The General Assembly [pp. 536-562]

The G Aglc-ral Assemibljy.
whereby technicalities become petrified, so as to constrain the
'free actings of that eternal justice they were invented to support, is not to be overlooked or ignored.
THE SEWICKLEY CHURCH CASE-PUBLICATION OF SUNDAY
NEWSPAPERS BY CHURCH MEMBERS.
The editor and publisher of the Pittsburgh Leader, which
issues a Sunday edition, is a member of tlhe church in Sewickley, which quick railroad connections make a virtual suburb of
Pittsburgh. The session of that church has taken no steps to
discipline him, although often urged to do so. The Presbytery
of Allegheny, to which the Sewickley church belongs, enjoined
the session to proceed to take action upon the case, and investigate the charges so loudly made by the tongue of common
fame. The session appears to have been in doubt as to their
duty, or for some reason determined to take no step until
they could obtain a deliverance from the General Assembly
touching the present interpretation and application to such
cases of the law of the Sabbath as laid down in our standards. They accordingly referred the order of Presbyetery to
the Synod of Erie, which reaffirmed it in a very emphatic and
decisive manner, and finally referred this action of Synod to
the Assembly for its decision in the premises. The Assembly, after earnest and thorough discussion, with only three
votes in the negative, adopted the following paper, reported
from the Commitee of Bills and Overtures:
First-This Assembly reaffirms the resolutions adopted by the
'Synod and Presbytery setting forth the binding obligation of the
Fourth Commandment as expounded in the standards of the Presbyterian Church and in the repeated deliverances of the General Assembly; and also the declarations of Synod and Presbytery: That any
voluntary and responsible participation in the publication and sale of a
Sunday newspaper is inconsistent alike with the decree of the law of
God and with membership in the Presbyterian Church.
Second-That it is entirely within the constitutional authority of a Presbytery to direct the sessions of a church under its care to proceed according to the Book of Discipline, and that it is competent for a Synod
to reaffirm such instructions upon a reference of a case asking for its
advice. That the session of the church of Sewickley were bound to
i 877.,
543