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EIGHTY FEEBLE CHURCHES.
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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faculties j- ^ couldv every- Unitarian , here and elsewhere , thus think and feel , and act , we might safely leave our principles to be judged by their results .. In the "view of an admiring
world , and of a grateful posterity , the truth , of God would be the inscription every where displayed upon tKe"broad ~ banner of ^ ouTTallKrwHn " e the spirit of Christ would impart its brightest lustre to the public and private character of every disciple .
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/ UNITARIAN CHRONIGLE . $ & $
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It is generally known that many small Calvinistic churches have been established in different parts of Massachusetts , within a few years past , that are unable to support regular wbrshi |) , except by large Assistance from missionary funds .
These new churches have been mpstly formed within Unitarian _ parishes , where thera was too small a population ^© support two _^ where the people were , for the most part , happy with their minister . There is good evidence , that their
establishment has been frequently caused , not so much by the original wants or wishes of the people , as by excitements and disaffection produced by the intermeddling of the orthodox clergymen , and other zealots of neighbouring towns . Nor have these men been over-scrupulous as
to 4 he-GharacteiV of the means u § e < l to effect their purposes . Hard speeches against Unitarian ministers —vCalvinistic / tracts thrust upon the people against their wishes r— and finally an organized religious police - —visiting committees of orthodox clergymen creeping into houses and
imposing upon and alienating from their ministers the ignorant , the unstable , and the -weak ,-r-these are common instruments an 4 methods of operation . And what is the result ? ~~ eighty feeble churches . Eighty feeble churches I that are to have a new house of worship ,, V they can get some zealous clergyman to unaertaks a tour of begging for it , * -.
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and then to have a minister , if they can get the Home Missionary Society to support him . In an address , published by the Hampden county auxiliary to the Massachusetts Missionary Society we find the following statement : — ' The number of feeble churches
" and congregations nrHiis Commonwealth , which cannot sustain the ministry of the word without aid , is more than sixty . ' [ A note in the Recorder says " eighty . ' !] The Society urges its appeal 4 o the community for funds in such
language as this : — ' Can you behold the desolations which error , and heresy , and wickedness are bringing over many societies , once famous for their adherence to the pure doctrines of Christ , and for the influence of these in turning sinners to God , with indifference ? Can you see many , for conscience sake , driven from the home where their fathers
worshipped , compelled- ^ ( : by ^ us , - the only true ministers of Christ ) ,, to unite in feeble bands , and to appeal to their Christian brethren for aid , that they may be fed with the sincere milk of the word , and permit the desolation to increase , and the weak
to sink down under their burdens ? Shall fathers and mothers , whose hope is in Christ , and in the precious doctrines of his grace , see their fa ~ milies scattering away , to receive the influence of those who tramp ) e upon the truths , which they deem alone able to make men wise unto salvation ?'
Thus , it will be perceived , all goes upon the assumption that every Unitarian minister is leading his people straightjl _ own to perdition , andj ^ hat tHere islbipl ^ n ' sBiinit ^ jSto ? the ^ alje of Calvinistic orthodoxy . A modest conclusion surely ; and in beautiful
accordance with the many Christian requirements of humility , self-distrust , and charity to others . ' Driven from the home , where their fathers worshipped / .. This is the language need in reference to the feeble churches / Let us un-
Eighty Feeble Churches.
EIGHTY FEEBLE CHURCHES .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 1, 1832, page 229, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1823/page/21/
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