Various Church Government Models - Essay Example

CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND ASSIGNMENT

There are various church government models used to run the churches. The various models differ in regards to operational and governance structure of the church or the denomination. The five most common models applicable in the majority of the churches include Episcopal, Presbyterian, congregationalism, connexional and hierarchical models.

Episcopal model is a type of church governance whose chief ministers are the bishops assisted by other ministers such as the priests and deacons. The bishops are chosen by a higher authority such as the archbishop which is the topmost authority. Decisions on the matters of the church are made at the higher levels which is the archbishop in consultation with a delegated authority which is normally referred as the council of bishops. The advantage of this type of model is that there is efficient communication from the highest authority to the congregation. The archbishop communicates to the bishops who pass them to pastors and finally to the congregation. There is unity among various congregations because they are all governed under one authority of the archbishop. The disadvantage of this model is the congregation is not involved in decision making of the church as the highest authority makes the decisions and communicates to the congregation through the other ministers. Also, the congregation is not involved in determining whom to serve in the authorities. It has a weakness in that there is the likelihood of lack of accountability among the authorities especially if the highest authority is weak. Lastly, a church with a large congregation may be cumbersome to govern, and this may lead to certain groups of the congregation having their practices which may differ from those of the denomination .

Presbyterian model is a church government model which is based by elders chosen by the congregation and normally approved by the present governing council of elders. In this church model, there is a belief that authority rests on the elders chosen. The elders may participate in the regional body through appointed delegates. The regional body, however, has no authority in the matters of a church. Another broader body is also formed by delegates from several regional bodies. The main function of such broad bodies is to address theological issues on the whole denomination. Pastors or priests are recognized although they have no authority over the church but serve their role as ministers of the word. They are regarded to be theological experts. The advantage of this type of church governance is the congregation have the privilege of choosing the pastor or priest of their own without influence from the outside. One weakness of this type of church model is that once the congregation has appointed a council of elders, they are not able to remove them or overturn their decisions.

Congregational church model is a type of church model under which authority is based on the congregation. Every member has the same authority to others. Each local congregation supports itself and associations formed are on voluntary based and have no authority over the internal affairs of the church. There is a belief that all the authority is the Christ. Like in the Presbyterian Church model a pastor or the priest is appointed from among the elders to serve the role of teaching and preaching to the congregation. The congregation church model is divided into two types: democratic congregation and plural elder-led congregation . The democratic congregational model is made up of democratically elected leaders by the congregation to serve for a certain period. The elected leaders make decisions on behalf of the congregation through special committees made up of members referred to as deacons. Plural elder-led congregational church model is made up of plural elders who have the final authority. It is similar to the democratic model, but it differs regarding the method the elders are elected. In this model, the elders are elected by the respect offered to them by the crowd. The Congregational church model has several advantages. Democracy is enhanced as a member of the congregation has an equal authority and is involved in decision making. There is accountability in this type of church model because every member is involved in policies of the church.

The hierarchical model is another church model almost similar to Episcopal but with more complex governance involving hierarchy. In some forms of hierarchical model is where the authority is passed from one person to another after a certain period. This model of church government is demonstrated by the Catholic Church where the highest authority is the pope who is appointed by a council of cardinals and serves until he or she resigns or dies. The pope is assisted by the cardinals who are appointed by the pope and represent all the parts of the world. The archbishops are the next in authority and head the various diocese. The bishops assist the archbishops. Then the lowest authorities are the priests and the deacons respectively. This model has been very effective in the Catholic Church and has assisted in exercising authority over the largest congregation in the world. The office of the pope also helps to promote the unity of all the various congregation all over the world. It, however, has several drawbacks. The lowest level that is the congregation has no view in decisions of the church. Also, the process of communication is very slow from then pope up to the deacons due to various authorities it passes and a large number of churches all over the world.

The connexional model combines the features of both the Episcopal and congregational models of church government. There are authorities established to lead the church based on the decisions made by the congregation. The congregation is normally made up of small groups who appoint ministers who travel among the groups and others attached to each group. In this model, all leaders and congregations are connected to a network of loyalties and commitments that support local concerns. The advantage of this type of model is that the congregation is directly involved in issues of the church and the ministers appointed to represent the opinions of the congregation. This type of church model also helps to create unity among various congregation through ministers who travel from one group to another.

Some of the church models have some common features which they share in common. All the church government models have a belief that Christ is the head of the church and has the highest authority. There is also a belief that, the government is Christ’s authority representation on earth and if any governance system in any way tries to replace the authority of Christ then it is no longer acceptable. Another similarity is the presence of ministers who are regarded as experts in the theology due to their training or experience in theology such as the pastors or the priests. This minister may have or not have authority in church governance depending on the model. Their main role is to provide teaching and preaching to the congregation and serve primary leadership to the church. Another common feature among this various church governance models is they are biblically derived and operate according to the guidelines in the bible. In most church government models there is a similarity between the elders and bishops as they represent the same office and order. The members of the congregation in most models also have the right to appeal to the authorities in the church governance about disputed matters. There are laid out procedures in various church models to be followed out by any member of the congregation when launching a complaint or dispute .

Another common feature in the church government models is various authorities are structured on a regional basis such as district level, national level, and worldwide.

The church government model in my church is the Episcopal. The highest authority is the archbishop who heads a council of bishops. The bishops head different regional bodies and are assisted by regional coordinators. The lowest level of authority in my church model is the pastor or the priest who head individual churches. The archbishop makes decisions about the church in with the consultation council of bishops. The bishops then pass the decisions made to the pastors who implement them. The church government in my church is very efficient. One of the reasons is because there is proper communication between the authorities and the congregation. The decisions are made by easily communicated through the bishops to the pastors who pass them to the congregation. Also, issues raised by the congregation are passed by the pastor to the bishop who presents them to the archbishop to be discussed by the council of bishops and decision communicated back. In this type of model, there is the proper administration of authority thus preventing misuse of office. The bishops are overseeing they discipline pastors or priests who violate the traditions of the church. This is the same case as to the bishops who can be given disciplinary actions by the archbishop for any gross misconduct. This type of model also has efficient methods of dealing with disputes arising by the church. The pastor deals with issues within the church. If the issue is too big to be addressed by the pastor, then he or she can present the issue to the bishop, and if the bishop cannot deal the issue, then he or she presents it to the archbishop to be discussed by the council of elders.

I propose that the current model of my church which is the Episcopal should be maintained. This is because of its well-structured administration which has effective communication and proper address to issues arising. This type of model is also efficient in governing a large number of congregations of the church as each authority represents a certain group of the congregation. The council of bishops also is a very important authority in this model especially in decision making and should be maintained. I only propose one reform to this model. The congregation’s opinion should be considered before the decision is made by the archbishop or the council of bishops.