Title: Corporate decision-making in the church of the New Testament /
Authors: Brown, Jeff, 1951-
Publisher: Pickwick Publications,
Year: 2013
Subjects: Church polity History; Group decision making Religious aspects Christianity; Group decision making in the Bible.
Abstract: Debate about church order has gone on for centuries within Christianity, and an end is nowhere in sight. Perhaps that is good, since the debate shows the weaknesses of many ideas that need correction. Corporate Decision-Making examines church order from a careful exegetical perspective, with particular attention to the social world of the New Testament. While most works about church government address structure and qualities of leadership, Brown deals with the interaction of the people of the church, both with their leaders and with one another, in setting policy. In brief, though all believers in the young church of the New Testament revered Christ and his Word as authoritative, not all church decisions were "top down" from earthly leaders. On the contrary, many were "from the bottom up." This should come as no surprise to those familiar with Jesus' admonition in the Gospels, "You have one teacher, and you are all brothers."
Contents: Historical background -- The first century CE cultural background for the concept of corporate decision-making -- Theological concepts entering into corporate decision-making -- Scripture passages directly relating to corporate decision-making -- Reflections of the New Testament pattern in Christian documents from 95 CE to 350 CE -- Appendix: Flow chart of church decision-making / Phil Siefkes.