T.W. Chckefin^

The Church of Christ :'

Its Object and Methods.
A_ Sermon
Preached in the First Congregational Church,
BALTIMORE, IMIID.
Sunday, October 20th, 1872,
BY
PEOF. J. W. CHICKEE1NG, JR,
DEAF-MUTE COLLEGE,
®5v w-^siaiiisrGhTOisr, id. c.

(PU'B LI SHE'D (BY (REQUEST.

Printed by T. A. Rhodes, jJob and --Book Printer,
No. 6 North Liberty Street, Baltimore, Md.

The Church of Christ :

Its Object and Methods.

0XH<M 

_A_ Sermon
Preached in the First Congregational Church,
Sunday, October 20th, 1872,
BT
PEOF. :i W. CHIOKEEING-, JE:,

deaf-mute college.

*w^s*H:iasrOTO*3sr, m. c.

(PU'B LI SHE'D BY (REQUEST.

Printed by T. A. Rhodes, Job and Book Printer,
No. 6 North Liberty Street, Baltimore, Md.

SERMON.
EpHEsiANrf v, 27. That he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such
thing ; but that it should be holy and without , blemish.
A very common habit of the times, is depreciation of
tbe visible Christian church. We bear, much about men's
ability to lead Christian lives outside its pale ; We are
often assured, that there are just as good men and women
out of the church as in it.
Now this may be, in part, a protest against that
ecclesiastical tyranny which has so often sought to
impose a yoke which is none of Christ's ; in part, an
honest indignation against hypocrisy, pious profession
divorced from right living. In yet. larger degree, it is
tbe result of a hearty djl&ke to tbe church itself, its ob
ject, its work, its bead, ^dislike growing more hearty, as
the church comes nearemothe Bible standard.
But whatever this human estimate may be, Christ felt
and spoke very differently about His church, considering
it as the visible result of his earthly labors, tbe outward
and real organization of his kingdom on earth, something
which neither time nor change can destroy, against which
the gates of hell can not prevail, something which he
tenderly loves, over which he is ever watching, in which
be lives, which he is ever re%dy to guide and inspire;
which shall eventually fill tbe whole earth.
I desire this morning to inquire, What is this church ?
What is its object ? What are its methods ?
What then is the church ? In its most extended sense,
the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and who
are in heaven, still on earth, or yet to be born.
" One family — we dwell in him —
One church above, beneath,
Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream of death."

4
In tbe more common sense, in the Bible sense, any
assembly of Christian believers, united, the name of
Christ, in an organization, having for its object tbe glory
of God /vt.be salvation of men, and in the training of
men for earth and heaven ; with its officers, pastors and
deacons, and its Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's
Supper. This is the Congregational idea, and I may add, it is
the only organization, of which tbe slightest hint is given
in the New Testament.
As in tbe Bible economy, tbe family is the social unit,
so ecclesiastically, the individual congregation, the individ
ual church, is tbe unit.
Politically, we have wards and townships, and counties,
and states, having points of contact through officers and
courts and legislatures, and uniting to form a nation, the
political unit.
But socially, we require nothing higher than the family,
we have no synod of families, or congress, or court of
families. No respectable faiBjbyallows any interference
in its concerns, on the part Q»By other family, or set of
families, nor is it needful, eaHpt where intemperance or
dishonesty or idleness imposes the burden of the support
of any family, either upon individual charity; or upon the*
state, in which case, individual or police interference with
family affairs, may become a necessity.
In tbe normal condition of affairs, each family is suf
ficient of and to itself, knowing others only through the
interchange of voluutary friendly offices.
In like manner the individual church is tbe unit, and;
the only unit, tbe only formal organization known to-
Congregationalism, known to the Bible.
If a congregation of intelligent men and women, who
have subjected their wills to Christ, and are honestly
desirous to know, that they may do what is right, is not
competent to govern itself, I do not know of any body
that is.
But it requires a high degree of piety and intelligence*
to carry out this system with success, and just as in po-
l.tical affairs, until a nation is educated up to it, some'

