MacDonald: Congregationalism Is From Satan

One of my favorite pastors is Dr. James MacDonald who pastors at Harvest Bible Fellowship in Chicago, IL.  He recently published a blog post that will no doubt create a firestorm on the blogosphere.  As the title suggests, MacDonald has publically and in no uncertain terms come out against congregationalism.  For those who don't know, Congregationalism is a well established church government by which the congregation (hints the name), in the power of its own autonomy, makes decisions for the church.  Baptists are in many ways congregational and typically meet regularly in order to vote on the business of the church.

MacDonald's main points are:

1.  Congregational Meetings are Forums for Division
2.  Voting is Not Biblical
3.  Eldership is Sometimes Unpopular
4.  Congregationalism Crushes Pastors
5.  Priesthood Not Eldership of All Believers

I must say that as a Baptist, MacDonald raises some very good points and rightly points out the many abuses and dangers of congregationalism.  I am still not willing to abandon Baptist polity - particularly autonomy of the local church, etc. - but I will agree with McDonald that these are five major problems with the way that democratic religion has been practiced.

It will be interesting to see where this goes from here and how leading Baptist and Congregationalists react.  It is interesting that as MacDonald publishes this, the Southern Baptist Convention is meeting in Phoenix, AZ for their yearly "business meeting."  There will be a whole lot of voting going on!


James MacDonald - Congregational Government Is From Satan  


For more:
Theology - MacDonald:  I Want the Whole Gospel  
Theology - Churches Helping Churches:  MacDonald Makes His Plea