The Ecclesiastical Law Society promotes education in ecclesiastical law for the benefit of the public, particularly the clergy and laity of the Church of England and those who hold office or practise in its ecclesiastical courts. To further this, the Society publishes this Journal, holds conferences, seminars and lectures, has working groups to research, discuss and report on topics of relevance, and may co-operate with other Christian organisations and denominations engaged in pursuing similar objects.Footnote 2 Since its establishment in 1987, the Society has undertaken several initiatives to encourage the study of ecclesiastical law as part of initial and continuing ministerial education in the Church of England,Footnote 3 including a guide and teaching aid on canon law for the newly ordained – to meet the expectation of the Ministry Division of the Church of England that, at the point of ordination, candidates should ‘demonstrate familiarity with the legal, canonical and administrative responsibilities appropriate to the newly ordained and those working under supervision’.Footnote 4 The guide asserts: ‘All clergy are, to a certain extent, practitioners of ecclesiastical law and should be aware of their legal responsibilities’, on the basis that: ‘The general public are entitled to expect the same level of service and expertise from the clergy as they would expect from any professional person’.Footnote 5 Nevertheless, there is still no national formal free-standing provision in the Church of England itself, or its theological colleges, to train its clergy (as part of initial or continuing ministerial education) or its legal officers in the canon and ecclesiastical law that they administer;Footnote 6 rather, the teaching is on an ad hoc basis, often by members of the Society.Footnote 7 Yet a number of UK law schools run courses in canon law,Footnote 8 or consider aspects of it in courses on law and religion.Footnote 9
Moreover, training in church law is not a general feature of ministerial education in Anglicanism globally; and it is notable by its absence from the standards produced by Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (a working group set up in 2003).Footnote 10 However, there are some significant exceptions in a small number of provinces, including Wales,Footnote 11 Scotland,Footnote 12 IrelandFootnote 13 and elsewhere, such as in the USA.Footnote 14 For example, at Virginia Theological Seminary the course in ‘Religion and culture: canon law’ seeks
(1) to give students increased competence in understanding and interpreting the western tradition of canon law, with a particular focus on the Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons; (2) to provide resources to assist them in functioning effectively and collaboratively as faithful pastors, teachers, leaders, and evangelists.Footnote 15
The course examines the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church USA (and their history), decisions of the Church courts and the secular courts, other instruments such as the English Canons Ecclesiastical 1603 and comparisons with the Catholic Code of Canon Law. It is an elective course taught on the Master of Divinity degree (though also open to other students), but study of the disciplinary canons of The Episcopal Church is a national church requirement for ordinands. The class meets for three hours once a week for half a semester (six weeks) and the subjects covered include the sources and theories of canon law, organization and administration, worship and ministry, discipline and parish and diocesan norms.Footnote 16 Another course at Virginia Theological Seminary, on the Anglican Communion and canon law, is designed to
introduce students to the general history of canon law, provide a theological rationale for engaging in the ministry of canon law, and illustrate some of the ways that canon law has functioned within Anglicanism and the Anglican Communion in general, with particular attention to the relationship between The Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Communion.Footnote 17
The students attend six sessions and write three short reflection papers.Footnote 18
This position within Anglicanism is in marked contrast to that in other ecclesiastical traditions. The Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian, Baptist and United churches all provide for the teaching of and training in church law or church order. What follows sets out: the basic legal and other regulatory texts of selected churches within these traditions; how these traditions conceive of church law itself as educative; legal requirements within Churches for ministry candidates, ministers and other officers to receive training in church law and polity; the courses provided by theological colleges and seminaries within these traditions (including their purposes and the subjects they cover); and the extent to which lessons might be learnt from debate in the secular world about the nature, purposes and delivery of legal education, particularly the role played by Critical Legal Studies.Footnote 19
THE REGULATORY INSTRUMENTS OF CHURCHES
In order to put the teaching of church law in context, it must first be established that the churches across the ecclesiastical traditions studied here have systems of church law.Footnote 20 The Catholic Church has the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church (1983) and the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches (1990), species of ‘universal law’, as well as ‘particular laws’ operative (typically) in a diocese.Footnote 21 Local Orthodox churches have canon law,Footnote 22 charters, constitutions and statutes (which often refer to the ‘canons and rules’ of the Holy Apostles, Councils and Fathers),Footnote 23 as well as other instruments such as ‘monastic law’ and ‘regulations’, which may refer to the ‘canonical tradition’ and to ‘custom’.Footnote 24 Furthermore, Orthodox churches may have ‘guidelines’ that are often declaratory of the holy canons, obligatory in form and addressed to both the clergy and the laity; they may also have ‘instructions’ and ‘codes’ of pastoral conduct to which ‘adherence’ is required.Footnote 25
Within the Protestant traditions, many Lutheran churches have ‘church laws’, ‘constitutions’, ‘bylaws’ and other regulatory instruments.Footnote 26 For instance, the Lutheran Church of Australia has a central constitution, bylaws, rules and regulations (which may be amended by its General Synod); in turn, each district and each congregation within it has its own constitution and bylaws, which must be consistent with the central constitution and bylaws.Footnote 27 Lutheran churches also have normative doctrinal texts to which compliance is due, ‘ecclesiastical practices and customs’, ‘guidance’ and ‘standards’.Footnote 28 Methodists, similarly, employ ‘Methodist law’, ‘Church law’ and ‘the laws of the Church’,Footnote 29 in the form of a constitution, Book of Discipline, ‘Manual of law’, ‘Law book’ or ‘Code’ (with ‘Laws and regulations’), or ‘Standing orders’.Footnote 30 As well as the ‘General rules of the Methodist Church’,Footnote 31 churches often require adherence to ‘laws and usages’, to Articles of Religion (with their ‘rules of doctrine’)Footnote 32 and to ‘guidelines’, with ‘obligations’, ‘expectations’ and ‘policies’.Footnote 33
Similarly, Reformed and Presbyterian churches employ, for example, a system of ‘law’ (eg Scotland), a ‘code’ (eg Ireland), a ‘book of church order’ (eg America) or a ‘book of order’ that contains ‘legislation’ (eg New Zealand).Footnote 34 These instruments may in turn contain a constitution, bylaws and normative doctrinal texts for the church and its units.Footnote 35 The church may also provide a model constitution for a local church, recognise customs and regulate conduct by means of soft-law.Footnote 36 United churches, too, have constitutions, bylaws, customs,Footnote 37 and quasi-legislation with ‘ethical standards’, ‘standards of practice’, ‘values’ and ‘norms’.Footnote 38
At the other end of the spectrum lies the Baptist tradition. A national Baptist union or convention normally has a constitution, the provisions of which may be classified as ‘laws’, and, sometimes, bylaws.Footnote 39 It may also have normative doctrinal standards (such as a Confession of Faith), as well as guidelines, policies and codes.Footnote 40 Within a union or convention, a regional association of churches may have its own constitution, and a local church may have a constitution and trust instrument, a ‘covenant’ that sets out the commitments of members both to Christ and to the local church itself, and doctrinal texts.Footnote 41
In short, all of the Christian traditions studied here are familiar with and use the category ‘law’ in the regulation of the affairs of each of their institutional churches, alongside more informal sources such as long-established customs and ecclesiastical quasi-legislation. These juridical instruments regulate decision-making by and the rights and duties of ministers and the laity on a wide range of church matters: governance, ministry, doctrine, worship, rites of passage, ecumenism, property and relations between the church, the state and society.
THE EDUCATIVE ROLE OF CHURCH LAW
Church law itself is a form of Christian education. Alongside their regulative functions (to order and facilitate ecclesial life), systems of church law and church order are designed to lead out (educare) the faithful in their witness to Christ in the context of the mission of an institutional church.Footnote 42 Jurists and regulatory instruments of churches across our traditions explicitly use this idea in their treatment of the purposes of ecclesiastical regulation. For Catholic canonists, one function of canon law is ‘to assist in the education of the community by reminding everyone of its values and standards’.Footnote 43 As Pope John Paul II put it, canon law ‘facilitates … an orderly development in the life of both the ecclesial society and of the individual persons who belong to it’;Footnote 44 indeed, canon law itself teaches that the ‘salvation of souls [is] the supreme law’.Footnote 45 Likewise, Orthodox canon law is ‘at the service of the Church … to guide her members on the way to salvation’; its main function is ‘the spiritual growth of the faithful’;Footnote 46 in turn, the institutions of Orthodox churches are designed in part to ‘lead’ the faithful through the regulatory instruments which those institutions create.Footnote 47
That ecclesial norms exist to educate the faithful is equally a key concept in Protestant legal thought. Lutheran laws ‘provide necessary organizational principles, structures, and policies for good order’, and in so doing they ‘guide, direct, and assist [the Church] in mission and ministry’.Footnote 48 Similar ideas appear in Methodist laws that present the teaching of the Church on a particular matter.Footnote 49 One Methodist Book of Discipline ‘reflects our understanding of the Church and articulates [its] mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world’; it ‘defines what is expected of [the] laity and clergy as they seek to be effective witnesses in the world as part of the whole body of Christ’ as a ‘book of covenant’ that sets out the ‘theological grounding of the [Church] in biblical faith’.Footnote 50 Fundamentally the same ideas appear in the Reformed tradition: the purpose of church law is ‘to declare the corporate identity of the Church and to ensure that all things are done decently and in order within it (I Cor. 14.40)’,Footnote 51 and in so doing it protects the teaching of the church.Footnote 52 The educative dimension of law is often implicit in the legal instruments of churches. For example, for one United Church: ‘The purpose of law within the church is to order procedures and to provide for the consistent resolution of differences, and so to help to achieve order and justice’.Footnote 53 Likewise, a local Baptist church has a constitution to ‘govern’, ‘regulate’ and ‘enable’ church life;Footnote 54 a constitution is established, typically: ‘For the purpose of preserving and making secure the principles of our faith’ so that ‘this body be governed in an orderly manner’; ‘for the purpose of preserving the liberties inherent in each individual member of the church’; and in order to present ‘this body to other bodies of the same faith’.Footnote 55 In other words, it is a principle of Christian law that regulatory instruments serve to educate the church. Moreover, these instruments often represent the teaching or doctrine of a church, and teaching documents are often prescriptive in so far as they contain norms of conduct.Footnote 56
