Church Order is the systematically organised set of rules drawn up by a qualified body for the church.[1] From the point of view of civil law, the church order can be described as the internal law of the church.[1] A church order explains precisely what a document is, in a clinical and matter of fact tone, without conveying the spiritual nature of the document.[1]
The authority of a church order is very closely linked to its relationship to Scriptures and the confessional texts of a church.[1] The fact that a church order provision is supported directly or indirectly by the Scriptures will to some degree, though not essentially, affect its authority.[1]