Posts Tagged ‘Church Polity’
Growing in Small Groups
FrontLine March/April 2019 | VOLUME 29 | NUMBER 2 In America, big churches are getting bigger and small churches are getting smaller. According to the Hartford Institute and Leadership Network, America boasted 150 “mega-churches” (2000 or more in the congregation) in 1980 and is home to nearly 2000 of them today. Simultaneously, the median attendance…
Read MoreYou Don’t Want to Have a Megapastor
The news just hit that another fabulously popular megapastor has been fired, apparently because of a long-standing, toxic culture of absolute power. I’m not very old, but I’ve already watched three cycles of this—a pastor who becomes THE guy to listen to, builds up a huge following, and then disintegrates in a blaze of glory.…
Read MoreThe Importance of Strong Biblical Leadership
In the headlines, we occasionally see stories of abuse of power and failure of leadership. Some of these stories are of failures at a church or other religious organization. Many voices rise up when these events occur, clamoring for a renovation of church polity, denigrating the status quo, calling for change to forms of church…
Read MoreUnity in a Baptist Church?
Charles R. Phelps FrontLine • March/April 2009 Some have said, “Baptist churches multiply by division!” Such an observation must not be taken lightly, for it was our Savior’s prayer that His disciples be models of divine unity reflecting the very tri-unity of the Godhead (John 17:22). The absence of unity in the church requires prayerful,…
Read MoreStraight Cuts: The Responsibilities of Leaders and Followers
Randy Shaylor FrontLine • May/June 2007 Hebrews 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they…
Read MoreCongregational Singing Is Cool Again
Chuck Phelps Congregational singing has suddenly become cool (again). Just listen to Mark Dever, who testifies that, “The effect (of congregational music) on my own soul is electrifying.” Dr. Dever counsels pastors to reduce the praise band and the organ “by 80%” so that the voices of the congregation may be heard. After all, says,…
Read MoreThe Necessity of Church Membership
Michael Riley A sound church must be committed to meaningful church membership. This is not a popular topic in our day, for at least a couple of (related) reasons. The first is the widespread individualism of our society. Many factors of life today have turned people inward: it is not unusual for people to barely…
Read MoreA Theological Basis for Congregational Government
Larry R. Oats Baptists have consistently maintained a congregational church government. Independent, democratic congregations suffered under the domination of Roman Catholicism until the Reformation, when these same kinds of congregations suffered under the Reformers. When the modern Baptist movement began (identified by this author as the time when Baptists began to call themselves such), Baptists…
Read MoreThe Significance of Small Church Ministry
Don Johnson I wonder how many readers of Proclaim & Defend attend small churches? By small, I would say any church of 200 or less. I base those numbers on a couple of sources I read recently. They have gotten my attention and stirred up some thinking about small church ministry. I’d like to spend…
Read MoreThe Ethics of Change
Don Johnson As a final follow-up to my piece on What to do When Your Church Leaves You, I want to talk about the ethics of change. We know that change is inevitable. We know we resist change for various reasons. Not all change is bad, sometimes changing times demand change for the new circumstances.…
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