Lone Rangers No More: Calvin's Company of Pastors as a Model for Presbyterian Clergy Relationships Today

Abstract

The Company of Pastors moderated by John Calvin in sixteenth century Geneva was never formally adopted outside the Genevan context, yet it appears to have benefited the pastors and congregations of the citystate in its four-fold work of ordination, education, mutual and selfcriticism and missionary work. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine how Calvin's Company of Pastors might serve as a model for engaging Presbyterian clergy in relationships of mutual accountability and encouragement today. Of special interest in this thesis is the area of mutual and selfcriticism, since denominational bodies tend to take care of ordination, education and missionary work, while leaving mutual and self-criticism to the individual. It has been determined that a Company of Pastors erected in a Canadian Presbyterian context could be of great benefit to the ministers and the wider church by engaging in mutual accountability. Different models are suggested, based on gender and geography.