USA > Connecticut > Contributions to the ecclesiastical history of Connecticut > Part 7
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* At that time what is now "the North Church" in Hartford was not instituted !; and the First Church and Society was commonly known as the "North."
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zes no church on earth save the local or parochial assembly and fellowship of believers, and the Church Universal which in- cludes all that are Christ's. We have learned, and I trust we shall never forget, that the only visible union attainable or really desirable, is to be found not in the Presbyterian idea of government over churches, but in the Congregational idea of the communion of churches.
Meanwhile in proportion as that old and true idea of the communion of churches, in distinction from the idea of na- tional, provincial and classical jurisdiction, has been more clearly developed,-and in proportion as our ecclesiastical forms and practices have been progressively disentangled from their un- natural connection with principles which our New England pol- ity originally rejected, there has been a steady progress in the feel- ing of forbearance and kindness toward all evangelical dissenters from our order, and in the free sense of catholic unity with all the churches of Christ around us, whatever their distinctive names or forms. Our relations to other bodies of professed Christians holding the vital truths of the common salvation, are gradually putting off the unseemly form of ecclesiastical separation and non-intercourse, and are becoming more and more transformed by the spirit of Christian brotherhood, of mutual recognition, and of cooperation in the common cause. We have learned that such acts of church fellowship with churches outside of our own connection, as we find to be prac - ticable, are our privilege and our duty. We are learning to avoid all needless conflict with their prejudices against our forms of order and discipline, and of doctrinal statement, and to count it among our advantages that we can recognize them as churches of Christ, even where it happens that by their sub- jection to some " law of commandments contained in ordin- ances " they are unable to acknowledge us. I trust we are learning not to annoy with obtrusive offers of cooperation those whose forms forbid them to cooperate with us, nor to demand
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a sacramental communion as the first condition of Christian fraternity with those whose misfortune is that they find them- selves forbidden not so much by their feelings as by their lo- gic or their traditions, to commune with us in the recognition of our sacraments. In this respect the true genius of our Con- gregational system is better developed with us, than it was with our fathers ; and is it not in this direction that the prospect opens of the coming age, when differences of judgment in the less momentous things shall no longer produce alienation of feeling, or any incapacity of cooperation for Christ and his kingdom, among those who unite in accepting the faithful saying, that " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, " and in maintaining the Apostolic principle that " with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Let us be willing to learn more tho- roughly-as God in his providence and by his grace has already constrained us to learn in part-the wisdom that can bear the infirmities of the weak, and that can be tolerant and patient toward the ignorance and the errors, the defects and the ex- cesses, and even toward the narrowness and schismatic exclu- siveness, which are not wholly inconsistent with the reality of a professed faith in the Saviour of sinners. As we have learned to cooperate with other churches in all good works in which they can cooperate with us, let us be willing to learn the added lesson of a larger and more catholic charity toward those who separate themselves and work apart. So shall we, cheerfully following others when they go before us, and gently winning and leading onward those who can be moved by our example, leave still further behind us the days and the spirit of sectarian strife. He who leads the blind by a way which they know not, has led us in this way; and as we find ourselves brought out by no wisdom of our own, from the chilling enclosure of high and strong division walls, into the warm sunshine of a new and brighter day,-
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" The breath of heaven, fresh blowing, pure and sweet, With day-spring born,"-
let us say to that guiding spirit of catholic freedom and frater- nity which we have learned already to enjoy-nay, rather let us say to that Holy Spirit of God who seals and sanctifies his elect not under our forms of ministration only, but under many forms,
" A little onward lend thy guiding hand To these dark steps,-a little further on."
Our churches then, in recovering their original Congrega- tionalism from an unfortunate complication with ideas and prin- ciples derived from other systems, have become, and are still becoming, not more sectarian, but less so. They are gaining, year by year, if I mistake not, a larger and more catholic habit of thought and practice in relation to other Christian bodies, than our fathers knew ; and in this way the true genius of our sys- tem, with its two cardinal principles of the completeness and self-government of each local church under Christ, and of the free communion of the churches with each other,-is finding its natural and full development.
