Company of Pastors

The Company of Pastors or Venerable Company[1] (French: Compagnie des pasteurs) is an organization, comparable to a classis,[2] of ministers and deacons of the Protestant Church of Geneva.[3] It was established as part of the implementation of John Calvin's Ecclesiastical Ordinances in 1541[2] and originally consisted of the ministers of Geneva's three city churches and a dozen countryside parishes. It met every Friday morning to examine candidates for ministry and discuss the theological and practical business of the church.[1] In 1559 professors of the Genevan Academy were made members of the Company. The company's powers were drastically reduced in the nineteenth century.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Manetsch, Scott M. (2013). Calvin’s Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536–1609. Oxford Studies in Historical Theology. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 23.
  2. 1 2 3 Campagnolo, Matteo (21 January 2004). "Compagnie des pasteurs". Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (in French). Bern. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  3. L’Eglise protestante de Genève. "Unie, diverse, libre" (PDF) (in French).


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