Our Church Order (Article 17)

Among the Ministers of the Word equality shall be maintained with respect to the duties of their office and also in other matters as far as possible according to the judgment of the Consistory, and if necessary, of the Classis; which equality shall be maintained in the case of the elders and the deacons. Having made plain that the office of church visitor is no Romish dignity, let us now lay hold on the mean­ing of the above-cited article and show that its ob­servance spells the perpetual...