centralized form of government, with tbe power lodged
in tbe hands of a 'few or of one, is better than an attemp
ted republic, sure to end in anarchy, as France has so
often shown, so in church government, there have been
and are communities, for which Presbyterianism, Method
ism or Episcopacy," is fitted to accomplish the most good.
But tbe question is often asked, how is a church formed
on Congregational principles? How does it come into
connection with sister churches?
Suppose this church were simply a Christian Association
on the usual basis of evangelical belief ; faith in Christ,
and desire to work for Christ, its inspiration and object.
To become a Christian church, all that would be necessary
would be to assume tbe name, elect pastor and deacons,
and institute the sacraments, and you would be just as
much a Church of Christ, as though a whole army of
self-styled successors of the apostles, bad presided over
its birth.
To become a Congregational Church, all that would be
necessary, would be to send letters to half a dozen or
more sister churches, asking admission to their fellowship,
and requesting thera to meet by their representatives, see
what you believe, what you are to try to do, what sort of
a minister you have selected, and whether be is a man
whom they can receive as a minister of Christ.
If all these inquiries receive satisfactory answers, they
give you the right hand of fellowship, and if you request
it, proceed to induct into office, your pastor and deacons,
with that solemnity and cordiality which are befitting,
and you are henceforth a member of the sisterhood, ,
having no authority over any other church, and recogni
zing no authority of any other church over you, united
only by tbe bonds of mutual sympathy and affection. If
any of them get into any trouble they may ask for your
advice and help ; if you are in trouble, they will try
to help you out if you ask them, nototherwise.
And "this is why Congregationalism has ever proved the
best basis of union, why nearly every member of other de
nominations loving his own church best, assigns Congrega
tionalism tbe second place. A few years ago, a hus-

band and wife, one a Baptist, and the other a Methodist,
unable, (morally)either to go with tbe other, brought let
ters to my church, finding its platform one en which they
could stand harmoniously.
This system has always had great attraction for intelli
gent, independent, thinking people. It has ever proved
a capital educator. The town meeting in New England
grew out of the church meeting, and it is a matter of
history that Mr. Jefferson got bis first idea of our form
of government from attending the business meetings of a
little Baptist church in Virginia: For this polity, we
share with several other denominations, while it is in
exact harmony with the genious of our institutions,
It knows not of the Congregational Church of America,
¦ but it rejoices to embrace thousands of Congregational
churches, each complete in* itself, owning allegiance only
tc Christ its head.
With our Presbyterian, our Methodist, our Episcopal
brethren it is different. With them each church is only
a fractional part of a great hierarchical organization,
bound to listen to the voice of authority, under subjection
to bishops, synods, assemblies, churcb dignitaries and
church judicatories, amid whjch too often the voice of the
Master has been lost, in the friction and rattle ot ecclesi
astical machinery. Our Baptist brethren, freed from this
bondage, are yet precluded from recognizing as properly
accredited members of the church of Christ, nine tenths
of tbe best Christian people the world has ever seen,
because they have differed with them as to tbe proper
translation of the word baptizo. Now it is tbe infelicity
of all these, that they can unite with no other in any form
of church organization, it must be their form or none. For
the most part, neither would recognize the other, as a
properly organized church.
Congregationalism, on the other hand, says, we recog
nize each of you as a church of Christ, but no one of you,
as the church, and we therefore invite you individually
to membership in any of our thousands of churches, each
a-church, truly, simply, perfectly, apostoHcally, or as
Christian churches to our fellowship.

It is said that some years ago, a little band of mission
aries feeling that the time had come for some sort of
church organization, and finding themselves unable to
agree exactly, determined, examining carefully tbe New
Testament, to make that their model. The result of this
examination, was Congregationalism pure and simple.
Again. What is the object of the church ? The Bible
represents it as having a two fold work : First for the
world : Second for its own members.
In the world, it is to be its* salt, ever raising higher
the standard of right living, in politics, business, social
life, preserving it from utter corruption ; it is to be its
light, a city set on a hill whose light cannot be hid,
drawing men unto it by its shining ; a society, of whose
nembers men shall take knowledge that they have been
with Christ, and seeing their good works shall glorify
their Father in heaven. Yet further, it is to seek the
salvation of men ; their conversion to God, through re
pentance and faith in Christ ; to urge, nay to command
men, to b3gin to live Christian lives. Tbe church that
fails in this, is false to its trust, must die, will die, deserves
to die. Thousands of churches have thus died ; why, the
East is a great graveyard of churches dead and buried.
If a church is to live, it must demonstrate 'its right to
existence, by making itself essential to humanity, by living
as a Christian church, not by merely having a name
to live. And because so many of our churches have been
remiss in this, has there arisen the necessity for Young
Men's Christian Associations. Because so many members
of these churches have failed in their personal duty, (for
this is almostwholly individual, tbe church byformal action,
cando butlittle,)have those who are really earnestand active
in the different churches, associated themselves, that they
might work, without having to carry the dead weight of
so many inactive, sleepy, sickly, paralytic, dead Christians,
as are found in too many churches., And the supposition
is, that no man will seek membership in the Y. M. C. A.
unless be means work. He may seek to join the cburch,
because it is respectable, or he feels as if he ought, or his

