Polity
Reflections on ‘One Assembly’ and the Immigrant Church
By Geoff Chang | 07.03.2020As immigrant churches pursue greater independence among their various language congregations, the goal is not simply to have separate churches so that we can cross our t’s and dot our ecclesiological i’s. That’s only half the picture.
5 Reasons You Should Preach through 1 Timothy
By Phil Newton | 06.03.2020Brothers, preach 1 Timothy. And don’t wait too long. You and your congregation need its Christ-centered focus for the church.
Pastoring in a Pandemic QuickTake: Keeping our Polity Straight in a Pandemic
By Jonathan Leeman | 06.03.2020Jonathan Leeman considers the challenges the coronavirus poses to church polity and how pastors can maintain biblical fidelity in the midst of the pandemic.
How the Lord Prepared Our Church for a Global Pandemic
By Juan Sanchez | 05.07.2020The Lord had been preparing us for this global pandemic through the ordinary means of pastoral ministry.
On Apple Stores and the DMV: Two Kinds of Churches that Create Complementarian Chaos
By Alex Duke | 9Marks Journal: Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning | 12.11.2019I’ve been in churches whose authority structures are like an Apple Store’s, and I’ve been in churches whose authority structures are like the DMV’s. In both cases—but in different ways—chaos bubbles up to the surface.
Mailbag #86: Considering the Danger, Should Muslim-Background Believers Be Baptized . . . My Friends Who Want to Be Pastors Think Polity Is Boring. How Can I Help Them?
By A. Menikoff, A. Duty | 07.12.2019— Should we encourage Muslim-background believers to be baptized, even when it endangers their lives? — My friends want to be pastors. But they have no interest in polity. How can I help them see its importance?
Two Reasons a Church Shouldn’t Have Multiple Gatherings
By Kyle Schwahn | 07.01.2019I’ve pastored my church for over twelve years. We’ve always had two morning services, and I never gave them much thought. Until . . .
Mailbag #77: How Much Agreement with a Statement of Faith Should Be Required for Membership?
By Brad Wheeler | 03.08.2019A man who was baptized as a believer wants to join our credobaptist church, though he is paedobaptistic and cannot affirm the church’s statement of faith on believer’s baptism. Should the elders of the church recommend this man to the church for membership?
Teach, Wait, Repeat: How Calvinism Fuels My Commitment to Congregationalism
By Sam Emadi | 9Marks Journal: Ecclesiology for Calvinists | 02.05.2019We’ll consider how our theology shapes our polity, how polity shapes ministry, and how ministry is fueled by our conception of God.
Should Elders Insist on Unanimity?
By Jamie Dunlop | 10.28.2018We should value trust more highly than agreement.
Book Review: James Robinson Graves—Staking the Boundaries of Baptist Identity, by James A. Patterson
Review by Caleb Greggsen | 09.21.2018This book provides a cautionary tale for everyone committed to teaching and promoting sound Baptist polity as the polity most faithful to Scripture.
Book Review: The Deacon, by Cornelis Van Dam
Review by Rick Carmickle | 03.26.2018This book sets forth a broad view of ministry to the poor, not only for deacons but for the church at large.
7 Ways to Protect and Pass On the Gospel
9Marks | 03.09.2018Christian, you have an assigned task from Jesus and it involves at least two things: helping fellow church members make it to heaven and getting the gospel into the next generation.
Episode 26: On Multi-Site Churches (with Matt Chandler)
By J. Leeman, M. Dever, M. Chandler | 11.07.2017Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman interview Matt to talk about the reasons behind this transition.
Episode 23: On Polity and Discipleship
By J. Leeman, M. Dever | 10.17.2017Does church order really have anything to do with discipleship? Isn’t one polity—presbyterian, congregational, etc.—just as good as another?
