Page 62 - Ecclesiology Textbook Masters

Study Section 8: What are the Different forms of Church Polity?

8.1 Connect.

Today there are thousands of churches all over the world that worship Jesus Christ as Lord.
But many of them operate differently from others. Some have a pope and bishops who rule
over all the local parishes. They even appoint who will be the leaders in the church. The
physical buildings are owned by the governing body. Other churches have one bishop or
pastor who is the total authority for the church. This person establishes the policies and
doctrines of the church. Other churches have deacons and pastors, but the congregation
elects them to their office and votes on all the plans on which the church might embark. Within this
type of churches, the pastor may be in total authority over every activity of the church. I attended a
church where only the pastor counted the offering and put it in the bank. Some churches place the
deacons in total control with the pastors subservient to their decisions.

There seems to be all kinds of ways that churches are organized. Is any of these plans biblical? What
does the Bible say about how a church should be run? Let’s find out….

8.2 Objectives:

1. The student should be able describe the three major type of church polity or government.

2. The student should be able compare these forms of government to how the 1 century
st
church was organized in the book of Acts.

3. The student should be able explain the Scriptural qualifications for all officers of the church.

4. The student should be able conclude which form of government is truly scriptural.

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8.3 What are the different forms of church polity?

Church polity or church government refers to how a
church’s leadership is structured. While there are
many variations within individual churches,
essentially all are variations are one of the
following: episcopal, presbyterian, and
congregational. Every local church is either
independent with no higher authority outside of that local
church, or it is part of a larger group or denomination with
leaders who exert control from outside the church. Let’s look
at each type in detail.

Episcopal - The word episcopal is from the Greek word episkopos, which is often translated in English as
“bishop” or “overseer.” This form of church government functions with a single leader, often called a
bishop. The Roman Catholic Church may be the most well-known of the episcopal-type churches. The

27 https://www.gotquestions.org/church-polity.html (used by permission)

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