8
friends wish him to, or be thinks it a sort of insurance
office, making him feel a little easier at thought of sickness
and death.
But now another use and duty of the church is to its
members, to make proof of the reality of their supposed
conversion, to see if they have indeed been delivered from
the bondage of sin, and brought under subjection to the
new law of love, to train them up to Christian lives on
earth, to fit them, by tbe grace of God for heaven, till
they come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of tbe Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measures
of the stature of. tbe fullness of Christ.
Around the gallery of Wanamaker's* mammoth Sunday
School in Philadelphia, with its fifteen hundred scholars,
is painted as follows : " Tbe object of this Sunday School
is to teach the word ; to lead souls to Christ; to develop
Christian character, and train men to Christian activity,"
and this should pre-eminently be the object of the church.
Men, and even Christian churches often seem to expect
altogether too much of the mere accident of death: It
is simply opening the door from this life to the; next, and
has no power to change an unlovely, selfish, earthly
character, to a Christ-like, self-sacrificing heavenly life.
That is the work of the Christian life here ; to make saints
out of sinful men.
The church has not got through with a man, when she
has received him into her enclosure, has placed his name
on her records. She has, for him, a course of training,
development, and she also affords him a constant means
of testing his progress, finding bow far he has got on, or
if he has advanced at all. She tries him in his business
relations, ( or she ought) to see if he is becoming more
honest, honorable, fair, generous in his dealings, less
greedy of gain. She tries him in tbe family to see if he
is becoming a better husband and father, more just, kind,
judicious, unselfish.
She tries "him in his relations to society and especially
to his brethren and sisters in the same church, to see
whether he can walk in .love, and that, not keeping
time to a dead march, but in real earnest work, in active
life, where earnest intelligent men, will be likely to think

9
decidedly and feel strongly, and often to think and feel,'
differently ahd yet to think/ feel and act, each in obedi
ence to the dictates of his reason, judgment and conscience,
and yet in love and fraternity, recognizing the rights of
others to hold different opinions, and to hold them strong- "
ly and honestly, and to work earnestly for their triumph. '
And if he cannot thus get along with his Christian'
brethren and sisters here, what warrant has he for expec
ting to do any better in heaven !
Now some churches seem to recognize neither of these
objects. They seem to regard the church as merely a re
ligious club, whose endand aim is, to build a fine church,
secure an eloquent and gentlemanly preacher, hire artistic
singing, and if the seats are filled and tbe bills easily paid,
and especially if pews are at a premium, it is regarded as
a great success, (and yet, I fear, that in the sight of God,
many of our most popular churches, are nothing but stu
pendous failures,) and all this time, the church goers, and
the church members are instructed or amused, for an hour ,
Upon the Sabbath, and then go out into the world on
Monday just as thoroughly expecting to devote six days to
the world's business or pleasure, in the most thoroughly
worldly way and with as little exhibition of brotherly love,
as il no Sabbath had intervened.
And even with many churches, which have somewhat
of real life, and keep in mind their work of seeking to
lead sinners to Christ, I fear there is often forgetfulness of
this work of training and developing Christian men and
women. A church should be ashamed to have its mem
bers remain " babes in Christ," all through their lives,
needing continually to be fed with milk, instead of be
coming strong men, needing and able to digest strong
meat, and to develop strength accordingly.
Says Rev. T. K. Bbecher, in a recent sermon, "This
experimental use of a church has been not cnly acciden
tally but even intentionally neglected. For when at the
assemblings of saints, at beet but partly sanctified, there
have arisen controversies, collisions and strifes, the prop
osition has usually been, Banish from the holy precincts
of the church these questions which seem to have caused

10
this social friction and difficulty. The various members
of the church have not usually been remanded to the
department of private prayer, self-denial, and humiliation
before God, telling ,them to come together a week after
ward and try the experiment over again ; but the endeavor
has been made to keep the church quiet by the sacrifice
of individual life and the banishment of all the questions
in which our human nature takes interest, and concentra
ting. attention, upon those great questions which, because
of their very greatness and mystery, excite no personal
feeling. And so let us form a society to ascertain to what extent
the work of grace has advanced in us Let us see whether
the rich can, in any intelligible sense, love the poor and
not feel them to be a burden. Let us see whether the
so-called refined and the unrefined have any common bond
of humanity. Let us see whether the aversions of race
and caste have been mitigated by the grace of God. Let
us see whether people with different sorts of clothes can
come together and be happy. Let us see whether smart
and foolish people can associate ; whether temperance
men and men of total abstinence can respect each other.
Let us see whether we can love other people's children
besides our own.. Let. us see whether we can enjoy paying
the price of other people's happiness, as, God in Christ
has paid the price of our salvation. Let us see whether
we can help one another to escape the snare that comes
through poverty. Let us see wether we can chasten one
another in .things that need chastening, and encourage
with .praise what we find that is good. Let us see wheth
er wei can assemble our children in fellowships and sports
that are without taint of envy, rivalry, or sin. In a word,
let us; see whether we have passed from death unto life by
finding out whether we do love the brethren in any intel
ligible sense."
Thus can the church do a work for her members, that
many churches fail in doing, that cannot be done by
mere conference, room singing and talking about brotherly
love, and fellowship of .saints. And when this is done
we shall have fewer denominations. In every little

