"WINDHAM May 27th, 1828, was constituted the Church of Christ in Windham, upon the declared and manifest faith and obedience of the ancient apostolic gospel, as delivered by the Apostle Peter to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, Acts ii. and afterwards by the same Apostle to the Gentiles, assembled in the house of Cornelius, Acts x. and by the Apostle Paul, to both Jews and Gentiles in Antioch in Pisidia, xiii. and as declared by all the Apostles in the apostolic writings: which writings, taken in their due connexion with the Old Testament, and the preceding books of the New, this church assumes as the only, and all-sufficient rule of faith and obedience; withal, assuming the New Testament as being as perfect a rule, directory, and formula for the faith, worship, discipline, and government of the New [456] Testament church, and the particular duties of its members; as the Old Testament was, for the faith, worship, discipline, and government of the Old Testament church, and the particular duties of its members, Compare Mal. iv. 4. with Math. xxviii. 18-20. It is farther declared that this church, fully recognizing the constitutional unity of the body of Christ, and determined by the grace of God, in obedience to the apostolic doctrine, to maintain and promote this unity, both within itself, and with all the declared and obedient disciples of the Lord Jesus, extends its fellowship to all such as have obeyed the gospel according to the above scriptures, by immersion into the one faith once delivered to the saints, as the same is expressly declared in the portions above cited; and who continue to justify their profession of said faith by a life of practical holiness, (according to the law of Christ.) Under the profession of the faith and obedience specified and provided for, in the above declaration, the undernamed disciples, in obedience to the Great Head of the church, and for the performance of the duties which, under him, they owe to each other, and to all men, have unanimously agreed to form themselves into a church to be designated as above. Done in presence of Bishops Thomas Campbell and Marcus Bosworth, invited to preside and assist for said purpose. After the enrolment of the members, Reuben Ferguson, lately an exhorter and preacher of the Methodist order, was duly and unanimously chosen a Bishop of said church; and ordained by the imposition of the hands of the said bishops and others, elderly members of said church, or assisting with it, by request, upon the occasion."

[The Christian Baptist, July 7, 1828, pp. 456-457.]

      In his "Index to the Burnet Edition of the Christian Baptist (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1983), Gary L. Lee attributes this unsigned extract of a letter to Thomas Campbell. Although I have not been able to identify Lee's source for this information, I think this is a reasonable attribution inasmuch as Thomas Campbell (who was at this time touring in the Western Reserve) is named as a witness to the constitution.

      Thomas Campbell's "Constitution of a Congregation in Ohio" was first published in The Christian Baptist, Vol. V, No. 12, July 7, 1828. The electronic version of the extract from a letter has been produced from the College Press (1983) reprint of The Christian Baptist, ed. Alexander Campbell (Cincinnati: D. S. Burnet, 1835), pp. 456-457.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. I have let stand variations and inconsistencies in the author's (or editor's) use of italics, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in the extract.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 10 January 1998.
Updated 7 July 2003.