Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

usage, a consistory designates certain ruling bodies in various churches.''Encyclopedia of Protestantism'', J. Gordon Melton (ed.), New York: Facts On File, c2005, p. 162. The meaning and the scope of functions varies strongly, also along the separating lines of the Protestant denominations and church bodies.

History

Starting in 1539 the term was used for a body taking over the jurisdiction in marital matters, and later also church discipline, so that Protestant consistories can be regarded as successors not to the papal consistory in Rome but rather to the courts of Roman Catholic bishops.''The encyclopedia of Protestantism'', Hans J. Hillerbrand (ed.), New York: Routledge, 2004, . In the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

or Reformed states of

imperial immediacy In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

episcopal offices were not staffed any more and the secular government assumed the function of the bishop (summepiscopate, summus episcopus), looked after by the consistories. Not all Protestant churches adopted consistories, especially not collegially governed churches, often of Reformed or

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

confession. Consistories were either bodies of local churches (mostly in the Reformed tradition), or parastatal entities, like in the French model, or they were governing bodies as part of the administration of Protestant state churches (Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant alike). The rather governmental character of the consistory is the reason why the term was given up in many church bodies after the

separation of religion and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

and the concomitant abolition of the status as state church and the assumption of church independence. In countries under French influence the Protestants, Calvinists and Lutherans alike (and the Jews as well, see Israelite consistories), made use of the term in the beginning of the nineteenth century with the enactment of the

Organic Articles The Organic Articles (French language, French: ''Articles Organiques'') was a law administering public worship in France. History The Articles were originally presented by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte, and consisted of 77 Articles relating to Cat ...

, when the movement for political emancipation demanded the creation of a representative body, whereas Napoleon's government simultaneously aimed at gaining influence onto the non-Catholic religious bodies. Roman Catholicism in Napoleon's realm was subject to the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between the First French Republic and the Holy See, signed by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace–Lorraine, ...

. The consistories in the French Empire could transact official business with a government in the name of the Protestants and vice versa. Furthermore, the desire for reform among the educated classes demanded the creation of a body vested with authority to render religious decisions.

Anglican usage

"In Anglican churches the consistory is the diocesan court, usually presided over by the bishop's chancellor or commissary. It deals with a variety of issues at the diocesan level, and its decisions may be appealed to higher courts in the national church."

Usage in Lutheran and united churches

In the

tradition, and derived from that similarly in some united and uniting Protestant churches, the consistory is a body governing the ecclesiastical affairs in a specific ambit, comprising either all congregations (aka parishes) within a Protestant church body (thus forming a leading body, with executive and /or spiritual competence for a church), or only those in a district organisation (consistorial district; ) or in a regional organisation (such as an ecclesiastical province; ). In the latter two cases, typical in churches with a

congregational polity Congregational polity, or congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or " autonomous". Its first articul ...

, the term consistory is also used to designate the geographical area administered by the consistory. In 1539

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

and his associates established the (1539–1816) in Wittenberg upon Elbe competent for the Lutheran church in the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

within the then realm of the Ernestine line of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

. Although originally an ecclesiastical court of the Saxon Lutheran church, the consistory developed into an administrative body appointed by the sovereign to supervise the church within his state. In other Lutheran states the consistories took similar developments. Consistories, forming executive body of a state church, had often great powers through the authority of the secular government. In history, before separating executive and juridical competences, consistories of Lutheran state churches with central executive powers, therefore usually consisting of jurisprudents and clergy, did also function as courts appointed to regulate ecclesiastical affairs. At times the consistories were parastatal offices in charge of all (Protestant) denominations (e.g. in

Bremen-Verden Bremen-Verden, formally the Duchies of Bremen and Verden (; ), were two territories and immediate fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged and gained imperial immediacy in 1180. By their original constitution they were prince-bishoprics of th ...

