The Congregational Churches.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 524, 23 April 1851, Page 4

The Congregational Churches.

The following declaration has been iuued by the Board of Congregational Ministers of London and its vicinity ; 1. That this board, hating directed its serious and deliberate attention to the recent bull of the pope of Rome, and to the coiuequent hteps adopted for reestablishing the papal hierarchy in this country, deems it due, alike to itielf, to the congregations with which it ttandt connected, to the denomination of which it forms a part, and to the entire English community, to express its opinion of the bearing and effects of these movements on civil freedom and religious truth, and thus to aid, on gtoundi in some respects peculiar to itself, the legitimate and scrip urnl endeavours of other protestant denominations ot Christains in counteracting the effects of the papal p0wer.. .. .. ..2. That this board, while reverently holding the icriptural principle thst the Lord Jesus Christ is the tupreoae and only head and ruler of his church, cherishes, in common with the entire Congregational body, the most loyal and devoted attachment to the person and throne of her Majesty the Queen ; ii highly indignant at the interference of a foreign potentate in the affairs of this kingdom, and gladly embraces the prebent occasion of renewing the asssurance of its determination at all times to the utmost of its power to uphold the dignity and honour of the British crown against every foim of foreign aggression.. .... ..3. That this board, cherishing a devoted attachment to the great principles of evangelical protestantism, believing them to be accor- j dant with holy scripture, to have been the chief means ! of promoting vital godliness in the land, and the source I of much national and social prosperity, views with tbe ' deepest regret the propagation of tbe Roman Catholic faith in this country, as tending to the subversion of many of the essential doctrines of Christianity by the substitution of formalism for a spiritual worship, and the assumed infallible teaching of a corrnpt church, for the Unadulterated truths ot the word of God, by the subjection of commence to priestly authority, and the unchristian doctrine of human merit, so as to set asidt the perfect work of the Saviour as the sole ground of acceptance and eternal salvation for sinful men. These, with other principle! and riles of Romanism, the board regards a» equally unscriptural and injurious, and therefore earnestly invites the hearty co operation of all the congregational churches and pastors, by the employment of moral and scriptural means, to counteract the ruinoug evils thus resulting from popish teach" ing and practices, and to spread more widely than ever the intelligent belief and love of protestant truth. 4. That thisbo-ird, cheerfully according to every man the full right to worship God agreeably to the dictates of his own conscience, would nevertheless deprecate the aims and onward movement of popery, hs being unfavourable to free inquiry in religion and general truth, and as beini; adverse to constitutional liberty and political freedom, and is therefore of opinion that the recent appointment by an Italian potentate of a cardinal archbishop and twelve suffragan bishops to as many newly-created dioceieg, with territorial titles and jurisdiction, and the unfounded ns sumption that England is again become Roman Catholic, and that all baptized persons owe allegiance to Rome, are indications that the papacy is still ambitious of uuiversal dominion, and aims at supremacy in this Protestant country— an assumption which it is the duty of all Protestants, as Englishmen and Christains, by all constitutional means, Bteadtly to oppose 5. Thai thi« board, while agreeing in the widely expressed opinion that the semi-popish 1 principles and practices ol i considerable portion of the English episcopal clergy have prepared the way for the present RomUh usurpation, is convinced that the conduct of successive administrations of government, in giving rank and honour ( .o Roman Catholic bishops

in Ireland and in the coloniri, liai encouraged the leaders of this movement to seek for additional patronage and power, and that the existence of a richly endowed Protpstant church in the united kingdom has presented an additional object of ambitious aim on the part of Rome, in seeking both for spiritual and temporal supremacy. This board, therefoie, while deliberately repeating its often uttered tcitimony against all State endowments of Chriatianity ; would especially protest against any m« couragement on the part of the goyernment to popery in the form of giants, whether for the education of its priesthood in Ireland, or for the maintenance and extension of its mission! and worship in the colonies 6. That this board, rejoicing in the decided and manly part taken by Prote»t«nt dissenters generally, in the present struggle for truth and libeity, expresses its conviction that the ministers of the independent denomination will rmploy all suitable mean*, whether by lecture- or public meetings, or by the use of the press, to enforce upon their congregations and othen the duiies which devolve upon them at the present crisis, and that they will be found, as they ever h.ive been, while cultivating loyalty to the sovereign and ittachment to the free institutions of the country, "contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints."