THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
on Sundays and festivals. The hope is entertained that by virtue of this preaching a congregation of the faithful may be formed in
2. Chapters advance of its actual organization.
xv.-xxviii., The latter shall then be effected by Church the following process: on the duly
Organiza- appointed day those who desire to be tion and reckoned in the number of the saints Govern- make public announcement thereof, ment. and at the same time promise their submission to Holy Scripture and the church discipline. One who by his manner of life or by his doctrine provokes offense is not to be admitted among the number of the faithful unless, within a period of two weeks, he succeeds, by repentance, in removing the objections against him. Congregational activity is to be exercised in assemblies and by means of constituted officers. This assembling of the faithful — women were allowed to be present, but not to speak — should occur every Sunday, at a suitable place. The faithful are particularly entrusted with the election of bishops and deacons, and the exercise of church discipline, but, with reference to bishops ( = pastors), the qualification is made that " for this year, and until the congregations are instructed by God's Word " they shall be called, installed, or deposed by the civil sovereign and the visitatores (see below) . The bishops' duties include administration of Word and sacrament, cure of souls, and presiding at conventions. Eligible as bishops are devout, learned, and blameless men of every estate, but not princes, lords, and government officials. Deacons are of two kinds — those who assist the bishop, and " deacons of the church," who care for the poor and administer church property. Fervent interest is manifested in behalf of the poor (xxvii.). Provision is made for those who have been driven from home for the sake of their faith (xxviii.). Besides the episcopi and diaconi, senior es are mentioned (xii., xv., xx., xxi.), but only in the position of men of trust in the congregation, not as officers. The permanent cause of rectitude in the congregation was promoted by the church discipline, which could proceed as far as excommunication and was exercised by direct naming of the guilty. Excommunication consisted in exclusion from the weekly meetings and from intercourse with the faithful, and if one who had incurred it was overtaken by death impenitent he should not be buried in the cemetery of the faithful (xvi.). Absolution of sinners is to be granted before the entire congregation, upon public confession of sins, and subject to open repentance (xvii.). The congregations become incorporated as a part of the Hessian State Church by the action of a synod to be convened annually at Marburg, regularly on the third Sunday after Easter, for which a session of three days at the longest was prescribed (xviii.). The synod was to be composed of the bishops, the congregational delegates — each congregation electing one delegate from its own members—the princes, counts and lords (nobiles). It devolved on the synod to pass upon all matters of administering and ordering the Church according to the Word of God, which is the only binding canon; all decisions rendered by the synod are but so many
interpretations. To cover the interval between the several synods, an executive committee of thirteen members was to be chosen by the synod from its members, and this committee had charge of instituting and directing the synods, and of devising provisional arrangements to be duly submitted to the synod itself. The synod, furthermore, was to elect three visitatores (xxii.), upon whom it devolved to visit all the Hessian congregations once a year; to test, with a view to their fitness, those elected as bishops; to confirm the worthy and remove the unworthy; to support the congregations and bishops agreeably to the Word of God; and to inculcate respect for the Word of God and the synod's resolutions. In urgent matters the committee should confer with the inspectors for joint action. Very significant of the spirit of this church order is the declaration (xxvi.) that none of the church officials, neither the executive committee nor the inspectors, neither bishops nor deacons, hold priority of rank; while any striving to that end was to be punished with forfeiture of office; provision is made for rotation of office to be observed in the synods.
After church organization comes the matter of instruction. It is declared (xxix.) that nothing shall be taught at the new university (uni- 3. Chapters versale studium) which it was proposed xxix.-xxxiv., to found at Marburg " which may be Instruction, prejudicial to the interests of the kingdom of God." Schools for boys are to be erected in the various towns and villages (xxx.); likewise, schools for girls (xxxi.), if possible, in the country as well, to train up capable housekeepers. The Reformatio closes with provisos affecting cloisters and monks (xxxi v.); provision shall be made for all who withdraw, while in the main tolerance is the portion of those that stay behind, though they are subject to serious limitations of their freedom. In the case of vacated cloisters, either schools are to be inaugurated or, if the congregation so decides, they shall be applied to church or public objects.
Forasmuch as the Reformatio had not been formally accepted by the Homberg Synod, but was only the draft of a committee serv- 4. The ing by the synod's appointment, there Church was need of some special act of legis- Order lation to secure official validity in Hesse Never for this private labor. Such recog- Officially nition, however, was never conceded. Adopted. Landgrave Philip accounted it advisable to submit the same to the great Reformer for a judicial opinion. In a communication dated Jan. 7, 1527, Luther counseled not to circulate the constitution in printed form, but first to supply the parishes and schools with good and worthy incumbents, and furnish them with very brief directions. He advised not to begin with the promulgation of finished laws, which people could not carry out; on the contrary, let the laws grow out of practical experience and usage. This letter settled the fate of the church order. It not only did not appear in print, but, as the sole two manuscripts which have been hitherto discovered prove, it was evidently kept discreetly in the background. The formerly much-agitated question .is