"What then is the peculiar task laid on the ministry and recognised in the act of ordination? In the Reformed Churches this has been characteristically defined in terms of the Word of God. Ordinands have been admitted to the Ministry of the Word the Sacraments and Pastoral Oversight (the last includes ‘discipline’ or ‘rule’). The fact that the ‘Word’ is placed first is no accident for it is an indication of the specially Reformed understanding of what is vital to the continued life of God’s people."

"The ministry is by no means an expression of democratic Church leadership; it is not a sacramental priesthood; it is not an autocratically governing hierarchy. The ministry is appointed to bear Christ’s forgiveness and reconciliation and His government and discipline all of which are valid only insofar as they are based and rooted in the Word of the Gospel. It is in the Gospel that Jesus Christ effectively discloses Himself as Truth Reconciliation and the Author of ordered human freedom."

"The ministry is ordained to make this Gospel its primary pre-occupation for the sake of the Church and her mission. The ministry is commissioned to be responsible for the genuineness of the Gospel in its contemporary form for its effectiveness in the life of the Church and the World and for the ‘style of life’ which it elicits from those addressed by it."