Church member

“ As this man represents the state of a person in the visible Church, who neglects to come unto the master of the feast for a marriage garment, for the salvation which Christ has procured, he cannot be with any propriety called a friend, but may well be termed a companion, as being a member of the visible Church, and present at all those ordinances where Christ's presence and blessing are found, by all those who sincerely wait upon him for salvation. ”

“ The easiest way is to identify herself with some church, attend regularly, and the pastor calling on the new member of his congregation and finding her acceptable, will ask some of the ladies of the church to call. ”

“ Brethren, let us individually—yea, let every man and woman, every Bishop, every Elder, every High Priest, every Deacon, and every member of the Church of Jesus Christ stand firm for the cause of God in their place and station. Let every man who has a family preside over that family as a man of God ”

“ N., we recognize you as a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless, preserve, and keep you. ”

“ When persons offer themselves for Church-membership, let the preacher in charge inquire into their spiritual condition, and receive them into the Church when they have given satisfactory assurances of their desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins ”

“ Do not expect your pastor to become your social sponsor with his congregation, and remember that though he will probably call after letters of church membership are presented, you have no claim upon his family, nor the families of any of the church officers through acquaintance in business life. ”

“ Hence it is that in the organization of the Church of Christ every member should act in its own place—the Presidency in theirs, the Twelve in theirs, the Bishops in theirs, the Seventies in theirs, the High Priests in theirs, and the Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons who are living their religion in theirs. A Teacher who keeps the commandments of God and fulfills his duties is more honorable than the Apostle who does not. ”

“ And since a church, as a body, is what its individual members are in their religious life and influence, therefore each member should strive to become in holy living what He desires the church to be.
Note 1.—A body of Christian disciples may fail to meet some of the requirements of the Gospel, and still be a true church of Christ, providing it fulfills the fundamental conditions of a Scriptural faith and practice. ”

“ The act of coming into Church membership whether by confirmation, by an assent to questions regarding one's personal faith, or by being baptized, the fact of membership in the Church, the partaking of the Lord's supper, serving as an official of the Church in pulpit or pew, faithful attendance, liberal support,—these things are only good. ”

“ Our peculiar views respecting War, Oaths, the Ministry of the Gospel, &c., depend again on the New Testament for their authority. What arrangements the Society or Church thinks fit to make respecting pastoral care over its members, the visitation of the sick, widows, and father- less, and the poor in their affliction ; the performance by deputy of what cannot possibly be done by every member of the flock ; the methods to be taken for preaching the Gospel to the world ; for providing sound Scriptural instruction for the children of mem-
26 Birthright Membership. ”

“ The congregation standing, the Bishop begins the Prayer for the Consecration of the Church
Everliving Father, watchful and caring, our source and our end: All that we are and all that we have is yours. Accept us now, as we dedicate this place to which we come to praise your Name, to ask your forgiveness, to know your healing power, to hear your Word, and to be nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son. Be present always to guide and to judge, to illumine and to bless your people. ”

“ Then they come before a committee of the church and are examined, and after studying the articles of faith, in their own language, for several weeks they are propounded for church membership, and if they prove satisfactory are baptized and come into full fellowship with the church. They are not hurried into the church and are themselves timid and prefer to wait. ”

“ To you, O Father, all hearts are open; fill, we pray, the heart of this your servant whom you have chosen to be a bishop in your Church, with such love of you and of all the people, that he may feed and tend the flock of Christ, and exercise without reproach the high priesthood to which you have called him, serving before you day and night in the ministry of reconciliation, declaring pardon in your Name, offering the holy gifts, and wisely overseeing the life and work of the Church. ”

“ FORM OF THE RECEPTION AND RECOGNITION OF CHURCH MEMBERS. The minister shall cause the candidates to be placed before the congregation, and after baptizing any who may not have been previously baptized he shall say:
{286} Brethren, the Church is of God, and will be preserved to the end of time, for the promotion of his worship and the due administration of his word and ordinances—the maintenance of Christian fellowship and discipline—the edification of believers, and the conversion of the world. All, of every age and station, stand in need of the means of grace which it alone supplies ”

“ Church members ought to pray for one another, and that with a real love, fervency, and importunity, as they do for themselves, James v. 16. O with what serious minds and strong affections should all church members pray for one another! They should be much in building up one another, and praying in the Holy Ghost one for another, Jude 20. They should carry one another in their hearts at the throne of grace, especially such as are under affliction, the whole Church in general, and her teachers in particular, Heb. ”

“ Pour down Thy blessing, O Lord, on Thy holy Church, on our holy Father, the Pope, on this Diocess, on our Right Reverend Bishop and on all Pastors of souls; on this country, on our rulers, and all superiors, temporal and spiritual; on this congregation,, on this family, on our parents, relatives, benefactors, friends and enemies. Help the poor, the sick, and those who are in their agony. Convert all sinners, and enlighten all heretics and infidels. ”

“ This letter is a sign that you are fully empowered and authorized to exercise this ministry, accepting its privileges and responsibilities as a priest of this Diocese, in communion with your Bishop.
Having committed yourself to this work, do not forget the trust of those who have chosen you. Care alike for young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor. By your words, and in your life, proclaim the Gospel. Love and serve Christ’s people. Nourish them, and strengthen them to glorify God in this life and in the life to come. ”

