The form of church government is the structure through which the activities of government are carried out. The purpose of church government is to aid the church in performing its mission. This Constitution in drawn according to the Presbyterian form, and its purpose is that the Cumberland Presbyterian Church/Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America may be governed in such a manner that the church will perform its mission.
     Although no detailed form of church government is laid down in scripture, the connectional nature of the church is clearly affirmed. The Presbyterian form embodies the connectional nature of the church in a manner compatible with scripture. In the Old Testament, during the period of the monarchy in Israel, church government was mixed with and sometimes controlled by civil government. After the destruction of the national state of Israel and during the Babylonian captivity, the synagogue emerged as the organizational form of the covenant community. Its government was a prototype of the Presbyterian form.
     Jesus and his apostles worshiped and taught in the synagogue. Paul's missionary activity in a city usually was begun in the synagogue. As the followers of Jesus came to be known as Christians, and the movement gradually separated from Judaism, its government developed along the lines of the synagogue.
     The form of government inherited from the synagogue was a representative system in which a group of persons, called elders, acted for the people in matters relating to the life of the synagogue. The Greek word that is translated elder is presbuteros (presbyter). An assembly of elders is presbuterian (presbytery). Hence the name Presbyterian.
     Although the first leaders among the followers of Jesus were called apostles, this term seems to have been restricted to those who had seen the risen Christ and who had been commissioned personally by him. With the death of the apostles, the term elder, already in use, became the accepted title that designated the highest church leaders.
     The New Testament recognized two kinds of elders, those who are ministers of word and sacrament, and those lay persons who assist them. All elders share in the government of the church. The term bishop (episkopos), used less frequently in the New Testament seems to have been a synonym for elder.
     In addition to the office of elder, the New Testament refers to a group of lay leaders called deacons. Derived from the Greek word diakonos, which means servant, this title designated those who had a special responsibility in the care of the poor and others in need.
     In the government of the church elders function as a representative body. The levels of government recognized in the New Testament are that of the particular church (session), the region (presbytery), and the whole church (synod or assembly).