he replied to Clyfton's inquiry whether, if the greater part
of a Church were composed of women and children, it would be a
Church still, as follows [p. 4I]:
3 II 
APPENDIX.
The whole church of men, women, and children, are to be present at
ecclesiastical judgments, as at all other public administrations of the
church, where whatsoever is performed is done by " prayer and the ministration of the Word" (Acts vi: 4), that all may receive instruction by the
Word there ministered, and as it is written, " All Israel may hear and fear,
and do no more any such wickedness" (Deut. xiii: II; xvii: I3). But no
other to have voices or suffrages in examinations, &c., than they that
have voices or suffrages in election or deposition of officers. And they
well know it was never our judgment or practice, that, in elections, women
or children should " give their voices;" the apostle, and nature itself, requiring women to be " silent" in the church.
One of the earliest records of the views of the fathers of New
England on this subject which has been preserved, occurs in the
Answer of the Elders, A.D. I643, written by Richard Mather.
The sixteenth of the two and thirty questions sent over from
England by " divers Ministers" for answer, was this: " Whether
doe you not permit Women to Vote in Church matters?" to
which the following reply was made [p. 6o]:
The rule is expresse and plaine that women ought not to speake in the
Church, but to be in silence (I Cor. xiv: 34; I Tim. ii: II, i2). And therefore they ought not to vote in Church matters; besides voting imports
some kind of government, and authority and power: now it is not government and authority, but subjection and obedience which belongs unto
women, by the rule, and so is the practice of women amongst us.
John Cotton, in his Keyes of the Kingdom  of Heaven, A.D.
i644, alludes to the subject only incidentally  as, with his views
of Church power, he could hardly have been expected to do so
directly - in replying to an objection urged against telling offences
to the whole Church. The objector says: in the Church a woman
may not speak- but if offenders may give an account of their
offence to a whole Church they may be obliged to speak, as they
may be offenders. To which Cotton says [p. 44]: -
When the Apostle forbiddeth women to speak in the church, he meaneth,
speaking partly by way of authority, as in publick praying or prophesying
in the Church (I Tim. ii: I2); partly by way of bold inquiry, in asking
questions publickly of the Prophets in the face of the Church (I Cor. xiv:
34). But to answer it: If the whole Congregation [i. e. of the Church]
have taken just offence at the open sin of a woman, she is bound as
much to give satisfaction to the whole Congregation, as well as to the Presbyterie.
312 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
With such a platform it would be impossible not to infer how
vigorous Cotton's condemnation would have been of the bare
proposition that women and children should take upon themselves
the power of voting in the Church.
About the same time Richard Mather and William Tompson
replied to Mr. Charles Herle's book against the New-England
way. In replying to one of Herle's positions they insist that the
power and liberty of members are not all alike, for [efodest and
Brothcrly Answer, I644, p. 8]:  Excommunication is of the whole body Comnmuniter, or in generall, but
not of all and everie member in particular, as you conceive us to hold; for
women and children are members, and yet are not to act in such matters,
the one being debarred by their sex, and the other for want of understand
ing and discretion.
Almost in the same words did Thomas Hooker utter his judgment - which was that of the whole body of New-England
ministers, who accepted and indorsed his book before its putblication, as well -as follows [Survey of the Summe of Church
Discipline, &c., i648, Part I. p. 132]:
Delegated publike power is committed by Christ to persons capable thereof, which women and children are not; the women by their sex, children
for want of exercise of their understanding being excluded..... The wise
God provides that the votes and judgments of these should be included in
the male and chief of them, and in them they should be satisfied, and
therefore the wife is appointed to ask her husband at home.
Increase Mather, in his Order of the Gospel in New England,.
has two passages bearing upon this subject. This was published
in 1700. One is where he contends that all that contribute to a
pastor's maintenance ought not to have power to vote in his election, for [p. 68]: —
Then many women must have that Priviledge, for they may Contribute
to the Maintainance. But this the Apostle allows not of.
And so, further on, he states distinctly who have the right to vote
in the New-England Churches, quoting thereon the decision of a
Synod, thus [p. 7i]:  One of our Synods in New England, viz. that which met at Boston in
the Year I662, does Expressly declare, That the power of Voting in the
313 
APPENDIX.
Church, belongs to Males in full Communion, and that others are to be debarred from that Power [Prop. iv. p. I8].
Another and earlier Synod indeed had made another utterance
on the general subject.  On the 22d Sept., I637, as Winthrop tells
us, it was decreed by it [7ournal, i: 240]: -
. That though women might meet (some few together) to pray and edify
one another; yet such a set assembly (as was then in practice at Boston)
where sixty or more did meet every week, and one woman (in a prophetical
way, by resolving questions of doctrine, and expounding Scripture) took
upon her the whole exercise, was agreed to be disorderly, and without
rule.
It would be easy to continue these quotations almost indefinitely,
in proof that, from the very beginning down to the present generation, the authorities of Congregationalism have been all on one
side in this question, and have with united judgment condemned
the exercise by females- and infants (using that term as the civil
law employs it) where their case has come into considerationof the prerogative of voting, or of speaking in the Church. This
has been the direct outgrowth-' as will have been manifest - of
their reverence for the word of God, and their opinion that, in the
two passages upon which the question hinges, viz., I Cor. xiv:
34, 35, and I Tim. ii: I2, 14, the Bible does not merely discountenance, but forbid it. We may next wisely, therefore, inquire
whether they were right, or not, in this opinion.
II. What is the testimony of Scripture on the question
whetherfemales and minors ought to have the right of suffrage
in the Churches?
In the first place, there can be doubt, and it will be at once
conceded by all, that the Old Testament, in its general tenor, is
adverse to such an idea.  The words of God to Eve -" Thy desire shall be tO thy husband, and he shall rule over thee," as
interpreted by the inspiration of Paul (I Tim. ii: I3-I5), do most
clearly indicate that the normal position of woman is that of being in subjection to man.  As Calvin explains it: "Moses shows
that the woman was created afterwards, in order that she might
be a kind of appendage to the man; and that she was joined to
the man on the express condition, that she should be at hand to
314 
FEMALE ANDI) MINOR SUFFRAGE.
render obedience to him." Then, further, the fact that no ministerial office was assigned to woman under the Old Dispensation is
significant in the same direction.
In the second place, there can be no question that when the
New Testament was given, and the Christian Church was founded,
the presumption arising from the invariable past feeling and usage
of the nation, and from the customs of the day and the traditions of the Jewish Church, was against the elevation of females
(and children, as well) to an equality of privilege with adult male
believers. Grotius depicts the state of things at that time with
great distinctness thus, in his comment on I Tim. ii: i I:
Hoc praeceptum ex Synagoga est, ubi mulieres seclusum it virorum
aspectu locum habent, et cum silentio qua praleguntur aut dicuntur auscultant.
If, now, when the Christian customs began to be formed, it was
the universal habit in Jewish public worship for the females to be
secluded from the sight of the men in one portion of the synagogue, where they could simply in silence overhear what was read
or spoken, it would seem to have been not only the most natural
of all things, but a thing inevitable and indispensable, if Christianity proposed to introduce a radical change in that respect, that
such a revolution should be made the subject of the most definite
announcement in the most unmistakable terms. The pedobaptist portion of the Christian Church holds that Infant Baptism has
taken the place of circumcision, and is the seal of the covenant to
the children of believers, largely upon an argument of this precise
description. What now, do we find in the Gospels and Epistles
that bears directly or indirectly upon the subject? We find that
ma'ny women followed Christ, and believed on and loved him, of
whom some were last at the cross and first at the sepulchre; we
read of " devout" women, of women that " labored much" with
the  apostles,  of women  " professing  godliness," - "elder,"
"aged," and "younger," - and of" holy" women.  We find that
so far as the possibility and the method of personal salvation are
concerned, all doubts that might possibly have been engendered
by the spirit and usages of the past, or of the East, are set at rest
by the distinct announcement that in the matter of faith in the
Redeemer and redemption by his blood, "there is neither Jew
31.5 
APPENDIX.
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
norfemale; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
But the onlyprecepts which we find given bearing upon the
subject are these: —
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted
unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as
also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their
husbands at home; for it is a shame for women to speak in the church
[I Cor. xiv: 34, 35].
Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she
shall be saved in child-bearing, if they continue in faith and charity and
holiness with sobriety [i Tim. ii: II-IS].
Surely these have a strange sound - on first hearing - if they
were designed of God to reverse the ancient way! As the entire
utterance of the New Testament on the subject, they deserve the
best study we can give them.
Before examining critically for ourselves these precepts, let us
glance at the view taken of them in the early Church, and by a
few of the most eminent, early, and later expositors. Our labor
will be much lightened here by the fact that this testimony is so
uniformly on one side, and almost identical, as to make it quite
needless largely to multiply authorities.
(I.) The practical exposition of the early Church. This comes
out in the expressed opinion of their wise men, and in their habitual conduct, showing how they reduced these rules of Paul to
practice. In regard to the former it will be sufficient if I translate a passage from two of the earliest and most eminent who
fairly represent the Latin and Greek churches - Tertullian and
Origen.
Tertullian says [De virgin. vel.]:
It is not permitted to women to speak in the Church, nor to take upon
herself any function belonging to man or to the ministerial office - neither
to exhort, nor to baptize, nor to officiate.
Origen says [Caten. p. 276]:
It is an unseemly thing for a woman to speak in the Church; a precept
3i6 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
violated by Priscilla and Maximilla, the followers of Montanus. But they
say, had not Philip the Evangelist four daughters who "prophesied"?
(Acts xxi: 9.) Yes; but not in the public assemblies of the Church. We
never hear that Miriam, and Deborah, and Huldah prophesied to the people publicly as Isaiah and Jeremiah did.
Their practice - which is the most effectual proof of their belief
on this subject-is made apparent in the testimonies of the his
torians.
Coleman [Ancient Christianity, p. 352] says:
The apostolic rule forbidding a woman to teach was most cautiously
observed.... The Fourth Council of Carthage (c. 99) decreed "let no
woman, however learned or pious, presume to teach the other sex in the
public assembly."
Neander speaks in several places with utmost distinctness: —
Only the female members of the church were excepted from this general
permission [i.e. to edify the church by word].  The fellowship of a higher
life communicated by Christianity, extended itself to the relation between
husband and wife; and the unity to which, according to its original destination, human nature aspires, was realized in this, as in every other respect,
by Christianity. But since whatever is founded on the laws of nature is not
injured by Christianity, but only animated afresh, sanctified and refined;
so also within this higher fellowship of life, which was to unite husband
and wife, the latter retained her becoming place according to the natural
destination of her sex. Mental receptivity and activity in family life were'
recognized in Christianity as corresponding to the destiny of woman, and
hence the female sex are excluded from delivering public addresses on religious subjects in the meetings of the church.- [Planting and Training,
(ed. I865) p. 149; see also pp. 154, 236.]
The women, in conformity with their natural destination, were excluded
from the offices of teaching and Church government.-[ Church History,
i: I88.]
Schaff says [History of the Apostolical Church, p. 5o8]:
Paul directly forbids women taking any part in the public services of the
Church.... Every public act of this kind implies, for the time being, a
superiority of the speaker over the hearers, and is also contrary to true
feminine delicacy.
(2) The opinion of later expositors is almost entirely uniform,
and needs but very brief reference.
Grotius in commenting on the argument adduced by Paul,
317
i 
APPENDIX.
founded upon the relation of Eve to the first transgression,
says::
Alterum argumentum ab imbecillitate sexfis, cujus documentum ingens
jam ab initio datum. Non deceptus est, nempe ka serpente; non enim virum
serpens aggressus est, sed fceminam, ut imbecilliorem (2 Cor. xi: 3. Ideoque
in Gen. iii: I3, fcemina dicit "serpens decepit me").   Equum autem est id
quod est imbecillius parere valentiori.- [Comment. in loco.]
Calvin says, on I Cor. xiv: 34, 35: —
It appears that [among other faults which needed rebuke] this Church
of the Corinthians was  infected with  this fault too, that the talkativeness of women was allowed a place in the sacred assembly, or rather
that the fullest liberty was given to it. Hence he forbids them to speak in
public, either for the purpose of teaching or of prophesying. This, however, we must understand as referring to ordinary service, or where there
is a Church in a regularly constituted state; for a necessity may occur of
such a nature as to require that a woman should speak in public; but Paul
has merely in view what is becoming in a duly regulated assembly.
They are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law: what
connection has the object that he has in view with the subjection under
which the law places women?  For what is there - some one will say - to
hinder their being in subjection, and yet at the same time teaching? I
answer, that the office of teaching is a superiority in the Church, and is,
consequently, inconsistent with subjection. For how unseemly a thing it
were, that one who is under subjection to one of the members should have
preeminence and authority over the entire body!  If the woman is under
6ubjection, she is, consequently, prohibited from authority to teach in public.... It is the dictate of common sense that female government is improper and unseemly.... Paul's reasoning, however, is simple, - that
authority to teach is not suitable to the station that a woman occupies, because, if she teaches, she presides over all the men, while it becomes her to
be under subjection.
To this he adds, on I Tim. ii: I2:
Not that he takes from women the charge of instructing the family, but
only excludes them from the office of teaching, which God has committed
to men only.
Among those of our own time who have expounded these passages, it will be sufficient to glance at Wordsworth, Ellicott, and
Hodge, as fairly representative of three classes of expositors, -
as follows: -
ov yap tirtrpiererat i. e. it is not permitted.   OVK  tri-rpirw is something more
318 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
than "I do not permit."  It signifies "I forbid." -The Old Testament by
its general tenor, dating fromn the creation (Gen. iii: I6, c.f. I Tim. ii: II,
12) and by not allowing women to do any ministerial office in the Temple,
prescribes silence on their part in the Church. - [ }Vordsworth, in loco.]
On the position occupied by women in the early church, it may be remarked that Christianity did not abrogate the primal law of the relation of
woman to man. While it animated and spiritualized their fellowship, it no
less definitely assigned to them their respective spheres of action; teaching
and preaching to men, "mental receptivity and activity in family life to
women." - [Neander, Planting, &c.] What grave arguments these few
verses supply us with, against some of the unnatural and unscriptural
theories of modern times.- [Ellicott, in loco.]
As is the case in all other Christian churches, let your women keep
silence in the public assemblies. The fact that in no Christian church was
public speaking permitted to women, was itself a strong proof that it was
unchristian, i. e. contrary to the spirit of Christianity. Paul, however,
adds to the prohibition the weight of apostolic authority, and not of that
only, but also the authority of reason and of Scripture. It is not permitted
to them to speak. The rational ground for this prohibition is that it is
contrary to the relation of subordination in which the woman stands to the
man, that she appear as a public teacher.... The  Scriptural ground is
expressed in the words as also saith the law, i e. the will of God as made
known in the Old Testament. There, as well as in the New Testament,
the doctrine that women should be in subjection is clearly revealed....
It is a shame for women to speak in the church.  The word used is alaxpoe,
which means properly ugly, deformed. It is spoken of any thing which
excites disgust. As the peculiar power and usefulness of women depend on
their being the objects of admiration and affection, any thing which tends
to excite the opposite sentiments, should, for that reason, be avoided. -
[Hodge, in loco.]
(3.) Looking now, for ourselves, closely upon these two passages, it is easy to see that the former (i Cor. xiv: 34, 35) contains,
first, an apostolic command; second, a reason for it; third, a suggestion growing out of it; and fourth, a remark in connection
with it. Thus:The command. - Let the woman keep silence in the churches       [it is forbidden to them to speak].
The reason. -Because it is not permitted them by God's law to
speak [even publicly to ask questions].
The suggestion. - They need not, however, on this account, re       main in ignorance [they can ask their husbands at home].
The remark. - It is disgusting [unpleasantly against nature] to
hear women speak in public!
319 
APPENDIX.
All this is self-consistent, and each part of it justifies every
other. It has no relations to events, or eras, which can make it
liable to be outgrown and become effete; because it rests on God's
law which never changes, and on the qualities and instincts of
human nature, which abide essentially the same from age to age.
It has all the aspects of a thoroughly considered, eternally
grounded, unchangeable principle and rule.
In the second passage (I Tim. ii: I2-I5) we have again a command, a reason, and a suggestion; thus:The command.- I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to assume
authority over man.
The reason. - In twofold form.
(a.) Because woman was secondary and so subordinate to
man in creation [Adam was first formed, then
Eve].
(6.) Because it was the woman and not the man that was
deceived by the tempter, and so she proved her-,
self unsafe to take the lead ["Adam was not de                ceived, but the woman being deceived, was in the
transgression "J].1
The suggestion. - Though this is true, still (lest what has been
said should dishearten Christian females) woman may
share the salvation of Christ by exercising in a faithful
spirit her proper and peculiar function [she shall be
saved in child-bearing, if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness with sobriety].2
1 Adam Clarke, the great Methodist commentator, says here, " It does not appear that Satan
attempted the man; the woman said:'the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.' Adam received
the fruit from the hand of his wife; he knew he was transgressing, he was not deceived; however,
she led the way, and in consequence of this she was subjected to the domination of her husband, as
witness Gen. iii: s6 -'Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.' "-[Comment. in Ioco.]
Bengel says: "Deceptio indicat minus robur in intellectu, atque hic nervus est, cur mulieri non
liceat docere."- [Comment. in loco.]
And Lange adds: "It is true that Adam also was misled, yet by means of the woman; but she
was deceived in the strongest sense of the word, and she alone. She allowed herself to be enticed
by the treacherous speech of the serpent, while Adam simply accepted the fruit from her hand."
-[Comment. in loco.]
3 Lange comments thus: "Througl child-bearing- this expression has often been made a
stumbling-block.'Do you think it Ivas Paul's opinion, at the time he wrote I Cor. vii., that the
salvation of the female sex depends on child-bearing?' asks Schleiermacher, when he opposes the
genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles. The reply must undoubtedly be in the negative; but it
32o 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
This, too, is self-consistent and harmonious with the first, and
contains no suggestion of any limitation in its scope, by time or
place.
Looking, now, at these two passages as together presenting to
all who receive the word of God as an inspired rule of conduct,
its definite and connected doctrine of woman's right and duties,
and inquiring what is taught in them, it is impossible to avoid the
conclusion that they declare the essential subordination of woman
to man in the churches, by forbidding her to teach, to exhort, or
to do any thing which assumes authority over him; enforcing it
by the reasons that woman was created to hold a secondary- or
rather supplementary- place to man, and was confirmed in that
condition on account of her peculiar relation to the first sin.'
should be added, that no reasonable man, apostle or not apostle, would take this proposition unconditionally; since, in that case, the greatest number of children would best entitle the mother to salvation. We are simply to suppose that the apostle had in view Christian women only, for whom
the question is, how they, who already believe in Christ, should personally gain the salvation they
seek. It is, then, quite unnecessary to interpret the 6ta as meaning the outward mode of the
aoO~a erat;  still less to give it the sense of' notwithstanding' (Flatt); it denotes simply a condition in which the woman becomes partaker of such blessing. The Apostle would say: far be the
thought that the true fulfilment of the duties of a mother, as each might perhaps fear, can hinder
the salvation of woman; on the contrary, she will then obtain it, when she remains in her allotted
sphere of home (compare chap. v: 14).  TecKvoyovia does not mean merely the munus tuer ere in
the strict sense of the word, but includes the Christian nurture and training of children....
Iniarmyr7, y' a a'r,     6,  are for them the chief aim, as well as for every man.  By the connection of these words with atojpoovqri, modestia, the exhortation again returns to its starting point
the subordinate rank of woman."- [Comment. in loco.]
