APPENDIX

CONTAINING

Standing Notices,

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

AND

HINTS

FOR THE USE OF THE

MEMBERS

OF THE

SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,

CHARLESTON, S. C.

STANDING NOTICES.

1. The Lord's Supper is celebrated in this Church, when it is not otherwise notified, on the second Sabbath in January, April, July and October.

Persons desirous of uniting with the church, on profession of faith, are expected to meet the Session two weeks previous to the Communion; those who wish to unite on certificate may present their certificates, through the Pastor, to the Session, at the same time.

The lecture, preparatory to the Communion, is held in the Lecture Room, on the Friday evening previous to the Communion, unless otherwise announced.

2. Persons desiring letters of dismission can obtain them by application to the Session, through the Pastor; and they should be taken by all who remove for any length of time from the bounds of the congregation, and in like manner, by all coming within these bounds. They should also be at once presented, and never retained on hand longer than necessity absolutely requires.

It is deemed proper that children should be presented for baptism on the Sabbath morning previous to each communion occasion. A paper containing the name of the child and of the parents, and also the date of its birth, should be handed in to the minister previously. The ordinance is administered at the commencement of the church services-the child being kept at the door until called for by the minister.

4. There is Lecture, in the Lecture Room, every Thursday evening-in summer at eight, and in winter at seven o'clock. 5. The Maternal Association meets on the third Monday of every month, at 4 P. M.

6. The Female Prayer Meetings are held weekly, on Monday and on Friday afternoons, at 4 o'clock.

7. The Sabbath School is at present held every Sabbath morning, at the Church-in summer at 8 o'clock, and in winter at half-past 8 o'clock.

The Sabbath School for coloured persons is held every Sabbath, after morning service.

8. The Sunday School Teachers' Meeting is held every week, on Tuesday evening, in the Lecture Room.

9. The Female Education Society meets weekly-in winter on Thursday, at 10 A. M., in summer on Wednesday, at 4 P. M.

Every female member of the church should be a member, and, as far as possible, an attendant upon this society, whose object is to assist in educating young men for the Gospel ministry.

10. The Monthly Concert of Prayer is held on the evening of the first Monday in every month, in the Lecture Room, except when otherwise notified.

11. The Juvenile Missionary Society meets every quarter, in November, February, May and August, on Saturday afternoon, in the Lecture Room.

12. A collection is taken up every two months for some benevolent society, according to the Plan of Benevolence, which see.

13. Persons wishing to hire pews may apply to the Treasurer, or to any member of the Standing Committee.

PLAN OF BENEVOLENCE.

At a meeting of the members of the church, held in the Lecture Room, on Monday Evening, Oct. 16th, 1837, the following Resolution was adopted and ordered to be inserted here:

Resolved, That in view of the importance of systematic charity; to prevent simultaneous and irregular claims upon our benevolence; to enable all to anticipate the objects they will be expected to assist, and to give to them from principle and forethought; it is hereby recommended that a collection be taken up, in this church, every second month, for the following objects in such order as may seem best, viz:—

Foreign Missions.

Sabbath Schools.

Bible and Tract Societies.

Domestic Missions.

Education of Young Men for the Ministry.
City Mission.

Theological Seminary.

Port Society.

It is underctood that no other public collection will be made in the church for spiritual purposes, without the approbation of the Session. The collections for the poor on every Communion occasion, and at the Monthly Concert are not, however, included in this restriction.

To expedite such collections, and to prevent the unpleasantness of personal solicitation, it is further recommended that they be taken up at the door, or handed in privately to the Session.

FUNERALS.

In 1837, a Committee was appointed to take into consideration the subject of Funerals, of which Mr. John Robinson was Chairman. The Committee reported the following Resolution, which was unanimously adopted:

"Your Committee took into consideration the great inconvenience arising from the practice which prevails in this city, of detaining funerals for an hour or more beyond the time appointed. They therefore recommend to the corporation, the adoption of a rule, to the effect that, hereafter, at all funerals in the church-yard, it shall be imperative on the Sexton to move precisely at the hour named; and that due publicity be given to said resolution, by announcement from the pulpit, and by the Sexton on every occasion when called on, by communicating the same to the parties concerned."

The following Circular, which has been, to some extent, circulated among the churches of this city, may be also profitably inserted here:

FUNERAL CUSTOMS.

The undersigned respectfully solicit the attention of the Congregations generally, of which they are the stated Ministers, in this City, to the following suggestions, relative to some customs still extensively observed at Funerals, and which they, in common with many individuals with whom they have conversed on the subject, are desirous to see discontinued.

The customs to which we allude are, that of giving hat-bands of crape, to be worn by friends and acquaintances generally, at Funerals; that also of giving silk scarfs and gloves to ministers and pall-bearers; and that of having waiting women to precede the corpse to the Church or grave. All these particulars of ceremony are attended with useless expense; they are unmeaning as to the character or intent of the funeral solemnity; and they often occasion a delay of the procession from the house to the grave, which is a reasonable subject of complaint.

The use, as it now obtains among us, of Bands of Crape at Funerals, is of a comparatively recent existence. It is a mistake into which individuals and families have been led inadvertently. As existing in other places, from which it has been introduced within not many years among us, it is the putting of Bands of Crape upon the hats of those, who, as relatives, or by invitation, attend a funeral as mourners. Through a misconception of propriety, or perhaps, through some design not understood, and which those whom the occasion chiefly interests, could not be expected to notice or regard, it has so obtained among us, as to invest with this badge of mourning not those only who are in attendance as mourners, but all or