What is polity? It is how the governance of a church takes place. You can see the word politics hiding in the word polity. There are several kinds of church polity. Here are the three most prominent:

(1) Hierarchical: Monarchical, top down. Examples include Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Methodism. Bodies outside the local church (e.g., bishops) have complete jurisdiction over their local churches.

(2) Presbyterian: Representative Republic. Leadership outside the local church has jurisdiction over the local churches, but the local churches choose their representatives in the Presbyteries. Obviously, this form of polity is practiced by Presbyterians.

(3) Congregational: Closer to, but not fully democratic. Local churches are autonomous and are not under the jurisdiction of any body beyond the local church. Congregationalism is practiced Baptists, and nondenominational churches. There are three main variations of congregationalism:

Pastoral Rule. The local pastor is the final authority. Some look to Moses as the example. This model has an obvious built-in danger. No pastor is qualified to rule a church single-handedly. Many (not all) so-called nondenominational churches operate this way. I would strongly caution anyone against uniting with this kind of pastor-ruled church.
Elder Rule or Elder Led. These churches have a plurality of elders who rule or lead the church. This is what appears most clearly in the New Testament. The differences between elder ruled and elder led churches have to do with (a) how absolute the elders’ control is; and (b) how much input the congregation has in selecting their elders.
Congregationalism. Churches that are not under the jurisdiction of any governing body outside the local church are congregational in the general sense. There are congregational churches that are more profoundly democratic. In these churches the members vote on most (all?) decisions.

Next time: More on polity