USA > Virginia > A digest of the proceedings of the conventions and councils in the diocese of Virginia > Part 25
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"On the 2d of August I received a circular letter, dated July 12th, signed 'John Henry Hopkins, presiding Bishop.' A similar letter was sent to each of the Southern Bishops. It testifies to those to whom it is addressed 'the affectionate attachment' of the writer, and assures them of the 'cordial welcome' which awaits them at the approaching . General Convention. It states that he was 'authorized' to say that his Episcopal brethren 'generally sympathized with him in the desire to
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see the fullest representation of the churches from the South, and to greet their brethren in the Episcopate with the kindliest feeling,' and adds: 'I trust, therefore, that I shall enjoy the precious gratification of seeing you and your delegates in proper place at the regular triennial meeting,' &c. In acknowledging this letter, I reciprocated the kind feeling expressed, assured the esteemed writer of my readiness to co- operate in any measures calculated to promote peace and good will.
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"It appears that the prevailing voice of the Church in the South is in favor of a return to our former ecclesiastical relations; and that as far as their action is concerned, the result seems inevitable. What influence this should have on our cause it is for this Council to determine. If the Council concludes, as it has the right to do, that the interests of the Church require the maintenance of our organization, then it will be for you so to instruct your delegates to the General Council, with special directions to advocate proper measures for recognizing and promoting fraternal communion between the two branches of the Church in the United States. If, however, this Council shall judge that, all things considered, the peace and prosperity of the Church require that our separate organization should cease, and former relations be resumed, then the mode and the time for effecting this will demand your careful deliberation. In conducting this there are certain pertinent questions which we may very properly propose to ourselves.
" If, as a people, we are solicitous for a speedy civil reunion, why should we not, as a Church, be equally desirous of a speedy reestablish- ment of our ecclesiastical relations ?
"Are there any sensibilities which may be disregarded in the one adjustment, but which require to be consulted and indulged in the other?
"May we be more implacable as churchmen than as citizens ?
"If time is necessary to compose our feelings, how much must be taken? Whose experience is to determine the measure? Is there any other scriptural limit than the 'going down of the sun?'
"Are not such feelings better disciplined by immediate, resolute mortification than by indulgent allowance?
"Does not the policy of formally postponing reconciliation involve a grave question of Christian morals, not to be overlooked in seeking to ascertain our duty ?
"Again, whilst it would be very agreeable to receive from those from whom we have been separated certain satisfactory assurances, in refer- ence both to the past and the future, and whilst the voluntary tender of such assurances on their part would be conciliating and grateful, would
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not such a requisition by us be regarded as dictation and indicate a very offensive want of confidence in their rectitude of purpose?
"Would it not be more becoming in us to assume that those with whom we are willing to be reunited will do what is right without being held to it by a pledge, especially as the doing what we desire would be compatible with their principles; but a pledge to that effect would involve a recognition irreconcilable with their known convictions of ecclesiastical order, and which, therefore, as they cannot consistently give, we ought not to propose?
"If such a proposal would, as it certainly will, prevent that which without any pledge may be readily conceded, shall we forego the benefit of the action rather than waive the pledge as a prerequisite?
"If, indeed, the waiver were to be understood as a surrender of the principles which have governed us in our organization and subsequent proceedings, and an adoption of those known to be maintained by many with whom reunion is now proposed, it would be both dishonorable and dishonest, and could not for a moment admit of a question.
"But if no such change is professed or supposed-if it is understood that, without reference to theories or antecedent actions on either part, former relations are to be resumed in good faith and with fraternal pur- poses, may not such an arrangement be mutually acceptable?
"Is not resumption of former relations, without concessions or promises, the only way in which reunion is practicable, and would it not furnish surer hope of a peaceful and profitable future than any formal concordat attained by diplomatic negotiation? "
A committee consisting of Rev. Drs. Andrews, Gibson, Kinckle, Peterkin, and Messrs. Macfarland, Massie and Lee, was appointed to consider and report upon this part of his address. They reported as follows :
I. That the Christian and conciliatory course of our respected Dio- cesan in his correspondence with the presiding Bishop and other mem- bers of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States touching a reunion with the General Convention of said Church meets our cor- dial approbation.
