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Islip Church, Nottinghamshire: 1, Eastern end and great east window; 2, 2, Chancel and its windows; 3, End of nave; 4, 4, 4, 4, Clerestory and its windows; 5. South aisle; 6, South porch; 7 Tower: 8, 8, Belfry windows; 9, Spire.

Ciliated Leaf

Vol. 7.

CHURCH-CHURCH CONGRESS.

ited, by its use in the New Testament, to these two p plications: (1) to those disciples in any city or village who are or may be united as worshippers in a particular place of worship, partaking of the Lord's Supper together, and administering the fellowship, truth, and order of Christ among themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; and (2) to the church general, the whole body of Christ's disciples scattered throughout the world. They fully ac cept, however, an application of the term C. in the New Testament, to the Church spiritual and invisible, one on earth and in the heavens.

CHURCH, cherch, BENJAMIN: 1639-1718, Jan. 17: b. Duxbury, Mass. He served in King Philip's war, commanded the party by which that chief was slain, 1676, Aug. 12, and led five expeditions against the Indians in Maine. He removed to Little Compton, R. I., 1674, and died there. His son Thomas wrote from his notes Passages Relating to Philip's War (1716, reprinted 1865).

CHURCH, Sir RICHARD: 1780-1873, Mar. 20: general in Greece. After service in the British and Neapolitan armies, he entered that of Greece, was commander-in-chief of the forces in the war for independence, and attempted to raise the siege of Athens 1827. Driven into retirement 1829 and ordered to leave the Greek dominions 1830 by Capo d'Istrias, he did not comply, but remained at Argos, and was again placed at the head of the army 1831. This command he held for many years, was made a councilor of state when Greece became a kingdom, and afterward senator. His death at Athens was observed with national mourning.

CHURCH, SANFORD ELIAS: L.L.D.: 1815, Apr. 18-1880, May 14; b. Milford, Otsego co., N. Y.: jurist. After admission to the bar he settled at Albion, Orleans co., and became an active democrat of the school of Marcy and Silas Wright. He was in the legislature 1842, county attorney 1846-47, lieut.gov. 1851-55, and state comptroller 1858-59. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the last office 1857 and 1863, and for congress 1862; member of the N. Y. constitutional convention 1869, and chairman of its committee on finance. Under the new law he was elected 1870, May, chief judge of the court of appeals, and held that office from 1871, Jan. 1, till his death at Albion. CHURCH, STATES OF THE: see PAPAL STATES.

CHURCH CONGRESS: a gathering of bishops, clergy, and laity of the Church of England, or of the Prot. Epis. Church in the United States, convened annually for the free discussion of questions of interest and importance. The first was held at Canterbury, England, 1861; the C. C. has since met in various English cities, with large attendance and happy results. The first American C. C. met in New York 1875, Oct., the last at Louisville, Ky, 1887, Oct. Of this body G. D. Wildes, D.D., is the sec. Persons are appointed to read papers or speak on given topics, and space is left for additions to this program. The C. has outlived

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CHURCH DIET-CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

opposition, and proved itself certainly innocuous, and it is believed, beneficial.

CHURCH DIET: a German religious assembly (see DIET). The old assemblies of the states were applied in Reformation times to the attempted regulation of ecclesiastical affairs, and diets were held at Worms 1521, at Nuremberg 1523, 24, at Spires 1526, 29, at Augsburg 1530, 47, 48, 50, and at Ratisbon 1541, 46, and 57.-After the revolutionary movements of 1848, which were thought to endanger the cause of religion, free gatherings of ministers and laymen of the Lutheran, Reformed, and United Evangelical bodies arose, and have since been continued annually, with published reports of each. At first the high, rigid, or extreme Lutherans joined with the others, but since 1860 the more pronounced Protestant or evangelical parties have conducted the diet.