JURIDICAL REQUIREMENTS TO STUDY CHURCH LAW AND POLITY
In the churches across the ecclesiastical traditions studied here, formal acceptance of the laws and polity of a church is a prerequisite to admission to candidature for ordained ministry.Footnote 57 However, the regulatory instruments of churches may or may not explicitly require training in church law as part of initial (or continuing) ministerial formation. In the Catholic Church, study of canon law is part of theological formation for those in the seminary,Footnote 58 and judges and others engaged in the judicial process must possess a doctorate or at least a licentiate in canon law;Footnote 59 bishops too must hold a doctorate or licentiate in scripture, theology or canon law.Footnote 60 By way of contrast, the contemporary juridical instruments of Orthodox churches studied here do not generally specify training in canon law – but theological education is a pre-condition for ordination, as is an undertaking to comply with church law.Footnote 61 Much the same applies in Lutheran churches. The Lutheran Church in Australia is typical:
it shall receive into its Ministry, by ordination or by colloquy of ministers ordained elsewhere, men whose qualifications for the office have been established, and who: (a) accept and hold the Confession of the Church; (b) accept the Constitution and By-laws of the Church; and (c) undertake to participate in the work of the Church and to promote its Objects.Footnote 62
A candidate must indicate willingness for and dedication to this office; be found as being of sufficient standard in theological knowledge for this office and of sound confessional standing; and have indicated a willingness to accept a call or appointment.Footnote 63
As in Catholicism, some Methodist laws expressly require examination in Methodist law or polity as part of ministerial formation. For instance, the Laws of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa provide: ‘The minister being examined is to be questioned about the content of Methodist Doctrine [and] an understanding of Methodist polity’.Footnote 64 Similarly, in the Church of the Nazarene: ‘The candidate must first be examined as to his or her personal experience of salvation, knowledge of the doctrine of the Bible, and the order of the church’; moreover, a candidate for ordained ministry must undertake a ‘validated course of study’ that includes ‘the history and polity of the Church of the Nazarene’; candidates must also be provided with courses in skills and ‘Church administration must be included’.Footnote 65 The same requirement may apply to those appointed to serve in lay ministry. For example, in the United Methodist Church, a candidate to be appointed as a lay speaker to serve in the local church must be a person who is
well informed on and committed to the Scriptures and the doctrine, heritage, organization, and life of [the church] and who has received specific training to develop skills in witnessing to the Christian faith through spoken communication, church and community leadership, and care-giving ministries.Footnote 66
In the Reformed tradition candidates for ministry must be eligible, called, trained, examined and ordained – and at ordination and/or induction they undertake to comply with church law.Footnote 67 For Presbyterianism, the ‘officers of the Church’ generally fall into two categories: elders (teaching and ruling) and deacons, and laws provide for the eligibility of candidates, vocation, examination, training and ordination.Footnote 68 The Presbyterian Church in America is typical: to become a teaching elder, a person must submit himself ‘to the care and guidance of the Presbytery in his course of study and of practical training to prepare himself for this office’; training includes study of the ‘rules of government and discipline’.Footnote 69 Parallel arrangements are found in the juridical instruments of some United Churches: for example, the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa requires ministry candidates to participate in courses in ‘the history, theology and polity of Congregationalism’.Footnote 70 However, such arrangements are not found in the instruments of the Baptist unions, conventions and churches studied here – but theological education is required in ministerial formation.Footnote 71
COURSES OF STUDY IN CHURCH LAW ACROSS THE TRADITIONS
While the laws and other regulatory instruments of all the churches studied here do not explicitly require training in church law or polity, it is a principle of ecclesiastical practice (or custom) that such training is provided as part of ministerial education (initial and/or continuing) – and churches require this by means of decisions issued executively rather than by formal legislation. Across the ecclesiastical traditions studied here, institutions such as theological colleges and seminaries deliver courses in church law, most in preparation for ministry. Of the fifty institutions contacted for this study, thirty or so responded.Footnote 72 What follows describes courses that are either offered to or required of ministry candidates in terms of the legal texts studied, the purposes of (and justification for) juridical formation, the subjects addressed, the level and duration of study and the methods of delivery and study.Footnote 73
Catholic canon law
