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Journal articles on the topic 'Church polity'
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1
Avis, Paul. "Polity and Polemics: The Function of Ecclesiastical Polity in Theology and Practice." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 18, no. 1 (2015): 2–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x15000800.
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This article affirms the importance of ecclesiastical polity as a theological–juridical discipline and explores its connection to ecclesiology and church law. It argues that the Anglican Communion, though not itself a church, nevertheless has a lightly structured ecclesiastical polity of its own, mainly embodied in the Instruments of Communion. It warns against short-term, pragmatic tinkering with Church structures, while recognising the need for structural reform from time to time to bring the outward shape of the Church into closer conformity to the nature and mission of the Church of Christ. In discussing Richard Hooker's contention that the Church is a political society, as well as a mystical body, it distinguishes the societal character of Anglican churches from the traditional Roman Catholic conception of the Church as a societas perfecta. In the tradition of Hooker, the role of political philosophy in the articulation of ecclesiology and polity is affirmed as a particular outworking of the theological relationship between nature and grace. The resulting method points to an interdisciplinary project in which ecclesiology, polity and church law, informed by the insights of political philosophy, serve the graced life of the Church in its worship, service and mission.
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Botha, C. J. "Die stand van die Gereformeerde kerkreg." Verbum et Ecclesia 14, no. 1 (1993): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v14i1.1271.
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The stance of Reformed church polityThe author deals with the resistance against the study of church polity and stresses its necessity. He sketches the development in Protestant church polity, and then investigates the fact that the confessions function as the paradigm for a particular church. The problem with the reformed confessions is that they are based on sixteenth century exegesis. Consequently there is a growing rift between church polity and the Biblical disciplines. He argues for a debate on the issue of the reformulation of the reformed confessions, and that Mt 28:18-20 be the Scriptural "sitz im leben" of church polity and not 1 Cor 14:40.
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Hofmeyr, J. W. "Kerkvereniging en Kerkreg: Geskiedenis, beginsel en praktyk." Verbum et Ecclesia 17, no. 2 (1996): 329–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v17i2.521.
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Church unity and church polity: History, principle and practice In this article the need for a clearer focus on the history, principles and practice of church polity in the process of church re-unijication is addressed. This is specijically focused on the process currently under way in the Dutch Reformed Church family. After an extensive discussion of issues pertaining to the history, principl~s and practice of church polity within this church family, it is concluded that the process of re-unijication need to be implemented with the necessary urgency, but also with patience.
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Faber, Ryan. "Dort, Doleantie and Church Order." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 6, no. 2 (2021): 235–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2020.v6n4.a10.
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This article attends to the relationship between minor and major assemblies as prescribed by the foundational principles of Reformed church polity proposed by Mary-Anne Plaatjies-Van Huffel. It reviews the limited autonomy of local congregations and the authority of broader assemblies in the Church Order of Dordrecht (1618/19), the touchstone of Dutch Reformed church polity. It considers the challenge to historic Reformed church polity posed by the ecclesiology of the Doleantie, a secession from the Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk (NHK) in 1886 under the leadership of Abraham Kuyper. Finally, it evaluates a contemporary church order (of the United Reformed Churches in North America), that explicitly codifies Doleantie ecclesiology. The church order fails to embody the principles of Reformed church polity set forth by Plaatjies-Van Huffel. This article concludes that it cannot be considered a Reformed church order.
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Koffeman, Leo J. "The Ecumenical Potential of Church Polity." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 17, no. 02 (2015): 182–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x15000058.
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This article is a reflection on Norman Doe's bookChristian Law: contemporary principles (2013)from a Protestant and Continental perspective. Against the background of the self-evident impact of ecumenical progress in terms of church polity, it explores the relation between ecumenism and church polity from the opposite perspective: can the academic discipline of church polity foster ecumenism, as Doe suggests in his statement that ‘whilst doctrines divide, laws link Christians in common action’? After stating that a more nuanced understanding of the concept of ‘normativity’ is of fundamental importance in this respect, the article then indicates the possible risk of an ideological use of church law. Five reasons are given as to why church polity often hampers rather than fosters ecumenical progress, even if traditional doctrinal issues have been resolved. Finally, the fundamental category of divine law is explored, and its impact on ecumenical progress.
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Afolaranmi, Adebayo Ola. "Conflict Resolution and the Autonomy of the Local Baptist Church: A Critical Review." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL PRACTICE 7, no. 1 (2023): 11–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.56201/ijrcp.v7.no1.2022.pg11.18.
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One peculiar distinctiveness of the Baptists is the autonomous status of a local Baptist church from other churches and even higher authorities of the religious denomination. This paper reviews this church polity in tandem with conflict resolution mechanisms in a local church. Semi- structured interviews were used to determine how the polity affects resolving conflicts in a local church. Some available documents and literatures are reviewed and analysed in relation to the autonomy of a local Nigerian Baptist church and conflict resolution mechanisms. It is discovered that while the church polity has its benefits, there are some impediments it has against smooth conflict resolution mechanisms in the local church. Therefore, it is recommended that the Nigerian Baptist Convention, as a faith-based organisation, and churches cooperating with it should revisit the principle of autonomy of a local church. Responsible and regulated autonomy should be considered as total autonomy of a local church can lead to disorder and anarchy in the organisation.
