Those who are delegated to the assemblies shall bring with them their credentials and instructions, signed by those sending them, and they shall have a vote in all matters except such as particularly concern their persons or churches.
Decisions pertaining to Article 33
- To promote uniformity the credential letter for delegation to major assemblies shall end in the following form: “With instruction and authority to take part in all deliberations and transactions regarding all matters coming legally before the meeting and transacted in agreement with the Word of God according to the conception of it embodied in the doctrinal standards of the Protestant Reformed Churches, as well as in harmony with the Church Order of the Protestant Reformed Churches.”
- The major assemblies shall also have a stated clerk, who however shall not hold the position of permanent secretary, and who shall not be a member of the assemblies’ officers, but that of a deputy to serve the classis or synod with services which would otherwise constitute the task of such a functionary.
(Adopted by Classis of June 6, 7, 1934; Synod of 1944, Arts. 66, 67; revised by Synod of 1946, Art. 19. See also formulas for classical and synodical credentials, pp. 145, 146.)