Sovereign Grace Ministries Puts Forth 5 Tiered Hierarchy with 7 Distinct Governing Bodies

Sovereign Grace Ministries has devised a governance polity for which there is no biblical support.  It is extraordinarily complex and built upon a 5 tiered hierarchy with 7 distinct governing bodies.  See Sovereign Grace Polity Proposal. 

1. A Regional Assembly of Elders with a Regional Leader in each region
2. A Judicial Review Committee in each region (the lower courts)
3. A national Council of Elders
4. A national Board of Directors
5. A national Leadership Team
6. A national Nominating Committee
7. The Sovereign Grace Court of Appeal (the high court) 

This “modified Presbyterian” polity is an absurdity when compared to the New Testament.  Such a governance structure is not a testament to Jesus, Paul or Peter; but to men unhinged because they have forsaken the clear and simple teaching of Scripture.  This is yet another example of SGM twisting and distorting the Bible for their own pragmatic ends.     

Furthermore, they demean those churches who argue for independency (i.e., Covenant Life Church, Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax). The Board of Directors and Polity Committee self-righteously assert they are loyal to Scripture while looking down on those SGM pastors who argue for self-governing churches working in association with one another.  I find this extremely hypocritical.  

The Board of Directors and Polity Committee have no room to say others are unbiblical when their own scheme is readily unbiblical.  You don’t find any of the 7 governing bodies above in the New Testament.  No, you find apostles and prophets in the New Testament whose existence these men deny like other cessationists.  That’s why they say, “apostles play no role whatsoever in the proposed polity of SG.”  SGM wants to turn elders into apostles so they don’t offend their Cessationists, Presbyterian, and Baptists friends but that will not do.  This is pure theological spin.  Once again they demonstrate they have no integrity or courage.  

Elders never exercise extra-local authority in the New Testament.  They serve locally.  The only way you can argue for extra-local authority is to argue the on-going role of apostles.  Anything else is unbiblical.

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