Rev. Cammenga is pastor of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan.

At the close of the classical and other major assemblies, censure shall be exercised over those, who in the meeting have done something worthy of punishment, or who have scorned the admonition of the minor assemblies. 

Church Order, Article 43

The “Censure” of Major Assemblies

The censure referred to in Article 43 is to be distinguished from other forms of censure referred to in the Church Order.

The censure of Article 43 is to be distinguished from the censure of Article 35. Article 35 calls for the presidents of our assemblies “to see to it that everyone observe due order in speaking, to silence the captious and those who are vehement in speaking, and properly to discipline them if they refuse to listen.” The censure of Article 35 is exercised by the president while the meeting is in progress, whereas the censure of Article 43 is exercised by the assembly itself “at the close” of the meeting.

The censure of Article 43 is also distinguished from the censure referred to in Article 81. Article 81 provides for the mutual censure of officebearers within the same consistory, censura morum: “The ministers of the Word, elders, and deacons, shall before the celebration of the Lords Supper exercise Christian censure among themselves and in a friendly spirit admonish one another with regard to the discharge of their office.” Censura morum takes place in the consistory and concerns itself with the officebearers'” discharge of their office.” The question is: “Is there anything in the work of the minister, elders, or deacons which should be criticized? Is encouragement needed by the officebearers with regard to their work?” The censure of Article 43 takes place at the major assemblies, not at the consistorial level. Article 43 does not concern the work of the officebearers so much as their conduct at classis and synod.

The censure of Article 43 is also to be distinguished from the censure referred to in Articles 79 and 80. Articles 79 and 80 refer to the censure of officebearers on account of public, gross sin. This censure is an aspect of Christian discipline and culminates in suspension and deposition from office. The censure called for in Article 43 concerns misconduct at the major assemblies, but not necessarily misconduct so serious that it is to be classified as public, gross sin. This is not to say that misconduct in an assembly meeting, if it be of a very serious nature, may not be reported by the assembly to one’s consistory. This may be done. Then it is possible that such misconduct becomes the occasion for the exercise of formal discipline by a consistory.

Censure of those who “…have done something worthy of punishment”

Article 43 calls first for the censure of “. . . those who in the meeting have done something worthy of punishment.”

Article 43 has a place in our Church Order because of the situation that prevailed in the early history of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. In the first years after the Reformation, many entered the service of the church who had little experience in attending the broader assemblies. Often the meetings were characterized by disorder and misconduct. Men would speak out of turn. Tempers would flare. Angry words would be exchanged. To curb this evil and to safeguard the orderliness of the meetings, Article 43 was formulated.

The earliest of the Dutch Reformed synods, the Synod of Wezel, 1568, mentioned several sins that were worthy of the “punishment” called for in Article 43: Unbecoming jests, lewd remarks, lying, slander, insulting remarks, sudden bursts of anger, striving to exercise dominion over the church or over one’s colleagues, negligence in handling the Scriptures.

The censure of Article 43 is censure by the major ecclesiastical body, This would be done by official motion from the floor and carried by a simple majority vote. In the name of the body the censure would then be exercised by the president, or, in case the person is no longer in attendance, by the secretary in writing.

The matter of Article 43 ought to be faced at the conclusion of the meetings of the broader assemblies, just as the questions of Article 41 are routinely asked at the conclusion of the meetings of classis. In our churches, the broader assemblies never consider at the end of their sessions whether anyone is worthy of censure according to Article 43. Hardly ever is such censure necessary. Most of the meetings of our broader assemblies are conducted in an orderly way and delegates observe proper decorum. There have been times, however, when censure according to Article 43 was worthy of consideration.

In the earlier history of the Reformed churches the assemblies concluded by facing the question whether anyone was worthy of censure according to Article 43. Our churches ought to consider resurrecting this practice. It would be well at the end of the meetings of classis and synod that the president ask whether any member feels that censure according to Article 43 is required. This forces the body to face the matter concretely at every meeting. If no one-feels the necessity of this, it may then be noted in the minutes that no censure according to Article 43 was necessary.

The concluding minute of the Particular Synod of Alkmaar, 1593, reads: “And furthermore, with this the Synod was concluded; and the censure being held, nothing was found (God be praised!) to be worthy of punishment, but all things took place with edification and peace, and thus the actions were concluded with thanksgiving to God.” Well may we pray to God that the same may be said of the meetings of the broader assemblies of our churches!

Censure of those “…who have scorned the admonition of the minor assemblies.”

Besides calling for the censure of those who have done something worthy of punishment, Article 43 calls for the major assemblies to censure those “…who have scorned the admonition of the minor assemblies.”

It is difficult to know with certainty who are referred to in this part of Article 43. The Synod of Dordt, 1578, spoke of those “… who have scorned the admonition of their consistory.” The Synod of Middelburg, 1581, replaces fl consistory” with “minor assemblies.” From the original reference to “consistory” it has been argued that Article 43 refers to an officebearer who has been admonished by his consistory on the occasion of censura morum, but who has not submitted himself to the admonition. A consistory may, then, present this matter to the classis and, if necessary, to the synod.

Another possibility is that someone has scorned the admonition of a minor assembly in that he has not fulfilled a certain mandate from the assembly. It may be that he has neglected to carry out certain work assigned to him by the assembly. Or he has ignored instructions received from the minor assembly.

Most likely, however, the correct explanation goes in a different direction. The reference is to delegates, consistories, or other individuals involved in ecclesiastical deliberations. These may “scorn” the decisions on the floor of the major assembly. They may speak disparagingly of the decisions of the minor assemblies, or they may demonstrate a refusal to be in submission to the minor assemblies. Their error is not that they disagree with a decision; the right to disagree is guaranteed by Article 31. But their error is a refusal to consider past decisions settled and binding.

Included in scorn for the decisions of the minor assembly would be scorn for the men who sit at the minor assembly. Frequently this shows itself in protestants who are objecting to a decision of a minor assembly. Often they do not show the proper respect for the officebearers of the minor assembly, generally the consistory. This must not be countenanced by the broader assemblies, but must be censured under Article 43.

Article 43 serves a good purpose in our Church Order. That purpose is to safeguard the orderliness of the meetings of the broader ecclesiastical assemblies, and thus the glory of God whose injunction to His church is, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (I Cor. 14:40).