All Articles For Decency and Order

The principle of the sixty-second article of our Church Order is that the consistory of each church is empowered to determine various matters concerning the administration of the Lord’s Supper. There are certain essential elements that belong to the sacrament which the consistory itself may not change. Christ has instituted this sacrament in the church and the fundamental elements of that institution must be preserved lest the symbolism and significance of it be destroyed. In the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, however, there are also those things which may be considered incidental or non-essential. In our last article we mentioned...

“For ye have the poor always with you; but Me ye have not always.”  These are the words of Jesus which were spoken at the time of His anointing in Bethany by Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Judas, the betrayer, had severely criticized this act of love and complained that the money spent could have been used better if given to the poor. After the Lord condemned this unjust criticism of a perfectly legitimate deed of love, He turned to His disciples and in them to the church to whom He spoke the above quoted words. 

The committee, appointed by the Synod of 1924 to study the question whether or not a Classis may depose a Consistory, was divided in its report. The first part of that report or the report of that part of the committee that answered this question in the affirmative appeared in the foregoing articles. The other side now follows:

“The administration of the Lord’s Supper shall take place only there where three is supervision of elders, according to the ecclesiastical order in a public gathering of the congregation.” —Article 64, D.K.O. In many Reformed circles today the provision of the sixty-fourth article of our Church Order either has already or is fast becoming an obsolete thing. The spirit of individualism, so prevalent in this age in the world, seems to reflect itself more and more in the church as she repels various forms of authority and ecclesiastical supervision. Old traditions are discarded or conveniently ignored and substituted with the...

d) In the first volume of “Politica Ecclesiastica,” Voetius answers thirty-four particular questions that relate to the matter of ecclesiastical power. Question 22 is: “As part of the ecclesiastical power, does it belong to the Synodical gathering of the churches to exercise the right of excommunication in the event of misgovernment or incurable evil?” (atque ab ea exerceri). The familiar answer is: “I do not see why this cannot be done in cases and events such as mentioned above.” 

The last time we quoted the twenty-sixth article in full and will, therefore, not repeat it here. The reader may consult his church order or The Standard Bearerof July 1, 1956. The original rendering of this article as taken from Jansen’s “Korte Verklaring” reads: “De Diakenen zullen, ter plaatse waar huiszitten-meesters of andere aalmoezeniers zijn, van deze begeeren goede correspondentie met hen te willen houden, ten einde de aalmoezen te beter uitgedeeld mogen worden onder degenen “die meest gebrek hebben.” 

d. Deposition and Enforcements: 

G. Status of the Decision Until Such Time As The Matter of Appeal Has Been Resolved 

The main element in this article is undoubtedly the fact that in the organization or re-organization of a congregation, the advice of the Classis must be obtained. This means that a church independently organized will not be admitted into or recognized by the denomination unless this advice of the Classis is first sought. The article itself does not deny the autonomous right of a group of believers to organize the church.

“Funeral sermons or funeral services shall not be introduced.” —Article 6.5, D.K.O. At one of the first synods of the Reformed Churches it was ruled that funeral sermons should be discontinued as soon as possible, and that localities which had not yet introduced them should not do so, in order to avoid the danger of superstition. Four years later, in 1578, this ruling was reaffirmed and in 1905 it became part of the established Church Order in the form that it appears above. In 1914, when the Church Order underwent a rather extensive revision, this article remained unchanged. The Christian...