USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Manual of the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, L.I. > Part 3
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The duties of the Pastor are numerous and important. Teaching is his great business. He is expected, therefore, to be a thorough and diligent student; to preach on the Sabbath-to visit his flock from house to house-to visit the sick, and perform religious services at funerals. He is also to administer the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, at such times as the Church may appoint.
Deacons have no official powers, unless expressly delegated to them by the Church ; their influence in the body, like that of the Pastor, depends upon their own moral excellences. They assist in adminis- tering the Lord's Supper, attend to the wants of the poor, distribute to them the charities of the Church, and aid the Pastor in his paro- chial duties. Their number, and the length of time they are to hold office, is regulated by each Church according to its necessities or sense of propriety ; generally, however, it will be found best to limit their term of office to three years or less.
The difference between Congregational and Presbyterian Churches lies mainly in this : the latter entrust much ecclesiastical power to their Sessions, Presbyteries and Synods ; whereas Congregationalists, in accordance, as they think, with Scripture and primitive usage, confide all such power to the Church itself.
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IV. RIGHTS AND POWERS OF THE CHURCH .- It is a cardinal principle of the Congregational polity, that each local Church is com- plete in itself, and possessed of all the powers and privileges incident to a Church of Christ. Some of these powers may be thus enu- merated :-
1. The Power of choosing its own Officers .- The Pastor, Deacons, and all other Officers, are elected by vote of the members. In using this power, they are bound to exercise mutual forbearance where there is difference of opinion, and to pay great deference to the rights and wishes of majorities and minorities. This republican principle was evidently a law of the Christian Church from its com- mencement. Even the election of an Apostle to fill a vacancy, Acts 1 : 15-26, was made by the assembled brethren. The Church at Jerusalem chose the seven persons who were to exercise the office of Deacon.
2. The Power of forming its own ('reed .- Congregational Churches have no uniform denominational Creed ; that is, no Creed recognised as binding on all Ministers and Churches. It is true that there is-great harmony of sentiment among the Churches, and they all receive, unhesitatingly, the fundamental or evangelical doctrines. Still, each Church constructs its own Creed ; and although hun- dreds, and perhaps thousands of Creeds have been constructed by our Churches, and the phraseology used is endlessly varied, yet there is the most wonderful harmony, and even identity of doctrine among them all, on the essential truths of religion.
3. The Power of admitting and excluding Members .- No person can be received into the Church except by vote of its mem- bers. No member can be exchided except by the same process. In cases of discipline, the decision of the whole body with which thic offender was associated will carry with it a weight of authority that could attach to no other.
4. The Power of electing from among the Brethren the Pre- siding Officer at each Business Meeting, and of regulating the Details of its own Worship and Modes of Procedure .- Other powers might be specified, but it is sufficient to state, that all the affairs of a Congregational Church are definitively determined by a major vote of the brotherhood. They not only elect their own
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officers, admit, govern and expel their own members, but do all other things which, according to the laws of Christ, may of right be done in and over His Church.
V. CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP .- Credible evidence of piety, or a change of heart, is, of course, considered a necessary pre-requi- site to communion and membership in Congregational Churches. It is by no means maintained, that entire assurance of salvation should be required ; but as the Church was designed to embrace only true Christians, it follows, of course, that credible evidence of being a Christian should be the condition of membership. Hence it is cus- tomary for the Pastor, in company with some experienced members of the Church, to converse with those who apply for admission, and ascertain, as far as the nature of the case will admit, what evidence each individual can offer of being truly converted. Such candidates, if deemed suitable, are then publicly propounded to the Church for a reasonable period, and if no objections are interposed they are received by vote of the members.
Our Articles of Faith are framed upon the above principles. For while we think none but true Christians should be admitted to the Church, we also think that no true Christian should be excluded. Our creed therefore contains only the fundamental doctrines of religion, to which all true Christians may assent ; and we trust that no true follower of Christ will find anything in our Articles of Faith to debar him or her from our communion and fellowship. It will there- fore be seen that Congregationalism is truly catholic and liberal, and widely removed from anything exclusive or sectarian in its organiza- tion and principles.
VI. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS .- The members of a Con- gregational Church are on an equality as to privilege and obligation. They are all alike responsible for the well-being of the body-its peace, purity and efficiency. There being no authorized Episcopate, nor body of Elders, to take the interests of the Church into their keeping, and thus to stand between the individual and his duty- between the disciple and his Master-personal exertion, on the part of each member, becomes a constant and pressing obligation. He may not shake it off, nor delegate his duties to another. Every member is therefore expected, and considered as voluntarily bound, to be diligent in private and social duties ; to attend habitually the stated inectings of the Church, especially on the Sabbath, unless providen-
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tially hindered; and to do all in his or her power to exemplify the doctrines of the Gospel, and to spread it through the world.
