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SEC. 4. We hold that liberty of conscience and the free exercise of private judgment in matters of religion, are natural and unalienable rights of men, of which no government, civil or ecclesiastical can deprive us.1

SEC. 5. As order is necessary to the prosperity of every associate body, and as Jesus Christ has left no entire, specific form of Government and Discipline for his church; it is the duty of every individual Church to adopt such regulations as appear to them most consistent with the spirit and precepts of the New Testament, and best calculated to subserve the interests of the church of Christ.

SEC. 6. And as men exercising the right of private judgment, agree in the opinion, that Christianity requires a social connexion among its professors, and as experience proves that men will differ in some of their views of doctrine and discipline; and as too much difference of opinion would be prejudicial to the objects of the association; therefore reason dictates that those of similar views should associate together, that it is their duty to require for admission to church-membership among them, or for induction into the sacred office, and for continuance in either, such terms as they deem most accordant with the precepts and spirit of the Bible.

SEC. 7. Upon the broad basis of these principles, was the Evangelical Lutheran Church founded immediately after the Reformation. Adhering to the same principles, the Church in America is governed by three Judicatories: the Council of each individual Church, the District Synods, consisting of all the clergy and an equal number of laymen from a particular district of country, and one GENERAL SYNOD formed by representatives from all the different Synods of the Lutheran Church. The ratio of clerical and lay-representatives is determined in the Constitution of the GENERAL SYNOD; and the powers of this body are only those of an Advisory Council.

1 Rom. 2: 13. 15. and others. Dan. 6: 1. 23. Acts 4: 19.

CHAPTER II.

Of the Church.

PART I. OF THE INVISIBLE CHURCH.

SEC. 1. The true or invisible Church of Christ is the collective body of all those of every religious denomination in the world, who are in a state of grace.2

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SEC. 2. The true Church of Christ is a spiritual 3 society, consisting of members whose qualifications are spiritual, and who are associated for spiritual purposes.5

SEC. 3. It is a catholic or universal society: its members not being confined to any particular nation or religious denomination.

PART II. OF THE EXTERNAL OR VISIBLE CHURCH.

SEC. 1. The visible church is the collective body of those who profess the Christian religion; consisting of all those who have been admitted to membership by baptism, and have not been deprived of it by excommunication.

SEC. 2. Of this society our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the true and only head;8 having neither abandoned his church nor appointed any vicar in his stead.

SEC. 3. As the spirit of Christianity leads its possessors to social intercourse 9 with each other; and as such a connexion is essential to the accomplishment of the object of the Christian church; and as such a relation can subsist only among persons of contiguous residence; therefore Christians living near together have from the time of the Apostles 10 formed themselves into societies for the

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better attainment of the objects of the Christian institution. every society participates in the duties of the whole church.

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SEC. 4. It is the duty of every such society and of the visible church at large, to have the word and sacraments administered in their purity, to give an adequate and just support to the pastor or pastors who minister unto them, to provide for the perpetuation of an able and faithful ministry, and to endeavour to propagate the gospel to the ends of the earth.3

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SEC. 5. It is the duty of the church to watch over the purity and faithfulness of her members.4

SEC. 6. The jurisdiction of the church is purely spiritual; it ought to have no connexion with the civil government,5 neither ought its decisions be enforced by the arm of civil power.

SEC. 7. The power of the church is purely declarative, whether exercised by an individual church council, or by any other ecclesiastical judicatory, i. e. the Bible is their juridical code, and their decisions are valid only because founded on scripture.

SEC. 8. The visible church is not an association to which we may belong or not at our option; but it is the duty of every one who has an opportunity to be a faithful member of it.6

CHAPTER III.

Of the Officers of the Church.

OF PASTORS.

SEC. 1. Our Lord and Saviour himself instituted the clerical office in the New Testament church, and made it of perpetual standing. The persons filling this office, are in scripture designated

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by different names, as a bishop, presbyter or elder, &c.1 indicative of the duties of the office. All these are by divine right of equal rank,2 and their duties are principally these: to expound the word of God, to conduct the public worship of God,3 to administer the sacraments of the church, and to admonish men of their duties,5 as well as by all proper means, public and private, to edify the church of Christ.

SEC. 2. Those other officers who were endowed with miraculous gifts, and whose instrumentality Christ used in first forming the church, were extraordinary and of temporary standing.

SEC. 3. Pastors are amenable for their conduct to the Synod to which they belong; and that Synod is the tribunal which has the entire jurisdiction over them: excepting in those cases where a regular appeal is obtained to the General Synod, agreeably to Art. III. sec. 5. 1, 2. of the Constitution of General Synod.

SEC. 4. No minister shall knowingly grant to a member of another congregation any privileges of the church, which would be denied to said member by his own pastor.

SEC. 5. It is the sacred duty of every minister so to conduct himself, that his life shall present to his congregation an example of true Christian propriety of deportment: And should any minister of our church be guilty of an open vice, (which may God in mercy prevent!) it shall be the duty of the church-council earnestly to exhort him several times to reformation, and if this should prove ineffectual, or if the case be such as to bring disgrace upon the church, to report him to the Synod.

OF ELDERS AND DEACONS.

SEC. 6. The other officers of the church are Elders and Deacons, who are elected by the members of the church, as their agents to perform some of the duties originally devolving on themselves. The principal duties of Elders are to aid the pastor or pastors in administering the government and discipline of the

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church; to endeavor to preserve peace and harmony in the church; to visit the congregational schools, and promote the religious education of the children of the church; and to visit the sick and afflicted, and aid in the performance of such other duties as are incumbent on the church-council.

The duties of the Deacons' office are principally these: to lead an exemplary life as commanded in Scripture, to minister unto the poor,2 extending to their wants and distributing faithfully amongst them the collections which may be made for their use ; to assist the pastor in the administration of the Eucharist, to attend and render all necessary service at stated worship; to see that their minister receives a just and adequate support according to the commands of our Lord; to administer the temporal concerns of the church; and to aid in the performance of such other duties as are incumbent on the church-council. Both these officers are elected by the people, and it is their duty to feel the deepest interest in the advancement of piety among the members of the church, and to exert their utmost influence to promote it.

SEC. 7. The elders and deacons are the representatives of the whole church, and each church shall determine the number of their officers and the term of their duration in office; yet in no case shall they serve less than two years, nor more than eight, unless re-elected.

SEC. 8. When persons have been elected to the office of elder or deacon, they shall be inducted into their office according to the form prescribed by the church. Those congregations which have been in the habit of having trustees, may, if they deem it expedient, still retain them, and continue to them such privileges as they may deem expedient.

1 1 Tim. 8: 13. and others.

* Vide "Liturgy," &c.

2 Acts 6: 2. 6.

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