“ ALMIGHTY and Eternal God, we humbly beseech Thee to look down from Thy heavenly sanctuary upon this congregation, and graciously hear these prayers which Thy Church addresses to Thee for us by the ministry of this Thy Priest. Grant us, in Thy infinite mercy, pardon of our sins, health of mind and body, peace in our days, unity and increase of Catholic faith, fervent charity, sincere devotion, patience in suffering and every thing else conducive to Thy glory and our own salvation: through Jesus Christ our Lord. ”

“ The regular pastor and the church councilmen shall take care that no strange preacher outside of our communion, let him bear what name he will, shall preach or administer the sacraments in our Augustus church or school-house, that the congregation may not be thrown into strife. ”

“ Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the Word of God, and of his holy Sacraments; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Then the Bishop shall deliver to every one of them kneeling the Bible into his hand, saying,
Take thou authority to preach the Word of God, and to minister the holy Sacraments in the Congregation, where thou shalt be lawfully appointed thereunto. ”

“ The Bishop addresses the ordinand as follows
My brother, the Church is the family of God, the body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. All baptized people are called to make Christ known as Savior and Lord, and to share in the renewing of his world. Now you are called to work as a pastor, priest, and teacher, together with your bishop and fellow presbyters, and to take your share in the councils of the Church. ”

“ The way appointed by Christ for the calling of any person, fitted and gifted by the Holy Spirit, unto the office of bishop or elder in a church, is, that he be chosen thereunto by the common suffrage of the church itself ”

“ The Eternal Pastor and Bishop of our souls, in order to continue for all time the life-giving work of His Redemption, determined to build up the Holy Church, wherein, as in the House of the living God, all who believe might be united in the bond of one faith and one charity. ”

“ We consider a christian church to be a congregation of believers, voluntarily assembling together, and submitting, in all things, to Jesus Christ, their only Lord and Master. Such a church we desire to become; recognizing a pastor and deacons as our only officers, and asserting our exclusive right to make our own independent choice of a minister, to watch over us in the Lord, and of deacons, to attend to our temporal concerns. ”

“ You belong properly to Brother A.'s or Brother B.'s fold, and it will be more manly and probably more profitable for you to go there than to stay with us.” And, again, the rolling-collared clergyman might be expected to say to this or that uneasy listener: “You are longing for a church which will settle your beliefs for you, and relieve you to a great extent from the task, to which you seem to be unequal, of working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ”

“ When this action has been completed for all candidates, the Bishop or Priest, at a place in full sight of the congregation, prays over them, saying
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. ”

“ For, secondly, the bishop doth particularly inquire, if they do here in God’s presence, and before all the congregation, renew that solemn vow in their own names made at their baptism; and if they do engage to perform and do what was promised for them by their sureties: to which they must every one answer, with great reverence and serious consideration, that “they do.” ”

“ FOR if I in this little time have had such a familiarity with your bishop, I mean not a carnal, but spiritual acquaintance with him; how much more must I think you happy who are so joined to him, as the church is to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ to the Father; so that all things may agree in the same unity.
2 Let no man deceive himself; if a man be not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two be of such force, as we are told; how much more powerful shall that of the bishop and the whole church be? ”

“ Then the archbishop turned to the people, and said:—
And the same Lord God Almighty grant, that the clergy and nobles assembled here for this great and solemn service, and together with them all the people of the land, fearing God, and honouring the King, may by the merciful superintendency of the Divine Providence, and the vigilant care of our gracious Sovereign, continually enjoy peace, plenty, and prosperity, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom, with the Eternal Father, and God the Holy Ghost, be glory in the church world without end. ”

“ Each congregation is presided over by its “angel” or bishop (who ranks as angel-pastor in the Universal Church) ; under him are four-and-twenty priests, divided into the four ministries of “elders, prophets, evangelists and pastors,” and with these are the deacons, seven of whom regulate the temporal affairs of the church—besides whom there are also “sub-deacons, acolytes, singers, and door-keepers.” The understanding is that each elder, with his co-presbyters and deacons, shall have charge of 500 adult communicants in his district ”

“ II. c. 4, Where an incumbent resides upon his living and keeps a curate, the incumbent himself, (not having lawful impediment, to be allowed by the bishop,) shall at least once a month openly and publicly read the Common Prayer, and (if there be occasion) administer the sacraments and other rites of the Church. ”

“ With the first faint light of dawn the prayers cease, the supplicants arise, and the Bishop puts on his vestments, one by one and with a special prayer for each, because he thus figures the Son of God putting on the garment of our humanity. And because Christ, as man, prayed to His Father and ours, the Bishop comes forth from the tent and prostrates himself before the steps of the church in fervent prayer, with all his clergy kneeling around him. ”

“ And unto the Bishop of the Church, and unto such as God shall appoint and ordain to watch over the Church, and to be Elders unto the Church, are to have it given unto them to discern all those gifts lest there shall be any among you professing and yet be not of God. ”

“ Cleansing them from all strangers, he appointed the wards of the priests, and the Levites, and his recorded career closes with this brief prayer: “Remember me, O my God, for good.”
Fortunate is that Church whose leaders are men of prayer. Happy is that congregation who are contemplating the erection of a church to have leaders who will lay its foundations in prayer, [79] and whose walls go up side by side with prayer. ”