Question e - Polity and Discipline
W-4.0404 e.—Will you be governed by our church’s polity, and will you abide by its discipline? Will you be a friend among your colleagues in ministry, working with them, subject to the ordering of God’s Word and Spirit?
About the writer
Alyson Janke is a ruling elder with a lifelong interest in church polity. A member of First Presbyterian Church, Westfield, Wisconsin, she has been the stated clerk in the Presbytery of John Knox since 1995. She taught Presbyterian Polity at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary for eighteen years. Janke has served on the Advisory Committee on the Constitution from 2004–2010 and from 2016–2020. She received the C. Fred Jenkins Constitutional Services Award in 2012. Janke is also commissioned to pastoral service in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, by the Presbytery of Winnebago, and served as interim stated clerk there for one year. She and her husband have three adult children and five grandchildren. They are retired dairy farmers.
Copyright © 2020
by the Office of the General Assembly
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (brief quotations used in magazines or newspaper reviews excepted), without the prior permission of the publisher.
The sessions, presbyteries, and synods of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) may use sections of this publication without receiving prior written permission from the publisher.
All Rights Reserved.