Reading different theological perspectives. Historical readings express their authors' perspectives, including Arminian and Reformed or Calvinist traditions. Inclusion does not make an author's position settled CTS doctrine. Read with Scripture and the assigned material. A supported answer from another evangelical perspective should be assessed on its reasoning, not penalized simply for differing from the author. If an automated score rejects such an answer, ask CTS for review.

Master’s Assigned Readings (all five)

M.Div. and Th.M. students read all five assigned selections and take their separate exam after activation. The test page states the current rule; valid earlier completions remain valid.

Optional Honors (choose three)

Honors is optional on every track. Certificate and Associate students may read three honors selections without a required-reading exam. Honors does not replace either master’s exam.

The Master's textbook test: read The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government and the Directory for Public Worship (1645), then take its test: twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, drawn from forty; eighteen right passes. Each answer is marked right or wrong at once. Correct answers and explanations are available after the attempt passes. It is separate from the reading test on the five digests below: passing one does not pass the other. On the M.Div. and Th.M. tracks both tests are being introduced; each test's page says whether it is in force yet. Until then any student may take them, and a pass is kept in your record.

The Master's reading test: separate from the honors invitation below. Honors asks you to read any three of these digests; the Master's test covers all five. It has twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, four from each reading, drawn from forty; eighteen right passes. Each answer is marked right or wrong at once; correct answers and explanations are available after the attempt passes. You may try again after a short wait. The test is being introduced: its page says whether it is in force yet. Until then any student may take it, and a pass is kept in your record.

Honors option: Complete any three of the five readings below. These readings supplement the course and do not replace its units or examinations.

On this site: Each of the five readings is a Chapala Theological Seminary digest, written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French here on the site — every one opens directly from this page, with nothing to download. Each card names the work its digest is made from.

Selected: 0 of 3

Reading 1 · The Church and Its Officers

Christ the Head, and the Officers He Gives

A CTS digest of Westminster Assembly, The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645), sections 1–6

The Westminster Assembly opens its plan of church government with Christ, “upon whose shoulders the government is.” It describes one visible church made up of believers and their children, sets aside apostles and prophets as offices that have ceased, and outlines the ordinary offices of pastor, teacher or doctor, ruling elder and deacon, which Presbyterian churches around the world still follow.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Christ the Head, and the Officers He Gives

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the opening sections of the Westminster Form of Presbyterial Church-Government: Christ’s rule over his church, the church visible, and the offices of pastor, teacher, elder and deacon

A CTS digest of sections 1–6 of the Westminster Assembly, The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645). The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

Form of Government §§1–6
Primary source
1645
Westminster Assembly

A word before you read. This course is written from within the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition, and it presents that tradition sympathetically. The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government is a historical document. It is not the law of every Presbyterian church today, and it is not CTS policy. Read it the way a Presbyterian elder would: as a careful attempt to let Scripture shape how the church is led. Where other churches see things differently, we will say so fairly.

1.An Assembly at Westminster

In July 1643, in the middle of a civil war between King Charles I and Parliament, about 120 ministers and 30 lay members gathered at Westminster Abbey in London. Parliament had called them to advise on the reform of the Church of England in worship, doctrine and government. That autumn England made a treaty with Scotland, the Solemn League and Covenant, which promised a church reformed “according to the Word of God” and to the example of the best reformed churches. Scotland sent commissioners to the Assembly, among them Alexander Henderson, Samuel Rutherford, George Gillespie and Robert Baillie. The debates on church government were the longest and hardest of the whole Assembly. A small group of Independents, the “Dissenting Brethren,” held that each congregation should govern itself. Others, called Erastians, wanted Parliament to keep the final word over church discipline. The majority believed that Scripture teaches government by elders meeting in assemblies. The Form was finished in 1644 and approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in February 1645. In England it was never fully put into practice. In Scotland, and later around the world, it became one of the founding texts of Presbyterian church order, alongside the Westminster Confession of Faith and the catechisms.

2.Christ, upon Whose Shoulders the Government Is

The Form does not begin with committees or rules. It begins with Jesus Christ. The Preface is one long sentence woven from Isaiah 9 and Ephesians 1 and 4. Christ is the one “upon whose shoulders the government is.” He has “all power given unto him in heaven and in earth.” The Father has made him “head over all things to the church.” Having ascended, he “received gifts for his church, and gave officers” for building up his people. This is the first principle of Presbyterian polity: the church has only one King and Head. Its officers are not owners of the church, and they are not agents of the state. They are servants who carry out Christ’s rule by his Word. The Scots had learned this the hard way. In 1596 Andrew Melville told King James VI that there were “two kings and two kingdoms” in Scotland, and that in Christ’s kingdom the king was only a member. The doctrine of the “crown rights of the Redeemer” would shape Scottish church life for centuries. A Presbyterian elder today still begins here. The session does not meet to do what it likes, but to ask what the Head of the church has said.

3.One Church, Many Congregations

Section 2 makes three short claims. First, there is “one general church visible” in the New Testament. Second, the ministry, the oracles (the Scriptures) and the ordinances are given by Christ to that whole church, “until his second coming.” Third, there are also particular visible churches. In the early church these were made up of “visible saints,” that is, people old enough to profess faith in Christ and obedience to him, “and of their children.” Each phrase matters. The word “visible” means that the church we can see and organize is not the same as the invisible company of all the elect, which only God knows. The word “general” means that every local congregation belongs to something larger than itself. This is the root of the Presbyterian conviction that congregations should be joined together in a common government, which the next reading develops. The phrase “and of their children” prepares the way for infant baptism, which we will meet in Reading 4. Baptist and Congregational churches agree that there is one universal church, but they usually see the local congregation as the only visible church on earth with authority, and they count as members only those who profess faith for themselves.

