The Company of Pastors or Venerable Company[1][page needed] (French: Compagnie des pasteurs) is an organization, comparable to a classis,[2] of ministers and deacons of the Protestant Church of Geneva.[3] It was established as part of the implementation of John Calvin's Ecclesiastical Ordinances in 1541[2][4] and originally consisted of the ministers of Geneva's three city churches and a dozen countryside parishes. It met every Friday morning to examine candidates for ministry and discuss the theological and practical business of the church.[1][page needed] In 1559 professors of the Genevan Academy were made members of the company. The company's powers were drastically reduced in the nineteenth century.[2]
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