Just a Word

I have not posted since last fall. I will start again and see how it goes.

Biblical Church Polity

A look at what the Bible says about local church organization
Introduction

The other day a person asked how we determined our church organizational structure. As most other pastors, my initial response was, “from the Bible.” It does not, however, take a thorough examination of the Scripture to find that much of the organizational structure as well as the polity of the typical late 20th Century church is not directly derived from Scripture. It is easy to understand how so many denominations came into being when you understand the different organizational and leadership styles.

Many believe that the church is to be a Theocracy rather than a democracy in the way it is governed. Does God’s Word give us direction as to how the church should be organized and structured? Are the instructions in Scripture sufficient for the staffing and operation of the mega-churches of our day?

I believe that there is room given for various leadership styles in the Bible. While God has given some basic guidelines for the structure of the church, there is room for creativity and variety in the organizational structure as long as the foundational principles of God’s Word are not violated.