Reformed church government is more than a practical system for organizing a congregation. It rests on biblical principles of authority, representation, accountability, and leadership that run through both Testaments.
This study guide examines those principles and their application
to elders, deacons, ordination, church courts, and worship.
Roger Smalling
About this study guide
Reformed Church Government is an intermediate-level teacher’s study guide designed especially for seminary students and Christians preparing for church leadership. It presents church government as a biblical and theological subject rooted in the whole of Scripture rather than merely a matter of administrative preference.
The guide explains the Reformed understanding of ecclesiology, including the biblical basis for representative government, the offices of elder and deacon, ordination, church courts, and the principles governing Reformed worship. Each lesson includes questions, discussion material, teaching notes, and a quiz for classroom use.
That description is firmly grounded in the manual itself. The introduction explicitly identifies it as an intermediate study for seminary students or those preparing for leadership, while the teacher’s introductory note explains the questions, answers, and teaching suggestions.
About this author
Roger Smalling, D.Min., is a retired Presbyterian missionary and theological educator who served for many years in Latin America. His ministry has focused especially on training pastors, church leaders, and seminary students in biblical theology and practical ministry from a Reformed perspective. He is the author of books, study guides, and articles designed to make theological subjects clear and useful for Christian leaders and teachers.
What the complete guide covers
- The meaning and biblical foundations of ecclesiology
- Episcopal, congregational, and Presbyterian forms of church government
- The biblical office and plurality of elders
- Old Testament foundations of New Testament church government
- The representative principle in both Testaments
- Teaching elders and ruling elders
- The calling, qualifications, and ordination of elders
- The office and ministry of deacons
- The biblical arguments concerning the ordination of women
- Church courts and ecclesiastical accountability
- The session, presbytery, and General Assembly
- The regulative principle and Reformed worship
Introduction to Reformed ecclesiology
This course is based on the premise that the Reformed style of church government is the only one mandated by God in his Word. In theology, the study of church government is called ecclesiology.
Biblical government is representative but not democratic; authoritative but not authoritarian. In this lies its genius: it allows the people a voice in who leads them, without the chaos of majority rule. It gives authority for leaders to make decisions while avoiding the despotic rule of a single fallible man.
Our God-given human instinct desires freedom but with security. Freedom without form is anarchy. Form without freedom is bondage. The genius of biblical government resides in providing Christians with a balance of both.
We will see how Reformed government is rooted in the entire history of the people of God, starting from the earliest times in the Old Testament and consistent in its fundamental principles in the New Testament.
Though these principles came through a culture, the Hebrews, they are not the product of a culture. Like all other teachings in God’s word, they are products of revelation and therefore primarily ethical in their essence, not merely administrative. We are not free, therefore, to discard them on the grounds of cultural issues. We make cultures conform to the word of God, not vice versa.
We will see…
- There exists only one form of church government endorsed by God in the Bible.
- The principles involved are moral and not merely administrative and therefore mandatory, regardless of culture.
- Biblical government reflects the eternal tension between law and grace as in other aspects of Christian living.
- The New Testament principles are a simplification of Old Testament practices, and therefore church government is based on the whole Bible.
This study is intended for seminary students or those in preparation for church leadership. It assumes the student is a member of an evangelical church and familiar with foundational concepts of church life. These include such ideas as Christ being the only head of the church, which is his body, and the difference between the visible local church and the invisible universal church. This is therefore an intermediate-level study on biblical government.[1]
Inferential logic
In the study of ecclesiology, an inferential approach is necessary. Certain biblical themes, such as the Trinity for example, lack a discourse in Scripture dedicated exclusively to that particular theme. We must deduce the truth by clues scattered through the Bible.
So it is with ecclesiology. The Bible teaches a form of church government we must deduce from clues and concepts scattered throughout both Testaments.
Here the teacher may explain the difference between a deductive versus an inductive approach to logic by comparing a detective to a prosecuting attorney. The detective gathers facts to arrive at a conclusion about a suspect. The prosecuting attorney, on the other hand, announces to the court that the suspect is guilty and that he is going to present evidence to prove it. The detective is basing his logic on inferences. This is inductive logic. The attorney is deductive in his approach because he starts his reasoning with the presupposition that he intends to prove.
The writers of the Westminster Confession understood this about church government by declaring …
“The whole counsel of God … is either expressly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture:” CFW Cap. 1, Art. 6
They also acknowledged the need for flexibility and tolerance in church government because of the variety of cultures, within limits established in the word of God.
“… and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.”
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Lesson One: What is ecclesiology?
Ecclesiology is the study of church government, based on the Greek word ekklesia, which means “assembly.” The apostles applied this word to the Christian church. This word is used 67 times in the New Testament in a variety of ways. In the LXX, it is used about 100 times to translate the Hebrew qahal, which means “congregation” and sometimes refers to the people of Israel in general.
The term can refer to either a local congregation of believers or to believers in a region.[2] Because of the ambiguities, it is better to build our ecclesiology on the totality of Scripture than on a specific usage of the word.
When did the church begin?
Radical differences exist among evangelicals as to when the church began. Reformed theology claims it began with the covenant of grace God established with Israel and fulfilled in Christ. Therefore, there exists one people of God in both Testaments, saved by grace but under different administrations of the covenant. This view of the church is known as covenant theology.
Others, such as Baptists and Pentecostals, believe the church started at Pentecost because the Old Testament in its fullness was a dispensation that disappeared. As a logical consequence of this theology, they assert that there exist two people of God: those saved under the law and those saved under grace. In their way of thinking, Pentecost inaugurated a covenant that did not exist previously. This view of the church is called dispensational theology.
This brief study will not allow us to explore these theologies in depth. Nevertheless, it is essential that the student understands that the differences among evangelicals in their view of ecclesiology have their roots in these two views of the Bible as a whole.
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Continue reading Reformed Church Government.
The complete Reformed Church Government teacher’s manual develops these biblical principles through twelve lessons, with teaching notes, discussion questions, quizzes, Scripture references, and an appendix explaining Presbyterian church courts.
Download the complete study guide in PDF.
[1] In advanced ecclesiology, we study the details of the Presbyterian Book of Church Order, the structure of congregationalism and episcopal forms of government and their history. The intermediate level hopefully provides the framework for evaluation of these other forms.
[2] Acts 9:31, the church (singular) throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. In this sense, used as the totality of all believers in a wide region. In Galatians 1:1, used of individual churches throughout a region.