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Dupree, Patricia C. "Methodist Desegregation and Inclusion: Polity vs. Policy." Methodist History 60, no. 2 (2022): 236–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.5325/methodisthist.60.2.0236.
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ABSTRACT: The United Methodist Church did not officially desegregate until the birth of the new denomination in 1968. For years, despite their own denominational segregation, the stances and policies for the denomination were centered on welcoming all people, from all places and races. This discrepancy between policy, polity, and reality is explored in through the United Methodist denomination’s struggle from 1939 to 1972 to end segregation and to welcome and celebrate the diversity of Black Methodists.
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Bianchi, Eugene C. "Resources for a Democratic Catholic Church." Horizons 18, no. 2 (1991): 207–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0360966900025123.
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AbstractThis article explores sources in the Christian tradition that can be helpful for re-shaping present Roman Catholic ecclesial polity. The underlying theme is that the Catholic Church, in order to enhance efforts at church reform, needs to re-structure itself from a monarchical polity to a democratic one. A theological subtheme argues that the monarchical polity is not mandated by the gospel, but is rather a creature of history. Furthermore, the monarchical polity is a root cause obstructing reform in specific areas. By selecting loci from early church history to the present time, democratic movements and ideas are highlighted as constituting an important part of Catholic history. Certain of these loci have not yet been examined for their democratic potential. This democratic tradition can be a springboard for moving toward a democratic church in the twenty-first century.
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Paas, Stefan. "Boekbespreking: Church Polity, Mission and Unity." NTKR Tijdschrift voor Recht en Religie, no. 2020-2 (November 1, 2020): 233–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.7590/ntkr_2020_014.
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Boldon, Dean A. "Formal Church Polity and Ecumenical Activity." Sociological Analysis 49, no. 3 (1988): 293. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3711591.
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Bersnak, P. Bracy. "“Spirituals and Temporals”." Catholic Social Science Review 26 (2021): 99–111. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/cssr2021269.
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While Orestes Brownson’s works are the object of renewed interest, his writings on the relationship between Church and polity have received little notice. Some attention has been given to Brownson’s analysis of these issues in America, but little has been given to his views on Church and polity in Europe and the West more broadly. This article considers Brownson’s analysis of the history of Church-state relations in Europe to examine how it shaped his view of Church-state relations in the U.S. It then put Brownson in dialogue with subsequent Catholic debates in America about those relations down to the present.
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Strauss, P. J. "Die Bybel: Enigste bron vir gereformeerde kerkregtelike beginsels?" HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 45, no. 1 (1989): 79–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v45i1.5753.
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The Bible: Sole basis for Reformed church polity?Most scholars in the Reformed tradition claim that the Bible is the sole basis of their views on church polity. The author looks at the different ways the Bible is used by Reformed scholars in establishing church principles. He shows that other factors also play a part. Some of these factors are not recognized by those who use them; they are not necessarily wrong and need to be acknowledged and examined. These factors include confessions of faith, a viewpoint on what the church is, attitudes to society as a whole, and the scholar’s cosmological insights.
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Rampelt, Jason M. "Polity and liturgy in the philosophy of John Wallis." Notes and Records: the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 72, no. 4 (2018): 505–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2018.0027.
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John Wallis, a founding member of the Royal Society, theologian and churchman, participated in the leading ecclesiastical conferences in England from the beginning of the English Civil War to the Restoration. His allegiance across governments, both civil and ecclesiastical, has provoked criticism. Close investigation into his position on key church issues, however, reveals a deeper philosophical unity binding together his natural philosophy, mathematics and views on church polity and liturgy.
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Doe, Norman. "The Ecumenical Value of Comparative Church Law: Towards the Category of Christian Law." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 17, no. 02 (2015): 135–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x15000034.
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This study explores juridical aspects of the ecclesiology presented in the World Council of Churches' Faith and Order Commission Paper,The Church: Towards a Common Vision(2013). It does so in the context of systems of church law, order and polity in eight church families worldwide: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian and Baptist.Common Visiondoes not explicitly consider church law, order and polity or its role in ecumenism. However, many themes treated inCommon Visionsurface in church regulatory systems. This study examines how these instruments articulate the ecclesiology found inCommon Vision(which as such, de facto, offers juridical as well as theological principles), translate these into norms of conduct and, in turn, generate unity in common action across the church families. Juridical similarities indicate that the churches share common principles and that their existence suggests the category ‘Christian law’. While dogmas may divide the churches of global Christianity, the profound similarities between their norms of conduct reveal that the laws of the faithful, whatever their various denominational affiliations, link Christians through common forms of action. For this reason, comparative church law should have a greater profile in ecumenism today.1
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Laurence, Anne. "A Priesthood of She-believers: Women and Congregations in Mid-seventeenth-century England." Studies in Church History 27 (1990): 345–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s042420840001216x.
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This paper considers women’s participation in the congregations of Civil War and Interregnum England. In particular it is concerned with the idea of whether women sectaries in the 1640s and 1650s had a different idea of church polity from their brethren, or whether, within the confines of the sects, they continued to play the role traditionally assigned to women in Christianity: that of the spiritually inspired, the example of holiness rather than the leader. In short, did women even in the sects remain outside the church polity?
