What If, Then What

[Bare_Truth]

......there are many in the churches
-- who know many others,
-- attend General Conference regularly, and
-- see other SDB churches as "family" in the same way their own congregation is "family."

Any pastor--and there have been some--who tried to set up his ....... own fiefdom because "I am the LORD's anointed!" would only succeed in alienating the best, most mature and dedicated members of the church,

who may well set up their own church.

So the "body of believers" itself functions as a check and a balance for folks with delusions of grandeur.

So can just any SDB member start up their own congregation which will be acknowledged by the general conference? Are ordinations required to be recognized as a pastor?
Who controls the assets of the "physical plant" where the "I am the LORD's anointed" guy was taking over?

I am still not clear on how this works.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Day_Baptists#I._God
there are only about 50,000 SDB's worldwide
I would think that congregations would mostly be too small and far flung to function after splits.

My own experience with congregations that split is that the fragments dwindle for lack of "critical mass" .

[Ramblinman]

...I would think that congregations would mostly be too small and far flung to function after splits.

My own experience with congregations that split is that the fragments dwindle for lack of "critical mass" .

A former classmate attended a hardshell type of Baptist church. In their circles, a church was allowed to grow to no more than 100 members. Then they would draw straws and half were assigned to one congregation, half to the other. (I assume they didn't split families). The new churches would grow until they reached the 100-member limit and split again.
The presumption was that they could not function as a single community when there were so many members that any given member could not possibly know all the other members.

[jochanaan]

...So can just any SDB member start up their own congregation which will be acknowledged by the general conference? Are ordinations required to be recognized as a pastor?

There are requirements to be recognized as a church, and a process. And there is also a "church planting" department that encourages new groups in the process. But there are many groups that started from home Bible studies.

Who controls the assets of the "physical plant" where the "I am the LORD's anointed" guy was taking over?

The local congregation always controls the physical structures. Usually a board of trustees handles this.

I would think that congregations would mostly be too small and far flung to function after splits.

My own experience with congregations that split is that the fragments dwindle for lack of "critical mass" .

It can take a while. But I've known many times when a member traveled to an area without an SDB church near, started a Bible study with some friends, and within a few years there was a new church there. We may be a small denomination, but there are many strong, solid Bible students among us who aren't afraid to lead when they need to.