The Glasites or Glassites were a small Christian church founded in about 1730 in Scotland by John Glas.John Glas preached supremacy of God's word (Bible) over allegiance to Church and state to his congregation in Tealing near Dundee in July 1725. Glas continued to preach his vision over the next five years. The General Assembly's response to Glas's publication of Testimony of the king of martyrs concerning his kingdom (1727) was to depose him in October 1728. The Church's deposition was enacted on 12 March 1730. See pages 19-21 of Geoffrey Cantor (1991).Van Kirk (1907) page 75 Glas' faith, as part of the First Great Awakening, was spread by his son-in-law Robert Sandeman into England and America, where the members were called Sandemanians.Smith (2008), p. 37.
The Glasite sect strictly opposed the existence of state churches, with each congregation consisting of multiple elders. They strictly observed the Lord's supper weekly, practiced foot washing and opposed the accumulation of wealth.Sandemanian | John Glas, Reformed Church, Scotland Due to the influence of Robert Sandeman, the Glasite churches held a view of soteriology that often resembled certain forms of modern Free Grace theology.
The last Sandemanian church in America closed in the 1890s, while the last meeting house in the United Kingdom fully closed in 1984.
Beliefs and practice In their practice the Glasite churches aimed at a strict conformity with the primitive type of Christianity, as understood by them. Each congregation had a plurality of elders, pastors, or bishops, who were chosen according to what were believed to be the instructions of Paul, without regard to previous education or present occupation, and who enjoyed a perfect equality in office.See pages 27 and 31 of Cantor (1991). The role of the elder (or bishop) was to teach and lead the congregation, while the role of the deacon (or deaconess), as defined in Timothy, was to provide for the poor and infirm. Two elders, as referenced in Acts, were required for a church to function, and a plurality was required to celebrate the Lord's Supper. The Edinburgh meeting house closed in 1989 when its membership fell to only one elder. To have been married a second time disqualified one for ordination, or for continued tenure of the office of bishop. The Glasites opposed the existence of national churches, viewing the kingdom of Christ as essentially spiritual.
In all the action of the church unanimity was considered to be necessary; if any member differed in opinion from the rest, they either surrendered their judgement to that of the church, or were shut out from its communion.See pages 31–32 of Cantor (1991). Exclusion, following 1 Corinthians, was the first of two steps to excommunication from which there was no return. Eating with immediate family was allowed during exclusion. Estimates indicate that roughly half the membership was excluded at one time or another, while only a tenth left permanently. To join in prayer with anyone not a member of the denomination was regarded as unlawful, and even to eat or drink with one who had been excommunicated was held to be wrong.
"Things strangled and blood" were rigorously abstained from. They disapproved of all lotteries and games of chance. The accumulation of wealth they held to be unscriptural and improper.
Soteriology
Glas dissented from the Westminster Confession only in his views as to the spiritual nature of the church and the functions of the civil magistrate. But Sandeman added a distinctive doctrine as to the nature of faith which is thus stated on his tombstone:
In a series of letters to James Hervey, the author of Theron and Aspasio, Sandeman maintained that justifying faith is a simple assent to the divine testimony concerning Jesus, differing in no way in its character from belief in any ordinary testimony.Hervey's doctrine of "imputed righteousness" called for select individuals as being predestined and having a special relationship with God. Glas viewed this position as being self-serving and devoid of Biblical support. See page 24 of Cantor (1991). This exchange of ideas between Hervey and Sandeman in 1757 (as a continuation of the rift initiated by Glas in the late 1720s) was discussed, argued, and anguished over leaving many Christians throughout England and beyond looking for an alternative. This debate set the stage for Sandeman's correspondence and journeys south from Scotland to establish apostolic gatherings and his subsequent 1764 move to Boston. The Sandemanian churches have been often associated as teaching an anticipative form of certain types of Free Grace theology.
Church service The Lord's Supper was observed weekly, and between forenoon and afternoon service every Sunday a love feast was held at which every member was required to be present. This took the form not of symbolic morsels of wine and bread, as in other communions, but a (relatively) substantial meal, a custom leading to the Glasites' nickname of "Kail Kirk" for the Scotch broth that was served at this setting.Cantor (1991) page 58 This custom may have arisen, in part, as a charitable response to the poverty of most members of this Church and also as a pragmatic response to the length of meetings (particularly the sermons) and the distances some members of the congregation had to travel in order to attend.
At Glasite services, any member who "possesses the gift of edifying the brethren", was allowed to speak. The practice of washing one another's feet was at one time observed; and it was for a long time customary for each brother and sister to receive new members, on admission, with a holy kiss.