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Coleman, Stephen. "The Process of Appointment of Bishops in the Church of England: A Historical and Legal Critique." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 19, no. 2 (2017): 212–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x17000072.
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‘The manner of appointment [of bishops] reflects the delicate balance between the established nature of the Church of England and its autonomous self-governance.’ As with most matters of Church of England ecclesiology and polity, the process of the appointment of bishops in the Church of England is firmly rooted within the reforms of the sixteenth century, but has origins which stretch back to the mediaeval Church. This comment article focuses on the appointment of diocesan bishops in the Church of England.
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Buda, Daniel. "Second International Conference on Protestant Church Polity: Good Governance in Church and Society today." Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu 6, no. 2 (2014): 310–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ress-2014-0123.
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Mulder, Mark T. "Evangelical Church Polity and the Nuances of White Flight." Journal of Urban History 38, no. 1 (2012): 16–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0096144211420637.
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Baranenka, Viktar. "The сommissioners’ institution of the Renovationist schism: tasks, functions, activity peculiarities". St. Tikhons' University Review 113 (31 серпня 2023): 101–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturii2023113.101-113.
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This article attempts to give a comprehensive assessment of the process of creation, activity and liquidation of the commissioners’ institution in the system of church governing bodies of the Renovated Church in the 1920s and 1930s.Within the framework of the study, archival documents, materials from periodicals, and research were used, both by contemporaries of the events and by contemporary authors.The author draws attention to the fact that the founders of the new church institution viewed the commissioners’ institution as an opportunity to create a joint state-church apparatus.The tasks that were set before the newly formed church institution are indicated: the organization of the accelerated transfer of church power in the dioceses under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Church Polity, control of the bishops loyalty and the coordination of the activities of renovated groups. Particular attention is paid to the rights and obligations of the commissioners. The research highlights the main circumstances that determined the degree of effectiveness of this church polity institution. It is pointed out the repressive nature of the new church institution, created with the aim of seizing church power in the field and with the support of state bodies. The factors that determined the further existence of the commissioners’ institution and led to its liquidation are noted. A number of features in the functioning of the commissioners’ institution of the Renovated Church in a number of territories are considered, which was caused by the presence of separate ecclesiastical administrative units with a special ecclesiastical normative base. It is concluded that the commissioners’ institution in the field was in its essence a repressive body, which was aimed at eliminating opponents of Renovationism and the seizure of church power in the field.
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Luka Ariko Ekitala. "Relevance of the Reformed Church Polity Principles: An Analysis of the Constitution of the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA)." Editon Consortium Journal of Philosophy, Religion and Theological studies 1, no. 1 (2021): 27–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.51317/ecjprts.v1i1.243.
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This paper drawing to the foundations of both Presbyterian and Reformed church polity principles, evaluates the constitution of the Reformed Church in East Africa providing a proposed church order for the future of RCEA. The distinctiveness of church law is that it must also derive from the Bible what entails Christ’s will for His church and then implement it for contemporary times (Coertzen, 1998, p. 7). In Church and Order, A Reformed Perspective the principles of Reformed Church law and church government are exclusively and extensively treated as well as the historical development of Reformed church government and the practice of the subject as part of the theological curriculum.Presbyterianism negates that all church power vests in the clergy: that the apostolic office is perpetual, and that each individual Christian congregation is independent. It is upon this principle that RCEA was born having adopted the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in 1963 prompted by the government’s requirement to be registered as an organization. However, whether the Reformed Church in East Africa (RCEA) is Reformed or Presbyterian in its government is a question to be discerned.
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Dreyer, Wim A., and Jerry Pillay. "Historical Theology: Content, methodology and relevance." Verbum et Ecclesia 38, no. 4 (2017): 117. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v38i4.1680.
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In this contribution, the authors reflect on historical theology as theological discipline. The authors propose that historical theology be applied to different areas of research, namely prolegomena, history of the church, history of missions, history of theology, history of ecumenical theology or public theology and church polity. The point is made that historical theology, when properly structured and presented, could play a major role in enriching the theological and ecclesial conversation and in assisting the church in the process of reformation and transformation.
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Williams, Rowan. "Richard Hooker: The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity Revisited." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 8, no. 39 (2006): 382–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x00006682.
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Richard Hooker's book, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, is much more than a museum piece or a dissertation on how to run churches. It is a classic of doctrinal reflection, and is topically relevant. His main opponents at the time belonged to the militant Puritan wing of the English Church, and in answering them Hooker provides a still-rich line of thought. Theologically speaking, the most basic sense of law, for Hooker, is God's acceptance of the logic of a limited creation. A crucial concept is ‘compatible variety’, and this should be kept in mind when reading Hooker on the laws of nature, the laws of society, and the law that regulates the Church. Also of importance is the distinction between the unchangeable basics, in Church or state, and those laws that contribute to the maintenance of this or that particular society or Christian community. For Hooker, the mistake of his Puritan opponents was to think that the Bible is an exhaustive source of laws of both kinds. The Bible is neither a complete nor an incomplete law book. Law, as the form of compatible variety, is also the form in which God's ‘abundance’ is to be perceived and experienced. Outside the abiding truths about the sort of life God's life is and the dignity given to creatures, human intelligence and ingenuity and prudence have a wide remit. According to Hooker, the most basic rebellion is to refuse the limits that make compatible variety possible. Law assumes, then, that we do not ‘begin socially as a set of unrelated atoms, whether individuals, classes, races or interest groups. Our basic position is one of potential agents in a negotiation through which we discover our welfare, and discover something we do not know at the start. Key theological notions are creation and the Body of Christ.