2. That this Council appreciates and affectionately responds to every sentiment of fraternal regard which has been manifested in the corres- pondence referred to.
3. That this Council is of opinion that the objects which all the par-
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ties interested may be presumed most to desire will be best accom- plished by referring this subject to the next General Council.
Which resolutions were adopted.
The Bishop also in his address mentioned the offer made by the Domestic Missionary Committee, located in New York, to aid this Diocese in its time of impoverishment. The matter was referred to a committee who reported as follows :
Resolved, That while we do not feel at liberty to accept their offer (tender of funds), we acknowledge it with gratification, and return our thanks to the Domestic Committee for the fraternal spirit and liberal disposition manifested in their action.
Adopted.
A resolution was adopted urging the formation of Convo- cations.
The Council adopted a paper looking to the religious in- struction of the colored people, and called upon the clergy and laity to engage with renewed effort in every available means that would contribute to their well-being.
No report of contributions was made by the Committee on Parocial Reports.
The amount handed in to the Council for the Contingent Fund was about $3,100; it was subsequently increased to $3,885.81.
The following delegates, Revs. C. W. Andrews, D. D., Philip Slaughter and G. H. Norton, and Messrs. Philip Williams, N. H. Massie and N. B. Meade, were elected to the General Council of the Southern Dioceses, to be held in November, 1865.
The Council adjourned Thursday evening.
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COUNCIL OF 1866.
COUNCIL OF 1866.
Council met in St. Paul's church, Alexandria, May 16th. Present the Bishop, sixty-five clergy and forty-eight laity.
Mr. Tazewell Taylor laid before the Council a paper adopted by the pew holders and pew owners of Christ church, Norfolk, amending their Constitution so that their church should be governed by a vestry chosen according to the mode prevailing in the Diocese.
Mr. Taylor gave notice of a proposed amendment to Canon X, to correspond with the action of Christ church, Norfolk. The amendment was introduced next day and adopted by the Council, striking out all allusion in the canon to Christ church, Norfolk.
The amendment was, at a subsequent stage of the session, approved by the Council.
Mr. Cassius F. Lee offered the following :
Whereas the causes which rendered necessary a separate organization of the Southern Dioceses no longer exist, and that organization has ceased by the consent and action of the several Dioceses concerned; therefore --
Resolved, That the Diocese of Virginia now resumes its former eccle- siastical relations as a Diocese in connection with the General Conven- tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, and that the Bishop is requested to send a certified copy of this preamble and resolution to the Presiding Bishop and to the Secretary of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies.
This paper, with several substitutes, were referred to a committee, who proposed to change the preamble by the addition of the following words:
And whereas the Diocese of Virginia, unchanged as are her princi-
19
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ples, deem it most proper, under existing circumstances, to resume her interrupted relations to the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States; therefore, Resolved, &c.
As thus reported it was adopted.
Clergy-ayes, 57 Noes, 9
Laity-ayes, .
36 Noes,
II
St. Mark's church, Richmond, St. James' the Less, Ash- land, and Wilmer parish, Prince Edward, were admitted into union with the Council.
A committee was appointed to inquire into the expedi- ency of changing the time of the meeting of the Council.
A committee was appointed to inquire whether it was expedient to make any change in the places of meeting of the Council.
A paper was placed upon record stating the facts con- cerning the possession of Christ church, Alexandria, by the Federal military and the continued displacement of the regular vestry by them.
The following was adopted:
Resolved, That a committee of ten, consisting equally of clergymen and of laymen be appointed to inquire whether a division of this Dio- cese is desirable; and, if so, what? and that they report to the next regular meeting of the Council.
This committee was further enlarged by the addition of three clergymen and three laymen, and they were instructed further to inquire "whether it may not be best for the Dio- cese to have an assistant Bishop."
The name of Frederick parish, Clarke county, was changed to "Cunningham chapel" parish.