4.Officers Who Ceased, Officers Who Remain

Section 3 divides church officers into two groups. Some were “extraordinary, as apostles, evangelists, and prophets, which are ceased.” Others are “ordinary and perpetual”: pastors, teachers, other church-governors, and deacons. The extraordinary officers laid the foundation of the church, gave the inspired Word, and planted the first congregations. The ordinary officers keep building on that foundation in every age. Two differences with other traditions appear right away. First, the list has no bishop ruling over other ministers. Episcopal churches, such as the Anglican Communion, hold that bishops in succession from the apostles are needed to ordain and to govern; Presbyterians answer that in the New Testament “bishop” (overseer) and “elder” name the same office. Second, many Pentecostal and charismatic churches believe that God still gives apostles and prophets today, and some give these titles to leaders. Presbyterians do not deny that the Spirit still gives gifts of teaching, leadership and evangelism. They hold that the foundational offices, with their authority to give new revelation, ended with the apostolic age, so that the church is now governed by the completed Scriptures.

5.The Pastor’s Work, and the Teacher or Doctor

Section 4 gives a full job description for the pastor. He is to pray for and with his flock, as “the mouth of the people unto God.” He is to read the Scriptures publicly. He is to feed the flock by preaching, in order “to teach, convince, reprove, exhort, and comfort.” He is to catechise, which the Form defines as “a plain laying down the first principles” of the faith, and it calls catechising a part of preaching. He is to administer the sacraments, to bless the people from God, and to take care of the poor. He also has “a ruling power over the flock.” The list is a good mirror for any minister: prayer and the public Word come first. The Form then names a second minister of the Word, the teacher or doctor. Following John Calvin, who spoke of four offices (pastor, doctor, elder and deacon), the Assembly said that where a church has several ministers, one who excels in explaining Scripture and defending sound doctrine may serve as a teacher. Such a man is “of most excellent use in schools and universities.” Yet where there is only one minister, he must do the whole work. Today many Presbyterians see the seminary professor as the heir of this office.

6.Elders and Deacons

Section 5 is the heart of Presbyterian polity. As there were “elders of the people” beside the priests in Israel, so Christ has given some in his church, besides the ministers, “with gifts for government.” They are to join with the ministers in ruling the church. The Form adds that these are the officers “which reformed churches commonly call Elders.” Today they are often called ruling elders, while ministers are called teaching elders. Ministers and ruling elders sit together as equals in the courts of the church. This shared rule protects the church from the domination of one pastor and keeps the members represented by people they have chosen. Section 6 then describes the deacons, whose office is also perpetual. It does not belong to them to preach or to give the sacraments, but “to take special care in distributing to the necessities of the poor.” Churches differ here too. Most Baptist churches have two offices, pastor and deacon, and the congregation itself makes the main decisions. The Form speaks only of men in office, as every document of its time did. Presbyterian churches today differ on whether women may serve as deacons, elders or ministers, and CTS asks students to understand each view and the reasons given for it.

7.From 1645 to Today

These six sections still shape Presbyterian churches around the world. In Scotland the kirk session of minister and elders became the basic unit of church life. In America, Francis Makemie helped form the first presbytery in Philadelphia in 1706, and the first General Assembly met there in 1789 with its own Form of Government. The Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church now publish a Book of Church Order, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a Book of Order. In Mexico, missionary work begun in the 1870s grew into the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, whose General Assembly was formed in 1947; it is strong in Chiapas, Tabasco and the Yucatán and is governed by its own constitution. The Presbyterian Church of Brazil traces its roots to Ashbel Green Simonton, who arrived in 1859. Korean Presbyterians formed their first presbytery in 1907 and are now among the largest Presbyterian families on earth. In Africa there are large Presbyterian churches in Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria. What does a pastor or elder take from these pages? That Christ alone is Head, that every office is a service, and that ministers, elders and deacons need one another.

8.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. If Christ is the one “upon whose shoulders the government is,” how should that change the way your church board or session prays and decides? Which part of the pastor’s work listed in section 4 do you most neglect? In your congregation, who shares the work of rule and who cares for the poor? And how would you explain fairly to a Baptist, Methodist or Pentecostal friend why Presbyterians govern by elders?

Select

Reading 2 · Congregations and Assemblies

Many Congregations, One Government

A CTS digest of Westminster Assembly, The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645), sections 7–13

The local congregation, its officers and its worship, and the three kinds of church assemblies: congregational, classical and synodical. The session may admonish members and keep the unrepentant from the Lord’s table, and the churches of Jerusalem and Ephesus are offered as proof that many congregations may live under one presbytery, the heart of Presbyterian polity.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Many Congregations, One Government

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — how the Westminster Form orders the local congregation, its officers and its worship, and why it joins congregations together under presbyteries and synods

A CTS digest of sections 7–13 of the Westminster Assembly, The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645). The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

Form of Government §§7–13
Primary source
1645
Session and presbytery

A word before you read. In these sections the Westminster divines move from offices to assemblies. They describe the fixed congregation, the meeting of its officers (what Presbyterians now call the session), the ordinances of worship, and the larger assemblies that bind congregations together. The long proof about Jerusalem and Ephesus at the end may seem dry, but it carries the main claim of Presbyterian polity: that many congregations may live under one shared government of elders.

