D-1.0101 Church discipline is the church’s exercise of authority given by Christ, both in the direction of guidance, control, and nurture of its members and in the direction of constructive criticism of offenders…
The purpose of discipline is to honor God by making clear the significance of membership in the body of Christ;

  • to preserve the purity of the church by nourishing the individual within the life of the believing community;
  • to achieve justice and compassion for all participants involved;
  • to correct or restrain wrongdoing in order to bring members to repentance and restoration;
  • to uphold the dignity of those who have been harmed by disciplinary offenses;
  • to restore the unity of the church by removing the causes of discord and division;
    and
  • to secure the just, speedy, and economical determination of proceedings.

In all respects, all participants are to be accorded procedural safeguards and due process, and it is the intention of these rules so to provide…