Page "John Calvin" Paragraph 29

In supporting Calvin's proposals for reforms, the council of Geneva passed the Ordonnances ecclésiastiques ( Ecclesiastical Ordinances ) on 20 November 1541.

The ordinances defined four orders of ministerial function: pastors to preach and to administer the sacraments ; doctors to instruct believers in the faith ; elders to provide discipline ; and deacons to care for the poor and needy.

They also called for the creation of the Consistoire ( Consistory ), an ecclesiastical court composed of the lay elders and the ministers.

The city government retained the power to summon persons before the court, and the Consistory could judge only ecclesiastical matters having no civil jurisdiction.

Originally, the court had the power to mete out sentences, with excommunication as its most severe penalty.

However, the government contested this power and on 19 March 1543 the council decided that all sentencing would be carried out by the government.