Keeping Promises and Confessional Fidelity

I want to do a follow-up post on why East River doesn’t just change its confessional or constitutional position in regards to paedocommunion with the snap of a finger. Here are some ecclesiological basics…

Confessions and Constitutions 

Every church has a confession (what they believe) and a constitution (how they operate). The only question is whether or not it’s written down. There will be a temptation to say, 'The Bible is the only confession and constitution we need.' There is truth at the heart of that, namely, our confessions and constitutions should be biblical. They aren’t replacements for Scripture; rather, they are summaries of key doctrines and principles. They clarify where a particular church stands on various issues of belief and practice. 

As I said, every church has a set of committed beliefs and practices. Sometimes, these only exist in the heads of the pastor or elders. That is to say, they aren’t written down anywhere. These sorts of churches can often answer questions like 'What do you believe about the person of Jesus?' or 'How do you handle a member living in open sin?' The question, however, is how do you know if they are bound to those answers? In other words, will they stand on their previously stated beliefs and practices, and if they have a change of view, how will the congregation know? This is why it wise to have a written confession and constitution. They encourage doctrinal and operational transparency and consistency. 

Ordination and Membership

Much like confessions and constitutions, just about every church practices some form of ordination and membership. Scripture teaches that qualified men are to be tested and, assuming all is in order, appointed to the office of pastor/elder and deacons. This testing and appointing may be something very informal. It could be that a pastor or elder has seen a man demonstrate character for a period of time and invited him to be a pastor/elder or deacon. While I wouldn’t approve of the informality of this method but it is a form of testing and appointing. 

Scripture teaches that Christians while belonging to the entire visible Church, experience that belonging at a local particular church. So, for example, Timothy knew which widows were or weren’t the responsibility of the church of Ephesus. In a similar fashion to ordination, just about every church has a way of judging who does and doesn’t belong to their particular congregation. It may be something as informal as someone just being or not being there for some period of time. Once again, I find this informality to be insufficient in defining location membership. Just as I favor written confessions and constitutions for transparency and consistency, I favor a more formal ordination and membership for accountability and authority."

Vows and Covenants 

In most older church traditions, they have a formal ordination or installation service when a pastor(s) or deacon(s) takes a call to a particular congregation. At that service, the pastor(s) or deacon(s) is given a charge and takes vows. The charge is a call to fulfill their particular responsibility.The vows relate to this as well, but they also include a promise to uphold the particular local church’s stated confession and, by extension, the constitution. For example, Rev. Gregg Strawbridge asked East River elders the following question in our ordination vows before our entire congregation:

Do you sincerely receive and adopt our Confession as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and do you promise that if at any time you find yourself out of accord with its teaching, you will, on your own initiative, make this known the session?

We said, “I do.”

Then, as is a common tradition, Rev. Strawbridge turned to our congregation and asked: 

Do you acknowledge and receive [name] in the office of elder and [name] in the office of deacon and do you promise to yield to them all that honor, encouragement and obedience in the Lord to which their respective offices, according to the Word of God and the constitution of this church, entitle them?

They said, “We do.” 

Which brings me to formal church membership. This is a way for a Christian to publicly declare their commitment to a local church and for the leaders of that church to affirm their reciprocal commitment to those individuals and families. One of the questions included in traditional membership vows is:

”Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?”

This isn’t an undefined or boundless submission. Pastors have real authority, but, as with all institutional authority, it is delegated by God for particular purposes and limited to those purposes. Hence, the nature and boundaries of membership should be outlined in a church’s confession and constitution. This is important when it comes to membership vows. You should understand a commitment before vowing to uphold it. 

Voting, Amending, and Adding

Constitutions and confessions are man-made summaries or applications of biblical teaching and principles. Consequently, they mustn’t be treated as if they are equal to unchanging Scripture. They are subordinate authorities and can be amended and expanded. However, any substantial change must be voted on, since people have taken vows to uphold or submit to a particular iteration of a confession or constitution.

Moreover, since vows are taken to submit to a particular group of elder(s) or deacon(s), it would follow that the addition of any new elder or deacon should also be voted on. If you don’t have something like a vote, someone could simply say, 'I never promised to uphold that or submit to that person.' And they’d be right.

This is why it is common for churches to circulate any proposed changes to their confession, constitution, or leadership to their congregation. Then, at some later date, after fielding questions and giving clarification, they vote on the changes at a congregational meeting. 

Due Process 

Things like written confessions and constitutions, formal ordination and membership, and ecclesiastical due process help nurture an environment of consistency, transparency, and mutual accountability. They, in and of themselves, cannot stop officeholders or church members who lack Christian character from breaking their vows, but they are, at the very least, powerful speed bumps to prevent ecclesiastical abuse. 

Order or Chaos

Rebels and authoritarians toss aside their vows. Their constitution and confessions are play-dough. They reshape them to fit the moment and to appease the cries of the mob. Men who fear God keep them. They believe words matter. They follow due process. They honor their God above and those who have submitted to them.

We ain’t changing. We made promises and they will be kept.