ABSTRACT
This chapter focusses on the system of church order in the Reformed tradition in the light of the Statement of Principles of Christian Law (2016). It deals, first, with Reformed church polity; namely, with the sources and forms of Reformed church polity, the subjects addressed by church order, the question of whom the church order binds, the foundations and purposes of church order, and the use of principles of law in the Reformed Church tradition. The second section is devoted to the Statement of Principles of Christian Law and the empirical process behind it. It addresses those principles that are not problematic for Reformed church order, the revision of draft principles to accommodate the Reformed church order, principles in the Statement that remain problematic for the Reformed tradition, and the question of whether some principles are more important than others. The third section is on the value of the Statement from a Reformed Church perspective and in the wider ecumenical context.