1.Why Fixed Congregations?

Section 7 begins modestly. It is “lawful and expedient” that there be fixed congregations, that is, a definite company of Christians who ordinarily meet together for public worship. When believers grow too many to meet in one place, they should be divided into distinct congregations, so that the ordinances can be well administered and members can care for one another. How should they be divided? The Form answers: ordinarily “by the respective bounds of their dwellings.” In other words, by neighbourhood, or parish. The reasons are practical and moral. People who live near each other owe each other daily duties of love. The fellowship of saints should be ordered “without respect of persons,” not by class, wealth or taste. And pastor and people should live close enough to serve one another. This parish idea came from the national churches of England and Scotland. It stands in contrast to the “gathered church” of the Independents and Baptists, where believers covenant together by choice. Today most Presbyterians also choose their church freely, but the principle still has force: a congregation is meant to serve the people around it, and its members should not sort themselves only by preference.

2.The Officers of a Congregation and Their Meeting

Section 8 lists what every congregation needs. There should be “one at the least” who labours in the word and doctrine and also rules, that is, a minister. There should be others to join in government, the ruling elders. And there should be others to care for the poor, the deacons. Their number should fit the size and condition of the congregation. These officers are to meet “at convenient and set times” for the good order of the church, each according to his office. In these meetings, says the Form, it is most fitting that a minister should “moderate,” that is, chair the meeting. This is the Scottish kirk session, called in many Spanish-speaking Presbyterian churches the consistorio. The minister moderates, but he does not rule alone; each elder has one vote. A good moderator helps the elders pray, think and decide together, and does not dominate them. The phrase “at set times” is also wise. A session that meets regularly, with an agenda and minutes, can shepherd the flock with care instead of reacting only to crises.

3.The Ordinances of Worship

Section 9 gives a short list of the ordinances of a congregation: prayer, thanksgiving, and the singing of psalms; the word read, even when no immediate explication follows; the word expounded and applied; catechising; the sacraments; a collection for the poor; and dismissing the people with a blessing. This list reflects what is often called the regulative principle of worship. The Westminster Confession (21.1) says that God may be worshipped only in the ways he has appointed in Scripture, and not by human inventions. Presbyterian worship is therefore simple, centred on the Word and prayer, with the sacraments as visible words. The public reading of Scripture is honoured as an ordinance by itself, not just as a text for the sermon. Some Reformed churches still sing only the Psalms, as the Assembly did. Most Presbyterians today also sing hymns and songs that are faithful to Scripture, and they apply the principle to the content of worship more than to its style. Episcopal churches follow a fixed prayer book; Pentecostal churches value spontaneous praise and spiritual gifts. The Presbyterian question is always: what has God asked of us when we gather?

4.The Keys and Three Kinds of Assemblies

Section 10 states that Christ has instituted a government in his church. The apostles received “the keys” directly from Jesus (Matthew 16:19; 18:18), and Christ still gives some people gifts for government. The church may lawfully be governed by three sorts of assemblies: “congregational, classical, and synodical.” The congregational assembly is the session. The classical assembly is the presbytery; the word comes from the Dutch and Latin classis, the name Dutch Reformed churches still use for this body. The synodical assembly is the synod, a larger regional or national meeting, which later Presbyterians crowned with a General Assembly. Section 11 then says what all these assemblies have in common. They may call before them any person within their bounds whom a church matter concerns. They may “hear and determine” causes that come before them in an orderly way. And they all have some power of church censures, such as admonition, suspension and excommunication. This is spiritual power, not civil. Church courts cannot fine or imprison anyone. Their weapons are the Word, prayer and discipline, used to bring sinners to repentance and to protect the flock.

5.The Session and the Lord’s Table

Section 12 describes the work of the session more closely. Its ruling officers may call any member before them when there is just cause. They may “enquire into the knowledge and spiritual estate” of the members. They may admonish and rebuke. In Scotland this led to the custom of elders visiting every home in their district before communion, asking about family prayer and the catechism. The Form then argues at length that the session may suspend from the Lord’s table someone not yet excommunicated. It gives three reasons. First, “the ordinance itself must not be profaned.” Second, Scripture tells us to withdraw from those who walk disorderly. Third, there is great danger both to the one who comes unworthily and to the whole church. Those who judge who is fit to receive, it adds, may also keep back the unworthy. To many modern Christians this sounds harsh. But Presbyterians see it as an act of love: elders keep watch over souls because they “must give account” (Hebrews 13:17). The aim of every suspension is restoration. The section closes by noting that congregations need “mutual help” from one another, which leads straight into the presbytery.

6.The Presbytery and the Church at Jerusalem

Section 13 is the centre of the argument. “The scripture doth hold out a presbytery in a church.” A presbytery is made up of ministers and other church-governors, the ruling elders, who govern together. And “many particular congregations may be under one presbyterial government.” The Assembly proves this first from Jerusalem. The church there had more believers than could meet in one place; it had many apostles and preachers, who would rarely preach if there were only one congregation; and it had believers of different languages. Yet it was called one church, and its elders met together for acts of government (Acts 15 and 21). The second proof is Ephesus. Paul preached there for three years; there were Jews and Greeks; there was a church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla. Yet when Paul called for “the elders of the church” (Acts 20:17), he spoke to them as overseers of one flock. From these examples the divines concluded that local churches are not meant to stand alone. They share elders, help each other, and submit to a common oversight. This is why a Presbyterian church member may appeal a session’s decision to the presbytery, and why presbyteries examine and ordain ministers.