Churches
A church was set up by Glas in Dundee following his suspension by the Church of Scotland, with its congregation becoming known as Glasites. The first meeting house in Perth followed in 1733. Glasite churches were also founded in Paisley, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leith, Arbroath, Montrose, Aberdeen, Dunkeld, Cupar, and Galashiels. Buildings built as Glasite chapels survive in Dundee, Edinburgh and Perth (two), Galashiels and possibly elsewhere.See page 26 of Cantor (1991).
Sandemanian Churches in England Glas's views were again advanced beyond Scotland with Sandeman's publication of Letters on Theron and AspasioLetters on Theron and Aspasio in 1757. The resulting correspondence between the leading church elders, Glas and Sandeman, and English pastors, Samuel Pike, John Barnard, and William Cudworth among others, led to the adoption of this primitive form of Christianity for their London congregations beginning in the early 1760s.Smith (2008) pages 71, 78–81 John Barnard's petition to Robert Sandeman brought the latter south to London from Scotland in April 1761 with his brother William and John Handasyde, an Elder from the Northumberland meeting house. This visit led to the establishment of the first legitimately constituted Sandemanian congregation on 23 March 1762 at Glover's Hall.Elmes (1831) page 213 To accommodate larger gatherings, this congregation moved initially to Bull and Mouth-Street, St. Martin's Le Grand, and then to Paul's Alley in the Barbican in the autumn of 1778.For the history of the Sandemanian Meeting Houses in London see pages 220-1, and 261-276 of Wilson (1810), iii. This text cites 1778 as the year the London congregation relocated to Paul's Alley in the Barbican.This note references the Supplementary letters. See note 30 on page 83 of Smith (2008). This third London meeting house was that of Michael Faraday's youth.John Barnard, uncle of Michael Faraday's father-in-law, Edward, brought followers to his London meeting house, named Glover's Hall around 1760. The 4th London meeting house found in Barnsbury Grove, and Michael Faraday's seat located within were commemorated by Lord Kelvin in 1906. See pages 38–43 of Cantor (1991). The London church record books show 106 members in 1795 (48 men, 58 women) and 110 members in 1842 (31 men, 79 women). These numbers only include those that confessed their faith. They do not include non-members who attended or children. These numbers held steady throughout this period of time. The Sandemanians relocated to Barnsbury Grove, in north London, in 1862 where they met until nearly the turn of the century. Michael Faraday was a Deacon at Paul's Alley in the Barbican during the 1830s, an Elder there from 1840 to 1844 and again from 1860 to 1864, the final two years of which were at the Barnsbury Grove meeting house.See page 42 of Cantor (1991). Comparison of 2008 photo to that of figure 3.2 indicates substantial renovation work was done to include new roof, the addition of a second story, and facades removed to bare brick. The first story window shapes and placement of the front door provide the only linkages between the structures.See pages 60-4, and 277-80 of Cantor (1991). Faraday's ordination service as Deacon took place on 1 July 1832, indicating his high moral standing within the community. As might be expected, controversy surrounds Faraday's (and others) 1844 exclusion and subsequent removal from his position as Elder. His resignation on 5 June 1864, after being reinstated as Elder four years earlier, is connected with an offer to assume the Presidency of the Royal Institution, an offer he declined. A plaque was installed in the building indicating his seat of prayer. The building was converted into a telephone exchange, and that end of Barnsbury Grove renamed Faraday Close.
Beyond London
As the congregation on Bull and Mouth-Street, St. Martins-le-Grand, London solidified through the inclusion of noted pastors like Samuel Pike in 1765, other English parishes followed their Sandemanian lead.Wilson (1810), Volume 2, page 96 The first response outside London occurred in Yorkshire with followers of Benjamin Ingham. Ingham discreetly sent two of his preachers, James Allen and William Batty, to Scotland to observe Glasite practices in 1761. Of these three Methodist preachers, only Allen fully converted and began to establish Sandemanian meeting houses in Northern England, to include his hometown of Gayle, Kirkby Stephen, Newby, and Kirkby Lonsdale. By 1768 Allen, together with John Barnard and William Cudworth from London, helped establish congregations in York, Norfolk, Colne, Wethersfield, Liverpool, Whitehaven, Trowbridge and Nottingham.Smith (2008) pages 82–6 Sandeman personally established fewer than a dozen churches in England including Liverpool before he went to America in 1764.See pages 24, 26, and 27 of Cantor (1991). He was accompanied by James Cargill to Boston where he met Ezra Stiles, President of Yale. The Trowbridge meeting house, in Wiltshire, was the location to which Samuel Pike moved and at which he preached for the final two years until his death in 1773.Wilson, volume 2, pages 96–97
Sandemanian churches in America