Covenant for Officebearers *
We, [the undersigned], believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, which proclaims
the good news of God’s creation and redemption through Jesus
Christ. Acknowledging the authority of God’s Word, we submit to
it in all matters of life and faith.
We affirm three creeds — the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed,
and the Athanasian Creed — as ecumenical expressions of the
Christian faith. In doing so, we confess our faith in unity with
followers of Jesus Christ throughout all ages and among all
nations.
We also affirm three confessions — the Belgic Confession, the
Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort — as historic
Reformed expressions of the Christian faith, whose doctrines
fully agree with the Word of God. These confessions continue to
define the way we understand Scripture, direct the way we live in
response to the gospel, and locate us within the larger body of
Christ.
Grateful for these expressions of faith, we promise to be formed
and governed by them. We heartily believe and will promote and
defend their doctrines faithfully, conforming our preaching,
teaching, writing, serving, and living to them.
Along with these historic creeds and confessions, we also
recognize the witness of Our World Belongs to God: A Contemporary
Testimony as a current Reformed expression of the Christian faith
that forms and guides us in our present context.
We also promise to present or receive confessional difficulties
in a spirit of love and fellowship with our brothers and sisters
as together we seek a fuller understanding of the gospel. Should
we come to believe that a teaching in the confessional documents
is not the teaching of God’s Word, we will communicate our views
to the church, according to the procedures prescribed by the
Church Order and its supplements. If the church asks, we will
give a full explanation of our views. Further, we promise to
submit to the church’s judgment and authority.
We honor this covenant for the well-being of the church to the
glory of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(Acts of Synod 2012, pp. 761-62)
* To be signed by professors, ministers, commissioned pastors, elders, and deacons when ordained and/or installed in office.
Guidelines and Regulations re Gravamina
Synod declares that gravamina fall into at least two basic types:
1. A confessional-difficulty gravamen: a gravamen in
which a subscriber expresses personal difficulty with the
confession but does not call for a revision of the confessions,
and
2. A confessional-revision gravamen: a gravamen in which
a subscriber makes a specific recommendation for revision of the
confessions.
A. Guidelines as to the meaning of affirming the confessions by means of the Covenant for Officebearers:
1. The person signing the Covenant for Officebearers affirms
without reservation all the doctrines contained in the standards
of the church as being doctrines that are taught in the Word of
God.
2. The signatory does not by affirming the confessions declare
that these doctrines are all stated in the best possible manner,
or that the standards of our church cover all that the Scriptures
teach on the matters confessed. Nor does the signatory declare
that every teaching of the Scriptures is set forth in our
confessions, or that every heresy is rejected and refuted by
them.
3. A signatory is bound only to those doctrines that are
confessed, and is not bound to the references, allusions, and
remarks that are incidental to the formulation of these
doctrines, nor to the theological deductions that some may draw
from the doctrines set forth in the confessions. However, no one
is free to decide for oneself or for the church what is and what
is not a doctrine confessed in the standards. In the event that
such a question should arise, the decision of the assemblies of
the church shall be sought and acquiesced in.
B. Regulations concerning the procedure to be followed in the submission of a confessional-difficulty gravamen:
1. Ministers (whether missionaries, professors, or others not
serving congregations as pastors), elders, or deacons shall
submit their “difficulties” to their councils for examination and
judgment. Should a council decide that it is not able to judge
the gravamen submitted to it, it shall submit the matter to
classis for examination and judgment. If the classis, after
examination, judges that it is unable to decide the matter, it
may submit it to synod, in accordance with the principles of
Church Order Article 28-b.
2. In all instances of confessional-difficulty gravamina, the
matter shall not be open for discussion by the whole church,
since this type of gravamen is a personal request for information
and/or clarification of the confession. Hence this type of
gravamen should be dealt with pastorally and personally by the
assembly addressed.
C. Regulations concerning the procedure to be followed in the submission of a confessional-revision gravamen:
1. The basic assumption of the church in requiring affirmation of
the Covenant for Officebearers is that the doctrines contained in
the confessions of the church fully agree with the Word of God.
The burden of proof, therefore, rests upon the signatory who
calls upon the church to justify or revise its confessions.
2. Ministers (including missionaries, professors, or others not
serving congregations as pastors), elders, or deacons shall
submit their gravamina calling for revision of the confessions to
their councils for examination and judgment. Should the council
decide that it is not able to judge the gravamen submitted to it,
it shall submit the matter to classis for examination and
judgment. If the classis, after examination, judges that it is
unable to decide the matter, classis may submit it to synod, in
accordance with the principles of Church Order Article 28-b.
3. If the gravamen is adopted by the council and the classis as
its own, it becomes an overture to the broader assemblies, and
therefore it is open for discussion in the whole church.
4. If the gravamen is rejected by the classis, it may be appealed
to synod; and when the constituted synod declares the matter to
be legally before it for action, all the signers of the Covenant
for Officebearers shall be free to discuss it together with the
whole church until adjudicated by synod.
5. Since the subscriber has the right of appeal from the judgment
of a council to classis and from classis to synod, the mere fact
that the matter is being appealed shall not be a reason for
suspending or otherwise disciplining an officebearer, provided
other provisions of the Church Order are observed.
6. A revision of the confessions shall not be adopted by synod
until the whole church membership has had adequate opportunity to
consider it.
(Acts of Synode 2012, pp. 762-65)