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Binfield, Clyde. "The Bolton Prelude to Port Sunlight: W. H. Lever (1851–1925) as Patron and Paternalist." Studies in Church History 42 (2006): 383–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0424208400004095.
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Christ Church United Reformed Church (formerly Congregational), Port Sunlight, and St George’s United Reformed Church (formerly Congregational), Thornton Hough, do not spring to mind as Free Church buildings. There is scarcely one architectural respect in which either announces a Dissenting presence. Each conforms to nationally established tradition. Their quality, however, is as incontestable as it is incontestably derivative. Their role in their respective village-scapes is important, even dominant. As buildings, therefore, they are significant and perhaps suggestive, but do they say anything about ecclesiastical polity? The answer to that question illustrates the interaction between elite and popular religion in Edwardian English Protestant Nonconformity, for the polity to which these two churches give space is in fact successively congregational, Congregational, and Reformed. It is representative throughout but never democratic. Yet can any shade of Congregationalism truly develop in either a squire’s village or a manufacturer’s? And what might be deduced of the man who provided these buildings, created their villages, shaped their communities, and regarded himself lifelong as a Congregationalist even if a masonic lodge were the only fellowship to which he could statedly commit himself? These questions prompt this paper.
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McKinney, William, Dorothy C. Bass, and Kenneth B. Smith. "The United Church of Christ: Studies in Identity and Polity." Review of Religious Research 30, no. 1 (1988): 105. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3511860.
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Northcott, Michael S. "Parochial Ecology on St Briavels Common: Rebalancing the Local and the Universal in Anglican Ecclesiology and Practice." Journal of Anglican Studies 10, no. 1 (2011): 68–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1740355311000167.
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AbstractThe rise of the global market economy has advanced forms of centrist, corporatist and statist rule that are insensitive to local indicators that this novel social order is ecologically, and socially, unsustainable. For many political theologians, and for secular political ecologists, the related crises of species extinction and climate change, combined with structural economic crisis, require a fundamental relocalization of the global economy and of the harvesting of natural resources. The contest between the political economy of global ‘free’ trade and a relocalized economy and polity bears analogies with debates around the relation between the local and the universal in Christian ecclesiology. In the eucharistic body politics of Saint Paul Christian communion is focused in the eucharistic gathering. However, centrist tendencies in ecclesiastical polity emerged in fourth-century accounts of the universal church. The subsequent doctrine of the primacy of Peter gave a powerful push to centrist over localist accounts of the esse of the Church in the West, and the contest between local and universal in Anglican and Catholic ecclesiologies continues to this day. Orthodox theologians Zizioulas and Afanassieff, describe and fill out the doctrinal implications of a primitive ecclesiology in which ‘the eucharist makes the church’.2 This recovery of a local eucharistic ecclesiology offers valuable resources for thinking about the nature of communion between Anglicans in a Communion increasingly riven by controversy, and for thinking about the nature of the parish in a Church of England prone in the last forty years to centrist and managerial conceptions of the Church, and to the denigration of the local parish church as theesseof the ministry and mission of the Church in England.
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Selderhuis, Herman J. "Die Bedeutung der Reformation Luthers für die kirchenrechtliche Entwicklung in den Niederlanden." Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Kanonistische Abteilung 102, no. 1 (2016): 381–405. http://dx.doi.org/10.26498/zrgka-2016-0115.
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Abstract The Impact of Luther’s Reformation on the development of Church Law in the Netherlands. This essay describes how essential the specific history of the reformation in the Netherlands was for the developments of reformed church law in that country. The Dutch reformation was relatively late and was more Calvinistic than Lutheran. Calvin’s model of structuring the church, the essential effect of the refugee situation of many reformed believers and the fact that the revolt as well as the reformation were movements mainly ,from below‘, result in a church polity with the following characteristics: self-government of each individual congregation, active involvement of all church members, independence towards political authorities and a presbyterial-synodical church organisation. This church model was reached through a series of synodical meetings that started in the 1560ies and came to a conclusion at the Synod of Dordt in 1618/1619.
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Thompsett, Fredrica Harris. "Inquiring Minds Want to Know: A Lay Person's Perspective on the Proposed Anglican Covenant." Journal of Anglican Studies 10, no. 1 (2012): 42–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1740355312000010.
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AbstractBaptism is the sacrament that incorporates Christians into the Body of Christ; 99 percent of the church are laity. The proposed Anglican Covenant's emphasis on formal authority exercised by bishops and primates changes the relationships among all Anglicans, not just bishops. This change may run against a fundamental Anglican tradition of ongoing communal reflection that acknowledges that elements of church life change because they are no longer convenient or useful in particular locales. In adopting the Anglican Covenant, are we stating that traditional Anglican polity is no longer convenient or useful for the Provinces of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church?