VII. INDEPENDENCY .- A Congregational Church is independent, because no other Church or ecclesiastical body has power to reverse its decisions, or to interfere with its internal affairs. Its only head is the great Head of the Church Universal, and it is alone subject to His authority. No ecclesiastical power can impose on any Church a religious teacher, or other officers-or admit members-or form their creed-or regulate their modes of proceeding. Each Church has the exclusive right of managing its own concerns.
These principles are plainly in accordance with the Scriptural model. For it is certain that no text can be produced, in which God assigns power over the Churches to any individual, or set of indi- viduals. It is to be taken for granted, therefore, that no such power exists.
But there are various passages which fully indicate the possession of all these powers in the primitive Churches. The Church at Corinth was expressly charged to exercise discipline; 1 Cor. 5 : 3-5. The command is repeated, 1 Cor. 5: 13. The Church was to act in tlfe case of offences ; Matt. 18: 17. And Elders [ican- ing Bishops or Pastors], are forbidden to be lords over God's heritage ; 1 Pet. 5: 3.
Ecclesiastical History also gives the same account of the primitive Churches. One citation out of multitudes must suffice. Mosheim says : " All the Churches of those primitive times, until near the end of the second century, were independent bodies, none of them sub- ject to the jurisdiction of the other. Each Church was a little republic, governed by its own laws."
This independence of Congregational Churches is neither Discord nor Isolation, as some represent. They live in close fraternal union ; often meet in mutual Councils and Conferences; ask and receive advice and assistance from each other ; and may admonish each other in case of heresy, lax discipline, or any scandalous offence. But all this is the result of mutual confidence and affection, not of any superior power. It is counsel that is called for ; not an edict, or a decree. It is fellowship that is recognized-the affectionate fellowship of sympathizing Churches; not dependence, for existence or for rights, of one upon another.
The advantages of this feature in Congregationalism are manifold
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and important. Only a few can be noticed here, and those very briefly.
1. It promotes Harmony among Churches, and diminishes the hazard of Ecclesiastical collisions. Wherever there is a power or tribunal above a Church to direct or reverse its action, that power will at least occasionally be exerted; aud unless exercised with singular moderation, and submitted to with unusual cordiality, the result will be a serious clashing of interest and feeling, by which passions will be inflamed, jealousies excited, and the progress of the Gospel materially retarded.
2. It prevents the spread of Controversy among the Churches, and shortens its existence, by limiting its sphere to the Society in which it may unhappily originate.
3. It tends to preserve the Truth, and to prevent the rapid and ectensive diffusion of Error. The Churches being indepen- dent, and standing alone, each presents a distinet barrier to the progress of error, and a point for separate attack. In a community of such Churches, every one is a citadel for the Truth. If one be infected or defeated, it does not involve the others. They still remain unassailed, and each will become a new battle-ground for the Right.
VIII. INTERCOURSE WITH OTHER DENOMINATIONS .- Though preferring, on Scriptural grounds, as they think, the organization and principles of their own Churches, Congregationalists recognize, as true Churches of Christ, all societies of believers who love our Lord Jesus Christ in truth and sincerity. They invite to their Communion members in good standing in other Churches, and practice the usual interchange of members, by letters of dismission and recommend- ation.
IX. ECCLESIASTICAL BODIES. Those generally recognized by Congregational Churches are, Councils (both mutual and ex-parte), Associations and General Associations. Councils are occasional bodies, composed of Pastors and Delegates from a number of con- tiguous Churches, invited to assist in organizing new Churches, ordaining, installing, or dismissing Pastors, or to give advice on such matters as may properly be referred to them. Mutual Councils
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are those in which the Pastor and the Church, or the Church and an aggrieved member, unite in asking advice from the neighboring Churches. An Ex-parte Council is one called at the request of a single party ; the Churches invited are selected by himself, and usually but one side of the case is presented. Hence they are not regarded with much favor. Associations are composed of Ministers only. They meet for prayer and mutual counsel ; examine and li- cense candidates for the ministry, and suggest advice to the Churches. The General Association is composed of delegates from the smaller Associations. It meets annually ; hears reports on the state of reli- gion ; suggests advice to the Churches as to the concerns of benevo- lence, sound doctrine and religious duty. Consociations have also been formed in some of the New-England States, which unite the functions of a Council and Association. They are composed of ministers and lay delegates.
It will be particularly noted, that none of these bodies possess any ecclesiastical power, like the superior judicatories of most other de- nominations. They are all simply advisory. The Churches may, if they choose, manage their own concerns without reference to them. Still, so much confidence is reposed in the character, wisdom and piety of these bodies, that great weight is cheerfully and voluntarily given to their opinions.
