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offended them more by his manner thai * his matter . And xhcy may think , it prudent ia the present stage of | reS % riquiry in America , to tajse especialtare not to alarm or irritate prejudice by
incautiousness . ^ ' The society has split on the ground ( so fatal to the church in all a-gesj of ecclesiastical discipline . Mr . Christie was for the apostolic ' model , such as is observed in dissenting congregations in Great Britain ; but the majority of thjL society were for regulations hetWm
adapted as they thought to the latitude of their country . They retain a pastor but limit his power : they have done away with elders and $ 3 eacpns , and have substituted in their place a committee of management , to be amially chosen . Their form of government is wholly democratic .
The occasion of the schism in the society was the proposal by some of the members , and the adoption by the nia-\ orh y > of a new ecclesiastical constitution , with ceitain articles ^ of faith , What the articles were , t } ie pamphlets do not inform us : the rules of
membership were these j that persons of ejpery religious denomination whether Ca * the lie or Protestant ( provided their be * fiaviour were serious and propel *) should have free access to the tiord ' s table at all times ; that a contribution to any amount paid quarterly , for twelve months previous to the election , with a constant
attendance on the meeting of the society , should qualify a person to vote in the choice * of a pastor , put not to give a vote in other matters , such as the elecv tion of coni £ ft | jj | t : men ; that persons of cither sex , ra ^ Jwl age , contributing in
their own right , not less than four dollars p $ r annum , should have a right to vote Wall the proceedings of the society , having first subscribed the declaration and rules —Theseai 9 $ l other laws % vere considered by Mr . Ch . istie as a departure from the order of the New
Testament , as derogating from ' the pastoral authority , and as infringing on Christian liberty . He accordingly protested against them , iSnt hi $ objections befag overruled , he withdrew from the 6 QoBt jr r He' ; was followed by some otherijnentfors , who have united with him in a new church , under the " denomination of The Independent Society oflfnitarian Christians . This society meets in Jfprth Sixth Street . TJie memfber ^ by an unanimous ? ote , h ^ ve declared
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TJnitariani&m in Apierica . \ j 55 ¦ ¦
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i . .. f . ¦ - * Hheir firm and solemn anent to the divine revelations contained in the Old and New Testaments as the only rule of faith , practice , wo || hip , and church discipline ' ' iL Vhere nre then twoWriirarian < hurch *> $ in Philadelphia ; both sm ill yt * ifcpprc * hend , and both , no doubt , at prcsefit jealous of ^ ch > other . But , as we betare expressed ourselves ^ hey niay , ti nder the : divine blessing , before useful in their separation than in conjunct on . Tinie will , we tru ^ t , cool their unfi iend ^ p heats , without lowering their zeal ; - and their vigilant observance of eacJ ^ other , may stir them up to € < l k c ^ TCums i ^* tion and exertion . ¦ t *
One reasort assigned by the original society for choosing a committee in the . room of elders And deacons , was ths difficulty of " procuring a passport for thereto the reguter discharge of their fijnciibns . by ordination . '; To this Mr . Christie replies -as follows :
•* Dissenting ministers and elders in England are otten elected and authorized to perform every part of their- < dttty » - by their own congregation * , with the counteriahce of one or twp neighbouring ministers , when ¦ it can be conveniently obtained , but without such assistance where it cannot be procured . In tin ' s
Hburitry we had a noble instance of a like kind transacted upwards of fifty years ago , 'by * % he first Episcopal church of Boston , who when the bishop of New England refused to ordain Mr . Freeman , their minister * ord < wted hiht themselves after solemn prayer , by voting and executing a deed or instrun ^ ipnt appointing him their rector , minister , * priest , pastor ^' teaching elder , and pub ~ lie teacher , to J > reach the word of God , to minister the Holy Sacrament to the congregation ,- Sec . Sec and that , the authority and rights hereby given should remain in ftill force so long as he ehcmld continue to preach the word of God , & . c . and no longer . Mr . F . then
signified h > acceptance of the election and ordination , and that he believed it to be apostolic and valid . After which the senior warden declared him duly or- * gained , arid whilst in a niosi interesting hianher he e ^ ttorted bim to 4 p . hb d ^ ity ^ tft ^ fidelitf * ' he laid one hand upon him , arid with the other delivered hun , the bible , enjoining him to make that , ^ rc 4 book the rule C | £ ^ faith and conduc t * Then followed prayer ajqd a blessing . "
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1808, page 55, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2388/page/55/
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