Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-03-03


At the business meeting Of Plymouth
Church, on Friday evening. the Committee
appointed to present the case Of the church
to the Advisory Council submitted q report
the substance Of which is as follows
Letters Of invitation were issued to
| l13 churches and 20 ministers without
charge, which were accepted By l3i church
es and l. ministers - churches declined
and were net heard from OF those de-
clining to attend only three churches indi-
Gated that they dill - IRON any objection to
the plan of she Council, and about IL
churches assigned as their reason for non
acceptance special work going on in their
midst. or other causes, making the attend
ance of their pastors Improbable Only
one of the ministers. invited by name. de-
clined for any reasons other than such as
made it impracticable for them, with the
best good will, to attend.
The Council when fully organized, was
actually attended by the representatives Of
l3l churches and by l. ministers without
charge. The total number of pastors and
delegates in attendance was 80. Every
State between Maine in the East and Kan
sas in the West, both included, was repre-
sented in the Council There were but two
members under 30 years of age. and
the average age of the entire Council was
IS years.
The Council from its opening manifested
a spirit of deep earnestness, Of firm Impair
tlallty, and an anxious desire to do exact
justice to all the great interests involved.
Your Committee took the veIy first oppor-
tunisy, even before the Council was organ
ized, to express in the most emphatic terms
the design and desire of the church to open
Its doors to the widest possible extent, and
to receive advice from the Council upon all
It's affairs, past, present, and to come. This
desire of the church was reiterated by the
Committee on every suitable occasion, and
the responsibility of advising, not only as to
what needed correction in the past, but as
to what was the policy of wisdom for the
future, was placed upon the Council in
most equiv cal terms. The Committee not
merely expressed willingness that the
Affairs of the churc', should be investigated, |
but demanded as sbt that they should be- |
Outside witnesses whu were invited to appear |
before the Council were all brought in, |
not merely with the consent but with the |
express suggestion and earnert entreaty of |
the Committee, which indeed requested |
the Council to call more persons standing
outside Of the church and in hostile
attitude to it than the Council itself
deemed it had a right to invite The books
and records of the church and the Ex-
aiming Committee were placed in the
hands OF the appropriate committee of the
Council, which had possession Of them for
two or three days, and was solicited to in
spect them and compare the records with
the oral statements of the Committee
The Council responded in the most faith
iul and cordial spirit, to the request thus
made ny your Committee and for more
than two days the Committee were subject
to searching and rigid inquiry, in which
all the members of the Council were at liber-
y to take part.
yIspIcATIos OF TIE CHURCH.
The result Of the Council is now before the
church. 1t does not need to be said that
his result isour best and most complete yindi-
,etion as a church. This result was reached
with absolute unamimity by the Council, not
,ne dissenting vote being cast against it. This
act would alone raise strong presumption