Page 65 - Ecclesiology revised short_Neat

Chapter 8: What are the Different forms of Church Polity?

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 local 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….

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 church was
st
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.

The Lesson ...

What are the different forms of church polity? xxxviii

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.

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