30 Nov GS 1986 art 105

Posted at 13:27h in CanRC, GS 1986 by

GS 1986 ARTICLE 105

Re Articles 44 and 46, Church Order

Committee 3 presents:

A.    MATERIAL

– Agenda VIII, F, 3 Request of Classis Alberta/Manitoba held October 23/24, 1985, to amend Art’s 44 and 46, Church Order.

B.    OBSERVATIONS

  • 1.     Classis Alberta/Manitoba of October  23/24, 1985, proposes to insert in Articles 44 and 46 of the Church Order the clause, “unless great distances render this inadvisable.”
  • 2.     Classis Alberta/Manitoba writes, “Ever since the churches in Classis Alberta/Manitoba have been instituted there have never been held more than two classes in one year.”
  • The main reason for this was “the great distances to be travelled by the delegates” and the cost associated with it.
  • 3.     Classis Alberta/Manitoba states that “the Provision made in Article 44, ‘Such meetings shall be held at least once in three months, unless the convening church, in consultation with the neighbouring church, concludes that no mat­ters have been sent in by the churches which would warrant the convening of a Classis,’ does not apply to our situation since this provision deals with lack of material for the agenda rather than with geographical considerations.”
  • 4.     Classis Alberta/Manitoba does not adduce any grounds for their proposal to amend Article 46, C.O.
  • 5.     The 1983 Cloverdale Synod, in considering the clause “unless great distances renders this inadvisable,” is of the opinion that “the danger is there that this clause might be used as an excuse not to conduct church visitation,” (Acts, Art. 91, C, p. 63).

C.   CONSIDERATIONS

  • 1.    Article 44, C.O., specifies that a classis shall be held every three months. It allows, however, a convening church, in consultation with the neighbouring church, to cancel every other classis, provided they have concluded “that no matters have been sent by the churches which would warrant the convening of a Classis.”
  • 2.    Decisions on important matters should not be delayed merely because of great distances and travelling expenses involved.
  • 3.    Article 44, if applied properly by the churches of the classical district Alber­ta/Manitoba, does not compel the churches to convene a classis more often than is their present practice .
  • 4.    Classis Alberta/Manitoba does not refute the arguments of the 1983 Cloverdale Synod and does not prove the need of amending Article 46, C.O.

D.    RECOMMENDATION

Synod decide:

  • Not to accede to the request of Classis Alberta/Manitoba held on October 23/24, 1985.

The recommendation is ADOPTED .

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