In the Catholic Church, the study of canon law as part of priestly formation is designed to enable seminary students to understand how canon law applies to everyday ministry as parish priests, for them to know, explain and apply the law with confidence in the decisions they make that affect people. Teaching is also provided at a more advanced level in the faculties of canon law at pontifical universities to prepare those to be engaged in the exercise of administrative and judicial offices, and the licentiate (JCL) takes three years.Footnote 74 The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education provides, inter alia, that teaching should cover: the theological foundations of canon law; the application of canon law to concrete circumstances of pastoral life; administrative and judicial practice; and ecumenical aspects of canon law; furthermore, canon law should be included in the continuing education of clergy.Footnote 75 In terms of the purpose of training: ‘Competent canonists are needed in teaching theology, in the structures of diocesan curial offices, in regional Church tribunals, [and] in the governmental structure of Religious Families’; moreover: ‘even a priest who is directly occupied with the care of souls needs an adequate training in law to carry out suitably his pastoral ministry in the way a shepherd should’.Footnote 76 As to the methods of study:
Canon law should be taught in relation to the mystery of the Church as more profoundly understood by the Second Vatican Council. While explaining principles and laws, the point should be made plain, apart from anything else, how the whole system of ecclesiastical government and discipline is in accord with the salvific will of God, and, in all things, has as its scope the salvation of souls.Footnote 77
Orthodox canon law
There are many courses that study the canon law of the Orthodox Church.Footnote 78 Two examples from the USA may be offered: from different Orthodox traditions. St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, New York (Orthodox Church in America), offers a course on the ‘Orthodox canonical tradition: history, methodology, application, and contemporary problems’. The course examines the definition and sources of canon law, its interpretation and application, and questions that are regularly encountered in ministry practice. Within each unit of study, students are expected ‘to acquire a high degree of familiarity of the most important applicable canonical texts’ and ‘to integrate their knowledge acquired from other classes at the Seminary – Church History, Liturgical Theology, and Dogmatic Theology – in crafting answers to canonical questions’. However, ‘it is not enough to know canonical texts – they need to be understood, interpreted, and properly applied’, particularly to ‘pastoral problems’. Taught through lectures, class discussions and written exercises (eg critical book reviews, research papers, exegetical papers and expository papers), the course culminates in an examination. The students meet fifteen times each semester and each class lasts for two and a half hours.Footnote 79
Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, New York (Russian Orthodox), offers a ‘Certificate Program in Theological Studies’; its two modules in canon law are mandatory on the Bachelor of Theology degree and taught in the last year of the five years ‘since the study of canon law requires maturity and background in pastoral studies and theology’.Footnote 80 The main objectives of Canon Law Module 525 (two credits) are:
1) to develop an Orthodox mindset in students through the study of the logic of the canons;
2) to familiarize students with the Orthodox canonical tradition and particularly with the hermeneutical methodology by which the canons are interpreted;
3) after successful completion of the course, students should have a clear understanding about corpus canonum of the Orthodox Church.
The course handbook deals with the syllabus, handouts and assignments (to be read prior to classes), how to address a canonical problem and analyse a canon, presentations, the final examination, grading, class evaluation, the term paper and essay evaluation. The course units are: (1) the topicality of canon law, secular law and the Church, and handbooks of canon law in the Orthodox East and the Slavic countries; (2) canon law as a discipline (method and system), divine law and ecclesiastical legislation (canons), custom, and the opinions of authoritative canonists; (3) state legislation on church matters, and sources of ecclesiastical law (including sacred Scripture and apostolic writings); (4) and (5) canons of the ecumenical Councils; (6) canons of local councils (particularly Sardica and Carthage); (7) Patristic canons; (8) canonical collections (including sources of the law of the Russian Church); (9) Church organization and membership; (10) the sacred and governing hierarchy: bishops and clergy; (11) student presentations; and (12) review and examination.Footnote 81
The module Canon Law 526 is designed to familiarize students with the requirements for the clerical ministry and canonical order.Footnote 82 Lectures cover eg (1) the clergy (ordination and duties) and monasticism (dealing with eg with the Guidelines for Clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia); (2) local churches, ancient Metropolitan districts, Patriarchates, the supreme administration of Orthodox churches, the diocese, and the diocesan bishop and his election (addressing eg the Regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia); (3) the concept of Supreme Authority and its realization in the life of the Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Councils; (4) autocephalous and autonomous churches (and the Orthodox Diaspora); (5) parishes and parish clergy and their duties (under the canons and regulations of the All-Russian Church Council of 1917–18 and the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church (2000)); (6) the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, including the Bishop's Council and Synod, the diocese, and the parish (this examines eg the Act of Canonical Communion and Normal Parish By-Laws); (7) marriage; (8) ecclesiastical law in Byzantium, penitential discipline for the laity, the Statute of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Russian Orthodox Church, penitential discipline for the clergy and their deposition, suspension, and voluntary abandonment of clerical ministry.Footnote 83 These courses are devoted exclusively to the study of Orthodox laws and not those of other ecclesiastical traditions.
