by Kevin Bauder | Sep 18, 2026 | In the Nick of Time
The New Testament specifies a threefold division within the local church (Phil 1:1). First are the saints, the members of the church. Then are the bishops or overseers. Then are the deacons or servants. Almost all churches understand bishops and deacons to be offices...
by Kevin Bauder | May 29, 2026 | In the Nick of Time
The following essay was published in 1995 in Ruminations. Recent pronouncements in the Southern Baptist convention have underlined its current applicability. An Association is a voluntary society formed and maintained for mutual help among the churches...
by Kevin Bauder | Apr 16, 2021 | In the Nick of Time
This weekend I am traveling to Lake Benton, Minnesota, to address the southwestern fellowship of the Minnesota Baptist Association (MBA). The MBA is the current permutation of what used to be the Minnesota Baptist Convention. It is the organization that W. B. Riley...
by Kevin Bauder | Jun 14, 2019 | In the Nick of Time
[This essay was originally published on February 7, 2014.] Those who think that churches should be governed by a self-perpetuating boards of elders have two main arguments. The first is that the sheep (i.e., ordinary believers under the care of shepherds or elders)...
