Having bishops is not necessarily against Reformed Church polity.
The Hungarian Reformed Church has had bishops since the 16th century. Incidentally, the Hungarian Reformed Church has also not experienced the splitting, dividing and breaking into pieces that most churches in the Reformed-Presbyterian family of churches have experienced.
There may be some merit in examining a "bishop-like" person within a Classis.
Another possible antidote to all these Article 17's is exploring the idea of a "probational ordination." By that I mean a candidate who accepts a call would be "on probation" for the first 5 years of ministry. After 5 years of service and supervision, the probation would be over and full ordination would come into effect. In ways, it would have some similarity to a residency program within the medical world.
Why do I suggest this? Because sometimes an Article 17 comes after serving several churches, and things never quite working out. If this "probational ordination" works properly, it could possibly prevent the full ordination of those who simply are not well-suited for the ministry.
Posted in: Some Denominations Have Bishops; We Have Article 17
Having bishops is not necessarily against Reformed Church polity.
The Hungarian Reformed Church has had bishops since the 16th century. Incidentally, the Hungarian Reformed Church has also not experienced the splitting, dividing and breaking into pieces that most churches in the Reformed-Presbyterian family of churches have experienced.
There may be some merit in examining a "bishop-like" person within a Classis.
Another possible antidote to all these Article 17's is exploring the idea of a "probational ordination." By that I mean a candidate who accepts a call would be "on probation" for the first 5 years of ministry. After 5 years of service and supervision, the probation would be over and full ordination would come into effect. In ways, it would have some similarity to a residency program within the medical world.
Why do I suggest this? Because sometimes an Article 17 comes after serving several churches, and things never quite working out. If this "probational ordination" works properly, it could possibly prevent the full ordination of those who simply are not well-suited for the ministry.