Office Bearers

GS 1968 ARTICLE 109

Committee II on Colloquium Doctum presents:

I.  Materials:

  • 1. Overture of the Church at Cloverdale, B.C., III, 11;
  • 2. Overture of the Church at Barrhead, Alta, III, 16;
  • 3. Overture of the Church at Winnipeg, Man., III, 30.

II. Observations:

The material constitutes an appeal against a decision made by the General Synod of Edmonton 1965, Acts Art. 39,B,46.

  • a. The appeal is based on the assertion that no request from any of the Churches or assemblies was submitted to Synod for this pronouncement.
  • b. It is further asserted that it is in conflict with the adopted rules for correspon­dence with foreign churches (Synod 1958, Art.56,2; Synod 1962, Art. 139,D).
  • c. And finally that General Synod 1965 did not state the reason for a col­ loquium doctum, nor did it set a standard which is to be met.

III.  Re: Observation a.

1. Considerations:

  • General Synod 1965 had to deal with two requests to establish “general ordinances” with respect to the calling of a minister from outside the Canadian Reformed Churches and from outside the Churches with which correspondence is maintained.
  • Art. 5 of the Church Order states in connection with the calling of ministers from outside the Canadian Reformed Churches that this shall be done “with due observance .. of the general ecclesiastical ordinances for the eligibility of those who have served outside the Canadian Reformed Churches”. It does not differentiate between Churches with which correspondence is maintained and others.
  • That Synod 1965 made a distinction between the two categories of ministers here, is in line with the character of correspondence with foreign churches.

2. Conclusion:

  • Synod 1965 acted within its province and within the bonds of the Church Order when making a pronouncement also with respect to the eligibility of ministers from foreign churches with which correspondence is maintained, now that requests to establish general ordinances were on its table.

IV. Re: Observations b. and c.

1. Observations:

  • To the rule referred to in the overture of the Church at Cloverdale (General Synod 1958, Art. 56,2) another rule was added by General Synod 1962, which combined the two (see Acts. Art. 139,d). It now reads, “To accept each other’s attestations and to admit each other’s ministers to conduct Church services, to preach the Word, and to administer the sacraments”. The Church at Cloverdale refers to the first point, the Church at Barrhead to the latter.

2. Considerations:

  • While this latter part deals with the admittance of each other’s ministers to conduct Church services, it does not state anything regarding the eligibility of a minister from foreign churches for, and their admittance into, the ministry of the Canadian Reformed Churches.
  • The overture of the Church at Cloverdale points out that Synod 1965 did not state the reason why a minister called from foreign churches with which correspondence is maintained has to submit to a colloquium doctum dealing especially with the Reformed doctrine and Church polity, nor set a standard which is to be met. From the questions IIIa and Illb in this overture it appears that the Consistory is thinking of some sort of an academic examina­ tion. It is to be admitted that the word “doctum” is misleading in this respect and it would have been better if Synod 1965 had employed the word “colloquium” alone, which is an adequate description of the examination introduced by Synod 1965.
  • With respect to the acceptance of each other’s attestations it is to be remarked that the admittance of a minister from foreign churches into the ministry of the Canadian Reformed Churches is entirely different from accepting members of foreign churches into the community of the Church on the basis of an attestation.
  • The Canadian Reformed Churches do not have, nor have they ever had, any control over the training of ministers in foreign churches or over their admission into the ministry of those churches. Therefore Synod 1965 does not question attestations from foreign churches on the basis of which their members are received into the community of the Canadian Reformed Churches. It merely established a means for the Churches to ascertain prior to admittance of a minister from foreign churches to the ministry of the Canadian Reformed Churches whether he adheres to the reformed doctrine and Church polity.

3. Conclusion:

  • By establishing the rule that ministers from foreign churches with which correspondence is maintained shall have to submit to a colloquium doctum prior to admittance into the ministry of the Canadian Reformed Churches as part of the general ordinances mentioned in Art. 5 of the Church Order, Synod 1965 did not come into conflict with the adopted rules for correspon­dence with foreign churches.

V. Recommendations:

  • a. Synod decide not to comply with the requests of the Churches at Barrhead, Cloverdale, and Winnipeg to abrogate the decision of General Synod of Edmonton 1965, Art. 14 B.
  • b. Synod decide, in order to prevent misunderstanding, to delete the word “doctum”.

ADOPTED