[for the Congregation Members at Risely in Ms.]

[iii]

INTRODUCTION

Whereas it hath pleased God to bring us together, by the ministry of the Unitas Fratrum we cannot but look upon it as necessary to our wellbeing and useful to our successors, that we agree upon, and commit to writing, certain principles and regulations, which we believe should be constantly attended to, if the aim of our being together shall be obtained.

The aim of our uniting together is, that we might enjoy true fellowship of the faith, in brotherly love and simplicity of heart under the direction of the only head of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the gracious leading of the Holy Spirit agreeable to the last will of our Lord, John xvii. and that we might, under the protection of our most gracious sovereign, lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

In the year 1739 and the following years, many souls were awakened to a sense of their lost and undone condition by nature, and to a deep concern about their salvation; thus they gladly received the blessed word of [iv] reconciliation by the blood of Christ, by means of the brethren. As a natural consequence of the work of the Holy Ghost upon their hearts, they soon wished to be formed into societies; this the brethren assisted them in.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which has been bestowed upon us by this means, has not been in vain, though we blush at the remembrance of our great backwardness and unworthiness.

These societies were not originally intended to separate any from the church of England, or any other Christian religious denomination, but to be aiding in the edification of each other, and to render the members thereof a salt and leaven in their respective religions.

We must here observe, that the Unitas Fratrum, or Unity of the brethren, do not, and will not, separate themselves from any child of God in any denomination of Christians.