Methodist law and polity
The approaches of two institutions may be compared: one in England and one in Northern Ireland. The Queen's Foundation, Birmingham, teaches ‘Methodist law and polity’ (at BA level 5/6) as a compulsory subject for all Methodist pre-ordination students, and, for a smaller number, at MA level as part of their leadership work; it is designed to introduce students to ‘the concept of living within authority’.Footnote 84 Teaching begins with the foundational documents, the Deed of Union (1932) and the Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church. Students then ‘engage with the authority of the Conference including the historical developments from the first Conference, Wesley's Rules for the Societies and Rules for the Helpers’; they explore notions of ‘corporate episcope, the connexional principle and Being in Full Connexion with the Conference’ and ‘order and accountability’.Footnote 85 Students cover the workings of the Methodist Conference, law and polity (importantly, they study ‘how policy is debated, theology formed, polity created and practice developed’, through an examination of notices of motion, conference debates, reports, statements and resolutions) and how Standing Orders are formed and amended. Moreover, ‘Those training as presbyters are taught their responsibility for ensuring [that] Methodist law and polity are communicated and upheld in the life of the local Church at local level’. Candidates promise to uphold these when received into Full Connexion with the Conference prior to ordination and the training is therefore designed ‘to ensure they have a thorough working knowledge of the law and polity of Methodism in order to make this commitment with integrity’.Footnote 86
Edgehill Theological College, Belfast, trains ordained ministers for the Methodist Church in Ireland. All ministerial students take a compulsory course called ‘Preparation for circuit ministry’ for two semesters, with classes for one and half hours a week (usually in seminar format); the course is not university-validated but is part of internal formational training. About six weeks of the course involve ‘a specific examination of the Manual of Laws’ and the sessions deal with: the duties of the minister in relation to church structures; disciplinary procedures; church governance, especially the annual Conference; and doctrine (also dealt with in a separate module on Methodist history, ethos and theology). The course also covers liturgy ‘requirements and good practice’ as to the Eucharist, baptism, funerals, marriage and other services, and the principal text studied is The Methodist Worship Book.Footnote 87
These two courses at Birmingham and Belfast study only the laws of the relevant Methodist Church and not those of other church families, or the wider civil laws applicable to these churches.
Lutheran church law
Lutheran theological seminaries and colleges teach Lutheran polity as part of ministerial training. For example, the polity of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa is taught at Umphumulo Lutheran Theological Institute (Kwa-Zulu Natal) as part of ordination training. The course deals with the institutional organisation of the church, ministry, doctrinal rules, liturgy, rites, property and ecumenism. It is taught over one year following completion of a Bachelor of Theology degree by means of 39 hours of seminars (half of which focus on liturgy); there is also provision for long-distance learning. The legal texts are studied in the context of the confessional documents of Lutheranism.Footnote 88 By way of contrast, at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (Berkeley, California):
Our ordination track, masters-level students are exposed to Lutheran polity in a number of ways, including as part of their required year-long internship in a congregation, which includes attending the annual regional (synodical) assembly, which is our regional legislative body.
Formal study specifically in polity is by means of one three-hour class in a compulsory semester-long course on church leadership and administration. In addition to polity, this course covers ‘property, stewardship, personnel issues, Robert's Rules of Order, finance and budgeting, organizational principles and leadership styles’. However, ‘Doctrine and liturgy are not really considered by us under the heading of polity or church law. Other classes teach our students the Lutheran Confessions and Lutheran Liturgy.’Footnote 89 Likewise, the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Lenoir-Rhyne University, teaches ‘Lutheran polity and all that pastors need to know about serving as the chief officer of a congregation and corporation’; undertaking the course is ‘required by our candidacy system’. The course deals with ‘synodical and church-wide requirements and expectations’ under the Master of Divinity curriculum and is taught in a three-hour class each week for 15 weeks on the basis, mainly, of lectures.Footnote 90
Lutheran juridical norms are also taught in several universities in Europe, such as at the Protestant Institute for Church Law at the University of Potsdam. Founded in 2003, this is an institution of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia. Members of the Institute include professors, judges, administrative officials, lawyers and theologians.Footnote 91 The purpose of the Institute is ‘to foster and promote research and teaching in the field of church law and the law governing Church–state relations as well as in the connected sections of theology and history’. This is done by means of lectures at the Law Faculty of Potsdam University (on the basis of an agreement with it), advice on and supervision of publications and research projects (in particular, masters' and doctoral theses), the implementation of research projects of the Institute, and access to an academic library on church law.Footnote 92 Indeed, in 2004 an agreement between the Institute and the Law Faculty at Potsdam University resulted in a doctorate in both civil and church law (iuris utriusque) and students may study church law at Potsdam University as part of its masters programme in law (LLM).Footnote 93
Reformed Church Order
Reformed Church Order is taught at several universities around the world, and there is ample scope for its study in the universities of the Netherlands.Footnote 94 For example, the Faculty of Theology at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, teaches ‘the Church Order of the different churches that have their students trained at the Faculty’, such as ‘the Church Order/Constitution’ of the Dutch Reformed Church (created by its General Synod) and the bylaws of the ten regional synods of the church (since 2012 provision also exists to study ‘Canon Law through the course in Anglican Studies’). The course covers ‘the theological foundations of reformed church order and church law’, governance, institutional organisation, ministry, doctrinal rules, liturgy, rites (such as marriage), property and ecumenism. Theological training lasts five years: four years for the Bachelor of Theology (or Divinity) and a fifth year for a Master of Divinity which is compulsory to qualify as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. ‘Church Law is taught in the second semester of the fifth year’, two lectures each week for 14 weeks and one weekly hour-long tutorial (42 hours in all).Footnote 95
Courses are also provided at theological seminaries and colleges as part of preparation for ministry in, for example, Canada,Footnote 96 the USAFootnote 97 and Australia. For instance, at the Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Missouri, polity is one credit hour weekly for 13–14 weeks over a semester:
The goals of the course are to expose the students to the principles of Presbyterian polity; to acquaint them with our Book of Church Order (Form of Government, Rules of Discipline, and Directory for Worship); to help them learn the mechanics of the functioning of church courts (session, presbytery, assembly); and to introduce them to parliamentary procedure (Robert's Rules).
