of purity of heart, and of daily prayer; that so you may minister to others of that which first of all you yourself shall have received through the fellowship with the Spirit of God?

Answer, I do.

Do you promise to be faithful to this congregation (or to your mission, or your work as an evangelist) endeavoring to adorn the profession of the Gospel by your daily walk and conversation; rejoicing with those who do rejoice, and comforting those who weep, and faithfully performing all, your duty, as God shall show it to you?

Answer, I do.

(The Moderator or presiding minister shall then propose to the people the following questions, the people rising, and responding at the close:)

Do you, the people of this congregation, continue to profess your readiness to receive A. B., whom you have called to be your minister; receiving the Word of God from his lips with meekness and love; encouraging him in his labor; ministering to him of your substance; assisting his endeavors for your instruction and spiritual edification; that so by the mutual faith both of him and you, the Kingdom of God may be advanced through this ministry?

Answer, We do.

The candidate shall then kneel, and one of the ministers who has been appointed shall offer prayer, and the ministers present and so appointed shall lay their hands upon him according to Apostolic example, and shall solemnly ordain him to the holy office of the Gospel ministry.

Then may the right hand of fellowship be extended by a minister appointed; or all the ministers in turn, beginning with him who has offered the ordaining prayer, may take his hand, and each may say brief words of greeting which may be to this effect,—

"We give you the right hand of fellowship, to take part with us in this ministry.'

The minister thus ordained shall then ascend with the Moderator to the pulpit, and at the close of the service shall pronounce the benediction.

THE INSTALLATION OF DEACONS.

(On the Communion Sunday following their election, the deacons shall stand before the Communion Table, and the minister shall address them:)

Dearly Beloved: It is recorded in the Book of Acts that in the days when the disciples were multiplying; and the duties of the Church had become diversified, the Church chose men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to assist the ministry in the care of the poor,, and in divers temporal affairs, while the Apostles gave themselves to the ministry of the Word; and that the deacons thus chosen by the Church were set before the Apostles, who laid hands on them and prayed, thus setting them apart in the presence of the Church to the duties of their honorable office.

In like manner this Church, having first sought the guidance of the Divine Spirit, has chosen you to the same office, to be asociated with these brethren already in that position, and with the pastor, to whom you are now presented for your public consecration.

It is your duty as deacons to assist the pastor in administering the ordinances of the Church, to advise the pastor on spiritual matters, to attend to the discipline of the Church, to assume responsibilities for the leadership of meetings, and to represent the laity of the Church in intimate association with the pastor.

You are charged to remember the admonition of the Apostle, that a deacon must be grave, not doubletongued, not given to wine nor greedy of filthy lucre, the husband of one wife, ruling his own house well, blameless and of good standing; so that in the exercise of his office he may gain great and charitable boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Do you promise thus to live, and faithfully to serve the Church, the Lord assisting you?

Answer, I do.

(Then shall the pastor address the Church, saying:) Believing these brethren to be men worthy of this high office, this Church has chosen them to this honorable service; and as in the days of the Apostles, those who had been thus chosen were presented before the Church to the Apostles, who offered prayer on their behalf, so now let the Church unite in prayer for the blessing of God upon them in the work to which they are now ordained.

(Then shall the pastor offer a prayer of consecration.)

(Then may the choir chant the ancient Sanctus, or the 67th Psalm, or other appropriate selection.)

(Then shall the Lord's Supper be administered.) THE INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS OTHER THAN DEACONS.

(The clerk, treasurer, and trustees shall stand before the pulpit, and the minister shall address them:) Dearly Beloved: The various activities of the Church of Christ. call for a variety of gifts among its members, but all to the common end for which the Church was established; even as the Apostle Paul has written, that there are diversities of gifts but one Spirit, and differences of administration but one Lord, and diversities of operation, but one and the same God that worketh all and in all. You have been chosen by this Church to conduct its temporaral affairs, under the guidance of the Spirit and the direction of the Church. Receiving this responsibility as from the Lord, do you promise to preserve faithfully its records, to handle honestly its funds, to care for its property with fidelity, and to keep this house for its sacred uses, each of you according to his own office and the special responsibilities which it involves, and all for the honor of this Church, and the love of its Lord, and for the advancing of the Kingdom of Christ?

Answer, We do.

(Then shall the minister say:)

May God bless you in these responsibilities, and make you faithful to all the duties of your respective offices: may you be faithful stewards over these few things, and in the end be rulers over many things. And may the Church be prospered and God be honored in your fidelity. Amen.

CONGREGATIONAL STATEMENTS OF DOCTRINE.

THE BURIAL HILL DECLARATION OF FAITH ADOPTED BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL, 1865.

Recognizing the unity of the Church of Christ in all the world, and knowing that we are but one branch of Christ's people, while adnering to our peculiar faith and

order, we extend to all believers the hand of Christian fellowship, upon the basis of those great fundamental truths in which all Christians should agree. With them we confess our faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the only living and true God; in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, who is exalted to be our Redeemer and King; and in the Holy Comforter, who is present in the Church to regenerate and sanctify the soul.

With the whole Church we confess the common sinfulness and ruin of our race, and acknowledge that it is only through the work accomplished by the life and expiatory death of Christ, that believers in him are justified before God, to receive the remission of sins, and, through the presence and grace of the Holy Comforter, are delivered from the power of sin and perfected in holiness.

We believe also in an organized and visible Church, in the ministry of the Word, in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, in the resurrection of the body, and in the final judgment, the issues of which are eternal life and everlasting punishment.

We receive these truths on the testimony of God, given through Prophets and Apostles, and in the life, the miracles, the death, the resurrection of his Son, our divine Redeemer, a testimony preserved for the Church in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which were composed by holy men as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Affirming now our belief that those who thus hold "One Faith, one Lord, one Baptism," together constitute the one Catholic Church, the several households of which, though called by different names, are the one body of Christ; and that these members of his body are sacredly bound to keep "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," we declare that we will coöperate with all who hold these truths. With them we will carry the gospel into every part of the land, and with them we will go into all the world and "Preach the gospel to every creature." May He to whom "all power is given in heaven and earth" fulfill the promise which is all our hope: "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world."" To Him be praise in

the Church forever. Amen.

THE STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE.

PRESENTED IN 1883 BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL COM

MISSION.

I. We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who is of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made;

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who is sent from the Father and Son, and who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.

II. We believe that the Providence of God, by which he executes his eternal purposes in the government of the world, is in and over all events; yet so that the freedom and responsibility of man are not impaired, and sin is the act of the creature alone.

III. We believe that man was made in the image of God, that he might know, love, and obey God, and enjoy Him forever; that our first parents by disobedience fell under the righteous condemnation of God; and that all men are so alienated from God that there is no salvation from the guilt and power of sin except through God's redeeming grace.

IV. We believe that God would have all men return to him; that to this end he has made himself known, not only through works of nature, the course of his providence, and the consciences of men, but also through supernatural revelations made especially to a chosen people, and above all, when the fulness of time was come, through Jesus Christ his Son.

V. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the record of God's revelation of Himself in the work of redemption; that they were written by men under special guidance of the Holy Spirit; that they are able to make wise unto salvation; and that they constitute an authoritative standard by which religious teaching and human conduct are to be regulated and judged.

VI. We believe that the love of God to sinful men has found its highest expression in the redemptive work of his Son; who became man, uniting his divine nature with our human nature in one person; who was tempted like other men, yet without sin; who, by his