1 I am exceedingly happy to fortify my own exegesis still further by the following extract from
an admirable editorial in the Advance of 2 April, I868, which comes to hand as I write: -
"These words [s Cor. xiv: 33, 36; I Tim. ii:..-x5] certainly appear to teach female' silence' in
general Church meetings, and also a position for the sex which Paul calls, in an official sense,'subjection,' and being'under obedience,' that is, a standing one side from active participation in government. With reference to it he takes ground as follows: I. That in this respect Old and New
Testament do not differ. He first gives his own decision, and then in both passages quotes the corroborative testimony of' the Law,' or Old Testament.   2. He appeals to reason and natural
modesty, by a reference to the contrary course as'a shame.' 3. He meets the allegation of injustice, by a reference to the original fall, which was a revelation of the more impulsive temperament
of women, and of the propriety of the governing headship being given to man; which was accordingly done in the sentence pronounced immediately after. 4. He goes back still further, to the
order of creation itself, as showing man's divine place at the head, and woman's subordinate position as companion or assistant. 5. He answers the objection that this takes away a Christian sphere
from woman, by saying, that she is to work out her salvation and evidence her faith in Christ, not
by public labors and responsibilities, but by private, domestic faithfulness in childbearing and kindred duties.
"Paul does not contradict this by his remarks on female praying and prophesying in I Cor. xi:
i-i6, where he does not give permission to do these things, but criticises the further disorder that
21
321
.1 
APPENDIX.
If this be the correct inference from these verses, the conclusion
becomes inevitable that the New Testament, finding woman in a
relation of subordination to man, expressly intended to confirm
her in it and leave her there, as that most in accordance with the
intent of nature, and most harmonious with the working of grace,
and so happiest for her and most useful for all concerned. And
with such a subordinate condition, her public prophesying and
her public voting in the Church are alike inconsistent. This,unless some other passages can be cited which neutralize the force
of these, and explain away their doctrine.
The only texts which deserve consideration in this view are
two in the eleventh chapter of this same Epistle to the Corinthians
(vv. 5, I3), in which Paul says:
But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered
dishonoreth her hlead: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
The argument of those who favor woman's equal share with
man in all public exercises of the Church, is that Paul here refers,
in passing, to woman's praying or prophesying, as if it were a
thing of course, provided the head be covered. The reply of
those who take the other view is, that Paul is here expressing his
mind as to the impropriety of a woman's speaking with an uncovered head, and leaves the other question - whether it is right for
her to speak in public when her head is covered -to be settled
when he reaches it, in the verses already considered. A glance at
the general scope of the chapter will favor the latter view. Having corrected the more private abuses which had become prevalent among the Corinthian believers, Paul, in this chapter, begins
to consider those which appertain to their public worship; first
the females had laid aside in church meeting the usual tokens in dress of female modesty and subjection -the veil then, as the bonnet now. That he did not mean by this to imply a permission
for their public praying and prophesying wikth veils, is made plain by his language to Timothy just
previous to that already quoted, which reads (supplying the article before'men' and'women' as
in the original),'I will, therefore, that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without
wrath and doubting. In like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, &c.'
Prayer in public is thus recognized as the peculiar duty of'the men.'... We believe [indeed]
that on the Home Missionary field, the proper exceptions to the rule we favor, are many; and that
God there calls women to meet exigencies which no more invalidate her modesty than when her
home is in flames and she rushes into the street and cries'Fire.'"
322 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
among which he mentions the habit of women of appearing in
the assemblies without a veil - the symbol, in that time and land,
of feminine modesty and subordination.' On this meaning of the
veil, the whole thought pivots. Praising the Corinthians in general for their obedience to his teachings (v. 2), he proceeds to
remind them of the divinely ordained subjection of the woman
to the man (v. 3), which made it equally disgraceful for a man to
wear, or a woman to omit wearing, the veil (vv. 4, 5); and
which made an unveiled woman not only insubordinate but immodest (v. 6); so that the man ought not to cover his head
because he represents the authority of God (v. 7), but the woman
is proved subordinate by the very history of creation- formed out
of man and made for him (vv. 8, 9) on which account women
should wear the conventional symbol of their subordination, in the
public assembly. Paul then goes on to appeal to the common instinct of propriety, as teaching that it is alike disgraceful for a
man publicly to appear in the costume of a woman, and a woman
in that of a man (vv. 13-I5); and finally appeals to the authority
of custom,- the practice which he censured being contrary to the
universal habit of the churches (v. I6).
There is no denying that the general scope of thought here is
harmonious with that of the passages in I Cor. xiv: and I Tim.
ii: which have been considered. And surely no reasonable person
would feel authorized to set aside a direst and absolute command,
merely on the strength of a passing reference like this, because it
might - if other things favored - be construed as permitting a
woman to pray in public, on condition that her head be covered.
And, therefore, the most reasonable explanation of these verses,
and one which is quite sufficient for all the demands in the case
is that suggested by Calvin, (that "in here disapproving of the
one, Paul does not approve of the other,") as applied by Alexander.  He says [in loco] "It was Paul's manner to attend to one
thing at a time. He is here speaking of the propriety of women
1 " St. Paul reprobates the disuse of the veil by the Corinthian women, as implying an assump
tion of equality with the other sex, and~enforces the covering of the head as a sign of subordination to the authority of the men. The term /}ovaia (I Cor. xi: Io) stands for sign of authority,
just as paaOa (Diod. Sic. i: 47) stands for sgn of royalty."  [Smith's Dictionary of the Bible,
1fi: z6I3.]
323
i' 
APPENDIX.
speaking in public unveiled, and therefore he says nothing about
the propriety of their speaking in public itself. When that subject comes up he expresses his judgment in the clearest terms.
Chap. xiv: 34."
The New Testament, then, does distinctly teach the subordination of the woman to the man, and does forbid the assumption by
women of the right to speak and teach - and, a fortiori, of the
right to vote in the churches. And the only way in which the
force of it can be evaded is to claim that if Paul were alive now,
he would think and speak differently, and that if the New Testament were to be written now, it would teach another doctrine.
But this is an assumption which is wholly unauthorized by the
fundamental principles on which Paul's doctrine is planted, for
the reasons which he then gave for his conclusions exist in the
same force to-day; while that method of treatment of the lively
oracles of God has about it too strong a flavor of rationalism, if
not of Infidelity, to be tolerable to a reverent Christian man.'
The conclusion is inevitable that the Scripture honestly interpreted does abridge the prerogatives of female members of the
churches, by refusing to them -save in those exceptional cases
which override all rules - the right to public speech and vote.
III. ft remains to glsnce at the view which Reason sugges5ts
on the question at issue. It would seem to need but a word to
settle this for all true Christians; for they hold it to be always the
highest dictate of reason to bow without a murmur or a question
I " Christian men should beware how they allow themselves hastily in expressions which are
irreverent towards Apostolic authority, or in modes of interpretation which bear the appearance of
being forced, and contrived to evade rather than explain Scripture. All references to Paul as a
bachelor, or as an Oriental with narrow ideas and a low appreciation of woman, are unworthy of
intelligent believers in the Bible. They do injustice to that noble Apostle who was characteristically lifted up far above national, local, and temporary prejudices, and whose writings contain the
best vindication of woman's rights, dignity, and value which the world has yet seen, and from the
influence of which has come woman's elevation to her present intellectual and social rank, wherever
Christian civilization prevails. If the Bible so describes woman's place in the church as to include
the right of suffrage, it must be accepted; if the Bible has any clear decision to the contrary, that
should be the end of controversy. It is to be noticed, als6, that Paul, when writing on the very subject of female participation in certain church exercises, anticipated this objection, and said to the
objector,'Let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you, are the commandments of
the Lord."' -[Editorial in the Advance of 2 April, x868.]
324 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
to the clear teachings of God's Truth. Especially would this
seem to bind the good sense of the Christians of this age, when
they see that the purest churches in all the generations which -
have gone before, have modelled their practice in this regard upon
the Bible, have proved it salutary, and so have accumulated an
argument in its favor from their own experience.
WVith regard to the case of minors, it will not probably be de nied that children may safely, and therefore in some cases ought
to, be received to membership in the Church at an age too tender
to warrant their exercise of the right of public speech or suffrage..
They can intelligently believe on the Lord Jesus Christ unto salva tion, long before they can be capable of forming or expressing
judgments upon Scripture, upon questions of duty, and questions
of expediency, such as would make it comely and useful for thee
to speak and vote. There must, then, be some rule of delay. If
so, what better one can be fixed upon than that on which  the
State has fixed, when they shall pass out of their minority? The
more especially as in some of the States of the Union, at least,
their votes, if thrown with the Church before that time, on certain
subjects and in certain relations, might give rise to serious compli..
cations under the public law.
And, in the case of females, there are four considerations which
we submit ought to be decisive in the court of Reason - as purely
confirmatory of the previous decision of Revelation.
I. There must necessarily be so much exposure to uncertainties
in their exercise of the function of suffrage, as to weigh heavily
against the wisdom of such attempted exercise.' This is by a
law of nature itself which cannot be set aside.
z. Some of the worst cases of discipline in churches, the settle
I " Nay while the married man through all his prime is always ready, the married woman
through all the very firime of her life never can hold herself ready at any given time in the future
for such outside functions. She can consistently make no certain engagement of the kind. Think
of the minister leaving his pulpit for some months, from time to time, or the lawyer turning over his
clients and his cases for the necessary seclusion of the house; or a judge of the Supreme Court or
the members of Congress in protracted session obliged to leave the public halls occasionally to
nurse the baby - while the lawyers and clients keep their several infants in the ante-room. Think
of electing a Governor of the Commonwealth whose situation proves at the opening of his term of
office incompatible with the labors and excitements of the sphere, for the entire term of election.
Or to come to practical life; in my own history it has been my practice to vote whenever I had the
opportunity- and I have never yet failed, I believe.  But during the twenty years of our marri
325 
APPENDIX.
ment of which demands the wisest and fullest exercise of the
right of voting, are of such a character; and the evidence which
must be unfolded in regard to them, and on which the verdict
must be made up, is of such a character; as to make it impossible
for the trial to take place in a mixed assembly of the sexes. So
that female suffrage would thus be imperilled at the very height
of its necessity.
3. The obvious fact that the female judgment is so much more
under the dominion of impulse and passion than that of males,
predicts confusion or misjudgment as the probable result of the
extension of suffrage to all the members of our churches. In almost every case, the females outnumber the males, and it is easy
to see that the danger of chronic divisions of feeling in the Church
would be greatly increased, if those male members on whom most
of the financial and other burdens rest, and who aim to decide all
questions by the calm foresight of what the permanent best good
of all the interests involved may seem to demand, were to find
themselves almost habitually outvoted by the "snap-judgment"
of a hasty multitude, who jump at the conclusion which looks
toward the good of to-day, forgetful that other years are coming,
and that the world has not yet begun to grow old.
4. It cannot be seriously denied that the wisest and best
women -those whose use of the vote would be almost surely
salutary, and whose speech would eminently be with grace seasoned with salt, favor least, if they do not most decidedly and
warmly oppose, the change for which many now plead. Our own
experience in this respect has been exactly that of Professor Bartlett, who says:
"And wile I would cast no reflection on those who may have been differently educated or influenced, I may say that many of the noblest women
I have ever known - those who carried with them most of the high attributes and queenly powers of their sex - have felt as many of the noblest
men have felt concerning them, that it would be a positive loss, and not a
gain to them, to enter the arena as voters and business managers, either in
life, scarcely half the time, probably not two-thirds, would it have been practicable or suitable for
my wife to have done the same. But in every case I have carried the vote she approved.
"Now these things are not accidental - they are fundamental.  They are fixed laws of life-to
be regularly provided for by fixed arrangements and general rules." - [Professor Bartlett in the
Advance of 13 Feb. s868.]
326 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
state or in church. They have been content to wield their own potent,
matchless influence in the sphere that nature and Scripture have pointed
out to them so plainly; and have preferred to leave the management of
public affairs to their brothers, husbands, mature sons, and Christian
friends, whose heads, hearts, and hands they now command by the strongest spell that is known on earth."- [The Advance, 26 March, I868.]
This whole question of minor and female Church suffrage has
lately come under earnest discussion in one of the churches of the
West - the Union Park Church in Chicago - in the hands of
able men. The Church is understood to have ended by voting to
give to all its members, without reference to age or sex, the right
to vote.
Some of the pleas made in this discussion have been given to
the public through the press. And as a matter of fresh interest,
the following resume' is given of the chief arguments on each
side.
Professor S. C. Bartlett defended the ancient way, in substance,
in an elaborate and learned essay published in the Advance of 27
February, I868, in the following train of thought:
I. Ckildren's suffrage.  There seem to be two reasons in favor of it.
I. ThatJesus said "Suffer little children to come unto me."  2. That children already in the chuich might be ready to welcome their successors.
But the objections to children's voting are decisive and overwhelming.
I. It reverses the fundamental principles of sound judgment and common sense, by intrusting the affairs of Christ, the most important concerns
in the world, to the control of inexperience, immaturity, and incompetency.
2. Minor suffrage is a practical absurdity under the law, which considers
that the minor is under authority and restraint - a kind of legal duress.
3. Minor suffrage opposes the ordering of God's word, which, from beginning to end, pointedly commands that children shall be subject and
obedient to their parents.
II. Female suffrage. I. Female suffrage stands opposed to all the authorities of Congregationalism for 250 years, and to its almost universal
usage, except in some of the churches of the West.
2. In the general principle it runs counter to God's providential and
Scriptural system of order. For (i) both nature and Scripture have declared that the married life is, in general, the true relation of the mature
members of the race. (2.) In the married life, the two constitute a real
unity. (3.) In this God-ordained unity there is a positive difference and
separation of functions -inevitable and inseparable. (4.) Nature itself
327 
APPENDIX.
imperatively settles the general principle of that division of labors. (5S.)
In this division of duties and functions both Providence and Scripture
clearly indicate the rule, that the public and social representative, or official
head of the family, should be, and is, the husband.
3. The management and control in church affairs that is involved in
female suffrage, seems to be set aside by the express teachings of Scripture; - in the following texts, viz., I Tim. iii: II, 12; I Cor. xi: 3; Eph. v:
23; I Cor. xiv: 34, 35; I Tim. ii: I-I4.
Now there are but two ways in which any Christian man can escape the
Scripture directions. (I.) It is said, Paul was a bachelor and a Jew, therefore this direction is one of his prejudices, and not to be followed. But
this is openly to join the Infidel. The other reply is (2) that this is founded
merely on Jewish customs, and intended to be imperative only while, and
where, they prevailed.
To this it may be answered: (I) that Paul was the missionary to the
Gentiles and not to the Jews; (2) that the instructions were given to
the Corinthian church- a church founded among the Gentiles; (3) that
they were also laid down in the universal instructions given to Timothy, a
laborer among the Gentiles; (4) that they are founded on reasons that go
to the bottom of the relations of the sexes, as connected with the creation
and the fall of man.
4. Female suffrage in the church accomplishes no good end.
5. Female suffrage, so far as any effect is to come from it, tends to introduce an element of trouble.
6. Female suffrage sometimes must complicate discipline.
7. Female suffrage lays an additional burden and responsibility upon
our sisters, which they can ill afford to bear, and which very many shrink
Wholly from assuming.
Rev. C. D. Helmer, pastor of the Church, reviewed this argument in the Advance of 5 and i2 March, i868, at large, substantially thus:
i. Church-members under twenty-one years of age ought to be allowzed to
Vote in Congregational churches.  In the first place, the two reasons stated
by Professor Bartlett as being those urged in favor of this position,- that
Je6us said, " Suffer little children to come unto me," and that children al,ready in the church may be able to welcome their successors -are not the
real reasons urged. The friends of minor suffrage believe they have good
Imasons for their opinion. One of these reasons is that so little of weight
an be alleged against it.
It is said that minor suffrage intrusts the most important concerns in
the world to the control of immaturity and incompetency. But this is to
affirm that a small minority will be sure to control the action of the church.
The minors will not do any harm provided the adults behave themselves.
328 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
And do no adults in our churches ever exhibit immaturity and incompe
tency?
But it is said that this question has been settled by the wisdom of the
world. But there may be very good reasons why the young man should
not vote in the State which do not apply to the case of his relation to the
Church. In the State he has no obligations and no duties, bears no civil
responsibility, is under superiors waiting until his years shall satisfy the
statute. In the Church he has complied with the full conditions of membership, never can or will be any more a member than he is already, is not
under subjection, as in the State - and so has a right to suffrage which does
not exist in his civil relations.
It is further urged that minor suffrage is a practical absurdity under the
law. That is, a minor being legally subject to his father, may be forcibly prevented from voting, upon a given occasion, in Church matters.
Granted; but does this amount to making minor suffrage a "practical
absurdity"? Could such a case happen twice in a hundred years? Church
membership might in the same way be forbidden -would that make that
a "practical absurdity" for minors?
But we are told that minor suffrage is against the ordering of God's
word. If this were true it would be conclusive. But is it true? It is not
clear that minor suffrage involves a violation of the fifth commandment,
or causes the son to rule over the father. The son cannot constitute a majority of the Church; cannot, as moderator, throw the casting vote, and so
rule over his father. Those minors who join the Church are believed to
be mature enough to judge of repentance and faith, and so are held to have
some power of general judgment.  Where sons and fathers agree in sentiment - which will be ninety-nine times in a hundred - the objection becomes of no force; and in the rare exceptional cases there is some bad
element which is the real cause of the difficulty, and which requires the first
attention.
This whole argument against minor suffrage rests upon a false view of
the nature of the Christian Church. It seems to be taken for granted that
the children who may become members will be unruly and disobedient.
But the presumption should be the other way.  What the opponents of
minor suffrage ought to do, to be consistent, is to abandon the democratic
Church polity, and take up some "strong" government - they think the
Church requires a "strong" government, and so would give it exclusively
to adult males.
Minor suffrage is a valuable means of educating the younger members;
and of awakening their interest in, and strengthening their devotion to, the
Church.
2. Women ought not to be denied the right of suffrage in the Church.
This question should be settled on its own merits, and without regard to
the collateral question whether women ought to vote in the State - for the
Church and the State are distinct and unlike in their nature.
329 
APPENDIX.
(I.) It is urged that female suffrage is opposed to all the authorities of
Congregationalism for 250 years, and to its almost universal usage, except
in some of the Western churches. But it is thought to be probable that
this "some," in reality, includes a large majority of the Western churches.
Indeed, if all the Congregationalists out of New England could be assembled in one place and asked - Is it Congregational for women to vote in
Church matters? there is little doubt that the majority would answer
affirmatively. Nor can it be conclusively pleaded that because the Congregationalism which has adopted this view is Western, it is therefore to be
auled out on the ground of preconceived irregularity. One of the main
points in the usage is to find out how woman-suffrage practically works
It is believed to be common among the Baptists, and to work well with
them. We may leave the argument from usage, then, with the remark that
even if it were everywhere the custom in Congregational churches to exclude females from voting, it would be at variance with fundamental Congregational principles. John Robinson says a Church may consist of three
tnembers. Now, as things are, two of these would be sure to be women.
But the sole male member could not perform the Church work alone. So
it is a principle of Congregationalism that "every member of a Church has
equal essential rights, powers, and privileges, with every other member."
Either, then, the female members are not really members, or they have the
same right to vote which the males have.
(2.) But it is claimed that the Bible teaches exclusive male suffrage.
, Cor. xiv: 34, 35, and i'Tim. ii: 9-i2, are the only passages which can, by
any possibility, be construed as excluding women from the right of suffrage;
but they both refer to public ministrations and public worship. So Bloomfield, Ellicott, Alford, and Olshausen. Barnes takes no such view as would
exclude women from suffrage. Grant that women are not eligible to be
teachers and officers; there is no indissoluble connection between voting
and office-holding. It does not appear from Scripture that a woman may
niot explain and defend her vote.
It is further argued that the man is the head of the woman, and therefore the woman must not vote; but this cannot be construed as justifying
tyranny and injustice on the part of man toward woman. It needs to be
Ibroved, and not merely assumed, that this masculine headship disqualifies
the woman from Church suffrage.
It is also objected that if woman is allowed to vote in Church meetings
she will "usurp authority over the man;" but that only means that she
should be womanly in her acts, and not push into masculine places and
positions - not that she shall not vote in her own place.
(3.) Again it is said that female suffrage is useless, will do no good, but
will introduce an element of trouble. But doesn't woman sometimes make
touble in a Church when she has no suffrage? As the female members
always outnumber the male, is it not well to give them the opportunity to
try what they can do with the ballot, and not decide in advance against
330 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
them. At least would it not be well to obtain the general sentiment of the
sex, before refusing them the vote?
