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Library Resources: Church Polity (3307)

  • Acts of General Synods of the Canadian Reformed Churches
    • 1954 Carman, MB (Dutch and English)
    • 1958 Homewood-Carman, MB (Dutch)
    • 1962 Hamilton, ON (Dutch, with English summary)
    • 1965 Edmonton, AB (Dutch, with English summary)
    • 1968 Orangeville, ON (English, as are all thereafter)
    • 1971 New Westminster, BC
    • 1974 Toronto, ON
    • 1977 Coaldale, AB
    • 1980 Smithville, ON
    • 1983 Cloverdale, BC
    • 1986 Burlington, ON
    • 1989 Winnipeg, MB
    • 1992 Lincoln, ON
    • 1995 Abbotsford, BC
    • 1998 Fergus, ON
    • 2001 Neerlandia, AB
    • 2004 Chatham, ON
    • 2007 Smithers, BC
    • 2010 Burlington, ON
    • 2013 Carman, MB
  • Biesterveld, P. and H. H. Kuyper. Ecclesiastical Manual, including The Decisions of the Netherlands Synods and Other Significant Matters Relating to the Government of the Churches. Trans. and ed. Richard A. de Ridder. Grand Rapids: Calvin Theological Seminary, 1982.
    • a privately published translation of a key 19th c. resource on the early Dutch Synods
  • Boekestein, William, and Daniel R. Hyde. A Well-Ordered Church: Laying a Solid Foundation for a Vibrant Church. Darlington: EP Books, forthcoming, 2015.
    • Explains the foundational statements found at the head of the PJCO
    • Provides the basics of ecclesiology (I thank the authors for an advance copy)
  • The Book of Church Order of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 2011 edition. Download freely athttp://opc.org/BCO/BCO_2011.pdf.
    • Church Order of the OPC
  • Book of Praise: Anglo-Genevan Psalter (APV). Winnipeg: Premier Printing, 2011, pp. 629–41.
    • The Church Order of the Canadian Reformed Churches
  • Bouwman, Clarence. Spiritual Order for the Church. Winnipeg: Premier, 2000.
    • Examines the biblical foundations of the various articles of the church order, following the arrangement of the Church Order of the Free Reformed Churches of Australia
  • Coertzen, Pieter. “Decently and In Order: A Theological Reflection on Order for, and the Order in, the Church. Leuven: Peeters, 2004.
    • A fine scholarly work on church law and church government, approached from the Reformed perspective
    • Valuable historical study combined with careful delineation of the normative role of Scripture and the Confessions vis à vis the Church Order
    • Not only deeply familiar with the Dutch and South African situations but also well aware of other contemporary approaches to church law
  • De Gier, K. An Explanation of the Church Order of Dort of 1618-1619. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 1995 [earlier printing 1974].
    • A longer and reliable explanation of the Church Order
  • De Jong Jack, ed., Bound yet Free. Winnipeg: Premier, 1995.
    • See also the Book Review in Clarion, vol. 47, 1998, 240–41, 260–62
    • These readings mostly stem from the time of the 1944 Liberation. As such, they carefully delineate the nature of the authority of the broader assemblies in Reformed churches.
  • de Ridder, Richard R. A Survey of the Sources of Reformed Church Polity and the Form of Government of the Christian Reformed Church in America: Syllabus, Organization of Church for Ministry. Grand Rapids: Calvin Theological Seminary, 1983.
    • de Ridder’s syllabus for teaching church polity at CTS
  • de Ridder, Richard A., trans. and ed. The Church Orders of the Sixteenth Century Reformed Churches of the Netherlands Together With Their Social, Political, and Ecclesiastical Context. Grand Rapids: Calvin Theological Seminary, 1987.
    • mainly a translation of C. Hooijer’s Oude Kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche Gemeente (1563–1638)
  • Deddens, Karel, and G. Van Rongen. Decently and in Good Order.Winnipeg, Premier, 1986.
    • Brief commentary on the CanRC Church Order
  • Hall, David W., ed. Ius Divinum Regiminis Ecclesiastici, or, The Divine Right of Church-Government. Dallas: Naphtali Press, 1995.