) or even all religions (e.g. in Prussia, see Evangelical Church in Prussia from 1808 to 1816) in the respective territory. While Lutheran churches often still did not form legal entities distinct from the state, the consistories turned out to be the oldest body of many modern regional Protestant church bodies, which developed into independent legal entities in the 18th and 19th centuries. By the French Organic Articles each time several parishes (paroisses) of the EPCAAL form a consistory (consistoire), terming the board and its district alike.Cf
"Etudes: Cultes protestants"
, on
''Institut du Droit Local Alsacien-Mosellan'' (IDL)
retrieved on 17 December 2013. The consistories are of legal entity status. Each consistory holds property of its own and receives contributions by the member parishes. Each EPCAAL consistory comprises all the pastors active in its district and the double number of laypersons, elected in three year terms by the local church presbyteries, as well as some members co-opted by the church executive Directory (directoire). The consistorial members elect from their midst their executive, the consistorial council (Conseil consistorial) of four members. Consistorial decisions are presented to the French minister of the Interior, who may oppose them within a two-month period, and reported to the superior EPCAAL Supreme consistory (Consistoire supérieur).

Reformed usage

Consistoriekamer Op de Fetze A 75 - Dokkum - 20058748 - RCE

In the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition the consistory is the authority in the local church, generally made up of all the teaching Elders (ministers) and the ruling elders (lay leaders). The consistory then forms the head of individual congregations (or parishes) also in charge of implementing the policies of the synod and/or assembly of which it is part, and providing for church discipline of the church members where necessary.Nicholas Weber
"Reformed Churches"
in: ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', vol. 12, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911, retrieved on 2 November 2013. A panel sometimes called the Great Consistory, convoked if considered necessary for special consultations, would include the current consistory and former elders and deacons. Congregations (kerkgemeenten) within the Protestant Church in the Netherlands rooted in the 2004-merged

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

often call their local church councils or ''consistorie'' (consistory, else also called kerkenraad, i.e. church council). When

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

was invited to take over supervision of the Reformed Church of Geneva (EPG), he insisted on the creation there of a new disciplinary institution called the Consistory, and drafted the ecclesiastical ordinances that created it himself in November 1541. The Genevan Consistory consisted of all the

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

s on the Genevan republic's payroll plus a dozen lay commissioners or ''elders'' to whom were assigned the duty of visiting households and checking upon the conduct of the inhabitants. The members of the consistory, technically a committee of the city government, were elected for one-year terms in the elections in which the city government was reconstituted every year. In weekly meetings the consistory examined people accused of misbehaviour. If the charges proved of substance, the consistory had a range of options including referring the person for counselling or, in more severe cases, to the civil courts. "In 1555, excommunication was added to its powers." About one-fifteenth of the entire adult population of the republic was annually summoned before the consistory. As much as Calvin's theology with his emphasis on church discipline, the Genevan Consistory gave the city-state particular and the Reformed Church of Geneva its unique lifestyle. Also in the Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine (EPRAL) several parishes form a consistory (consistoire), with the term used for the board and its district alike. As religious statutory law corporations the consistories have legal entity status, holding property of their own and receiving contributions from member parishes. EPRAL consistories are made up and organised like their EPCAAL counterparts (see above). Unlike their EPCAAL counterparts the EPRAL consistories appoint the pastors after proposition by the presbytery of the concerned parish.

Consistories today

The Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO, a church comprising Lutheran, Reformed and united congregations) uses the term consistory () for its administrative office. This consistory was founded in 1543 and underwent a number of alterations of its official naming and functions in compliance with the development of the constitution of the church. Also the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (, or LELB) is a Lutheranism, Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Protestant Reformation, Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the c ...

and the Protestant Church of Luxembourg (Consistoire de l'Eglise Protestante du Luxembourg) use the term consistory for their central administrative offices. The Lutheran Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (EPCAAL) maintains its Supreme Consistory (Consistoire supérieur), functioning as the supreme spiritual body, and 40 regional consistories, established in 1802 but later partially reorganised and renamed. In the Lutheran

Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland () is a Lutheran denomination and the largest Protestant body in Poland with about 61,000 members and 133 parishes. History The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Co ...

the Consistory of the Church () serves as the chief administrative authority and the executive board of the synod.Cf
"Konsystorz Kościoła"
on

retrieved on 2 December 2013 In the

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. The EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Ch ...

the consistory (konsistoorium) is the administrative board of the church. In 2006 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in European Russia established a consistory (Консистория) as its central executive body. In the Evangelical Reformed Church in the Republic of Poland the administrative body is termed as consistory (Konsystorz). In the Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine four consistories form district organisations each comprising several parishes.

