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mind was tryed by a vote whether it was their mind M^r Paison should be ordained their Teacher

The vote was full . : Then it was say^d to m^r Paison

Reverend s^r I doubt not but you account it safe & comfortable following where God is pleased to

goe before, your self have seen, & alsoe this solemn assembly the continuance & alsoe y^e Renew

all of this churches desire to choose your self to be their Teacher

It now remaynes that your self be pleased to Express your acceptation of their call to y^e office

and work of a Teacher over this church & flock of God in Rowley

He expressed his acceptance & yⁿ y^e charg was given after prayer & y^e right hand of fellowship by

Reverend M^r Moodey the Reverend Elders that layd on hands with S P were the Reverend M^r Cob

bet M^r Hubbard M^r Moodey : the prayer was to this effect

Most holy great & gracious Lord our God The lord of heaven & earth y^e God of glory who alone

art y^e God that hearest prayers, that performest all things for us, who has sayd that if we acknowledg

thee in all our ways thou wilt bring it to pass.

We acknowledg that thou alone art y^e father of mercyes, from whom our every Good & perfect gift

doth descend, yea y^e lord Jesus y^e greatest of all gifts did discend from thee, & how shouldst thou not

with him freely give us all things? who hast from the beginning of y^e world shown thy wonderfull &

gracious regard to poor man, not onely in that thou didst put y^e beuty of thine Image upon us, &

crown us with dignity & honour in o^r first creation :

But when we had sinned & fallen short of thy glory, broaken covenant, lost thine Image & favour, yet

thou wert pleased to pitty us in y^t low Estat, & to seek after us who sought to hide our Selves from thee

                                                 poor

And when ther was none to publish thy Good will to man in thy name, thou wert pleased thy self

to be the publisher of thy own grace & mercy in X^st Jesus ; blessed for ever be thy great name.

 And because we are not able to bear it to be taught by angells, much less to hear thee speaking

to us Imeadiately : Therefore thou hast condescended to send the treasure of thy gospell in Earth

=en vessells, that y^e excellency of y^e power might be of God & not of us .

Thou didst raise up Noah a preacher of righteousness to y^e old world, & didst send to Israel thy pro

phets & y^e sons of y^e prophets that they might teach the good knowledg of thy self, & as thou Spakest

at sundry times & diverse maner to thy pp formerly, soe thou has spoaken to us in these last dayse by

thy son who was a Teacher sent by God, & like unto whom never man spake.

And when he had finished his ministry & work on Earth, he left the world, for it was expedient for us y^t

he should soe doe, yet he hath not left us orphanes of whom ther is none to take care, but hath sent

forth his Embassadors, & comited to them the word of reconciliation

And as thy church & pp in all times & places have had much Experience of thy compassion, in thy

rysing Early, & sending thy servants to them, soe have we in this wilderness above any remnant

in the world that we know off :

 When thou didst send thy people hither, thou didst not send them as sheep without shepards, but didst

send choise Shepards with them, And although y^e old flock of thy Eminent messengers (who came hither

to rayse up a tabernacle for our God) is much wasted, & alas almost spent: yet thou hast bin pleased

to rayse up some supply for y^e service of thy pps souls though alas how short of those precious labourers

that have been before us

And as all thy congregations throw the land, have had Experience of thy Goodness & of ye fruit of thy

sons ascention, in a faythfull ministry amongst them, soe we have cause to acknowledg thy free mercy

to us in this place, in bestowing soe many faythfull labourers upon us, & though o^r unprofitableness has

provoked thee to remove them from us by death or otherwise : yet thou hast pittyed us & in judgment

remembred mercy

Thou has not turned away o^r pore prayers from thee, nor thy mercy from us as appears this day

The good Lord pardon all our unprofitableness under y^e helps we have injoyed, that we have bin soe

slow of heart to beleeve & imbrace y^e Gospell, or to hold forth ye word of life in a conversation be

=coming us, oh how many lights have bin burnt out or put out & yet many of us sit in darkness, The

greet things of thy law & gospel that have bin sent to us, how have they bin accounted as a strang thing

by too many of us, oh let o^r leanness our leanness be our bitter complaint & greif y^s day, let it not be a small

matter in our eyes that we are in danger to be guilty of greater sin, & obnoxious to greater punishm^t, then y^e

land of Sodom, but oh o^r God wher sin has abounded (as wher were then wher soe much means has bin

injoyed but not Improoved) let convincing, humbling pardoning mercy much more abound

And let the Imortal seed of thy word that has bin sown by they labourers, y^t are now called out of

this part of thy vinyard, or may quickly be, let that seed come up we humbly pray thee: Even as

sometimes as thou madest y^e labours of John y^e Baptist successfull when he was in his grave Then

his hearers sayd all y^t John spake concerning this man twere true. & many beleeved on him then

Thy servants though dead yet speak, in all us to hear them, & to follow the way they followed lest

[illeg.] what waight we for our desires are unto thy name this day that thou wouldst

   graciously