THE
. E. EPISCOPACY
pm
A Pafter
Read before the Baltimore A . 5\f. E.
Preachers fleeting
BY
REV. JOHN WILLIAM NORRIS, D. D.
OF BALTIMORE. MD
PRICE 5 CENTS
THE
A. M. E. EPISCOPACY
A Paft er
Read before the Baltimore A. M. E.
Preachers Sheeting
BY
REV. JOHN WILLIAM NORRIS, D. D.
OF BALTIMORE. MD
Presiding' Elder of the Hagerstown District. Baltimore Conference
of the A. "M. E. Church
BALTIMORE
THE AFRO-AMERICAN CO.
1916
THE A. M. E. EPISCOPACY
To find the fundamental principle or ground work of
any essential; we must pass the material and find the im¬
material; the natural, and bring ourselves in contact witn
the supernatural. We must leave the man and find God.
We must leave behind us, the natural world, and bring our¬
selves in touch or contact with the spiritual; if we would
find the true source of Episcopacy; or the basis of the A. M.
E. Episcopacy.
Episcopacy is the government of a Church, by Bishops.
It is an ecclesiastical government, by three distinct orders of
Ministers, Bishops, Priests and Deacons. The authority of
the Bishops, being of a different order from that of the
Priests and Deacons, as one of the fundamental forms of
polity. The great fundamental in the Methodist Episcopal
Church and African Methodist Episcopal Church; is first
God, and then the Episcopacy. The Bishops in the A. M. E.
Church, which is the product of the Methodist Episcopal
Church; holds the highest, or the most exalted office, in the
gift of the A. M. E. Church: office and position unlimited as
long as their lives, and conduct in office corresponds with
the gospel of Christ. Rev. J. A. Jacob aays, our review of
the office and position of the Christian Ministry would hard¬
ly be complete without some notice, of what has been called
the Apostolical succession; "inasmuch as the doctrine desig¬
nated by this expression claims a direct connection with the
Apostles, in the exercise of their authority.
The doctrine of the Apostolic succession of the Ministry,
according to those who hold that it means that all men who
have a right to be considered duly appointed Ministers of
4
Christ; have received from Him a commission to minister in
His name. This commission should be internal and external
The internal should be the operations of the Holy Ghost;
the external evidence should be the operations of the Church
and the visible official authority in a direct line from the
Holy Apostles. That is to say, that Christ gave His Apostles
a certain spiritual authority and power—power, which by
His direction is transferred to their successors. The au-
„ thprity rand power, which have been thus transmitted, are
especially to those of ordaining Priests and giving them the
power of duly administering the Sacrament. The Christian
ministry came down from the Apostles, to the present time
in an unbroken line of succession. ,
It is supposed, and in fact stated, that those who have
been ordained Bishops; descended in unbroken line from the
Apostles. It has been said by some "any break in the links in
the ecclesiastical chain, would invalidate the whole standing
of an individual functionary of a Church, by cutting off as
• it were, the flowof essential energy and Divine power."
Jacobs.
The question often arises as to truly called and ordained
Ministers. So thoroughly established is the fact of the possi¬
bility of an unbroken line, that there should be no question
only so in-far as the possibility of a wolf getting into the
ministerial fold. Now hear what Jesus says to His Apostles
who are considered to be His first Bishops; if the laying dn
of hands from Christ is essential to make'Bishops. "Lo,T aia
with you always even unto the end of the world." In this
begins indeed a gracious promise to Bis ministers in all
ages of the world-and all people. Hence; there should be no
question as to the lineage of ordination from Christ to'His
present ministry, since- Ghi-isfe -has promised to g<> all the
way to the end q±-the worlds 16 the end of -generations; to
the end of/nation a;-to the-end-of ail bi-vilizations, to'tliB end
of Christendom. As the great prdphefc Isaiah puts it -*'the
arm of the Lord: made bare."'' That arm* was once-visible in
person but now made evident and perpetuated in the ministry
5
Christ is that arm. He is the visibility of the God-head,
and stands as the visible representative of the invisible.
Christ stands at the head of the orders of the ministry. The
Deacons, the Priests, the Elders and the Bishops are includ¬
ed, though they are elected to office.
Hence, Divinity is in evidence. All the orders of the
ministry have had a touch of the Divine hand. Men must
necessarily be Deacons, Priests and Elders before they reach
the holy and honored position of a Bishop. Therefore, the
wolf entering the fold and breaking the chain is impossible,
since the chain is as many times double as there are miais-
terial orders. Therefore, every one of these ministerial
orders begin with Christ and end with Christ. No man is
a Bishop until he passes the orders. Now these orders all
have a Divine origin. Divinity acts in accordance with sen¬
timent, with sentiment under its control.
