Members paid subscriptions to be part of

Horneck in particular used his sermons to bemoan the moral ills of his age.Beginning around 1678,young men would come to such preachers to seek guidance and, slowly but surely, loose association formed.If contemporary accounts are to be believed,at some point during this process of the formation of loose associations, formal RSs were established with Horneck being viewed as the pater familias, if not the founder, of the RS movement.

The early forms of the RSs are worth reviewing as they essentially laid down the framework for what was to come in the SRM.Membership was restricted to males over the age of 16 who were confirmed members of the Church of England.Members paid subscriptions to be part of the group, and weekly meetings were led by an Anglican clergyman.The main philanthropic act of the RS was an annual distribution of funds to the poor.