How is the church of Christ Organized?
Christ's church is a benevolent dictatorship. He is the supreme head. (Col. 1:18) (Eph 1:22-23) Shortly before Christ ascended to the right hand of God, he informed his disciples that, "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth." (Matt 28:18) Christ has all authority.
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles to guide them in establishing the church (John 14:26) The teaching and testimony of the apostles would be sanctioned by God, for "whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt 16:19)
Each congregation is autonomous, which means that there is no predominant congregation or any supreme elders. Each congregation is shepherded by their own elders. The Holy Spirit taught that "elders be ordained in every church." (Titus 1:5) In Acts 20:17 we read that Paul "called to him the elders of the church". In each congregation there is to be a plurality of elders. Congregations may also have deacons as noted in the example cited in Acts 6:1-6. The qualifications for elders and deacons can be found in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
Church organization is simple, but the divine plan has been greatly abused. Every attempt to "improve" God's plan has resulted in apostasy.
