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Churches of Christ purposefully have no central headquarters, councils, or other organizational structure above the local church level. [ a ] [ 6 ] Rather, the independent congregations are a network with each congregation participating at its own discretion in various means of service and fellowship with other congregations.
Each congregation should be founded on a written church covenant, [21] and the congregation as a whole should govern the church: "The meetings together… of every whole church, and of the elders therein, is above the apostle, above the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, and every particular elder" and "The voice of the whole ...
Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders.Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session (or consistory), though other terms, such as church board, may apply.
American philosopher William James considered organized religion to be distinct from and secondary to religion in and of itself, stating that "out of religion in the sense in which we take it, theologies, philosophies, and ecclesiastical organizations may secondarily grow". [1]
In the Catholic Church, canon law is the system of laws and legal principles made and enforced by the church's hierarchical authorities to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the church. [10]
Formal principle and material principle are two categories in Christian theology to identify and distinguish the authoritative source of theology (formal principle) from the theology itself, especially the central doctrine of that theology (material principle), of a religion, religious movement, tradition, body, denomination, or organization.
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The LDS Church's five organizations are Primary, Relief Society, Sunday School, Young Men, and Young Women. The existence of the LDS Church's organizations as a means of assisting the priesthood is based on the Apostle Paul's statement that God has established "helps" and "governments" in the church to assist the apostles and prophets who lead ...