This article is about ordinances in canon law. For the term in Protestant religious ritual, see Ordinance (Christianity).
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An ordinance or ecclesiastical ordinance is a type of law, legal instrument, or by-law in the canon law of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and in Calvinism.
Anglican Communion
In the Anglican Communion, particularly the American Episcopal Church, Ecclesiastical ordinances are the bylaws of a Christian religious organization, especially that of a diocese or province of a church.
Catholic Church
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, ecclesiastical ordinances are particular laws, issued in order to fulfil universal law on a local or regional level.
Calvinism
Ecclesiastical Ordinances is the title of the foundation rules, or constitution, of the Reformed Church in Geneva, written by John Calvin in 1541. They were revised in 1561.