This post is provided primarily for reference. It first discusses church governance as described in the NT, and then gives a short summary of the major church governance practices that exist today.
Church Governance in the NT. The Churches in the NT all seem to have had a governing group of individuals most commonly called elders. Elder is translated from presbúteros (πρεσβύτερος), which mean an older person. This function is also referred to as a bishop, from the Greek word episkopos (ἐπίσκοπος), meaning an overseer. The function is less commonly (in the NT) referred to as a pastor, from the Greek word poimén (ποιμήν), which means a shepherd. Elders were in charge of church government and were not necessarily teachers. Churches in the NT also had deacons, who were in charge of specific tasks or ministries. Deacon is translated from the Greek word diákonos (διάκονος), which means a servant or a minister.
Roman Catholic. Offices in the Roman Catholic church include deacon, priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal, and pope. Deacons (also called seminarians) are those in their last phase of training for the priesthood and can perform duties similar to a priest. There are two types of priest, diocesan priests and religious priests. Diocesan priests are in charge of individual parishes, whereas religious priests are members of religious orders. Bishops are typically in charge of a local groups of parishes known as dioceses. Archbishops are typically in charge of a groups of dioceses known as archdioceses. Some leading bishops and archbishops are also members of the College of Cardinals and are therefore called Cardinals. The most important duty of the College of Cardinals is to elect a new pope when needed. The pope, of course, is the head of the entire Roman Catholic church.
Episcopalian. The Episcopalian model is similar to the Roman Catholic Model except without a pope. Rectors are the head of local congregations. Bishops are in charge of a group of Rectors, with the corresponding congregations called dioceses. And Archbishops are in charge of a group of bishops, with the corresponding dioceses called archdioceses. Archbishops, bishops, and rectors are all ordained episcopal priests.
Presbyterian. A local Presbyterian church is governed by elders. The lead pastor will be one of the elders in addition to a specified number of people from the congregation. This group is called the session of the congregation. The members of the sessions in a region are also all member of the corresponding presbytery, which has governing authority over its member congregations. Some of the members of each presbytery are also members of the General Assembly, which has governing authority over its member presbyteries.
Congregational. A congregational church is one whose only authority derives from the congregation of its member. A congregational church may be a member of a larger association, but this association has no authority over its member churches. The members of a congregational church elect its governing members, called elders, and has the authority to remove its governing members. For small churches with only a single pastor, the pastor may be the only elder, but will be supported by a number of elected deacons. For larger churches, the governing board typically consists of the lead pastor and a specified number of additional elected elders.
Community. A community church typically refers to a local church that is set up as a non-profit business. As such, the organization is required to meet the legal requirements that apply to the location of the church. A community church will therefore typically be run by an elected board of directors. The board of directors then has the exclusive authority to hire and fire an executive pastor, who is the equivalent of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in a for-profit business. Like a congregational church, a community church is completely self-governed. It may be a member of a larger association, but this association has no authority over its member churches.[i]
[i] Some community churches are very large and have multiple locations. In these situations, there will still be a single board of directors that has ultimate authority over all of these locations. It is therefore more appropriate to view this as a single church with multiple locations than a group of separate churches that are members of a larger organization.
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