The course is compulsory – that is, ‘it is a required course for all students pursuing the [Master of Divinity] (the degree that most Presbyterian ordaining bodies require of candidates for ordination)’. Other students are also free to take the course. There is a separate course on worship and one on the doctrine of the church. In the first six to seven hours of the Polity course the students review set texts by means of seminars; in the remainder they cover ‘the mechanics of church courts (and this concludes with a mock session meeting in which the students participate)’ and the Book of Church Order.Footnote 98 Similarly, at the Reformed Theological College, Victoria, Australia, 6 hours of a course on Church leadership (which lasts for 36 hours over one semester and is taught for both the Bachelor of Theology and the Master of Divinity) are devoted to ‘Church order and church government’. Subjects include managing ministry, financial management, managing change and conflict, and institutional life-cycles. There are other courses on subjects such as worship, creeds and confessions.Footnote 99
In one church of the Reformed tradition, the United Church of Christ, the ‘History, theology and polity’ course for the General Synod 2013 seeks to help members understand ‘how Congregational, Christian, Evangelical and Reformed traditions have shaped and continue to shape the UCC and how multiple cultural traditions continue to shape community life and theological thinking’ by exploring ‘current theological issues and structural questions’. It is a ‘two-week intensive learning experience’ spread over 40 hours.Footnote 100 Polity and history courses are ‘usually required for ordination’ and this course satisfies that requirement; thus: ‘Normally, M.Div. students take the course as part of their seminary curriculum, but regularly enrolled seminarians may take the course as a three credit course if their seminary will transfer in the credits’. The course is also open to seminarians whose seminary does not offer a history and polity course, pastors and ‘interested lay persons’; a fee is payable.Footnote 101 The course materials include texts and commentaries that are offered as required reading.Footnote 102
Each of these seminary courses, once again, focuses only on the norms of churches of the Reformed tradition in preparation for ministry within them; there is no comparative element in which Reformed Books of Church Order are compared with the laws of other traditions.
Presbyterian law and church order
Courses from Scotland and the USA illustrate the Presbyterian approach. In the Church of Scotland, students in their years of ministerial training attend conferences at which ‘the Church's practice on matters such as Baptism, Communion, Ordination etc are taught’ and in their final year all probationers are taught the ‘Church of Scotland Law’.Footnote 103 This study is ‘compulsory for all new entrants and for ministers coming from other churches and from other Presbyterian churches overseas’. The courses are taught over four years with some 24–30 hours of lectures/seminars, which include ‘interactive learning’ and a ‘mix of theory and practice’. The courses cover church governance, ministry, doctrine, liturgy, rites (such as marriage), property and ecumenism. Students undertake 30 weeks of part-time practical work during college studies and 15 months of full-time probation, during which ‘they are introduced to the practical application of the law at all levels’ – namely, the Kirk Session (local), the Presbytery (regional) and the General Assembly (national). Students must complete a 1,500–2,000 word essay on ‘an issue that requires some knowledge of a wide range of the Church's law’. Refresher courses are offered throughout ministry, ‘especially [for] Presbytery Clerks who have to handle the law and its implications every day’.Footnote 104
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Austin, Texas) runs a course on the ‘Polity of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’.Footnote 105 The primary text studied is the Book of Order (which is Part II of the Constitution of the Church; Part I is the Book of Confessions).Footnote 106 The purpose of the course is ‘to prepare students to use the polity of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as a tool for effective ministry … within Presbyterian congregations’ (though ‘polity is not “church law” but the concrete expression of a church's ecclesiology, which is itself an expression of its theology’). The course deals with the sections of the Book of Order on the foundations of Presbyterian polity, form of government and rules of discipline. The course works through these sections systematically, ‘the foundational principles on which each chapter of the section rests’ and ‘the ways those principles are expressed in the practical applications of the polity’. (The Directory of Worship is studied in another compulsory and examined course,Footnote 107 as is the Book of Confessions, in a separate course on Reformed confessions.)Footnote 108 Taught as a three-hour/credit single-semester course on the Master of Divinity degree, the polity course can be taken by any Masters student but it is routinely only taken by Presbyterian students.Footnote 109 Indeed, Presbyterian students ‘are required to pass denominationally-administered standard ordination exams, one of which is in Church Polity’. Lectures, small group discussions of case studies, individual and group out-of-class projects, and free-form class discussions are used; however, there is no comparative dimension.Footnote 110
