USA > Virginia > A digest of the proceedings of the conventions and councils in the diocese of Virginia > Part 26
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At the opening of the present session, the number of students was considerably larger than that of the year preceding-running up at present date to fifty, of whom twenty are in the Preparatory Depart- ment. The increase of numbers in this department has rendered it necessary to employ an instructor, Mr. Charles D. Lee, A. M., of the University of Virginia, who is efficiently performing the duties of his position.
Canon IX was amended so as to provide for the election of a Standing Committee of three clergymen and three lay- men to take charge of the property of disbanded congre- gations.
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COUNCIL OF 1869.
COUNCIL OF 1869.
Council met in St. George's church, Fredericksburg, May 26th.
In his address Bishop Johns spoke at length concern- ing the extravagant and complicated externalism in ritual which was being practiced in some parts of the Church in this country. He regarded it as "designed symbolically to favor and facilitate the reïntroduction of great error in doc- trine and worship repudiated by the distinguished divines of the English Reformation, and condemned by our stand- ards, and which tend to unprotestantize the Church and assimilate it to the corrupt Church of Rome."
The subject was referred to the following committee of seven clergy and six laymen, for consideration :
Rev. C. W. Andrews, D. D., Rev. J. Packard, D. D., Rev. W. N. Pen- dleton, D. D., Rev. C. J. Gibson, Rev. Wm. Friend, Rev. J. A. Latané, Rev. H. Suter, Judge Sheffey, Judge Moncure, Judge Parker, A. L. Carter, Rich'd H. Cunningham and Dr. P. H. Foster.
The committee was directed to consider also the follow- ing :
Resolved, That in view of the trouble caused in some portions of the Church by the introduction of novelties in worship, we have cause for devout thankfulness to God that we have, in our Book of Common Prayer, a safe and sufficient directory of worship beyond which no man can go, through his own private judgment, without violating the com- mon order of the Church.
A committee of three clergymen was appointed to revise the list of parishes.
A list of places for meetings of the Council was adopted.
The name of St. James' church, in St. Mark's parish, Cul- peper, was changed to "Christ church."
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COUNCIL OF 1869.
The bounds of St. Thomas' parish, Frederick county, were extended to those of Leeds parish, Fauquier county.
Piedmont parish, Fauquier, was divided, and the new parish called "Whittle" parish.
A petition was received from St. Stephen's colored church, Petersburg, asking for admission into union with the Council.
The Committee on New Parishes reported there was not in this case a compliance with all canonical requirements. The petition was declined, and the Council adopted the following:
Whereas, This Council, at its annual session in 1866, did pledge itself to encourage the formation of colored Episcopal congregations, and to that end did promise to take under its care any such congregations as might be organized, and for the protection of the interests of such con- gregations and for their representation in the Council of the Diocese, did and does still, annually, elect a Standing Committee,
And whereas, A petition has been presented from the congregation of St. Stephen's church, Bristol parish, stating that they are duly organ- ized, and have their own vestry and officers ; therefore,
Resolved, That the Council hereby expresses its pleasure at the es- tablishment of this congregation, and we assure them of the hearty de- sire of all our members, clerical and lay, for their continued growth and prosperity.
Resolved, That the congregation of St. Stephen's church, Bristol parish, be and it is hereby taken under the care of this Council, and its interests with this body are hereby entrusted to the aforesaid Standing Committee.
Resolved, That the Executive Committee of the Diocesan Missionary Society be requested to have regard to the congregation of St. Stephen's and to similar churches, and to grant such needed assistance as they may have it in their power to afford.
A committee was appointed to devise some plan better than any yet considered, that would be more promotive of the ecclesiastical and spiritual well being of the colored people in our Church.
[This committee never reported any plan.]
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COUNCIL OF 1869.
The parishes in the Diocese were requested to pay to the Diocesan Missionary Society not less than fifty cents annu- ally for each communicant, in addition to the collections made at invitations of the Bishop.
