Integrity and Relatedness: Some Critical Reflections on Congregationalism and Connexionalism

The following paper discusses the manner in which the liberty of the local church should be qualified if a local gathering is to be recognized both as validly a church and validly a baptist church. With these qualifications in mind the paper then revisits the Baptist Union of Great Britain's De...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Baptist quarterly
Main Author: Colwell, John 1950- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group [2017]
In: Baptist quarterly
IxTheo Classification:KBF British Isles
KDG Free church
NBN Ecclesiology
Further subjects:B Denomination
B Baptist
B Presbyterianism
B Liberty
B Congregationalism
B Connexionalism
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:The following paper discusses the manner in which the liberty of the local church should be qualified if a local gathering is to be recognized both as validly a church and validly a baptist church. With these qualifications in mind the paper then revisits the Baptist Union of Great Britain's Declaration of Principle, noting the commitment to a congregational church order together with a commitment to credo-baptism as the key identifying markers. Finally the paper explores (and perhaps exposes) the ways in which a commitment to congregational order is being undermined, both by local churches and by connexional gatherings, and how this undermining itself undermines our Baptist identity. Tensions between congregationalism and connexionalism might be lessened with a mutual recognition of the integrity of a congregational dynamic.
ISSN:2056-7731
Contains:Enthalten in: Baptist quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/20514530.2016.1255408