There is no good reason, then, either from nature or revelation, why
woman should be refused the right of suffrage in the Church; while common sense, justice, and the fundamental principles of Congregationalism
demand that she should have it. And if this is "revolutionisin," it is only
needful to remember that it is no new thing for the human race to make
progress through revolutions.
To this Professor Bartlett replied, in the Advance of 26 March,
i868, in a thorough reconsideration of the subject, which can only
be very imperfectly hinted, in such a condensation as is possible
here.
After stating that his argument before published had brought to him
unsolicited indorsements from some of the best minds in the denomination, lay and clerical, West and East, including the preacher and the two
assistant-moderators of the National Council, and other gentlemen of the
highest standing in theological seminaries, colleges, and the pastoral office;
he proceeds to call attention to certain " gross misstatements" of some of
his positions, which had been made in Mr. Helmer's reply, particularly as
to having said that a Church having not men enough in it to manage its
business affairs had better die- which he shows to have been a perversion
of what he said.
As to minor suffrage, Professor Bartlett sums up what has been said in
its favor, thus: The privilege will practically amount to nothing; either
there will not be many children, or they will not vote, or they will vote a
their parents wish, or their votes will not affect the result; and, in reply,
declares that it evades the manifest impropriety of giving to incompetent
persons a right to vote, by raising the side issue that it will probably do no
real hurt to let them do so. And, to the new argument, that, as the Church
is a voluntary association, therefore all its members must have equal privileges, and so, if children are members, they must have the right to vote;
he answers that voluntary associations, as a matter of fact, very often expressly assign unequal privileges to their members, - as Young Men's
Christian Associations (which sometimes have five classes of members, yet
allow only one class to vote), and the A. B. C. F. M. (which has some thousand speaking, but only some two hundred voting, members); and that
churches are more than voluntary associations - taking their charter and
laws from Jesus Christ. He has ordained for them certain fundamental
principles which sometimes require them to receive very young children.
The obligation is to receive and guide them - not to be governed by them,
for "God is not the author of confusion"  The Church is to receive those
who are too weak for doubtful disputation. So that there is nothing in
331 
APPENDIX.
the relation of the constitution of a Church to that of a voluntary associa tion, which shuts it up to the misrule of children's suffrage.
Then, on the main question, whether females ought to vote in the
Church, the Professor, after glancing at the reply to what he had said be fore, proceeds to speak of the Scripture argument, showing that his care ful position that the management and control of Church affairs involved in
female suffrage seems to be set aside by the express teachings of Scripture,
has been misstated, as if he had declared it to be "prohibited" by those
teachings; and, to the position taken by his opponents, that the passages
to which reference is made refer to the public ministrations of the Church,
and more particularly to public worship; he replies: -
(I.) The distinction thus attempted between the public service and the
private or business meetings of the Church has no shadow of foundation in
the Apostle's language, or in the facts of those times. No such distinction
then existed. There were no Church edifices until the third century. Their
meetings were much like our conference meetings with the pastor presiding; all alike public, and all alike private.
(2.) The attempt to limit Paul's prohibition to holding certain offices
or to conducting public ministrations, is equally futile. He is not speaking
of offices, but of procedures; not of official but of general participation;
not of great set occasions, but " when ye come together" as a Church everywhere.
(3.) The implied assertion that the grounds of the apostolic prohibition
are passing away, is equally baseless. These grounds are (a) that the
subjection of the woman grew out of " the curse," and Christianity should
remove it. But Paul goes back of the curse to the creation: " Adam was
first formed, then Eve." And, though reference is afterwards made to the
fall, he no more intimates that this effect of the fall will be removed, than
that death and child-bearing will.  And Paul insists that these are "the
commandments of the Lord." No more is there help (b) from the plea that
the rule was "a hundred-fold more applicable and potent then," because
" woman was the slave of man." But the Hebrew women were not slaves.
Elizabeth, Mary, Anna, Martha and Mary, Dorcas, Lydia, Phebe and Priscilla - these were no slaves.
(4.) It is further said, these passages can have "no possible connection
with suffrage. But (a) it is conceded on all hands that these passages do
place the sexes on a very unequal footing. It is admitted that women cannot be pastors, teachers, or deacons, or conduct the public ministrations.
The claim for suffrage thus comes forward under a heavy cloud of presumption against it. (b.) The positive prohibition to speak in Church meetings
takes a very hostile, if not prohibitory, attitude towards female suffrage.
It certainly destroys equal suffrage, at once. For the power to explain,
justify, and advocate a vote, makes an immense difference in its value. And
more than this, the prohibition to speak almost necessarily involves the prohibition to vote. Many an assembly admits speakers who are not voters;
332 
FEMALE AND MINOR SUFFRAGE.
did any ever do the reverse?  Arguing is but inchoate voting; and if the
lower power be denied, the higher is denied a fortiori.  (c.) The reason
rendered by the Apostle for his prohibition of Church speaking, directly
precludes voting.  It is because the woman is to be "in subjection," and
not to exercise "authority over the man."  The authority is in the hands
of the majority of voters, and as our churches usually include more women
than men, it must result, on the theory of the advocates of female suffrage
in the Church, that the women will have the government of all the churches
in their hands. The reasons of the Apostle, then, include voting, even
more strongly than speaking. For he forbids the latter not merely of itself,
but as an act of "authority," and not of "subjection."  Forbidding it as
one of a class of acts, he thereby forbids the whole class. Thus Bloomfield, Alford, and Barnes. (d.) The admitted position of the sex when this
command was given, would necessarily apply the prohibition to suffrage as
surely as to speech. The Jewish woman was completely and notoriously
withdrawn from the general management of affairs, and never dreamed of
exercising such control. (e.) A decisive comment on the spirit of these
prohibitions is found in the fact that in no instance do the women appear
to have participated in the voting and business of the apostolic Churches,
but quite the contrary.
After a brief reference to the view of most commentators that the passage in the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians rebukes the speaking of
women, as well as improper deportment and dress on their part, and the reiteration of the obvious fact that the case of very feeble churches where there
are no, or next to no, male members, furnishes exigencies to be dealt with as
exceptions under the rule, and not as modifying the rule, Professor Bart- 
lett closes by declaring that it is very desirable to retain the sisters as a
conservative element outside of the Church-business with its frequent excitements,- nothing is gained by attempting to be wiser than the word of
God, - and by suggesting that many of the noblest women whom he has
ever known, have felt, as many of the noblest men have felt concerning
them, that it would be a positive loss to them, and not a gain, to enter
the arena as voters and business managers, either in State or Church.
They are content to wield their own potent, matchless influence in the
sphere that nature and Scripture have pointed out to them so plainly; and
have preferred to leave the management of public affairs to their brothers,
husbands, mature sons, and Christian friends, whose heads, hearts, and
hands they now command by the strongest spell that is known on earth.
On the whole, then, we urge that the way of the fathers in this
thing is best. It was the way in which they were led by the
Spirit of all truth and grace. It was the way in which Christ
333 
APPENDIX.
wanted them to go, and along which he blessed their steady
steps.  His Gospel has done much for woman, but not this.  It
has not reversed the laws of nature for her. In no way more
truly can its blessed influence for her be described than in the
words of one of the latest eminent historians of the Church[Schaff's History of the Christian Church, p. i io]- when he
says: -
Cliristianity raises woman from the slavish position which she held
both in Judaism and in heathendom, to her true moral dignity and importance; makes her an heir of the same salvation with man, and opens to her
a field for the noblest and loveliest virtues, without thrusting her, after the
manner of modern pseudo-philanthropic schemes of emancipation, out of
her appropriate sphere of private domestic life, and thus stripping her
of her fairest ornament and peculiar charm.
Well says John Cotton - in a manuscript sermon never published -on this subject: -
A woman ought to keepe her place of subjection. Though more eminent in grace than your husbands, yet this gives you not power to usurp
authority over those husbands, no more than a child or servant may be
more eminent in grace than his parent or master, yet this does not take
him off from obedience to them.
B.
HAVING been requested to add a somewhat briefer form of Articles of Faith and Covenant in one, more after the manner of the
ancient churches of our faith in New England, I have been
favored by a brother in our ministry, in this vicinity, with the following, lately prepared for the use of his Church, and which
seems to me very fit and beautiful for the adoption of those who
desire some unessential modification -with a view of condensation - of the more usual formula. It takes its place in the form
of the order of reception, which we also give, in full:
[The candidates present themselves in the aisle before the pulpit, without
notice given, wvhile the minister is reading the followving inzvitation: -]
Jesus saith, Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I
will give you rest; take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am
334 
A FORM OF ADMISSION TO THE CHURCH.
meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for My
yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say,
Come; and let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely.
[Then the minister addresses the candidates as follows:   ]
Dearly Beloved: You are here before God and many witnesses, to confess the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust that you appreciate the solemnity and
the blessedness of this confession, and that He which hath begun a good
work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
We believe in God the Father Almighty, the Being of absolute perfection, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe; who so loved
the world that He gave His only-begotten Son for its redemption;
And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; who was in the beginning
with God, and was God; who became man and suffered to take away the
sin of the world; in Whom alone we have redemption, being justified freely,
through faith in His blood; Who rose from the dead, and ascended on
high, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, whence He shall come to
judge the quick and the dead, punishing the wicked with everlasting destruction from His presence, and receiving His people into His everlasting
kingdom;
And in the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, through Whom alone we being
by nature children of wrath, are renewed and sanctified; by Whose inspiration the Scriptures are given; Who with the Father and the Son, together one God, is supremely to be loved and served, and alone to be
adored;
And in one Church on earth and in Heaven; and in one Baptism for the
remission of sins; and in one Communion of the body and blood of
Christ; and we look for the Resurrection of the dead, and the Life immortal. AMEN.
This you truly confess and heartily believe?
[The candidates assent by bowing.]
In the presence of God and this assembly, you do now freely and cordially enter into the everlasting covenant of grace.
You do confess the Father Almighty, your Maker and Preserver, the
Lord Jesus Christ, your Saviour and Master, and the Holy Spirit, your
Sanctifier and Guide, to be your God.
You do trust only in His sovereign grace and almighty power.
And you do promise that you will henceforth faithfully endeavor to keep
His commandments, and follow Him in all things; to walk with His disciples in love; and denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly,
335 
APPENDIX.
righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
This you truly confess and heartily engage?
[The candidates assent, as before, and ba.ptism is here administered to those
who have never been baptized.]
We then, as members of this Church,
[The Church rise.]
in the name of Christ, affectionately welcome you to His discipleship; to
a share in the blessings and promises of His covenant; to a participation
in the duties, privileges, and glories of His Church, and to the fellowship
of that great multitude which no man can number, who have confessed Him
on earth, and who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
In token of our confidence and sympathy, and as a pledge of our brotherly kindness and love, take the hand of welcome, and remember the words
of the Lord Jesus, how he said; -
[Here the minister takes each new member by the hand in turn, repeating, to
each some agpropriate saying of yesus. Then, the Church still standing,
he proceeds, as follows: -]
And now, beloved in the Lord, whereas in former time ye [you] were
without Christ, being aliens [an alien] from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers [a stranger] from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world; now, therefore, ye [you] are no more-strangers [a stranger] and foreigners [a foreigner], but fellow-citizens [a fellowcitizen] with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being
the chief Corner-stone.
For this cause,
[All take the customary attitude of rayer.]
we bow our knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the
whole family in Heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His
Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts [heart] by
faith; that ye [you], being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to
comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that
ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be
336 
CONGREGATIONALISM AT THE SOUTH.
glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without
end. AMEN.
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts
and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ
our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. AMEN.
[A form of covenant to be adopted and SIGNED where this form of
admission is used.]
COVENANT OF THE CHURCH.
We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do hereby solemnly promise,
that, as members of this Church of Christ, we will faithfully endeavor to
honor it in our conduct and life; to give diligent attendance upon its services and ordinances; to refrain from opposing its faith; to submit to its
rules and discipline; to labor and pray for its increase, purity, and peace;
and to walk with its disciples in love, seeking and improving opportunities
to minister to them.
C.
CONGREGATIONALISM AT THE SOUTH.-The National Council
of i865, earnestly recommended the endeavor by all proper
means to extend our system and found distinctively Congregational
churches at the South, whence in the old days of slavery they had
been almost entirely excluded. The Midway Church in Georgia,
founded in Massachusetts in I695, and emigrating thither, is said
indeed to be still alive, and to have "preserved its Congregationalism intact to the present time." 1 There were two or three
other scattered churches in Maryland and Virginia; 2 perhaps
one in South Carolina; 8 but they had either perished in body, or
spirit, or both, long before the Council. Since the close of the
war of the rebellion, the way has been open, as it never was before, for the planting of the purely democratic churches of freedom, in the name of our Polity, on the old soil of slavery. And
although such procedure necessarily challenges the hatred of all
ex-rebels, and throws the labor and cost of the work upon the
1 See Congregational Quarterly, April, x868, p. 171.
2 Ibid. p. 209.                       a Ibid. July 186o, p. 347.
22
337 - 
APPENDIX.
few who have been loyal through all, and upon the freedmen;
still, largely under the wise fostering of the American Missionary
Association, there has been good success. Our last statistics report more than forty Congregational churches in Missouri. There
are already six in Tennessee, five in Georgia, two in Texas, and
at least one each in North, and South Carolina, and Louisiana.
D.
CAN " TELL IT UNTO  THE  CHURCH " MEAN TELL IT UNTO
THE ELDERS?-My attention has been called to an earnest criticism upon the view taken in the text, in which it is argued that
the command of Christ "tell it unto the Church" does not necessarily require an appeal to the popular assembly, but admits of
reference to a representative body -whatever that may be. This
is urged for seven reasons, as follows: - (I.) Words of popular
import often have a representative meaning, as when a prisoner
appeals to his country, "which country, gentlemen of the jury,
you are," "the people in Congress assembled," &c.; and Numb.
xvii: 2, 3, Joshua xxi: 2; 2 Cor. xi: 24, and other passages, are
cited from the Bible as specimens of similar verbal usage in it.
(2.) The Church in Jerusalem was too large to have admitted
of a practical application of this injunction to the whole body.
(3.) Any interpretation of Christ's words which may require the
plaintiff and his friends and witnesses, and the defendant's friends
and witnesses, to vote upon the final verdict, imposes a tax upon
human nature which Christ would hardly have laid upon it.
(4.) The word  itself,  xxlgtla, has a representative meaning.
There are thirty-two instances in the Septuagint where it has
this meaning.  And in Acts xv: 3, "being brought on their way
by the Church," &c., is it to be supposed that the entire membership escorted Paul and Barnabas? (5.) In the light of the circumstances of its utterance, the probabilities are in favor of a
representative interpretation of the word. When Christ said this,
as a matter of fact, there was no organized local Christian Church
existing; while the Jewish usages would naturally suggest a
representative import. (6.) Paul gives directions which require
338 
CAN THE ELDERS BE "THE CHURCH?" 
the representative idea, and provide for a committee, or board, of
some kind, as I Cor. vi: 5. (7.) The New Testament provides
for the organization in each Church of a board of elders to " consider" matters, &c.; and if the word " Church" in a representative sense refers to them, all is clear.
To the first and fourth of these it is sufficient to reply, that,
granting all which they claim, nothing is proved as to whether
the word " Church" here is to be taken in an exact or representative sense. To the second and fifth, it is enough to say that Christ
was laying down a law for all time, and not for that particular
year and spot. To the third, it is ample to suggest that practical
difficulties of the kind suggested, it is believed, occur at least no
oftener in Congregational churches, than in those which carry the
matter before the elders.' The sixth relates to a different matter
altogether. So does the seventh, so far as it has any Scriptural
foundation underneath it. So that there is nothing here of force
enough to shake the conclusion reached in the argument of this
volume.  The real question is, what does the word ixlata mean
in these words of Christ; what did he mean by them, and what
did he intend for his people to suppose he meant by them. On
that question, I add to what has been cited in the body of this
work the following from the American edition of Lange which
has since appeared, and which adds the erudition of Dr. Schaff to
that of the German author. This says: -
Here [Matt. xviii: I7] &KK;t!aia is used in the sense of a particular or
local congregation, as often in the Epistles, while in xvi: i8 it means the
church universal, since no individual congregation (or denomination) has
the promise of indestructible life.  Compare on &K;K'ai  and its proper
translation the critical note on p. 293.2
1 See the case detailed in the note on pp. 260, 261, of this volume.
2 That note is as follows-transcribed in full, on account of its thoroughness and importance: -
All the English versions before Queen Elizabeth, except that of Wiclif (which reads chirche),
translate CKK;LIaia by the corresponding English word congregation; but the Bishop's Bible substituted for it church, and this, by express direction of King James, was retained not only here, but
in all other passages of the New Testament, in the revised and authorized version of x6I I. Among
German translators and commentators, the Roman Catholics (van Ess, Arnoldi, Allioli) render
tKKo?7aia by the term Kircke (church); while the Protestant translators and commentators (Luther,
John Friedr. von Meyer, Stier, de Wette, Ewald, H. A. W. Meyer, and Lange) render Gemeinda
(congregation).  The Greek licKKI-aia, from  KKa, to call out, to summon, occurs 114 times in
339 
APPENDIX.
Roman Catholic interpreters are entirely in error in explaining the
passage: tell it to the bishops. Even De Wette and Vitringa go beyond
the text, in supposing that it applies to the function of the rulers of the
Church as arbitrators or judges on moral questions. On the contrary,
the ticitcaia is in this passage put in antithesis to the question touching the
Iemizv by r  aatvia rTv ovpav)v.  Hence this would have been the most unsuitable place for any thing like the sanction of a hierarchy.
To this Dr. Schaff appends the following from Alford: -
That tKZKaia cannot mean the Church as rePresented by her rulers,
appears by vv. I9, 20, where any collection of believers is gifted with the
power of deciding in such cases.
E.
CONGREGATIONALISM THE MOTHER OF FOREIGN MISSIONS.It is so clear that he who runs may read it, and he who does not
the New Testament (twice in the Gospel of Matthew, but in no other Gospel, 24 times ill the Acts,
68 times in the Epistles, 20 times in Revelation), and corresponds to the Hebrew.    It is not
to be confounded with the more spiritual and comprehensive term kingdom of God, or kingdom of
heaven, so often used by our Saviour. It means generally any popular convocation, congregation,
assembly, and in a Christian sense the congregation of believers called out of the world and consecrated to the service of Christ. It is used in the New Testament (I) in a general sense, of the
whole body of Christian believers, or the church universal, Matt. xvi: i8; x Cor. xii: 28; Gal. i:
13; Eph. i: 22 (and in all the passages where the church is called the body of Christ); I Tim. iii:
x5; Heb. xii: 23, etc.; (2) more frequently in a particular sense, of a local congregation, as in
Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Ephesus, in Corinth, in Rome, in Galatia, in Asia Minor, etc.; hence,
also, it is often used in the plural, e. g., al EKKIC.Iat Cg rf Aoias, I Cor. xvi: I9; ai etKK,c7aia
rcv eOvov, Rom. xvi: 4; the seven churches, Rev. i: 4, II, 20, etc. The Saviour Himselfmakes
use of the word only twice, viz.: in our passage, where it evidently means the church universal,
which alone is indestructible, and in Matt. xviii: 17, where it can be understood only of a local
church or congregation (tell it to the church). John never uses the term except in his third Epistle.