I feel that the historical survey which we have taken is in- adequate to the theme, and may be found to need correction in many of the particulars, if not in the general outline ; but I may say that I have endeavored to perform, in a truthful and impartial spirit, the duty which was assigned to me. We have traced imperfectly indeed, and indistinctly, but not without conscientious care, the circumstances in which the peculiar confederation of our churches had its beginning, the original intent and purpose of the arrangement, the method in which it was established, the measure of success which attended its early administration as a scheme of ecclesiastical power, and the modifications which three half-centuries, so full of moral and political changes, and of religious awakening and progress, have wrought in the manner and spirit of its working. What then has been the use of that "ecclesiastical constitution"
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which was set up in the little wilderness colony of Connec- ticut, one hundred and fifty years ago ? What is there which makes the first meeting of our General Association an event worthy of the commemoration which it receives from us to- day ? The answer to such a question is incorporated with all the history of American Congregationalism from that day to the present hour. Nowhere in the United States does any intelligent man think of Congregationalism as a method of ec- clesiastical organization and communion without including in the thought two elements which are, partly at least, the con- tribution of Connecticut to the completeness and stability of the system.
Everywhere throughout the United States, we find as an inevitable incident of Congregationalism, the voluntary but formal and recognized association of pastors and other min- isters. These clerical " Associations " are not for any juris- diction or government over the churches ; they abjure all pre- tense of corporate authority, and the churches everywhere have, long ago, ceased to regard them with suspicion. They are simply associations of Congregational ministers for fellowship and mutual improvement, for mutual advice and help in the exigencies of their work, for examining and certifying to the churches the qualifications of candidates for the ministry, for consultation on whatever relates to the interests of Christ's kingdom, and for giving united counsel or testimony on what- ever question of ecclesiastical order, of Christian duty, or, if need be, of religious doctrine, may fairly come before them. It has been proved by experience that without the recognized and formal association of pastors for such purposes, the churchies will become, in the strife of sects and the fluctuations of opin- ion, a prey to the spoiler. It was in Connecticut, and as a re- sult of our Saybrook constitution, that such association of pas- tors, never dreamed of by the framers of the Cambridge Plat- form, became an established arrangement in the system of Con-
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gregationalism. Some rudimental attempts at such association seem to have been made before, especially in the neighborhood of Boston ; but the idea now universally accepted, of a sys- tem of clerical associations spreading over the whole country, including all Congregational ministers who recognize each oth- er's regular standing in the clerical profession, maintaining a widely extended intercourse by delegation and correspondence, and giving unity and completeness to our ecclesiastical system without infringing at any point on the self-government of the churches, seems not to have been entertained elsewhere till the usefulness of associations had been proved by experience in Connecticut.
The other element of our Saybrook constitution, namely, the special consociation of churches in districts, has found less favor beyond the limits of Connecticut ; but the example of our confederation has had its influence everywhere. The sta- ted annual meeting of churches by their delegates in what are called "Conferences of churches," for consultation on the state of religion within their own bounds, and on the ways and means of doing good, is only another form of consociation, which differs from ours by leaving to each church an unlimited liberty to select its own councils in all cases of difficulty in the administration of its own affairs. And everywhere-unless the partiality incident to my position as a Connecticut Congre- gationalist misleads my judgment-the sentiment of the com- munion of churches, the consciousness of the duty which churches owe to each other, and the habit of mutual watchful- ness and helpfulness among churches of the same vicinity, have been sustained and invigorated by the example of constant fidelity to each other among our churches. Notwithstanding the well defined propositions of the Cambridge Platform con- cerning " the communion of churches one with another, " and notwithstanding the many recorded yearnings of the New Eng- land fathers for some stipulated and constant intercourse that
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should not impair the independence of the churches, our Amer- ican Congregationalism might have lost, in process of time, that great principle of communion and mutual responsibility which is no less essential to the system than the coordinate principle of independence ; each being the complement of the other. If the churches of Massachusetts, by their chronic jealousy of con- sociation, have guarded and kept intact, for us and our succes- sors, the independence of the parochial or local church, the churches of Connecticut, on the other hand, by their strict con- federation, have guarded and maintained, and have effectually commended to Congregationalists everywhere, that equally important and equally distinctive principle of our polity, the communion of churches.