7.How Others Differ, and What We Take

Other churches organize their connections differently. Episcopal churches join congregations under a bishop who oversees a diocese. Methodist churches are “connexional”: conferences of ministers and lay members govern, and in the United Methodist tradition bishops appoint pastors to churches. Baptist and Congregational churches hold to the autonomy of the local church; they cooperate freely in associations and conventions, but these bodies cannot overrule a congregation. Pentecostal churches vary widely, from the bishops of the Church of God (Cleveland) to the mixed model of the Assemblies of God, with district councils and self-governing local assemblies. Presbyterians in Mexico, Brazil, Korea and Africa live out section 13 every year. Their sessions report to presbyteries, presbyteries to synods, and synods to a General Assembly, according to their constitutions and books of order. A rural congregation in Chiapas and a large church in Seoul are joined by the same pattern of elders meeting together. What does a pastor or elder take from these pages? That no congregation should be an island. Accountability is a gift, and the presbytery is a place to give and receive help, not only a court.

8.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Does your congregation serve the neighbourhood where it meets, or mostly people like its members? If you serve on a session or board, does it meet “at convenient and set times,” and does it truly enquire into the spiritual state of the flock? How should church discipline be practised so that it restores and does not merely punish? And what help could your congregation give to, or receive from, other churches near you?

Select

Reading 3 · The Act of Ordination

Set Apart by the Laying On of Hands

A CTS digest of Westminster Assembly, The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645), section 19 (ordinary rules 5–13; extraordinary rules 1–4)

The day a minister is ordained: a congregational fast, a sermon, searching questions to the candidate, promises from the people, and the laying on of hands by the presbytery. The Assembly also accepts earlier Church of England orders, requires careful records, forbids any payment, and makes emergency arrangements for ordaining ministers in a nation at war.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Set Apart by the Laying On of Hands

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the Westminster rules for the day of ordination, the vows of minister and people, the keeping of records, and the emergency arrangements of a nation at war

A CTS digest of section 19 (ordinary rules 5–13 and extraordinary rules 1–4) of the Westminster Assembly, The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (1645). The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

Form of Government §19
Primary source
1645
Ordination

A word before you read. The Form ends with a “Directory for the Ordination of Ministers.” Its earlier rules, not included in this reading, describe how a candidate is examined by the presbytery and called by a congregation. Here we join the story on the day of ordination itself. Notice how the whole church takes part: the presbytery, the preacher, the candidate and the people all have something to do and something to promise.

1.Ordination in a Time of War

When the Assembly wrote these rules, England was at war with itself. Many parishes had lost their ministers. Some clergy had been removed for scandal or for loyalty to the king; others had fled or died. The bishops, who had ordained ministers in the Church of England, had been set aside by Parliament. Yet the armies, the navy and hundreds of congregations needed preachers. The question was urgent: who may set a man apart for the ministry, and how? The Assembly’s answer was that ordination belongs to the presbytery, that is, to ministers and elders acting together, not to a single bishop. Ordination is not the gift of grace by a ritual, nor simply a job contract. It is the church’s solemn recognition and appointment of a man whom Christ has gifted and called, with fasting, prayer and the laying on of hands, as in Acts 13 and 1 Timothy 4:14. The rules in this reading show how carefully that recognition was to be made, both in ordinary times and in an emergency.

2.A Fast, a Sermon, and the Presbytery

Rule 5 sets the scene. Ordination is to take place “in that church where he that is to be ordained is to serve.” The minister is not ordained in a distant cathedral, but among the people he will shepherd. On that day the congregation keeps “a solemn fast,” so that they may pray earnestly for a blessing on Christ’s ordinance and on the labours of his servant. The presbytery comes to the place, or at least three or four ministers are sent. One of them preaches to the people about the office and duty of ministers, and about how the people “ought to receive them for their work’s sake” (1 Thessalonians 5:13). The order is instructive. Before any vows are taken, the Word is preached. Both minister and people are taught what the ministry is and what they owe each other. Many Presbyterian churches today keep this pattern: a commission of the presbytery comes to the local church, one minister preaches, another gives a charge to the new pastor, and another a charge to the congregation. Fasting is less common now, but some churches in Korea and Africa still call the congregation to special prayer before an ordination.

3.The Questions Put to the Minister

Rule 6 lists the questions asked “in the face of the congregation.” The candidate is asked about his faith in Christ Jesus, and his persuasion of the truth of the reformed religion according to the Scriptures. He is asked about his “sincere intentions and ends” in seeking this calling. He is asked about his diligence in prayer, reading, meditation, preaching, the sacraments and discipline. He must promise zeal and faithfulness in maintaining the truth of the gospel and the unity of the church “against error and schism.” He must care that he and his family may be “examples to the flock.” He must be willing, “in meekness of spirit,” to submit to the admonitions of his brethren and the discipline of the church. And he must resolve to continue in his duty “against all trouble and persecution.” These questions are still a searching examination of the heart. They join doctrine and life, private devotion and public work, truth and unity. Modern books of church order, in North America, Mexico, Brazil and Korea, ask ministers very similar questions, including whether they receive the Westminster Confession as containing the system of doctrine taught in Scripture.

