The Church Order or Church Ordinance () means the general ecclesiastical constitution of a State Church.

History

The early Evangelical Church attached less importance to ecclesiastical rituals than the Catholic Church did. As early as 1526

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

observed in '' Deutsche Messe und Ordnung des Gottesdiensts'': "In sum, this and all other forms were to be used in a manner that where they gave rise to a misuse they should be forthwith set aside, and a new form be made ready; since outward forms are intended to serve to the advancement of faith and love, and not to the detriment of faith. Where they ceased to do the above, they are already dead and void, and are of no more value; just as when a good coin is debased, sad or retired on account of its abuse, and issued anew; or when everyday shoes wax old and rub, they are no longer worn, but thrown away and new ones bought. The form is an external thing, be it ever so good, and thus it may lapse into misuse; but then it is no longer an orderly form, but a disorder; so that no external order stands and avails itself, as hitherto the papal forms are judged to have done, but all forms have their life's worth, strength, and virtues in proper use; or else they are of no value whatsoever" (Werke, Weimar ed., xix. 72 aqq.). According to

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

ecclesiastical teaching ( Formula of Concord, II; ''Solida declaratio'', x.; Apology, xiv.; Melanchthon's '' Loci'', 2d redaction in ''CR'', xxi. 555-556; the Saxon ''Visitationsbuch'' of 1528; etc.) a uniform liturgy is requisite only in so far as it is indispensable to uphold proper doctrine and the administration of the

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

; whereas in general the rightful appointment of the external functions of church officers and their sphere in the congregations is committed to the church governing board of the state authorities. The spontaneous development of church law, and especially the regulation of divine service, the

, and discipline, as Luther ideally conceived it, proved impracticable, and gave place, though not invariably so, to definition on the part of temporal sovereigns. All these regulations, especially those of governments and cities, through which the canonical church forms that had previously prevailed in the land were modified in a reformatory direction, while the newly developing church system became progressively established, are called "Church Orders". Those established in the sixteenth century are the most important.

Format

A Church Order usually begins with a

dogmatic Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism, Protes ...

part in which the agreement of the State Church with the general Lutheran confessions is set forth with more or less detail (''Credenda''); then it follows regulations concerning the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

, the appointment of church officers, organization of church government, discipline,

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, schools, the pay of church and school officials, the administration of church property, care of the poor, etc. ('' Agenda''). A systematic topical arrangement is by no means always adhered to. As a rule, later compilations have made use of earlier forms, and thus the Orders are grouped in families.

Sources

{{Schaff-Herzog

External links

:''Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des XVI. Jahrhunderts'', ed. Emil Sehling.
Vol. 1/1

Vol. 1/2
:''Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des Sechszehnten Jahrhunderts'', ed. Aemilius Ludwig Richter
Vol. 1

Vol. 2
Church order History of Lutheranism sv:Kyrkoordning

History

Format

See also

Sources

External links