During the 1950’s, a resurgence of Presbyterian theology greatly influenced a number of Baptist ministers. At that time, a revision was made on how Baptist churches should function. Drawing from the Presbyterian teachings on church polity, it was advocated that each congregation should be served by a plurality of elders and deacons. Elders would be responsible for the spiritual welfare of the church; deacons would be responsible for the physical upkeep of the church. As this concept was developed, two camps of plural eldership emerged:

The following articles are transcripts (with slight revisions) of my pulpit teachings between the years 2010-2013, given to the church meeting at Kensington Place, London, over which I was then pastor. In the Autumn of 2009, the church came under internal and external pressures to replace the pastoral office with a plural eldership, as advocated by the Reformed Baptists. Since this type of polity had never been practiced by the 150 year old church, I was not quick to adopt the system. Nevertheless, I was willing to make the change so long as the Scriptures sanctioned it. The arguments set forth by the plural eldership proponents were strong and convincing—on a biblical and practical level. However, there were a number of contradictions and unsettled issues…