Ordinance (canon law)

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An ordinance or ecclesiastical ordinance is a type of law, legal instrument, or by-law in the canon law of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and in Calvinism.

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Anglican Communion

In the Anglican Communion, particularly the American Episcopal Church, ecclesiastical ordinances are the bylaws of a Christian religious organization, especially that of a diocese or province of a church.[ citation needed ]

Catholic Church

In the canon law of the Catholic Church, ecclesiastical ordinances are particular laws, issued in order to fulfil universal law on a local or regional level. [1] [2]

Calvinism

Ecclesiastical Ordinances is the title of the foundation rules, or constitution, of the Reformed Church in Geneva, written by John Calvin in 1541. [3] [4] [5] They were revised in 1561. [6]

See also

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Catholicity is a concept of pertaining to beliefs and practices that are widely accepted by numerous Christian denominations, most notably by those Christian denominations that describe themselves as catholic in accordance with the Four Marks of the Church, as expressed in the Nicene Creed formulated at the First Council of Constantinople in 381: "[I believe] in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church." The English adjective catholic is derived from the Ancient Greek adjective καθολικός, meaning "general", "universal". Thus, "catholic" means that in the Church the wholeness of the Christian faith, full and complete, all-embracing, and with nothing lacking, is proclaimed to all people without excluding any part of the faith or any class or group of people. An early definition for what is "catholic" was summarized in what is known as the Vincentian Canon in the 5th century Commonitory: "what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all."

The Anglican Communion does not have a centralised canon law of its own, unlike the canon law of the Catholic Church. Each of the autonomous member churches of the communion, however, does have a canonical system. Some, such as the Church of England, has an ancient, highly developed canon law while others, such as the Episcopal Church in the United States have more recently developed canonical systems originally based on the English canon law.

Anglican doctrine is the body of Christian teachings used to guide the religious and moral practices of Anglicans.

The Convergence Movement, also known as the Ancient-Future Faith, whose foundation is primarily attributed to Robert E. Webber in 1985, is an ecumenical movement. Developed as an effort among evangelical, charismatic and Pentecostal, and liturgical Christians and denominations blending their forms of worship, the movement has been defined for its predominant use of the Anglican tradition's Book of Common Prayer; use from additional liturgical sources common to Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Catholicism have also been employed.

The Anglican Communion does not have a centralised canon law of its own, unlike the canon law of the Catholic Church. Each of the autonomous member churches of the communion, however, does have a canonical system. Some, such as the Church of England, has an ancient, highly developed canon law while others, such as the Episcopal Church in the United States have more recently developed canonical systems originally based on the English canon law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Church in North America</span> Anglican realignment province

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba. Headquartered in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, the church reported 977 congregations and 124,999 members in 2022. The first archbishop of the ACNA was Robert Duncan, who was succeeded by Foley Beach in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laudianism</span> Early seventeenth-century English reform movement

Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism in favour of free will, and hence the possibility of salvation for all men. Laudianism had a significant impact on the Anglican high church movement and its emphasis on liturgical ceremony and clerical hierarchy. Laudianism was the culmination of the move towards Arminianism in the Church of England, but was neither purely theological in nature, nor restricted to the English church.

A personal ordinariate for former Anglicans, shortened as personal ordinariate or Anglican ordinariate, is a canonical structure within the Catholic Church established in order to enable "groups of Anglicans" and Methodists to join the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony.

References

  1. Pope John Paul II, apostolic constitution Ex corde ecclesiae , Art. 1 §2, accessed 22 March 2016.
  2. Ordinances of the Roman Catholic province of Canada
  3. History
  4. Britannica article
  5. Bio of Calvin
  6. Historical records of CCEL