The Committee of laymen on Clerical Support made a report recommending stringent measures towards delin- quent parishes, and containing the following :
Resolved, That the Secretary prepare a column in his printed forms for a report from each parish upon the subject of a rectory-whether one is connected with the parish, and, if so, how many acres are attached, and, if there be no rectory, what the prospect is of providing one.
The entire report was approved.
It was recommended that there be stated missionary visi- tations by ministers of settled parishes under the direction of the Bishop.
Some slight changes in the form of parochial reports were adopted.
Sundry amendments to Canon IX were offered and all referred to a committee, to report at the next Council.
The Committee on Ritualism presented a lengthy report, in which they say, amongst other things :
It is manifestly proper that any expression of opinion or protest on the part of the Council should be accompanied by a plain statement of the false doctrines or unlawful practices brought into the Church, against which such opinion may be expressed or protest entered. This may be summarily made as follows:
I. In doctrine. It is being extensively taught:
I. That the term priest (which in our standards is but a contraction of presbyter) is equivalent to the Greek iereus, which in no place in the New Testament is applied to any Christian minister; and that his is a sacrificial office, and available for the forgiveness of sin after baptism, which is contrary to the plain words of Scripture and of the communion service, and a fearful invasion of the office of our Lord, who made one. sacrifice of sins forever on the cross.
2. Baptism has been substituted in the place of faith, as the instru-
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COUNCIL OF 1869.
mental cause of justification, contrary to the Word of God and the teaching of the eleventh Article.
3. Under the term "real presence," a doctrine of the communion is taught, which differs in no material respect from transubstantiation.
II. In worship. A multitude of unauthorized and superstitious cere- monies, which were cast off or prohibited at the Reformation, have been introduced-some of them intended to symbolize doctrines sub- versive of the Protestant faith; others, in connection with the com- munion, have assimilated it to the Romish mass, which is idolatry, and so are not merely of evil tendency, but directly and positively sinful. * * * * *
The committee therefore submit, for the consideration of the Coun- cil, three resolutions-two of them touching sanitary regulations recom- mended for observance within the Diocese, and one of them touching its relations to the Church at large.
First. That in view of the doctrinal declension from the standards of the Church, as distinctively Protestant, which has occurred elsewhere within the past thirty years, it is the duty of the clergy of this Diocese to guard against being lulled into security by the assumption that our people are sufficiently well established in the truth, and are free from danger, and to give more earnest heed to the inculcation in the pulpit, the Sunday schools and Bible classes, of the doctrines of those stand- ards of our Protestant Church.
Second. That in view of these "novelties which disturb" the peace of the Church and wound the consciences of so many of both clergy and laity, and of the difficulty of arresting innovations originating from small beginnings in ornaments, decorations or otherwise, and of return- ing to the simplicity of worship after the same has been departed from, it be earnestly recommended to the clergy, church-wardens and ves- tries, strenuously to resist the introduction of any changes in the forms and modes of conducting public worship and administering the sacra- ments as the same were used in the Church of England and our own before the rise of tractarianism and ritualism.
Third. That the Diocese of Virginia, represented by this Council as a constituent part of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, is animated by heart-felt love for the Reformed Protestant Church of our Fathers, by a sincere desire for its purity and integrity, and by a just sense of the injury which it suffers in common with others, when in view of the doctrines preached, and changes introduced in those churches, commonly called ritualistic, of the systematic omission or rejection of its constitutional name by some whose aim seems to be to unprotestantize the Church, and of the disastrous effects of these and
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COUNCIL OF 1870.
other novel practices and teachings upon the peace and progress of the Church, it does here record its protest against the further toleration of such practices and teachings as being unlawful, perilous to the unity of the Church, and hostile to the Christian interest; and this Council reverently invokes the power of the Holy Ghost to continue with and preserve the Church as one Catholic and Apostolic Church.
These resolutions were adopted unanimously.
