Church Government
Believing that the government of the church must be regulated by the Bible, the Canadian Reformed Churches practice a traditionally Reformed "bottom-up" polity, as opposed to a "top-down" model of church government. This approach to church polity reflects their continental Reformed roots. It is both anti-hierarchical and anti-independent, promoting both the autonomy of the local church and the need to cooperate within a federation. For example, the question of whether or not women should be allowed to vote in church matters is a question that is left to be answered at the local level. Although women may vote in some churches, they are still unable to hold office on councils or represent their churches at a synod level.
The government of the Canadian Reformed Churches is described in a church order based on the church order adopted by the Synod of Dort (1618–1619). The federation is divided into eight classical regions, with two annual regional synods and a general synod every three years.
Read more about this topic: Canadian And American Reformed Churches
Famous quotes containing the words church and/or government:
“In church your grandsire cut his throat;
To do the job too long he tarried:
He should have had my hearty vote
To cut his throat before he married.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“If there was twenty ways of telling the truth and only one way of telling a lie, the Government would find it out. It’s in the nature of governments to tell lies.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)