DEATHS. Beaman, Warren H., w. c., Amherst, Feb. 26, 1901. Bliss, Charles R., w. c., Wakefield, Feb. 26, 1901. Hamlin, Cyrus, w. c., Lexington. Harrison, Samuel, p., Pittsfield, Aug. 11, 1900. Hazen, Henry A., Secretary National Council, Aug. 4, 1900. Robie, Benjamin A., p., Grafton, Sept. 16, 1900. Smith, Thomas S., w. c., Easthampton, Dec. 16, 1900. Terry, Calvin, w. c., North Weymouth, Dec. 12, 1900. MARRIAGES. Bliss, Edwin M., and E. Theodora Crosby, at Brockton, Nov. 1900. Eames, Charles O., of Becket, and Miss Lou B. Ballou, Dec. 13, 1900. Oxnard, Henry, of Newton, and Miss Evelyn S. Fletcher, of Lawrence, at Pierce, Charles P., of East Douglas, and Laura H. Bowles, at Auburn, Jan. 23, 1900. Sedgewick, Edward C., of Curtisville, and Florence E. Barnes, of Williamsville, at Williamsville, May 23, 1900. Smith, William S., of Auburndale, and Mrs. Ellen M. Gould, of Worcester, at Worcester, April 18, 1900. Swartz, Herman F., of Mansfield, and Omega Kinsell, of Elmhurst, Cal., Jan. 1, 1901. Wheeler, Edgar C., of Hyannis, and Cornelia D. Robertson, of Tacoma, Washington, at Cambridge, Aug. 7, 1900. RULES OF THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION I. NAME. This body shall be called THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. II. OBJECT.—Its object is to secure Christian union, fellowship, and intercourse among the ministers and churches; promote spirituality, and to co-operate with one another and with other ecclesiastical bodies in advancing the Redeemer's kingdom. III. DOCTRINAL BASIS.-This Association agrees to the Declaration of Faith adopted by the National Council of Congregational Churches in the year 1865, the doctrines therein set forth being understood by us to be distinctly those which, from the beginning, have been embraced by the churches of New England as the doctrines of the gospel. IV. DENOMINATIONAL BASIS.- Being based exclusively upon Congregational principles, this Association shall, under no circumstances, exercise ecclesiastical authority over churches or individuals, or interfere with the government or discipline of the churches, or consent to hear appeals, or give advice in ecclesiastical causes of any kind. V. MEMBERS.- Each evangelical Congregational church in this State may send to the Association one delegate, and each Conference and each Association in the State may appoint one delegate each year, which delegates, with the pastors of the aforesaid churches, two delegates from the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, the secretary, assistant secretary, registrar, assistant registrar, and treasurer, shall compose the General Association. Delegates from corresponding bodies, ministers appointed to preach sermons, and chairmen of committees attending to present reports shall be honorary members, together with such other persons as the Association may vote to admit. VI. OFFICERS.-1. A secretary, an assistant secretary, a registrar, an assistant registrar, and a treasurer shall be chosen by ballot, each to serve three years from the close of the session at which the choice was made; to these offices any member of any Congregational church connected with this body shall be eligible. In case any of these offices become vacant between the annual meetings of the Association, the vacancy may be filled until the next following meeting by vote of the remaining officers. 2. A moderator and alternate shall be elected by ballot at each annual session, to serve from the close of that session and until the election of their successors. 3. The secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Association, collect the statistics of ministers and churches, and have charge of the printing thereof; distribute the publications of the Association and preserve, for the permanent use of the Association, copies of all its publications. 4. The registrar shall make the records of each meeting, and preserve them as the permanent property of the Association. He shall give suitable notice to the churches of the time and place of each session. 5. The treasurer shall receive all money raised for the use of the Association, disburse the same as directed by the auditing committee through its chairman, and present an annual report, to be audited as the Association may direct. 6. The secretary, assistant secretary, registrar, assistant registrar, and treasurer shall be, ex officio, members of the Association. Their travelling expenses in attending the several sessions shall be paid by the Association. VII. ANNUAL MEETING.-The annual meeting shall be held on the third Tuesday of May, at two P. M. (or at some other more convenient hour), at such place as shall have been duly designated. VIII. HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY.- The Massachusetts Home Missionary Society may annually elect two delegates to be members of this body, while it consents that this body may nominate two persons for membership in the Executive Committee of that society. The two persons thus nominated shall be from the membership of the Association at the time, and shall not be eligible for nomination for more than two years in succession, and shall, if required, make report concerning the work of the society at the next meeting of the Association. IX. CORRESPONDENCE.