All ministers of the Word, elders, deacons, and professors of theology shall subscribe to the Confessions of the Canadian Reformed Churches by signing the form(s) adopted for that purpose.
Anyone refusing to subscribe in that manner shall not be ordained or installed in office. Anyone who, being in office, refuses to do so shall, because of that very fact, be immediately suspended from office by the consistory with the deacons, and classis shall not receive him. If he obstinately persists in his refusal, he shall be deposed from office.
[118] The federation of the Canadian Reformed Churches is not a federation of convenience but a federation based on the unity of faith. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that the unity of faith be preserved and protected, for if this unity is no longer there, the very nature of the federation has been violated and total collapse is the final result, even though an outward show of unity is maintained.
True unity is possible only when the churches can be assured of each other that the true doctrine of the Scriptures is believed and adhered to, and that heresies in every form are recognized and rejected. History, too, has taught us that wherever deviating views are tolerated dissolution begins almost immediately.
The Holy Spirit so guided the churches that had come to Reformation that from the outset they were aware of the necessity of maintaining the unity of faith. Having been freed from the idea that the unity of the church was fixed in one man, the pope, and that allegiance to that official was the only way in which the unity could be preserved, they understood that only allegiance to the Lord, to His Word guaranteed their really being one.
The gathering of brothers in Wesel in the year 1568 has been mentioned before. Although they could not take binding decisions and only expressed what they considered necessary or advisable, they did not hesitate to declare that no laying on of hands should occur ere the brother who was to be ordained had "solemnly bound himself in the presence of the whole church, that he will dedicate himself solely to the propagation of God's honour, to the pure proclamation of (God's) Word and to the edification of the church; that he will not twist the pronouncements of the Holy Spirit according to his own peculiar inclinations and that he will not deviate from the truth even one hair's breadth either from favour, or for money, or from fear; likewise that he will diligently observe the adopted ordinances of the church that aim at the order and the rest of the churches." (Articles of Wesel Ch.ll, Art. 12)
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