THE ORDER FOR

LAYING THE CORNER-STONE OF A

CHURCH.

The People, being assembled at the place where the church is to be built, shall rise, and the Minister shall read the following SENTENCES:

OUR help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven

and earth.

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.

Then let the following PSALM (1 Chronicles xxix. 10-18) be read responsively by the Minister and People, all standing, ending with the Gloria Patri:

BLESSED be thou, Lord God of Israel: our Father, for

ever and ever.

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine.

Thine is the kingdom, O Lord: and thou art exalted as head over all.

Both riches and honour come of thee: and thou reignest over all.

And in thine hand is power and might: and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

Now therefore, our God, we thank thee: and praise thy glorious name.

But who am I, and what is my people: that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort?

For all things come of thee: and of thine own have we given thee.

For we are strangers before thee: and sojourners, as were all our fathers.

Our days on the earth are as a shadow: and there is none abiding.

O Lord, our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thy holy name cometh of thine hand and is all thine own.

I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness.

As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.

O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers; keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Then shall the Minister say,

Let us pray.

DIRECT us, O Lord, in all our doings, with Thy most

gracious favour, and further us with Thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy holy Name, and finally, by Thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then shall an appropriate Hymn be sung, all standing; after which, all, still standing, shall join with the Minister in their CONFESSION OF FAITH.

THE CREED.

BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried; [He descended into hell;*] The third day He rose

* Or, He continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of death, until the third day.

again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; The Holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body; and the Life everlasting. Amen.

¶ Here shall follow the LAYING OF THE STONE. After such documents and other articles as are to be preserved have been deposited in the cavity prepared for them, the Minister, or other Person appointed for the purpose, assisted by the builder, shall lay the Stone in its place. Then the Minister, placing his hand on it, shall say:

IN the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we lay this Corner-Stone of a house to be erected here under the name of Church, and devoted

to the worship of Almighty God.

Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid: which is Jesus Christ.

Lo

Then shall he say,

Let us pray.

ORD God, who art the Beginning and the End, by whom all things were created; Grant us the fulness of Thy mercy, and establish Thou this Stone which we plant in Thy Name.

Accept, we beseech Thee, the humble service of all who contribute of their substance unto this building; let Thy blessing rest upon them, and also upon those who labour in erecting it, to shield them from all accidents and dangers; and grant unto them, and all of us here present, Thy heavenly grace, that our gifts and all our service may be sanctified, and we may become in soul and body living temples of the Holy Ghost. All which we ask through the abundant merits of our Lord and Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

OUR Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

¶Here may be given an ADDRESS. After which, if so approved, an OFFERING in aid of the building fund may be made.

¶Then shall be sung a suitable Hymn, and the Minister shall pronounce

THE BENEDICTION.

THE grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

THE ORDER FOR

THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH.

The congregation being duly assembled shall rise, and the following PSALM shall be read responsively by the Minister and the People.

¶ Or, if so desired, the Ministers taking part in the Service shall enter at the door, where they shall be received by the Trustees and Elders, and proceed with them up the aisle, reciting responsively the following PSALM, the presiding Minister leading:

THE earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein;

For he hath founded it upon the seas: and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands and a pure heart: who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully; He shall receive the blessing from the Lord: and righteousness from the God of his salvation;

This is the generation of them that seek him that seek thy face, O Jacob:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates: and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in ; Who is this King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates: even lift them up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in ; Who is this King of glory?

The Lord of hosts: he is the King of glory.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.