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2006 Book of Order

Appendix I: Defined terms

In this Book of Order, unless the context otherwise requires,

Act of Commitment means the solemn commitment entered into by the Anglican Church in New Zealand , the Associated Churches of Christ, the Congregational Union of New Zealand, the Methodist Church of New Zealand and the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in 1967 and reaffirmed in 1984.

Amorangi ministry means a self-supporting ministry within Te Aka Puaho as provided for in chapter 11.

Assembly means a General Assembly, an Emergency Assembly or a Special Assembly as provided for in chapter 14.

Assembly Executive Secretary means the person appointed as such by a General Assembly in accordance with section 18 of chapter 14.

Assembly Judicial Commission means a Judicial Commission appointed by the Council of Assembly in accordance with section 12 (2) (k) of chapter 14.

Assessors means the persons appointed to a panel of assessors by the Council of Assembly under section 6 (2) of chapter 15 for the purposes of disciplinary proceedings,

Associate member means a person recognised by a church council and who satisfies the requirements of section 3 of chapter 4.

B oard of managers means a board chosen and elected under section 8 of chapter 7 for the purposes of administering the property and finances of the congregation in accordance with section 12 of that chapter.

Book of Order means the Book of Order (of which this Appendix is part) prescribed by the General Assembly.

Book of Order Advisory Committee means the committee established by the General Assembly under section 3 of chapter 14 to provide advice to the General Assembly concerning the Book of Order.

Call according to the context, means either

a) a request issued in accordance with chapter 10 by a congregation in need of ministry settlement to a minister or a licentiate for that minister or licentiate to become the settled minister of that congregation, or,

b) God’s call to a person to a life of ministry.

Candidate means a person who applies to be accepted and a person who has been accepted as a student for one of the four strands of ministry.

Chaplain means a person holding a ministry position other than in a congregation.

Charge means a congregation or group of congregations recognised under chapter 5 and declared by the presbytery as entitled to have ministry settlement.

Church means the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand .

Church Architecture Reference Group means the group comprising four regional committees provided for in section 6 of chapter 16.

Church council means the governing body of a congregation constituted or organised in accordance with section 4 of chapter 7 in order to provide spiritual oversight, leadership, pastoral care and management of a congregation.

Church worker does not include any person employed under a contract of employment or engaged under a contract for services.

Clerk of Assembly means the person holding that office by virtue of appointment as Assembly Executive Secretary under section18 of chapter 14.

Commissioners means ministers and elders elected to serve in the higher courts of the Church who are not bound in discussions and deliberations to represent the views of the courts that elect them.

Commissioning means the specific act in a public service of worship which accompanies the appointment of people into particular ministries and for particular purposes.

Complainant means a person, and a representative of such a person, who lodges a complaint of conduct that is unbecoming of a minister, elder, other office bearer, church worker, member or associate member of the Church in accordance with section 7 of chapter 15.

Complaint means an allegation of conduct that is unbecoming of a minister, elder, other office bearer, church worker, member or associate member of the Church.

Complaints officer means a complaints officer appointed by the Council of Assembly under section 6 (1) of chapter 15.

Congregation means a group of members, associate members, and other persons who unite for worship, life, and mission as set out in chapter 5.

Congregational office means membership of a church council, board of managers or deacons’ court.

Constituent group means any one of the Pacific Islands groups described in section 5 of chapter 13.

Contact person means a person appointed by a primary court of discipline under section 5 of chapter 15 to receive complaints and perform other functions provided for in that section.

Co-operative venture means a congregation set up under the provisions of the Guide to Procedures in Co-operative Ventures which was approved and issued by the 5 Negotiating Partners.

Council of Assembly means the Council of Assembly established by the General Assembly in accordance with section 12 of chapter 14.

Court means a presbytery including Te Aka Puaho and the General Assembly.

Deacon means a member of a deacons’ court.

Deacons’ court means the body chosen and elected under section 9 of chapter 7 for the purposes of administering the property and finances of a congregation in accordance with section 12 of that chapter.

Disciplinary commission means a disciplinary commission appointed by the complaints officer in accordance with section 17 of chapter 15.

Disciplinary matter means a matter coming within the scope of the provisions of chapter 15.

Elder means a person set aside by ordination to the specific ministry of elder in accordance with chapter 9 and, for the purposes of representation at presbytery and the General Assembly, a person who is not an elder but is a member of the church council of a co-operative venture is treated as an elder.

Eldership formation means such training, reading and study that may be suggested by the minister or church council as helpful for the exercise of eldership.

Emergency Assembly means an Assembly convened by the Council of Assembly under section 31 of chapter 14 to consider a matter of emergency.

Faith community means a community which has sought and obtained recognition from a presbytery as a faith community.

Formula means the statement set out in section 7 of chapter 1 to which certain persons are required to subscribe as their written commitment to the doctrinal basis and order of the Church.

Four strands of ministry mean the four different forms of leadership of mission within a congregation, in terms of ordained ministries of word and sacrament or commissioned members of a local ministry team.

General Assembly means the Assembly that is the governing body of the Church and the purposes, functions and composition of which are provided for in chapter 14.

Good standing in relation to a minister, means a minister in respect of whom the presbytery having oversight of the minister is in a position to issue a letter or licence confirming the minister’s good standing by reason of the fact that the minister is neither facing a disciplinary charge nor subject to any current disciplinary orders under chapter 15.

