Station: [4] Reorganising the Reformed Church

Avarice and abuse of office were no longer to have a place in the Reformed Huguenot Church. John Calvin framed his warning in words from the Bible:
“You cannot serve both God and money.”
The reformers of the Huguenot Church took the view that the Protestant faith needed neither a ruling body nor senior officials. No one was to stand between the Christian congregation and the preached Word of God.
Only a complete reorganisation of the church ordinance guaranteed immediate proximity to God.
In 1559, representatives of the Reformed Huguenot congregations attended a secret meeting in Paris, which became known as the first National Synod. The assembly adopted a shared confession of faith and a standard church ordinance for all Huguenot congregations.
This confession of faith, called the "Confessio Gallicana", is one of the most important documents of the French Reformed Church and remains in force today. 
The Reformed church ordinance featured neither a pope nor bishops. Hierarchical structures were abolished in favour of a bottom-up reorganisation. The most important principle was:
"No congregation, and no member of a congregation, shall claim supremacy or dominion over any other." 
In the French Reformed churches, the congregation elects its consistory, or consistoire. The consistory included the pastor, the elders, who were all lay members of the congregation, and the deacons, who cared for the sick and the elderly. In the past, only men were allowed to take on these roles, but these days, they are performed equally by women and men.
The "bottom-up" structure, with elected representatives including pastors and members of the laity, continues at the higher levels, all the way up to the National Synod, the body that represents the Reformed Church of the country as a whole.

Foto: © DHG