Reflect on your knowledge of and experience with governance and discipline, both within and outside the church. When have you experienced governance at its best and its worst? What contributed to each? What do you consider to be some of the fundamental and basic principles or values of good and healthy governance?

Read G-1.0400 in the Book of Order. Note that this section is only a paragraph in length. It does not enumerate the historic principles of church governance. Read carefully to catch each principle. You’ll notice them after the word “that.”

In column three, write the words from G-1.0400 that are written about each of the four items (unity, representation, majority, appeal).

Think about the experience of your particular congregation. When has each of these historic principles been evidenced or valued in the life of your congregation? When have you appreciated the importance of these principles? In the boxes of the fourth column, write about your own experience with these principles in your congregation’s governance. Grounding your experience in the historic principles of church government will add meaning to your leadership and give life to these valuable Presbyterian principles.

If your session or board of deacons provides time for sharing as a group or in pairs, discuss with one another the historic principles of church government. Share information from your table, especially columns two and four. Compare your responses with how others understand and experience these historic principles.

The Second Helvetic Confession is among three confessions in the Book of Confessions that date from the time of the Reformation. It was written by Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger, pastor of Great Munster Church in Zurich for over forty years. After surviving the plague but losing his wife and three daughters, Bullinger finished the confession in 1564 as a personal document, intending it to be attached to his will. But in 1566 the city of Zurich published the document. It soon became the official confession of the churches of Switzerland and was used widely in Europe.

The confession is long. You won’t have time in this brief study to read the whole document. It fills over sixty pages of the Book of Confessions, and its thirty chapters are divided between two major sections. The first is about theology and the second pertains to church matters including ministry and the sacraments. Among the topics addressed in the confession are the authority of the Scriptures, predestination, worship, church order, conflict, the sacraments, and marriage.

Note the chapters that are of greatest interest to you. It may be because of your particular role in the church (elder or deacon), a hot topic in your congregation (style of worship), or a recent theological concept in a sermon or study group (predestination). In the 1560s, among the hot topics were baptism (the Anabaptists were denying infant baptism and rebaptism was commonplace), the purpose of civil governance and its relationship to the church, and the role and responsibilities of the minister.

Select one or two chapters of interest to read.

After reading the chapter(s), reflect on the confession using the following questions
for guidance:
• How does the chapter you read help you understand the particular topic?
• What in the chapter seems historically grounded in the context of sixteenth-century Europe?
• What questions emerge after reading
the chapter?
• What truths in the reading have persisted in the Christian Church through the centuries?
• What have you learned from this reading of the Second Helvetic Confession? How will your leadership be affected by what you have learned?

The following items were featured in this article and can be ordered from Presbyterian Distribution Service or by calling (800) 524-2612:

• The Book of Order and the Book of Confessions are available in English, Spanish, and Korean and in a variety of formats including study, electronic, large print, and Braille.

Watch for continuing study ideas for elders and deacons in each issue of Ideas! magazine. The author, Carl E. Horton, is Coordinator for Church Leader Support. He can be reached at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5453, or send him an e-mail.