14 Feb GS 1977 art 54

Posted at 14:26h in CanRC, GS 1977 by

GS 1977 ARTICLE 54 – Article 70, Church Order Committee III presents:

Material

–  Agenda 8, J, 1 

–  A Letter of the Church at Edmonton, re: Article 70, Church Order.

Observations

  • 1.  Edmonton proposes the following formulation for Article 70, Church Order:
    • “The Ministers are authorized to solemnize marriages according to the Form in use for that purpose, and they shall seek to be registered as such by the Civil Authorities. The solemnization of marriages shall take place in a public gather­ing for that purpose. Whether this public gathering will be an official worship service is left in the freedom of the Churches.”
  • 2. As reason for this new Article, Edmonton states that churches who do not observe Article 70, Church Order, now cannot give formal authorization for ministers to be registered by the government.
  • 3. Synod 1974 (Acts, Article 49) decided not “to accede to the proposal of the Church at Hamilton” to reinstate the original Article 70, Church Order, and also decided,
    • “b. to instruct the Committee on the Revision of the Church Order to include in their revision of the Church Order such a draft of Article 70 that therein the main thrust of the proposal of the Church at Hamilton is assimilated, namely, that the members of the Church marry ‘in the Lord’ and that the office-bearers are to see to it that they do so.”

Considerations

  • 1.  Articles of the Church Order must be of a general nature and applicable to all the churches. These must be well distinguished from specific ecclesiastical decisions (cf. Korte Verklaring van de Kerkenordening, Joh. Jansen, 1923, Inleiding: Wezen van het Kerkrecht).
  • 2. Edmonton refers to proposals of the Provincial Government to change the Mar­riage Act of Alberta. Since the solemnization of marriages is regulated provin­cially, it is difficult to make one common rule which applies to all the churches in the various provinces.
  • 3. The clause, “and they shall seek to be registered as such by the Civil Authorities,” should not be included in a church order, since this is up to the consistories, minis­ters, and governments.
  • 4. There is also no need to incorporate authorization to be registered in an Article of the Church Order. The required authorization by the Church for governmental purposes can be given, e.g., in an official governmental form or a letter from the consistory.
  • 5. The clause, “the Ministers are authorized to solemnize marriages … ,”lies open to two interpretations. It can refer to what Edmonton mentions, namely, that a minister needs ecclesiastical authorization in order to be registered by the govern­ment. It can also mean that ministers are the principal persons concerned in the solemnization of marriages. If the former interpretation is meant, then the fact that the consistories authorize the ministers to solemnize marriages in accordance with local regulations receives no attention and the primary position of the consistory does not come to the fore.
  • 6. The phrase, “public gathering,” is too general and too vague.
  • 7. The sentence, “Whether this public gathering will be an official worship service is left in the freedom of the Churches,” is thus in agreement with a previous decision (see Observation 3).
  • 8. Edmonton’s formulation does not incorporate the decision of Synod of 1974 (see Observation 3) “that the members of the Church marry ‘in the Lord’ and that the office-bearers are to see to it that they do so.”
  • 9. Further, the Committee for the Revision of the Church Order should have the op­portunity to bring a proposal on this before Synod adopts one, unless urgency for­bids this.

Recommendations

Synod decide,

  • a. not to adopt Edmonton’s proposed text for Article 70, Church Order.
  • b. to instruct the Committee on the Revision of the Church Order to take note of this decision. 

REJECTED

The following motion, duly seconded, is discussed:

Synod having taken note of the letter of the Church at Edmonton, re: Article 70, Church Order, decides to pass this letter on to the Committee on the Revision of the Church Order.

ADOPTED

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