Hey Greg,

Thanks for laying that out. Though I haven't self-consciously used those five categories, I think our practice conforms to that which you laid out.

A few thoughts on the topic (though I may be a little tangential to the intent of your post):

1. Mark Driscoll has written: As I studied the Bible, I found more warrant for a church led by unicorns than by majority vote. That's a great line, but I think your post shows that congregationalism narrowly edges out unicornism in terms of Biblical evidence (if not in terms of practical advantages).

2. I love congregationalism. Sure, its critics will point out that congregationalism is a disaster if you have a church full of carnal people. But if I have a church full of carnal people, passing the budget is not my biggest problem. My biggest problem is that the people in my church don't love Jesus. So a Presbyterian or Episcopalian church that is full of carnal people has as big a problem as I do.

3. I aim to over-communicate with the church. When in doubt, we talk about it and (if necessary) vote on it. There are times when it would be more convenient and easier not to have to wait until a members meeting to take a certain action. There are times when the elders have wrestled with a difficult issue and made a decision and part of me doesn't want to take the time to walk the congregation through it all. There are times in my pride that I want to be able to lead and decide with the elders without having to take counsel from the church or submit to their judgment. But those are not good reasons for with-holding information or acting unilaterally. In fact, I have never regretted taking anything to our church for discussion/voting. Nor have we had a divisive discussion or anything except a unanimous vote (so far).

4. We do have a time for "other business" at the end of our meetings. Usually people are hungry and their children need naps, so we don't get a lot of action here. I think this time helps the members see themselves as responsible for the church. Like anything in congregationalism, it can go wrong if there are problems in the church. But if the church is healthy and leadership is functioning well, you shouldn't be getting a lot of A-bombs dropped on you at the end of members meetings.

Anyway, thanks for getting the ball rolling on this. I'm interested to hear the thoughts of others.