Baptists generally argue for either elder leading where the congregation always has a say in decisions, instead of elder rule, where a group of elders decide this is what they’re going to do, even if the answer is always yes. Smaller churches vote on more things, bigger churches do not have to vote on these things. The argument for congregational input is that the pastors are the authority of the church, that the elders and pastors should not make the day-to-day decisions without having to have constant input and church meetings over every small issue. Pastors and elders make the decisions based once the congregation approves a budget. If there is a $10,000 electronics budget, they have the liberty and go-ahead from the congregation to buy a giant TV for the congregation, which should be discussed in a small church. The argument against congregational input is a nuanced …show more content…
This allows children and teenagers a time to understand the gospel better and possibly start the discipleship process. This is a important for a church to discuss because there are going to be scores of young children who say a prayer and become members at a young age. These kids often have wayward years, and delay in becoming discipled. If a new members needs to go through a gospel class, they may start obeying their parents and submitting to the authority of the church earlier. A major takeaway from this discussion is that the authority of the parents is vital, but there is wisdom in allowing the church to speak into the entire congregation. Since not all believing children have regenerate parents, there are certain instances where the church should step in, but for the most part this issue must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, or at least the church should have overarching principles about this issue and church leadership should be able to clearly articulate their position on this