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Commission on Church Order

The Commission on Church Order makes recommendations concerning the content, structure, and style of the Book of Church Order and provides advisory responses to requests for interpretation of the Book of Church Order.

Background

A Committee on the Revision of the Constitution was appointed to revise the Constitution in 1911 (MGS 1910, p. 771). Their work resulted in a declarative statement in 1916 (MGS 1916, p. 858), and this committee became the Permanent Committee on the Revision of the Constitution (CRC), to which all proposed amendments were referred (MGS 1918 pp. 476-477). In 1955, the committee recommended that it make a careful study of the Constitution for the purpose of rearranging and clarifying obscure sections (MGS 1955, p. 117). At this point, the committee had a more active role in the ongoing changes to the Constitution. The Rules of Order were integrated with the Constitution in 1963 and became part of the CRC’s work as well, and it now became the Permanent Committee on the Revision of the Constitution and Rules of Order.

In 1965, General Synod adopted a recommendation that all amendments introduced at General Synod be referred to the CRC for study and presentation at the next Synod (MGS 1965, pp. 167-168). In 1969, that committee became the Permanent Committee on Church Government, and it was approved with a new Rules of Order the following year (MGS 1970, p. 149). In 1979, a first reading of the new Rules of Order took effect; the name “Commission on Church Order” was approved as part of the new rules. The final declarative act was passed in 1980 (MGS 1979, pp. 179-195; MGS 1980, p. 41).

Membership

The five members of the commission must have a general knowledge of and interest in the structure, government, and function of the denomination. Two of the five members must be laypersons with legal training and experience.

Please consider whether service on the Commission on Church Order is something to which God is calling you. If it is, provide the Commission on Nominations with information about yourself by completing a profile form.

Complete a profile form