Article XXX

The Order of the Church

The Church is governed by divinely appointed offices to ensure the health of doctrine, the practice of discipline, and the care of the needy.

We believe that this true Church must be governed according to the spiritual order our Lord has taught us in his Word: there must be ministers, or pastors, to preach the Word of God and administer the sacraments; there must also be elders and deacons who, together with the pastors, form the council of the Church. In this way, true religion is preserved, true doctrine is allowed to flourish, those who live corruptly are corrected by spiritual means and kept under discipline, and the poor and all who suffer are helped and comforted according to their needs.¹² In this way, everything in the Church will proceed well and in good order, provided that those chosen for these offices are faithful and meet the standard Saint Paul gives Timothy.

Read the original Latin

Nous croyons, que cette vraie Église doit être gouvernée selon la police spirituelle que notre Seigneur nous a enseignée par sa Parole: savoir qu'il y ait des Ministres ou Pasteurs pour prêcher la Parole de Dieu et administrer les sacrements; qu'il y ait aussi des Surveillants et des Diacres, pour être avec les Pasteurs, comme le sénat de l'Église, et par ce moyen conserver la vraie religion, et faire que la vraie doctrine ait son cours, et aussi que les hommes vicieux soient corrigés spirituellement, et tenus sous bride; afin aussi que les pauvres et tous affligés soient secourus et consolés, selon qu'ils en ont besoin. Par ce moyen toutes choses iront bien et par bon ordre en l'Église, quand de tels personnages seront élus fidèles et selon la règle qu'en donne saint Paul à Timothée.

Notes

1 ↩Rendered as “spiritual order”; here police means the Church’s system of governance, not civil law enforcement.
2 ↩Rendered as “elders” in light of the neighboring section’s terminology and the officers’ governing role.

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