Establishing Order via National, Provincial, and Local Church Orders : “Let All Things Be Done with Decency and Order”

Abstract

The chapter argues for the theological importance of order within the Reformed tradition. The argument includes discussions of order in the writings of John Calvin, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Andreas Hyperius, and the Leiden professors’ Synopsis Purioris Theologiae. The chapter also explores the role of national and provincial church orders in the life of Dutch Reformed churches. While these church orders were operative in Dutch Reformed churches, churches, especially rural churches, were selective about which church orders they adopted and followed and thus demonstrated agency in how they conducted religious life in their communities. As one example, the chapter includes a discussion of a local church order that a Reformed consistory in rural Wemeldinge produced for their congregation; this church order further demonstrates the above points.