4.The Promises of the People

Rule 7 turns to the congregation. After the candidate has answered and promised his endeavours “by the help of God,” the minister asks the people whether they are willing to receive him “as the minister of Christ.” They promise to obey and submit to him “as having rule over them in the Lord” (Hebrews 13:17), and to maintain, encourage and assist him in all parts of his office. Ordination is therefore a mutual covenant. The minister promises faithfulness; the people promise support and a teachable spirit. This reflects a Presbyterian balance. The presbytery ordains, but the congregation has called the man and now publicly receives him. Other traditions set this balance differently. In the United Methodist tradition the bishop appoints the pastor to the congregation. In Baptist churches the local congregation calls and ordains its own pastor, often with the help of neighbouring pastors, and may also dismiss him by its own vote. Presbyterians hold that both the people’s consent and the presbytery’s oversight are needed. A pastor cannot be forced on a congregation, and a congregation cannot simply remove a pastor without the presbytery.

5.Hands, Prayer, and Charge

Rule 8 describes the act of ordination itself. The presbytery, or the ministers sent by it, solemnly set the man apart “by laying their hands on him,” with a short prayer. The prayer gives thanks for God’s mercy in sending Jesus Christ, for his ascension, and for the gifts he poured out: “apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastors, and teachers.” It thanks God for “fitting and inclining this man to this great work,” and asks the Lord to fill him with the Holy Spirit, so that he may “save himself, and his people” (1 Timothy 4:16). Rule 9 adds a charge. The preacher exhorts the new minister to consider the greatness of his work, the danger of negligence, and the blessing of faithfulness, and he exhorts the people to keep their promise. Then a psalm is sung and the assembly is dismissed with a blessing. Note what is absent. There is no anointing with oil, no giving of special robes, and no claim that grace passes through an unbroken line of bishops. Episcopal churches see ordination by a bishop in apostolic succession as essential. Pentecostal churches often lay on hands with prayer for spiritual gifts. Presbyterians lay on hands as a sign of the church’s prayer and Christ’s appointment.

6.Other Orders, Records, and No Money

Rules 10 to 13 deal with practical matters. A minister already ordained in the Church of England is not to be ordained again, since that ordination is held “for substance to be valid.” He must still be examined. The Assembly, though it rejected rule by bishops, did not deny that ministers ordained by them were true ministers. A minister from Scotland or another reformed church must bring “a sufficient testimonial” of his ordination, his life, and the reasons he moved, and he must be examined too. Rule 12 requires presbyteries to keep careful records of each ordination: the names, testimonials, time and place, the presbyters who laid on hands, and the charge assigned. Rule 13 forbids any “money or gift” to be received for ordination. This guards against simony, the sin of Simon the magician who tried to buy spiritual power (Acts 8:18–20). Each of these rules still serves the church. Presbyteries today keep minutes and rolls of ministers, examine those who transfer from other churches, and ordain without fee. Such careful order protects congregations from impostors and protects ministers from suspicion.

7.The Extraordinary Way, and Today

The last four rules describe “the extraordinary way.” In the “present exigencies” of war, presbyteries could not yet be formed with full power, and many ministers were needed for the armies, the navy, and congregations with no minister. So Parliament was to appoint some godly ministers in or about the city of London as an association to ordain, keeping “as near to the ordinary rules” as possible. Similar associations could serve quiet counties. The association was “for no other intent or purpose” but ordination. Here we see a wise principle: order serves the church’s life, and in emergencies the church may adapt its order while keeping its substance. Mission churches have often faced similar needs. In Korea, the first seven Korean ministers were ordained when the first presbytery was formed in 1907. In Mexico, Brazil and Africa, presbyteries have provided for distant villages with lay preachers and visiting ministers until pastors could be trained. What does a pastor or elder take from this? A high view of the call to ministry, joined to humility; promises that bind both pastor and people; honest records; and flexibility in hard times without abandoning biblical order.

8.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. If you are a minister, how would you answer today the questions of rule 6, especially about your “sincere intentions and ends”? If you are a church member, have you kept the promises your congregation made to its pastor? Why might it matter that ordination takes place in the church where the minister will serve? And when your church faces an emergency, how can it adapt without losing faithfulness to Scripture?

Select

Reading 4 · Holy Baptism

A Seal of the Covenant of Grace

A CTS digest of Westminster Assembly, The Directory for the Public Worship of God (1645), section 7: Of Baptism

The Westminster Directory orders the baptism of believers’ children: by a minister, before the congregation, with teaching on baptism as “a seal of the covenant of grace.” It grounds infant baptism in God’s promise to believers and their seed, denies that grace is tied to the moment of washing, and allows pouring or sprinkling. Baptist and Pentecostal differences are stated fairly.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

A Seal of the Covenant of Grace

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — how the Westminster Directory for the Public Worship of God orders the baptism of the children of believers, what it teaches baptism means, and where other churches differ

A CTS digest of section 7 (“Of the Administration of the Sacraments: and first, of Baptism”) of the Westminster Assembly, The Directory for the Public Worship of God (1645). The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

Directory for Worship §7
Primary source
1645
Baptism

A word before you read. Christians have disagreed about baptism for five hundred years, and many readers of this course hold to the baptism of believers only, usually by immersion. This reading explains the Presbyterian practice of infant baptism from the inside, as sympathetically and clearly as we can, and then states the main points where Baptist, Pentecostal and other churches differ. The aim is understanding, not pressure. You may disagree and still learn a great deal from the way the Directory speaks of God’s covenant faithfulness.

