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569
b. The officers’ induction into office. There are especially two rites connected with this:
(1) Ordination.
This presupposes the calling and examination of the candidate for office. It is an
act of the classis or the presbytery (I Tim. 4:14). Says Dr. Hodge: “Ordination is the solemn
expression of the judgment of the Church, by those appointed to deliver such judgment, that
the candidate is truly called of God to take part in this ministry, thereby authenticating to the
people the divine call.”[Church Polity, p. 349.] This authentication is, under all ordinary
circumstances, the necessary condition for the exercise of the ministerial office. It may briefly
be called a public acknowledgement and confirmation of the candidate’s calling to this office.
(2) Laying on of hands.
Ordination is accompanied with the laying on of hands. Clearly, the two
went hand in hand in apostolic times, Acts 6:6; 13:3; I Tim. 4:14; 5:22. In those early days the
laying on of hands evidently implied two things: it signified that a person was set aside for a
certain office, and that some special spiritual gift was conferred upon him. The Church of Rome
is of the opinion that these two elements are still included in the laying on of hands, that it
actually confers some spiritual grace upon the recipient, and therefore ascribes to it
sacramental significance. Protestants maintain, however, that it is merely a symbolical
indication of the fact that one is set aside for the ministerial office in the Church. While they
regard it as a Scriptural rite and as one that is entirely appropriate, they do not regard it as
absolutely essential. The Presbyterian Church makes it optional.
D. THE ECCLESIASTICAL ASSEMBLIES.
1. THE GOVERNING BODIES (CHURCH COURTS) IN THE REFORMED SYSTEM.
Reformed Church
government is characterized by a system of ecclesiastical assemblies in an ascending or a
descending scale, according to the point of view from which they are considered. These are the
consistory (session), the classis (presbytery), the synod(s), and (in some cases) the general
assembly. The consistory consists of the minister (or, ministers) and the elders of the local
church. The classis is composed of one minister and one elder of each local church within a
certain district. This is somewhat different in the Presbyterian Church, however, where the
presbytery includes all the ministers within its boundaries, and one elder from each of its
congregations. The synod, again, consists of an equal number of ministers and elders from each
classis or presbytery. And, finally, the general assembly is (in the case of the Presbyterians)
composed of an equal delegation of ministers and elders from each of the presbyteries, and
not, as might be expected, from each of the particular synods.
2. THE REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH AND ITS RELATIVE
AUTONOMY.