All Articles For Decency and Order

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. At least three reasons can be given for a study of theChurch Order in the pages of The Standard Bearer. In the first place, the Church Order occupies an important place in the life of our denomination. The labors of our consistories and broader assemblies are regulated by the Church Order. Next to Scripture and the confessions, the Church Order has to be the most significant and most consulted document among us. In the second place, it has been more than 30 years since a discussion of the Church Order took place in The Standard Bearer. In...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. For the maintenance of good order in the church of Christ it is necessary that there should be: offices; assemblies; supervision of doctrine, sacraments and ceremonies; and Christian discipline; of which the following articles treat in due order. Church Order, Article 1. The Church Order’s View of Church Government The Church Order is based on a specific view of the proper form of church government. There are especially four prevalent forms of church government. There is, first of all, the Hierarchical or Episcopal form of Church government. This is the...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “The churches shall exert themselves, as far as necessary, that there may be students supported by them to be trained for the ministry of the Word.” Church Order, Article 19. History of Student Aid From the very beginning, the Reformed churches made provision for the assistance of those who were preparing themselves for the ministry. The Synod of Emden, 1571, the earliest of the Dutch Reformed synods, took steps already for the support of students for the ministry, Subsequent synods, e.g. Dordt, 1574 and 1578, Middelburg, 1581, ‘s...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “Students who have received permission according to the rule in this matter, and persons who have according to Article 8 been judged competent for the ministry of the Word, shall, for their own training, and for the sake of becoming known to the congregations, be allowed to speak a word of edification in the meeting for public worship.” Church Order, Article 20. History of Student Preaching The history of student preaching shows that there have been two distinct viewpoints concerning this practice. There have been those who have...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. The consistories shall see to it that there are good Christian schools in which the parents have their children instructed according to the demands of the covenant.  Church Order, Article 21 Introduction This article deals with the responsibility of consistories with respect to the Christian education of the children of the covenant. The article does NOT entrust the consistories with the responsibility for establishing, operating, and governing Christian schools. This would be to advocate parochialism. Instead the article insists that the education of children is fundamentally a parental...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. If anyone complain that he has been wronged by the decision of a minor assembly, he shall have the right to appeal to a major ecclesiastical assembly, and whatever may be agreed upon by a majority vote shall be considered settled and binding, unless it be proved to conflict with the Word of God or with the articles of the Church Order, as long as they are not changed by a general synod.  Church Order, Article 31 A Sacred Right The right of appeal is a sacred right...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “The offices are of four kinds: of the ministers of the Word, of the professors of theology, of the elders, and of the deacons.” Church Order, Article 2. The Offices Introduced Article 2 is of an introductory nature. It begins the first main division of the Church Order, “Of The Offices.” The article indicates the number of the offices in the church and their names. Four offices are mentioned: minister, professor of theology, elder, and deacon. It is important to notice that the Church Order begins its treatment of church...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “No one, though he be a professor of theology, elder, or deacon, shall be permitted to enter upon the ministry of the Word and the sacraments without having been lawfully called thereunto. And when anyone acts contrary thereto, and after being frequently admonished does not desist, the classis shall judge whether he is to be declared a schismatic or is to be punished in some other way.” Church Order, Article 3. The Importance of this Article Article 3 begins the treatment by the Church Order of the office of the...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “The lawful calling of those who have not been previously in office, consists: First, in the ELECTION by the consistory and the deacons, after preceding prayers, with due observance of the regulations established by the consistory for this purpose, and of the ecclesiastical ordinance, that only those can for the first time be called to the ministry of the Word who have been declared eligible by the churches, according to the rule in this matter; and furthermore with the advice of classis or of the counselor appointed...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado.