Pauline Local Church Polity
Extracted from the Pauline Bootcamp, this series is devoted to the proper view of local assembly life. This includes: Its infrastructure, offices making up its leadership, the necessary characteristic for each officer, the role of non-elder men, the role of women, finances, music, and more. Please enjoy these studies and as you do, compare what the Scriptures teach to what is seen in practice in modern-day evangelicalism.
Session One (Revised)
Local Church Polity: The Pauline Apostleship
This outline provides an introduction to the series of Bootcamp modules devoted to Pauline Ecclesiology. In it we examine the important words that are found in the inspired text that specifically address Paul’s Apostleship and the men that formed that bond. We also look at the permanency of this apostleship showing that it ends with the death of the great apostle himself. Thus, in this regard the Pauline Apostleship is a temporary extension of Paul’s ministry to the Body of Christ and does not contain the
characteristic of eternal succession as heretically claimed by the Papacy (with regard to Peter). If time permits we shall also show that the Pauline Apostleship is a completely different one than that of the
Israel’s Twelve (Mat 19:28).
This version has been adapted from the original outline, authored by Stephen Rodabaugh, 1995, 2005.
Session Two (Revised)
Local Church Polity: Its Infrastructure and Officers
In this session we examine the local assembly polity established by Paul the Apostle for Body saints. In his epistles Paul has laid down principles by which we are to design our local assemblies for fulfilling the purpose of the local gathering together of Body saints as outlined in Eph 4 and discussed below. Herein we discuss the saints of the assembly, their role and purpose, and detail the officers of the assembly. The offices of deacon and bishop are detailed and the characteristics of each office and those fulfilling those roles are examined.
Session Three (Revised)
Local Church Polity: The Conduct of Its Ministry
In this outline, we address the many facets of assembly life. These include the roles of "non-elder" men and what can be expected of them in terms of service to the assembly. We also look at the role of women in the assembly using the great Phoebe as an example. Widows and family life are addressed, along with the proper view of assembly finances.
Herein we also examine the important role of music and assembly life. Unlike, today's mega-church "rock concerts" the purpose of music is shown to be that method by which emotion and the objective truth of doctrine are married and burned into the hearts and souls of each assembly saint.
Finally, the issue of booting up or starting a Pauline assembly is addressed.