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Resources - Leadership
March 2005
Liberty & Order
Understanding the Church Order as a
Liberating Missional Tool
Rev. G. van Schie
A Voluntary Mutual Bond of Fellowship
Frank Sinatra’s big hit ‘My Way’ remains a popular song today. It celebrates the ‘gung ho’ toughness that exudes the ‘can do’ attitude of the individual who depends only on himself to break through and succeed. One verse is a good example of this..
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way!
In today’s world which highly values individualism, denominationalism has come very much under attack. The temptation is for churches to break free from perceived shackles and do get on with the job ‘their own way’.
The beauty of the Church Order is that it strikes a balance between ‘regulation’ and ‘freedom’. To put more emphasis on the side of either regulation or freedom has proven in the past to have destructive consequences in the CRCA. It seems the balance the Church Order sets out for the churches has proven in the past to be just right. The pity is, it is not a balance that is either well understood or appreciated. So let’s have a look at the preamble of the Church Order and see how this balance assists the churches to stay on course, avoiding the pitfalls, the consequences of which tie the church up in destructive conflict to the neglect of reaching the lost for Christ.
In the preamble of the Church Order we are informed that the Church Order is regulative. This already turns some people off who feel that to be a collar round the neck – a hindrance to moving ahead in our local missions.
The Church Order is regulative. By means of the Church Order the denomination not only guides but regulates its ecclesiastical organization and activities and by virtue of common agreement it is binding upon the churches and its members. Office bearers are committed to uphold and follow the Church Order. [Church Order Preamble 3.1]
At the Synod of 1997 where much healing took place after destructive controversy over a number of years, the 97 Report made it clear that there were varying interpretations within the churches regarding the binding nature of the Church Order. Following discussion, Synod reaffirmed that “office bearers are bound to uphold and follow the Church Order” (Acts of Synod, Art. 24.2).
The important thing to note is how this regulation has come about. The preamble states: “… by virtue of common agreement it is binding upon the churches.” Any notion that the Church Order is a restraint thrust upon the churches from some ‘higher court’ is wrong. Even to suggest that it is an old rule that has lost its relevance ignores the fact that this was unanimously reaffirmed at the Synod of 2003.
As churches we need to be honest in our relationships with one another and that includes rightly perceiving and portraying to others what the Church Order is and how it should live in our churches.
Next time we look at how this regulation works while at the same time respecting the freedom of the local churches.
Exploring the Issue Further
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Discuss how you personally react to the phrases ‘the Church Order is regulative’ and ‘Office bearers are bound to uphold the Church Order’.
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Up to this time what has been your understanding of how the Church Order is a regulative document. To what extent have you appreciated the fact that it is so by ‘common agreement’.
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Should a local church feel the Church Order is restrictive and it desires to follow a different path. What would be the godly path to follow given that by common agreement the churches have bound themselves to uphold the Church Order?
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Looking up past denominational yearbooks, what history does the CRCA have of churches that have struck out on their own and what lessons can we derive from this as to:
a) Churches breaking away to do things their own way
b) The way the Church Order is viewed as a ‘law book’ rather than a map to avoid ‘land mines’. -
Read the Form of Subscription for Office Bearers and answer the following.
To what extent is an office bearer bound to uphold the Church Order?
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