An ‘experiential approach’ is also used at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in the course entitled ‘Presbyterian polity’. On this programme ‘students learn to think theologically and systematically as they apply the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to specific issues and practices at the congregational, presbytery, synod, and general assembly levels’, as well as ‘ministry and administration in the Presbyterian tradition based on the theology of the church in the Book of Order’. In terms of objectives, at the conclusion of the course, students will have ‘a basic theological understanding of the ecclesiology’ of the church, will be prepared for ‘leadership and participation “in government and discipline”’, will be able ‘to moderate sessions, shape congregational life, and lead the worship and sacramental life of the congregations in conformity with the Constitution of the PCUSA’ and will be familiar with ‘the basic principles of the Constitution … and be prepared for the Standard Ordination Examination in Church Polity’. The syllabus consists of eight sessions: (1) ‘Introduction to Presbyterian polity’; (2) ‘Basic foundations and vision of the Church and its mission in our Constitution’ (eg Theological foundations of our polity, the contribution of Presbyterian polity to trust, community and mission renewal, and leadership and reformed polity); (3) ‘Congregations: the basic but not sufficient form of the Church’ (eg the mission of the congregation, categories and ministries of members, and the rules of discipline); (4) ‘Teaching and ruling elders and deacons’; (5) ‘Councils of the Church’ (and the principles of administration); (6) ‘Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly and the Church ecumenical’; (7) ‘Decently and in order’ (eg finances and property, trustees and incorporation, ethics for church leaders, and alternatives for conflict resolution); (8) ‘Worship and sacraments in Presbyterian polity’ (eg the centrality of Word and Sacrament in Reformed worship, overview of the Directory of Worship, and the confessions).Footnote 111
Baptist principles and polity
In the Baptist colleges examined here (predominantly in the United Kingdom) the study of Baptist ‘polity’, ‘principles’ or ‘ecclesiology’ is often ‘a compulsory part of the course for ministerial students’.Footnote 112 One purpose of the course at the Bristol Baptist College, on Baptist History and Principles, is to ensure that ‘a genuinely Baptist Christian culture is ingrained into the way we do things and relate to one another’.Footnote 113 At Regent's Park College, Oxford, ‘Baptist ecclesiology’ may be integrated into the diploma or degree programme for undergraduates and taught alongside other things for masters students.Footnote 114 It is taught at different times through the three years of ministerial formation and with different aspects (historical, theological and practical) having an emphasis at different times. In the third year it lasts for 16 hoursFootnote 115 and is taught by ‘interactive seminar/class’ and other methods (such as guided reading) – and it is examined.Footnote 116 Study covers the Baptist Union of Great Britain, ‘Associations, local congregations, covenants, models of church, ordination, ecumenical relations, the nature of ministry, church governance, authority, liturgy, trustee issues, finance, administration, safeguarding responsibilities, weddings, funerals’; the course may also cover ‘membership, church offices, and church and state’.Footnote 117 Separate courses may be run on the administration of worship and doctrine.Footnote 118 In the South Wales Baptist College (Cardiff):
In the first year of their training ministerial students have an overnight visit to the National Resource centre for the Baptist Union of Great Britain to meet with staff [there] and with staff from BMS World Mission … This gives ordinands some idea of how the denomination seeks to function.Footnote 119
Reading material is prescribed and includes secondary literature.Footnote 120
SECULAR LEGAL EDUCATION AND CRITICAL LEGAL STUDIES
To date there seems to have been no ecumenical study of the relationship between juridical formation in the church and legal education in secular society in terms of their similarities and differences as to purpose, subject matter and pedagogical methodology. First, in the secular world, the core purpose of legal education, at its various levels (academic and vocational), is to produce lawyers – to serve society and the administration of justice through law. Within legal education there has been longstanding debate about what precisely is embraced by this broadly agreed objective.Footnote 121 Typical outcomes for secular legal education are: the acquisition of legal knowledge through teaching and research; skill in the analysis of facts and laws and legal reasoning; the ability to apply the relevant law to particular factual circumstances; thoroughness of preparation and communication; practical and prudential wisdom (for example, by practice-based learning); ethical conduct and integrity; dedication to justice and the public good; and the critical appraisal of law.Footnote 122 In the churches, ministerial formation in church law is equally vocational but fundamentally different: it not to produce lawyers but to enable ministers to know, understand and use church law as a tool for effective ministry. Needless to say, theological colleges and seminaries are not law schools. Nevertheless, like legal education in secular society, juridical formation in Christianity is designed to promote ethical public ministry in accordance with the mind and standards of the churches as expressed in their various systems of polity, church law and church order.
