A twenty-four lesson study of the doctrine and administration of the local church, taught by Dr. Greg Estep. The course turns on the distinction the whole subject depends upon — the difference between “the church, which is his body” and the local, visible, organized assembly — and from there works through what the local church is, when and why it began, how it is organized, what its scriptural activities are, who leads it, and how it observes the ordinances.
This is the first of three sections in the Local Church series and covers chapters 1 through 7 of Paul R. Jackson’s The Doctrine and Administration of the Church. Along the way the lectures take up the practical side of the work: the factors to weigh in establishing a church, the dangers to avoid in a new work, the qualifications and primary responsibilities of the pastor, the steps a church should take in selecting one, the office of deacon, and the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper — including the errors of transubstantiation and consubstantiation.
Required texts: The Doctrine and Administration of the Church by Paul R. Jackson, and the King James Bible.
Instructor: Dr. Greg Estep.
Course materials: twenty-four audio lectures, forty-three pages of handouts (shared across Local Church 1, 2, and 3), and one final exam.
Coursework: Listen to each lecture and take detailed notes. Read chapters 1–7 of the Jackson text and answer the chapter questions. Several handouts are assigned as reading — Indigenous Church Planting and Practices (Dr. Greg Estep), the study on “The Church,” and God’s Qualifications for a Minister. The final exam is open-Bible and open-notes. The course also requires a 500-word essay comparing the local church with “the church which is his body.”
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