But it is here chiefly, in our own goodly heritage, that we are to look for the good that has resulted from what our old-time predecessors loved to call " the ecclesiastical constitution of the colony." Our own Connecticut-to our filial hearts the glory of all lands-how much is it indebted for the present as- pect of its Christian civilization, to that organized association of its clergy, and that strict confederation of its churches, which were effected when as yet there was within our boun- daries neither church nor pastor of any other ecclesiastical order ! The unconsociated churches, yielding to the genius of the system while rejecting its forms, have shared in the blessing. The churches that have been formed by dissent and secession from us-Episcopalian, Baptist, and Methodist-have had in all their growth, the benefit of being planted in our Puritan soil, and of being stimulated and invigorated by the strong re- ligious influence that has not yet ceased to mold the character of our native population. Is there no meaning in the fact that not one of our churches, and only one of our parishes fell in the Unitarian defection? To my thought there is a similar meaning in the fact that while Congregationalism still remains stronger in Connecticut than in any other State, the Episcopa-
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lians of Connecticut are, in proportion to our aggregate popu- lation, one of the strongest dioceses in the Union, and the Bap- tist and Methodist churches among us, are also almost as strong in numbers, and quite as strong in the elements of religious character and influence, if I mistake not, as the average of those two most numerous and powerful bodies of Christian churches in all the states and territories of the Union. To my thought there is a meaning of the same sort in the fact that of all the re- ligious organizations commonly regarded as anti-evangelical or anti-orthodox, not one has ever flourished among the native population of our State. Whatever fault we may find in our ecclesiastical system-whatever errors may have been made from time to time in the working of it,-whatever reason we may have to inquire whether the system needs revision and reconstruction, or to blame ourselves as ministers and churches of Christ, that we have not adapted our arrangements with adequate skill and zeal to the changes which have taken place in the habits and condi- tion of our people-our own Connecticut, to-day, with all its imperfections, is the convincing testimony to the value of those two principles-the association of pastors for professional fellow- ship and mutual cooperation, and the friendly confederation of churches-which were first inaugurated and made effective by our fathers, one hundred and fifty years ago. Where does the sunlight gild a landscape more adorned with the evidences of Christian civilization ? Where can we find so large a body of churches in so small a territory, maintaining more effectually, on the whole, "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," and cherishing at the same time a more catholic charity toward dissenters and seceders from their order? Where, notwith- standing the perpetually renewed investigation of all truth, and the sometimes personal sharpness of our theological debates, do we find, in so large a body of pastors and ministers, so little of factious partizanship, and so much of fraternal intimacy, as among our clergy ? Where shall we find a happier solution of
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the difficult problem how to reconcile a complete ecclesiastical liberty with a well guarded ecclesiastical fellowship, evangel- ical orthodoxy with evangelical liberality and charity ; the con- servative reverence that stands upon the ancient paths, with the progressive spirit that prays for new light from the fountain of light, and ever striving to keep pace with the progress of the ages, honors God by expecting a brighter future ?
Such is our inheritance. Such the trust which we have re- ceived from those who have lived and labored here before us. It is for us, in our turn, not merely to preserve the inheritance unimpaired, but to amplify it with new riches, and to adorn it with a fairer beauty. May God give us grace so to live and la- bor through the remnant of our time, that those who are to come after us shall bless him for our memory, as we bless him for the memory of our fathers !
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ADDRESSES.
THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF CONGREGA- TIONALISM.
- BY PROF. E. A. LAWRENCE, D. D., EAST WINDSOR HILL.
