The Self-Organizing Power of the Gospel of Christ: Episcopacy and Community Formation

This article addresses itself to the question: how may episcopal ministry be considered an ordered, institutional, implication of the gospel? The overarching argument is that a ministry of oversight is implicit of the gospel. The argument proceeds along three lines: first, a discussion of the relation of gospel and church; second, an outline of an evangelical account of ministerial order; third, a consideration of an evangelical theology of episcopacy. Underlining the entire discussion is the primary conviction that an evangelical theology is determined by and responsible to the gospel.