02.01. SECTION ONE: Organizational Relationships Between NT Churches

SECTION I ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN NEW TESTAMENT CHURCHES

Contemporary churches display a variety of trans-congregational models. The monolithic hierarchy of Roman Catholicism dwells at one end of the spectrum. Many isolated independent churches are found at the opposite end. In between these two models there exist many varied degrees of supra-congregational hierarchies. What is the New Testament pattern? Is it that of a network of churches functioning under the oversight of an ecclesiastical hierarchy, or is it a pattern of autonomous churches that have no authority in one another’s affairs, or is it something other than either of these?

If the Holy Spirit’s plan for the Church included a supra-congregational hierarchy, we would expect to find evidence of this in the New Testament record. We will examine the historical record in search of such an hierarchy. Then, we will examine the Epistles to see if there is evidence of such an hierarchy.