Under One Head
Who is in charge of your church? Some would answer the pope, a bishop, a presbytery, a denominational office, or a board. Scripture gives a simpler answer. Christ is the head of the body, the church (Colossians 1:18), and He rules each of His churches directly, by His Word and Spirit.
That is what Baptists mean by the autonomy of the local church. Each congregation of saved and baptized believers governs its own affairs under Christ. It calls its own pastor, receives its own members, chooses its own servants, and keeps its own discipline. It answers to Christ and His Word, not to any convention, association, diocese, or denominational authority. Its allegiance is not to a label, a hierarchy, a tradition, or a creed, but to the Word of God, the mission of the church, and its members' commitment to one another. Its people have the Bible and one another.
Autonomy does not mean isolation, and it does not mean that everyone does as he pleases. A self-governing church is still governed: by Christ, through His Word, with the leaders and the order He has given.
Each local church is self-governing under Christ, its Head. No person or body outside the congregation has authority over it. It is accountable to Christ and His Word, led by its pastor, served by its deacons, and joined to other churches by fellowship rather than by hierarchy.
If Christ is the Head of your church, how does He lead it, and what part has He given you?
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For Deeper Study
- Who Runs the Church? 4 Views on Church GovernmentAmazon Steven B. Cowan, general editorPeter Toon (episcopal), L. Roy Taylor (presbyterian), Paige Patterson (single-elder congregational), and Samuel Waldron (plural-elder congregational) each make a case and answer the others (2004). A fair way to hear each view from its own advocates.
- Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church PolityAmazon Chad Owen Brand and R. Stanton Norman, editorsFive views in debate (2004), including Daniel Akin's single elder-led congregation, James Leo Garrett's democratic congregationalism, and James White's plural elder-led congregation.
- Baptist Distinctives and New Testament Church OrderAmazon Kevin T. BauderA short book for church members (2012) by a fundamentalist Baptist, with chapters on congregational government, Baptist associations, and church councils.
- The New Directory for Baptist ChurchesAmazon Edward T. HiscoxA classic manual of Baptist church order (1894), still consulted on officers, discipline, and fellowship between churches.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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The Local Church
The local church, a congregation of saved and baptized believers voluntarily united under Christ, is God's institution to carry out His work today.
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