Timothy and Titus, both were Bishops. These servants
of God were to watch over both ministers and people, and
with steady hand and level head, with fertile mind and pure
heart They were'to prevent strange doctrines from creep¬
ing into the Church. Therefore, the Bishops are to keep the
wolves from creeping into the Church. Now these ministers
who became Apostles and Bishops, were ordained by Christ
Himself. Paul, who was one of the leading Missionaries of
his time, was also a Bishop. From these great chosen
characters of God comes the line of our ordination. I repeat,
the supposition is that it comes to us from the hand of
Christ, through the Apostles and early ministry. But some
have contended that there are breaks. Not ministerially.
Maybe some laymen may have slipped in here and there, and
started something,, but a ministerial break is impossible,
since there are three or four orders, all coming from Christ,
and tlie Bishop.is the last-'
. .Therefore, tlie Episcopacy of • the A. -M.- liL Church stands
on-a sojid.rock, Divinity. There is no:brea/k, or never will
be a break in the ecclesiastical, or Church government,
which is dominated by the Episcopacy, which finds its origin
6
in the form of a Bishop in Christ eminating from God. It is
said by some writers that no one less than a Bishop can
make a Bishop. This is not necessarily a fact. If the ordi¬
nation came from Christ or the hand of Christ, the
same hand made the Apostle, Minister, and Bishop. Christ
dominates the hearts of all. When God calls a man, if he is
truly called, He Fcalls the Deacon, the Priest, the Elder, the
Bishop, for all may be in the same man. The call indicates
a choice Ordination, the Minister, the Bishop the Episco¬
pacy, all associate themselves with the choice. When God
calls, everything is included in the call, or the choice.
The Methodist Episcopal Church found its birth in John
Wesley, in England, in the year 1739. Thirty years later
their first missionaries were sent to the colonies and in the
United States as best known now. Wesley Methodistism in
England was Arminian in theology. Methodism is the pro¬
duct of the Episcopalian Church,—the Church of England.
The Episcopalians in England and in this country have had
and always will have the highest conception of the Episcopacy
Believing it to be of divine origin, the Bishop being the visi¬
ble dominating governor; the highest except the Archbishop
in the visible Church Now since the Methodist Church is
the child that came away from the Episcopal Church;
brought all of its orders with it and those orders ran back to
the hand of Christ, and since the A. M. E. Church or branch
of Methodism is the child of John Wesley Methodism.
It brought all the orders, laws and doctrines with it, and
since they go back to the hand of Christ, the A. M. E. Epis-
copocy rests on the inundatable rock—Christ.
In 1784 John Wesley ordained Rev. Thomas Coke (Bish¬
op Coke.) The same year Bishop CoKe ordained Bishop
Asbury. Rev. White and Rev. Absolum Jones both receiv¬
ed ordinations. Allen, receiving his ordination from this
source, brings the laying on of hands to him. Hence you
can see that the basis of the A. M. E. Episcopacy rests, on
the bed rock of two thousand years, which fundamental is
Christ? Bishop Allen getting his ordination from the Epig-
7
copalian Episcopacy; and the Episcopalian Episcopacy
claims no break. Therefore the A. M.E. Episcopacy is safe.
It must be remembered that the Episcopacy comes not to us
through the corrupt path of creeds, dogmas, and opinions.
But notice, it comes to us over the highway, over the
wilderness, over the low places; out of the reach of man's
making. Notice Isaiah 35th chapter 8th verse: "And a high¬
way shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:
the way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein."
This is the way of Christ, the way of the Church and its
government, and its governing head, the Episcopacy. Christ
will be with those walking in this way. He will here set
them example that they should follow in his footsteps. The
Episcopacy comes to us over this highway, and not through
the wilderness of creeds and dogmas, or the opinion of men.
The Episcopacy is associated with the highest fundamental
—the Church—the true Church. Hence it is safe.
The Roman Catholic Episcopacy can hold no superior
place in the line from the Apostles, since they claim Peter as
their head and founder at Rome. Peter only stood equally
with the other Apostles at the laying on of hands or on re¬
ceiving the Divine Charge. Therefore any claim made on
the part of the Roman Catholic Episcopacy as to superiority
must be assumed. All ecclesiastical governments must be
th<£ same in origin and source if not in methods and form.
Therefore the A. M. E. government is as secure as any in
the world. The A. M. E. Episcopacy must be of the same
stock and stem, since it has flourished for nearly one hun¬
dred years and stood against the common storms of its time.
The visible representatives of the A. M. E. Episcopacy have
been wonderful demonstrators of equal efficiency; no matter
what race. God has men in all races equal to the demand, in
filling exalted positions. Hence the A. M. E. Episcopacy is
safe in the hands of the visible representatives of Christ in
office. The Bishops of the A. M. E. Church; will perpetuate
the visible Episcopacy which has its origin in the invisible.