Art. XIII. Of Prayer.--We believe that we are encouraged to draw near to God, our Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and on our own behalf and that of others to pour out our hearts humbly yet freely before Him, as becomes His beloved children, giving Him the honor and praise due His holy name, asking Him to glorify Himself on earth as in heaven, confessing unto Him our sins and seeking of Him every gift needful for this life and for our everlasting salvation. We believe also that, inasmuch as all true prayer is prompted by His Spirit, He will in response thereto grant us every blessing according to His unsearchable wisdom and the riches of His grace in Jesus Christ.
Art. XIV. Of the Law of God.--We believe that the moral law of God, summarized in the Ten Commandments, testified to by the prophets and unfolded in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, stands forever in truth and equity, and is not made void by faith, but on the contrary is established thereby. We believe that God requires of every man to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God; and that only through this harmony with the will of God shall be fulfilled that brotherhood of man wherein the kingdom of God is to be made manifest.
Art. XV. Of the Church.--We acknowledge one holy Catholic Church, the innumerable company of saints of every age and nation, who being united by the Holy Spirit to Christ their Head are one body in Him and have communion with their Lord and with one another. Further, we receive it as the will of Christ that His Church on earth should exist as a visible and sacred brotherhood, consisting of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to Him, together with their children, and other baptized children, and organized for the confession of His name, for the public worship of God, for the administration of the sacraments, for the upbuilding of the saints, and for the universal propagation of the Gospel; and we acknowledge as a part, more or less pure, of this universal brotherhood, every particular Church throughout the world which professes this faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to Him as divine Lord and Saviour.
Art. XVI. Of the Sacraments.--We acknowledge two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which were instituted by Christ, to be of perpetual obligation as signs and seals of the covenant ratified in His precious blood, as means of grace, by which, working in us, He doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and comfort our faith in Him, and as ordinances through the observance of which His Church is to confess her Lord and be visibly distinguished from the rest of the world. 1. Baptism with water into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is the sacrament by which are signified and sealed our union to Christ and participation in the blessings of the new covenant. The proper subjects of baptism are believers, and infants presented by their parents or guardians in the Christian faith. In the latter case, the parents or guardians should train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and should expect that their children will, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, receive the benefits which the sacrament is designed and fitted to convey. The Church is under the most solemn obligation to provide for their Christian instruction. 2. The Lord's Supper is the sacrament of communion with Christ and with His people, in which bread and wine are given and received in thankful remembrance of Him and His sacrifice on the cross; and they who in faith receive the same, after a spiritual manner, partake of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to their comfort, nourishment and growth in grace. All may be admitted to the Lord's Supper who make a credible profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and of obedience to His law.
Art. XVII. Of the Ministry.--We believe that Jesus Christ, as the Supreme Head of the Church, has appointed therein a ministry of the word and sacraments, and calls men to this ministry; that the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, recognizes and chooses those whom He calls, and should thereupon duly ordain them to the work of the ministry.
Art. XVIII. Of Church Order and Fellowship.--We believe that the Supreme and only Head of the Church is the Lord Jesus Christ; that its worship, teaching, discipline and government should be administered according to His will by persons chosen for their fitness and duly set apart to their office, and that although the visible Church may contain unworthy members and is liable to err, yet believers ought not lightly to separate themselves from its communion, but are to live in fellowship with their brethren, which fellowship is to be extended, as God gives opportunity, to all who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.
Art. XIX. Of the Resurrection, the Last Judgment and the Future Life.--We believe that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust, through the power of the Son of God, who shall come to judge the living and the dead; that the finally impenitent shall go away into eternal punishment and the righteous into hie eternal.
Art. XX. Of Christian Service and the Final Triumph.--We believe that it is our duty as disciples and servants of Christ, to further the extension of His kingdom, to do good unto all men, to maintain the public and private worship of God, to hallow the Lord's Day, to preserve the inviolability of marriage and the sanctity of the family, to uphold the just authority of the State, and so to live in all honesty, purity and charity that our lives shall testify of Christ. We joyfully receive the word of Christ, bidding His people go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, declaring unto them that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, and that He will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. We confidently believe that by His power and grace all His enemies shall finally be overcome, and the kingdoms of this world be made the kingdom of our God and of His Christ.
[2253] E. L. Morrow: Ch. Unity in Canada, Toronto, 1923, 426 pp. Opposed to the United Church movement. J. T. McNeill, Professor in Knox College: Ch. Union in Canada, Toronto, 15 pp. An answer to Morrow--Basis of Union of the Un. Ch. of Canada. An. Hist. Statement, Toronto, 1924, 34 pp.--R. J. Wilson: Ch. Union in Canada after Three Years, Toronto, 1929, 52 pp. Also McNeill: The Presb. Ch. in Canada, Toronto, 1925, 226 pp.