MR. MODERATOR :
There are epochs in history, or, as Bossuet calls them, stand- still points, at which institutions and principles disclose their character by their results. The present occasion is such a point in the history of the Congregationalism of Connecticut and New England. It is wise, sir, to stop awhile here and question the past respecting those principles which we and our fathers have regarded as fundamental. We do well to come up to this post of retrospection, and ask our history to give us the elements of prophecy and of future guidance.
A little more than two hundred and twenty years ago, a com- pany of men, women and children " with the cattle, " started from Dorchester, in the " Bay " Colony for the Connecticut valley. It comprised the larger part of the church in that town, with, as some say, Mr. Wareham, the pastor, at its head. They made their way slowly through the wilderness, up ravines and over mountain-passes, beginning and ending each day's journey with prayer and songs of praise. Their settlement was at Matianuck, now Windsor ; and in its spirit of Christian enter- prise, was a genuine " church extension movement. " They were soon followed by Hooker and his company from Cam- bridge, who went on to Hartford. After these came Daven- port and his companions, just from England, whom, because they were a "very desirable folk, " the Massachusetts people wished to have settle in " the Bay. " But because, as Daveil- port said "they were Londoners and not so well fitted for an agricultural as a commercial settlement, " they went on " in advance of all others " to Quinnipiac, now New Haven. Their arrival was on Saturday evening, and the next day, Mr. Dav-
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enport preached on the " Temptation in the wilderness. " At the beat of the drum, they assembled in the forest aisles of that vast temple whose arch is the blue expanse, and where, from forest harps, the winds made rich choral music for the devout worshippers, and sweetly mingled it with their vocal praises.
The animus of these extension-movements in New England, dates back historically to the Puritan struggles for the rights of conscience in Old England, and indicates the three great principles of Congregationalism-Christ the sole Legislator in the church, his Word the Law, and his Spirit, the Life of the church.
It was upon the first of these principles that the Non-Con- formists separated from the Church of England under Eliz- abeth in 1566. The Kingly office of Christ, so patent in the New Testament, and in early Church History, though re- maining in the creeds of the Romish Church, had been practi- cally displaced by the assumption of Pontifical power. The English Reformation only transferred the sovereignty of the Church in England from the Pope to the King, and the evil remained. In connection with this infelicity in the constitu- tion of the church, "as by law established, " she who was reigning sovereign when the Puritan struggle began, and who, by the apostolic constitution, was required to " keep silence in the churches, " or if she would learn anything, "ask her hus- band at home, " not only had no husband and would not be silent, but, with her advisers claimed that her word was abso- lute. This brought on the issue.
It was not a question of doctrine, for the parties were in essen- tial agreement on the Thirty-nine Articles. Nor was it one of apparel, for the Puritans allowed this to be, in itself, non-essen- tial. But it was, of the binding force in the church of this wo- man's word, as above the kingly authority of Christ. She forbade them to preach, except what she authorized, and as she authorized it. The Puritans protested, and, trusting them- selves to the adjudication of the Great Lawgiver, preached on.
In the time of Charles I. and Laud, the restrictions and pro- hibitions became still more oppressive. The royal will was supreme in matters spiritual as well as temporal. Passive sub-
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mission was the regnant dogma, and personal freedom was lost in the power of the prince. The rights of conscience were nothing ; the Bible was nothing ; the Kingship of Christ, even in his own spiritual domain, was nothing. Honest and Chris- tian men in vain pleaded it in their defence as free preachers of a free Gospel. This pressure of arbitrary power on such men, in such a cause, produced the Hegira of Congregationalism, first to free Holland, and afterwards into this wide and freer wilderness.
Here the framers of our polity made loving loyalty to Christ as the sole Lord and Legislator, the chief corner-stone of their ecclesiastical and doctrinal system. " This was and is our cause in coming herc, " said honest John Higginson, of Salem, " that Christ alone might be acknowledged by us as the only Head, Lord, and Lawgiver." This principle gradually, but le- gitimately worked out the separation of the Church and the State, and gave to them both, liberty, harmony and vitality . It secured religious toleration to all, by the doctrine of a strict accountability of each, in matters of conscience, to one com- mon Head. And so salutary were its results in the mother coun- try, that the sceptical Hume admits that the English nation is indebted to the Puritans for all the liberty of its Constitution. And the Westminster Review, with all its antipathy to the doc- trines of Calvin, is forced to yield the eulogium which the his- toric conscience demands, that his polity was a vigorous effort to supply a positive education of the individual soul-to substi- tute free obedience for passive submission-not a police, but an education, self-government mutually enforced by equals upon each other-that Sparta against Persia, was not such odds as Geneva against Spain with the Jesuits and the Inquisition- that Calvinism saved Europe.
