Church Discipline: Kirk Session and Consistory

1. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

   • Confession Chapter 30: Of Church Censures Camden Bucey Open source Doctrinal Reformed Forum (OPC) The lectures read or assume the 1788 OPC/PCA text; the 1647 text gives the magistrate power to call synods (31.2) and the original Belgic 36 charges the magistrate to remove idolatry. The new school holds the 1647 and original texts. Keep the lectures for chapters where the text is unchanged (21, 25 in substance,...
   • Communion season sermons (Thursday fast to Monday thanksgiving), Chesley, Ontario Rev. R. Macleod (April 2026) and Rev. K. Watkins (September 2025) 16 sermons listed; durations not shown Open source Supplementary Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland

2. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

   • The Dying Man's Testament to the Church of Scotland, or A Treatise Concerning Scandal James Durham (preface by Robert Blair) 470 pages Open source Doctrinal 1659. Public domain
   • The Church Order of Dort, Fourth Head: Of Censure and Ecclesiastical Admonition (Arts. 71-86) Synod of Dort Arts. 71-86 Open source Primary text 1619. Free online Art. 69 (text confirmed) admits beside the 150 Psalms the Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer, Twelve Articles and the songs of Mary, Zacharias and Simeon; the Scottish line sings psalms only. Both are within the two confessional families. Keep both; teach exclusive psalmody as the Scottish position and Dort Art. 69 as...
   • Aaron's Rod Blossoming, Book 3: Of Excommunication from the Church, and Suspension from the Lord's Table George Gillespie Book 3 of 3 Open source Doctrinal 1646. Public domain
   • The Discipline of the Reformation, part 1 David Hay Fleming Part 1 confirmed; parts 2-3 not verified Open source Doctrinal 1997 (Naphtali Press reprint). Free online
   • Old Church Life in Scotland: Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery Records, vol. 1 Andrew Edgar 367 pages Open source Supplementary 1885. Public domain
   • The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 2, ch. 29 (Ecclesiastical Authority and the Use of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven) Wilhelmus a Brakel (trans. Bartel Elshout) Open source Doctrinal 1700. Free online
   • How To Fence the Lord's Table (2) R. Scott Clark Open source Supplementary 2012. Free online
   • Preparing for the Lord's Table (RBO topic page) Reformed Books Online (compiled) topic page Open source Supplementary Free online
   • Register of the Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Christian Congregation of St. Andrews (kirk session and superintendent's court), 1559-1600; token footnote at pp. 34-35 ed. David Hay Fleming 590 scans Open source Primary text 1889. Public domain
   • Old Scottish Communion Plate, ch. 4 "The Communion Token" (pp. 435-68) and Appendix 4 "Kirk Session Extracts Relative to the Use of Tokens" (pp. 631-32) Thomas Burns about 35 pp. + 2 pp. Open source Source studied 1892. Public domain
   • The Order of Excommunication and of Public Repentance used in the Church of Scotland (General Assembly, June 1569) Church of Scotland (attributed to Knox) TCP 37 page images Open source Primary text 1569. Public domain
   • Communion Tokens of the Established Church of Scotland, 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries (historical description pp. 3-30) Alexander J. S. Brook 160 pp. (hub); 169 scans Open source History 1907/1908. Public domain
   • The Story of the Token as Belonging to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Robert Shiells (Scottish-born Presbyterian elder) 220 pp. (hub); 232 scans Open source History 1902. Public domain
   • The Story of the Old Time Communion Service and Worship, also the Metallic Communion Token of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1772 George A. MacLennan 75 pp. (hub); 78 scans Open source History 1924. Free online
   • Communion Tokens: a Descriptive Catalogue ... American Presbyterian Church (historical introduction pp. 5-9) Thomas Warner 50 pp. (58 scans); assign pp. 5-9 Open source History 1888. Public domain
   • Token: 3. Tokens of the Reformed Church (Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 12, p. 358) ed. James Hastings few pp. Open source History 1908-1927. Public domain
   • Token, Communion (New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, vol. 11, p. 459) Schaff-Herzog 1 page Open source History 1908-1914. Free online
   • Holy Fairs: Scottish Communions and American Revivals in the Early Modern Period Leigh Eric Schmidt extent not given on hub Supplementary No link: find it in a library or bookstore. 1989. Purchase (optional)
   • Tokens of Grace: Cape Breton's Open-Air Communion Tradition Laurie Stanley-Blackwell 164 pp. Supplementary No link: find it in a library or bookstore. 2006. Purchase (optional)
   • Communion Tokens (annotated bibliography and links) Reformed Books Online annotated hub page (further reading) Open source Supplementary Free online

   Total: 1,496 pages

3. Assignment Write a research paper of 30 pages on a topic drawn from the lectures and readings of this course. Argue from Scripture, the Westminster Standards (1647 text) and the Three Forms of Unity, cite the primary sources you read, and state the points on which the sources differ.

   Open the assignment

Every lecture and reading carries its role. "Under review" means the teacher's subscription to the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity is not yet established; "Read as comparison" means the material teaches the 1788 American text of WCF 20.4, 23 or 31 or of Larger Catechism Q.109, which the school reads beside the 1647 text. Nothing has been removed.