A church dictionary

by Walter Farquhar Hook

“Notice is hereby given, that A. B., bachelor of arts, (or other degree,) of —— college, Oxford, [or Cambridge,] and now resident in this parish, intends to offer himself a candidate for the holy office of a deacon, at the ensuing ordination of the Lord Bishop of ——;[^[14]] and if any person knows any just cause or impediment for which he ought not to be admitted into holy orders, he is now to declare the same, or to signify the same forthwith to the Lord Bishop of ——.

We do hereby certify, that the above notice was publicly read by the undersigned C. D., in the parish church of ——, in the county of ——, during the time of Divine service on Sunday the —— day of last [or instant], and no impediment was alleged.

Witness our hands this —— day of ——, in the year of our Lord 18—.

C. D. officiating minister.

E. F. churchwarden.”

4. Certificate from the divinity professor in the university, that the candidate has duly attended his lectures. Also a certificate from any other professor whose lectures the candidate may have been directed by the bishop to attend.

5. Certificate of the candidate’s baptism, from the register book of the parish where he was baptized, duly signed, by the officiating minister, to show that he has completed his age of twenty-three years; and in case he shall have attained that age, but cannot produce a certificate of his baptism, then his father or mother, or other competent person, must make a declaration, before a justice of the peace, of the actual time of his birth: and here it may be necessary to remark, that by an act of the 44 Geo. III. c. 43, intituled “An Act to enforce the due observance of the canons and rubric respecting the ages of persons to be admitted into the sacred order of deacon and priest,” it is enacted, that thenceforth no person shall be admitted a deacon before he shall have attained the age of three and twenty years complete; and that no person shall be admitted a priest before he shall have attained the age of four and twenty years complete: and that if a person shall be admitted a deacon before he shall have attained the age of twenty-three years complete, or a priest before he shall have attained the age of twenty-four years complete, such admission shall be void in law; and the person so admitted shall be incapable of holding any ecclesiastical preferment.

6. The form of a nomination to serve as a title for orders, if the incumbent is non-resident.

To the Right Reverend ——, Lord Bishop of ——.

These are to certify your lordship, that I, C. D., rector [or vicar, &c.] of ——, in the county of ——, and your lordship’s diocese of ——, do hereby nominate A. B., bachelor of arts, (or other degree,) of —— college in the university of ——, to perform the office of curate in my church of —— aforesaid; and do promise to allow him the yearly stipend of —— pounds, to be paid by equal quarterly payments, [as to amount of stipend, see title “Stipends payable to Curates,”] with the surplice fees, amounting on an average to —— pounds per annum, (if they are intended to be allowed,) and the use of the glebe-house, garden, and offices, which he is to occupy (if that be the fact; if not, state the reason, and name where and what distance[^[15]] from the church the curate purposes to reside): and I do hereby state to your lordship, that the said A. B. does not intend to serve, as curate, in any other parish, nor to officiate in any other church or chapel (if such be the fact, otherwise state the real fact); that the net annual value of my said benefice, estimated according to the act of parliament 1 & 2 Victoria, c. 106, sects. 8 and 10, is —— pounds, and the population thereof, according to the latest returns of population made under the authority of parliament, is ——. That there is only one church belonging to my said benefice (if there be another church or chapel, state the fact); and that I was admitted to the said benefice on the —— day of —— 18—.[^[16]] “And I do hereby promise and engage with your lordship and the said A. B., that I will continue to employ the said A. B., in the office of curate in my said church, until he shall be otherwise provided of some ecclesiastical preferment, unless, for any fault by him committed, he shall be lawfully removed from the same; and I hereby solemnly declare that I do not fraudulently give this certificate, to entitle the said A. B. to receive holy orders, but with a real intention to employ him in my said church, according to what is before expressed.”