A committee was appointed to revise the Constitution and canons with a draft of such amendments as would be neces-
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COUNCIL OF 1867.
sary to conform them to the reunion with the General Con- vention.
The following was adopted:
Whereas, it is essential to the prosperity of the Diocese that its clergy be supported, its missionaries taken care of, and its candidates for orders educated; and, whereas, the small sum of three cents a week from each of its eight thousand communicants, would raise a sum of $12,000 a year; therefore,
Resolved, That the Bishop of the Diocese be requested to publish a pastoral letter, urging upon the clergy and lay members the importance of prompt, systematic and untiring exertion to raise funds for these objects.
The changed condition of many of the colored people, formerly slaves, led to anxious consideration as to the best plan of organizing their congregations. It was resolved to have a Standing Committee on Colored Congregations elected annually, with the Bishop as Chairman; also, it was-
Resolved, That whenever the colored members of the Church in any parish desire to form a new and separate congregation, such action shall have the sanction of this Diocese. They may elect their own vestry, wardens and ministers. They shall be considered as under the care of this Council, and their interests cared for by the Standing Committee on Colored Congregations.
Payments to the Contingent Fund amounted to $5,259.93.
COUNCIL OF 1867.
The Council met in Trinity church, Staunton, May 15th. Present the Bishop, eighty clergy and fifty-six laity.
Mr. H. E. C. Baskervill was elected Treasurer.
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COUNCIL OF 1867.
The invested Fund for Disabled Clergy reported assets. amounting to $8,037.50, merely nominal value, being mostly in Confederate securities.
It was recommended that no change be made in the places of meeting, except perhaps to add Danville to the list.
It was recommended that the meeting of the Council be held hereafter on the first Wednesday in June.
A salary of $300 annually was voted to the Secretary.
A committee appointed at the last Council to ascertain necessary alterations to the Constitution and canons, re- ported the only needed change was to strike out "Confed- erate" where ever it occurs, and insert "United."
A committee of ten laymen was appointed to consider the subject of ministers' salaries and the means of securing their punctual payment.
In his address the Bishop said (referring to the questions. of the division of the Diocese and of an assistant Bishop) :
"In closing this protracted address, I may, without impropriety, allude to the very important subject referred by the last Council to a large and able committee of inquiry. * * * *
"My personal interest in the issue must, in the course of nature, be of so short a duration, that it sinks into insignificance in comparison with the welfare of the Diocese, and my earnest request is to be left out of view in any discussion of the subject which may arise.
"The division of the Diocese is a matter in which the judgment and preference of the laity, after careful examination are entitled to great weight. They are peculiarly the Church in Virginia. The clergy may move to-morrow, and sojourn where they please. The laity as a body are permanently identified with the Diocese, are responsible for the means of its maintenance, and must share in its weal or woe. They ought to have full opportunity to ponder well a policy in which they and their descendants have so deep an interest. I notice this, not that I have any apprehension that on this or any other matter of vital im- portance, the two orders are expected to differ-their mutual love and confidence have always, after due deliberation, secured a happily har- monious result, but to engage their special attention, that a matter in
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which they are so seriously concerned may have the benefit of their careful and practical judgment.
"And now that I may, as far as I can, disembarrass the other branch of the subject, I wish it to be understood that if it is the pleasure of the Couneil, and of other ecclesiastical authorities whose canonical consent is necessary, to allow me an assistant, the arrangement will be alto- gether acceptable to myself.
"I am now in the good providence of God near the close of the forty-eighth year of my ministry-the twenty-fifth of my Episcopate, and the seventy-first of my age. After nearly half a century of official duty, which has scarcely known intermission, I have been permitted to attain and pass the Scriptural measure of three-score years and ten, and so have entered on the decade, when the strength of the days of our years is 'labor and sorrow.' However it may be appointed in my own experience, I have no other purpose or desire than to spend it in the service, in which, if youth could be renewed, I would more than ever love to live and labor. If, therefore, you see your way clear, without embar- rassing our good people, to provide an assistant, the arrangement will, I doubt not, with God's favor, be a great relief and comfort to myself, and I trust happy as heretofore in the relation of the Bishops, and in its influence on the prosperity of the Diocese."
