WHO RUNS THE CHURCH?

 

WHO RUNS THE CHURCH. 4 VIEWS ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT, Zondervan,
ISBN 0-310-24607-5,  ed Steven B Cowan.
 
I bring this to your notice because I wrote the 1/4 on The Episcopal Way -- the other writers are well known in Presbyterian & Congregational circles in the USA.
 
Each of the others argue that there is a kind of blue-print in the Bible for his particular form of church government, whereas I argue that there is a fluidity in the churches of the apostolic age but that there emerged soon and decisively under the guidance of the Lord of the Church the Episcopal Way with the Threefold Ministry and the diocese etc. I state that the Church which actually gathered and approved the Canon of the New Testament was a Church with an Episcopal Polity and if the NT documents collected had taught clearly a congregational or presbyterian polity then someone surely would have said so and there would have been a controversy... which would have left a trace in history.
 
There was only the Episcopal Way from the 2nd to the 16th centuries -- often abusive and in error but not in competition with other polities, only in need of renewal and reform. The modern Church needs a renewed Episcopal Way as a means to unite and guide it.
 
This will be available in all US Christian bookshops with the recommended retail price at $16.99. 
 
In the UK it is £11.99.
 
Buy a copy for your library or for yourself.
 
Thanks
 
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.)