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Koffeman, Leo J. "‘Ecclesia Reformata Semper Reformanda’ Church Renewal from a Reformed Perspective." Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu 7, no. 1 (2015): 8–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ress-2015-0002.
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Abstract With a view to the theme of Church renewal, this article explores the role of a wellknown and popular phrase in the Reformed tradition within Protestantism, i.e. ecclesia reformata semper reformanda (‘the reformed Church should always be reformed’). Is this a helpful slogan when considering the pros and cons, the possibilities and the limitations of Church renewal? First, the historical background of this phrase is described: it is rooted in the Dutch Reformed tradition, and only in the twentieth century was it widely recognized in Reformed circles. Against this background the hermeneutical problem, linked with the principle of sola Scriptura, is presented, and put into an ecumenical perspective: the Church as grounded in the gospel. Finally, the article focuses on Church polity as an important field of renewal, taking into account Karl Barth’s interpretation of this phrase. From this perspective, a balanced and ecumenical approach of Church renewal is possible.
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Lake, Peter. "William Bradshaw, Antichrist and the Community of the Godly." Journal of Ecclesiastical History 36, no. 4 (1985): 570–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022046900044006.
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Hatred of popery was hardly a puritan monopoly in late sixteenthand early seventeenth-century England. The conviction that the pope was Antichrist was something of a commonplace amongst Protestant Englishmen. Considerable attention has recently been paid to the terms in which the identification was established and asserted. The supposed link between such concerns and a ‘millenarian’ radicalism has quite rightly been challenged, most notably by Dr Bauckham. It remains true, of course, that sensitivity towards the extent and nature of the popish threat was a hallmark of puritanism. The consequences of this, however, were ambiguous. The conviction of the reality and pervasiveness of the popish threat undoubtedly prompted much of the puritan critique of the established Church. Certainly, the rhetoric of Antichrist played a crucial role in puritan denunciations of the corruptions of the English Church. But such denunciations drew much of their polemical force from the fact that the premise on which they were based – the antichristian nature of popery – was generally accepted by English Protestants. For the whole strength of the puritans’ case rested on their ability to present their position as but the logical extension to the area of church polity and ceremony of positions readily accepted in the realm of doctrine. Even the most committed Presbyterians accepted that the doctrine of the established Church was unequivocally Protestant. For the immediate polemical purposes of Presbyterians this provided a powerful argument for a parallel and equally thorough reformation of church polity and discipline. Taking a longer perspective and in the face of the threat from Rome, such considerations served to underline the ties of common interest and identity that bound puritans to the national Church.
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Holder, R. Ward, David W. Hall, and Joseph H. Hall. "Paradigms in Polity: Classic Readings in Reformed and Presbyterian Church Government." Sixteenth Century Journal 27, no. 2 (1996): 533. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2544179.
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Colton, Paul. "The Teaching of Church Law, Order and Polity in Ministerial Education." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 18, no. 1 (2015): 80–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x15000885.
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King, Benjamin J. "‘The Consent of the Faithful’ from 1 Clement to the Anglican Covenant." Journal of Anglican Studies 12, no. 1 (2012): 7–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s174035531200023x.
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AbstractThe origins of the term consensus fidelium lie in the rhetorical tropes of pagans who exhorted unity between friends and within cities – tropes supporting the hierarchy of imperial elites. The earliest Christians adapted this language for the same purpose within churches: to speak of unity and lay involvement in support of Church hierarchy. After the Reformation, Church of England writers used this rhetoric to enforce conformity to church polity and morality. The Tractarians and their successors employed a rhetorical ‘voice of the laity’ as a bolster for episcopal power. While the early twentieth century saw some in the Church of England and Anglican Communion use this same rhetoric to bring the laity into actual decision-making processes, the rhetoric of recent statements by the Communion has left power firmly with bishops.
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PERROTT, M. E. C. "Richard Hooker and the Problem of Authority in the Elizabethan Church." Journal of Ecclesiastical History 49, no. 1 (1998): 29–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022046997005654.
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In the spring of 1593 Richard Hooker published the first part of his work Of the laws of ecclesiastical polity which has come to be known as the most famous attempt to persuade Elizabethan Puritans to conform to the laws of the English Church. Hooker's writings have received more scholarly attention than those of any other contemporary church polemicist but no consensus has, as yet, been arrived at regarding the nature of his argument or the way in which his ideas addressed the major issues of Elizabethan church controversy. It is my intention in this essay to focus on these issues and thus provide some insight into the details of Hooker's theory of law and its broader significance as an argument relating to the legislative authority of the Church of England.
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Ossom-Batsa, George, and Godfred Nsiah. "Leadership and Morality in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13: Lessons for Contemporary Ghanaian Church Polity." Pan-African Journal of Theology 1, no. 1 (2022): 29–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.56893/pajot.2022-v1i1.143.
