Sadly enough, church discipline is rarely heeded these days. Usually long before excommunication, the member will withdraw his papers. In all my years in reformed churches, if I remember correctly, I may have witnessed an excommunication once.

And an excommunication is indeed a very sad event for a worship service, but also very much a necessary event.

And a church would wish never to have to exercise official church discipline, but Christ commands it. The purpose of church discipline is ALWAYS to bring the member from his way of sin in repentance of heart.

What excommunication (the final step) does do for the congregation, I think, is illustrate just a little bit the heartache that a consistory would go through before having to go to this extreme remedy.

Excommunication never ever occurs according to a set time schedule. It all depends on the facts of the case. And as long as there is communication, there is hope. Don't believe any God-fearing consistory would be hasty there.

__________________
Bert Mulder
Elder of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Edmonton
Edmonton Alberta Canada