Religious congregation

“ If the providence of God ordered events in such a way that a new congregation should be formed for a special purpose, it is nothing new or strange that men, having a different vocation, and whose views and aims were cast in a different mould, should with the most conscientious intentions, be unable to coincide in judgment or act in concert. There is room in the Catholic Church for every kind of religious organization, suiting all the varieties of mind and character and circumstance. ”

“ Those who hold that every congregation, however small, is a complete church in itself, are quite unable to explain why the system of ecclesiastical organization should be thus circumscribed. The New Testament inculcates the unity of all the faithful, as well as the unity of particular societies; and the same principle of Christian brotherhood which prompts a number of individuals to meet together for religious fellowship, should also lead a number of congregations in the same locality to fraternize. ”

“ 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. ”

“ When the congregation are all met, and the service is commenced, he is religious enough, or knowing enough, to walk stealthily in, and set himself upon the poor bench, where he sits quietly, well behaved and attentive to the end ”

“ In support of the scheme of congregational churches, this denomination observe that the word , which we translate church, is always used in the scriptures to signify a single congregation, or the place where a single congregation meets. ”

“ Children may learn their catechism, and repeat their responses at school; but when they become men and women, will they resist the temptations by which they are surrounded? Numerous congregations are often suddenly formed by the planting of an eloquent and earnest divine into a densely peopled and neglected locality; but where does the congregation in general come from? Go into the thinned or deserted churches or chapels in its vicinity, and you will find you have only transferred the serious and Christian community from one place of worship to another. ”

“ They shall strive, as they hope for their soul's salvation, that the Evangelical doctrine, according to the foundation of the apostles and prophets and our symbolical books, be ever more fully apprehended by their own souls, and that it may be adorned by their godly conversation, to the end that they not only rule well their own households but also be examples to the whole congregation. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Organization corresponded to the life distinctive of the new Ecclesia. This was one of essential equality among “the saints” or “the brethren,” turning on common possession of and by the one Spirit of Christ. “The whole congregation of the faithful was responsible for the whole life of the church—for its faith, its worship, and its discipline” (Dale) . ”

“ A congregation is a mysterious and subtle social force. Its effect on a minister he can neither analyze nor explain. But he knows that its power is mesmeric and cannot be escaped. He goes into its presence from an hour of exalted and uplifted prayer, serene, happy, strong, and prepared to speak words of power and life. Gazing at his people—he can never tell why—the words freeze on his lips. An icy hand seems laid upon his heart, and he makes a cold and formal presentation of his glowing theme, and wonders who or what has done it all. ”

“ Every day individuals attend, requesting his Society to establish a Christian congregation in their part of the country.
“During my stay, about thirty persons, who had previously been instructed, were baptized. He always performs the service with such solemnity that all present are moved to tears. He has certainly received from God a most peculiar gift of teaching the truths of religion. Heathens of the highest rank, who never intend to become worshippers of the true God and disciples of Jesus Christ, hear his instructions with pleasure. ”

“ Every denomination of Christians who number enough to make a congregation can readily secure a house of worship, not only by gifts from its members, but by contributions made by other professing Christians. ”

“ But there may be another lesson here for us, and that is, that the true and only secret of the prosperity and blessedness and growth of a so-called Christian congregation is the individual faithfulness of its members, and their personal approximation of Jesus Christ. If we here, knit together as we are nominally for Christian worship, and by faith in that dear Lord, are true to our [Pg 92] profession and our vocation, and keep ourselves near our Master, then we shall be built up ”

“ But every church regards these evangelists as its servants; and, therefore, they have no control over any congregation, each congregation being subject to its own choice of presidents or elders, whom they have appointed. Perseverance in all the work of faith, labor of [pg 064] love, and patience of hope, is inculcated, by all the disciples, as essential to admission into the heavenly kingdom. ”

“ If there is any body of people on earth who ought to be enthusiastic, it is the church of Christ! We are working in the Lord’s kingdom, and we know that our labor will not be in vain. If so much can be accomplished by the little that has been done, I want you to think about what could be accomplished if we were all doing our best! It yet remains to be demonstrated what can be accomplished by a congregation which is wholly and completely dedicated unto the work of the Lord. ”

“ COMMUNION SERVICE AND DEDICATION
Five thousand people kneeling in silent communion; a stillness profound; and then, rising in unison from the vast congregation, the words of the Lord's Prayer! Such was the closing incident of the dedicatory services of the extension of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, at the corner of Falmouth and Norway Streets, yesterday morning. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In visiting a church of a different belief from your own, pay the utmost respect to the services and conform in all things to the observances of the church—that is, kneel, sit and rise with the congregation. No matter how grotesquely some of the forms and observances may strike you, let no smile or contemptuous remark indicate the fact while in the church. ”