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Paul’s response to the issue of sexual immorality in the Corinthian community has attracted the attention of several biblical scholars. While some think that the judgment of Paul on the incestuous man in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 concerns the identity of the Christian community and moral responsibility, others argue that the focus is on the church’s response to immorality. The present study, on the other hand, through a literary critical analysis of the text, with close attention to its semantics and allusions, and an assessment of the material in the light of its social and historical background, establishes that the absence of a ‘functional leadership’ in the Corinthian Church in the absence of its founder, Paul, to provide an authoritative guide to members exacerbated their moral decadence. The paper concludes that contemporary Ghanaian church polity can learn participatory and shared leadership, which will foster group cohesion, promote the unity of purpose, and heal discord within Church communities.
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Walsh, Katherine. "One Church and Two Nations: a Uniquely Irish Phenomenon?" Studies in Church History. Subsidia 6 (1990): 81–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0143045900001198.
Full textAbstract:
The Reformation in the sixteenth century brought with it the complex and—for contemporary religious and political groupings—unacceptable phenomenon of religious plurality. In the Middle Ages citizenship as an independent concept scarcely existed, and tacit assumptions about the function of Church-State relations rested on the view that all inhabitants of the polity were members of the Christian respublica. There were, of course, some specific, necessary, and therefore tolerable exceptions, such as Jews in many, but not in all countries. Heretics and infidels, who did not conform to these specifications, were therefore regarded as legitimate targets for repression, even for physical violence, in the complex machinery of the Inquisition and in the ideology of the crusades. The Reformation brought about a reversal of this monolithic thinking about the nature of the Christian polity. Faced with plurality of religious ideas and organizations, various solutions were attempted. The earliest, and that which was to have the most widespread and long-lasting effect in pre-Enlightenment and pre-Emancipation Europe, was that formulated in the Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555). Here the decree of cuius regio, ejus religio—with a deliberate retrospect to the Emperor Constantine—guaranteed the continuation of the medieval principle, whereby the good and loyal citizen was one who conformed in religious as well as political sentiment with the ruling authority.
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Forster, Dion. "A state church? A consideration of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa in the light of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s ‘Theological position paper on state and church’." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 2, no. 1 (2016): 61. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2016.v2n1.a04.
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This article considers whether South Africa’s largest mainline Christian denomination, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, is in danger of embodying or propagating a contemporary form of ‘state theology’. The notion of state theology in the South African context gained prominence through the publication of the ‘Kairos Document’ (1985) – which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2015. State theology is deemed inappropriate and harmful to the identity and work of both the Christian church and the nation state. This article presents its consideration of whether the Methodist Church of Southern Africa is in danger of propagating ‘state theology’ in dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s important document, <i>Theological Position Paper on State and Church</i>. The article offers some insights into the complex relationship between the state and the church in South Africa in the apartheid and democratic eras. It further problematizes the relationship between the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and the governing African National Congress by citing some concerning examples of complicit behaviour from recent history. The MCSA’s polity and doctrine on church and state relationships are also considered before some critique and warning is offered in the light of Bonhoeffer’s <i>Theological Position Paper on State and Church</i>.
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Dugre, Neal T. "Repairing the Breach: Puritan Expansion, Commonwealth Formation, and the Origins of the United Colonies of New England, 1630–1643." New England Quarterly 91, no. 3 (2018): 382–417. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/tneq_a_00684.
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“Repairing the Breach” interprets the United Colonies of New England as a Puritan innovation in polity formation. Beginning in the 1630s, New England Puritans overcame the problem of expansion by reinforcing church and colony government with a confederation of neighbor colonies designed to make their commonwealth viable on a regional scale.
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Duncan, Graham, and Godfrey Msiska. "Emerging Ecumenical Church Polity, 1965–2010: Lessons from Efforts at Church Unity in Zambia." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 3 (2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/8214.
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This article explores an emerging ecumenical church polity in Zambia from a church historical perspective. While church polity and church unity literature has acknowledged the role of church polity and church unity in Zambia, and its use for ecclesiological purposes, the growing use of church polity and the efforts at church unity in the period 1965–2010 in Zambia, have remained unexamined. This article thus explores qualitatively how church polity and church unity were viewed in church legislation and official church documents of the United Church of Zambia (UCZ), the Anglican Church in Zambia (ACZ) and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in Zambia. The article observes that ecumenical church polity has indeed been developed in Zambia and lessons from efforts at church unity in Zambia can assist in developing ecumenical church polity. This is demonstrated by comparing the church legislation and by studying lessons from efforts at church unity within the ranks of the UCZ, ACZ and UPCSA, among other ways. The article therefore advances the argument that ecumenical church polity can be developed by comparing the church legislation provisions and by studying the lessons from efforts at church unity in Zambia. This article contributes to the field of church history, church polity and ecclesiology.
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Smit, Johannes. "The decline of reformed church polity in South Africa." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 52, no. 3 (2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v52i3.2309.
Full textAbstract:
Church polity in South Africa is one of the smaller theological disciplines. Different reasons for this position of the discipline maybe indicated as inter alia bad experiences with church polity with regard to church schisms, the influence of the Zeitgeist, and the lack of development in church polity in comparison to other theological disciplines. This article suggests that the impetus for the decline of reformed church polity should be found within the dominant collegialistic concept of church since the acceptance thereof in South Africa. The effect is a secularised view of the church with regard to its government, the office, the church and the church’s relationship with the state. It is suggested that a new discourse about the church and its polity should be initiated in South Africa to the benefit of the church and its polity, but also to that of the different fields which are involved with ecclesiology in various ways.