Those who have read this very brief sketch of the Congregational system, cannot fail to perceive that its principles are in perfect har- mony with the principles of our Civil Goverment. The People of the United States are the source of civil power. They appoint their own magistrates and rulers, and, directly or indirectly, make their own laws. This doctrine, so justly prized by all true Republi- cans as the basis of freedom in the State, is no less prized by all good Congregationalists as a fundamental element in the policy of their Church.
On this point History gives the most gratifying evidence. Even Hume, bitterly as he hated the founders of Congregationalism, de- clares :- " To this sect the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution." Lord Brougham says of them :- " A body of men to be held in everlasting remembrance, for the unshaken fortitude with which, at all times, they have maintained their attachment to civil
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liberty : inen to whose ancestors England will ever acknowledge a boundless debt of gratitude, as long as freedom is prized among us."
It would scarcely be too much to say of the people of this country, that, in no small measure, they " owe the freedom of their constitu- tion" to the same source ; for it is a well known fact, that " the author of the Declaration of Independence drew his first notions of practical democracy from an ecclesiastical society."
Church Discipline.
THE subject of Church Discipline, like that of Church polity, is left in the New Testament to the guidance of general principles rather than of specific precepts. One invariable rule is given for the settlement of private difficulties and the censure of private offenses ; one conspicuous example is recorded of the method of dealing with an open and scandalous offense against a Church ; there are also oc- casional instructions upon the proper subjects of Church censure and the mode of treating an offender ; but no formal process of Church Discipline is any where laid down in the New Testament ; that is left rather to the judgment and experience of individual Churches.
The directions given by Christ, in Matthew xviii. 15-18, should be implicitly followed in all cases of private and personal offense. The Church should never in any form entertain a complaint, or suffer an insinuation from one member against another, in a matter of private grievance, until these instructions have been complied with in good faith, and without effect. Even where the letter of these instructions have been followed, regard should be had to the question whether they have been complied with in spirit or only in form. The Church should never allow a private grievance to be spread before them with- out satisfactory evidence that the aggrieved party has used all reason-
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able endeavors to gain redress in private, in the spirit of forgiveness, of forbearance, and of brotherly love. When one member of the Church suffers himself to be alienated from another, or from the Com- munion of the Church, because of a private difficulty, while yet he does not in a proper spirit seek to reconcile the matter in private, any member of the church cognizant of the facts should labor with him to persuade him to his duty.
It is evident that the rule of proceeding laid down in Matthew xviii. is obligatory as a rule only in cases of pricateoffense. That rule was given prior to the organization of local Churches; it was given to the disciples as individuals-associated, indeed, in one brotherhood, but not incorporated as a local Church, under a cove- mant and laws. It was a rule of practical wisdom for the settlement of personal differences ; a rule equally appropriate out of the Church and in it; a rule for kindly intercourse between man and man. If thy brother shall trespass against thee, i. e. (according to the precise import of the original), if' he shall do thee a wrong ; if he shall injure thee in thy person, in thy property, in thy reputation, in any of thy personal interests and relations ; if he shall give thee offense, or do thee any injury whatever, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ; endeavor to settle it in private : if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then, still for the purpose of a reconciliation, with as little publicity as possible, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall negleet to hear thein, tell it to the Church-the whole company, circle, or brotherhood with which you are associated, and towards which you sustain relations in common ; but if he neglect to hear the Church-if he will not regard the remonstrance of the whole society of believers-let him be to thee as an heathen man and a publican.
A breach of Church covenant, or any public and scandalous offense against religion, is not a personal wrong done to any one member of the Church, or to the members of the Church as individuals, in any such sense as would bring it within the scope of the instructions of Christ for the healing of private offenses. But while the rule given in Matthew xviii. is not in such cases obligatory as a rule, it is nevertheless desirable that the principle and the spirit of the instruc- tions there given should be applied also to offenses of a public nature,
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wherever this is practicable. Indeed, it is of the utmost importance that every member of the Church should feel it to be his personal duty to admonish in private an erring brother, and to seek to restore him to the path from which he has wandered. This is one of the most impressive obligations of that mutual covenant into which Church members enter with one another. No member of the Church has a right to pass over without notice the derelietion of a fellow-member from Christian duty, on the plea that the offense is not personal against himself. The knowledge of the transgression imposes upon him an obligation to seek immediately the restoration of the erring member, and the purification of the Church from this offense. To omit this, is to be guilty of a breach of covenant and an offense against the purity of the Church; it is in a measure to comive at sin. How can that Church member be faithful to his own covenant with the Church-a covenant that makes prominent among the duties of Church members that of " studying the peace, purity and liberty of the Church"-who knows that a fellow-member is living in the habit- ual violation of his covenant-in the belief of some deadly error, or in the allowance of some known sin, and yet takes no steps to recover the transgressor or to deliver the Church from the scandal that he is bringing upon it? The discipline of the Church belongs not to the pastor, or to the deacons, or to any Committee; it is a matter of personal duty and responsibility with every member of the Church.