1.Worship by Directory, Not by Prayer Book

In January 1645 the English Parliament set aside the Book of Common Prayer and put in its place a new Directory for the Public Worship of God, prepared by the Westminster Assembly. The Church of Scotland approved it the next month. The difference was deliberate. A prayer book gives fixed words that the minister must read. A directory gives the order, the content and the purpose of each part of worship, and then trusts the minister to pray and speak in his own words. The Directory often says “to this or the like effect.” In the section on baptism it tells the minister to use “his own liberty and godly wisdom” in teaching, as the needs of the people require. This approach flows from the regulative principle: worship must contain only what God has appointed, but within those limits the minister prays from the heart, shaped by Scripture. Presbyterian churches today still publish directories for worship, in their books of order, and many ministers in Mexico, Brazil, Korea and Africa follow this pattern closely, even when they also use printed forms for the sacraments.

2.By a Minister, before the Congregation

The Directory opens with two firm rules. Baptism is “not unnecessarily to be delayed,” and it is not to be administered “by any private person,” but only by a minister of Christ, a steward of the mysteries of God. This rejected the late-medieval and Anglican practice of emergency baptism by midwives or relatives, which rested on the fear that an unbaptized infant could not be saved. Nor is baptism to be done privately at home, but “in the face of the congregation,” where the people can see and hear. The Directory also rejects the old position of fonts near the church door, placed there, it says, “unfitly and superstitiously.” Baptism is a public act of the church, not a private family ceremony. The child is presented by the father, or by a Christian friend if he is necessarily absent, after notice is given to the minister the day before. Notice what is missing: there are no godparents taking vows in the parents’ place. The responsibility belongs to the believing parents and to the church that receives the child.

3.What Baptism Means

Before baptizing, the minister is to teach about the institution, nature, use and ends of the sacrament. The Directory gives a rich summary. Baptism was instituted by Christ. It is “a seal of the covenant of grace,” of our ingrafting into Christ and union with him, of the forgiveness of sins, regeneration, adoption and eternal life. The water represents two things: the blood of Christ, which takes away the guilt of sin, and the sanctifying power of the Spirit against the dominion of sin. Washing with water signifies cleansing from sin by the blood of Christ, together with the death of sin and rising “to newness of life” by virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 6:4). Here the Reformed view of the sacraments appears clearly. A sacrament is a sign and a seal. As a sign, it shows the gospel to the eye. As a seal, it confirms God’s promise to faith, as circumcision was “a seal of the righteousness of the faith” to Abraham (Romans 4:11). Baptists usually speak of baptism as an ordinance of obedience and public testimony. Presbyterians agree that it is both, but they place the emphasis first on what God promises, and only then on our response.

4.Believers and Their Seed

Why baptize infants? The Directory answers that “the promise is made to believers and their seed” (Acts 2:39). Children of believers, born within the church, have “interest in the covenant, and right to the seal of it,” no less than the children of Abraham, because the covenant of grace is the same in substance in both Testaments. In the Old Testament, infants received the covenant sign of circumcision; in the New, the grace of God is “more plentiful than before,” not less. Christ welcomed little children, embraced and blessed them, saying that “of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). By baptism, children are received into the visible church and distinguished from the world. The Directory even says that such children are “federally holy before baptism” (1 Corinthians 7:14), and therefore they are baptized. “Federal” comes from the Latin foedus, covenant. Baptist Christians answer that the New Testament commands baptism after repentance and faith, that every clear example is of believers, and that the new covenant community is made up of those who know the Lord. Pentecostal churches mostly agree with Baptists, and usually baptize by immersion. Both sides appeal to Scripture, and both seek to honour Christ.

5.Grace Not Tied to the Moment

One of the most pastoral sentences in the Directory says that the inward grace of baptism “is not tied to that very moment of time” when it is administered, and that its fruit and power reach “to the whole course of our life.” Baptism does not work automatically, as if the water itself regenerated the child. Nor is it empty, as if nothing were promised. God uses it, by his Spirit and through faith, whenever he pleases. The Directory adds that outward baptism is not so necessary that an infant who dies without it is in danger of damnation, unless the parents have despised the ordinance. This comforted many grieving parents. It stands against the Roman Catholic teaching that baptism is ordinarily necessary for salvation, and against the view of some Lutherans and Anglicans of that age. The Westminster Confession (28.5–6) says the same: grace and salvation are not so joined to baptism that no one can be saved without it, or that all who are baptized are regenerated. A Presbyterian pastor can therefore baptize with joy, and comfort with honesty, without making baptism either magic or a mere symbol.

6.Words, Water, and Prayer

After the teaching, the minister turns to the whole congregation and urges everyone “to look back to their baptism,” to repent of their sins against their covenant with God, to stir up their faith, and to make right use of their baptism. Later the Larger Catechism (Q. 167) would call this “improving” one’s baptism. Then the minister exhorts the parent to bring up the child “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4), and asks for a solemn promise. He prays that God would join “the inward baptism of his Spirit with the outward baptism of water.” He asks the name of the child and says, “I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” As he speaks, he baptizes with water. The manner, says the Directory, is lawful and sufficient by pouring or sprinkling on the face of the child, “without adding any other ceremony.” So there is no sign of the cross, no oil, no candle and no white robe. A prayer of thanksgiving follows, asking that the child may in time believe and prevail against “the devil, the world, and the flesh.” Baptist and Pentecostal churches, by contrast, immerse believers, often in a river or baptistery, after a personal testimony.