- Official fraternal intercourse with the several State Congregational organizations, and with other denominations, is sufficiently had by the representation of this body in the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States. X. ORGANIZATION.- The moderator, or in his absence, the pastor of the church of the place of meeting, or the secretary, may call the Association to order, and preside in the meeting until it be properly organized. The Association shall then be organized by the choice of a moderator and the session shall be opened with prayer. XI. COMMITTEES.— The following committees shall be chosen :1. A Committee on Credentials, which shall be appointed by the moderator immediately after the opening of the session, to which all certificates of membership shall be referred. 2. A Committee on Nominations, to nominate the following and any other committees referred to them, except as hereinafter provided. 3. A Committee of Arrangements for the session, consisting of five, of whom two shall be from members of the Provisional Committee, to prepare the business of the session, and no business shall be introduced but through the hands or with the approval of the committee; but if said committee decline presenting any item of business proposed by any member, he shall have the privilege of appeal to the Association. 4. A Provisional Committee of five, of whom the secretary or registrar shall be one, to prepare the schedule for the next annual meeting, to select a preacher for the Associational sermon, and persons to prepare such written papers as they shall deem desirable. 5. A Committee of Publication to consist of the secretary, registrar, treasurer and two other persons to be appointed at the session, which shall make provision for the printing of such documents and papers as may be necessary in the work of the Association. 6. A Committee on the Work of the Churches, which shall make report to this body at the next annual session upon the work of the churches and state of religion. This committee shall consist of nine members, three to be chosen each year, to serve for three years. The scribes of the local conferences shall be corresponding members of this committee. 7. A Committee to Audit the Accounts for the next annual meeting, which shall report the state of the treasury and the sum, in its opinion, necessary to be asked from the churches for the next ensuing year, and, through its chairman, approve all bills presented for pay ment. XII. EXERCISES.— The time of the annual session shall be occupied by devotional services, the consideration of the state of religion, the wants and methods of home evangelization, addresses, and discussions of practical religious interest, and attention to the objects of benevolent enterprise sustained by the churches. XIII. SPECIAL ORDERS.-1. At the opening of the session, on the mornings of Wednesday and Thursday, the moderator shall take the chair at the hour to which the Association stands adjourned; shall open the meeting with prayer, and cause the minutes of the preceding day to be read; and the sessions of each day shall be closed with prayer or hymn. 2. The Associational sermon and Lord's Supper shall be assigned to Tuesday evening. Wednesday evening shall be devoted to exercises having special reference to the people of the place of meeting, or a sermon may be preached, the preacher to be selected by the Provisional Committee. One session of the Association, or a part thereof, shall be given to the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society. XIV. PLACE OF MEETING.-Previous to the close of each meeting, the General Association shall specify the place of meeting for the next year; and the church of the place of meeting selected is requested to make preparations to celebrate the Lord's Supper in the course of the service. The Lord's Supper shall be administered generally without remarks. XV. RULES OF Order.-The rules of order shall be those found in common parliamentary practice, subject, however, to the following specifications: 1. That all reports of committees other than those named in Rule XI. shall be printed and distributed to the churches not less than two weeks before the regular meeting, and furnished to the secretary on or before April 1st. They shall not be read at the meeting, but one hour of the session may be devoted to the discussion of these topics. 2. That no committee other than those named in Rule XI. shall be continued without a definite yearly vote of the Association, and no member of any special committee shall serve for more than two consecutive years without an enabling vote of the Association. 3. No member shall speak more than twice on the same question without leave of the Association. 4. When a question is under debate, the moderator shall entertain motions only as follows, viz.: to adjourn, to lay on the table, to postpone to a time certain, to commit, to amend, or to postpone indefinitely, which several motions shall have precedence in the foregoing order. XVI. AMENDMENTS.-1. Any of the above rules, except the first five, may be amended at any annual session by a two-thirds vote, the proposed amendment having been submitted in writing on the day previous to that of the action. 2. Amendments to either of the first five articles shall not be made except upon their proposals in writing at the annual meeting next prior to that of action, and after notice has been sent to the several Associations, Conferences, and Churches, and by a two-thirds vote. |