The committee appointed at the last Council on the sub- jects of division of the Diocese, and an assistant Bishop, made a report stating that the committee was "nearly balanced" upon different opinions. All agreed as to the need of more frequent Episcopal services, but that they could not agree as to the best mode of supplying them- part of the committee urging a division of the Diocese, part urging the election of an assistant. They therefore recommended-
I. That to meet the present need of the Diocese, and to accord with the views of the Bishop, an assistant be elected.
2. Should any portion of the Diocese desire separate organization, and apply accordingly to be set apart under existing provisions of the Constitution and Canons of the Church as a new Diocese, such appli- cation be granted, should there then be found no special difficulty binding.
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COUNCIL OF 1867.
A division of the propositions was called for, and the report was recommitted.
The committee again reported-
That, in their judgment, a division may hereafter be required by the: wants of the Church; but that since such division must originate with some part of the Diocese desiring a separate organization, and under any circumstances involve considerable delay, they therefore, believing it would be agreeable to their venerated Diocesan, recommend the election of an assistant Bishop to supply the immediate demand for additional Episcopal services.
The report was adopted Thursday afternoon.
The Council resolved to proceed next morning at nine o'clock to elect an assistant Bishop.
It was also agreed that after the clergy had made a. choice, the laity should be allowed to retire to consider the same apart from the clergy.
The Bishop of Africa, Right Reverend John Payne, and the Bishop of China, Right Reverend Channing M. Wil- liams, who were present, were invited to seats with the Bishop, and to make addresses in the afternoon.
At 9 A. M. Friday, May 17th, the Council proceeded to elect an assistant Bishop.
On the seventh ballot the Rev. C. W. Andrews, D. D., Rector of Trinity church, Shepherdstown, West Virginia, was nominated to the laity as the choice of the clergy.
The laity retired, conferred upon the same, and upon the reassembling of the Council refused to ratify the election of Dr. Andrews.
Two more ballots were cast by the clergy. On the ninth ballot the Rev. Francis M. Whittle, of St. Paul's church, Louisville, Kentucky, was nominated to the laity as the choice of the clergy. The laity ratified the same.
An amendment was offered to Canon IX, making three the minimum number of a vestry.
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COUNCIL OF 1868.
The committee on ministers' salaries recommend that the treasurers of the various parishes be required to report to each Council the amount promised and the amount paid to the ministers. The salary of the Bishop and assistant was fixed each at $3,000, annually.
The following was adopted:
Resolved, That in the sense of this Council it is not expedient that an adjournment should take place before Saturday evening, or that the members should separate before Monday morning.
A motion was introduced and laid over to amend Article V of the Constitution, so that it should read as follows:
The election of a Bishop of this Diocese shall be made in Council, in nominations to be made by clergy or laity, the vote to be by ballot, taken first of the clergy, and then of the laity, and a majority of both orders shall be necessary for an election.
The Committee on Colored Congregations made a lengthy report of work in various cities and counties.
The Council was asked to construe the language in the nineteenth canon as to qualification of voters, so that all who contribute to the Contingent Fund shall be considered as voters. The Council decided that such was not the meaning of the canon.
COUNCIL OF 1868.
Council met in St. Paul's church, Lynchburg, May 20th. Present Bishops Johns and Whittle.
In his address Bishop Johns said:
"I cannot refrain from expressing my gratitude to God for the re- markable prosperity with which he has blessed our Theological Semi-
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COUNCIL OF 1868.
nary. If, two years since, any one had predicted that, this session, there would be fifty students in attendance, and that all would be supported without debt, I would have esteemed him no prophet. Yet, so it is through the kind Providence of God, the considerate aid of many friends, and the judicious economy of those to whom its management is committed. * * * * * * *
"I place in the keeping of the Registrar of the Diocese a copy of the epistle from the assemblage of Bishops at Lambeth in September last, and a printed statement connected with their proceedings. It would have been my pleasure to accept the invitation to attend that meeting; and I would have 'highly valued the privilege of becoming personally acquainted with the distinguished prelates there convened for worship and for conference. The pressing demands of the Diocese rendered it necessary that I should deny myself the gratification, and I replied accordingly. If any have been disappointed by the results of that Assembly, it can only be because they did not duly consider its nature, and the distinctly avowed purpose for which it was called. That they were able to do and say as little as appears, and in so commend- able a spirit, affords evidence of wisdom and grace which we may well admire, and be thankful.