The word church is properly no translation of  ICKK2cL?ia at all, but has etymologically a different
meaning, being derived from the Greek icvptaK6v, i.e., belonging to the Lord, through the medium
of the Gothic, whence also the cognate terms in the Teutonic and Slavonic languages, the German
Kirche, the Scotch kirk, the Swedish kyrka, the Danish kyrke, the Russian zerkow, the Polish
cerkiew, the Bohemian syrkew. (Leo, Ferienschriften, Halle, x847, derives the word from the Celtic cyrrh or cylch, i.e., centre, meeting place; but this would not explain the introduction of the
word into the Slavonic nations, who received Christianity from the Greek church.) The word churth
is now used both in the general and in the particular sense, like ~tKK;lcoia, and in addition to this
also in a third sense, viz., of a building, or house of worship (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., ix: Io, calls the
meeting houses of the Christians Kvptaica oiKeta).  As regards the English translation of tKKccr/aa, a number of modern commentators advocate a return to the term congregation throughout the
whole New Testament. But it is neither possible nor desirable to expel the term church from the
340 
CONGREGATIONALISM THE MOTHER OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 341
run cannot disprove it, that those foreign missions by which the
faith of the early Church passed over upon the Gentiles, were
Congregational missions. In the Acts of the Apostles, we find,
from first to last, in all those measures by which the Gospel was
carried to the " regions beyond," the simple, distinctive elements
of the Congregational way. It was not Christian individualism
Dr. Hopkins, indeed, said, in his Jubilee sermon at Boston, in
I86o, that "it does not appear that Christianity was originally
propagated by any kind of associated action, whether of a Church,
or churches, or the Church. The command to preach the Gospel
was not to churches, as such, but to individuals." I  It is true, that
the first command to missions- which was the last command of
Christ- was addressed to his disciples as individuals; yet still, in
some sense, to them as individuals associated by the bonds of discipleship, - as an organism,- with an inference that they should
confer together as to the details of the work, and assist each other in
them; so that the result of all should be, first, possible, and, second, symmetrical and exhaustive. But the first specific instruction
given, under this general command, was given to a Church, as
such, - not to Saul and Barnabas themselves individually to go
as missionaries, but to the Congregational Church at Antioch, to
"separate," and send them forth, as such.  And the record of
obedience to the command is a record of what the Church did:
"And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on
them, THEY sent them away." This was a purely Congregational
procedure.   If Jerusalem were mother of them all, and Peter
were Pontiff, why was there not some show of comniand, or at
least permission thence?   Where were the Bishops, -if there
were any,- that they did not give these men the inmposition of
their hands?  Nay, where was the Presbytery?  There  were
already many local churches existing, not far asunder. Three or
four years before this date, we read, "then had the churches rest
English Bible, which has long since become the full equivalent of the Greek IKI(;aTia.  We might
use church, where the word signifies the whole body of believers, and congregation, where a particular or local assembly of Christians is intended. But even this is unnecessary. The Geneva
Bible also employed the term church in a few passages, though not in ours, where it seems to me to
be more appropriate than con,regation.- [Lange on Matt. p. 293.]
1 Memoal Volume, A. B.C. F. M., p. 32 
APPENDIX.
throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria; " implying, at the
minimum, as many as six, - the plural number for each of three
Provinces. Where was the Presbytery, that they lost this glorious
opportunity of identifying themselves with the first entry in that
great volume whose last page of record shall glow in golden letters with the legend, "the kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ"? There is no other
conclusion possible, than that the primitive Congregationalismn
founded and carried forward primitive missions.
It has been usual to claim that modern Protestant missionsCatholic missions, so called, need not be brought into the account,
for they preach the Gospel to no creature- had their first exemplification, when, in 1557, Villegagnon, a Knight of Malta, under
the patronage of Henry II. of France, founded a French colony
on the soil of Brazil. But a closer examination of the transaction,1 as revealed in the letters of an eye-witness, establishes the
fact, that this was not a mission at all. About the same date, we
have been told, Gustavus Vasa, of Sweden, founded a mission
among the Lapps. But his process was so borrowed from the
material policy of Rome, - the people being ordered to assemble
at stated periods to pay their taxes and be Christianized, - that
the frosts of that Northern paganism relaxed, in consequence,
little or nothing of their ancient rigor.
In neither of these endeavors is to be discerned the presence of
any intelligent, tender consideration of the heathen as just such
lost sinners as other men are, stumbling upon the dark mountains
of their idolatry, and needing to be saved - and capable of being
saved -by the same grace of God in Christ Jesus, which saves
other men.
The establishment of modern missions upon this fundamental
idea of the Gospel, was reserved for the Pilgrim Fathers of New
England. Their study of the Acts of the Apostles, in their endeavor to establish again the original Church foundations which
had been removed, led them to drink so deeply afresh of the old
fountain as to make them evolve once more the idea of the primitive missions. It was one great element of the desire with which
1 See Life of CaZvin, ii: 360.
342 
DANGEROUS TENDENCIES IN OUR CONGREGATIONALISM. 343
John Robinson and his Church desired to come to this country, that
they might lay "some good foundation, or at least make some good
way thereunto, for ye propagating and advancing ye gospell of
ye kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world." Their
early charters distinctly recognized the missionary character of
their design. The first seal of the Massachusetts Company bore
the figure of an Indian, with the legend, "Come over and help
us," proceeding out of his mouth.   "Oh that you had converted
some before you had killed any!" was Robinson's touching response to the news that blood had been shed, and life taken, in
their first serious conflict.   The Massachusetts General Court
made the first formal appropriation of money to the support of
Christian missions that was ever made.   And when Thomas
Mayhew began to labor with the Martha's Vineyard Indians in
I642, and Thomas Bourne with the Mashpee Indians, and John
Eliot to preach to those on Nonantum Hill in 1646, they began to
do what has since been taken up and carried forward by so many
Boards and great societies all round the world.   And  Eliot's
Indian Bible, printed at Cambridge in I66I-3, was the pioneer of
the more than one hundred different versions of the Scriptures
which now carry the oracles of God in their own tongue to almost
every nation under heaven.
Well might good old Major Gookin, in his enthusiasm, say:
"Here we may behold the real fulfilling of those precious promises made to Jesus Christ,' that God will give him the Heathen
for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his
possession;' and thereupon take occasion to praise God, and encourage our faith and hope in him, for a further and more ample
fulfilling of his good word in that respect." 
F.
DANGEROUS TENDENCIES IN THE CONGREGATIONALISM OF
THE DAY.- TO be forewarned is to be forearmed. And there is
sometimes more wisdom.in being too anxious, than in not being
1 I Mass. Hist. CoZZ. i: 223. 
APPENDIX.
anxious enough. Two or three suggestions will, it is hoped, be
borne with kindly, - as they are meant.
I. In some cases, there seems to be too great a tendency in the
Congregationalism of our day toward practical Independency.
We are Independent churches.  That is one truth, and a very important one. But we are also Congregational, affiliated, fraternized churches. That is another truth. And who shall say that
it is not an equally important one, - in some of its results upon
the community and the common good, a more important one? In
the comparison of the practical working of our system with that
of our English brethren, we are always impressed with the advantage, in many respects, which our Congregationalism has over
their Independency. But there is constant danger that it will be
forgotten that each Church is one member of a great family. So
long as all goes well, and its Congregationalism puts no check
upon the desires of a local confederation of believers, so long all
is very good. But so soon as the cords of affiliation begin to draw
tight to curb desire, then there is apt to be friction and fretfulness
and scolding. If a Church becomes interested in, and desires to
settle as its Pastor, some man whom the surrounding churches,.
assembled in council, cannot doctrinally indorse; whose ordination, therefore, they cannot conscientiously advise; it may be very
strongly tempted to say, " Very well: if you won't ordain him for
us we will ordain him for ourselves, as we have the right to do;
we will be Independent; it is a pity if we must be debarred from
the possession of the man of our choice, because of the unreason
able prejudices of our neighbors in the matter!"  Such a course
has been hastily taken, more than once, - and repented of at
leisure.
"No man e'er felt the halter draw,
With good opinion of the law;"
and yet the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; and, in the end,
always proves to be better than anarchy.
2. As the pendulum swings naturally from one extremity of its
curve to the other, it almost inevitably happens that the occasional
demonstrations, on the part of radical and thoughtless members of
the denomination, of distrust of councils and dissatisfaction with
344 
DANGEROUS TENDENCIES IN OUR CONGREGATIONALISM. 345
their advice, and of that practical leaning toward strict Independency, which I have noted, should cause its more conservative
and thoughtful members to react toward actual centralization, and
to cry out for a " strong" Church government. Essays will be
written in favor of some "determinative" power for councils, and
perhaps efforts be made - as they have occasionally been made
by men of a certain class of thought and taste, from time immemorial-to Presbyterianize Congregationalism. It may be hoped,
however, that the good sense of the masses, under the guidance
of the Spirit, will, in the end, check these erratic tendencies, and,
keeping the centripetal and centrifugal forces fairly balanced, give
to the future a Congregationalism radically intelligent, flexible,
and free, on the one hand, while conservatively true to its ancient
principles and standards, and to God's word and Providence on
the other.
3. In the matter of " stated supplies," so called, or " acting
pastors," as the later phrase is, there seems to be a dangerous tendency West and East. Thle number of these unsettled ministers
staying a while with churches, has increased, in ten years, from
562 in a total of 1,795 (1858), to I,o85 in a total of 2,064 (i868),
-a proportion of.3130 to.5256, or a ratio of increase of.2i26
in the ten years. It is true, that something ought perhaps to be
allowed for a more thorough distinguishing in the report in the
latter year than in the former, inasmuch as, in i858, there were
280 whose exact relation was not specified, while in I868 there
were only io6. But there is nothing to show that the proportion
of unspecified ones in the latter year, who were settled, may not
have been as great as in the former.
Many ministers at the West seem so far to have come under the
influence of that Methodism, which floats as a malaria in that
atmosphere, that they are not willing to bind themselves to the
service of any Church. While at the East, it is to be feared, there
is an increasing number of churches which think it cheaper to
" hire preaching" than to settle a minister. Time will make all
wiser; but it may be through a bitter experience, which it would
be very desirable to all to have spared, if possible.
4. In the matter of Evangelists, there are tendencies abroad which
need to be watched and guarded against, or they may easily work 
APPENDIX.
evil to the churches. Lay labor - which, in its place, is admirable - is increasingly popular, and in some parts of the country
it almost seems as if the regular methods and work of the pastor
and the Church were conceded to be merely ad interim, until
some other worker, some Evangelist, lay or clerical, can be
brought in to reap the great harvest for the Lord.
I venture to insert at this point the clear and admirable judgmnent and testimony lately given on this very subject by one of the
ablest minds of the West, of one who, with an Eastern training,
has lived long enough on the other side of the Lakes to become
thoroughly familiar with whatever is special in the needs of that
part of the land, - I refer to Professor Joseph Haven, D.D., of the
Theological Seminary at Chicago. In answer to the question,
"Do circumstances render the office of an Evangelist either
necessary or desirable, at the present day?" Professor Haven
says: -
That is by no means certain. It is desirable, often, doubtless, to call in
the aid of a fresh, strong mind to supplement the labors of a pastor already
jaded, and worn out with the excitement and toil incident to a season of
revival. There will be times when every pastor will need the help of his
brethren; nor is there any reason why that help should not be freely given
and freely employed. But is it necessary that a certain class of men should
make this their specialty, and their chief or sole work, having it for their
business to go about and, as the expression is, get tip revivals? We confess
we can see no reason for this, and no necessity of it. It may be said that
by devoting themselves exclusively to this work, they acquire more wisdom
and experience in it, and know better what methods to adopt. That may
be. Yet, as a matter of fact, the methods adopted by the professed
evangelist are often of a questionable nature, to say the least, nor does the
event always prove their superior wisdom.  Even at the best, one would
suppose that the more intimate acquaintance which a pastor must necessarily have with the condition and circumstances, the mental peculiarities,
and the spiritual wants of his flock, would more than counterbalance any
advantage which the professional revivalist may derive from his greater
familiarity with the processes and methods in question. No one can so
well judge what truth to present in a given case, and how to deal with any
particular mind under given circumstances, as the pastor who knows the
history and habits of that mind. The stranger, however skilful and well
versed in all the tactics of warfare, draws the bow at a venture in such
cases. The Spirit of God may indeed direct the flight of the arrow, and
give it effect to the piercing of some closely mailed and stubborn heart;
346 
_o-iOUS TENDENCIES IN OUR CONGREGATIONALISM. 347
but is not the Spirit of God quite as likely to render effective the weapon
well and steadily aimed, as the bow drawn at a venture?
While there are no very clear and positive advantages, then, in the
method now under consideration, there are on the other hand, as it seems
to some of us at least, very serious objections to that method.
If this plan be generally adopted, the churches and pastors will very
naturally come by and by to expect an awakening of religious interest only
in connection with such special and extra labors. And in proportion as
they cease to expect they will cease to labor for it. They will no longer put
forth those efforts, which, with the divine blessing, would result in the desired awakening. They will say, or if they do not say it, the tacit feeling
will be, "Oh it is of no use to take any measures looking towards a revival
now; wait till Mr. -      or Mr., the distinguished revivalist, comes
along. He never fails."
In proportion as this feeling prevails another result will follow, equally
disastrous. The churches will come to undervalue the regular labors and
the legitimate office of the Christian pastor. It is almost impossible it
should be otherwise. As compared with the more important work of the
evangelist, his labors will seem to be of small account. Now we have yet
to learn that the pastoral office and work are second to any other in the
Christian Church, or need to be replaced by any other, in order to the most
effective ministration and highest success of the gospel. Whatever tends
to produce this impression, and leads men to undervalue in any degree the
regular pastoral office, tends not to the welfare but the serious detriment of
the Church and cause of Christ.
And then, moreover, the effect on the revivalist himself must be injurious. He will naturally, and almost inevitably,come to consider himself as
one holding a superior office, and a more important trust, than is committed to ordinary preachers of the gospel; engaged in a work above that
of the regular Christian pastor; having a special function and mission to
fulfil, to which he has been called, and for which he has been fitted by certain special gifts and qualifications. The effect of such an impression,
whether correct or groundless, will hardly be to promote humility and selfabnegation, but rather the reverse. Conceit and self-esteem, and spiritual
vanity will be more likely to be the result. We do not say that such is in
all cases the effect; but that it would be very likely to be in any case.
The ship just entering or leaving the harbor needs the services of a pilot.
That is his special function. He steps on board and assumes command,
and the captain and crew are for the time subordinate. Now something
like this, in the opinion of some, is the condition of a Church passing
through a revival. The navigation is difficult and requires the services of
one whose peculiar function it is to do just this work - a spiritual pilot to
step on board and take command. Too often, we fear, the revivalist looks
upon himself as sustaining very much this relation to the regular pastoral
office. It is but a few weeks since we were told in the religious papers, 
APPENDIX.
that the Rev. Mr., a distinguished evangelist, did not think the state
of religious feeling in     (one of the largest churches in Western Massachusetts), "was such as to justify" his staying and laboring among
them!  And what state of religious feeling, one cannot but ask, wouldjustify this man in staying and preaching the gospel to that people? Was the
state of religious feeling such as to justify the pastor in staying? One
would say if the religious feeling was low in that Church, then, of all places,
that is the very one where an evangelist ought to set himself resolutely at
work. The spiritual.condition of the Church, one would say, was not such
as to justify his leaving.
For the reasons now stated we are compelled to answer this question in
the negative. We fail to see, in the condition and circumstances of the
modern churches, any thing to require the services of a special class or
order of men of the kind now described, and make them either necessary
or desirable.
And we may add, in closing, that so far as we are aware, the men who
have labored with greatest ability and greatest success in revivals in this
country, have for the most part been not professional evangelists, but pastors of churches. Such, for example, were President Edwards, and his colaborers, and in our own time, Professor Finney, Dr. Lyman Beecher, and
others. - [The Advance, i2 March, i868.]
5. The last point in regard to which I desire to raise the question whether a danger does not threaten our denomination is thisin the imitation, conscious or unconscious, of other denominations,
to our own harm? It is the boast of Congregationalism, that it is
so free and elastic in its spirit, that, so only two or three fundamental principles be conceded and adhered to, it may adapt itself,
in all its methods, to circumstances. It may worship God in any
form it please, -without a liturgy, or in the use of any which
meets the taste and satisfies the wants of a given congregation;
with ministerial robes or without them; in a barn, or on a common, or in a cathedral; and so on, ad libitum. This is all true;
and our system gains, in virtue of it, a flexibility which, if not
abused, may be invaluable in fitting it for moods and exigencies
which no other could meet so well, -perhaps could meet at all.
Having such a power within our hands, we are in danger of
being easily tempted to push it forward into too free use. And
we need to be on our guard, and to remember that while Congregationalism can work faithfully, if need be, through any form, she
can work more congenially and usefully through those simple ones
which she most naturally secretes around herself, than through
348 
DANGEROUS TENDENCIES IN OUR CONGREGATIONALISM. 349
those which have been the suggestion of other, if not antagonist
polities. That Congregational Church which should make its
home in a cathedral, and order its worship according to the ritual
usual there, would probably endanger its permanently healthful
life.
The chief danger, of this description, however, which threatens
our churches, seems to be, that, in the West, where Methodism
has so largely occupied, if not pre-occupied, the ground, and has
so impressed itself upon the popular mind, Congregationalists will
go further in that direction -in the (perhaps unconscious) endeavor to offer kindred inducements to the people - than they can
do with safety.
To this Methodist influence is most probably to be attributed
that movement in so many Congregational churches at the West
in favor of the voting and voice of females in the E'x iiat'a.  It
seems to be felt that the Western people have become so familiarized to female speech, and so on, in Methodist meetings, that
Congregationalists will not have a fair chance, in competition, to
secure their attendance and interest, unless a concession be made
in that respect.
But I have tried to show (pp. 314-324) that this involves the
overstepping of a line directly laid down by Paul at the command
of God. This we have no right to do, to court favor with anybody, or to adapt ourselves to anybody's prejudices. And unless
appearances are greatly deceitful on this point, and on some
points in which our theology most nearly touches the Methodist
system, as well, there is need of care lest, in our endeavors to
be firaternal on the one hand, and to win our fair share of the
popular good-will, on the other, we become untrue both to the faith
and polity once delivered to the saints, and so offend God in seeking to gain and satisfy men.
Careful study of the Bible, as it stands related to these subjects,
and of the fundamental principles of our system, will safely guide
and guard us; and there cannot be too much of that, West or
East. 
APPENDIX.
G.
SOME FACTS OF RECENT IRREGULARITIES. - It is wonderful
how ignorant even those who seem in general to be intelligent
Congregationalists are, of many of the practical features of the
primitive and scriptural system. This is partly, no doubt, the con sequence of the general impression which so largely prevails
and which is, in many places, so earnestly fostered by the friends
of opposing polities -that Congregationalismn is not so much a
system, at all, as a general freedom from all system, - a permitting
to its professors to do quite as they please. But it must be more
largely due to an entire failure on the part of those who live under
it to consider its first principles, and think out their fundamental
and inevitable requisitions. It has no authoritative Book of canons
and laws; it does not result from this circumstance, however, that
it has not exact and definite laws, compliance with which insures
prosperity to all who practise them, and the neglect or perversion
of which leads to endless complexity and trouble.
It is simply proposed to set down here a few notes of facts of
recent occurrence, which indicate ignorance or forgetfulness of denominational first principles, or some of them, on the part of those
who, to say the least, might easily know better; in the hope of
leading all who are interested, to avoid not only these, but kindred
irregularities, in the future.
i. A Church inviting itself on its own Council. -This has
happened more than once within five years, in New England; the
Church calling a Council placing its own name first in the list of
churches invited. There may be, of course, abnormal cases in
which such a course would be, in every sense, right and proper, -
as where the Essex-street Church, in Boston, in Feb., i866, called
a Council to consider the interests of the cause of Christ in that
community, itself having the same interest in the matter as every
other, and no more. But in a Council, like those most common,
in which a particular Church desires to submit a question either
of the settlement or dismission of a pastor, or of the suitable adjustment of a difficulty which is peculiar to itself, and to which it
is a party in interest, the case is very different; and all considera
35o 
SOME FACTS OF RECENT IRREGULARITIES.
tions of Christian propriety combine to urge the absence of the
Church and its representatives from that friendly tribunal before
which its own acts are to come under advisement. And for it to
insist upon being there, would look either like a want of confidence in its advisers if left unwatched, or like a desire to control
their verdict, in a manner at once indelicate and unjust. What,
in a civil case, would be thought of the party to a reference which
should insist on sitting with the referees?
