Congregation of the Holy Office

“ The episcopate and priesthood were established by Jesus Christ Himself, and are absolutely essential to the very existence of the Church. Religious congregations are of ecclesiastical institution, and are only auxiliary to the pastoral office. The multiplication of churches and of priests engaged in parochial duties is the most pressing need, and in no other way can the spiritual wants of the people be adequately provided for. ”

“ He must be a regular member of the church and possess the testimony of a Christian conversation. At the request of the church-council he is to be examined at the synod as to his qualifications. If he is found able, he is dedicated [gewidmet] to such service by one or more pastors by prayer and laying on of hands either at the conference or in one of the congregations which he serves. And in the presence of the whole congregation he is, at the same time, to make the solemn promise that he will faithfully discharge his office according to his instructions. ”

“ Our Church, by the title adopted, by the form of service used, by the spirit of her rubrics where they touch upon the subject, plainly declares it to be her intention that the Holy Communion should always be celebrated so as to be a social act. The priest is not a mere representative of the congregation, doing things for them, but a leader acting with them. For the priest to act without the congregation is only less anomalous than for the congregation to act without the priest. ”

“ We hold no Mother-Church, on which all other Churches should depend. But our Government, so far as it is distinct from the Congregational, consisteth of divers Sister-Churches, combined by mutuall concernment, and governing one another in matters of mutuall concernment, by the common agreement of Pastors and Elders, according to that Golden Rule, Quod omnes tangit, ab omnibus tractari debet. In the Presbyterial Government every {25} Congregation hath a voyce, by the Pastors and Elders thereof, and so is governed by a power intrinsecall to it self, which cannot in its own nature be tyrannicall. ”

“ A church needs however not only a Pastor, as its Bishop, who is to “give himself continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word,” but Deacons also, to superintend its temporal affairs, and “to serve tables.” The church therefore, in the first instance, chose two of its members to that office; a number which has been increased again and again, as the necessities of the church required. ”

“ They shall themselves discharge the duties of their office in Church and school, as faithful stewards, as God may give them health and strength, and not have any minister or student take their place, who has not been examined and duly called and ordained in accordance with our Evangelical Church government, etc. ”

“ Although devoting a large share of their attention to the organisation and building up of their own church and congregation, yet the office-bearers soon gave evidence of their earnest desire to yield practical obedience to the apostolic injunction, "Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others." ”

“ In the first place, a distinct pledge was given in the House of Deputies, in 1880, before consent to the appointment of the Joint Committee was secured, that in case such permission to launch a movement in favor of revision as was asked for were to be granted, no attempt would be made seriously to change the Liturgy proper, namely, the Office of the Holy Communion. ”

“ There is no authoritative way to heal the major part of a Congregation, when it falls into fundamental errours, which is a great disparagement to the Government of Jesus Christ, and reflects deeply upon the wisdome {28} and care of the great King of his Church. ”

“ In the Public Worship, the administration of the Holy Sacraments as well as all other ministerial acts and ministrations, the Pastors shall conform to the Agenda and usage, which have been introduced, until such time as the United Ministerium and the congregation shall deem it necessary and profitable to make a better. ”

“ They assert that the college of presbyters assumed the leadership, or government proper, of the Christian community, with jurisdiction and disciplinary power, while the bishops had charge of the administration of the Church, including worship and finance, and were also largely occupied with charitable work, in co-operation with the deacons, such as care for the sick, the poor, and strangers. According to this view each congregation was organised with three sets of officers, namely, deacons, presbyters, and bishops, from the very outset. ”

“ In the church that Jesus built, each congregation is entirely independent of every other congregation. The Bible teaches congregational autonomy, which means that under Christ each congregation is entirely independent. According to the Bible, there can be no organization whatsoever binding two or more congregations together. This is the first fundamental fact to remember.
Second, in the church built by Christ, each local congregation is supervised by a group of men who are called by either of six different names: pastors, bishops, overseers, presbyters, elders, or shepherds. ”

“ Such will be the first object of the assembly of bishops. An object at once sublime and humble, one which fills the children of the church with respectful admiration, and which strikes her enemies with an astonishment that they seek in vain to disguise. Yes, our ministry is so noble, our assemblies so elevated above other assemblies, that the language of man contains the involuntary admission of its superiority. If they desire to designate a noble office, a superior mission, they call it, often even with exaggeration, a priesthood. ”

“ Now it has sometimes been questioned whether a Congregational organization, working on thoroughly Congregational principles, could so well plant the Christian church among an ignorant, degraded people, needing guidance, oversight, care, government. ”

“ The members shall also be reminded that they also should attend and learn how the accounts of the congregation stand.
"7. As often as necessary the pastor shall, through the vorsteher, call the church councilmen together, or himself invite them at a public service, to the end that together they may consider, consult and decide when there is need to build or to repair, to resolve or to execute.
"8. No one of the church councilmen shall have authority to do anything which requires a decision by all, but what is needful to be done shall be considered and decided by all in common. ”

“ Why should not a Presbyterian or Congregational Church, based on this considerable and important, though not essential principle, of the congregation's power in the church management, be established,—with equal rank for its chiefs with the chiefs of Episcopacy, and with admissibility of its ministers, under a revised system of patronage and preferment, to benefices,—side by side with the Episcopal Church, as the Calvinist and Lutheran Churches are established side by side in France and Germany? ”

