Chapter XXXI. Of Synods and Councils
Chapter XXXI. Of Synods and Councils
Chapter XXXI. Of Synods and Councils | Revisions of the WCF - Westminster Standards
I. For the better government, and further edification of the church,
there ought to be such assemblies as are commonly called synods or councils.
II. As magistrates may lawfully call a synod of ministers and other fit persons,
to consult and advise with about matters of religion;
so, if magistrates be open enemies to the Church,
the ministers of Christ, of themselves, by virtue of their office,
may meet together in such assemblies, with other fit persons delegated by their churches.
I. For the better government, and further edification of the church, there ought to be such assemblies as are commonly called synods or councils. It belongeth to overseers and other rulers of the particular churches, by virtue of their office, and the power which Christ hath given them for edification and not for destruction, to appoint such assemblies, and to convene together in them, as often as they shall judge it expedient for the good of the church.
Once again, as we have seen above, the reason for these changes lies in the deep ecclesiological and political transformation of present-day Protestantism.