The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1883-06-02
WHOLE No. Pip

a missionary outpost established in Elk
Meek. where the humble chapel OF st.
johns in the Wilderness !" provides for
the constant and kindly ministrations of
the church. Added to this, by the build
ing of a church in Chesapeake City the
prospect presented of the revival of the
Church, within the bounds of the ancient
Augustine parish.
Surely these are encouraging facts.
They tell us of Gods care for his Church;
for that branch of it to which high and
noble mission has been entrusted, in
common with its parent Church of Eng
land, and with other branches of the
great Anglican Communion. 4 distin.
gushing feature of the history of our
Reformed Communion has been it's re-
markable deliverance out Of threatening
perilS from within and from without. 1t
has survived the rigors of Marian perse-
cution in the Reformation period; the
shocks Of Puritan opposition in the
Cromwelian era; the benumbing inilu-
ences OF eighteenth century indifference,
and the formidable difficulties in the way
of prejudice from without, coupled with
an enleebed and exhausted condition,
peculiar to the period that succeeded to
our American Revolution.
The growth of our church in this
country has certainly been remarkable.
Our membership is largely made up of
those who, not SO much through any
urging on our own part, but by their
own free and unbiased choice, have come
to US from other folds; whatever the
cause may have been; whether a craving
for that full measure of participation in
public worship offered to the people in
our liturgy; or the church's freedom
from narrow tests; the rich provisions
it makes i'll its commemorative year for
the instruction Of the people; its avoid
ance of political entanglements; its
claims as 4 historical branch of the
church, tracing its decent, and that of its
ministry, back to the days Of the Apos-
ties.
1t is far less frequently the case that
one reared in the church, and constant
attendant upon its services, forms other
religious connections in after life. Some
forty years ago, it was stated by
Bishop Griswold that, of two hundred
and eighty-fve clergymen ordained by
him, two hundred and seven of them
came into the ministry of the church
from other denominations. The history
then, which we had under review affords
encouragement for the future. Let it be
our aim to set forth faithfully Christ's
saving truth: to seek ont the erring and
neglectful, and win them to Christ; and
also to present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus. BY manifestation of the
truth commencing ourselves to every
mans conscience in the sight of God.
And this not by word only, but in c"r
lives.
Perhaps. too, we may learn the lesson
from the story of the church's decline
in by-gone day that our safety and our
usefulness will be found in the strict
avoidance of all worldly alliances, and Of
the world favors, even if offered under
churchly guises and in connection with
any Of the phases of our parish life.
May the up-rearing of the spiritual
keep pace with that Of the material tenn
pie; the inward with the outward growth;
our prayers ever accompanying our
efforts, and all be done " in the name of
uor Lord Jesus Christ" and to the honor
and glory OF the Triune God.