Note 16.—It is expected that all pecuniary liability to the church will be canceled, and all personal difficulties in the church will be settled by a member, should such exist, before he shall receive a letter of dismission.
Note 17.—Each member, without exception, is expected to fill his place in the church, by attendance on its appointments, as Providence may allow, and also to contribute of his means for the pecuniary support of the body, according to his ability. If in either of these respects he fails, and refuses, he becomes a covenant-breaker, and is subject to the discipline of the body.
Note 18.—Persons excluded from the church may be again received to its fellowship on satisfactory evidence of fitness. This is called reception by restoration, and is usually so entered on the records, and in associational reports.
Note 19.—It is neither a Christian nor an honorable course for a church to grant an unworthy member a valid letter, and send him to another church as one in good and regular standing, in order to be rid of a disturber of the peace, or to avoid the trouble of a course of discipline.
Note 20.—No church is obliged to receive a person to membership, simply because he brings a valid letter from another church. Each church is to be sole judge of the qualifications of persons to be received to its fellowship.
CHAPTER V
church discipline
Church-members are supposed to be regenerate persons bearing the image and cherishing the spirit of Christ, in whom the peace of God rules, and who walk and work in “the unity of the Spirit, and the bond of peace.” But unhappily, even the saints are sanctified only in part, and troubles sometimes arise among brethren. The evil passions of even good men may triumph over piety, and partisan strife may destroy the peace and the prosperity of the body of Christ. All this should, if possible, be avoided. Corrective discipline seeks to heal offenses; but it is better to prevent them, than to heal them. It is, however, better to heal and remove, than to endure them.
Now these offenses and occasions of dissension in the churches arise from various causes, and are largely preventable. Most frequently they come by the following means: