128 



CHRISTIANS. 



CHRISTIAN" UNION. 



I. It is the steadfast belief of this body that Christ 

 established but one Church, designing that all his 

 followers, as members of that one body, should har- 

 moniously work together for the salvation of the 

 world. We are of opinion that the present division 

 of the Church into sects, and the attitude of these 

 sects toward each other, are offensive to God, de- 

 tract from the glory of the Saviour, and impede the 

 reformation of the world. 



II. It is our belief that entire unanimity of opin- 

 ion upon matters of theological doctrine and 'eccle- 

 siastical polity is unattainable, so long as "we see 

 through a glass darkly ; " but that a unity of love, 

 forbearance, and cooperation, is fully within the 

 reach of all true Christians. 



III. We hail with joy the wide-spread and increas- 

 ing desire among God's people to come into a closer 

 relationship with one another, manifested in such 

 meetings as those of the Evangelical Alliance, and 

 represented by many periodicals of the day. It 

 pleases us to know that churches are springing into 

 existence in various localities, composed of Chris- 

 tians who are tired of sectarian intolerance, and 

 desire to manifest their essential unity ; and that 

 "doubtful disputations" are sinking into disuse, 

 while the great points of faith, common to all Chris- 

 tians, are rising into due prominence. 



IV. As an organization, it is the chief object of 

 the Church we represent to bring together all true 

 Christians upon a platform of mutual forbearance, 

 common sympathies, and fraternal love. We there- 

 fore offer the hand of fraternal greeting to all true 

 followers of our blessed Eedeemer, assuring Ijhem 

 of our profound interest in their welfare, and solicit- 

 ing their kindly sympathies and prayers. Holding 

 these views and aims, we hereby declare our desire 

 to cooperate with any and all those who love our 

 Lord Jesus Christ, in performing the great work he 

 lias assigned his Church. We have lortned an or- 

 ganization merely to make our labors more effective ; 

 and we are ready to form a corporate union with any 

 body of Christians upon the basis of those great doc- 

 trines which underlie the religion of Christ ; cling- 

 ing only to those fundamental truths without which 

 Christianity could not exist, we are ready to submit 

 all minor matters to the decision of the individual 

 conscience. 



V. We suggest that something like the following 

 be adopted as a 



BASIS or UNION : 



1. Belief. 1. In God, as our Creator and Law- 

 Giver ; 2. In Christ, as our Divine Mediator and 

 Eedeemer ; 3. In the Holy Spirit, as our Comforter 

 and Sanetitier ; 4. In the Bible, as inspired by God, 

 and the supreme standard of appeal in all matters or 

 religion ; 5. In the sinfulness and lost condition of 

 man ; 6. In the doctrine that salvation is a free gift 

 of God, through Christ, and can be received and en- 

 joyed only by faith ; 1. That love to God and men 

 is the whole duty of man ; 8. That those who accept 

 and obey the gospel in this world will be happy in 

 the world to come while those who reject the gos- 

 pel in this life will be miserable forever. 



2. The right to hold and express opinions not con- 

 flicting with the above articles of belief is freely con- 

 ceded to each individual member of the Church. 



3. Nothing more ought to be demanded as a pre- 

 requisite to admission into the Church than a credi- 

 ble profession of " repentance toward God and faith 

 in our Lord Jesus Christ." 



4. The body should be called by some name sanc- 

 tioned by Scripture usage ; either Christian Church, 

 Church of Christ, .or some other equally significant 

 and appropriate. 



'VI. With a view to forming and cultivating fra- 

 ternal relationships with all Christians who are like- 

 minded with ourselves, we hereby invite correspond- 

 ence from individual Christians, independent local 

 churches, and other religious organizations. 



III. CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN CANADA. The 

 Conference of the Christian Church in Can- 

 ada met at Burnham, Ontario, September 16th. 

 Nineteen ordained, and seven unordained min- 

 isters, were engaged in the work of the con- 

 ference. Twenty churches were reported, with 

 900 members. The number of members was 

 more than 100 less than were reported the 

 previous year. The falling off was accounted 

 for by the fact that one church had with- 

 drawn from the connection, and one other 

 church failed to make a report. It was thought 

 that between 4,000 and 6,000 people in the 

 Province of Ontario were in " full sympathy " 

 with the denomination. The reports from the 

 Sunday-schools showed a total of nearly 1,500 

 officers, teachers, and scholars. 



CHRISTIAN UNION. I. CHUEOH OF CHEIST 

 OF THE CHRISTIAN UNION. The following sta- 

 tistics of this denomination were presented at 

 the meeting of the General Council in May : 

 Number of preaching-places, 1,500; of churches, 

 1,000 ; of Sunday-schools, 500 ; of Sunday- 

 school scholars, 25,000 ; of church homes, 300 ; 

 value of church property, $150,000 ; number 

 of protracted meetings held during the year, 

 1,600. 



The fifth General Council of the Christian 

 Union met near Wesley, Ind., May 2Yth. The 

 Rev. J. V. B. Black, of Missouri, was chosen 

 president or moderator. The following minute 

 on fraternal relations was adopted : 



Whereas, There is a tendency on the part of Prot- 

 estant Christendom to set aside useless and dan- 

 gerous dogmas and denominational hatreds, and to 

 come closer together upon the essential principles of 

 Christ : therefore 1. Be it known that we hail witli 

 glad hearts these signs of unity, and behold in them 

 the hand of God leading men from darkness into the 

 light. 2. We also discover, on the part of the lead- 

 ing clergymen of the United States and Europe, a 

 ready and willing tendency toward a union of all 

 who dwell in Christ. 3. We also hail with grateful 

 emotions the expressions of prominent journals 

 throughout the land, in which we find a manifest 

 desire for the union of all Christians, as the Word 

 of God provides. 4. We stand ready to fraternize 

 with all who receive Christ as their only head ; the 

 Bible as their only rule ; and good fruits as the only 

 test of membership in the Church of Christ ; pledg- 

 ing ourselves, through Christ who strengtheneth us 

 to keep and observe these great principles of heaven- 

 ly truth. 5. We extend greeting and cheer through- 

 out Christendom to all who have engaged with us in 

 this great reformation, and pray earnestly that God 

 may hasten the time when all his children shall be 

 one. 



The Committee on the " State and Wishes 

 of the Churches " reported that an encourag- 

 ing degree of success had attended the labors 

 of the Union through the churches of the dif- 

 ferent States, " to develop the oneness of the 

 Church of Christ." They presented the " hope 

 and object " 'of the free and sovereign churches 

 represented in the Union to be 



1. To abate many of the evils now existing, by 

 virtue of the encroachments upon the natural and 

 gracious rights of conscience exhibited on the part 

 of a professed church, authority, existing outside of 

 and above the Church, as founded and transmitted 

 by Christ and his inspired apostles. 2. To exhibit 



