Page 23 - MABE GENEALOGY

The Mabe genealogy line, from England (1600’s) to the United States (1700’s), Virginia and North Carolina.

wavered. The Reverend Charles Clay complained of parishioners who “are
hanging first on one hipp then on the other; leaning with their Elbows on the
pews or on the windows … or are Running in & out to the great anoiance &
disturbance of those whose minds are piously inclined. … And while the
Psalms for ye Day are Reading, instead of having a book & answering in
turn; are playing with their Snuff box; dancing their foot with one leg across
the other for amusement; or twirling their Hat about; making their
observations on ye Congregation, whispering to the person that Sits next to
them; or Smiling & grinning at others yt sits at a distance from them.”

On the other hand, William Byrd II noted that not all colonial ministers
were the best preachers, commenting that he had attended at least one
service at which the minister had preached the "Congregation into a
Lethargy."

In the small sanctuary, tablets containing the Lord's Prayer, the Ten
Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, and sometimes the Royal Arms would
have hung to the side of and behind the holy table. (The holy table would not
have been decorated with flowers or candles; until at least the late
nineteenth century, bishops of Virginia denounced the use of floral
decorations on the holy table during worship services as a novelty
introduced by Roman Catholicism. They did, however, allow the floral
decoration of churches at Christmas, because that practice was grounded in
Virginia tradition.)

Church Governance

The shortage of clergy in Virginia led to what historians have called the
church's "laicization," or submission to lay control. Laicization functioned
on at least two levels: Virginia's General Assembly passed laws governing
the church, and local vestries oversaw the day-to-day operation of the
individual parishes. County courts often heard cases involving moral laws
that would have fallen under the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts in
England. The assembly routinely set clergy salaries, established new
parishes as the colony's population grew and moved west, defined parish
boundaries, set requirements for church attendance, defined how often
ministers should preach and celebrate the Eucharist, instructed clergy to
catechize children in their parishes, and delegated local authority over
church matters to vestries and county courts. Sometimes these powers were
extraordinary. In 1624, for instance, the assembly modified the traditional

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