[2254] The Presbyterian element opposing the consolidation and continuing an independent organization has its main strength in Ontario and had, 1929, 179,530 members, the United Church 650,989. In a third poll, 1924-25, 113,773 Presbyterians voted for the union and 114,367 against it.
Church Union in Scotland.
In 1929, the "rents" within the Reformed Church of Scotland were healed by the union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland. [2255] The most notable of the ecclesiastical divisions of Scotland occurred, 1843, over the question of patronage by a secession from the Church of Scotland, led by Thomas Chalmers, and the organization of the Free Church of Scotland. Three years later, the United Church of Scotland was formed. These two bodies, 1900, were merged under the name of the United Free Church of Scotland, a small number dissenting and popularly known as the Wee Frees. Declaratory Statements were issued by the United Presbyterian Church, 1879, the Church of Scotland, 1889, the Free Church, 1892, and the United Free Church, 1906, modifying or explaining certain sections of the Westminster Confession bearing on the universal intent of the atonement, the real offer of the Gospel to all men, and the salvation of infants dying in infancy unbaptized.
The movement looking towards the consolidation of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church started in 1909 in an agreement 'to enter into unrestricted conference on the ecclesiastical situation in Scotland and the main causes which keep the Churches apart, in the earnest hope that by God's blessing, misunderstandings and hindrances may be removed and the great object of Presbyterian union in Scotland be thereby advanced.' The war interrupted conferences but did not quench the spirit of union. In nine articles drafted, 1921, the Church of Scotland asserted the separate and independent jurisdiction of the Church and the Church's right to legislate for itself. The same year, the United Free Church Assembly adopted a Brief Statement of the Church's Faith, being 'an expression of the great Christian certainties and of the Christian ideal of Life.' In 1896, all obstacles being removed, a Basis of Union or Uniting Act, was agreed upon by committees of the two communions and, under the so-called Barrier Act of 1697, [2256] adopted by their presbyteries. A group of only 22 out of the 1,200 ministers of the United Free Church refused to go into the union.
The consolidation was consummated May, 1929. The two Assemblies met separately in the forenoon of Oct. 2. for 'services of thanksgiving and dedication,' and at 10.20 the members, passing out from their own halls, marched in procession to St. Giles'--the building in which John Knox preached, speaking to the entire Scottish nation--where they joined in singing the 100th Psalm, the reading of the Scriptures, prayer, the recitation of the Apostles' Creed and the Te Deum and other services preparatory to the formal declaration, in the afternoon, of the union, as consummated by the following resolution:
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the General Assembly of the United Free Church of Scotland having been regularly constituted and meeting together in joint session this 2nd day of October, 1929 years; devoutly acknowledging the mercy and long-suffering shown by Almighty God to themselves and to their fathers, rendering humble and hearty thanks for the gracious guidance bestowed upon them in this their endeavour to heal the divisions in His Church and to promote His glory, and entreating Him to pour out His Spirit upon His servants and upon those who shall come after them, that as good stewards of the manifold grace of God they may with growing power minister to the people of this land and to the nations that have not yet received the Gospel; do now as in the presence of God adopt the Uniting Act, including the Basis of Union and the accompanying Plan of Union with the Questions and Formula for use at the Ordination and Induction of a Minister, and do hereby, in terms and in pursuance of Deliverances of their respective General Assemblies, with approval of the Presbyteries of the respective Churches in accordance with the provisions of the Barrier Act, Enact and Declare in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Head of the Church, that these Churches, being historic branches of the Reformed Church in Scotland, do and shall henceforth constitute one Church, and that the name of the united Church shall be The Church of Scotland.
The Moderators of the two Assemblies, Dr. Joseph Mitchell and Principal Alexander Martin, then announced the union in the following words: 'In the faith of Jesus Christ, our Divine King and Head, I do now in the name of the Church of Scotland'--or in the name of the United Free Church of Scotland--' seal and ratify the Union betwixt us made, in token whereof I offer you the right hand of fellowship.' Dr. Mitchell then said, 'And here in the presence of God Most High, we pledge ourselves together in solemn covenant,' to which Dr. Martin added, 'In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we invoke the divine blessing upon our act.' In the united Assembly the Duke of York, as commissioner, represented the King of England who, in a letter addressed to the body, bound himself to maintain the rights of the Church of Scotland in these words: 'We assure you of our unwavering concern for the maintenance of the rights and privileges of the Church of Scotland as happily secured and with our earnest prayer that now and in the years to come, you may be filled with the power of the Spirit and that the grace of God may bless and sanctify your labors.' The Duke of York further announced that 'it was His Majesty's determination to uphold the use of Presbyterian government in Scotland.' The Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, wrote to the Assembly that 'all Scotsmen will join with me in the fervent hope that the reunited Church will use its power and influence to make religion a continuing strength in the Scottish character and Presbyterianism a vital form of national worship.' At the time of the union, the Church of Scotland had 759,625 communicants, the Free Church 539,192.