Resolutions were offered and postponed expressing regret at the action of the General Convention favoring the use of "Hymns, Ancient and Modern," and "Hymns for Church and Home," and expressing it as the judgment and wish of this Council that the action be revoked.
A committee reported in favor of purchasing an Episco- pal residence, and the matter was confided to a committee of seven laymen from different parts of the Diocese.
It was announced that in the afternoon the Rev. Elliot H. Thompson, a missionary from China, would deliver an ad- dress in St. George's church.
COUNCIL OF 1870.
Council met in St. Matthew's church, Wheeling, West Virginia, May 25th.
The Bishop, in his address, said :
"There is a painful and delicate subject very seriously affecting the prosperity of the Diocese, to which I am constrained to allude; I refer to the frequent recurrence of resignation of their parishes by the clergy. I speak not of this to censure them, for with them, as I well know, the change is in most instances, not a matter of choice, but of necessity; generally they are unwilling to remove, and continue to suffer till it becomes a question of starvation, or of debt, without the prospect of pay- ing, or of resignation. They must either make the vain attempt to live
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COUNCIL OF 1870.
upon what every intelligent parishioner knows will not support them, and so become seriously embarrassed, or accept some situation where a maintenance may be expected; and who would presume to reflect upon them for adopting the last ?
"It is sometimes said 'the clergy ought to be willing to make some sacrifices for the privilege of preaching the gospel,' and they both admit this, and do it not unfrequently to an extent which their congregations do not suspect. But are the clergy alone to make sacrifices? Are the laity to make no sacrifices that they may secure the ministrations of the gospel for themselves and their families? If they would, in any propor- tion to the magnitude of the interest at stake, and in some degree approaching what the clergy habitually practice, there need not be a parish in the Diocese without a pastor. It is high time for our brethren of the laity to awake to a consciousness of their lamentable delinquency in this matter; a long stride is needed to attain the position they ought to occupy, and resolute purpose, on principle, to secure the action which is requisite to meet their Christian responsibility, that so this clerical exodus may be arrested, and the annual addition to the ranks of the ministry retained, till every parish is blessed with an acceptable pastor, and the missionary fields are being brought under hopeful cultivation. Then will they plentifully yield their increase, and God, even our own God, shall give us His blessing."
The matter was referred to a committee, whose report was recommitted to them and laid over to the next Council.
The Committee appointed to revise Canon IX made a report, which was laid over to the next Council.
Grace Memorial church, Lynchburg, Christ church, Gooch- land county, and Trinity church, Huntington, West Vir- ginia, were admitted into union with the Council.
A committee was appointed to inquire into the expedi- ency of establishing Church schools throughout the Diocese.
An amendment was proposed to Canon XIX, requiring a minister to designate publicly to the congregations the per- son suspended or expelled from communion ; also requiring that before restoration the person so expelled or suspended should-through the minister, or in person-confess his sin and declare his penitence openly before the Church.
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COUNCIL OF 1870.
As it did not receive the requisite majority the amendment went over, according to rule, to the next Council.
A committee was appointed to inquire into and report upon a plan of mutual insurance of Church property. Allowed until next year to report.
The Committee on the Episcopal Residence reported that a suitable residence had been purchased in the city of Rich- mond. The Council sanctioned their action.
A committee was appointed to report upon a plan of mutual life insurance for the benefit of the clergy of the Diocese of Virginia.
The committee, appointed for the purpose, reported that a monument costing $2,000 had been erected over the grave of Bishop Meade.
The Committee on Life Insurance reported a plan for a Society to be called "The Brotherhood of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia."
The subject was recommitted, and after the Council ad- journed the work was resumed by the clergy and laity, and a plan in great part matured. The result of the move- ment was the institution now recognized as the VIRGINIA BROTHERHOOD.
A committee was appointed "to consider the State of the Church in West Virginia, and to report to the next Council a plan for the extension of the Church in that part of the Diocese."
The terms of this resolution were general, but it was understood to have reference to a division of the Diocese by the line separating Virginia from West Virginia. The committee never reported.
