USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > Eliot memorial : sketches historical and biographical of the Eliot Church and Society > Part 7
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Sacred raptures swell the heart while contemplating the supreme fact of the atoning sacrifice, its infinitely mo- mentous result of heaven and earth reconciled; God's love of man and his abhorrence of sin set forth; the beauty of transcendent grace and the glory of divine justice com- bined in unutterable splendor on the cross. In symbols of utmost simplicity we " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," standing out distinctly before the eye of faith. Was there not unsurpassed moral sublimity when our Lord, "The same night in which he
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was betrayed," breaking the bread and taking the cup, " gave thanks? " Was he not aware of his vast resources of suffering? Could he not foresee how all waves and bil- lows would soon go over him? Yet he gave thanks. What a eucharist then should this ordinance be for ran- somed sinners! And never has such joy unspeakable and full of glory been experienced as when believers sit at the table of sacramental fellowship. If there is any service from which all sense of hurry and all irrelevant thoughts should be banished, it is this memorial of boundless divine love. In order to secure perfect quietness and appropriate concentration of thought, our church transferred the obser- vance to the after part of Lord's Day, devoting the entire time to this and the companion ordinance.
The enjoyments of those seasons were usually heightened by new accessions of communicants. Only a few of the eight-score such seasons passed without a wel- come to some who joined our ranks from other churches, or else on their first public confession of faith. In one instance there were a little over thirty, more than half of whom belonged to the latter class, and in another instance nearly fifty, all but ten of them recent converts. On the occasion of a young lady coming forward quite alone to confess Christ, I simply said, "Is there but one to enjoy this privilege? " and that was blessed to the conversion of a companion of hers. At another time, as I was pro- nouncing the Master's words, "Ye do show the Lord's death till he come," an officer of the church whispered in
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my ear, " Mrs. Blank is dying." The Master had come and was calling for her. She was about to drink the fruit of the vine with Him new in the Father's kingdom.
In the reading of the Articles of Faith and the Cov- enant there did not seem to be all of heartiness that the occasion required. Hence was introduced the custom of giving a right-hand of fellowship in behalf of the church to each new member at the time of public recognition, together with a verse of Scripture and a few words of welcome. In case a large number were received a collec- tive greeting was given, some one as a representative of the whole receiving the right-hand."
The baptism of children usually took place at the same hour with the commemorative supper. When par- ents present children for the sealing ordinance their minds are naturally occupied more or less with outward care of the little folks. Hence an exposition of the rite, which is read publicly at the time, may well be privately pon- dered beforehand. A copy of the following was season- ably handed them: -
BAPTISMAL SERVICE.
THE rite now to be administered is no human invention, but is a divine ordinance.
Baptism is a SIGN. It signifies that salvation is from God, into whose triune name as the One purposing, procuring, and applying re-
' When this was mentioned at the Monday Meeting of Pastors, several of them said they should adopt the practice.
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demption, our offspring are baptized. It suggests that the adopting favor of God comes through " sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."
Herein is a SEAL. An agreement between the believing parent and the God of Abraham in behalf of the child is thus ratified. Trusting the Word of him who keepeth covenant and showeth mercy, the parent engages to train the child " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." He whose Word cannot be broken promises, " I will be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee." In the presence of witnesses sacramental water seals this compact.
Herein are BENEFITS. The ordinance secures to the child a recognized place in the devout interest of the church. It gives dis- tinctness to the highest of parental duties and privileges. It is a testi- mony to the covenanted faithfulness of our God. "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children to such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them."
" For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
" And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."
" Jesus called them unto Him and said : 'Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.'"
2. Church Prayer Meeting.
A threadbare repetition of the remark that man is a social being goes on. But the Christian man's experience and new relations demand a fellowship as peculiar as his changed moral position. The clique, the league, the club do not meet the case. There is needed something else
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than conviviality, something more than mere neighborly gathering together. Nothing short of a hallowed soirée will meet the case, where a genuine, fraternal feeling pre- vails, where no selfish aim is entertained, where mutual confidence exists, where the unseen loving cup goes round, where the service of song lifts the soul well up toward heaven. All is in the name of Christ. Every one feels that he is where a blessed joint-stock exists; that here he is in the bosom of a family, the relationship of which is more intimate and more saintly than what blood in any degree of kinship can give. Is any absentee sick or be-
reaved ? There is a tender and devout remembrance of such. The church prayer meeting is a school of culture, the like of which can be found nowhere except in the presence and under the guidance of the Great Master. Its need and benefits are now widely admitted. As a method of church fellowship it ranks next to the sacramental sup- per. It is a normal school of Christian communion, where the social element, hallowed and beautified by common thanksgiving, praise and intercession, has free exercise. If in the laws of Moses there is no requirement, there is also no prohibition of such gatherings. It is a significant fact that the present dispensation, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, the dispensation of freedom, of stimulus for diffusion, should open with the longest prayer meeting on record. The early Christians maintained the usage in private houses, by a river-side, or wherever convenience and safety might suggest. This practice continued as
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long as a fair measure of purity and spirituality con- tinued. "We come," says Turtullian in the second cen- tury, " by troops to make our prayers to God; that being banded, as it were, together, we may with a strong hand sue to him for his favor. This violence is grateful unto God." For substance Ambrose in the fourth century has the same: "Many of the meanest being gathered together unanimously become great. It is impossible that the prayers of many should be contemned."