The second of these great principles follows logically from the first-Christ's Word the only law in the church. This Word, with the Fathers of Congregationalism, was not simply a higher law, but the highest. In their constructive work, they applied faithfully the Protestant principle-" The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible. " Cotton Mather says of them " The Bible was their perpetual and only guide. " " The parts of our government," says the Cambridge Platform,
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" are all of them exactly described in the Word of God. " And the counsels of the Saybrook fathers, whose wisdom we here commend to-day, by commemorating it, are explicit and in point-" That you be immovably and unchangably agreed in the only sufficient and invariable rule of religion, which is the Holy Scriptures. You ought to account nothing ancient that will not stand by this rule, and nothing modern that will. That you be determined by this rule in the whole of religion. That your faith be right and divine, the Word of God must be the foundation of it, and the authority of the Word the rea- son of it."
This Word of God was not indeed, their only book, though it was their Alpha and Omega. They studied it most, and in such a manner, according to the rule of Melancthon, as to judge of the advice and decrees of men, by comparing them with this as a touchstone. They had all of the argument from anti- quity which is worth anything, by making this Divine Law, which is the most ancient, the sum or the source of all their au- thoritative regulations. Their faith and polity were, in the best sense, traditional, because they started from those infallible Scriptures which were " given by inspiration of God." The old writers with whom this principle of Congregationalism brings its adherents into most constant and living communion, are the writers of our old Bible. Whosoever of the reputed fathers stands opposed to these, is not of the fathers, but the children, and those too described by Isaiah, who " behave themselves proudly against the ancients, the base against the honorable. "
The polity which was thus drawn out of the Scriptures, and arranged in the Platform, is not Brownism, as it has sometimes been called,-an absolute independency ; for the independency is modified by the community and fellowship of the churches and the moral power of councils. It differs also from Presby- terianism, the community of churches being prevented from becoming an organic external unity by the individualizing in- fluence of the independency. It is simply Congregational, pla- cing the governing power, not in the elders exclusive of the church, but in the church inclusive of the elders. It embraces the Consociation of churches, and the Association of ministers,
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and makes use of both stated and occasional councils. It holds to the church and the churches, the visible and invisible, the militant and triumphant ; and harmonizes and employs to the practical ends of life and love, the elements of freedom and fellowship, dependence and responsibility, law and liberty. The Law stands sentinel to guard the churches from anarchy, and the Liberty in like manner, to preserve the church from despotism.
It is one of the crowning excellencies of these principles, that they allow us to erect no human fences around our most sacred enclosure ; but on the other hand, require us to frater- nize with all Christ-loving evangelists, in seeking what is bet- ter than any mere forms or polity, as our " Plans of Union " and " Heads of Agreement " abundantly testify. With an unsparing hand, under their influence, we have sown our purest seed-wheat upon the virgin soil of the boundless West, and with little unhallowed jealousy, seen the golden harvest gath- ered by Presbyterian reapers into the Presbyterian barns. The flax, even in our own New England fields, has been freely pulled by Presbyterian hands, and the wool clipped, with our consent, from the fiocks on our New England hills, by Presby- terian shearers, and spun and woven into Presbyterian fabrics. In a similar spirit, Presbyterianism has in turn placed itself in helpful relations to Congregationalism. Both have joined their forces without stint, as sowers and reapers in the same fields, according to the law of Christ, which makes his church one, and that love of Christ, in the exercise of which, each was more desirous that men should become Christians than Congregationalists or Presbyterians.
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