Who Runs the Church?: 4 Views on Church Government

Churches have split and denominations have formed over the issue of church government. While many Christians can explain their church's form of rule or defend it because of its "tried and true" traditions, few people understand their church's administrative customs from a biblical perspective.

Who Runs the Church? explores questions such as: What model for governing the church does the Bible provide, and is such a model given for practical or spiritual reasons? Is there room for different methods within Christianity? Or is there a right way of "doing church"? And, finally, how (and by whom) should the church be governed?

Four predominant approaches to church government are presented by respected proponents:

• Episcopalianism - represented by Peter Toon
• Presbyterianism - represented by L. Roy Taylor
• Single-Elder Congregationalism - represented by Paige Patterson
• Plural-Elder Congregationalism - represented by Samuel E. Waldron

As in other Counterpoints books, each view is followed by critiques from the other contributors, and its advocate then responds.

Stanley N. Gundry (PhD, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago) is an author, editor, and theologian with graduate degrees in historical theology. After serving in pastoral ministry, he taught as an adjunct professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and as Professor of Theology at Moody Bible Institute, where he taught for eleven years. He was a founding board member of Christians for Biblical Equality, serving two terms and later receiving the organization’s Priscilla and Aquila Award along with his wife. He is also a past president of the Evangelical Theological Society. Gundry is the author or coauthor of seven books and has contributed numerous articles to a wide range of publications. Beyond theological circles, he is known for his writings on the restoration of the Studebaker Avanti automobile. He and his wife, Patricia, have four grown children. In recognition of his more than forty years of influence in Christian publishing, he received the ECPA Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Steven B. Cowan (M.Div.; Ph.D.) is associate professor of Philosophy and Apologetics at Southeastern Bible College in Birmingham, AL.

Peter Toon (PhD., Oxford University) was the rector of Christ Church, Biddulph Moor, Diocese of Lichfield, in the Church of England. He published over thirty books.

Dr. L. Roy Taylor is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He has served as a Presbyterian Churches in America (PCA) pastor for sixteen years, as a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary for ten years, and as stated clerk of the General Assembly of the PCA since 1998. He has written various article and is the author of several books, including Four Views on Church Government (Countperpoints series, Zondervan). He and his wife, Donna, have two children and five grandchildren.

Paige Patterson (Th.D., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) is president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX.