Elders make decisions for the local parish through an elected council called the "Session" (Latin. "sessio" from "sedere" "to sit"), sometimes the "Kirk session", "church session," or (in Continental Reformed usage) "consistory". The members of the session are the pastor(s) of that congregation (sometimes referred to as a teaching elder) and the installed ruling or canon elders ("ruling" or "canon" because they are responsible for "measuring" the spiritual life and work of a congregation). In some Continental Reformed churches, deacons are members of the consistory; others, such as the Christian Reformed Church in North America, distinguish between the consistory, comprising the pastor and elders, and the council, which comprises the pastor(s), the elders, and the deacons.