Wesley Corpus

Are we not unawares, by little and little, sliding into a separation from the Church? O use every means to prevent this! (1) Exhort all our people to keep close to the Church and sacrament. (2.) Warn them all against niceness in hearing,-a prevailing evil. (3.) Warn them also against despising the Prayers of the Church. (4.) Against calling our society, “the Church.” (5.) Against calling our Preachers, “Ministers;” our Houses, “Meeting-houses:” Call them plain preaching-houses, or chapels. (6.) Do not license them as Dis senters. The proper paper to be sent in at the Assizes, Sessions, or Bishop’s Court is this: “A. B. has set apart his house in C. for public worship, of which he desires a certificate.” N.B. The Justice does not license the house, but the Act of Parliament. (7.) Do not license yourself till you are constrained; and then, not as a Dissenter, but a Methodist. It is time enough when you are prosecuted to take the oaths. And by so doing you are licensed. Q. 45. But are we not Dissenters? A. No: Although we call sinners to repentance in all places of God’s dominion; and although we frequently use extempo rary prayer, and unite together in a religious society; yet we are not Dissenters in the only sense which our law acknow ledges, namely, those who renounce the service of the Church. We do not, we dare not, separate from it. We are not Seceders, nor do we bear any resemblance to them. We set out upon quite opposite principles. The Seceders laid the very founda tion of their work in judging and condemning others: We laid thefoundation of our workin judging and condemning ourselves. They begin everywhere with showing their hearers how fallen the Church and Ministers are: We begin everywhere with showing our hearers how fallen they are themselves. What they do in America, or what their Minutes say on this sub ject, is nothing to us. We will keep in the good old way. And let us never make light of going to church, either by word or deed. Remember Mr. Hook, a very eminent and a zealous Papist.