During the spiritual decline which accompanied the introduction of Unitarianism into Eastern Massachusetts the prayer meeting waned sensibly. Laymen took no part. Those members of the Old South Church, Bos- ton, who were preparing to establish Park Street Church, did not deem it proper that any of their number should lead in their devotions. At private gatherings they either omitted audible prayer wholly, or else requested Dr. Eckley to officiate.1 When the late Dr. Storrs was settled in Braintree he found that social prayer meetings had long fallen into disuse. It was six months before he could per- suade a layman to offer prayer or say a word at such con- ferences.2 Dr. William Goodell says regarding Temple- ton, that the pastor, Mr. Sparhawk, considered prayer meet- ings and revivals as pure innovations. Although his dea- cons were exemplary men, no one of them ever opened
1 Congregational Quarterly. October, 186c.
2 Professor Park's Sermon at the Funeral of Dr. Storrs.
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his lips in public prayer or exhortation. The people nat- urally slid down into Unitarianism."
The Eliot Church was the offspring of prayer. Weekly gatherings for conference and supplication were held be- fore the calling of an ecclesiastical council, and have since been maintained without interruption. In the midst of mid-winter storms the attendance has sometimes been small, but the service all the more free and enjoyable. At such times we have formed a hollow square of settees, and all gathered close together occupying a space less than half of an average parlor. The service would easily take a conversational form, and personal experiences would come to the front, though with due reserve. Such house- hold freedom suggests thanksgiving rather than complain- ing about storm and cold. At one meeting of that kind was a little boy nine years old, who came with his father. He rose and without hesitation offered the Lord's Prayer very appropriately. His Sunday School teacher, a man forty years of age, and four years a church member, always declined taking an active part in social meetings.
The larger attendance would modify but not suppress individual liberty. Perfection of method is not easily at- tained. Sometimes there is preaching in prayer, some- times prolixity. The power of condensation seems not to be a general gift. Nor is directness and ability to keep to a specified topic. This is by no means peculiar to laymen. At annual meetings of the American Board I have re-
1 Forty Years in the Turkish Empire. 16.
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peatedly noticed that when some paper had been read, or when in some other way an important subject had been introduced, a minister would be called upon to offer prayer and yet fail entirely to touch the particular theme then before the assembly. A narrow, uniform, stereotyped round of supplication betrays a sad devotional poverty. Bishop Simson said to a friend with whom he was returning from a religious service, " That was a beautiful prayer we heard." " Yes," replied his friend, "it was so, but I have heard it for the last twenty years."'
The Eliot Church has happily never fallen into the ambitious habit of getting the largest number possible to take active part in any given service. The gallop is hardly the appropriate gait on such an occasion. A meeting may be called spirited and yet be barren of spiritual influence.
With a view to promoting individual and collective benefit I prepared (1858), and from time to time distributed, a leaflet entitled " Our Prayer Meeting."? It evidently
' How to Conduct Prayer Meetings. 87.
2 OUR PRAYER MEETING.
I. I purpose to be there regularly and punctually. " Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together."
II. I will endeavor to draw others to the meeting. " Come thou with us, and we will do thee good."
III. Before entering the place of prayer I will ask the Saviour's presence.
"We would see Jesus."
IV. I will not, unless it is necessary, occupy a back seat. " How pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
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proved helpful. Either with or without permission, and either with or without additions, it has been revised by individuals and publishing societies in this country, as well as in England and Australia, besides being trans- lated into Marathi. Mr. H. E. Simmons, then of Boston, told me in 1869 that he had already sold 34,000 copies.
In every brotherhood, of any considerable age and size, there will perhaps be found here and there one who is never seen at a devotional gathering; but let there come before the body a case of discipline, or the dismission of a pastor, and such men are on hand. They are not likely to be called upon to pray, and their sympathies for an offending brother are sure to be as pronounced as their prejudice against the minister. I was once talking with
V. I will not so seat myself as to hinder others from occupying the same settee with me.
" Be courteous."
VI. I will refrain from fault-finding, and will not indulge a criticis- ing spirit.
" Be ye kindly affectioned one to another."
