Part 69 (1/2)
Wesley says, ”it was one of our original rules, that every member of our society should attend the church and sacra Christians of another denomination” In his Tract, entitled ”Principles of a Methodist Further Explained,” (written in reply to the Rev Mr Church,) Mr Wesley says:--
The United Society was originally so called, because it consisted of several sether When any member of these, or of the United Society, are proved to live in known sin, we then mark and avoid them: we separate ourselves from every one that walks disorderly Soh rarely) this is decided openly; but this you style ”excommunication,” and say, ”does not every one see a separate ecclesiastical communion?”
Mr Wesley replies:--
No This society does not separate froland They continue steadfast with the of bread, and in prayers
And in further reply to the charge, that in excluding disorderly persons froher order of the clergy, Mr Wesley says:--
No; not in the power of excluding members from a private society, unless on the supposition of some such rule as ours is, viz: ”That if a er a es (from scores of similar ones in Mr Wesley's works), are sufficient to shehat Mr Wesley understood and intended by admission into, or exclusion from, any one of his societies--that it did not in the least affect the relations of any person to the Church of which he was a member Now, the rule which Mr Wesley imposed as a condition of membershi+p in a private society in a Church, we impose as a condition of membershi+p in the Church itself
It is also worthy of re is not required of eneral rules of the society--those very rules which ourto join the Wesleyan Church
In those rules no , nor is it there required that each member shall , in the presence of many others; but that the leader shall see each person in his class, and meet the minister and stewards once a week Yet, by constant and universal practice, we have transferred the obligation from the leader to the member, and made it the duty of the latter (on pain of excoation which is nowhere enjoined in the general rules In those rules it is said:
There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these societies--a desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins
The rules then truly state, that wherever this desire is really fixed in the soul, it will be known by its fruits These fruits are briefly but fully set forth under three heads (1) By doing no har all the ordinances of God: such as, the public worshi+p of God; the ministry of the word, either read or expounded; the Supper of the Lord; fa or abstinence These are the general rules of our societies, all of which we are taught of God to observe, even in His written word, which is the only rule, and the sufficient rule, both of faith and practice” Now, neither class- the ”ordinances of God” enueneral rules of the society; nor is itthe instituted eneral rules the whicha condition of inally instituted thes at all occur to Mr Wesley until after the general rules were drawn up and published[138] But as not required by the general rules soon became a condition of iving tickets Mr Wesley says in his Plain Account of People called Methodists:
As the society increased, I found it required still greater care to separate the precious from the vile In order to this, I determined, at least once in three months, to talk with every member myself, and to inquire at their own hbours, whether they grew in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ To each of those whose seriousness and good conversation I had no reason to doubt, I gave a testi their name on a ticket prepared for that purpose Those who bore these tickets, wherever they caed by their brethren, and were received with all cheerfulness These tickets also supplied us with a quiet and inoffensiveany disorderly member He has no ticket at the quarterly visitation (for so often the tickets are changed); and hereby it is ier of the coth required by a minute of the Conference, (as our own discipline enjoins,) that a preacher should not give a ticket of membershi+p to any person who did not meet in class In our own Discipline, in the section on class- question and answer:--
_Question_--What shall be done with those lect their class?
_Answer_--1 Let the chairman, or one of the preachers, visit them whenever it is practicable, and explain to thelect, viz, exclusion
2 If they do not attend, let hie of the circuit exclude the that they are laid aside for a breach of our rules of discipline, and not for immoral conduct
By this added ministerial authority and duty, a condition of membershi+p in the society is imposed which is not contained in the General Rules, and which subjects a ed to be ”not iulation in even a private religious society within a Church; but no objection could be reasonably ulation in such a society, if its members desired it, and as it would not affect their Church membershi+p But the case is essentially different, when such society in a Church beco into, and excluding from the Church itself, and not land, and especially in the United States and Canada, the Wesleyan Societies have become a Church I have repeatedly shewn in past years, that they have becorounds I believe the Wesleyan Church in Canada is second to no other in the scriptural authority of itsthis, I believe that exclusion from the Wesleyan Church (either by expulsion or refusal of admission) is exclusion from a branch of the Church of God--is an act the most solemn and eventful in the history and relations of any hu--an act which should never take place except upon the clear and express authority of the word of God
Far be it from ious exercise and communion which tends to promote the spiritual- Christians That class- occasional i the the spirituality and usefulness of the Wesleyan Church, no one acquainted with her history can for a moment doubt; and I believe that myriads on earth and in heaven have, and will ever have, reason for devout thankfulness and praise for the benefits derived fros for prayer But attendance upon the two latter is voluntary on the part of the members of the Wesleyan Church; and what authority is there for suspending their very membershi+p in the Church of God on their attendance upon the former? The celebration of the Lord's Supper, and not class- characteristic institution upon the members of the primitive Church So I am persuaded it should be now; and that Christian faith and practice alone (and not the addition of attendance upon class-,) should be the test of worthiness for its coes
While, therefore, as an individual I seek to secure and enjoy all the benefits of the faithful ministrations and scriptural ordinances of the Wesleyan Church, I cannot occupy a position which in itself, and by its duties requires me to enforce or justify the imposition of a condition of membershi+p in the Church of Christ, which I believe is not required by the Holy Scriptures, and the exclusion of thousands of persons froes, to which I believe they have as valid a right as I have, and that upon the sole ground of their non-attendance at a lect of which our own Discipline admits, does not involve ”immoral conduct,” and which Mr Wesley himself, in his Plain Account of the People called Methodists, has declared ”to be merely prudential, not essential, not of divine institution”
It is passing strange, that while the Wesleyan Church is the avowed ”friend of all and enemy of none”--is the ious communions--she should close the door of admission into her own fold even to attendance upon class-ard it as the misfortune rather than the dishonour of the Wesleyan Church, that she repels thousands that seek her communion rather than relax this terreat under disadvantages unparalleled, I cannot but believe, that, with the sa, and upon a basis of membershi+p less narrow and more scriptural, the Wesleyan Church, would, beyond all precedent, increase her usefulness, and enlarge her borders
I will not permit myself to dwell upon associations and recollections which cannot be expressed in words, any more than they can be obliterated froh I retire from councils in the deliberations of which I have been per more than twenty-five years, and relinquish all claims upon funds to which I have contributed for a like period, I should still deee to pray for the success of the former, and continue my humble contributions to the latter; while I protest in thethe doors of the church upon thousands to who that essential and divine, which, as Mr Wesley says, ”is merely prudential, not essential, not of divine institution” I hope the day is not remote when the Wesleyan Church will be as scriptural in her every terrace and labours of love
To this letter of resignation, Rev Dr Wood, President of the Conference, replied on the 4th of January:--
To accept the enclosed docu a responsibility at variance withfrom the Methodist ministry be ever received, it must be with the concurrence of the collective Conference; or, should the question require immediate attention, that of its executive coulation which will proe and intelligent class of adherents now receiving no recognition beyond their contributions to our institutions; and also the adoption of practical measures by which the youth baptized by Wesleyan ministers may be more personally cared for, and affiliated to our ordinances Your distinguished ability and islator and counsellor on such grave questions, which by soreatly blessed to the growing spirituality of true believers, without injury to the vital character of the Church After so long and useful a career, your separation from our Conference and ould be a connexional cala the few in Canada to whoal position of the Wesleyan Church stands deeply indebted Future generations of ministers and people will partake, ies a few of the led and contended for against so , or supplying anything wanting within the Church, as you were o, to overco further was done in the matter until at the Belleville Conference of 1854 Dr Ryersonresolution:--