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Du Plooy, A. Le R. "Die grondslag en relevansie van die gereformeerde kerkreg as teologiese wetenskap." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 29, no. 1/2 (1995). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v29i1/2.1536.
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This article deals with the underlying methodological principles and relevance with regard to Reformed church polity and focuses on the following aspects: a definition of Reformed church polity; an identification and explanation of the sources and norms concerning church polity; the task and field of research. Furthermore, some important and fundamental elements or pillars on which Reformed church polity rests are examined. The principles discussed in this manner form the parameters for the study and development of Reformed church polity.
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Zgambo, Humphreys Frackson. "The challenge of hierarchical church polity in the Presbyterian Church in Malawi: A case of the CCAP Blantyre Synod." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 4, no. 1 (2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2018.v4n1.a23.
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Hierarchical church polity in the CCAP Blantyre Synod operates contrary to basic tenets of the Reformed tradition in Malawi. Hierarchical church government functions in the CCAP Blantyre Synod as a result of technical influences from European church government and method of evangelisation by the Scottish missionaries. The aim of the study is to investigate how the structures of the CCAP Blantyre Synod were established based on hierarchy, compromising the Reformed church tradition and how to restore this legitimate church polity in the synod. In Reformed church polity perspective, Christ is the Head who governs His church and the legitimate church polity must be rooted in the Scripture through the Spirit.
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Van Wyk, Barry J. "Kerkreg? Die plek van Kerkreg en Kerkregering." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 63, no. 2 (2007). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v63i2.215.
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Church polity? The position of church polity and church government
 
 It is generally accepted that John Calvin can be referred to as the founder of the presbyterial-synodal form of church government which is found in the Reformed Churches. It would therefore be appropriate to focus on his views and to indicate to what extent he influenced the notion that Jesus Christ is Head of the Church and Lord of the world. If it can once again be concluded that there is a close relation between Church, Confession and Church Ordinance, then it is quite evident that Church polity occupies a fundamental place in the Reformed Churches which must be treated with greater concern.
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Botha, S. J. "Kerkbegrip en kerkorde." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 51, no. 3 (1995). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v51i3.1432.
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Church and church order. This paper discusses the connection and relationship between church and church order within the context of the presbyterial-synodal system of church polity with a view to the rewriting of the church order of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika. This presbyterial-synodal system was build on the basic principles of Calvin's ecclesiology and corresponding church polity. These basic principles found its way to the confessions of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk.
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Smit, J. "Grense tussen kerk en staat vir die reëling van die predikantsdiens: gesien vanuit twee kerkregtradisies." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 43, no. 3 (2009). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v43i3.233.
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Boundaries for church and state regarding the regulation of the ministry of the Word: seen from two church polity traditions This article focuses on the boundaries for church and state with regard to the regulation of the ministry of the Word – seen from two independent church polity traditions. Until now the South African courts have not given an indication of how these boun- daries should be understood or how these apply within the South African context. The purpose of this article is not to make a judicial comparison. The purpose is to show that two indepen- dent church polity traditions, namely the German and the reformed, developed general principles for the boundaries of church and state with regard to the regulation of a minister’s position in law. In both traditions church polity is regarded sui generis, and recognises the church’s right to regulate a minister of religion’s position independently from the state. In conclusion it is found that the boundaries between church and state for the ministry of the Word are primarily determined by the principle that church and state should not in any way influence or interfere with one another's separate mandates or duties. The ministry of the Word is the responsibility of the church and not the state. Therefore the state does not have the competency to regulate the ministry of the Word.
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Botha, S. J. "Die belangrikheid van Kerkgeskiedenis en Kerkreg in die teologiese opleiding en vorming van studente." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 58, no. 4 (2002). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v58i4.708.
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The importance of Church History and Church Polity in the training and forming of theological studentsThe Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk always has always been adamant that its ministers should be trained and formed in a theological faculty at a recognized university, where all the disciplines of theology are lectured. At a recent Church synod, the importance of Church History was questioned. In this paper the argument that Church History is not just important in the curriculum of theology, but indeed indispensable, is put forward. As Church Polity forms part of the Department of Church History at the Faculty of Theology (University of Pretoria), it is also included in the argument.
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Resane, K. Thomas, and J. Buitendag. "The temptation of Realpolitik and vox populi in the ecclesiology of the Emerging Apostolic Churches with special reference to the fivefold ministry." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 64, no. 3 (2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v64i3.79.
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The Emerging Apostolic Churches do not have a uniform church polity since the power of governance is claimed to be with the fivefold ministers, while at the same time embracing either the Episcopal, Presbyterial, or Congregational church governments. The fivefold ministry is a generally accepted term that refers to the five ministries given by Christ to the Church to stand in unique spiritual offices, as found in Ephesians 4:11. This article tries to answer the question: “Are the Emerging Apostolic Churches ecclesiologically correct by centring the authority of governance in the fivefold ministers and the popular voices of the followers?” At the same time it is endeavored to argue that due to Biblical and theological grounds the fivefold ministry is untenable to church polity hence Realpolitik and vox populi dominating the ecclesiastical life and polity of the Emerging Apostolic Churches. The aim is to demonstrate that these two concepts (Realpolitik and vox populi) play a significant part in shaping the church polity and structures of this ecclesiastical phenomenon.
