I found this bit of information from "The Town of Goffstown" written by Georgel Hadley Plummer. Can anyone explain what it means? "After the union with the Presbyterian Church, the church was well nigh close communion, as the following will illustrate: May 27, 1802, voted "To admit Widow Sarah Addison to occasional Communion"; voted "To admit Mr. David Morril and wife to occasional Communion, till they have opportunity to remove their relations to this church," Mr. Morril having only three months before been ordained as pastor. August 22, 1802, voted "That the ordinance of the 'Lord's Supper be administered to the church on Sabbath, the 24th of this month,' in the Presbyterian mode, and that the Rev. Mr. Fullerton of Antrim be reques After the union with the Presbyterian Church, the church was well nigh close communion, as the following will illustrate: May 27, 1802, voted "To admit Widow Sarah Addison to occasional Communion"; voted "To admit Mr. David Morril and wife to occasional Communion, till they have opportunity to remove their relations to this church," Mr. Morril having only three months before been ordained as pastor. August 22, 1802, voted "That the ordinance of the 'Lord's Supper be administered to the church on Sabbath, the 24th of this month,' in the Presbyterian mode, and that the Rev. Mr. Fullerton of Antrim be requested to attend and assist in administering the ordinance on condition the pastor of this church assist him when requested." http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nh/county/hillsborough/goffstown/book/chap34.htmlat Thank you Rita Addison-Hawthorne

What you have is the description of how the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist or the Mass (depending upon your tradition) was organised in the Church in Gofftown after the Union between the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists in 1801. There are really three attitudes to Communion in the Church. One is that all members (by baptism) are admitted to Communion. In the clearest form this is found in the Churches which practice Adult Baptism. An alternative form is for people who have been baptised and who have undergone a further experience or rite to be admitted to Communion. Both these ideas have people as it were, qualified for admission to Communion for the rest of their lives. This is called open communion. It is found at its clearest in the invitation which runs something like "This is the Table of the Lord, it is not the table of any one Church, We therefore invite any baptised into Christ who love him to join at this his table as conscience and the discipline of their own tradition allow." However those who practice Closed (or Close) Communion, only allow people to come to Communion after they have been catechised by the Elder. Admission to Communion is through the presentation of the Communion token which is given to the person on successful completion of their catechising, and is given up at the barrier which there is around the space where the Communicants sit. What has happened is that Mr. David Morril and wife who have just moved into the area are to be allowed to come to communion but are not being made members until their paperwork comes through from the last place where they were. This paperwork which today is called a disjunction certificate is simply statement of good standing in the Church. This is very much a short direct answer to the question. There is a lot more which could be said about the celebration of the Sacrament in the reformed tradition. Hope that this helps Edward Andrews -----Original Message----- From: Rita Hawthorne [mailto:rhawthorne@cox.net] Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 7:58 PM To: Scotch-Irish-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [Sc-Ir] Addison-Gott I found this bit of information from "The Town of Goffstown" written by Georgel Hadley Plummer. Can anyone explain what it means? "After the union with the Presbyterian Church, the church was well nigh close communion, as the following will illustrate: May 27, 1802, voted "To admit Widow Sarah Addison to occasional Communion"; voted "To admit Mr. David Morril and wife to occasional Communion, till they have opportunity to remove their relations to this church," Mr. Morril having only three months before been ordained as pastor. August 22, 1802, voted "That the ordinance of the 'Lord's Supper be administered to the church on Sabbath, the 24th of this month,' in the Presbyterian mode, and that the Rev. Mr. Fullerton of Antrim be reques After the union with the Presbyterian Church, the church was well nigh close communion, as the following will illustrate: May 27, 1802, voted "To admit Widow Sarah Addison to occasional Communion"; voted "To admit Mr. David Morril and wife to occasional Communion, till they have opportunity to remove their relations to this church," Mr. Morril having only three months before been ordained as pastor. August 22, 1802, voted "That the ordinance of the 'Lord's Supper be administered to the church on Sabbath, the 24th of this month,' in the Presbyterian mode, and that the Rev. Mr. Fullerton of Antrim be requested to attend and assist in administering the ordinance on condition the pastor of this church assist him when requested." http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nh/county/hillsborough/goffstown/book/chap34.htm lat Thank you Rita Addison-Hawthorne