7.Baptism in Presbyterian Churches Today

Most Presbyterian churches still follow this pattern. In the Presbyterian Church in America, the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, and the large Presbyterian churches of Korea, Malawi, Kenya and Ghana, parents present their child during public worship and make vows to raise the child in the faith. In many churches the congregation also promises to help. Adults who come to faith from outside the church are baptized on their own profession of faith; infant baptism is never the only kind. Children baptized as infants are taught the catechism and later make a public profession of faith before the session, which admits them to the Lord’s Supper. Some Presbyterians allow baptism by immersion when an adult asks for it, since the Directory calls pouring or sprinkling sufficient but does not forbid immersion. What does a pastor or elder take from this section? That baptism is a public act of the church; that its meaning should be taught every time; that it points to God’s faithfulness more than to our own; and that every Christian should live out their baptism day by day.

8.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Whatever your own view of who should be baptized, what can you learn from the Directory’s emphasis on God’s covenant promise? What would it mean for you to “look back” to your baptism and make right use of it? How could your church teach baptism more clearly each time it is celebrated? And how can Christians who differ on infant baptism speak of the question with charity and respect?

Select

Reading 5 · The Lord’s Supper

Fed by Faith at the Lord’s Table

A CTS digest of Westminster Assembly, The Directory for the Public Worship of God (1645), section 8: Of the Lord’s Supper

The Westminster Directory orders the Lord’s Supper: celebrated frequently after the sermon, prepared for carefully, with a warning to the careless and a warm invitation to the weak. Communicants sit at a table; the elements are set apart by the Word and prayer, and believers receive Christ’s body and blood by faith. Catholic, Lutheran and Baptist views are compared fairly.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Fed by Faith at the Lord’s Table

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — how the Westminster Directory for the Public Worship of God orders the Lord’s Supper: preparation, warning and invitation, the table, the prayer, the bread and the cup

A CTS digest of section 8 (“Of the Celebration of the Communion, or Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper”) of the Westminster Assembly, The Directory for the Public Worship of God (1645). The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

Directory for Worship §8
Primary source
1645
Lord’s Supper

A word before you read. The Lord’s Supper has divided Christians as much as it has united them. This section of the Directory shows the Reformed understanding at work: not a sacrifice offered again, and not a bare memorial, but a meal in which Christ truly feeds believers by his Spirit through faith. As you read, notice how carefully the Directory holds together warning and welcome, reverence and joy.

1.“Frequently to Be Celebrated”

The section opens with a principle and a freedom. The Supper “is frequently to be celebrated.” But how often is left to the ministers and other church-governors of each congregation, as they judge best for the comfort and edification of the people. When it is held, it should come “after the morning sermon,” so that the Word explains the sacrament and the sacrament seals the Word. Behind this lies a long debate. John Calvin wanted the Supper every Sunday, but the city council of Geneva allowed only four times a year. In Scotland, after the Reformation, communion became rare, sometimes once a year or less, partly because of the long preparation the church required and the shortage of ministers. The Directory pushes gently toward more frequent celebration without imposing one rule. Presbyterian churches today show the same variety. Many celebrate monthly or quarterly; a growing number, in North America and elsewhere, celebrate weekly. In Mexico, Brazil and Korea the Supper is often quarterly or monthly. The session decides, and the question it must ask is the one the Directory asks: what will best comfort and build up this people?

2.Preparing to Come

The Directory states plainly that “the ignorant and the scandalous” are not fit to receive the Supper. Where the sacrament cannot be held often, public warning is to be given on the Lord’s Day before, and teaching about the Supper and preparation for it is to be offered then or during the week. In this way all may “come better prepared to that heavenly feast.” In Scotland this grew into the communion season. A fast day was kept during the week, sermons were preached on Saturday, the Supper was held on Sunday, and a thanksgiving service followed on Monday. Elders visited homes, and those found ready received a small metal token, which they handed in at the table. These gatherings could draw thousands from many parishes. In 1801 a Presbyterian communion season at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, became one of the great revivals of American history. Few churches use tokens today, but the principle remains. The session watches over admission to the table, and members are urged to examine themselves (1 Corinthians 11:28). Preparation is not meant to make us worthy, but to make us ready to receive grace.

3.Warning and Welcome

When the day comes, after the sermon and prayer, the minister gives a short exhortation. He speaks of the great benefit of the sacrament, and of our need to have our comfort and strength renewed “in this our pilgrimage and warfare.” We should come with knowledge, faith, repentance and love, “with hungering and thirsting souls after Christ.” Then the minister does two things, both “in the name of Christ.” First, he warns the ignorant, scandalous and profane, and all who live in known sin against conscience, not to presume to come, since whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is often called “fencing the table.” Second, and “in an especial manner,” he invites and encourages all who feel the burden of their sins and fear of wrath, and who long to grow in grace, to come to the Lord’s table. He assures them of “ease, refreshing, and strength” for their weak and weary souls. This balance is beautiful and pastorally wise. The table is not for the proud or the careless, but it is exactly for the weak, the troubled and the hungry. Many who hold back from the Supper because they feel unworthy are the very people Christ calls.

4.Sitting at the Table

Next the Directory describes the table, “decently covered, and so conveniently placed” that the communicants may “orderly sit about it, or at it.” This detail mattered greatly to the Scots. In 1618 the Five Articles of Perth had required Scots to kneel at communion, as in England, and many resisted, fearing it suggested worship of the bread. Sitting at a table showed that the Supper is a meal, a family gathering of guests at Christ’s invitation, not a sacrifice at an altar. The bread is to be in suitable vessels, ready to be broken and distributed; the wine is in large cups. The minister first explains briefly that these elements, “otherwise common,” are now set apart to this holy use “by the word of institution and prayer.” Then the words of institution are read from the Gospels or from 1 Corinthians 11:23–27, which the minister may explain and apply. Notice the Reformed conviction here: the elements are sanctified not by a priestly formula, but by God’s Word and the church’s prayer. Today, in most Presbyterian churches, the elders carry the bread and the cup to members in their seats, but the meaning of the table is the same.