CHURCH DISCIPLINE (Disciplina ecclesiastica): all the means employed by the Christian Church, besides the ministration of the divine word and the ordinances of Christ, to secure on the part of its office bearers and members a faithful adherence to their profession and a corresponding blamelessness of life. It rests upon the authority of Christ, and at the same time necessarily arises, in some form of it, out of the very constitution of the church as a society. Among the early Christians it soon assumed forms of great severity toward offenders, especially toward the Lapsed (q.v.). At a later period, the discipline of the church was exercised chiefly with respect to persons accused of heresy and schism. The penances of the Church of Rome have long formed an important part of its discipline, and therewith its Indulgences (q.v.) are closely connected, as well as its doctrine and rule of Auricular Confession (see CONFESSION). In the Protestant churches, public confessions of sins by which public scandal has been given, and submission to public rebuke, are sometimes required. Practices more analogous to those of the primitive church were established in many churches after the Reformation, but in general have fallen greatly, or entirely into disuse. The power of exclusion from the Lord's Supper, and from the rights and privileges of church membership, is, however, generally retained and exercised, until, by profession of repentance, and by reformation of life, the cause of such exclusion is removed; and ministers or other office-bearers are, upon offense given in their doctrine or conduct, suspended from their functions, or altogether deposed from their ministry. The exercise of C. D. belongs. more or less exclusively to a hierarchy, or to the officebearers assembled in church-court, or to the members of each congregation, according as the church is Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Congregational in its church-government. There is an increasing tendency among Christians in general to scrutinize closely the claim of right to exercise C. D., and the limits within which it may be exercised.

CHURCH GOVERNMENT ecclesiastical constitution

CHURCH HISTORY.

and rules. The Christian Church, like every other society, must have a certain constitution and rules according to which its affairs are administered. It is disputed, however, among Christians, how far this constitution has been defined, or these rules prescribed by divine authority, and how far they have been left to the discretion of men; and among those who find an authoritative system of C. G. laid down in the New Testament, there is debate as to the principles of the system there shown. The form of C. G. depends primarily on the idea entertained of the constitution of the church. Congregationalists (q.v.), including Baptists, and others of differing denominations, with like views of church polity, tend by their principles to reduce C. G to a simple fellowship of the church in administering the government of Christ alone; which administration they consider as the duty of the members of each congregation of disciples-such congregation being led therein by the bishops (or pastors) whom they elect. Episcopalians and Presbyterians agree that many congregations are to be united under a common government; but, according to Presbyterians, this is properly carried on by ministers and elders of all these congregations in a certain district, or region, or nation, meeting for this purpose on a footing of equality; while, according to the Episcopalians, the government is more or less absolutely in the hands of bishops, who are considered as forming an order in the ministry superior to the mere pastors of congregations: see EPISCOPACY: PRESBYTERIANISM: CONGREGATIONALISM.

It is increasingly evident that the real differences as to church organization consist not in the mere adoption of one of these three modes and the rejection of the other two, so much as in deep convictions or fervent feelings on certain points of doctrine, such as the grace in sacraments, or the indispensableness of an authoritative system of orthodox intellectual beliefs, or the nature of the sin of schism, or the necessity of keeping a traceable historic connection with the church of all the past. The evidence of this is seen in the fact that under almost every form of church organization, the three modes-Episcopal, Presbyterial, Congregational-are always essentially present and often recognized, each as a needful check on the others.

CHURCH HISTORY, or ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: one of the most important parts of the general history of mankind; intimately connected not only with the political history of the world but with the history of philosophy, of literature, and of civilization. The sources and authorities are extremely various, and their due appreciation often requires as much judgment as their exploration requires toil. C. H. is either general-embracing a view of the affairs of the church in the whole world from the beginning to the present day-or particular, relating to some particular country, or period, or portion of the church. By some authors it has been treated chiefly with regard to the outward affairs of the church; and by others, with reference to doctrine, morals, and the evidences of spiritual life; while others still have devoted

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