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REVIEW.
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Untitled Article
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Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Review.
REVIEW .
Untitled Article
ART . I . —The Services at the Ordination of the Rev . R . Brook Aspland , M . A ., 8 fc 9 in ike Chapel , CroofCs Lane , Chester , on Wednesday , Aug . 9 , 1826 ; consisting of Prayers on the occasion by the Rev . J . G . Robherds and the Rev . W . Turner . Tlie Congregational Address by Mr . Swanwick , and the Reply by the Rev . R . 6 . Asplandf The Sermon by the Rev . W . Shepherd , and the Charqe by the Jtev * R . Aspland . Chested , Pool and Harding ; London , It . Hunter .
Vf % are happy to find a prevailing disposition to revive amongst us the custom of celebrating , by a religious service suited to the occasion , the first entrance of the young Christian minister upon the duties of his office . The occasion , it must be allowed , is one of deep interest to all the parties concerned . If a man desire the office of a bishop , he desireth not only a good work but an arduous one , a work which he cannot perform wejl without active , laborious , self-denying virtue , and which he cannot neglect without serious and certain risk to the welfare and happiness of himself and many
others , both in time and eternity . The Christian pastor assumes a heavy responsibility , and those also who choose Mm to be the helper of their faith and joy render themselves answerable at the same time for the performance of correlative duties little less weighty . If he has to take heed how he speaks , they have to take feeed how they hear ; if he has to lead their devotions in the tnse spirit of genuine piety , in the like spirit they have to join in
them ; if he has to make an honest report to them of whfrt the Scriptures appear to him to contain , they have to search the Scriptures for themselves with jBersean diligence and candour , that they may be justified in adopting or rejecting , or may have it ki their power to rectify fais judgment . In short , the obligations on both sides ape jnaany and mutual , and each party is equally bound to fee the helper of the other ' s faith and joy . What then can be more natural , what tnore proper , or the first formation of such a
connexion , than , by a service wisely adapted to the occasion , to endeavour to impress upon their minds a sense of their mutual responsibility , to take a deliberate view of the duties which < £ beir new and interesting relation involves , and to implore the blessing of ( Jod upon their resolutions and efforts ip discharge € hem ? iBut , wherefore , it is said , seek the intervention of a third pafty for these purposes ? Why invite the assistance of other ministers ?
Simply because it is likel y that « the faithful counsels of experienced friendship may in such circumstances prove beneficial ; because a full and faithful statement of duty and obligation may be expected with greater reason , if not with greater propriety , from mutual and impartial friends , than from either of the parties interested . It is of great importance both t $ ministers and congregations that they should understand their relative duties ; it is well ,
therefore , that wiey should occasionally hear them explained toy those who , while they are induced by friendship , need not be prevented by delicacy , from entering into a full detail of them . For our part , we think that the work of exhortation in the majority of our churches is too exclusively performed by the pastor , and cannot therefore regret that once at least in his life he too should enjoy the privilege of being exhorted . Such services appear to us to be beneficial also in another respect , as they place on record
Untitled Article
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1827, page 102, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1793/page/22/
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