AP

The Vows of Office – Worship and Government

This is a further instalment in a series on the vows of Presbyterian Church of Australia ministers and elders. For the earlier articles see https://ap.org.au/category/ministry/

A distinctive belief of Presbyterian and Reformed churches is that God, in Scripture, defines church life, as well as defining right belief (doctrine) and right behaviour (ethics). This nests within core reformed convictions that God saves, rules and speaks.

So, it is no surprise that Presbyterian leaders are expected to commit to a particular church order in their vows of office.

It reads like this for the Presbyterian Church of Australia:

(iii)     Do you own and accept the purity of worship as practised in this Church?

(iv)    Do you own the Presbyterian form of government to be founded on the Word of God and agreeable thereto; and do you promise that through the grace of God, you will firmly and constantly adhere to, and to the utmost of your power, in your station, assert, maintain and defend the same?

The first of these vows concerns public worship and the second relates to church government.

Both express what is known as the ‘regulative principle’. At its heart, this principle holds that all we do in the church must be based on the Bible and within the bounds of its teaching. Not only do we not do what God forbids, but we look to have a positive biblical base for what we do.

Worship and church government are not matters of personal taste, the passing whims of the majority, the views of influential people, tradition, or a congregational vote. Nor is church government to be decided by the latest from Harvard Business School and worship shaped by the latest guide to cool communication and engaging entertainment.

Care is needed with the regulative principle. It is not a matter of finding a text for everything in worship services and every part of church government. That is a recipe for the abuse of Scripture.

The Westminster Confession teaches both the sufficiency of Scripture for all we need in faith and life (Ch 1.6) and the fact that Scripture is not exhaustive. That means that Scripture does not say everything about everything. Instead, it says:

“We acknowledge … that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed.”

There are some things (‘circumstances’) that are matters of God-led wisdom and common sense. Do we own or rent a building for worship? What kind of audio and visual aids? How often should the elders meet?  How many presbyteries or layers of synods and assemblies? What procedures for managing church finance?

These are the kind of circumstantial matters of Christian prudence that the Confession refers to as it adds “… according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed”. These ‘general rules’ for church life can be summarised by asking:

• What most glorifies God (1 Cor 10:31)?

• What will most build up God’s people (1 Cor 10:23-24)?

• What best avoids giving needless offense (1 Cor 10:32)?

• What is in decency and good order (1 Cor 14:40)?

I suggest one further general rule of the word:

• What most commends the gospel of Christ to unbelievers (1 Cor 9:22)?

These questions are proven guides when church leaders are taking decisions about matters where the Bible is silent on specifics. They are also useful guides in other church matters and in the individual Christan life.

So here is the key principle: it is God whom we worship, and we are to worship in the way that he likes. It is Christ who is head of the church, and we are to govern the church in the way that reflects his rule.

Worship  Presbyterian churches do not have mandated liturgies such as a Book of Common Prayer. Our various Book of Common Order and such like are recommended as helpful guides rather than imposed as compulsory. The key thing is that worship is word-shaped and Christ-centred. We sing the word, pray the word, hear the word and see the word. We exalt Christ as the one through whom all God’s blessing flows. Word-based and Christ-centred worship will take different cultural shapes in different places and times. That is to be expected and welcomed.

Music is a touchy area that tests the application of the regulative principle. In my view, the key thing is that lyrics that embody Scriptural teaching and present it in ways that connect to the particular congregation. Instrumentation and musical arrangements should serve the lyrics and not dominate or undermine. Some Presbyterian churches only sing words directly taken from Scripture. Most, however, also sing lyrics that arise from Scripture, and which are consistent with it.

Church government  Applied to church government, the regulative principle means that we search the Scriptures for what they say about elders, pastors, deacons, and other church workers, along with principles and examples of how churches relate to one another. This again looks different in different churches at different times and places, but the central thing is that all we do has a conscious biblical base and serves the gospel.

I have served and had contact with Presbyterian churches in other countries where this polity has different expressions. However, the principles are the same.

• Christ is king and head of the church, not a Pope, Archbishop, Patriarch or modern day ‘Apostle’.

• Church government is collective and not singular, as in episcopal churches, and in some charismatic and Pentecostal churches.

• Church government is federal, not hierarchical. The different level ‘courts’ of Assemblies, Synods, Presbyteries and Sessions have distinctive but interconnected functions.

• Church government is connected. Different local churches are networked for accountability and mutual benefit, in the same way that the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 functioned in the very early church.

Church leaders take many detailed and often difficult decisions about church life. The vows quoted above help ensure that they have a shared God-centred basis on which to take those decisions. The vows do not claim that the Presbyterian way is the only possible one consistent with the Bible or that it is perfect. However, they do express a commitment that the Bible is the positive standard for everything in church worship and government.

– David Burke