Ecclesiastical Ordinances
The Ecclesiastical Ordinances were the foundational laws introduced by John Calvin in Geneva in 1541 to organize the structure and discipline of the Reformed church.[1] This had been requested by the Genevan authorities after he had been called back from exile, and were strongly influenced by his stay in Martin Bucer's Strasbourg.[2] They defined four church ministries — pastors, doctors, elders, and deacons — and established the Company of Pastors and the Consistory to regulate doctrine, morality, and church governance in cooperation with the civil authorities in the city council. [3]
Calvin insisted on the Ordinances being accepted as a condition of his return to Geneva.[4] They were revised in 1561.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Kingdon 2003.
- ^ MacCulloch 2009, pp. 632–633.
- ^ "The ecclesiastical ordinances (1541)". Musée virtuel du protestantisme. Musée protestant. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
- ^ "Ecclesiastical Ordinances (1541)". Luther Seminary.
- ^ Schaff 1910.
Bibliography
[edit]- Kingdon, Robert M (2003). "CALVIN, JOHN (1509–1564)" (PDF). In Hillerbrand, Hans (ed.). Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Routledge. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-12-28.
- MacCulloch, Diarmaid (2009). A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9869-6.
- Schaff, Philip (1910). "105. The Venerable Company and the Consistory.". History of the Christian Church, Volume VIII: Modern Christianity. The Swiss Reformation. Charles Scribner's Sons.
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