Church discipline is the practice of church members calling upon an individual within the Church to repent for their sins. Church discipline is performed when one has sinned or gone against the rules of the church. Church discipline is practiced with the intent to make the offender repent and be reconciled to God. It was also used to protect the other church members from the influence of sin, and to prevent other members from acting out.

The Bible's teaching on corrective church discipline

Ultimate authority resides in Christ, who authorizes the church to use it as needed. (Matthew 18:17) Corrective discipline is for: * Troublemakers and those who sow discord. (Romans 16:17) * The unruly and disorderly. (1 Thessalonians 5:14) * Those who disobey the great

doctrines Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...

of the faith. (2 Thessalonians 3:13-14) * Those who deny the great doctrines of the faith. (1 Timothy 6:3-4) Procedures in discipline * Arrange a private meeting with the offender. (Matthew 18:15) * If a private meeting fails, meet with them and several witnesses. (Matthew 18:16) * Admonish and warn them. (Titus 3:10) * As a final resort, bring the matter up to the whole church. (Matthew 18:17) * Remove their membership, and avoid them. (Romans 16:17) * Be ready to forgive them when

repentance Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a co ...

occurs. (2 Corinthians 2:7) Purpose of discipline * To maintain the standards of the church to a watching world. (Matthew 5:13-16) * To keep sin from spreading throughout the church. (Joshua 7:3); (1 Corinthians 5:6-7) * Help the guilty person find their way to God. (2nd Corinthians 2:6-8) * To escape God's judgment upon habitually sinning saints. (1 Corinthians 11:30)

Practice by ecclesiastical tradition

Catholic Church discipline

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. Among the most active of these major Curial departments, which oversees Catholic doctrine. The CDF is the modern name for what used to be the Holy Office of the Inquisition. According to Article 48 of the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, '' Pastor Bonus'', promulgated by Pope John Paul II on June 28, 1988: "the duty proper to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on the faith and morals throughout the Catholic world: for this reason everything which in any way touches such matter falls within its competence." The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is the congregation of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Catholic Church as distinct from the Eastern Catholic Churches and also some technical matters relating to the Sacraments. In some contexts, ''church discipline'' may refer to the rules governing an ecclesiastical

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, such as priests or monks, such as

clerical celibacy Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because the ...

Protestant church discipline

Along with preaching and proper administration of the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the real ...

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

during the Reformation considered it one of the marks of a true church. Church discipline is mentioned several times in the Bible. In I Corinthians 5 and other passages, the Bible teaches that sin if not dealt with in a congregation can contaminate other members of the body of Christ, as leaven spreads through bread. This was an important doctrine in the development of different branches of the

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...

movement. It is also an important topic of discussion in many churches today. The Westminster Confession of Faith sees the three steps of church discipline as being "admonition", "suspension from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper for a season" and then finally excommunication. Westminster Confession of Faith, xxx.4.

Latter-day Saints church discipline

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a bishop or a stake president may hold a church membership council (formerly known as a "disciplinary council) to consider restrictions on or withdrawal of church membership for members who commit crimes or otherwise violate the standards of the church.

The Bible's teaching on corrective church discipline

Practice by ecclesiastical tradition

Catholic Church discipline

Protestant church discipline

Latter-day Saints church discipline

See also

References

Further reading