“ Since the man who was now called the bishop was head of the mother congregation, you can see how it would be very easy for the same man to become the head of this group of churches. Thus, less than two hundred years after Christ, there came into being a form of church organization quite opposite the plan revealed in the Bible. Instead of a group of men, with equal authority under Christ, overseeing one congregation there was one man over a group of congregations. ”

“ Whether, where a church of Christ is situate, it is the duty of the women of that congregation, ordinarily, and by appointment, to separate themselves from their brethren, and so to assemble together, to perform some parts of divine worship, as prayer, &c. without their men? ”

“ 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. ”

“ Article 47 And although the particular congregation be distinct and several bodies, every one a compact and knit city in itself; yet are they all to walk by one and the same Rule, and by all means convenient to have the counsel and help one of another in all needful affairs of the church, as members of one body in the common faith under Christ their only Head. ”

“ A congregation is answerable before the Head of the Church; it must keep its membership and roster clear; it dare not permit among its membership impenitent and manifest sinners, those who are despisers of God's means of grace, the Word and the Sacrament, whose morals are a blot, whose lives are a stench in the nostrils of the believers and of the world. ”

“ The congregations are too largely black-coated and white-collared, and the lay officers of the churches much too solemnly sleek and serenely solvent to attract the weak, the unfortunate, the sorrowing, and the sinner. The mere appearance of the congregation in a prosperous Protestant church in an American city is a mockery of Christianity. ”

“ Tiring of one church, discontented with the pastor, or encountering personal difficulties with other members, it is easy and convenient to join some other congregation, and of split-ups and break-offs there seems no end. ”

“ If all who move away from places where the church is strong, would simply take Christ and the Bible with them and start a congregation wherever they go, it would be the most far-reaching, the most effective, the most practical, and the most economical missionary work that could possibly be conceived! ”

“ In those sequestered places, in the case of country houses very far removed from a church or chapel, it is customary for a clergyman or lay preacher to come along on Sundays and preach to the family, the servants, and station hands—often quite a large congregation, particularly at shearing-time. ”

“ Side by side with this evident end of the Church's existence is the other one of Worship. Not only from the individual heart does God require ascriptions of praise and expressions of confidence, but from the organized congregation of His people, He desires to hear the voice of adoration, contrition, and supplication. The cultivation of such worship, and the offering of it in a manner acceptable to God, is a work worthy of the Church's most earnest care. ”

“ Every congregation chooses its own overseers and deacons, who preside over and administer the affairs of the congregations; and every church, either from itself, or in coöperation with others, sends out, as opportunity offers, one or more evangelists, or proclaimers of the word, to preach the word, and to immerse those who believe, to gather congregations, and to extend the knowledge of salvation where it is necessary, as far as their means allow. ”

“ But there are in our congregations men and women of differing temperaments. There are those amongst us—and I am speaking now out of the experience I have gathered during my ten years’ ministry—who would find simple forms a help to them, and the question is whether the interests of a congregation as a whole would not be better met by an order of service which should combine free and liturgical prayer, rather than by an order which should confine itself rigidly to the 161one, to the utter exclusion of the other. ”

“ And as a Church is the immediate bond of union to each individual with the Church, so is a congregation the immediate company with which the individual joins, and the immediate sign of his adherence to the congregation of saints. Thus, in the Order of Confirmation, the preface declares that before the Church children should ratify their baptismal vow, and they are consequently asked by the bishop whether they do this “in the presence of God and of this congregation.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ That the church being spiritual, ought to consist only of true spiritual men. (2) That a congregation of Jesus Christ, with its elders, is in its discipline subject to no jurisdiction under heaven, save that of Christ and his apostles. (3) That each church should have a plurality of elders or bishops, chosen by the church, according to instruction given to Timothy and Titus, without regard to previous education for the office, continuous engagement in secular employment being no disqualification. ”

“ The Congregational church of this city has been blessed with a visible outpouring of God’s Spirit. Many of our old members have been quickened in their religious feelings and have reconsecrated themselves to their Lord and Saviour. ”

“ 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. ”

“ From the plenty of ministers and preachers in the church of Corinth, it is evident it was a presbyterial church, and not only a single congregation; for to what end should there be many laborers in a little harvest, many teachers over one single congregation? ”