The Bishop and the Committee on the State of the Church, made emphatic allusion to the wrong and the danger of sending Protestant children to Romish schools.
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COUNCIL OF 1870.
The Bishop's remarks were extempore. In referring to them the committee said :
The reports of the Bishops from which, in great part, these state- ments have been collected, suggest one further topic, which the com- mittee feel bound to mention, especially as that part of our Diocesan's report which referred to it was given orally to the Council; but we deem it our duty to spread it before the Diocese.
We refer to the habit of some members of our communion-not many, we would hope, but more than is generally known-of sending their children, especially their daughters, to institutions of learning which are under the control of the Church of Rome. It seems almost incredible that such a course could be pursued by any. It must excite pity for the delusion which selects schools in an intellectual, literary or scientific aspect, inferior to our own; and it cannot but rouse just indignation and censure for the disloyalty involved in this practice. The committee know that ignorance is, in part, at the bottom of it, and therefore feel it their duty to warn the members of our Church most affectionately and earnestly.
The pretension to superior excellency as scholastic institutions, as schools of instruction and sound education, is simply absurd. There are and there have been great minds and great scholars in the Church of Rome, but they would be much greater under the light of an open Bible and in the freedom of thought. It is so with their schools. We do not deny that they may have some good schools, and some which may be commended for some special excellencies. But, in the nature of things, the light of intellect and thought shines more dimly in their cloistered schools than in the institutions of the Protestant Church. The statistics of the last three centuries in England and the continent of Europe confirm by facts what reason would anticipate from their premises. From the highest grades of schools, the most learned uni- versities to the humblest training schools among the poor, the contrast between the institutions presided over by the Church of Rome or the Churches of Protestantism is glaring as the light of day. Generally speaking, the education given in Romish schools is superficial ; it can- not be thorough, as free investigation is fettered. Convent schools for girls, in particular, often rest their claims upon glittering accomplish- ments, and may send out their pupils with a pitiful attempt at painting, making wax flowers, or warbling some Italian airs; but in the training of the mind and the acquirement of solid attainments, all must agree they fall far below the schools which admit the light of truth, and edu- cate the mind to understand the grounds and apprehend the facts of
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COUNCIL OF 1870.
real and valuable knowledge. True education rests less on so-called accomplishments, or even special acquirements, than on the training of the mind, on the logical, the severe and chastened development of in- tellect.
But this presents only the surface view of the question. The disci- pline, for the sake of which some pretend to select these convent schools, is the very opposite needed for an ingenuous and truthful character. We speak of the system, not of this or that particular school; there may be, there no doubt are, exceptions-exceptions praiseworthy and lovely in spite of the system. But this does not altar the aspect of the question. The system of surveillance under the in- spection of the priest, or teachers subject to the control of the priest, is calculated to deaden the sense of truth and honesty; and the fear of man, and the authority of the priest or the Church, to which he pro- fesses to have the exclusive power of admission, preside over the development of character, rather than the fear of God, and that obe- dience which must be lodged in the heart, and given to God in its secret emotions and in its open acts alike.
But the wrong done, and the sin involved in trusting our children to such influences, is still greater when we think of the eternal interests of the souls which we are bound, by every obligation of nature and natural affection, of common sense and fairness, and of the highest claims of loyalty to our Saviour and his Church, to train up in the truth, and save from the ruinous influences of error and superstition, that militate alike against the Word of God and the true ends of life. We do not blame Romanists, who hope to earn heaven by proselyting, and thus exert themselves to gain the ear and pliant affections of the young, for gladly receiving our children under their charge, and moulding them to the views of their Church; but we have no words to express our hor- ror at the recklessness and defiance with which members of our com- munion have been found willing to expose their children to such in- fluences. Apart from occasional revival practices, skillfully adapted for their purposes from others, there are three ways in which that proselyt- ism is carried on-by gaining the ear of the dying sinner, and promis- ing him salvation for his adherence to their Church, often at the price of costly donations-by the force of earthly passion, when a poor girl becomes unequally yoked, and, married to a Romanist, follows him at first, perhaps, only for the sake of peace on earth, into his idolatrous communion ; but chiefly and most frequently by charging themselves with the education of the young, and instilling in the untutored minds their own principles, and thus leading them captive at their will, never
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COUNCIL OF 1870.
giving them up in later life, but continuing their efforts until they gain their end, and drag them beyond the boundaries of truth and Christian freedom.