Guide to Procedures in Co-operative Ventures means the guide covering the governance of co-operative ventures issued by the five Negotiating Partners.

Induction means the specific act that accompanies ordination and defines the sphere within which the powers confirmed by ordination may be exercised.

Interim Moderator means a person appointed as an Interim Moderator of a congregation by a presbytery under section 3 (1) of chapter 10.

Licentiate means a person who has completed training as a student for the national ministry of word and sacrament, and has been licensed by a presbytery to practice his or her talents for ministry, and who awaits a call to a ministry position.

Local ministry team means a model of ministry authorised by presbytery for a specific period of time, for leadership of a congregation in which ministry roles are shared among members.

Local ordained ministry means a model of ministry under which a person is ordained by a presbytery for the ministry of word and sacrament in a particular context for a particular period of time and is not normally eligible for appointment to any other position within the Church.

Local ordained ministry probationer means a person who has been accepted as a candidate for a local ordained ministry position, has begun work within the congregation, and has a training agreement in place with a specified probationary period.

Manager means a member of a board of managers.

Member means a person accepted by a church council as a member of the congregation in accordance with section 2 of chapter 4.

Minister means a person called by God to preach the Gospel of Christ, celebrate the sacraments and exercise the talents that he or she has received for ministry in the Christian church and who has been ordained by presbytery to this office.

Ministry formation means regular and on-going training, reading and study relevant to the holder of a ministry position.

Ministry of word and sacrament means the ministry in which the Gospel of Christ is preached and the sacraments are celebrated within a congregation or charge or position by persons ordained or authorised or commissioned to this ministry.

Ministry position means a charge or position to which a minister or ministry team has been called or appointed.

Ministry settlement means provision of leadership in a congregation or charge through one of the four strands of ministry.

Ministry settlement board means a board established in accordance with section 4 of chapter 10 to perform the functions set out in section 7 of that chapter.

Moderator means a minister or elder who is appointed to lead or chair a session, church council, presbytery, Assembly, Te Aka Puaho or the Pacific Islanders’ Synod.

National ordained ministry means a model of ministry under which a person is ordained by a presbytery to the ministry of word and sacrament and is eligible for call or appointment throughout the Church.

Negotiating Partners means the 5 denominations that entered into the Act of Commitment in 1967, that is to say the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia , the Associated Churches of Christ, the Congregational Union of New Zealand, the Methodist Church of New Zealand and the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand .

Office bearers means members of church councils, managers and deacons.

Ordination means the setting apart by the Church of men and women as ministers, elders or deacons to perform certain functions within the Church.

Pacific Islanders’ Synod means the body of that name recognised by section 2 of chapter 13 as a body within the Church responsible to the General Assembly.

Parish means the geographical area served by a congregation.

Parish council means church council.

Pastoral charge has the same meaning as charge.

Pastorate means the area or areas of responsibility of a minister under the maru of Te Aka Puaho and may include all or part of the area of more than one parish.

Presbyterian Church Property Trustees means the trustees provided for in The Presbyterian Church Property Act 1885 in whom parish property located north of the Waitaki River and other property of the Church is vested in accordance with section 2 of chapter 16.

Presbytery means a presbytery established by the General Assembly under section 7 of chapter 8 for an area or region and includes Te Aka Puaho,

Profession of faith means the public act by a person acknowledging their acceptance of the Christian faith.

Property committee means a committee of that name appointed by a presbytery under section 5 of chapter 16.

Recognised ministries means ministries other than one of the four strands of ministry as provided for in section 45 of chapter 9.

Respondent means a minister, elder or other office bearer, or church worker of the Church or a member or associate member of a congregation against whom a complaint of unbecoming conduct is made in accordance with chapter 15.

Session in relation to a congregation, means a body constituted as a session in accordance with section 7 of chapter 7.

Special Assembly means a Special Assembly convened by a General Assembly under section 30 of chapter 14 to determine particular business referred to it.

Special legislative procedure means the legislative procedure provided for in section 9 of chapter 14 for altering, amending or deleting a provision of the Book of Order.

Stated supply means a local appointment made by the church council and approved by presbytery for ministry to a congregation for a short stated term of appointment.

Supervision means regular contact with a person capable of collegial and or professional discussion of a person’s practice of ministry.

Supplementary provisions means a document, including a manual, handbook or form, issued under chapter 3 by the General Assembly, or by the Council of Assembly under delegated authority, to implement or give effect to any provision of this Book of Order.

Support means any kind of assistance including financial support, and includes where appropriate, the payment of a stipend, salary or honorarium.

Support person means a person appointed by a complainant or a respondent in a disciplinary process to provide support to him or her during the course of that process.

Te Aka Puaho, as provided in chapter 11, means that part of the Church within which Maori associated with the Church and those others who choose to associate within and under the maru of that part of the Church can carry out the mission of God from a Maori cultural perspective.

Training advisor means the person with national responsibility for the standards and negotiation of training agreements of candidates for the four strands of ministry.

Training enabler means the person who is appointed by a presbytery to facilitate and enable a candidate to fulfil the terms of his or her training agreement.

Trustee means a trustee appointed under the Presbyterian Church Property Act 1885 or the Otago Foundation Trust Board Act 1992.

Working day means any day other than Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, any statutory holiday, and any day between 20 December in any year and 20 January in the following year.

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Appendix 2: Functions

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Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

2006 Book of Order

Click here to access the previous Book of Order appendices

Appendix I: Defined terms

Appendix 2: Functions