“ The Congregationalists and the Independents are one and the same. They maintain that each congregation is an independent religious community entitled to exercise the right of appointing its own ministers and managing its own affairs. ”

“ Should there be no one in the American Lutheran Ministerium who suits, and is willing to accept a call, the church council shall have full liberty, with the consent of the congregation, and of the United Ministerium, as they may deem best, to write to some godly Reverend Consistorium, or Ministerium, of the Ev. Luth. Church in Europe, interested in the extension of the Kingdom of Christ, and call one or more Pastors, on condition that they be duly examined, rightfully ordained, pure in the Evangelical doctrine, and edifying in life and conversation, as becomes their doctrine. ”

“ As soon as the light of ecclesiastical memorials begins to guide our path, we find everywhere presbyteries and synods in existence. Congregationalism has no solid foundation either in Scripture or antiquity. The eldership, the most ancient court of the Church, commenced with the first preaching of the gospel; and in the account of the meeting of the Twelve to induct the deacons into office, we have the record of the first ordination performed by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery of Jerusalem. ”

“ The congregation is exhorted on the Sunday before election to pray God that pious and devout men may be chosen. The Preachers, Elders and Deacons select twice the number of persons to be elected, whose names are publicly presented to the congregation, and any who have well-founded objection to make against any one proposed, is exhorted to present it. ”

“ Persons desiring to unite with the church elect whether they are to be Presbyterians or Methodists and are received accordingly. No one seems to care in which they are enrolled, since they work in the same congregation and contribute to the same funds. The order of public worship is a modification of each of those formerly in use but retains the essential features of both.
“So far there has not been the slightest friction between the denominations. No one seems to think of ever going back to the old way. ”

“ This account, which has already been submitted to the reader, [499:1] represents one individual as presiding over each Christian community, whether in the city or the country. Where the Church consisted of a single congregation, and where only one of the elders was competent to preach, it is easy to understand how the society was regulated. In accordance with apostolic arrangement, the presbyter, who laboured in the Word and doctrine, was counted worthy of double honour, [499:2] and was recognized as the stated chairman of the solemn assembly. ”

“ The Congregationalists, or Independents, are so called from their maintaining that each congregation of Christians, which meets in one house for public worship, is a complete church, has sufficient power to act and perform every thing relating to religious government within itself, and is in no respect subject or accountable to other churches. ”

“ A single church organized on the right basis, watched over with painstaking care, so that her members shall adorn the doctrines they profess, will do more for the prosperity of Congregationalism in this part of the country than would a score of churches hastily organized and unsuitably located. We think the officers of this society have been wise in their movements thus far; nearly all the churches organized having made a history that deserves the admiration of Christian people everywhere. ”

“ The primitive church formed no connection of several societies as we do, for every Pastor of a congregation was a Bishop and had the control of his own society; but with us it is essentially necessary to form a connexion of our several societies, and they being located in different parts of the United States, it becomes needful to have one central point where our ministers may have interview from time to time; hence our Yearly Conference is formed for that purpose, and, therefore, our Bishop or Superintendent must travel and oversee the whole, that every branch of our church may harmonize. ”

“ The Sessions of the Council are solemnities only held for the formal promulgation of decrees already discussed and passed; the real business is done in the previous Congregations. Every Bishop who wants to speak there is to give notice the day before, but those who wish to speak without having given notice are not to be prevented. A congregation of twenty-four members is to be chosen by the Bishops from among themselves, for the purpose of specially investigating subjects on which differences of opinion have been expressed, and reporting on them. ”

“ On September 10th, 1873, the king issued a congregational and synodal constitution for the eastern provinces, with the express statement that the position of the confession and the union should thereby be in no way affected. It prescribed that in every congregation presided over by a pastor, elected by the ecclesiastically qualified church members, i.e. those of honourable life who had taken part in public worship and received the sacraments, there should be a church council of from four to twelve persons, and for more important matters, e.g. ”

“ But the Church is neither the ministry without the people nor the people without the ministry.... Christ, then, exercises His power to call men into the ministry through the Church [ministers and laymen] . The Church may exist either in the congregation or in the representative Church [synod] , made up of ministers and lay representatives of congregations. Either the congregation, as defined above, not without a pastor, or the representative body, made up also of pastors and people, has a right to extend the outward call. ”

“ Independents or Congregationalists are a Protestant sect deriving both names from their principle of government; repudiating both Episcopacy and Presbyterianism, they hold that every congregation should manage its own affairs, and elect its own officers independent of all authority save that of Christ; they profess to derive all rules of faith and practice from the Scriptures, and are closely akin to Presbyterians in doctrine. Numerous as early as Queen Elizabeth's time, they suffered persecution then ”

“ A council called the Consistory, consisting of the minister or ministers, elders, and deacons, ruled the congregation. Congregations were formed into groups, over which was the Colloquy, composed of representatives from the Consistories; over the Colloquies were the Provincial Synods; and over all the General or National Synod. Rules were laid down about how discipline was to be exercised. It was stated clearly that no Church could claim a primacy over the others. All ministers were required to sign the Confession of Faith, and to acknowledge and submit to the ecclesiastical discipline. ”