The remedy for such a wrong procedure is at the point where
the other churches invited act upon their letters-missive. Every
such letter lays two questions before each Church receiving it, viz.:
(i.) Will you join in Council for the purposes named? (2.) If so,
will you, in violation alike of the proprieties of the case and of the
usages of Congregationalism, consent to meet in such Council as a
party in judgment, the main party in interest? If every Church
receiving such an invitation would vote to stay at home, until a
more modest and Congregational letter-missive should solicit their
presence; the party attempting such a procedure would be driven
into literal Independency, or forced to become really Congregational, according to its name and fame.
2. A  Council issuing Letters dismissive. -A Council containing among its members some of the most eminent pastors of our
denomination in New England, a few years since so far misjudged
its own prerogatives as to authorize its officers to give letters of
Church dismission to the parties calling it; and that folly was
repeated, in i867, by a Minnesota Council, which instructed its
Moderator and Scribe to issue similar letters. In both cases the
Councils were Ex-,iarte; called by members who had applied to
their churches for letters of dismission in the usual form, and been,
as they conceived, unjustly denied. The Councils looked into the
facts, became satisfied that the letters had been wrongly withheld,
and that, by Congregational usage, the parties were fully entitled
to them; and then -jumped at the conclusion, that, since they
ought to have them, and no other way seemed to offer itself of
procuring them, they [the Council] had the right, and duty,
of issuing them.
But, not being the Church to which these members belonged,
the Council could not dismiss them to any other Church; and not
351 
APPENDIX.
being a tribunal having power over the Church offending, it could
not compel it to grant such letters.
The only thing which these Councils had the power and the
right to do, and the exact thing, therefore, which they ought to
have done, was to instruct their Moderator and Scribe to give the
parties letters certifying to the facts, stating that they seem
to be fairly entitled to the letters which are wrongly withheld,
and advising that, in the judgment of the Council, any Church receiving them without letters would be justizfed in so doing.
3. abasty 7udgments of Councils. -Many instances have come
to the writer's knowledge within a few years -to which it would
be quite inexpedient to make definite allusion here -in which
Councils (sometimes, apparently, moved to do so by the Providential presence of a strong majority previously inclined toward
one view of the case to be submitted rather than another - as
where one-half of the Council has been selected by each party
from those supposed to be especially its friends, and several called
by one side have failed to be in attendance, although a quorum is
present- ) have proceeded, in a rapid and seemingly arbitrary
manner, to hurry along the case, to rule out evidence, or to close
the hearing, long before one side has had opportunity to adduce
all the testimony desired. In one such case, five members of the
Council felt called upon solemnly to protest against its result, on
the ground that it had expressly declined to hear the case with
sufficient fulness to put within its reach the materials of fair and
complete decision and advice.
It is of the utmost consequence for Ecclesiastical Councils to
remember that all their power and influence over the churches,
and the community, are moral, and not legal; their decisions having so much weight as there is weight in the pious good sense
and sound reason that are in them, and no more.  Remembering
this, they may be aided to consider, as they are about their work,
that every failure to rise to the strictest and most absolute integrity, and the most honorable and Christian candor in every particular, must necessarily, so far, detract from the moral force of
their result, and tend to make their labor vain!
4. Unauthorized and unfair action of Associations and Conferences. -Our Congregationalism is in continual danger of
352 
SOME FACTS OF RECENT IRREGULARITIES.
being Presbyterianized by the influence which works into it, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, from the participation of those who have been trained under the Genevan System,
and who seem to be utterly unable ever to cognize the fact that
there is absolutely nothing in the Congregational way which
corresponds to the College of Elders, the Synod, or the Presbytery - having authority.
Our Associations of ministers are purely voluntary bodies - as
much so as a village debating club, or a temperance society.  As
such they have the right to receive members on their own terms,
and to reject and exclude them, as they may be pleased to enact.
But they have, and can have, no power over the professional status
of those members. And yet the assumption has been made, and
sought to be acted upon, that expulsion from a ministerial Association is tantamount to, and ought to be regarded as, deposition
from lhe ministry.  But no point of Congregational order is better settled than that deposition from the Congregational ministry
must be done by the Church to which the offender belongs, with
and through advice and action of a Council specially called for
that purpose.1
Our Conferences of Churches, also, are composed of delegations
from the churches of a neighborhood, for purposes of mutual
spiritual consultation, fraternity, and friendship; and are all
planted on the fundamental principle that they can never assume,
or exercise, any "jurisdiction" over the churches.  Yet the endeavor has been made, by expulsion of a Church from a Conference, to disfellowship it, and throw it beyond the circle of the
denomination; and other churches who, after that, have continued
to exercise towards it the usual courtesies, have been censured as
violating our system and favoring error, or at least laxity. But
nothing is clearer than that by Cambridge Platform every Church
remains in good fellowship in the denomination, until it has been
formally disfellowshipped by the action "of the third way of communion;" while the modern practice has ever been, at least, to
1 See John Robinson's Works, iii: 43I; Answer of the Elders, 77; Cambridge Plafform, c.
viii: 7; Mather's Ratio D9sciinse, x62 —77; Upham's Ratio, I69-I76; Punchard's View, 29212; Cummings's Congregational Dictionary, 25,-253; Manual of Maine General Conference,
51-53
23
353 
APPENDIX.
require a formal result of Council to pronounce upon the heresy,
or other ill conduct, of a Church, before it can be counted out of
the sisterhood.'
5. Unzchrishian Action on tihe Part of Churches. -A Congregational Church, one would think, ought to be the very last place
in which a member would receive injustice. But such is the
infirmity of human nature, even when partially sanctified, and
such is the ease with which good men sometimes forget what be
the first principles of the oracles of God, that they need that "one
teach them again." I mention a few points suggested by recent
cognizance on my own part of gross forgetfulness on the part of
churches of the rights of their members or the proprieties of
Church action.
(a.) Factitious ifajority. - While it will usually be impossible
for all Church action, especially where difficulties exist, to be absolutely unanimous, the endeavor should always be made to have it
as nearly so as possible; and the greater the importance of the
question at issue, and the higher the range of feeling excited by it,
the more is such unanimity to be desired, and the more should
it be striven for. It can very seldom indeed be wise and best for
a Church to proceed to the excision, or even to the grave censure,
of a member by a bare majority vote. This is recognized by
many churches to that degree that they make it one of their standing rules, that every such vote shall require the concurrent assent
of two-thirds of the male members present at the regular meeting
when the action is taken. Yet cases have occurred, and that recently, where members have been cut off by a bare majority, and
that majority manufactured to order, by methods that were flavored more strongly with the odor of the hustings than of the
sanctuary.2
I The proposition of the "Articles of Government and Fellowship" which received the general indorsement of the Boston Council of x865, on this point was the following: -
"A council orderly assembled to advise concerning the acts and administrations of a church,
and finding that such church deliberately receives and maintains doctrines which subvert the foundations of the Christian faith, or that it wilfully tolerates and upholds notorious scandals, or that it
persistently disregards and contemns the communion of churches, may, after fit admonition, advise
the churches to withhold from that erring church all acts of communion till it shall give evidence of
reformation.   And any church, after due admonition, may call [such] a counc              il."- [a tioa,al
Congregational Council, p. 22.]
2 In one case action was effected by a majority of three, made up by one non-resident brought
back for the occasion, one minor, and one person of feeble mind - at least evidence to that effect
came before the council which reviewed the case.
354 
SOME FACTS OF RECENT IRREGULARITIES.
(b.) Discipline without the Preparatory Stehs. - As has been
urged in the body of this work (p. I93) it is almost always bestperhaps always, unless peculiar circumstances stand in the way -
for the private steps of discipline to be taken, even in every most
notorious case of public and scandalous offence. But some churches
either grossly misinterpret, or wholly ignore, these, in proceeding
to deal with offenders, and so, to say the least, needlessly complicate the case.
In one case a Church suspended a brother, the first step of discipline according to the i8th of Matthew never having been taken,
and the second less than half an hour before the preferring of
charges in Church meeting. Another Church excommunicated a
member when the first step only had been taken, and a letter had
been written proposing an interview for the purpose of taking the
second, and the party had replied, naming an evening when he
should be happy to see the brethren, but the Church tabled charges
against him, and proceeded upon them before that (reasonable)
time arrived. Another Church suspended, and subsequently excommunicated, a member without any pretence at taking either of
the preliminary steps, when there was nothing in the circumstances of the case to furnish the slightest reasonable excuse for
such omission. Two of these are among the oldest Congregational
Churches in New England.
(c.) 7udgment without a -Fair Trial. - One Church suspended
a brother in his absence, without summons or testimony. In
another case, a brother had had a difficulty concerning some commercial transactions with another, and the Examining Committee
undertook to settle the matter between them. Failing to do so,
that Committee -no private labor having previously taken place
-reported to the Church eight formal specifications of "unchristian conduct" on the part of the brother first-named, concluding
with the recommendation that he be suspended from Church privileges therefor. The Church - not having been assembled for the
purpose, or with any expectation of the trial of the man; in his
absence (made necessary by bodily indisposition), and without
even citing him to appear and answer; without giving him any
official notice of the nature of the charges made against him, or
the source and quality of the testimony relied upon to prove them,
355 
APPENDIX.
or any opportunity whatever to reply to them in its presence;
without even so much as any rehearsal before the assembled breth ren of the evidence which was claimed by the Committee to
sustain the charges - immediately adopted the report of the
Committee, including its final recommendation, and thereupon
proceeded to notify Mr.        that he had been " suspended from
their communion."  Mr.         applied for a copy of the charges
upon which he had been thus summarily judged; but from two to
three months elapsed before his application was granted. Some
months after he addressed a communication to the Church, urging
that their action had been irregular and injurious, -being particularly oppressive in the fact that he had been condemned by
the Church, without a hearing before it,- and respectfully requested that the vote of suspension should be rescinded, and he be
restored to the condition in which he stood before its passage, or
that the Church unite with him in submitting the whole matter to
the advice of a Mutual Council. The Church declined to rescind
its vote, and laid the proposition for a Mutual Council upon the
table. On the fifteenth day of the month following, this request
for a Council was taken from the table, and formally declined,
after which, with no further citation, charge, hearing, or testimony, the Church proceeded to vote to excommunicate this
brother. The vote stood eighteen in favor; none against; seven
present not voting -in a Church of perhaps fifty resident male
members.
Another Church proceeded to try a member - a retired minister
of the Gospel in good and regular standing before and sincewithout legal citation to trial; upon charges of so vague and general a description as to be worthless before a civil court; allowed
the chief prosecutor to be chief witness; admitted hearsay evidence and affidavits taken when the accused could have no opportunity to cross-examine the deponents; and excommunicated him
when he was not present to defend himself, or to explain or reply
to the charges and the evidence!
(d.) Refusal to grant a Mfutual Council. - There are four
pleas upon which the request of a member desiring to refer matters in contest between himself and the Church to a Mutual Council has sometimes been refused: (I) the blunt averment that they
356 
SOME FACTS OF RECENT IRREGULARITIES.
don't believe in Councils anyway; (2) on the ground that it is a
perfectly clear case, and there is no need of a Council; (3) on the
ground that the party is guilty- whether the action of the Church
has been technically right in every particular, or not - and really
deserves his sentence, and so ought not to have a Council; and
(4) on the ground that he is an uneasy, quarrelsome member, and
would be making a fuss about something else if this were not up,
and so a Council will do no good. It is not impossible that each
of these, with the exception of the first, may sometimes be a valid
reason for refusing to such an applicant a Mutual Council. But
there can be no doubt that they have sometimes been made use of
most unwisely to bluff off and annoy a really good man who is
suffering wrong from his brethren, and who has a fair and unquestionable right, under our Congregational system, to have his grievances passed upon by a Mutual Council. A Church may not like
Councils, nevertheless if it is a Congregational Church, it ought to
employ them in those emergencies for which they are peculiarly
adapted, and in which they offer us aid toward light and peace no
other way accessible.  And if it be a " clear case" to the Church,
it is not so to the party who is suffering under censure, and as the
object is " to gain thy brother," it may be, and most probably is,
the duty of the Church to concede to him this much - to allow of
a fair revision of all that has taken place between him and them.
And if he really is guilty, that only makes it of the more consequence to treat him with utmost possible Christian fairness, that
he may have no valid reason of complaint to comfort himself with,
but may be left to the unmitigated pressure of his conscience.
And if it be true that he is a quarrelsome member, it may be that
the exposition of that fact which would be made before a Mutual
Council would shame him into future placidity and peace; a
result not at all likely to be reached by what seems to him its
arbitrary refusal.
Of course a Church ought to consider every such request as
presenting a question which has two sides, but if it would do as
it would be done by in all such cases, Ex-parfte Councils would
be less frequent, and the general good would be more promoted.
Every Ex-parte Council - as the rule - is a proof of the wrong
refusal of some Church to grant a Mutual Council.
357 
APPENDIX.
And where a Church feels bound- after the frankest, fullest,
and kindest consideration, to decline a request for a Mutual Council, it will gain moral power in the community by utmost courtesy
towards the party, if an Ex-parte Council be called. To refuse
the use of its Chapel for the session of such a Council, and the aid
of its records and papers to its investigations, as was lately done
in this vicinity, is both to be, and to seem to be unlovely, if not
unchristian.
H.
GOOD RESULTS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF I 865. - This
Council at Boston will ever be regarded as marking an important
era in the Congregationalism of the land. It assimilated, fraternized, consolidated, and homogenized it. It prepared the way
for the cessation of many old hostilities, and the formation of
many new friendships. Particularly it broadened the platform of
the churches, so that New and Old School can stand comfortably
together upon it, without crowding each other off. And it stimulated the zeal of the denomination, as such, to attempt great things
and expect great things for Christ and his cause, in this second
formative period which is coming out of the chaos of the old
past, through the war of the rebellion.
Among the immediate results of the Council stand prominent
t h e                  " Declaration of Faith" which it adopted, and the treatise on
" Churc            h Government and Fellowship " to which it gave its general adhesion. For the convenience of those readers who may
n o t        hav e     them at hand elsewhere, I add here the former, and the
briefer form, or epitome, of the latter: —
DECLARATION OF FAITH.
Standing by the rock where the Pilgrims set foot upon these shores,
upon the spot where they worshipped God, and among the graves of the
early generations, we, Elders and Messengers of the Congregational
churches of the United States in National Council assembled - like them
acknowledging no rule of faith but the word of God - do now declare our
adherence to the faith and order of the apostolic and primitive churches
held by our fathers, and substantially as embodied in the confessions and
358 
DECLARATION OF FAITH.
platforms which our Synods of I648 and t68o set forth or re-affirmed. We
declare that the experience of the nearly two and a half centuries which
have elapsed since the memorable day when our sires founded here a
Christian Commonwealth, with all the development of new forms of error
since their times, has only deepened our confidence in the faith and polity
of those fathers. We bless God for the inheritance of these doctrines. We
invoke the help of the Divine Redeemer, that, through the presence of the
promised Comforter, he will enable us to transmit them in purity to our
children.
In thie times that are before us as a nation, times at once of duty and of
danger, we rest all our hope in the gospel of the Son of God. It was the
grand peculiarity of our Puritan Fathers, that they held this gospel, not
merely as the ground of their personal salvation, but as declaring the worth
of man by the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God; and therefore
applied its principles to elevate society, to regulate education, to civilize
humanity, to purify law, to reform the Church and the State, and to assert
and defend liberty; in short, to mould and redeem, by its all-transforming
energy, every thing that belongs to man in his individual and social rela tions.
It was the faith of our fathers that gave us this free land in which we
dwell. It is by this faith only that we can transmit to our children a free
and happy, because a Christian, commonwealth.
We hold it to be a distinctive excellence of our Congregational system,
that it exalts that which is more above that which is less, important, and,
by the simplicity of its organization, facilitates, in communities where the
population is limited, the union of all true believers in one Christian
church; and that the division of such communities into several weak
and jealous societies, holding the same common faith, is a sin against the
unity of the body of Christ, and at once the shame and scandal of Christendom.
We rejoice that, through the influence of our free system of apostolic
order, we can hold fellowship with all who acknowledge Christ, and act
efficiently in the work of restoring unity to the divided Church, and of
bringing back harmony and peace among all "who love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity."
Thus recognizing the unity of the Church of Christ in all the world, and
knowing that we are but one branch of Christ's people, while adhering to
our peculiar faith and order, we extend to all believers the hand of Christian fellowship upon the basis of those great fundamental truths in which
all Christians should agree. With them we confess our faith in God, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the only living ana true God; in
Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, who is exalted to be our Redeemer and
King; and in the Holy Comforter, who is present in the Church to regenerate and sanctify the soul.
With the whole Church, we confess the common sinfulness and ruin of
359 
APPENDIX.
our race, and acknowledge that it is only through the work accomplished
by the life and expiatory death of Christ that believers in him are justified
before God, receive the remission of sins, and through the presence and
grace of the Holy Comforter are delivered from the power of sin, and perfected in holiness.
We believe also in the organized and visible Church, in the ministry of
the Word, in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, in the
resurrection of the body, and in the final judgment, the issues of which are
eternal life and everlasting punishment.
We receive these truths on the testimony of God, given through prophets
and apostles, and in the life, the miracles, the death, the resurrection, of his
Son, our Divine Redeemer -a testimony preserved for the Church in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which were composed by holy
men as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Affirming now our belief that those who thus hold " one faith, one
Lord, one baptism," together constitute the one catholic Church, the several households of which, though called by different names, are the one
body of Christ, and that these members of his body are sacredly bound to
keep "the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," we declare that we will
co-operate with all who hold these truths. With them we will carry the
gospel into every part of this land, and with them we will go into all the
world, and "preach the gospel to every creature."  May He to whom " all
power is given in heaven and earth" fulfil the promise which is all our
hope: "Lo I am with you alway, even to the end of the world."  Amen.[Debates and Proceedings, pp. 40oI-403.]
The preliminary committee on Church Polity prepared with
great care and labor a very elaborate report- in full, and in
epitome. The Council did not find itself able, nor think it wise,
to adopt either of these, ihsissimis verbis; but contented itself
with a vote of approbation of their general features, and referred
them to a large and influential committee for revision and'publication- should that committee ever overcome the inertia of its
inherent ponderosity sufficiently to be able to meet, confer and
act. The only absolute utterance which the Council made on the
subject of Church Polity was the following resolution- which
was unanimously adopted.-  [D)ebates and Proceedings, p. 463.]
RESOLVED, That this Council recognizes as distinctive of the Congregational polity:  First, The principle that the local or Congregational church derives its
power and authority directly from Christ, and is not subjected to any eccle
siastical government exterior or superior to itself.
360 
EPITOME OF CHIURCH GOVERNMENT, ETC.
Second, That every local or Congregational church is bound to observe
the duties of mutual respect and charity which are included in the communion of churches one with another; and that every church which refuses
to give an account of its proceedings, when kindly and orderly desired to
do so by neighboring churches, violates the law of Christ.
Third, That the ministry of the gospel by members of the churches who
have been duly called and set apart to that work implies in itself no power
of government, and that ministers of the gospel not elected to office in any
church are not a hierarchy, nor are they invested with any official power in.
or over the churches.
The Epitome, to which allusion has been made, is as follows: -
EPITOME OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP'.
I. -GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
I. Ecclesiastical polity, or church government, is that form and order
which is to be observed in the Church of Christ.
II. The Holy Scriptures are the sufficient, exclusive, and obligatory rule
of ecclesiastical polity. Church powers, therefore, are only administrative,
not legislative.
III. For government, there is no one visible, universal church; nor are,
there national, provincial, diocesan or classical churches; but only local;
churches, or congregations of believers, and responsible directly to the(
Lord Jesus Christ, the one Head of the Church universal, and of every par-.
ticular church.
IV. Each local church is complete in itself, and has all powers requisite
for its own government and discipline. But all churches, being in communion one with another, have such mutual duties as grow out of the
obligations of fellowship.
II.-OF A CHURCH.
I. Of its matter and form.
I. A church is always to be composed of such as are judged to belong to
Christ, and of none others.
2. A church is a society of professed believers, united by a covenant,
expressed or implied, whereby all its members agree with the Lord and
with each other, to observe all the ordinances of Christ, especially in united
worship, and in mutual watchfulness and helpfulness.
