Marrow Man
Drunk with Powder
Brian,
I am sure there is some Baptist church out there that will through a wrench into my argument, but Baptist churches are congregational. We do not have the hierarchical framework of our Presbyterian brethren.
Just as a point of clarification, I would not term Presbyterianism as "hierarchical." That connotes the idea of a type of episcopacy, and any Presbyterian worth his salt disdains that system as much as do Baptists. Even though church courts do exist within presbyterianism, they are still composed of pastors and lay elders who serve as representatives of the congregations (who call/elect them). That is not really hierarchical, In my humble opinion.