Secondly, the subjects studied in secular legal education depend on the juristic tradition of the state in which it is delivered and the academic or professional stage at which it is undertaken. They are determined by the regulatory authorities of the legal profession in question and/or the educational institutions that deliver legal education. Typically, in the common law tradition, the core disciplines studied in initial legal education include constitutional, criminal, contract, tort, land and trusts law – with optional subjects beyond such as commercial, family, medical, international, social welfare and intellectual property law – all designed for the practice of law. Alongside these are more ‘academic’ subjects such as legal history, legal philosophy and sociology of law; and professional training will include ethical practice, drafting, interviewing, litigation and advocacy.Footnote 123 The subjects studied in juridical formation in the churches are similarly compartmentalised: institutions of church governance (constitutional law), ministry (the law of persons), discipline (penal law), doctrine and worship (intellectual and devotional freedom), rites of passage, property and finance (the law of things). The material differences between the subjects studied in juridical formation in the churches and secular legal education are fundamentally shaped by the respective purposes and subject matter of state law (the temporal well-being of society and the common good)Footnote 124 and church law (the spiritual well-being of the church and its faithful witness to Christ).Footnote 125
Thirdly, there are similarities and differences between Christian juridical formation and secular legal education in terms of the pedagogical methods used. In the secular world, legal education is delivered by a host of pedagogical tools that focus on text and context, description, explanation and evaluation. Noteworthy among these in recent years have been the themes and techniques of the Critical Legal Studies movement: for example, legal materials do not wholly determine the outcome of legal disputes (the so-called ‘indeterminacy debate’); legislative and judicial decisions are a form of political decision (the ‘law is politics’ debate); law tends to serve the interests of particular groups (the ‘power elite–social justice’ debate); the positive legal order contains inherent contradictions (the ‘individualism–altruism’ and ‘rigidity–flexibility’ debates); and legal assumptions about the autonomy of the individual are misplaced (the debate about the ‘socio-economic’ dimension on legal activity).Footnote 126 The exploration of equivalent themes in juridical formation in the churches would enrich the study of church law and order in the pursuit of ecclesial issues, provided a balance is struck with the basic purpose of training in church law (to equip for effective ministry). While there are obvious parallels with ecclesiastical training in church law (such as the focus on texts, their theological foundations and the application of norms to concrete circumstances met in ministry), there are significant omissions that could be addressed by learning lessons from secular legal education. For instance, church law courses studied in this article do not compare the regulatory system of the institutional church in question with those of other churches of the same tradition (the course on the law of the Methodist Church in Ireland does not study the laws of the Methodist Church in New Zealand, for example); they do not compare the norms of a church with those of churches outside the tradition (study of a Reformed Book of Church Order does not include study of Orthodox canon law, for example); and there is very little on state laws applicable to churches. Above all, the information gathered here does not demonstrate that theological colleges/seminaries engage in criticism of the details of church law.
CONCLUSION
Each of the churches across the ecclesiastical traditions studied here employs law or other system of regulatory instruments, from canons to charters, from constitutions to covenants. These juridical instruments have an educative role: to guide the faithful so as to order and facilitate ecclesial life. This includes the exercise of ministry – and often laws explicitly provide that ministers must accept the laws and other rules of their church as binding upon them. However, the laws of few churches expressly require training in church law and polity as part of ministerial formation. Nevertheless, training is provided through a plethora of courses, many of which form a compulsory part of ministerial education (initial and/or continuing). As well as Catholic and Orthodox programmes in canon law, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian, United and Baptist institutions, theological colleges and seminaries provide a wide range of programmes on church law, order and polity, either free-standing or as part of other courses.
The following shared principles emerge from a comparison of these:
i. Candidates for ordained ministry should be trained in the law, order or polity of their own church;
ii. Church law, order or polity should be studied in the context of their theological foundations as part of the discipline of theology;
iii. The key juridical instruments of the churches should be the principal focus of study;
iv. Juridical formation ensures that ministers honour with moral integrity the commitments they make to comply with ecclesiastical norms;
v. The purpose of and justification for juridical formation is that ministers use juridical norms as a tool for effective public ministry (with regard to their own rights and duties and those of others to whom that ministry is owed);
vi. The subjects that should be studied to acquire competence, knowledge and understanding in church law, order or polity include norms on church governance, ministry, doctrine, worship, the rites of passage and the administration of property and finance;
vii. Ministerial formation should include instruction in the practical application of norms to concrete circumstances met in the exercise of ministry, so that norms may be used as a tool for effective ministry;
viii. Juridical formation should be provided after but integrated within theological formation;
ix. Provision should be made for continuing ministerial education to keep abreast of developments in church law, order and polity; and
x. The duration of training and the methods of delivery and assessment should involve preparatory reading, lectures, seminars, case studies and other forms of practice-based learning and tests provided by competent teachers.
What are conspicuous by their absence in the courses studied here, however, are: comparative church law; the relation of church law to civil law; and critical reflection on church law, order and polity. In this context, obvious comparisons may be made with secular legal education. Evidently, the study of church law is designed primarily to foster competence in the exercise of ministry, whereas legal education in the secular world (academic and vocational) is oriented towards the production of lawyers. Yet both seek to discover and transmit knowledge of law, to engender ethically sound legal practice, and to train individuals for leadership responsive to the needs and aspirations of people. Nevertheless, aspects of the secular critical legal studies movement might usefully be applied to the teaching of church law to contextualise it critically as a social, political and moral function of the church. Above all, an ecumenical debate on these matters would contribute to an understanding between the ecclesiastical traditions of how much they share juridically. In any event, a study of the teaching of church law in a global ecumenical perspective underscores the fact that Anglicanism and its rich canonical traditions is very much the exception to the rule. It is high time that Anglicans engage with this debate about the nature, purposes and delivery of juridical formation in the church.
