Temporalities of the Church. Extracts from the Statute of Minnesota, concerning Religious Societies. “It shall be lawful for all persons of full age, belonging to any church, congregation, or religious society not already incorporated, to assemble at the church or meeting-house, or other place where they may statedly attend for divine worship, and by a plurality of votes to elect any number of discreet persons of their church, congregation, or society, not less than three nor more than nine in number, as Trustees, to take charge of the property and estate belonging thereto, and to transact all affairs relative to the temporalities thereof."-Section 1st. "Notice of elections must be given at least fifteen days before, and for two successive Sabbaths.-See Section 3d. "Reading certificate of election. The certificate of election of the Trustees must be acknowledged and recorded, in accordance with provisions of sta tute. "Any two Trustees may call a meeting. "No person, after the first election, shall be entitled to vote, until he shall have been an attendant on public worship at least six months before election, and shall have contributed to the support of the congregation according to their usages. "The clerk of the Trustees shall keep a register of all the stated hearers, and the time they became members of the congregation. "The salary or compensation of minister to be fixed, not by the Trustees, but by a majority of the society convened for the purpose." 6 Confession of Eaith and Covenant OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA. BELOVED FRIENDS: You have presented yourselves before God and his people, and the world, to make a solemn confession of your religious faith, and to take upon you everlasting obligations. We trust you have duly considered the nature of the professions you are about to make, and of the engagements into which you are about to enter. They will be heard on high, and will be exhibited, on your trial, at the last day. Yet be not overwhelmed. If you are sincerely desirous to be the Lord's; to believe all his declarations, and to obey all his commands, he will compassionate your weakness, will make you wise by his wisdom, and will conduct you safely to his heavenly kingdom. Attend, then, to the Abstract of the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church. ARTICLE 1. You believe in the existence of one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. ARTICLE 2. You believe that God is a Spirit, self-existent, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, and goodness; that he is the Creator, and Preserver, and Governor of all things; that his law is holy, just and good; and that his providence extends to all his creatures, and all their actions, yet not so as to make him the author of sin, nor to destroy the free-agency of man, nor to impair the force of moral obligation. ARTICLE 3. You believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, and that they should be received by all men as the only perfect rule of faith and practice. ARTICLE 4. You believe that our first parents were created holy, and that in consequence of their apostasy, all men, unless renewed by the Holy Ghost, are ene |