    • This edition is based on that of 1646, with an introduction by David Hall
    • The authors argue for the biblical basis of the authority of church government as vested in ordained elders and distinct from civil government.
    • A defense is made of the peculiar nature of the higher authority of the broader assemblies in the Presbyterian system.
  • Hall, David W., and Joseph H. Hall. Paradigms in Polity: Classic Readings in Reformed and Presbyterian Church Government. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994.
    • This work could easily serve as a textbook in church polity, strongly slanted towards the history of church polity
    • Many key primary sources are provided along with a couple of introductory essays and a closing bibliographical essay which is very helpful for more advanced scholars
  • Hatch, Edwin. The Organization of the Early Christian Churches. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1999.
    • Reprint of a work from 1880
  • Janssen, Roelf C. “By this our subscription: Confessional Subscription in the Dutch Reformed Tradition since 1816.” Ph.D. dissertation: Theological University of Kampen, 2009.
    • The title speaks for itself; a study of subscription to the confessions, suitable for advanced scholars
  • Proposed Joint Church Order 2012. The professor will supply copies, and we will especially study the foundational statements listed at the outset.
    • This Church Order has not been adopted by any churches but has been proposed as suitable for a united federation of URCNA and CanRCs.
  • Ryken, Philip. City on a Hill: Reclaiming the Biblical Pattern for the Church in the 21st Century. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2003.
    • Urges the church to maintain the calling to preach Christ rather than accommodate itself to the culture
  • Schweizer, Eduard. Church Order in the New Testament. Trans. Frank Clark. London: SCM, 1959.
    • Studies the view of the church as evidenced by the various authors of the New Testament and concludes that the church never lives without order; the guidance of the Spirit and formal order are not mutually exclusive
  • Shaver, J. L. The Polity of the Churches. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1961.
    • Multiple editions are available
    • Provides a collection of decisions of Christian Reformed Synods, collated by topic
    • Also contains documents such as guidelines for church visitation and rules for synodical procedures
  • Speelman, Herman J. Calvin and the Independence of the Church. Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 2014.
    • Speelman rightly challenges scholarship that appeals to Calvin as the fountainhead of the clear division between church and state. In fact, the Geneva consistory was a committee of the city council, following the example of the canton of Bern.
    • The French Reformed churches form the truer source of a church federation in which each church is of equal authority and the churches endeavor to be free of state oversight.
    • The Dutch Reformed followed the French Reformed in these matters of church polity, rather than following the Genevans.
  • Toon, Peter, et. al. Who Runs the Church: 4 Views on Church Government. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004.
    • The four views are (1) Episcopelian/Anglican/Erastian; (2) Presybterianism; (3) Single-Elder Congregationalism; (4) Plural-Elder Congregationalism.
  • Van Dellen, Idzerd, and Martin Monsma, The Church Order Commentary Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1941 (1st ed.), 1949 (2nd ed.), 1954 (3rd ed.).
    • An excellent commentary on the Church Order of Dort; the best available in English
    • Both practical and historical
  • Van Lieburg, Fred. “Re-understanding the Dort Church Order in Its Dutch Political, Ecclesiastical and Cultural Context.” InProtestant Church Polity in Changing Contexts I. Ed. Allan J. Janssen and Leo J. Koffeman. Zurich: LIT Verlag, 2014.
    • Reviews the relationship of the Synod of Dort 1618–1619 to the civil authorities of the States General and the Dutch provinces to show that the Church Order of Dort was intended to be a national order as part of a Reformed state church
    • We are ordering this work for the CRTS library.
  • Van Oene, W.W.J., With Common Consent. Winnipeg: Premier, 1991
    • Comments on all of the Church Order of the CanRCs, as adopted in 1983.
    • Emphasizes the nature of a Church Order as an agreement by which the churches promise to abide, they having entered into this agreement by common consent.
  • http://www.kerkrecht.nl
    • If you are familiar with the Dutch language the website kerkrecht.nl provides valuable material. This website was set up and is maintained by Dr. M. te Velde, professor at the Theological University in Kampen, The Netherlands.