Churches are seen as voluntary associations, assemblies or gatherings of individual Christians, each responsible for their own faith, relationship to God, and ministry. Baptists argue for sola scriptura , but because each one is both free and responsible to interpret Scripture for oneself, there is no common or final authority beyond the individual's interpretation of Scripture. Consequently, the center of Baptist life is not worship, but preaching, which is intended to create a response of faith on the part of each individual. Thus in most Baptist churches, the pulpit is the most prominent feature to be seen, state of the art sound systems are common, and the common space is often called an auditorium . Worship is usually seen either as that which prepares the heart to hear the preached Word, or that which is a response of the heart to the preached Word.
Preachers have no authority in themselves by virtue of ordination.
Authority is democratic because all authority derives from Scripture. The authority inherent in Scripture is recognized by the gathered only to the extent that the preacher persuades the gathered that God's Word has been expounded accurately and clearly. Should the preacher fail to persuade that the Word has been expounded accurately and clearly, no authority is recognized. On the contrary, each believer is free and responsible to reject inaccurate preaching. Successful clergy are those who are capable of persuasive preaching, whose life style supports their claim to speak the truth.