11
country town, it will not be needful for every man to have
his little conventicle, where every iota of doctrine and
polity shall exactly accord with his own views. But
everywhere the Christian platform " In essentials, unity;
in non-essentials, "diversity; in all, charity," shall prevail,
and it is most decidedly my opinion, that when such
Christian union is realized, it will be upon a Congregational
basis, though very probably without its ;long name. This
is one prominent reason why I am a Congregationalist,
why I as now, often preach Congregationalism.
A. few words now, as to the methods of this church of
the future. Its members will be actiyely interested in it,
its work, its growth. They will carry their religion, and
their religious enthusiasm, wherever they go, men will
not have to watch the communion tablet© find out whether
they are Christians. The church will be the special ob
ject of their endeavors, next to their own families.
This church will ever remember its missionary work,
that it is not merely to stay in the world, but to gather
the world to itself, that it is not merely to be leaven in
the rneal, but it is to seek to leaven the whole. And in
order to do this, belonging to the church must mean
something, the church itself must be something more than
a religious lyceum, whose main object is to secure a pop
ular course of Sunday lectures, more than a neighborhood
convenience, or a respectability.
The church ought to be, the church of the future will
be, aYoung Men's Christian association, a religious lyceum,
a missionary society, a temperance league, an infirmary,
a hospital, a masonic lodge, a life and health insurance
company, an intelligence office, a literary, musical, social
organization, a gymnasium ; in short, if there is any good
association on earth, the church ought to have all the good
features of it, all the real uses to humanity, with all the
bad left out, so far as possible.
And when the church is this, a score of these organiza
tions will find themselves superfluous, " their occupation
gone," and because gome Young Men's Christian Associa
tions have succeeded better in adapting themselves to.

12
these wants, these necessities of humanity, sanctified and
unsanctified, than some churches, have some of the former
prospered better, than, som'e of the latter.
And the way 'for pastors or church members who regret
this, and desire a change is not to find fault with these
associations, for doing their own work better than they'
do it, but to set their churches to work in the right wray.
You can't ke'ep men out of Mr. Beecher's or Dr. Hall's,
or Mr. Spurgeons churches, nor out of any live wide-awake,
real churches, where membership means something. But
it is very hard work to get men into dead or merely res
pectable churches. And tbe next quarter of a century
will see the funerals of many churches, long since dead,
but as yet urtburied.
Never was there greater need of, more work for, true
churches of' Christ of every ' name, never so little room,
never so much contempt for dead' churches.
The world now-a-days has but little respect for the mere
name of church or minister. The mere odor of sancity
is of little account.'
But never, I think, was it any more ready to respect,
to lend an ear to, or to be influenced by, a true Christian
man, a true Christian minister, a true Christian church.
And this gathering in must not be from one class.; the
church must not be a mere mutual admiration society.
Not only, or mainly, among theeducated, the cultivated, the
wealthy, lies her work. She needs these, their cultivation,
their learning, their money. But for strength, for work,
for manhood, she needs, she must have the toilers of tbe
earth, those by whom the world's work is done. A« in
the rebellion, it was the sturdy yeomanry 'from the hills,
tbe skilled and stalwart mechanic from the workshop, the
hardy laborer from many a scene of busy toil, who. made
up the rank and file, who offered their lives to their coun
try, and living and dying saved their country, so must it
be in the church. The men who do the world's work,
must be enlisted for the churches' work, or it .will remain
undone. And1 all these things I say, ever remembering
that we are dependent for any success on the Holy Spirit,

13
but that even the Good Spirit of God sees fit to work by
means : never forgetting that Christ must be in the church,
and yet believing that he is more likely to be found in
churches doing his will, obeying his commands, showing
his spirit, than in those who merely say "Lord, Lord,
and do not the things which he saith."
My brethren and sisters in Christ. I believe that God
) as called you to occupy an outpost upon the walls of our
Ziou. I believe that he has a work to be done here,
which can be done better and more advantageously by
Congregationalism, than by any system of faith and pol
ity, less simple and scriptural, less in harmony alike
with the constitution of our country, and the word of
God. I believe that here you are to plant the banner
of the Cross, but likewise to sot up as your regimental
standard, the guidon of our forefathers, under which
God so blessed them, and has given to their principles such
influence and such extension.
,1 believe that if this church is faithful to these princi
ples, keeps in view this object, employs these methods,
it has a place, has a right to live, will have the blessing
of the Master, will be a power for good in this city.
Nor do I believe you need love the Master less, for loving
the memory of our fathers ! But on the contrary, it ia
my earnest conviction that you may lead most souls to
Christ, best honor his name, by working in and through
that church which he has so abundantly blessed in the
past. To his name be all the glory.

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