THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

 

How  are churches to be governed? 

This question  has occupied  a good deal of  the church's  energy  over the 2 millenia  of  her existence. Here is a brief  summary of  the development  of  various forms of church government.  

Some time ago I have written  an article on this blog site  entitled, "Why I am a Congregationalist"    which will help the reader to understand my own position  in this regard.  

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

FIRST CENTURY	Elders over a local  congregation, led by a presiding elder	Church at Jerusalem – James (Acts 12:17;15:13;21:17)
SECOND CENTURY	Ruling elder of a local congregation	Polycarp, Clement, Justin Martyr, Tertullian The doctrine of the priesthood of believers held a central place in the first two centuries
THIRD CENTURY	Ruling elder; a mother church begins ruling over local congregations	Cyprian of Carthage The concept of  the “priesthood of all believers” changes. A priestly class emerges.
FOURTH CENTURY	The concept of an archbishop emerges. He rules over a number of churches in his territory.	Mother churches developed illustratively  at Alexandria, Antioch, Carthage, Rome presiding over local churches in their area.
FIFTH CENTURY  UNTIL THE  REFORMATON	The battle  for power and control over the churches  begins : ROME in the West versus CONSTANTINOPLE in the East	The big schism of 1054 AD. The western (Roman Catholic) church under  the bishop of Rome  separated  from the eastern (Orthodox) church under the bishop of Constantinople. Both churches came increasingly under state control.
16th  CENTURY  REFORMATION ONWARDS…	The central focus of the Reformation was  rooted in the SOLA SCRIPTURA principle- the authority of the Bible over  the  authority of  the Roman  bishop. In terms of church government there was no unanimity among Protestants. GENERAL FORMS OF  CHURCH GOVERNMENT 1.       EPISCOPALIAN:led by an ‘archbishop’ : Roman Catholic, Anglican, many charismatic groups 2.       PRESBYTERIAN:  the church is led by a team of ruling elders.   3.       CONGREGATIONAL:  the church is led by a team of  qualified  elders  duly authorised by, and held accountable  to  the church gathering. Baptists generally subscribe to  this form of church government.	LUTHER’s  concept of “the godly prince” -  saw the church as under the rule of the state. CALVIN saw the state as subject to the church. ANGLICANS  saw the monarch  as head of the church; the  church was subject to the state. ANABAPTISTS / BAPTISTS disavowed the concept of a state church, promoting separation between church and state. Baptists regard the congregation as having the highest authority under the Lordship of Christ and subject to Scripture.  The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers  (see first two centuries) is re-emphasised.