Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-05-15

cross where he bowed his head forwar,
they in like manner must bow forwal
, in the water.
FEET-wAsHING.
Next in order is the ordinance of fee
: washing. The authority is from the il
cident of Christ washing his disciple
: feet, narrated in John 13. They beliey
the command in the 14th and 18th verse
OF this chapter to be as literally bindin
as the commands elsewhere for the oil
servance of the communion. It is oil
served as preparation for the Leve-feat
and communion, according to the state
ment OF Christ to Peter in the 10th verse
In the observance of the ordinance th
brethren wash the feet of the brethre
only, and the sisters of the sisters. Th
sexes never, under any circumstances
wash the feet of each other, as has some
times been charged. Everything con
nected with the ordinance is done de
Icently and in order. 1t is observed at ey
|ery Love-feast and communion.
LOvE-FEAST.
Next is the Love-feast. The authori
ty for this is predicated upon the fac
fthAt before Christ instituted the com
munion, on the night of his betrayal h.
hrst partook of supper with his disci
pies. They make this real merit
There is no limit as to kind or. squalit,
of food. The only requirement is tha
it be a real supper. After this, and i'm
mediately preceding the communion il
the salutation of the kiss; which they
claim was observed by the apostles an(
the Christian churches following them
In this ordinance the brethren salut'
each other, and the sisters the same
The sexes do not interchange saluta
tions.
In the observance Of the communion
which is the ordinance next in order
the sisters all have their heads covered
with plain caps, and the brethren with
heads uncovered. Thanks are given
both for the bread and wine. The min
lister breaks the bread to the brethren,
and they to each other. The minister
breaks to the sisters also, but they dc
not break to each other; and the same
is the case in passing the wine. The
communion and its attendant ordinan-
ces are always observed at night, as this
was the hour of their institution by
Christ. 1t is observed usually once OF
twice year in every church.
AMOUNTING THE SICK.
In addition to these ordinances is that
OF the laying on of hands and amounting
the sick with oil, founded on James 5 |:
IA, Is. 1t is done only at the request Of
the sick person, and always by an elder
If one is within reach, but if is not pos
slble to secure the attendance Of an
elder, the ordinance is then administer
ed by minister. To perform this cere-
nony two are always required.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
The Church government is republican
in form. Each church has it's council,
to which all matters of differences and
questions of difficulty must first be sub.
mitted. If not settled here they are car
ried to the council of the district. These
districts generally include about twenty
churches, sometimes less, and the coun-
Gil is composed of delegates from each
church. If not settled here, and is a
matter of general interest, it is taken to
the National Council or Conference, but
no local matter is allowed to come up
before that body. In some cases the
National Council appoints persons to
confer with the local councils, and in
this way assists in the settlement of diff
ficult cases.
The National Conference is composed
OF two delegates from each district
One OF the two serves on the standing
committee, which has important offices
to perform. and the other attends more
particularly to the matters before the
conference.
But while these delegates constitute
the official conference, opportunity is
given TO all members present to speak
ana participate in the proceedings.
In hf, 1Nu
decided by vote, and sisters are allowed
this respect, but in the National Con-
ference the decisions are by common
consent. aad the sisters do net partici-
pate in the official deliberations.
The special object Of this National
Conference is to decide matters for which
no THUS saith the Lord" can be found
Questions naturally arise which cannot
be decided by reference to the Bible
teachings, and the object of this Annu
al Conference is to take all such ques-
tions into consideration and decide upon
them. A clerk keeps careful record
of all the proceedings, and at the close
the record is printed and sent to each
church, and becomes the Anal authority,
so far as advice Is concerned, on all the
subjects considered.
THEIR MODE OF WORSHIP
does not differ materially from that of
other people, save in the use of the
Lords prayer, which they repeat at the
end of each prayer. In case two minis
tiers are together, one offers up prayer
and the other repeats the Lords prayer.
Meeting generally opens with singing
and prayer, after which a chapter is
read. Then follows preaching by one
or more of the ministers present. If no
minister is present the meeting is gen.
orally conducted by one of the deacOns.
The services are closed in the same way
they are opened, by singing and prayer
They do not use the benediction. The
minister usually says eve are dismissed
in the name of the Lord" or some sim
liar phrase.
quired to have their heads covered with
a plain covering, in compliance with
Paul who says, 1T is shame for wo-
man to pray or prophesy with her head
uncovered" The men keep their heads
uncovered at all times during services.
MINISTER'S AND ELDERS.
Ministers are select ed by the vote of
the whole church, brethren and sisters,
regardless of age. In this way the church
labors to secure minister of proper gifts
to preach the word. After ne has la
bored sufficiently long in his calling to
give full proof of his ministry, he is
then advanced to what they call the
second degree and is given privilege to
make and fill appointments, baptize,
solemnize marriages, &c. Their Elders,
who hold the highest positions among
them, are chosen from the ministers in
the second degree. They are set apart
by the laying on of hands. In addition
to ministers and elders they have dea-
cons, whose duty 1t is to wait on table
during communion, visit the sick, see
that they are cared for, and help the
elders keep the church in order gen.
orally. No salaries, as rule, are given
to their ministers or elders, though they
maintain it the duty of the church to
help them when they need it the same
as other members. They are not re-
quired to give up lawful business pur-
suits in order to carry on the ministry.
A church usually has several ministers,
but the elder is always the presiding of.
ficer of the church to which he belongs
PECULIARITIES.
They have many peculiarities which
they strictly observe, 1t is to some ex.
tent their intention to be a peculiar