REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



747 



of all faithful people;' and by 'One Baptism 

 l'r tho remission of sins, the Baptintn of tliu 

 Holy Ghost. 'J " Tins loclaration of Absolu- 

 tion waa chungod into a simple prayer for for- 

 giveness made by the minister, still kneeling, as 

 in the public confession. A rubric was at- 

 tached to tho prayer for those in authority, 

 -lir.M-tin- that it may be omitted when the 

 l.itan y is used, and the prayer was amended so 

 aa to read, " Most heartily we beseech thee 

 \\ ith thy favor to behold and bless the J'n -i 

 dent of those United States, and all in author- 

 ity, legislative, judicial, and executive," etc. 

 The prayer for Congress was bracketed, to 

 show that it is to be used only during the ses- 

 sions of Congress. The Litany was adopted 

 without change. The amendments made to 

 tho Morning Service were also adopted as to 

 the corresponding parts of the Evening Ser- 

 viiv. Tho expression "Pardon and absolve," 

 in tho prayer for forgiveness, was changed to 

 " pardon and accept." The alternate Evening 

 Service was shortened. The Psalter in the 

 Prayer Book of 1783, with the addition of the 

 ten selections of psalms, as in the Protestant 

 Episcopal Prayer Book, was adopted, with 

 the provision, however, that the ten selections 

 should be made to conform to the transla- 

 tion of Psalms as in King James's Bible. The 

 Collects, Epistles, and Gospels of the Protes- 

 tant Episcopal Prayer Book from the first 

 Sunday in Advent to the twenty-fifth Sunday 

 after Trinity, were adopted, but those for the 

 Saints' days were excluded. The notice with 

 reference to the invitation to the communion- 

 table was amended so as to direct the use, by 

 the minister, of the following or a similar form : 

 " Our fellow-Christians of other branches of 

 Christ's Church, and all who love our Divine 

 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in sincerity, 

 are affectionately invited to the Lord's table." 

 The exhortation was amended so as to begin, 

 " Dearly beloved in the Lord, ye who mind to 

 come to this holy table of the Lord, must con- 

 sider how St. Paul exhorted all persons to ex- 

 amine themselves," etc., the words " so is the 

 danger great if we receive the same unworthi- 

 ly" were stricken out. The following form 

 was prescribed for administering the elements : 

 " Then shall the minister first receive the com- 

 munion himself, and proceed to deliver the 

 same to the ministers assisting, and after that 

 to the people. And before delivering the 

 bread, he shall say to all the communicants 

 around the table : ' The body of our Lord Jesus 

 Christ, which was given for you, preserve your 

 bodies and souls unto everlasting life, 1 and 

 when he delivereth the bread he shall say : 

 1 Take and eat this bread in remembrance that 

 Christ died for thee, and feed on Him in thy 

 heart, by faith, with thanksgiving.' " The 

 rubric and formula before delivering the cup 

 were changed so as to correspond in style with 

 that for the delivering of the bread. A rubric 

 was adopted directing that "in conducting this 

 service, except when kneeling, the minister 



shall face the people, and at no time shall his 

 back be turned to the congregation ; " and a 

 note was appended, declaring that "the act 

 and prayers of consecration do not change the 

 elements, but merely set them apart for a holy 

 use, and the reception of the elements in a 

 kneeling posture is not an act of adoration." 



In the order for the administration of bap- 

 tism for infants, all references to confirmation 

 and regeneration were stricken out, and the 

 words " sanctification of water to the mystical 

 washing away of sin " were omitted. A rule 

 was adopted that, " in the event of neither of 

 the parents of the child being a communicant, 

 the child must be presented by at least one 

 person who is a communicant of the Reformed 

 or some other church." The reference to the 

 signing of the cross on the child's forehead was 

 omitted from the formula of baptism, but a 

 note was added to the formula, permitting 

 tho making of the sign when the parents desire 

 it. Tho formula and note are as follows: 

 " Then shall the minister say : ' We receive 

 this child into the congregation of Christ's 

 flock ' [Note. Here the minister may make the 

 sign of the cross upon the child's forehead, if 

 it is desired, and add, ' and do sign him with 

 the sign of the cross, and pray,' etc.] ; ' and 

 pray that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to 

 confess the faith of Christ crucified, but man- 

 fully fight under his banner against sin, tho 

 world, and the devil, and continue Christ's faith- 

 ful soldier and servant unto his life's end.' " 



The question of the dedication of infants, 

 and the preparation of a service suitable for 

 such a purpose, was referred to the Committee 

 on Doctrine and Worship. The " order of ad- 

 ministration of baptism to adults " was consid- 

 erably shortened. In the address to the per- 

 sons to be baptized, the words of the old form, 

 " desiring to receive holy baptism," were 

 changed to " desiring to be baptized." In the 

 rubric preceding the formula of baptism was 

 substituted: "Then shall the minister take 

 each person to be baptized by the right hand, 

 and shall ask the witnesses the name, and then 

 shall dip him into the water, or pour water 

 upon him," etc. 



A rubric was added to the confirmation 

 service, declaring that " the administration of 

 the order of confirmation is confined to the 

 bishop, not as of divine right, but as a very 

 ancient and desirable form of church usage." 

 The references to the "bishop confirming" 

 were stricken out from the service itself, and 

 the applicant is represented therein as being 

 " desirous of confirming his baptismal cov- 

 enant." The handing of the ring to the min- 

 ister was omitted from the marriage-service; 

 also the passage, " with all my worldly goods I 

 thee endow ; " and the reference in the prayer 

 to the married life of Isaac and Rebecca. The 

 words " man and wife " were changed to 

 "husband and wife." Several passages from 

 tho New Testament were added to the opening 

 versicles in the order for the burial of the 