3. It is the duty of all believers in Christ to unite in church fellowship.
4. Believers are added to the church by entering into covenant, upon the
vote of the brotherhood, after due trial of their repentance from sin, and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Members cease to be such, when they are recommended to, and
36i 
APPENDIX.
received by some other recognized church; to which dismission and commendation they are always entitled, unless liable to some just censure.
II. Of the offcers of a church.
I. Though officers are not necessary to the being of a church, they are to
its well-being.
2. The officers appointed by Christ's institution are bishops (or pastors
and teachers) and deacons. Other persons, appointed for special duties,
constitute no order of church officers.
3. Church officers are to be chosen exclusively by the church to which
they are to minister; and they may be dismissed, for cause, by the same
authority. Yet, in the choice or dismission of a pastor, neighboring
churches should be consulted, -both for advice, and for the sake of fellowship among the churches.
4. No man may be a pastor but one that is called of God to the work of
the ministry. But the church judges of his fitness by due trial of his faith,
grace, and abilities.
5. Church officers are to be ordained, or solemnly inducted into their
several offices; and the ordination of a pastor involves his consecration to
the ministry of the gospel.
6. The work of a pastor is to labor in word and doctrine; and to rule,
not as a lord over God's heritage, but with the consent of the brethren.
The work of a deacon is to assist the pastor, not by ruling or teaching, but
chiefly by" serving tables."
7. The church should provide proper maintenance for the pastor.  It is
right, also, that not only members of the church, but all who are taught in
the word contribute to his support. When incorporated societies assume
the maintenance of a pastor and teacher, it is also right that they have concurrent voice with the church in his election.
III. Of church censures.
I. It is the right and duty of every church to preserve its purity by the
prevention and removal of offences, and the recovery of offenders. This
duty it cannot depute to others, neither can others rightly assume it.
2. In the treatment of offences, the object is both to reclaim offenders,
and to preserve the purity of the church in faith and practice.
3. Church censures are of two sorts, -admonition and excommunica
tion.
4. If one brother offend another, and does not acknowledge his fault, it
is the duty of the brother aggrieved to follow the course which Christ has
prescribed in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, in the hope of winning
his brother. If the grievance come before the church, the church should
endeavor to recover the offender; and, failing that, it should admonish
him, which of itself removes him from church communion until the offence
be removed.
5. If the offence be public and scandalous, the church may proceed without such gradual steps, to try the offender, and, if it find cause, admonish
or excommunicate him.
362, 
EPITOME OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT, ETC.
6. When an offending brother makes penitent confession to the church,
to its entire satisfaction, he is recovered and gained. If not fully satisfied,
the church should admonish him. If, in any case of admonition, the
offender prove obstinate, he is, after reasonable delay, to be excommunicated by vote of the brotherhood.
7. While one lies under the censure of excommunication, he is not to be
received to spiritual communion in any church. But, upon repentance, he
may be absolved of the censure and restored.
8. Inasmuch as the first object is to reclaim the offender, all things
should be done in a spirit of gentleness and meekness. In the trial of one
who is accused, all proceedings should be conducted with equity and patience; and, in the decision, unnecessary harshness is not less to be avoided
than remissness.
9. If a brother claims to be aggrieved by any censure affecting his communion with other churches, or if a letter of dismission and recommendation is unreasonably refused, he may ask the church to join with him in
requesting advice of the neighboring churches; and, if the church refuse,
may of himself request the churches -to assemble by their messengers to
inquire into his case, and to give him advice.
III. - OF THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCHES.
I. Although churches are distinct and equal, yet they ought to preserve
fellowship one with another, being all united to Christ their head.
2. When a company of believers propose to unite in a distinct church,
it is requisite that they ask the advice and help of neighboring churches;
particularly that those churches, being satisfied with their faith and order,
may extend to them the hand of fellowship.
3. Communion is to be exercised by recognizing each other's rights, by
due regard to each other's welfare, and by consultation before acts of common concern.
4. Councils are the ordinary and orderly way of consultation among
churches, and are proper in all cases where the communion of the churches
is involved.
(i.) In councils, the churches meet for consultation, usually by messengers (pastors and delegates) chosen for the special occasion.
(2.) Councils are properly called of churches in the near vicinity, except
when matters which excite strong local sympathies render the advice of distant churches necessary.
(3.) Councils are called only by a church, or an authorized party in
case of disagreement, when the church unreasonably refuses to join; that
is, by a church desiring light or help; by a church and pastor (or other
member or members) in case of differences, when it is styled a mutual
council; or by either of these parties when the other unreasonably refuses
to unite, when it is styled an ex-parte council; which ex-parte council,
when properly convened, has the same standing as if it had been mutual.
363 
APPENDIX.
(4.) Councils consist solely of the churches invited by the letters-missive,
to which no member can be added, and from which none can be removed.
(5.) Councils are convened when a church desires recognition; when a
church asks for advice or help; when differences are to be composed; when
men whose call of God is recognized by the church are to be separated to
the ministry; when pastors are to be inducted into office or removed; when
a brother claims to be aggrieved by church censure; when letters of dis mission are unreasonably refused; when a church or minister is liable to
just censure; and when matters of common moment to the churches are to
be considered.
(6.) The decision of a council is only advisory. Yet, when orderly
given, it is to be received as the voice of the churches, and an ordinance of
God appointed in his word, with reverence and submission, unless incon sistent with the word of God. But councils cannot overrule the acts of
churches, so far as they are within the church, nor exercise government
over them.
(7.) When in any case of difference, a council properly convened, whether
mutual or ex-parte, has given its judgment, neither party can demand that
another council be called, whether to re-examine the substance of the ques tion referred to the first, or to judge of its advice. An ex-Oarte council in
such cases is manifestly disorderly, and without warrant.
5. Fellowship should be withdrawn from any church which is untrue to
sound doctrine, -either by renouncing the faith or continuing to hear a
teacher declared by council to be heretical; or which gives public scandal
to the cause of Christ, or which wilfully persists in acts which break fellow ship.  When one church finds such acts in another, it should admonish,
and, if that fail, invite a council to examine the alleged offence.
6. Conferences of churches are allowable and profitable; but they hear
no appeals, give no advice, and decide no question of church or ministerial
standing.
IV.- OF THE MINISTRY.
I. The ministry includes all men called of God to that work, and orderly
set apart by ordination.
2. When ordination of a pastor is to be performed, the church in which
he is to bear office invites a council to examine as to faith, grace, and ability,
that, if he be approved, they may extend the hand of fellowship. If the
ordination be in view of any other sphere of labor, the request for a council
ought to come from the church of which he is a member.
3. A pastor dismissed does not cease to be a minister; but he cannot
exercise any official act over a church until orderly replaced in office, except
when particularly invited by a church.
4. In case a pastor offend in such a way that he should no longer be
recognized as a minister, the church should request a council to examine
the charges, and, if it find cause, to withdraw all fellowship from him, so
364 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
that his ministerial standing shall cease to be recognized. If a minister
who is not a pastor be the offender, the church to which he belongs, or the
church nearest his residence, should take the same course.
5. Associations of ministers are useful for mutual sympathy and improvement. They can exercise no sort of authority over churches or persons,
save to prescribe the rights and duties of their own membership. But common consent has recognized that their examination of candidates for introduction to the churches is a wise safeguard.- [Debates and Proceedings,
pp. I29-I33.]
I.
PRACTICAL POINTS.- Scarcely a day has passed, now for some
years, in which the author of this book has not been appealed to,
in person or by letter, by some inquirer anxious to gain light as
to the practical application of Congregationalism to the details of
church-life and action. Had he received payment for the time
and study thus demanded, and for the advice given, as lawyers
are paid by their clients, he would have been a rich man by this
time. In addition to attendance upon scores of Councils and the
writing of countless letters, he has very often published replies to
such questions in the columns of the paper now under his editorial charge. At the suggestion of many who have thought harm
might perhaps sometimes be hindered, if not good done, by such
a course, he has decided to append here a selection firom such
opinions of this description as he happens to have at hand, which
have been written since the publication of the first edition of this
work. Whatever may be thought of the wisdom of the range of
topics selected, it is at least true that they are practical, in the
sense that each question has been asked under some pressure of
desire and need on the part of some party with whom, at the
time, it had an actual and veritable interest. To facilitate reference an index to these questions is here prefixed.
QUESTIONS.
x What is the true rule for the quorum of an Ecclesiastical Council?
2 Can a Council ever act in anticipation of a subsequent quorum?
3. May a Council ever consist of clerical delegates only?
365 
APPENDIX.
4. Can an Association of ministers properly act as a Council?
5. Can the Scribe add a name to the record after the Result of Council
has been made up and approved?
6. Has the Church a right to decline a mutual Council in a certain case?
7. Can an Ex-parte Council lawfully assemble without notifying the
Church in reference to whose affairs, or action, it is called?
8. Must the preacher at an ordination be a member of the Council?
9. Should not such a preacher report himself and be officially recognized?
IO0. Is it well for a Council to vote that, after certain public services, it
will adjourn?
ii. Ought the Church calling a Council to pay the necessary expenses
of its members?
I2. What is the relation of an Ecclesiastical Society to the supply of the
pulpit, and the devotional meetings of the Church?
I3. Should the Society give a man a call to be their Pastor before the
Church acts?
I4. Is a minister employed by a Parish, without any Church action, an
Acting Pastor?
I5. Can an Acting Pastor rightly act as Moderator or Clerk of a
Church?
I6. Who dissolves the relation of a retiring Pastor to his Church and
Parish?
I7. Is it necessary for the Society to take action for the dismission of its
Pastor?
i8. What can be done by the Church if the Parish refuses to concur with
it in dismissing their minister?
19. Can a Church consolidate itself with another save by unanimous
vote?
20. Can a Church disband itself by majority vote, with a large minority
not notified?
2i. Can a Church amend, orwholly change, its covenant, without unanimous assent?
22. When a Unitarian Church by majority vote adopts a Trinitarian
creed, what is the Ecclesiastical status of those members of itwho refuse to
adopt the new creed?
23. Has a Church a right to mutilate its records?
24. Ought Congregational churches in proper cases to dismiss members
to churches of other Evangelical denominations?
25. Ought they to do so to such churches which practice restricted communion?
26. Ought they to do so to an Episcopal Church with a High Church
Rector?
27. Ought they to do so when they know that their letters will be laughed
at and ignored?
366 
PRACTICAL POINTS.                            367
28. How soon is it usage to receive'young converts to Congregational
churches?
29. Can a member of a Church claim a dismission to " any Evangelical
Church "?
30. Is it right for a Church-member to remove his membership to a
Church distant from his place of residence?
3I. Can a Church rightly receive a member where a minority earnestly
object?
32. If a Church-member votes to receive a candidate, can he afterwards
object to him?
33. Should a Pastor prefer charges against officers and members of his
.Church when he has not taken the preparatory steps of discipline with
them?
34. How public ought the confession of a Church-member of his sin to
be?
35. Can a Church properly refuse a letter to a member asking it, on the
plea that he is subject to discipline for some offence, when the letter was
asked for before action toward discipline had been commenced?
36. Is an impaired condition of Christian character - not broken out
into open offence- a ground of discipline?
37. Does confession clear and restore the confessor?
38. If a Church-member has cause of offence with the member of another
Church, how shall he proceed?
39. Can an excommunicate be restored except upon a new confession of
faith?
40. Does the removal of his excommunication restore an excommunicated Deacon to his office?
41. Does a vote of admonition to a Deacon vacate his Deaconship?
42. Are Deacons usually chosen for life, from the older members, and
how many?
43. Has a person accused before a Church a right to object to the reception of written testimony against him, taken when he had no opportunity
of cross-examination?
44. Does Congregationalism welcome men of Evangelical faith,'or only
Calvinists?
45. Is it Congregational to expel an offending minister from an Associa tion, and publish the fact?
I. Question. What is the true rule for a quorum in an Ecclesiastical
Council - the presence of a majority of the churches invited, or of the individuals, or both?
Answer. The best answer which can be given here to this ques tion, we think, is found in the following extract from a result of
Council held at Newton Centre, Mass., in the spring of i866, 
APPENDIX.
of which Hon. Linus Child, of Boston, was moderator, and which
was led very thoroughly to consider, and very carefiilly to act
upon, the subject.  Their judgment was thus expressed: —
I. We are of opinion that, when letters-missive issue from a Church (or,
in the refusal of a Church, from an aggrieved individual, according to Congregational usages) to sister churches, inviting them to constitute an
Ecclesiastical Council for any desired purpose, and that invitation has
been accepted by a majority of those churches, in this action a legal and
sufficient basis has been established for the holding of that Council, and
each Church so accepting has acquired by its affirmative response to such
letters-missive, a certain right to have such a Council held, and to take
part in it.
2. We are of opinion that those churches cannot be deprived of that
right by any providential circumstances which may unexpectedly prevent
the attendance of a majority of those persons appointed as delegates, who,
by the said invitation and acceptance, have acquired the right to be members of such a Council; but that where it is known, or is matter of reasonable inference, that a majority of the churches invited have voted to be
present, by their representatives, and a quorum is not present, those who
may be actually in attendance have the right to organize temporarily for
the purpose of adjournment, and that such temporary organization and
adjournment do carry over the force of the letter-missive to the date of said
adjournment, and, if a quorum be then present, constitute their then action
in all respects legal, as if it had taken place at the date on which the Council was legally called.
3. We are of opinion that the original and genuine Congregational
theory of a Council contemplates it as the churches in council, and consequently as composed of representatives of churches alone. We therefore
judge that the question whether a Council has been made legally possible,
in any case, must be determined by the answer whether or not a majority
of the churches i;zvited, have voted to respond affirmatively to that invitation.
4. We are further of opinion, however, as later Congregational usage -
in concession to the fact, that in some cases it is a matter not merely of convenience, but of consequence, to have the presence and advice of eminent
ordained ministers, not pastors or representatives of churches -has sanctioned the invitation of individuals, as such, in addition to churches, to
become component parts of a Council, that those individuals thus invited
must necessarily be taken into the account, in any given case, in deciding
whether a quorum is in attendance. Thus, for example, if ten churches and
five individuals have been invited to constitute a Council, we are of opinion
that when six churches of the ten, have voted to respond affirmatively to
that letter-missive, their vote gives a legal status to the Council; but that
(as two representatives from each Church might be expected to be present,
368 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
making, with the five individuals, a total of twenty-five persons having the
right of membership) the attendance of thzirteen of these individuals would
be essential to the existence of a feorum, and the legal procedure of that
Council to business.
2. Quest. In a certain case where thirteen churches and four individuals were invited by letters-missive to constitute a Council, on making up
the roll, it appeared that but six churches and one individual were present.
On the expectation that another Church would be present in the afternoon,
the delegates on the ground organized and proceeded to examine the candidate for ordination, and (provisionally) assign parts for public service.
Just before the hour for that service arrived, a delegate from another Church
appeared, the Council was formally organized, the records of the informal
action already had were read, and the action therein proposed unanimously
adopted. The question is thereon raised: would it have been proper for
the representatives of those six of the thirteen churches to have taken final
action, if the other delegate had not arrived?
Ans. We should decidedly answer no; for although possibly no
harm might have ensued upon such action in that particular instance, it is, in general, of consequence that Councils should be
strict in the matter of a quorum. Such a precedent would have
tended to degrade the common practice, and so would have been
of evil influence.
3. Quest. May a Council ever consist of Clerical Delegates only?
Ans. Yes. A Church calling a Council has the same right to
invite each of the churches to whom it sends, to be represented
by its Pastor, as by its Pastor and delegate - in the common form.
And if the churches have no objection to respond to such an invitation, there is no difficulty in having a purelyclerical Council.
And such Councils have been held, occasionally. But the usual,
and usually the better way, is to have the wisdom of Pastors and
lay delegates together, for the work before a Council. There is
not much danger of their being too wise, even then.
4. Quest. Can an Association of ministers properly act as a Council for
the ordination or the dismission of a minister, or for any other purpose?
Ans. Not in virtue of their Associational character, for an Association is a mere voluntary club of ministers meeting for mutual
professional improvement, and has no relation to the churches
whatever; and a Council is a body delegated from the churches;
24
369 
APPENDIX.
who, as they cannot respond en masse to the invitation which they
receive, do so by their delegates. But a Church desiring advice -
in regard to the coming or departure of a pastor, or any other
subject -may invite, if it please, the churches whose pastors are
affiliated in the Association to which it is most convenient for
its pastor to belong.   On  some  accounts, it would be  very
natural for it to do so. The natural result of this would be to
return that Association (with or without lay delegates, as the case
may be) as constituting the desired Council, with credentials from
their churches, as representing them. So that the individuals
composing the Association would be there and would act, but not
in their capacity as an Association.
5. Zuest. After the minutes of a Council have been read, and authoritatively approved, has the scribe any right to add a name to the list of
members?
Ans. No; unless the name is an omission, which omission was
not discovered before, and the insertion of the name is essential
to that true record of business actually done, which the scribe has
virtually promised to keep. That is, if the man were a member
of the Council, actually present and sharing the work of the
Council, but whose name was somehow unaccountably omitted,
the scribe has the right to add it.  He has no right to add the
name of anybody not so present, so acting, and so omitted.
6. tuest. Suppose a Church-member who has fallen into wrong denies
the jurisdiction of the Church, defies, insults, and refuses to be tried by it,
would not the Church be justified in declining to call a mutual Council?
Has such a member any right to appeal to an ex-parte Council, or could the
latter, under the circumstances, entertain his appeal?
Anis. In all ordinary cases, there is no ground for the calling of
any Council while such a process of discipline is in progress.
Such peculiar complications may sometimes exist, as to make the
Church think it expedient to refer the whole matter to the advisory
review of disinterested parties, before reaching their own final
action. But, in nine cases out of ten, the Church should take the
responsibility of going on, and cutting off an offender who " defies, insults and refuses to be tried by it." If he then asks for a
mutual Council to review their action, perhaps it is nearly always
best for them to accede to his request. If the Church decline to
37o 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
do so, he then has a fair basis on which to call an ex-parte Council. But he has no case for either a mutual, or ex-parte Council,
before his Church standing has been impaired by discipline. If
he ask to have the case submitted to a Council, before trial by the
Church; the Church may grant his request if it please, and as we
have said, it may, in rare cases, seem expedient for it to do so;
but such a Council would not be a mutual Council as between the
Church and the member, as parties to it, for he remains an
uncensured constituent of the Church, and cannot, of course, be a
"party" outside of it. And should the Church decline, on his
request, to call such a Council, he would have no case, out of such
refusal, for an ex-barte Council.
7. Ouest. Can an ex-parte Council lawfully and properly assemble, without, in the first place, notifying, or in some way communicating with, the
Church of which the aggrieved person calling it is a member?
Ans. An ex-iarte Council is a Council called by one party in
interest, to give advice in some case - usually of difficulty- where
it has proved to be impossible to procure its submission by both
parties. The only ground on which such a Council can justify
itself, or presume to invite the attention of the churches, is precisely this, that half a loaf is better than no bread, - that there is
need of the advice, and one party persistently refuses a mutual
Council. The only letter-missive inviting to an ex-iarte Council
which any Church can rightly act upon, is one which distinctly
declares that all reasonable efforts to procure a mutual Council
have been made in vain, and that, on thatground, they are invited
to join in a Council ex-iarte. Such being the distinct averment
of the letters-missive, the way is open for the ex-iarte Council to
assemble upon their warrant. And when assembled, the first
duty of such a Council, after organization, is to make a communication to the party holding itself aloof, offering itself as a mutual
Council; and it is only after such a communication has been declined, in terms, or by some equivalent evidence of the persistent
determination of the refusing party not to submit the case, that the
way is open for the ex-parte Council to proceed as if it were
mutual. With these principles laid down, we should answer this
precise inquiry in the affirmative. That is; when a Church has
been invited to send delegates to an ex-.parle Council by a letter
37I 
APPENDIX.
missive which expressly recites that " the Church of which the
aggrieved person calling it is a member" - to take the case in
the mind of our questioner, where the party calling such ex- arte
Council is an aggrieved member of a reluctant Church   "has
refused all offers for a mutual Council," we think that Church may
proceed to send delegates to the ex-parte Council on this evidence
of the letter, without pausing to re-enforce the statement of the
letter by communicating with the Church to find out whether this
statement of the letter is true, or not. And this the more, that
the very first procedure of the Council, after organization, must
be of a nature which must notify the Church, and reveal any
falseness, or misunderstanding, if it exist, and so prevent all further progress.
