Blest is the man whose tender care Christians! brethren! ere we part. Dismiss us with thy blessing, Lord Eat, drink, in memory of your friend Far from these scenes of night Go to the pillow of disease How pleasing is the scene, how sweet How blest amid all blessings How beautiful the sight If high or low our station be Jesus, I love thy charming name O for a closer walk with God . O God, accept the sacred hour Pastor, thou art from us taken Saviour, thy law we love. Sweet is the prayer whose holy stream Thanks for mercies, Lord, receive There is a land míne eye hath seen We bid thee welcome, in the name GENERAL EPISTLE. The Merrimack River Ministerial Circle, To all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and seek to extend the blessed influences of his holy Religion; and to all who pray to the Universal Father, saying, “ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through a risen and exalted Redeemer. DEARLY BELOVED: IN submitting, for your consideration, the following plan of church organization, differing, as it does, in some important particulars, from the usual form, it seems proper to accompany it with a brief statement of its origin, and the objects and views of those who have been concerned in its production. The Merrimack River Ministerial Circle is composed of seventeen Ministers of the Universalist denomination, who are settled pastors, having the care of societies and churches. The Circle meets monthly, for the mutual improvement of its members, and for consultation upon the means best calculated to promote the interests of the cause of religion. In our private conversations, the following facts have appeared: 1. As a general rule, our societies are organized merely so far as to give them a legal existence, and enable them to hold property, and perform, according to law, the business necessary for the maintenance of public worship. 2. Connected with most of our societies, there are churches, having an organization about as meagre as can well be imagined, in any body claiming to have a corporate existThese churches meet, at stated periods, at the communion table, and for the reception of members, or the election of officers; and, ence. |