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A50212 The judgment of several eminent divines of the congregational vvay concerning a pastors power occasionally to exert ministerial acts in another church besides that which is his own particular flock. Mather, Increase, 1639-1723. 1692 (1692) Wing M1223; ESTC R41439 6,067 16

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THE Judgment Of Several Eminent Divines OF THE Congregational VVay Concerning A PASTORS POWER Occasionally to Exert Ministerial ACTS in another CHURCH besides that which is His Own Particular FLOCK Boston Printed by Benjamin Hurris and are to be Sold by Richard Wilkins 1692. WE have carefully perused the following Discourse and Judg it to be not only agreeable to true Congregational Principles but also needful for the Information and sufficient for the Conviction of such Churches as have been or may be for any considerable time without the advantage of a Setled Minister among them that they may not be unnecessarily deprived of the Enjoyment of those Ordinances the Dispensation whereof is so much to be desired we do therefore Recommend it to the serious Consideration of such as Love Zions Prosperity James Allen. Samuel Willard Michael Wigglesworth Cotton Mather Nehemiah Walter QUESTION WHether the Pastor of a particular Congregation may at the Desire of another Church Exercise Ministerial Acts and in special Dispense the Seals to them that are not his peculiar Charge ANSWER I Incline to the Affirmative for 1. The Ministerial Power which a Pastor has received from the Lord Christ is not so confined to his particular Flock as that He shall cease to be a Minister when he does Act in the Name of the Lord elsewhere I cannot in this concur with the Opinion of the Refuter of Dr. Downham's Sermon and some others that a Pastor of a Church Preaching in another Congregation Acts only as a Gifted Brother and not as a Minister of the Lord. I am as to this particular fully of the same Judgment with the Learned Doctor John Owen in his Judicious Treatise concerning a Gospel Church p. 100 101. where he has these words Altho' we have no concernment in the Figment of an indelible Character accompanying Sacred Orders yet we do not think the Pastoral Office is such a thing as a man must leave behind him every time he goeth from Home For my own part if I did not think my self bound to Preach as a Minister Authorized in all places and on all occasions when I am called thereunto I think I should never Preach more in this World Thus speaks our Famous Owen A Pastor does Preach as a Minister and Bless in the Name of the Lord as a Minister of His wherever he may be occasionally called thereto And if he may by vertue of his Office Exert these Ministerial Acts of Preaching and Blessing in other Congregations why may He not Dispense the Seals sure he may unless he performs the other Acts not as an Officer but as a Brother only It is true A Pastor has not that Rule Authority in another Church which the Lord Jesus has given to him over that Flock to which he is specially related Nevertheless when another Church does desire him he has Potestas precaria Power conferred on him for that Time and that Act. Whatever the Rule requires as necessary in order to Dispensing the Seals is here to be seen E. G. The Dispenser must be set apart to act in the Name of the Lord in Holy Administrations and he must by a Church of Christ be Chosen to Administer to them all which is true concerning the Pastor of whom the Question is 2. If the Pastor of a Church may Administer the Sacrament to the Members of another Congregation and so to the whole Church in case they shall come to the Church whereof he is Pastor and desire such occasional Communion He may upon as good Grounds go to the Town where the other Church dwelleth and at their Request Minister to them For neither the Place nor the Presence of his own Flock can make that which is in it self contrary to the Rule of the Word become a regular Act. This Argument seems not easy to be answered and therefore acute Mr. Hooker instead of solving it does plainly cut it in pieces For in his Survey of Church Discipline which is an elaborate and accurate Piece Part 2d pag. 65. in answer to that Allegation That Members of one Congregation may partake of the Sacrament in another and then they Receive it from one who is not their Pastor He replies thus It has been a course which I have ever questioned and against it many years have alledged many Arguments and therefore could readily ease my self of the Argument by professing the Course unwarrantable c. But now there are few or none amongst us who scruple the Lawfulness of admitting Members of other Churches to their Communion It uses to be said they are Transient Members of the Church where they Partake And why may it not with as good reason be affirmed that the Minister who Dispenseth the Seals in another Congregation is a Transient Pastor for ought that I can discern to the contrary there is as much Ground in the Scripture for Transient Officers as there is for Transient Members Whereas it is objected that the Pastor of another Church has no Authority by his Office to require them of another Church to Receive the Sacrament as he may those of his own Flock It may be replyed he has as much Power to do that as he has to Enjoyn one of another Congregation occasionally to receive where he is not a Member The Request of the Persons concerned doth sufficiently Empower him pro hac vice to Exert a Ministerial Act towards them 3. In the primitive and pure Times of the Christian Church not only the Apostles but ordinary Pastors of Churches did occasionally Dispense the Seals in other Churches besides those wherein they were fixed It is the Opinion of very Learned Men that Polycarp was the Angel of the Church in Smyrna unto whom the Lord Jesus directed that Epistle in Revolations chap. 2. So Paraeus Estius Tirinus Men●chius c. He was the Apostle Johns Scholar And as Hierom Eusebius and other Ecclesiastick Writers Testify was by the Apostles themselves Ordained the Pastor of that Church This Holy Minister is not as most Officers in the Seven Asiatick Churches were blamed or reproved for any Fault Yet did the Pastor of that Church if Polycarp was he occasionally Administer the Lords Supper to the Christians in Rome where there was in those Days a pure and a true Church There was some Difference in Opinion between Anicetas the Pastor of the Church in Rome and Polycarp Pastor of the Church at Smyrna who undertook a long Journey from Smyrna to Rome to Assist in composing the Differences about small matters which in those early days threatned the Churches Anicetas only to Testify his Love and Honour to Polycarp requested him to Administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to that Church where not Polycarp but Anicetas was the Pastor Jrenaeus Lib. 3. cap. 1. says that Polycarp always taught the Churches to observe those things which he Learned from the Apostles and nothing else If that be so were the Apostles here they would allow Pastors occasionally to Exercise