All Articles For Decency and Order

To every rule there is an exception! And to the exception there is a rule! This is what we find in the eighth article of our Church Order. We have the rule governing the exception. The exception is the admission of certain persons into the ministry in a way different from the usual course prescribed in Art. 4. The rule governing this is set forth in the article. Permit us to quote it in full.

The last time we wrote that it was possible, though not advisable, for men endowed with special gifts to be admitted to the ministry of the word without the usual prescribed course of study in the theological school. This time we purpose to write a few lines about the gifts with which such men are to be endowed as these are requisite unto being admitted into the office of the ministry under the special provisions of Article 8.

Article 9—“Preachers without fixed charge, or others who have left some sect, shall not he admitted to the ministry of the church until they have been declared eligible, after careful examination, by the classis with the approval of synod.”

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. The elders and deacons shall serve two or more years according to local regulations, and a proportionate number shall retire each year. The retiring officers shall be succeeded by others, unless the circumstances and the profit of any church, in the execution of articles 22 and 24, render a re-election advisable.  Church Order, Article 27 Historical Background This article establishes the policy of limited tenure for elders and deacons. Article 12 set forth the Reformed view that those who are called to the office of the ministry are...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “The consistory shall take care that the churches, for the possession of their property and the peace and order of their meetings, can claim the protection of the authorities; it should be well understood, however, that for the sake of peace and material possession they may never suffer the royal government of Christ over His church to be in the least infringed upon.” A Radical Revision Our present Article 28 represents a radical revision of the original article. The original Article 28 as drafted by the Synod of...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. Four kinds of ecclesiastical assemblies shall be maintained: the consistory, the classis, (the particular synod), and the general synod. Church Order, Article 29

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. In all assemblies there shall be not only a president, but also a clerk to keep a faithful record of all important matters. Church Order, Article 34 Ecclesiastical Functionaries This article requires that there be two officers at all ecclesiastical assemblies. There must be a president to preside over the meeting. The specific duties of the president will be treated in Article 35. Besides the president, there must also be a clerk to record the minutes of the assembly. It is especially the duties of the clerk that...

Obviously the texts of Ephesians 5:18, 19 and Colossians 3:16cannot be used as a Scriptural basis for the introduction of hymns in the worship of the church. One reason for this is that the term “hymn” in these passages does not have the same meaning as is commonly given to that word today. Rev. F. Frazer stresses the point that a correct understanding of these passages necessitates “that the words in them be taken in the sense obviously intended by the writer.” What this meaning is he attempts to show in the following article. We quote: “Controversies within the church have produced, for...

Further expressions of the consistories on the above subject are continued in this article. The consistory of Hope Church expressed: “Without entering into the question as to whether an official radio broadcast of the Word by a Protestant Reformed Church is on the same level with divine worship in the house of God we do wish to express the following concerning the singing of hymns on such a broadcast: “l. That we believe that hymns ought not to be sung on such a broadcast: (a) because we should put up every possible guard against the introduction of hymns into divine...

B. If the majority of the consistory becomes worthy of discipline, no consistory remains to call a neighboring consistory and with that neighboring consistory to exercise discipline upon those that have made themselves worthy of it.  One can then expect no action from such a consistory and also the congregation cannot take ecclesiastical action because she lacks ecclesiastical power.  Also a neighboring church cannot by herself interfere in the internal affairs of another local church. This is explicitly forbidden in Article 84, D.K.O.