John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1363

[Continuing the Church Constitution]

  1. One of us, for whom it is most convenient, shall give an acre of ground upon which said house shall be built.  And this acre of ground, with all that shall be built thereon, or that pertains to it, shall forever belong to this united congregation and their successors; so that he who gives it shall not have the power to sell to any other person.

  2. To prevent discord and offenses, no one shall be permitted to conduct public worship in the house owned by us, unless he is a regular Lutheran or Reformed minister.

  3. We will assemble ourselves every Sabbath or as often as circumstances will permit, and by reading a sermon and with singing and prayer we will strengthen one another when we have no pastor.

  4. We will unite in inviting a worthy minister, at least once a year, or oftener if possible, to preach the Word of God to us, according to the foundation of the prophets and apostles, and administer the holy sacraments, for which we will reward him according to our ability.

  5. It shall be the duty of each one belonging to this congregation to lead an orderly, Christian and virtuous life; to abstain from all gross sins, such as cursing, swearing, card-playing, drunkenness, and all such ungodly actions.

  6. Should any one be guilty of any of the above sins, which may God in his mercy prevent, than the remaining brethren shall have the power and it shall be their duty to deal with him according to the directions of our Savior: Matt. xviii 15-17.

The above articles shall remain unchanged until all the members, or at least a majority of them, shall deem it necessary to alter or amend them.

Adopted this 6th day of January 1806.

George Rouse                 Ephraim Tanner
John Rouse                     John House
Fred. Zimmerman          Michael Rouse
John Beemon                 Jacob Rouse
Daniel Beemon              Simeon Tanner


We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.