For a number of years I have been firmly convinced that Re formed churches in general, and the CRC in particular, have greatly over-emphasized the importance of so-called broader assemblies (classes and synods). And during recent years I see this trend toward hierarchism worsening. Not only are synods becoming much too powerful but in the minds ofmany people, synods are far more important than local congregations. Synod is at the top, with the local churches at the bottom. But that scheme should be set on its head, with the local churches at the top and synod on the bottom (as Abraham Kuyper once outlined it). It is the consistory which has original permanent authority. The authority of classes and synods is only temporary and delegated they receive their authority from the consistories, and when the meetings are over, there is no more classis or synod.

Though this is an elementary principle of Reformed (Presbyterian) church government, it has recently been called into question by the former professor of Church Polity and Administration at Calvin Seminary, Richard De Ridder (in one of the “service booklets” recently published by the denomination). Article 27 of the Church Order maintains this important distinction, and Monsma said some good things about this in his Revised Church Order Commentary (pp. 114–117). He concluded, “From the principle here enunciated it follows that major assemblies have no more authority than that which the churches have attributed to them by mutual agreement.” He also stated another distinction of long-standing validity in the Reformed churches: “Consistories are essential to the existence or the being (wezen) of the churches as institutions; major assemblies are essential not to the being, but to the well-being (welwezen) of the churhces.” In practice we often seem to turn this around.

In a recent Banner Prof. De Ridder once again says things that are open to serious question. He says, “The Christian Reformed Church is not a federation of individual congregations joined together loosely; it is one church. When the church fathers adopted the name ‘Christian Reformed Church,’ they strongly resisted the opinions of some who thought that the name should be ‘Christian Reformed Churches.’” Then he goes on to quote a 1980 synodical declaration that “Christ gave authority to the church as a whole . . . ” (Cf. Banner, Oct. 26, p. 10).

I beg to disagree. Those desiring “churches” (plural) in the name had hold of the biblical principle that every local congregation is a complete, autonomous church by itself; it does not become that by uniting together in a federation. The latter may be desirable, but the local congregation is complete without it. We do not believe in a “collegiate” system where each local church is only an incomplete part of the larger body, which really is the church. May it never be! In the Bible all the emphasis is upon the local congregation-recall Paul’s letters to individual, concrete congregations, and the letters ofJesus to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Says Monsma: “Consistories have an independent existence and do not exist for the sake of the major assemblies.” He also quotes Bouwman: “All ecclesiastical authority, given unto His Church by Christ, resides in the particular church.” The Canadian Reformed brethren give evidence that they have their principles in order in this respect when they call themselves the Canadian Reformed Churches. We could learn from them here.

Years ago one of our Canadian immigrant ministers wrote about this matter in Torch and Trumpet (March, ‘56). The late Rev. Guillaume too had some problems with our name. Said he: “This means that the denomination and the local church possess the same name. The name of our denomination does not inform us that it is a collection of autonomous local churches.” He went on to say that this is not merely a nominal difference, and concluded with the question: “Could we be going in the direction of ‘synodocracy’?” What he was afraid of already then has become a much greater threat today, and people like De Ridder are abetting that bad trend. It is time we arrest this evil before it gets completely out of hand. Many times in the history of the church we have seen the dire consequences of hierarchy in the church (think of the 1944 controversy and split in the Netherlands). It is time that consistories and members of the congregation wake up. And it is more than time that good Reformed ecclesiology be taught at Calvin Seminary.