We believe that not only the faith of the church, but also the government of the church must be regulated by Holy Scripture. In order to implement these principles in a practical way, we have adopted what is called a Church Order.
Church Order
Our Church Order contains 81 Articles which are divided into four sections dealing with:
- offices and supervision of doctrine (ministers, missionaries, elders, deacons)
- assemblies (consistory, classis, synod)
- liturgy (worship, sacraments and ceremonies)
- church discipline.
A PDF version of the updated Church Order and Ecclesiastical Documents can be downloaded here:
- Church Order of the FRCA (updated 2021; 119kb PDF)
- Church Order of the FRCA with standing decisions made by Synods 1954-2021 (updated Feb 2022; 480kb PDF)
- Appendix 1 - Ecclesiastical Ordinances (updated Feb 2018; 31kb PDF)
- Appendix 2 - Regulations for the Financial Aid of Students (updated April 2024; 25kb PDF)
- Appendix 3 - Guidelines for Church Visits in the FRCA (updated Feb 2018; 56kb PDF)
- Appendix 4 - Rules for Synods of FRCA (updated 2021 60kb PDF)
- Appendix 5 - Synod Treasury Guidelines (updated Jul 2018; 70kb PDF)
- Appendix 6 - Rules for the Archivist (updated 2021; 28kb PDF)
- Appendix 7 - Rules for Exercising Sister Relations (uploaded Jul 2018; 14kb PDF)
Assemblies
According to Article 28 of the Church Order, three kinds of ecclesiastical assemblies shall be maintained:
- the consistory
- the classis
- the synod
Classis
Neighbouring churches shall come together in a classis by delegating a minister and an elder, or if a church has no minister, two elders. Classis convenes at least once every six months.
Synod
Every three years the Free Reformed Churches of Australia convene a Synod for the purpose of dealing with matters of common concern and to deal with matters being appealed. Each Classis sends a set number of delegates to Synod.
The Acts of Synod may appear on this web site shortly after they have been adopted. It should be noted that although the content has been adopted, this remains an unofficial copy of the Acts. Typographical errors and the like which are brought to our attention will be corrected in the final official printed copy.
Matters of a confidential nature which are dealt with in closed session will not appear on this site. Synod may also decide not to post other matters of a sensitive nature.
Acts of Synod and other relevant documentation can be found here.