The staves of beauty & bands opened in a sermon preached at Yarmouth, August…The staves of beauty & bands opened in a sermon preached at Yarmovth, August…

We should therefore all in our several places, especially those unto whom the Pastoral Dignity and Trust doth appertain, use our utmost care to preserve the Church of God amongst us in that honour and beauty which belongs thereunto; not corrupting the Doctrine thereof, or obtruding any mere problematical, much less false and unsound positions of our own, upon the faith of our Hearers; not corrupting the Worship thereof either with superstition, or irreverence, not suffering either the mere Form of Godliness to swallow up the power, or the pretence of power to shut out the Form, but to give the Lord both that inward and outward Honour, which is due to his holy name in all our solemn Attendances upon him; not corrupting the sanctity thereof either ⟨p. 25⟩with Hypocrisy or Profaneness, with mere specious Pretences of Holiness on the one hand, or with open and downright Contempt thereof on the other. Lastly, Not corrupting the Decency and Order thereof; either by burdening Gods Service with an excessive number of needless Observances; or on the other side censuring and deserting the Communion of a Sound and Orthodox Church, because the Order thereof doth not in every particular please us. Thus is the Church to be fed and Ruled with the former of our Prophets Staves, The Staff Beauty.

We should thereforeall in our several places, especially those unto whom the Pastoral Dignity and Trust doth appertain, use our utmost care to preserve the Church of God amongst us in that honour and beauty which belongs thereunto; not corrupting the Doctrine thereof, or obtruding any meer problematical, much less false and unsound positions of our own, upon the faith of our Hearers; not corrupting the Worship thereof either with superstition, or irreverence, not suffering either the meer Form of Godliness to swallow up the power, or the pretence of power to shut out the Form, but to give the Lord both that inward and outward Honour, which is due to his holy name in all our solemn Attendances upon him; not corrupting the sanctity thereof either ⟨p. 25⟩with Hypocrisie or Prophaness, with meer specious Pretences of Holiness on the one hand, or with open and downright Contempt thereof on the other. Lastly, Not corrupting the Decency and Order thereof; either by burthening Gods Service with an excessive number of needless Observances; or on the other side censuring and deserting the Communion of a Sound and Orthodox Church, because the Order thereof doth not in every particular please us. Thus is the Church to be fed and Ruled with the former of our Prophets Staves, The Staff Beauty.