Consistories renamed

* The Supreme Consistory (''Oberkonsistorium'') of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, founded in 1818 was replaced as a decision-taking body by the ''Landeskirchenrat'' (Regional Church Council) in 1920. Its administration division was renamed Munich Church Office.Cf
"Konsistorium (evangelisch) (19./20. Jahrhundert)"
on
''Historisches Lexikon Bayerns''
, retrieved on 2 December 2013. * The regional consistory (''Landeskonsistorium'') of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover was renamed ''Landeskirchenamt'' (Regional Church Office) in 1924. * The consistory (''Konsistorium'') of the was renamed ''Landeskirchenamt'' (Regional Church Office) in 1924. * The consistory of the Church of Lippe was renamed ''Landeskirchenamt'' in 1931. * The Speyer Consistory (''Konsistorium Speyer''), founded in 1818, of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate was replaced by the ''Landeskirchenrat'' (regional church council) in 1921. * The consistory of the Pomeranian Evangelical Church (PEK), after having been established in 1653, then reorganised, moved and renamed several times, was converted into the ''Pommersche Kirchenkreisverwaltung'' (Pomeranian Deanery Administration) in 2012. Greifswald Konsistorium PEK

* The consistory (''Evangelisches Konsistorium'') of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland was renamed ''Landeskirchenamt'' in 1948. * The consistory (''Evangelisches Konsistorium'') of the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony was transformed into the ''Kirchenamt der Föderation Evangelischer Kirchen in Mitteldeutschland'' (church office of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Middle Germany). * The consistory of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony was renamed the in 1933.The Meissen Consistory for the Meissen Margraviate was founded in 1545. It was relocated to Dresden and renamed the Supreme Consistory (''Oberkonsistorium'') for all the Electorate of Saxony in 1580, becoming superior to the Wittenberg and (the former dissolved after the Prussian annexation of its ambit in 1816). It returned to Meissen in 1588 without superiority, then was reranked as Supreme Consistory and relocated to Dresden in 1606. Both remaining consistories, the superior Dresden and the subordinate Leipzig consistories, were merged in the ''Landeskonsistorium'' (State Consistory) of Saxony in 1835. In 1933 the State Consistory was renamed ''Landeskirchenamt''. Cf
"Oberkonsistorium"
, on
''Sachsen.de: Archivwesen''
retrieved on 2 December 2013. * The consistory (''Evangelisches Konsistorium'') of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia was renamed the Regional Church Office (''Landeskirchenamt'') in 1948.

Designations for members

The designations for the members of consistories alter as to their functions and status as clergy or laymen. In German Konsistorialrat (consistorial councillor) and Konsistorialassessor (consistorial assessor) are each used to term both. Consistories often had double leadership, one lay and one cleric. The lay leader is often called Konsistorialpräsident or Konsistorialdirektor (consistorial president or director), by vocation usually a jurisprudent, while the cleric leaders could be termed Generalsuperintendent or just Superintendent (general superintendent or superintendent), or provost (Propst, as with EKBO).

Notes

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Consistories
''Konsistorium''
web site of the consistory of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia

web site of the consistory of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland Governing assemblies of religious organizations Protestantism Church organization Ecclesiastical courts de:Konsistorium#Evangelische Kirchen et:Konsistoorium es:Consistorio (presbiterianismo) fr:Consistoire (protestantisme)