How did the election of church officials influence government in the Reformed Church?

The election of church officials in the Reformed Church had a significant influence on its government by advocating for and establishing a system of church governance that was more democratic and less hierarchical than the Roman Catholic Church from which it broke away during the Protestant Reformation.

When it comes to the Reformed tradition, one of its key principles is the concept that the church should be governed by its own members rather than by a central ecclesiastical hierarchy. This principle was influenced by the teachings of figures like John Calvin, who argued that a church should be governed by a combination of its pastors and elected representatives from the congregations, known as elders or presbyters.

The overall governance structure in many Reformed churches therefore often features a system of councils or assemblies at various levels, starting from the local church (consistory, session, or church council), regional (presbytery or classis), national (synod), and sometimes international (general assembly). The officials in these structures are elected by the members of the church or their representatives. This system emphasizes the role of the laity, or regular church members, in making decisions alongside the clergy.

This form of ecclesiastical polity influenced civil government, particularly in places where the Reformed tradition became dominant, by serving as an early model of representative democracy. The principles of representative bodies and elective leadership in the church arguably had an impact on the development of similar systems in the political realm.