Church Polity (governance) Study
Lesson 1
I.
What is Church Polity?
a. Simply put it is “the organization or governmental structure of a local church or
fellowship of churches.”
b. A purpose of church governance is to help satisfy the biblical direction in I Corinthians
14:40 that “all things should be done decently and in order.”
II.
The Basics
a. Christ is the head of the church
i. He builds the church and calls it “my church” – Matthew 16:18
ii. He claims all authority for himself, both in “heaven and on earth” – Matthew
28:18
iii. He commissions the church to make disciples in all the world in light of his
authority – Matthew 28:19-20
b. The church is expected to have leadership – Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and
submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls……….”
III.
Ground Rules
a. Let’s lay aside our traditions and submit to God’s Word - “….so for the sake of your
tradition you have made void the word of God.” - Matthew 15:6
b. Let’s leave room for disagreement over secondary (and tertiary) doctrines while
celebrating agreement on primary doctrines – “….walk in a manner worthy of the calling
to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing
with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
– Ephesians 4: 1-3
c. Levels of Doctrines
i. Primary doctrines – Doctrines Christians divide from non-Christians over and
Christians are willing to die for. An example would be the death and
resurrection of Jesus. Another would be the trinity.
ii. Secondary doctrines – Doctrines that distinguish churches from one another, yet
they partner together around primary doctrines. A good example is church
governance.
iii. Tertiary doctrines – Doctrines over which Christians in the same church
disagree, but it does not in any way decrease the intimacy of their fellowship
with one another. An example would be how the rapture will occur.
d. Guiding Principle
i. In essentials, unity (let’s unify over the primary doctrines)
ii. In non-essentials, liberty (be loving regarding secondary and tertiary doctrines)
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Church Polity (governance) Study
IV.
Church Governance is Important because it Influences many things, including:
a. What offices (positions) are recognized within the church
b. How membership is granted
c. How discipline is exercised
d. Who is responsible and accountable for the ministries of the church
V.
Primary types of Governance
a. Episcopalian
i. Form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief
authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop.
ii. Examples: Catholic, Methodist, Anglican
b. Presbyterianism
i. Form of church governance that maintains a hierarchical structure while leaving
some authority at the local Christian church.
ii. Examples: Presbyterian and Reformed churches
c. Congregational
i. Form of church governance that locates the authority of the church in each local
body of believers. No person or organization is above or over it except the Lord
Jesus Christ alone as its head.
ii. Examples: Baptist, Bible Churches
iii. Within the congregational governance are many structures with the two most
common being:
1. Single-Elder lead
2. Plural-Elder lead
KEY RESOURCES USED (other than the Bible)
Who runs the Church? – book edited by Paul E. Engle and Steve B. Cowan
Perspectives on Church Government – book edited by Chad Brand and Stanton Norman
A Display of God’s Glory – Book by Mark E. Dever
Church Governance Research Paper by Chris Robeson
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Additional Information on Congregationalism, Baptist, and Church History
I.
Key reasons why CRBC and others choose Congregational Governance
a. Biblical references to the “church” and other similar terms are interpreted to mean the
entire body and not simply representatives of the church
i. Matthey 18:17 – “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church”
ii. Acts 6:1-7 – the whole group was included in selecting the “seven”
iii. Acts 14:27 – “When they arrived and gathered the church together….”
iv. Other references: Acts 11:22, Acts 15, 1 Corinthians 5 & 6, 2 Corinthians 2
b. Almost all of the New Testament letters were written to the church as a whole and not
to any particular leader or group of leaders.
c. While there are a multitude of scriptures making it clear that leaders are responsible for
maintaining true doctrine and practice, there are also scriptures stating that the
congregation and its individual members are also responsible.
i. 1 Cor. 11:17-34, Galatians 1:8-9, 1Thes. 5:21, 1 John 4:1
d. Priesthood of All Believers and Soul Competency
i. While it would take a full study to go through these concepts, they relate to
congregationalism in that they embody the belief that every individual is
accountable to God and has direct access to God through Jesus Christ.
II.
Key beliefs resulting in the Baptist denomination
a. Only those who made a conscious choice to repent and believe the gospel could be
baptized and become members.
b. Local churches are autonomous having no superior or governing body.
III.
Brief History of Church Governance since Christ
a. AD 80 to 150: Writings of Apostolic Fathers (early Christians who had personal contact
with the Twelve Apostles) imply diverse practice among the early churches. Some
writings promote use of bishops while others clearly do not.
b. AD 150 to 250: Having bishops preside over churches becomes more the norm. It is
believed this was done to combat heresies (false teachings) confronting the church.
(mature Christians were put in the “bishop” position to help make sure churches were
not lead astray by false doctrine).
c. AD 250 to 400: An elaborate system of church governance begins to form outside of the
local church. This structure was episcopal in nature.
d. AD 400 to 1000: The bishop of Rome (Pope) rises in prominence and what we now call
the Roman Catholic Church is established.
e. AD 1000 to 1500: The Catholic Church reaches its point of highest influence and greatest
power. This is the period of the Crusades and when many Kings were controlled by the
church.
f. AD 1500 to 1600: “The Reformation” A period when many begin to force change upon
and break away from the Catholic Church on the grounds that its traditions had become
unbiblical and the structure too powerful. This movement was centered in Germany and
its leaders included Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli. A key element in
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Additional Information on Congregationalism, Baptist, and Church History
these new church structures was the movement of some level of authority down to the
local congregation.
g. AD 1600 to 1900: Period when many new denominations sprung up in Europe and
America as people began to gather based on their particular beliefs and how they
believed they should be governed. This is the period (1600’s) when the Baptist
denomination started.
h. AD 1900 to present: An explosion of new denominations arise to satisfy the continuing
variations in beliefs
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ELDER SCRIPTURES – Scriptures regarding elders or overseers. It would be helpful to read and study
these versus (in context) for Lesson 2 of the governance study.
Acts 14:23
Acts 15 : 4,6,22
Acts 16:4
Acts 20:17
Acts 20:28
Acts 21:18
Philippians 1:1
1 Timothy 3
1 Timothy 5:17
Titus 1:5-9
James 5:14
1 Peter 5:1-5
Revelation 5:14
Revelation 11:16
Revelation 19:4
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