VII. I will not expressly dissent from one who has spoken, and will avoid giving the impression of variance of feeling.
" That they may be made perfect in one."
VIII. So far as is consistent, I will assist actively in the exercises, by testifying to the love of Christ, by exhortation, by a passage of Scripture, a hymn, a stanza, or otherwise.
" Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs."
IX. I will not decline to lead in prayer, and in offering prayer will begin with the subject in hand, and in aid of what has just been said.
" Ye also helping together by prayer for us."
x. If I offer the first prayer, it shall be chiefly an invocation, ask ing the Saviour's special presence and aid.
" For without me ye can do nothing."
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a neighboring pastor of long experience, who had had occasion to notice this circumstance, and who remarked, " Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all beasts of the forest do creep forth."
Needless absence from the stated meeting may always be assumed to involve loss. Did Thomas ever cease while life lasted, to lament his not being present when fellow dis- ciples first met their risen Lord? Whoever may fail, the Lord does not. Was the indefatigable Felix Neff amidst the snows of the high Alps wholly mistaken? " I am con- firmed in the opinion," said he, "that whosoever, even were he an angel, should neglect such meetings, under any pretext whatever, is very little to be depended on, and cannot be reckoned among the sheep of Christ's fold."
XI. My prayers or remarks shall not be long.
" For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few."
XII. I will not seem to harangue nor teach in prayer, as though I were thinking of man more than of God.
" We speak before God in Christ."
XIII. I will not speak merely to fill a vacancy, but will rather offer prayer during pauses in the meeting.
" That thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly."
XIV. I will not needlessly expose any want of faith, or other dis- couragements.
" Who is fearful and faint-hearted, let him return."
XV. I will cultivate enlargement of faith and desires.
" Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace."
XVI. On leaving the place I will endeavor to maintain a devout frame of mind.
" Continue in prayer."
XVII. I will also endeavor to use all means suited to secure the bless- ings for which I have prayed.
" Faith, without works, is dead also."
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In attending by invitation the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the church at Pomphret, Conn., I was much impressed by a remark of Governor Buckingham of that state. After the chief services of the day he was urged to remain to a reception and reunion in the evening. "I must return to Norwich," he replied, "to attend the prayer meeting of our church."
As a general thing the Eliot Church maintained a good attendance at its week-day meeting. It was no un- usual thing for business men to stop at the chapel on the way from Boston at evening in order to enjoy the devo- tional hour before going home to the principal meal of the day. "They continued steadfastly in the apostle's doc- trine and fellowship and in prayers." Never was the dread- ful sentence heard, "Sleep on now." Often was the testi- mony heard, "It is good for us to be here." Many a memorial stone was set up at our Mizpeh, inscribed, “ Hith- erto hath the Lord helped us."
Earnest specific intercession was encouraged, and results such as the following not infrequently came to light. In 1866 I met with a lady who had been very gay, but who joined our congregation and not long after adopted an entirely new mode of life. Calling on her mother, a Christian woman - they did not live together - I found that for two weeks she had been praying for that daugh- ter, with such a burden upon her heart as to deprive her of rest at night. At length she became composed, resolv- ing to leave the case with God. The same day the daugh-
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ter announced her conversion. Manifest spiritual quicken- ing was enjoyed, Christian activity was promoted, and Sunday congregations gave evidence of special divine in- fluences. Not infrequently has written testimony to the power and value of those meetings come from members in remote parts of our land as well as from some in foreign countries. The chief criticism that I should offer, respects a certain tardiness in appreciating the privilege of asking and expecting great things; the duty of interceding up to the measure of divine assurances and the might of Christ's mediation. It did not seem to be generally apprehended that the sun can as easily illumine a hemisphere as a humble cottage. Apparent deafness on high is only the coldness of unbelief here below.
3. Special Church Fellowship.
Somewhere in the sixties there began the custom of a gathering - it might be only annual, or it might be oftener - for special church fellowship. It was confined exclusively to our own members. Being by itself, the church had a favorable opportunity to cultivate a sense of unity. There was manifestly a home feeling. The pastor could speak of some things much more freely and confi- dentially than if others, though Christian men and women, were present. It was a family gathering. There was felt to be a community of interests and responsibilities.
At the time of the first assemblage of this sort there seemed to be a critical juncture. There was an increased
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numerical amount of prayers in the congregation without a corresponding increase of earnest prayerfulness. There were encouraging tokens, there was a quickened religious expectancy, and yet a degree of hesitancy. It appeared as if God were putting us upon trial, intimating a great bless- ing, and then waiting to see if the church appreciated the intimation. We had been reading the thirteenth and four- teenth chapters of Numbers, and the consequences of fail. ure in loyalty at an emergency were fresh in mind. Israel had reached the southern border of Canaan; their unbe- lief and cowardice were the only reasons why they could not at once enter, conquer and possess the promised land. But they became faint-hearted. They would not meet the demands of Providence, nor trust in the Lord God of Sabaoth. Shrinking from duty and privilege cost them years of hardship and unblessed wandering as a penal con- sequence. It is most hazardous for a church to hesitate when a juncture evidently favorable for going forward pre- sents itself. The brotherhood were told plainly that there seemed to be little of confession, little brokenness of heart and tenderness.