In all large Churches, and especially in all city Churches, where membership is perpetually changing, it comes to pass, in the course of years, that there are numerous absentees enrolled upon the list of members, whose very names are hardly known to the active members of the Church, and of whose character and position nothing is known to the body of present communicants. The case of such persons cannot be left to the ordinary course ; if there is any thing in them worthy of discipline, it is not likely to be ascertained by any indi- vidual inquiry. It is proper, therefore, that the Church from time to time appoint Committees of Inquiry upon the cases of absentees or of members, who, though residing in our vicinity, are supposed to be living in the neglect of covenant obligations. The sole object of this Committee of Inquiry should be to procure information respecting the residence and the Church communion of absent members. If in the course of their investigations they find matters worthy of discipline, they should act precisely as it is proper for Church members to act in
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any case where facts requiring the discipline of the Church are brought to their knowledge.
In cases of public and scandalous offense, the Church may proceed in a more summary manner upon common fame. The authority for this is given in the instructions of Paul to the Church at Corinth .- " It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you." The common fame of this scandal in the Church had reached the Apostle at Philippi; immediately on hearing of it, he rebuked the church for its neglect and connivance in the matter, and required them on their first coming together to cut off the offender from their fellowship without delay. Here is a precedent for proceeding at once, and in a public manner, to discipline a Church member, whose offense is an open scandal before the world. Obviously, every such case should be brought to the adjudication of the Church. A flagrant case of immorality, such as intemperance, fraud, or licentiousness in a Church member, dishonors the Church and the cause of Christ, as this is represented in and by the Church. In such a case it is not enough that one or more individuals, who have had special oversight of the case, are satisfied of the repentance of the offender; the Church should always be satisfied, and an open offender should in no case be restored to full standing, without making to the Church a confession of sin, and giving satisfactory evidence of repentance.
As a matter of propriety, during a process of discipline, the party arraigned should be understood to be suspended from Church privi- leges.
Cases requiring the discipline of the Church are caused, either by breaches of the moral law, or the transgression of mere Church or- dinances. In all cases of open and scandalous offenses, or of any breach of morality, or any fundamental error in doctrine, affecting Christian character, when efforts to bring the offender to repentance prove unavailing, the Church should proceed to the act of excommu- nication, or excision, giving the reasons for the same, which should be publicly announced before the congregation on the Lord's day.
But in cases of breach of covenant, the Church should deal very patiently and leniently with the erring member; discharging faithfully its own covenant obligations towards him, which may hitherto have been neglected ; seeking in every way to lead him or her to repent- ance; and if, after a reasonable delay, all effort seems unavailing,
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the Church shall disown said member, giving in full the reasons for its action, which shall also be stated to the assembled Church at the next following communion season, that the member may not lie under the imputation of immorality.
USUAL MODE OF ORGANIZING A CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND SOCIETY.
1. THE CHURCH .- A Church is, or should be, composed only of those who, in the judgment of charity, are true Christians. Therefore, where any number of such persons desire to organize themselves into a Church, they meet, and having prayerfully conferred togetlier, appoint a Committee to make the necessary arrangements ; to prepare and report Articles of Faith and a Covenant, a Form of Admission, Ecclesiastical Principles and Rules, a Manual for Business, &c., &c. This Committee, or another appointed for that purpose, also examine and report upon the credentials, or christian standing and character of those persons who intend to con- stitute the new Church. When these have been approved, and the Articles of Faith &c. adopted, a Committee is then appointed to invite several of the neighboring Churches to meet in Council, by their Pastor and Delegates, to assist in the organization. To this Council is presented the Articles of Faith and Covenant adopted, as well as the credentials of those persons who expect to form the Church. If the Council approve what has been done, they signify that approval (by vote), and participate in the public religious services of the organization.
After a Sermon appropriate to the occasion, the associated mem- bers publicly assent to the Articles of Faith and Covenant previously adopted by them, and there is offered what is termed the constituting Prayer. This is followed by a solemn Charge from some member of the Council, and they are then welcomed to the fellowship of the Churches.
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It will be seen from the foregoing, that an Ecclesiastical Council is generally called at the formation of a new Church. But the Council does not create the Church. That results from the rolun- tary association of certain professed believers in Christ, uniting themselves by solemn covenant, for the public worship of God; and the Council only publicly approves and recognizes the Church, which is in reality formed by the voluntary covenanting of the brethren themselves. The presence of a Council, therefore, is not at all indispensable.
2. THE SOCIETY .- A Religious Society is composed of those persons who statedly attend public worship in any given place, and contribute to its support. Hence, although the members of the Church are usually members of the Society also, yet the Society are not, necessarily, all Church members. They each require a separate organization, and are governed by separate Officers.
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