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Church Polity

Judge Sides With Second Baptist Houston, Dismisses Nearly All Claims in Church Governance Lawsuit

By Filings on Mon, 07/20/26
Body

“The legal battle arose from a dispute regarding the church’s governance, particularly long-time Senior Pastor Ed Young’s decision to appoint his son, Ben Young, as successor of the historic Texas megachurch without taking up a congregational vote.” - C.Leaders

A Pastor Is an Elder Is a Bishop

By Filings on Tue, 11/25/25
Body

“I want to make a case from Scripture for why we should understand that these three terms refer to the same office. My argument moves along three steps.” - 9 Marks

Strengthening Church Governance and Accountability: Best Practices and Essential Resources

By Filings on Tue, 04/15/25
Body

“Whether you’re a church leader or an active member seeking to enhance your church’s governance structures, understanding best practices and leveraging available resources is crucial.” - Brian Cederquist

A Congregation Is a Voting Body

By Filings on Tue, 02/25/25
Body

“There are two key areas in which the biblical pattern is accountability to the congregation—the entire church body—and where decision-making is assigned to the entire church body…. in financial accountability and in church discipline.” - P&D

Why Members Voting on Members Is Their Most Important Job

By Filings on Fri, 02/14/25
Body

“I’m writing to anyone who already assumes congregationalism. With that in mind, how does voting on members protect the gospel?” - 9 Marks

Teaching New Elders to Be Shepherds—The Baxter Project

By Filings on Tue, 01/21/25
Body

“The real challenge is helping the elders change their focus from a board-of-trustees mentality to a shepherding mentality. In this article I will share our journey of making that change” - 9 Marks

What did church leadership look like in the first century?

By Filings on Wed, 06/12/24
Body

“The general norm in the first century seems to be that churches were led by multiple elders/overseers/pastors. Some see this plurality as a command. I’m not sure it quite rises to that level.” - DBTS Blog

Leading a Congregational Church Through Constitutional Change

By Filings on Fri, 02/16/24
Body

“In the past decade, my church has undergone two changes to our constitution…. As leaders, we did some things well and some things poorly in both changes. I think we did significantly better the second time around.” - 9 Marks

Should pastors hand over ministries to their children?

By Filings on Wed, 10/26/22
Body

“If there is no one sent to me by God, I will assume that God sent my son to take over the leadership role in the ministry.” - C.Post

What Job Titles Should Churches Use? Two Simple Rules

By Filings on Tue, 09/27/22
Body

“the first English Baptist confession, John Smyth’s (1609), lists ‘bishops and deacons.’ The First London Confession of 1644 lists ‘pastors, teachers, elders, deacons,’ while the Second London Confession of 1688 returns to two: ‘bishops or elders and deacons.’ In fact, nearly all Baptist confessions mention only two” - 9 Marks

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