The specialty of the time called for such plain deal- ing, and it was evidently blessed. Soon after that another similar meeting was held, and the result more than justi- fied the occasion. The practice of assembling thus, at least once a year, became established. As soon, however, as it became a fixed observance at a particular date, it naturally ceased to be followed by marked spiritual bene-
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fits. But other results - and they are not unimportant - followed. We had the chief area of our chapel floor cleared of seats, and an opportunity thus secured for un- embarrassed intermingling of members. A chief feature of the occasion then was freedom and exhilarating cheer- fulness of greetings and fraternal intercourse. The amount of smiles and reciprocal cordiality on the part even of those not previously acquainted was refreshing to behold. Little alienations were healed. Some confessed they had not before known what church fellowship was. I am not aware that any one present at those Agape had any other feeling than that of satisfaction. Some I know were de- lighted. Owing probably to their speaking of it elsewhere, letters came to me from ministers making inquiry about the method and results of such fellowship meetings.
4. Church Discipline.
No injunctions of the New Testament are more posi- tive than those which require the maintenance of sound doctrine and good order in the church. "A man that is heretical, after a first and second admonition, refuse " (Titus 3: 10). "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw your- selves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us" (2 Thess. 3 : 6). To disregard these requirements when known cases of offence exist, is to incur disapprobation from the
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Head of the Church. To enter upon the work of eccle- siastical censure in an unchristian spirit, or to pursue it in unscriptural methods is also to provoke divine displeasure. The proper way of proceeding is plainly pointed out in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel. The welfare of the brotherhood by reclaiming the offender should always be the aim. And the latter may generally be expected. " Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, con- sidering thyself lest thou also be tempted." It should be remembered that when an individual member is under dis- cipline, the whole church is also virtually on trial. It will appear what the spirit of the whole body is; whether re- sentments exist, or whether God's honor is the inspiring motive. No small amount of prayer and sanctified self- control will generally be required.
It is a gratifying remembrance that the several cases which came before the Eliot Church were conducted in strict conformity with established rules and for the most part in apparently an excellent spirit. The required pre- liminary steps were taken and much pains bestowed upon efforts to reclaim. In no instance was there any precipi- tancy in bringing a case before the church for adjudica- tion. Several members who at different times had been labored with privately, came before the church with frank confessions, and received tokens of renewed fraternal con- fidence. One who had been cut off removed his residence, but the discipline was blessed to his conversion. He
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joined another church with our cognizance, and on mov- ing back to Roxbury, brought a letter of recommendation and was welcomed to our fellowship once more. In every case of persistent failure to do this unanimity, or proxi- mate unanimity for the withdrawment of fellowship, was secured. One, for example, was that of a man who, after becoming a spiritualist, renounced the authority of Sacred Scripture and the validity of all fundamental doctrines of Christianity. So serenely self-satisfied was he in the re- nunciation of church vows as to quietly admit the pro- priety of his excommunication.
There were two or three individuals who would have been glad to have some standing rule adopted by which " members whose doctrinal views have undergone a radical change may receive a certificate of good moral character, and when received by any church with which ours has no fellowship, the relation shall be considered at an end." But an authority a good deal higher than any treatise on Congregationalism says "refuse." And it further reads: " There arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Mas- ter that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift de- struction" (2 Peter 2 : I). The proper method seems to be laid down explicitly and is exclusive, no other having scriptural sanction. Unfeigned tenderness should be shown and patient labor put forth to convince and reclaim the erring one. The Bible holds men no less responsible for
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their belief than for their lives. The church is made the practical depository and witness of the great essentials of our religion. In the very basis of the church there is a compound contract, a contract between each member and the rest of the brotherhood; also between the church in its collective capacity and the triune God. The contract is entered into with more solemnity, and is one to which attaches no less sanctity than to any other on earth. The perpetuity of its obligation when assumed is understood. The proposed method of easy slipping out of the church involves the following interpretation of language: " Be- loved in the Lord, let it not be forgotten that you have here come under obligations from which you cannot escape " till you change your views on the essentials of Christianity ; "you can never withdraw from the covenant which has now been confirmed " till you become a Unitarian or a Roman Catholic. In an analogous compact the tenor would be, "You severally promise to love, cherish and honor each other," till you see some one you like better; " What God hath joined together let not man put asun- der," till you change your minds, and then you shall be mutually and honorably discharged.
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