This is a blog post about the church polity (organisational structure) of Baptist churches. Baptists are independents, in the sense that we believe that each local church is a church in its own right, with all the relevant powers and privileges, and is free to manage its own affairs without interference from outside. Here, for example, are the words of the 1644 First London Confession: "That being thus joined, every Church has power given them from Christ for their better well-being, to choose to themselves fitting persons into the office of Pastors, Teachers, Elders, Deacons, being qualified according to the Word, as those which Christ has appointed in His Testament, for the feeding, governing, serving, and building up of His Church, and that none other have to power to impose them, either these or any other." (First London Confession of 1644, Article 36) However, as Baptists, we have also always believed in fellowship and cooperation between local churches. Here, once aga...