8. ~uest   Must the preacher at an ordination be a member of the
Council?
Ans. The Congregational theory is that the Church, through the
Council, sets the pastor over itself. As the sermon is a very important part of this setting apart, the preacher of it should be a
member of the Council. All other practice must be exceptional.
9. Quest. When such a preacher is invited by the letter-missive, should
he not report himself, like all the rest, to the Council, in order to be officially recognized by the scribe?
Ans. Assuredly. But where, as is sometimes the case (probably because there are no persons thought to be suitable, in our
own denomination who are willing to perform the service for the
parties interested), a Presbyterian is invited to preach at the
setting apart of a Congregational pastor, he should be judged
leniently, if, through ignorance or inadvertence, he fail to conform
to our customs, and the proprieties of the case.
io. Quest.  A Council often votes that after certain public services, it be
adjourned sinae die; is such prophetic action advisable?
Ans. Adjournment sine die is, strictly, a misnomer, and it
would be better always to vote that the Council "be dissolved."
We see no special risk, however, in passing this terminative vote
at a stage of procedure when all the business has not been done.
It is something of the nature of voting that "' when we adjourn, we
377, 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
adjourn to meet so and so" - which is a common practice of all
deliberative bodies. A special session merely to dissolve is saved,
and we never knew any harm to be done.
I i. uest. Is it, or is it not the usage for a Church calling a Council to
pay the expenses of those whom they invite to sit upon it?
Ans. Usage seems to vary essentially.  It is believed to be
usual for city churches, and perhaps the wealthier country
churches, to pay the expenses of all their own delegations to
ecclesiastical councils.  It is our impression that the majority of
the churches do not do this; and that, in a majority of instances,
churches calling councils do not ordinarily pay their costs of
travel; but only when they are called from a great distance, or
under some peculiar circumstances. We do understand, however, that it is common for the Church ordaining its minister, to
pay the fare of the clerical delegate who is invited to preach the sermon on the occasion. It would be clearly just that somebody —
if not the Church inviting, then the Church responding - other
than the clerical and lay individuals deputed as delegates, should
pay their necessary travelling expenses.  It is quite as much as is
their fair share, to be obliged to contribute their time and trouble,
without being put out of pocket besides.
I2. Quest. I. In the absence of the pastor, is it the duty of a committee
of the Church or Society, to supply the pulpit?
2. Has the Society any right to attempt to control the devotional meetings of the Church, or to say who shall, or shall not conduct them?
3. What would be the duty of a Church should the Society associated.
with it, attempt, by any such measure, to infringe upon its rights?
Ans. I. Many churches have specific rules for joint action with
the parishes with which they are connected. One form of such
rules in common use in this vicinity has these specifications, viz.:
"(I) Whenever the Church and Society shall be destitute of a settied pastor, and a new one is to be obtained, a joint committee of
the Church and Society, consisting of seven persons, of whomfour
shall be chosen by the Church and three by the Society, shall provide a supply for the pulpit, and take all necessary measures to
that end. The Church shall have the right in all cases, to select a
pastor, to be proposed to the Society for its concurrence. If it
373 
APPENDIX.
shall concur in said selection with the Church, a call shall be given
by the Church and Society jointly, to the person so selected; but if
the Society do not concur in the selection, the Church shall select
again, and so again, from time to time, until the Church and
Society shall agree in a choice, and when so agreed, a call shall
be given to the person so selected, by the Church and Society
jointly -the amount of the salary to be fixed by the Society.
(2) Temporary supplies of the pulpit, during the absence or
sickness of the pastor, shall be provided by the deacons of the
Church, and the bills of necessary expenses incurred for that purpose shall be submitted to the Prudential committee of the Society,
and when approved by them shall be paid by the treasurer."
So far as we have learned the Congregationalism of New England, these provisions are founded upon and strictly represent
what, in the steady progress of years and the gradual development of the Parish system, has grown to be the common law
relation between Orthodox churches and their associate parishes
here. So that, in cases where no formal basis of agreement legally
exists between the two allied bodies, we suppose usage and that
sound and sanctified common sense which is the pith and marrow
of Congregationalism, would enforce a procedure substantially
identical with that outlined in them. No principle is better settled
in our New England Congregationalism than that the Church
must always take the lead in all matters affecting the spiritual
teaching and state of both bodies, and the Society has only the
right to concur, or non-concur, with the Church's previous action.
After the Unitarian controversy, with its development of the danger of wrecking all soundness in the faith by putting the power
of determining the quality of the pulpit-teaching out of the hands
of the Church, Orthodoxy in Massachusetts, at least, will not be
in haste to relinquish the freedom which it obtained with " a great
sum." All action for the filling of an unoccupied pastorate, and
by the same reasoning for the supply of a vacant pulpit, should
originate with the Church; and all joint committees for such purposes should be kept under the control of the Church, by having
a larger number appointed by, and from, the Church than by the
Society.
2. An Ecclesiastical Society, as such, has no more right to take
374 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
action in the way of any attempt to control the devotional meetings of the Church, or to suggest who shall preside in them, than
if it were a lodge of Free Masons, or a base-ball club.
3. The duty of a Church, if the Society connected with it should
undertake such usurpation, would be identical with that of Paul
aind Barnabas at Jerusalem when certain "false brethren" undertook to bring them "into bondage," (Gal. ii: 4, 5); "to whom
[tlhey] gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth
of the Gospel might continue" with them.
13. Quest. Is it in accordance with Congregational principles and usage,
where a people wish to settle a pastor, for the Society to give him a call
before the Church?
Ans. No.  In the early days of New England, the Church alone
called, settled, and sustained the minister; and the Cambridge
Platform sanctioned that usage. In i692, the laws first show any
symptoms of towns having anything to do with the election of
pastors.   Subsequently, when  parishes  took  the relation  to
churches which towns had occupied, the usage was for the
Church to nominate, and the Parish to elect. So far as we know,
the current Congregational usage is, and long has been, for the
Church to elect and then ask the concurrent election of the Parish.
If either fails, the election falls to the ground, and a new one must
be made. But on Congregational principles, it is essential to the
rights of the Church and to all reasonable security for the purity
of doctrine, that the Church should have the first and freest election of its highest officer, and always hold the veto power over
Parish action in that regard.
14. Quest.  Is a minister employed by the committee of a Parish for a
year without any action of the Church or even its committee, to be considered an acting pastor?
Ans. No. No man can acquire the relation to a Church of
pastor, or quasi pastor, but by its choice, vote and invitation, and
his acceptance of the same. And the only difference between the
position of a pastor and an "acting" pastor, is that one has been
ordained over the Church and the other has not. And no Parish
thoughtful of the proprieties of its own action would ever think
of pledging a preacher to anything more than the most temporary
375 
APPENDIX.
supply, without the action of the Church, either directly by vote,
or indirectly through the action of its committee. And no Church
knowing its own rights and responsibilities would permit it.
s15..uest.  Is it in order for an acting pastor to act as moderator or
clerk of the Church, when it has a moderator and clerk regularly chosen?
Ans. No, nor if it have neither. He has no more right to act
as moderator or clerk, until the Church has requested him, by
vote, to do so, than he has to be President of the Senate of the
United States without election.
x6..uest. I. Is it in accordance with the principles of Congregationalism for a minister to resign his pastorship?
2. And if so, for the Church to accelt his resignation? And then, for
them simply to submit their doings to a Council for their approval?
3. Is the relation of pastor and Church in such a case dissolved by
themselves? or the Council? or by the concurrence of all the parties?
Ans. I. When a minister feels that it is God's will that his
pastorate should cease, the natural and proper course for him to
take, is to propose to his people to take all the steps on his part
which may be needful and appropriate to terminate the relation.
This is, technically, resignation.
2. If the Church and Society concur with their pastor in viewing it to be the will of God that the relation between them should
be sundered, the natural and proper course for them to take is to
concur with him also in doing all that may be needful and appropriate for them to do, to bring the relation to an end. This is,
technically, acceptance of his resignation. But as they may be
wrong, and he may be wrong, in the interpretation of God's will,
it is expedient, as well as inherently suitable to the fellowship of
the churches, that the whole matter should be referred to a Council of the elders and messengers of neighbor churches for review
and advisement before proceeding any farther.
3. If the Council agrees with the parties, it would say so to them,
and advise them to proceed to ultimate the separation, by a vote
on the part of the Church dismissing the pastor; and when such
a vote should be so passed, the relation would be at an end.
Sometimes a Church beforehand votes a dismission subject to
the advice of Council; in which case the dismission takes effect
376 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
upon the favorable result of the Council without going back to the
Church for another vote. It should always be remembered however, that councils have no power other than to advise, and that
every Church must take the responsibility of the real act of dismission.
i7. t?uest. Is it necessary that the Ecclesiastical Society should take any
action in reference to the dismission of a pastor who is leaving, or is it
enough for the Church to accept his resignation, and call a Council?
Ans. In Massachusetts it is certainly needful for the Society to
terminate the official relation of the pastor to itself, either by an
acceptance of his resignation, or in some other way, or he might
continue to draw his salary front them even after he had been dismissed from the Church; and it is orderly for Society and Church
to act jointly in calling a Council for dismission, as they uniformly
do for settlement.
i8..uest. What can be done by a Church, when the Parish connected
with it declines to concur with it in regard to the dismission of their pastor?
Ans. Nothing, but wait, in the use of wise means, for more
light and a more perfect agreement. The case is the reverse of
that which sometimes occurs, where the Church and Parish fail
to think alike as to calling a pastor -when they wait and try
again.
i9. gtest. If a Church, for what it conceives to be good reasons, desires
to consolidate with some other, can a majority - a large majority - effect
the union? or must the deciding vote be unanimous? If the latter, how
can that result be ever reached, when there are absent members who cannot be consulted?
Ans. When with adequate deliberation, and so much and so
thorough previous notice that it is every absent member's fault if
he is not present to share in the debate and decision, the strong
major vote of those present is enough to act upon, and binds the
Church as really as if all were actually in attendance.
20. Buest. Has the majority of a Church, more than half of which
majority are females, the right, according to Congregational usage, to meet
together and vote one another out of the Church, and then pronounce the
Church disbanded; when a large minority of its members were not present, and were not notified of the object of the meeting?
377 
APPENDIX.
Ans. Whatever view be taken of the mooted question whether
a Church can under any circumstances be disbanded by majority
vote in the face of a protesting minority, there can be no question
that a negative answer ought to be given to the above inquiry.
No action of importance ought to be finally taken by a Church,when all its members have not been as thoroughly and seasonably
notified of the object of the meeting, as in the nature of the case
is possible; so that their absence - if it exist - is to be fairly
taken as imnplyinig their indisposition to assert their right of voting,
and their willingness that those who may be in attendance- shall
take the course which seems wise to them, upon whatever matter
may claim discussion and action.
21. Quest.  Can a Church amend its covenant, or adopt an entirely new
covenant in place of the old one, without unanimous assent?
Ans. Yes.  If Congregationalism is not an "established religion," the right of every Church to fix its own creed inheres in the
very essence of it. And it is self-evident that the authority to
adopt, includes that to amend, alter or reject altogether. And if
it be urged that the covenant is of the nature of a contract entered
into between each individual member of the Church on the one
part, and all the other members on the other part, so that it becomes a violation of contract if any change be made in its terms
without the assent of every contracting party; it is to be replied
that such a contract is necessarily made with the understanding
that it must be always subject to the will of the majority- so that
every member takes his own risk. To assume the ground that a
covenant cannot be changed until every member actually assents
to such a change, would nearly always be to take the ground that
no covenant can ever be changed - inasmuch as, even if all
who could be consulted were unanimous, nearly every Church-has
absent members who could not be consulted, whose rights are still
just as real and just as sacred as if they were present; would be
to have tied up almost all New England to the " Half-way Covenant" - and to petrify whatsoever heresy might creep into any
creed in the passage of some godless generation.
22 Quest. When a Church that has been Unitarian in its faith, by a
majority vote changes its creed and covenant and becomes Trinitarian,
378 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
what is the Ecclesiasticar status of those members of the old organization
who refuse to accept the new creed of the Church? Are they still members
in full, or did their Church membership cease when the creed was changed
to one to which they cannot adhere?
Ans. All the members of any Church which changes its creed
and covenant by majority vote, remain members of it until they
die; ask letters of dismission to other bodies and receive and use
them; or are excluded in due course of discipline. Nor can they
be disciplined because they do not accept the new articles of faith
and covenant. They remain in good and regular standing so long
as they do, and are, all which they agreed to do and be, in their
assent to the articles which they originally signed. If other members of the Church - if a majority - are pleased to assent to new
articles, it cannot affect them so long as they remain faithful to the
old. And they have a right not merely to their legal status in
the Church, but to great consideration and kindness from those
who differ with them, so long as they remain in the exercise of
their inalienable right of continuing to be members of the body.
While no new member could be received whose orthodoxy is not
sufficient to assent heartily to the new creed and covenant - these
old members cannot be turned out because they withhold their
assent.
23. Quest.  Can a Church mutilate their records?
If they can, by what restrictions is this expunging process limited?
Ans. In regard to the general question here presented, it is to
be replied that a Church is under the same general duties toward
its records, and subject to the same moral and legal responsibilities
in regard to them, with any other society, or corporation.
The first duty of such records is accuracy. As every clerk of a
corporation holding and administering property under our State
laws is sworn to set down with faithfulness all its business done;
so every Church clerk is bound before God and man to make his
record an exact narrative of all Church business done -neither
more nor less. He is not bound - it may be questioned whether
he has the right -to record discussion in detail, remarks made,
items of testimony received, and the like; or anything which is
not either Church action, or so connected with it, that a minute of
it is needful to make such action perspicuous. But what the
379 
APPENDIX.
Church does, and all that it does, he is bound to set down with
exactest care.
There can be no doubt that the abstract view of the justice of
the case forbids any subsequent expunging or erasure of any part
of any record of action of any Church or other body; since such
expunging or erasure does necessarily falsify that record, by making it to appear that something less and other than was really the
fact, was done at the meeting whose business that record embalms.
A record subsequently altered, is not the original record. It no
longer gives a just account of the proceedings of the body. It is
no longer true.
The action of the majority of the Senate of the United States
on the i6th Jan., I837, by which was expunged from its Journal
the resolution of the 28th March, 1834, in relation to President
Jackson and the removal of the deposits, was attempted to be defended by Mr. Benton on the ground that, as it was not intended
to destroy or deface the record, but only to draw black lines
around it and write " expunged" across its face, the effect would
not be to falsify the record, but only very strongly to declare that
such a record ought never to have been originally made; but was
solemnly protested against by Mr. Webster on behalf of Massachusetts, who denounced Mr. Benton's proposition as a "subterfuge," an "evasion," and a " degrading mockery."
We do not believe that any Church, then, has any right to
"mutilate" its record - provided that record has been suitably
kept, and has included only what it ought legitimately to include,
as business done by the Church. If the clerk, however, should
have entered as a part of the record, reflections of his own upon
any case, or remarks of others calculated to wound the feelings of
members of the Church, or any matter of that description, which
is not Church action; such entry ought to be erased, and its erasure would not be a mutilation of the records, but an emendation
of them to restore them to their legitimate character of the full
recital of what the Church did, and nothing else.
24. Quest. What is the best usage in the matter of dismissing members
from Congregational churches to those of other Evangelical denominations? Neither Punchard nor Dexter makes any distinction between this
case and that of dismission to our own churches.
380 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
Ans. We see no reason for making any such distinction. We
recognize churches of other Evangelical denominations as true
churches; and if our members - in virtue of local convenience,
or change of view, or taste, or conscience - desire to be dismissed
to a Baptist, Methodist or Episcopal Church, while we may regret that desire, we do not see that, if we are satisfied they are in
the way of their duty in doing as they propose, there is any reason why any different course should be pursued from that ordinarily followed, except that the phraseology of the dismissing letter
should be altered to conform to the facts.
25. Quest. Ought Congregational churches to grant letters of dismission and recommendation to members in good standing asking for the
same, to churches that are Evangelical, but which practice restricted communion?
Ans. Yes. We are responsible for doing our duty, and leaving
them to do theirs.
26. Quest. Is it proper, or allowable, for a Congregational Church to
give to one of its members a letter of dismission and of recommendation
to an Episcopal Church having a High Church rector?
Ans. We understand the general rule of Congregational
churches in regard to granting letters of dismission, to be to grant
such letters, when asked for, to churches of other Evangelical
denominations. It is further usual to consider as deciding the
question whether a given Church is " Evangelical" or not, not
the supposed character of its pastor, but the conformity or want
of conformity of its Articles of Faith to what we conceive to be
the standard of the Gospel. The Thirty-nine Articles are so far
"Evangelical" as to have practically induced Congregational
churches, in general, to esteem and treat the Episcopal Church in
its separate congregations, as " Evangelical." If they are right
in this, and we suppose they are - it is right for them to give
letters of dismission to the Episcopal Church, and that without
reference to the Rector's personal type of character or influence,
because it does not dismiss to him, but to his Church, or more
properly to the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States,
as represented by that congregation of it, to whom he stands officially related as Rector.
38I 
APPENDIX.
27. ~uest. But where we know that the letter will not be received, but
rather laughed at, and thrown under the table, can we without compromising our dignity, our divine right, and self-respect, go through the form of
giving such a letter to an Episcopal Church?
Ans. Yes.  Our " dignity," our " self-respect," and our sense
of " our divine right," instruct us to be true to our own principles
of right, whether others " will hear, or whether they will forbear." We hold the Episcopal local congregations of believers to
be truly Christian churches, with so much of the Evangelical element in them that we cannot refuse them our fellowship. It is a
part of that fellowship to dismiss members -desiring it- to
them. If they do not return the courtesy; do not courteously entertain it; if they even treat our action with contempt or ridicule;
that does not change the quality of our doing, or modify the obligation which prompts it. We must do what we think is right.
And if they do not do what we think they ought, if they are
wrong they must account for it to the Master - theirs, and ours.
28. tuest. What is now considered good Congregational usage in reference to the admission of new converts into the Church; are they usually
received at the first communion season following their hopeful conversion,
or not?
Ans. There is no absolute rule, and custom varies with the age,
and character, of the candidates, and the providential circumstances which seem to govern the individual case. It is our impression, however, that it is decidedly not usual for Congregational
churches to receive new members so soon as the next communion
season after their hopeful conversion; but that it is commonly
considered expedient that they should wait until there has been
time for thie flush of all that was excitement about the matter to
subside, and there is opportunity to see whether the life that has
subsided to its old channel of calmness is flowing in a new direction, or not. We should say that candidates are seldom received
to our churches without this practical probation, of at least three
months.
29. tuest.  Can a member of a Congregational Church, in Boston for
example, claim a letter of dismission and recommendation in this form:
" To any Evangelical Church in Boston with which he may see fit to connect himself," not specifying what Church he designs to join? In the case
387, 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
supposed, the member continues to reside in the same place, and seeks dismission for other reasons than change of residence.
Ans. We reply no: such a general letter is always irregular,
and never ought to be given. It is sometimes right, however, for
a Church-member to remove, by a specific letter, to another Church
than that which is nearest to his residence. If a difficulty can be
healed in that way, it may be a duty.
30. guest. Can a member of a Congregational Church living, and
proposing to live near it, ask for a letter of dismission to a sister Church in
another town, without reason given; or pleading that he should enjoy his
Church connection better after such a change?
Ans. There can be no doubt that the rule is that Christians
ought to be connected with, and contribute all their energies to,
the support and prosperity of that Church organization which
most nearly meets their local convenience. To this rule, however, there may be rare exceptions. And "better edification"
has been repeatedly advised by New England councils to be a
sufficient reason for membership of a character exceptional to the
strict requisition of this rule.