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Maseko, Xolani, and Wim A. Dreyer. "Ecclesiological Renewal for a Relevant Ministry and Church Polity, with reference to UCCSA and UPCSA in Zimbabwe." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 47, no. 1 (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/8373.
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This article is a critique of Reformed Ecclesiology, particularly as regarding ministry and church polity. It is argued herein that a static ecclesiology results in church ministry that is seemingly deficient in responding to the context. This is seen in the current church polities and ways in which different denominations explain and carry out their ministry in the face of the new religious environment of the 21st century. This critique demands imperatives from the church, especially now in the advent of the emerging church, virtual ministry and such pandemics as Covid-19. The church cannot afford to remain ambivalent; her relevance is at stake. This article deals with Reformed Ecclesiology and polity in the context of Zimbabwe, with a special focus on the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in Zimbabwe. These two denominations are in a “prolonged” engagement for church unity. From a strategic perspective, a possible ecclesiology will be proposed that can facilitate this renewal in the context of a Calvinistic ecclesiology. It is argued that a change in ecclesiology will result in a refined church ministry and polity. This is done by investigating the “church as epiphany.”
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Viljoen, F. P. "Die kerk en geregtigheid in die Matteusevangelie." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 43, no. 3 (2009). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v43i3.241.
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The church and righteousness in the Matthean gospel In his academic and ecclesiastical work Prof. A. le R. du Plooy constantly urged that church polity should be executed in such a manner that the church is built intensively and extensively. As a tribute to this respected colleague I examine the teaching in Matthew’s Gospel (frequently called the ecclesiastical Gospel) on the nature and functioning of the church and how it should execute righteousness. I indicate how Du Plooy’s approach to church polity complies with the first Gospel’s teaching on the church and righteousness. I argue that a better understanding of Matthew’s teaching will enrich the current church in its practice of righteousness.
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Botha, S. J. "Belydenis in kerkregtelike verband met besondere verwysing na die konsep Kerkorde 1997, Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 53, no. 4 (1997). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v53i4.1793.
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Confession in the context of ecclesiastical polity with special reference to the concept Church Ordinance 1997, Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika. In essence the question under discussion is about the functioning of the confession in church polity and how it is phrased in the concept Church Ordinance (1997) of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika. This logically brings the very difficult question of doctrinal discipline up for discussion. The paper starts with a few remarks on the relation between scripture, confession and church polity. The tradition, forming the background of the concept, is traced from the time of the Reformation. After a short discussion on how doctrinal discipline was seen and put into practice in the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika, final remarks are made on how this matter is handled in the concept.
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Du Plooy, Andries Le Roux. "Die hermeneutiek van gereformeerde kerkreg." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 46, no. 1 (2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v46i1.36.
Full textAbstract:
Die artikel het op die belangrikheid en noodsaaklikheid van ‘n hermeneutiek vir die gereformeerde kerkreg gefokus. Die kerkregtelike dokument wat besonderlik ter sake was, is die kerkorde van die Gereformeerde kerke in Suid-Afrika, met sy besondere band met die Dordtse kerkorde van 1618 en 1619. Agtereenvolgens is aandag gegee aan die volgende aspekte soos (1) die eiesoortige aard van ‘n kerkorde as ‘n teologiese dokument en teks, in onderskeiding van regsdokumente; (2) die aard van die hermeneutiek van kerkreg; (3) enkele teorieë oor die interpretasie of uitleg van tekste, veral regstekste en (4) normatiewe vooronderstellings en reëls vir die interpretasie en verstaan van die teks en artikels van die kerkorde asook besluite van kerklike vergaderinge. Die gevolgtrekking was dat weinig indringende navorsing gedoen is oor die saak van hermeneutiek vir kerkreg, hoewel dit noodsaaklik is. Duidelike hermeneutiese reëls is gesuggereer en verduidelik, wat sou kon meehelp dat kerke en kerklike vergaderinge die artikels van die kerkorde asook besluite en reglemente wat daarop berus het, kan interpreteer en toepas.The hermeneutics of reformed church polity. The article focused on the importance and urgency of a design for reformed hermeneutics on church polity. The Church Order referred to in the article is the Church Order of the Reformed Churches in South Africa, which are closely related to the Church Order of Dordt of 1618 and 1619. The following aspects received attention namely (1) the unique character of a Church Order, in comparison to and distinguished from legal documents and statutes; (2) the character and nature of hermeneutics of church polity; (3) theories of interpretation in the common law tradition and their relevance to church polity and (4) normative presuppositions and marks for the interpretation and understanding of the text and articles of the Church Order, as well as the resolutions of church assemblies. It was found that minimum research has been done on the topic of hermeneutics for reformed church polity. This contribution was an effort to suggest and explain a number of hermeneutical principles and guidelines, which may serve and encourage churches and assemblies to interpret, utilise and apply the Church Order in an adequate and responsible way.