We know well enough that the fears of anxious parents are quieted by the most solemn assurances that no religious influence shall be ex- erted over them. That is in itself an impossibility, and known to be such on the part of those who commence their rule over the child by wilfully giving this false assurance; and the insidiousness and disin- genuousness with which, covertly, that influence is created and fostered -so universally that it becomes almost characteristic of them-is found out by the deluded parent when too late-when the work is done. And thus discord is sown in families; and thus children are estranged from the affection for their parents, and often made missionaries for their perversion ; husband and wife are separated and made unhappy, and souls, whose birthright was the truth, and at whose cradle the Gospel had stood sponsor, carried hopelessly, irretrievably into the vortex of error and superstition. Suppose the learning furnished was real-what of it, if it keeps the soul from "coming to the knowledge of the truth ?" And suppose it was true-which is alleged by some, and used by that. designing Church as its bait-that they will give their education on lower terms or even gratuitously, when in this supposed saving of money the loss of the soul may be involved?
But we say there is more real sympathy and more unselfish charity in our own schools than in theirs ; and no parent need fear that our Church will not extend the hand of help. Or is it more painful and mortifying to human pride to receive or even ask such help from our own friend and brethren in the Church, than to beg of another, and that a Church which lords it over her people, and upon which they do not pretend to have any claims? The disloyalty which is involved in such a cause to the Church and to the truth; the inconsistency and denial of every principle of prudence and uprightness ; the denial of the faith in which they profess to live and on which rest their hopes, mark such con- duct with a depth of perversion which calls for the loudest warning on the part of the Church, and which, we would say, should place the guilty under the severest censure that the Church can administer, were it not that the effect of such discipline seems hopeless where peo- ple are willing to run the risk of bringing upon their heads the guilt of their children's blood.
The committee can say to the Church at large, that within our own communion, directly or indirectly under the control of the Church, and always under the control of Christian principle, there are the best
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COUNCIL OF 1871.
schools to which our children can be sent; and that it is the bounden duty of all to honor God by accepting the offer he makes them in the Church of their confession and affection.
The Christian home, the influence of pious parents, the study of God's Word, the training powers of our own Church, are the appointed ways of bringing up our children as Christian men and women, with the "promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come;" and this leaves such as pursue the opposite course without excuse. The greatest crime mentioned of parents in the Old Testament was to pass their children through the fire and sacrifice them in the burning arms of Moloch. Is this sin against their children's bodies worse than that which may consign their souls to hopeless superstition, and perhaps eternal ruin ?
The canons of the Diocese were referred to a committee for examination and revision.
COUNCIL OF 1871.
The Council met May 31st in Grace church, Petersburg.
Christ church, Spotsylvania, and All Saints' parish, Mon- roe county, West Virginia, were received into union with the Council.
Petitions were granted fixing the metes and bounds of Dale and Chesterfield parishes, for the division of Hamilton parish, Fauquier, and for the division of Trinity parish, Wood county.
A proposed amendment to Article V, of the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, was not concurred in by the Council.
The following paper was offered :
Whereas, for years past, it has been evident that in portions of our branch of the Church of Christ practices are introduced and doctrines
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COUNCIL OF 1871.
symbolically (and otherwise) taught subversive of the faith as set forth in God's Holy Word, and as received from the fathers of the Reforma- tion, especially in our Prayer Book; therefore,
Resolved, I. That the delegates from this Diocese to the General Convention are hereby requested to use their best endeavors to procure by canon or otherwise some effectual remedy for so great and growing an evil.
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