"The serious evils which threaten the Church of England, and in the United States, are not to be driven away by decrees of Councils, or Episcopal addresses, or Conventional resolutions, judicious as they may be; but by the diligent diffusion and clear and earnest exhibition of evangelical truth, in sincerity and love. This is the divinely ap- pointed instrument by which the Spirit of God accomplishes in men the great purposes of redemption. It is our responsible privilege to pre- serve the Word of Life from adulteration and misuse, and to provide for its being distinctly held forth in the Church and before the world. Its Divine Author then becomes responsible for its salutary power in driving away erroneous and strange doctrines, and extending the knowl- edge and experience of pure and undefiled religion among men."
The Dean of the Seminary was requested to make report annually to the Council concerning the chapel at the Semi- nary, in the form of a parochial report.
A committee was appointed to attend to the erection of a monument to the memory of Bishop Meade.
A motion to open the daily sessions of the Council with full service and sermon at 9 A. M., was lost.
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COUNCIL OF 1868.
Canon IX was amended, making three the minimum number of a vestry.
The assets of the Disabled Clergy Fund were ascertained to be about $3,000.
The assets of the Bruce legacy, for repairing and build- ing churches, were reported to be $17,035.80.
Papers were laid before the Council from the vestry and the rector of Fredericksville parish, touching a contro- versy between them. The Council was asked to give a decision in the case. The papers were referred to a commit- tee, who reported that in parochial controversies the Council had no authority to interfere, as they were matters belong- ing to the judiciary, not to the legislature of the Church.
The reports from Treasurers in regard to ministers' salaries were referred to a committee of ten laymen, who recommended that-
1. Delinquent parishes be published in the Journal; which was approved.
2. That parishes failing to report be denied lay represen- tation till the report is made. Lost.
Parishes failing to report were ordered to be published in the delinquent list.
The Bishops reported more than one thousand confirma- tions.
The change proposed to Article V of the Constitution at the last Council (mode of electing a Bishop) was called up and indefinitely postponed.
The amendment to Article I (changing day of meeting to the last Wednesday in May) was adopted.
The proposed change from "Confederate States" to "United States," wherever occurring in the Constitution and Canons, was adopted.
Point Pleasant parish, Mason county, West Virginia,
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COUNCIL OF 1868.
and Greenway Court parish, Clarke county, were admitted into union with the Council.
The Trustees of the Seminary said :
The Board of Trustees of the Theological Seminary and High School would respectfully place before the Council certain facts, connected with these institutions, in view of which their present condition may be understood. * * * * * *
At the time of reopening (in the autumn of 1865) considerable expense was necessary to make the buildings habitable. The furniture of the students' rooms in the Seminary, and in the residences of the Professors had been worn out or destroyed. Out-houses and fencings had disap- peared ; and in many respects the prospect was exceedingly discourag- ing. By means of a legacy to the Seminary, providentially at the dis- posal of the Bishop of the Diocese at the time, and special contributions from friends abroad, the worst of these inconveniences were remedied, the rooms and buildings furnished as they were absolutely needed, and the studies of the session were pursued to a successful termination.
In the fall of 1866 the session was opened with three Professors-the vacancy of the previous year having been filled-and eighteen students, of whom three were in the Preparatory Department. During the session these were increased to twenty-five, of whom four were in the Prepara- tory Department. The process of repairs, refitting rooms, enclosing, &c., went on, as during the previous session, as the necessity demanded. The deficiency in funds to meet these special calls, as also the current expenses of the year, were met by special contributions obtained from abroad and mainly through the exertions of Dr. Sparrow, the good hand of God bringing the duties and studies of another session to a happy
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