5.The Prayer of Thanksgiving

The great prayer that follows has three movements. It begins with humble acknowledgment of our misery, from which neither man nor angel could deliver us, and thanks God for redemption: the love of the Father, the sufferings and merits of the Son, and all the means of grace, especially this sacrament, by which Christ and all his benefits “are applied and sealed up unto us.” It then professes that there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. Finally, it asks God to send his Spirit and to bless the elements, so “that we may receive by faith the body and blood of Jesus Christ,” and feed upon him, “that he may be one with us, and we one with him.” Here is the heart of the Reformed doctrine, taught by Calvin and the Westminster Confession (29.7). Christ is truly present and truly received, not in or under the bread physically, but spiritually, by the Holy Spirit, to faith. This differs from the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass, and from the Lutheran teaching that Christ’s body is present in, with and under the bread. It also differs from the memorial view common among Baptists and Pentecostals, which sees the Supper chiefly as remembrance and proclamation.

6.Breaking, Giving, and Giving Thanks

The minister then takes the bread and says, in these or similar words, that according to Christ’s “institution, command, and example” he takes this bread, gives thanks, breaks it and gives it. The Directory notes that the minister is himself to communicate; he too is a sinner fed by grace. The words follow: “Take ye, eat ye; this is the body of Christ which is broken for you.” In the same way he takes the cup and says, “drink ye all of it.” Unlike medieval practice, in which the cup was often withheld from the people, all communicants receive both bread and wine. The actions are simple and visible: taking, giving thanks, breaking, giving. They follow what Jesus did at the Last Supper. After all have received, the minister may briefly remind them of God’s grace in Christ and exhort them to walk worthy of it. Then he gives solemn thanks for God’s rich mercy, asks pardon “for the defects of the whole service,” and prays for the Spirit’s help to walk in the strength of grace. Even the collection for the poor is to be ordered so that it does not interrupt worship. The Supper ends where the Christian life begins: in thanksgiving and obedience.

7.The Supper in Presbyterian Churches Today

Presbyterian churches today keep the main lines of the Directory: the Supper follows the preaching of the Word, the words of institution are read, a prayer of thanksgiving asks for the Spirit, and the elders help serve. Many use individual cups for health reasons; some use grape juice instead of wine. Most invite to the table all baptized believers who are members in good standing of an evangelical church, not only members of their own congregation. This differs from the closed communion practised by some Baptist churches, especially Landmark and many Missionary Baptist churches, which receive only members of the local church, and from Roman Catholic and Orthodox practice. In Korea, Brazil and Mexico, the preparatory service the week before is still common, and in parts of Africa elders still examine communicants before the Supper. What does a pastor or elder take from this section? That the Supper should be celebrated often and prepared for carefully; that the table must be fenced but also, and especially, opened to the weak; that the Word and prayer set the elements apart; and that in this meal Christ truly gives himself to his people by faith.

8.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Do you come to the Lord’s table “with hungering and thirsting” for Christ, or out of habit? Have you ever held back because you felt unworthy, and how does the Directory’s invitation speak to that fear? How often does your church celebrate the Supper, and how does it prepare? And how would you explain to a Catholic, Lutheran or Baptist friend what Presbyterians believe happens at the table?

Select

Record your reading

When you have read your three chosen readings in full, enter your name and affirm it below. This record is kept on your honor, in this browser; it shows on your certificate as with honors.

Your name

On my honor, I have read in full the three readings I selected above.

✓ Recorded — this class counts toward your With Honors progress. Reading With Honors ↗

Honors Reading — recorded

affirmed on to have read, in full:

Chapala Theological Seminary · Presbyterian Polity, Worship, and Sacraments · present or print this page as your honors reading record.

Further Study: Three Public-Domain Works

These three works are for further study, for the student who wants to go on reading. They are not part of the honors reading above: that stays as it is — the five CTS digests, any three read in full and recorded on your honor. All three are in the public domain; each link opens the work online, and most can also be found in the Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg. Most are in English: the Chrome browser can translate a page (right-click, “Translate to…”; on a phone, the browser menu).

The Form of Government · Online Text

1. The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government

Westminster Assembly · 1645

Read the whole Form in the online witness behind the textbook’s transcription, and compare its order of officers and assemblies with the textbook’s first two chapters.

Open reading ↗

The Directory for Worship · Online Text

2. The Directory for the Publick Worship of God

Westminster Assembly · 1645

Read the Directory as a whole, beside the textbook’s chapters on worship and the sacraments. It is a historical directory of worship, not the present standard of every Presbyterian church.

Open reading ↗

Worship at Home · The Family Directory

3. The Directory for Family Worship

Church of Scotland · 1647; structured transcription

Read the directions for worship in the household: prayer, the reading of Scripture and instruction. It carries the public Directory’s pattern into the home. The link opens the text as a structured data file.

Open reading ↗

Honor attestation: By selecting three readings above, you affirm that you have read those three digests in full. The digests are CTS-authored summaries that may include brief excerpts or adaptations of public-domain works.