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wate r Chapel i under' the pastoral care 01 the Rev . J . Elliot * , kindly accommodated the brethren with the loan of their chapel , as the room iii Which the society ( formerly In connexion with the late Mr . Cooke )
tisuajly meet , would have been insufficient to contain the numerous and highly respectable congregation assembled on this occasion . Mr . Edmund Grundy introduced the service with prayer , and Mr . Kay , of Heap Fold , read the Scriptures , and delivered a very admirable discourse .
After service the business of the association was transacted , and the plan of preaching * for the next nine months was drawn up ( see a similar plan in Ash worth ' s Letters , pp . 76 , ; 77 ) . The names of the several places stated above were called over , and the brethren from each place were requested to state what assistance
they could give in the congregation , and what assistance they needed for the regular conducting of public worship . Mr . Grundy and Mr . Kay stated , that they had been obliged to discontinue worship in their room at Bury , from the family being ill of the typhus fever . They stated that it Was exceedingly difficult fo procure a
suitable place for worship , and that it had been suggested , that it would be desirable to build a small convenient place , which it was estimated might be done for about £ 300 . If the Unitarian public were disposed to favour this design , no doubt was
entertained that a thriving congregation would be raised independent of and without at all interfering with , the highly respectable Unitarian congregation long established in the town , and at present enjoying the pastoral care of the Rev . Wm . Allard .
Afterwards the names of the several preachers were called over , to ascertain if they were disposed to continue their labours , and the representatives of the congregations were requested to state any objections to the preachers , as their names were mentioned . No objections were started . All the preachers acquiesced , with the exception of Jonathan Rudman ,
who stated , at length , his unwillingness to be appointed to preach in some particular places where he said he believed they were weary of hearing' him . J . Grime also stated his wish to be omitted in the plan , as he really did not feel his abilities equal to tlje , disebarge of the duties . The name of the Rev . James Kay ( late of Kendttl ) was added to the plan .
About fifty persons sat down to a plaiu and economical dinner in the Assembly Room , and after dinner several youngfriends were admitted into the room , to be present at the discussion , John Ashworth gave an account of the present state of the society at Newchufch ^
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in Rossendale ; James Taylor of the state of the Rochdale Society 5 Mr ~ M . Grundy ( the Chairman , ) gave an account of the Oldham Society , and of the Society at Bury , &c . &c . On the Chairman giving the thanks of the association to Mr . Elliot and his coo .
gregation for the use of their chapel , Mr , Elliot rose and spoke as follows : " Mr . Chairman , for myself , the trustee * and the congregation , I can truly say , it has been a great pleasure to them to lend their chapel on this occasion , and they require and deserve no thanks . Had a
congregation , the most opposite in relfc . gibus sentiments , asked for the loan of the chapel , it would readily have been afforded ; how much more readily when it is opened to brethren , who differ in no . thing-, that I know of , except that they
meet in different places of worship I You will say , perhaps , that your society owes its origin to the late Mr . Cooke . It does so , but may not Mr . Cooke be considered the greal friend of both congregations , and the father of Unitarians in the town ?
Sure I am , that many members of my con- ' gregation were led by the labours of that excellent person to their present convictions , and I conceive both congregations are greatly , if not equally indebted to him ; Before I sit down , may I be permitted to
allude to a different and Jess pleasing subject ? I was much struck last night with reading in Mr . Yates ' s Sequel , ( p . 154 , ) the following quotation from Mr . Wardlaw ' s ' Unitarian ism incapable of Vindication : ' ' Where are the hardened sinners whose
consciences it has awakened ? Where are the profligates whom it has reclaimed ? Where are the worldlings whom it has spiritualized ? &c . &c . Has it enlivened their delight in communion with God , and height * ened their attachment to the exercises of the closet , the family and the sanctuary ?* &c . &c . I am well aware that the
insinuations contained in these questions , are most of them unfounded ; and that the accusation veiled under and implied i * these questions , is false and insidious ; and that a satisfactory answer can be given to these questions so triumphantly put . But there is one of the charges to which ,
in my conscience , I believe the Unitarians must plead guilty 9 I mean their absence from ' the sanctuary , their neglect of public worship . How listless , how desuftory is the attendance on public worship at many of oar chapels ! la some confined
to one part of the j day merely 5 how discouraging , to the minister , who has made preparations to meet his ; congregation !" Mr . Elliot pursued this subject at considerable length , and concluded ; with expressing * his attachment to the cause , and the pleasure which he htid experienced i » r ' . ' ' . . , r -,-
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282 Intelligence .- *~ Ro $ sendale and Rochdale Unitariftn Association
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1818, page 282, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2475/page/58/
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