The Government of the Church and Its Offices
We believe that this true Church must be governed by the spiritual polity which our
Lord has taught us in His Word; namely, that there must be ministers or pastors to preach
the Word of God and to administer the sacraments; also elders and deacons, who, together
with the pastors, form the council of the Church; that by these means the true religion
may be preserved, and the true doctrine everywhere propagated, likewise transgressors
punished and restrained by spiritual means; also that the poor and distressed may be
relieved and comforted, according to their necessities. By these means everything will be
carried on in the Church with good order and decency, when faithful men are chosen,
according to the rule prescribed by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy.