3I. tuest. May Congregational churches receive members without a
unanimous vote; or may they receive a member where a minority solemnly
object that his life is immoral and dishonest?
Ans. Congregational churches are democratic bodies, and, as
such, are subject in general to that usual rule of a majority which
obtains in all such organizations. But their democratic quality
must be necessarily controlled in its working by their spiritual
code - the first element of which is that a true Church is composed only of those who believe themselves to be, and publicly
profess to be, Christians. It is therefore by the fundamental
law of Christ unconstitutional for a person whose life is " immoral and dishonest" to be received; and no majority vote can
override that unconstitutionality; any more than any vote of
a town can legally raise and dispose of money for purposes for
which it is unconstitutional for towns to raise funds. It is, of
course, conceivable that in a condition of intense party feeling, a
minority in a Church might unreasonably object to a candidate,
whom  the majority-after fairly examining all their charges
383 
APPENDIX.
against him - should feel to be wrongfully accused, and so proceed to admit to their fellowship in the face of the protest of such
a minority. But such a procedure would be ill advised. It would
be much better for the majority in such a case to defer to the feeling- even though they do conceive it to be the offspring of unreasonable and bitter prejudice -of the minority, and postpone
action until the candidate has had an opportunity to live down
that prejudice. It is better that such a person should join another
Church, or even possibly stay out of the visible Church altogether,
than that the body of Christ should be rent by a feud, exasperated
by his admission upon a majority vote in face of a conscientious
and persistent - if unenlightened and even mistaken - minority.
32..uest. I. If a member of the Church, present at the examination of
a candidate for admission into it, has had an unsatisfactory business transaction with the candidate, (previous to the professed conversion of the
latter,) and believes him to have acted dishonestly, and has never been able
to obtain satisfaction, is it his duty to mention the circumstances at the
meeting, before the Church votes on the question of the reception of the
candidate?
2. If the aggrieved member is one of the Examining Committee, what is
his duty?
3. If he fails to make any objection, and does not even vote against the
reception of the candidate; has he a right, at any subsequent time, to mention those circumstances in a way to injure the character of the candidate?
4. If he should do so in public places, what shall be said of him?
5. Is it the duty of the Church, on learning of the dissatisfaction, expressed subsequent to its vote, to take any notice of it? if so, what?
Ans. I. If the result of all that has passed, leaves upon the
mind of the Church-member a decided impression that the candidate is not worthy of Church-membership, he ought to object to
his admission; if- while all is not as he could wish it were - he
still, on the whole, believes that the candidate is worthy to join
the Church, probably he ought not to object to his admission.
2. We do not see that the fact that the aggrieved Church-member
belongs to the Examining Committee affects the case, the one way
or the other, except that it gives him a greater facility to object,
in the early and confidential stages of the application, to the reception of the party, if he feels that he ought to make objection
to it.
384 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
3. We can conceive that such a Church-member, while not satisfied, as he could wish to be, concerning the reality of the professed conversion of such a candidate, might take, on the whole,
a sufficiently hopeful view of the case to refrain from objecting,
or voting against his reception; might yet afterwards come to the
knowledge of subsequent facts which should so strengthen his
fears and confirm his doubts, that he might feel it to be his duty
to make charges against the character of the man whom he suffered to enter the Church without objection. His course, however,
should be a straightforward one, and in accordance with the eighteenth of Matthew. He has no right to indulge in miscellaneous
gossip against his brother, or to slander him behind his back. He
should go to him alone, and then if need be, with witnesses, and
then, failing satisfaction, he should bring the matter to a direct
issue before the Church in a gospel way.
4. This question is already answered.
5. If presented in the form of regular charge of unchristian
character and life, the Church has no alternative but to proceed to
hear and judge the case.
33. guest. Is it in accordance with the rule and spirit of Congregationalism for a pastor to prefer charges against the officers and members of his
Church before the whole congregation, when he has not been to the individuals, or even laid the matter before the Church?
Ans. We reply that, in our understanding of the rule and spirit
of Congregationalism, it is not usually the business of the Pastor
to prefer charges against offenders in the Church at all; that before the whole congregation is never the proper place for any one
to prefer charges against Church-members; and that no charge
should ever be preferred any where, or by any body, against any
Chutrch-member, until the steps of private labor demanded by the
eighteenth of Matthew have been first faithfully and unavailingly
taken.
34. guest. In case a Church-member is found guilty of slander, scandal
and false speaking, all of which has been very public, would it be in keeping with good Congregational usage to require such a member to confess
his sins publicly before the whole congregation? or only before the Church?
Would the fact that the proof of his guilt was all adduced from within
the Church, although it might have been adduced from outside the Church,
had that course been thought best, make any difference?
25
385 
APPENDIX.
Ans. The general rule for such cases- and the obviously just
one - is that the reparation must cover the damage; or, as the
fathers used quaintly to express it, that "the plaster should be as
broad as the sore." If the offense has been known to the congregation, the confession should be made in their presence, and a
failure to do so, arising out of unwillingness on the part of the
guilty person, would rightly be construed as seriously impairing
the evidence of his sincerity in the act of confession at all. If he
is truly penitent, and in reality feels deeply grieved that he has
brought scandal upon Christ's cause, and endangered the souls of
others by evil influence over them, he will earnestly desire the
privilege, and will not consent to be debarred from it, of reaching
every one whose spiritual life he has thus endangered with the
best remedy he can offer - the tearfll assurance of his sorrow
and shame, for the wrong he has done. If, on the other hand,
his confession is only technical, and extorted by necessity, and his
heart is not in it, he will want to keep it as quiet as possible, and
to save himself from the disgrace - as it will seem to him - of
any wider exposure than can possibly be prevented. Such a confession is worse than worthless.
35. ~uest. Can a Church properly refuse a letter to a member on the
plea that he is subject to discipline for some supposed or actual offense;
when the letter was desired before any action toward discipline had been
taken?
Ans. Yes.  We  think so.  It is entirely supposable that a
Chturch-member who is conscious that he has committed a grave
offense, and that it must soon become public, may hasten to ask a
letter of dismission, in the idea of thus evading due discipline.
It would be unfortunate if he should receive it in time to transfer
his connection to some remote locality; where it would be difficult, if not impossible, to carry on the process which his sin
deserves. But if the offense gains publicity after his letter has
been asked for, and before it has been granted, surely he cannot
thereby foreclose discipline. The true view seems to us to be,
that every asking for a letter of dismission is really in part a raising, by the applicant, of the question whether he is in good
standing or not, in order that if he is - as he is to be presumed
to be, nothing appearing to the contrary - he may be dismissed.
386 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
On this view, surely asking for a letter cannot be construed as
forbidding inquiry, with such just action as such inquiry may
suggest.
36. gtest. Should a letter of dismission be asked by one liable to
Church action and the offense charged cannot, on trial, be proved, yet the
Church are convinced of the guilt of the accused, shall they then give him
a letter? One member said to our Church, give me a letter, or put me out
of good and regular standing, which last we could not do, though we felt
that we knew him to be guilty - not being able to prove anything - so we
gave him the letter.
Ans. Technically, of course, any member against whom the
process of discipline has not been commenced, remains a member
" in good and regular standing," and has the right- for suitable
cause - to claim a letter of dismission as such. We think, however, that churches sometimes err in practically deciding what are
disciplinable offenses.   An impaired condition of Christian character which destroys the confidence of the Church, we hold to be
a disciplinable offense, even thoughl it may not have led its subject
openly to violate the Decalogue, or to commit any overt act of sin,
such as is usually made the subject of discipline.  Such a condi.
tion of character is, strictly, a violation of covenant, since each
Church-member covenants with his fellow-believers to walk with
them in newness of life, and all faithfulness of obedience. We
think the way is clearly open to discipline it, as such.
37. tuest. If a Church-member who has committed crime of which the
criminal courts may take, or have taken, cognizance, makes confession to
the Church and throws himself upon its mercy, what is the duty of the
Church in the premises?
Ans. On one point we may assume that all are agreed, viz.,
that the Church must pursue such a course as shall free it from
complicity with the crime committed, and show its appreciation
of the great guilt involved in it. There are three possibilities
which suggest themselves. To forgive freely, and thus retain in
fellowship; to suspend from Church privileges until the offender
has given proof of the genuineness of his professed penitence; to
excommunicate.
It is not easy to give a precise answer to an abstract question
which may properly be applied to every concrete case. There
387 
APPENDIX.
are so many possible circumstances which may qualify the guilt
of the offender - the significance of the confession - and the relations of Church action to civil tribunals and the public morals,
that each case must be decided on its own merits.
In general, it would seem clear that the act of excommunication is precluded by the confession. Which then, of the first two
courses suggested, shall the Church pursue?  Here various questions arise as to modifying circumstances. (I.) Was it the first
offense?  (2.) Was  the act deliberate?  (3.) Was the offender
self-moved, or was he led into the crime through the over-shadowing influence of others? (4.) Did the offender have any personal
interest, or selfish motive, in the transaction? (5.) Was the confession made before the crime was detected, or afterward? (6.)
Is the case pending in a civil court, and if so how will Church
action affect the trial? (7.) Is the public attention directed to
the case, so that the question involves not only the purity of the
Church, but its influence upon the public morals? These, and
such like questions, may properly be considered.
The instructions given in Matt. xviii: 2I, 22, as to personal forgiveness, we do not understand to apply to Church action, in any
such sense but that a Church, in the spirit of forgiveness, may
suspend from its privileges one who has confessed his guilt and
asked forgiveness, whenever it can thus gain necessary safeguards
to its own purity, and promote the public morals.
We do not hesitate to say, in general, that a Church should
suspend from its privileges a member who has been guilty of a
crime and made confession of it, until sufficient time has elapsed
to afford'that person an opportunity to give satisfactory proof of
the genuineness of his repentance. And the circumstances must
be very rare, which shall allow of any other course. The Church
has a high duty, and more especially at such a time as this, as to
the standard of morality in the community. The world thinks
that confessions are cheap. And sad indeed would it be, if while
justice demands that an offender should be committed, as a felon,
to the State prison, the Church should concede to him a good
standing simply on the ground of his confession!
38..uest. When a member of one Church feels aggrieved at the offense
of a brother, who is a member of another Church, how are the proper steps
388 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
of discipline to be taken? From which Church shall the witnesses be
taken?
Ans. Discipline is to be carried on in the local Church. Let
the party who is grieved by what he conceives to be the wrong of
a brother- after he has taken the preliminary steps in vain - go
to the pastor, deacons or committee of the Church to which the
offender belongs and enter complaint against him; when they are
as much bound to prosecute the matter as if complaint had come
from within their own Church. It makes no difference to Which
Church the witnesses belong: nor, indeed, if credible, whether
they belong to any Church.
39. Quest.  Can a man that has been excommunicated be restored except upon a new profession of his faith?
Ans. Yes: because when a man solemnly enters into covenant
with God, and joins himself to the Church of Christ, he takes a
step firom which retreat is impossible; and if excommunicated,
he does not become thrown out of all Church relation back to his
simple relation to the world, but he remains an excomzmunicated
mzebzer of Size Cizurc - a member lying under its extreme censure. If he become penitent, and desire and receive restoration,
the proper and sufficient course is to lift the penalty, which leaves
him, as he was before, in the Church without censure. This may
be- and usually ought to be - accompanied with Public confession on his part, and public announcement of the removal of the
censure.
40. -2uest. Does the removal of a vote of excommunication restore an
excommunicated Deacon to his office in the Church, or only to the functions of ordinary membership?
Ans. The man is excommunicated as a member, and not as a
deacon, yet of course his censure vacates his office. The real
question then is whether the restoration of such an excomrnunicate ought to fill again the office which his fall made vacant.
Probably not. The Church's vote to restore him, only brings him
back to his original private membership. And it would most
likely be the judgment of all- himself included- that some
other brother, under the circumstances, would make a better
deacon.
389 
APPENDIX.
41. Quest.  Would a vote of "admonition" vacate such a man's deaconship?
Ans. No: because it is not a vote cutting him off from membership, or in any way modifying the facts of that membership.
It is a censure for not behaving better, and a request to him to
behave better in the position which he occupies, not a dropping
him out of it into another.
42. Quest. A correspondent inquires whether, in our denomination,
deacons are usually elected for a term of years or for life; whether the office
is usually filled by the choice of the more aged members; and how many
are usually chosen by a Church of from one to two hundred members?
Ans. We  reply that the Congregational usage, until recently,
was to choose deacons for life, or good behavior, but that of late
years some churches have adopted a limited term of servicesay of from three to five years; that it is not so universal as it
formerly was to select deacons from the older members - it being
now thought quite suitable, where occasion prompts, for young
men to serve; and that the number of deacons, so far as we know,
is more often determined by the convenience of one or two for
each aisle in distributing the elements at the celebration of the
Lord's Supper, or by some similar suggestion of local convenience,
than by any regard to the abstract proportion of the whole number in such office to the whole number of the Church.
43.  ltest.  Has a person accused before a Church a right to object to
the introduction of written testimony against him, when he has not, and
has never had, the opportunity to cross-question the witness?
Anzs. It is a part of the fundamental law of the land that in all
criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him. This right is also recognized in the constitutions, or statutes of nearly all the States. In
a criminal case no deposition is admissible, unless taken wholly
in the prisoner's presence in order to afford him the opportunity
of cross-examination; nor thlen, except as secondary evidence -
the deponent being dead, or out of the jurisdiction. In civil
cases the sternness of this rule is a little relaxed, yet the general
principle is that no evidence shall be admitted but what is, or
might be, under the examination of both parties - exception be
390 
PRACTICAL POINTS.
ing allowed only when a witness dies before cross-examination
(though, even then, the want of cross-examination abates the
force of testimony); or cross-examination has been voluntarily
relinquished.
This rule of the courts is founded upon natural justice. One
story is good until another is told. -And there never can be any
certainty that the truth has been reached, even uinder oath, unless
it has been rehearsed in the hearing of one able to call out, by
additional questions, those parts of the whole truth which it was
not for the interest of the party directly examining to bring out,
or which were not within his knowledge to evoke, and which,
therefore, he has kept off, or left off, of his record.
Such being the rule of the courts, it follows that the Churchwhich seeks always in its dealings a purer justice than the courts,
do their best, can always secure- cannot rightly adopt any less
stringent provision. It is usual in Church laws in regard to evidence, to found upon Matt. xviii: I6, a statute requiring the concurrence of at least two witnesses, or circumstantial evidence to
the same amount, for tihe conviction of an offender. To take the
ground that written testimony, even under oath, can be brought
in and allowed where the accused has had no opportunity himself,
or by attorney, to face and question the witness, would be a return
toward the Inquisition and the dark ages, of which no Congrega-:
tional Church with its eyes open could possibly be guilty.
So far as we know, the practice of Congregational churches on
this subject requires:  I. That the testimony of an absent witness should never be presented in a written form, where there is a possibility by reasonable
delay, of securing the personal presence of the party.
2. That such testimony, when introduced, is to be guarded in
the same way from possible injustice to the accused, as if it were
to be used in the courts, and must, therefore, be the form of a
deposition legally taken before a competent magistrate.
3. That the accused has, under all circumstances, the right of
cross-examining witnesses against him; and must therefore be
seasonably informed of the intent to take such deposition of an
absent party, that he may be present by himself or his attorhey,
for the purpose of cross-examination, if he so desire.
391
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APPENDIX.
Only by rigid adherence to these simple suggestions of natural
justice can Church-members be prevented from going to law with
brethren before the unbelievers, rather than before the Church
court, because of the superior justice offered by the former
method!
44. -uest.  Does Congregationalism tolerate within its fold what is
commonly called the "Evangelical" faith; so that a man who receives the
doctrines of man's need of a Saviour, and of Christ's Divine supply of that
need, with their essential associate doctrines, may be in good and regular
standing in it; or must one receive the Westminster Confession, and be an
out and out Calvinist to be a Congregationalist?
Ans. In the strictest sense - as has been suggested on p. 4 of
this work - as Congregationalism is a form of Church order,
rather than a system of doctrinal faith - it is obvious that it may
be held and practised by those who profess to love the Lord Jesus
Christ of various beliefs. It is simply the democratic way of ordering Church life, and, in itself, it knows nothing of any creed.
Historically, it is true that Congregationalism has been mainly
adopted by those who held the Westminster and Savoy confessioIns, and so a sort of semi-ownership of the term has been acquired for Calvinists. But there is no doubt that those who have
been believed to be truly regenerate have been admitted to our
churches, and our pulpits, who are not, in any full sense of the
term, Calvinists. And the following paragraph from the Declaration of Faith adopted by the National Congregational Council of
I865, at Boston, may be cited in evidence that our denomination
inclines toward a liberal policy in this particular, viz.: —
"We hold it to be a distinctive excellence of our Congregational system,
that it exalts that which is more above that which is less, important, and,
by the simplicity of its organization, facilitates, in communities where the
population is limited, the union of all true believers in one Christian
Church; and that the division of such communities into several weak
and jealous Societies, holding the same common faith, is a sin against the
unity of the body of Christ, and at once the shame and scandal of Christendom."
The good faith of this deliverance requires, of course, the inference that Evangelical believers of the Arminian, or any other
shade of explanation of the doctrines of the Bible, may be consist
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PRACTICAL POINTS.
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ent Congregationalists; and if so, then ministers must be included
in that category. Nor, while probably the great majority of Congregational pastors have been Calvinists, in a stricter or looser
sense; can it be denied that there have been, and are, many eminent for ability and usefulness, whose theology is nearer that of
Arminius, than that of the reformer of Geneva. But then, as well
informed people know, Arminius himself would hardly now be
called an Arminian.
45. Quest. Is it Congregational to try a minister on charges before an
Association of ministers, and, after he has been expelled, to publish the
fact, not merely in a legal sense, upon its records, but in the popular sense,
in the newspapers of the day?
Ans. It is a non-Congregational, rather than an un-CongregationaL procedure. It has nothing to do with Congregationalism,
as such, in any way. An Association of ministers is a voluntary
body, a mere club of persons, whose life is devoted to the same
pursuits, for mutual  professional improvement.   As  such, it
stands on the same basis with regard to all questions of membership, &c., as any other club. It has the same right to prescribe its own rules for the admission, dismission, or expulsion
of its members, that is possessed by any other similar body.
And, if it feels that any one of its members has espoused opinions,
or been guilty of conduct, which requires, for its own selfjustification, respectability and purity, that it should expel him,
it has the same right to do so, and to let it be known that it has
done so, which any other voluntary association would have in
similar circumstances. If a Congregational minister belong, for
example, to the Union Club, in this city, its right and duty to expel him, were he to become a rank secessionist, or guilty of
conduct deserving expulsion, would rather be made stronger than
weaker, by his professional character and relation- which bind
him to the purest sentiments and the best life.
And the fact that all the members of a particular club are Congregational ministers, while on the one hand, it enhances, rather
than impairs this right of expulsion, on the other, does not make
the Association a Congregational body, in any but an historical
sense, and does not make Congregationalism as a system of Church
life responsible for the act; which is one not prompted by the 
APPENDIX.
peculiar principles of any " ism," but dictated by common law
and common sense.
It may indeed be thought by some, that the case of an Association of ministers is made exceptional to this by the facts that such
bodies are in the habit of what is often, though infelicitously and
unwisely, called " licensing" candidates to preach; and that, sometimes, they have undertaken to " depose" men from the ministry.
But the first act is the simple statement on the part of such a club
of ministers - who, being together at stated periods, can act more
conveniently for such a purpose when thus together than to reach
the same result by separate individual action - that they think
the applicant is qualified to become a preacher of the Gospel;
and is simply in the nature of a recommendation to the churches,
whose value resides in the understood weight of the judgment of
the individuals composing the Association, and not in any authority of the body, as such. And the second act, of deposition, is
one which an " Association" has no right to perform. Only the
body which sets up, can put down. A minister becomes such by
the agency of some Church acting on, and with, the favoring advice of an ecclesiastical Council. He can be regularly deposed
only by reversing this; by the action of a Church on advice of
Council to that end.
Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son.
394