Question
25: Why doesn’t your religion have spiritual leaders like the pope, bishops,
cardinals, etc.?
Answer: Simply put, the Bible doesn’t contain any
sort of external hierarchy (pope, cardinals, bishop, etc.) outside of the local
church. Our belief is that the local
church is the agency through which God has chosen to accomplish His work in
this world. A New Testament Baptist
church is an organized body of baptized believers, immersed upon a credible
confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, having two offices (pastor and
deacon), congregational in policy, autonomous in nature, and banded together
for work, worship, edification, the observance of the ordinances and the
worldwide fulfillment of the Great Commission.
We believe that the local church, under Jesus Christ’s headship, is to
be free from any external hierarchy. (Acts