Paine, Emerson. Sermons, delivered at Middleborough, First Precinct, Lord's Day, June 9, 1822; By Emerson Paine, Late Pastor of the Church in that Place; occasioned by His Dismission From his Pastoral Relation to that Church. Published by the Request of the Hearers. To which is added, The Result of the Ecclesiastical Council Convened to dissolve his Pastoral Relation to the Church in that place. Plymouth, (Mass.): Printed by Allen Danforth, 1822. First Edition. [12083]
Removed, no wrapper, 8 1/2 x 5 inches, 31, [1] pages. Good. Pamphlet.
Two sermons in which Rev. Paine states the doctrines taught in the New Testament, his recommendations for the church as they seek a new pastor, and his plea that they become united in their religious beliefs. It seems that the troubles in the church, and the reason for Rev. Paine's request for dismissal, came from differing beliefs within the congregation.
Rev. Emerson Paine (1786-1851) Rev. Paine was graduated at Brown University in 1813, and was ordained to the pastoral office at Middleborough in 1816. He was "justly considered a man of distinguished talents and piety...[his preaching] was highly evangelical, and such as strongly commended itself to the church. He was settled here in peculiarly trying circumstances, and with reluctance on his own part. After repeated requests to the church to unite with him in calling a council for his dismission, they finally yielded..." - First Church in Middleborough, Mass...An Historical Account (1854), p. 32.
The Council which convened to oversee the Dismissal found no fault in the Rev. Emerson Paine.
