In church government, who is in charge?

They don't write hymns about church governance.
You won't find "How Great Art Thou Polity" or "Be Thou My Episcopacy" or "The Old Rugged Congregationalism" in any hymnals.
Most folks don't even think to ask for a copy of a church's constitution and bylaws when they prepare to join.
They should. Function follows form, even in the church.
The way a particular congregation or denomination organizes itself is one of the things that makes a Baptist a Baptist and not a Methodist or a Presbyterian. And vice versa.
Ultimately, the issue that turns an academic discussion of polity into a knock-down-drag-out congregational battle zone is this one: Who's in charge -- the pastor, the congregation or their appointed (or anointed) leaders?
Biblically, the church is the Body of Christ at work in the world. Legally, it's a nonprofit corporation, also known to the IRS as a 501(c)(3).3
Thus, the need for a constitution and bylaws that also provides some protection from liability and guidance about church finances and property.
Has long been an issue
But church governance -- or polity -- was an issue long before tax collectors got involved. Even Jesus' handpicked disciples argued about who was the greatest among them.
"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all," Jesus tells them in the Gospel of Mark.
And so began the quest to figure out who gets to be in charge of serving Jesus and others.
Basically, there are three forms of church government:
Episcopal systems, ruled by the ordained -- bishops, priests, elders or deacons.
Presbyterian systems, governed by elected representatives -- usually a mix of lay and clergy whose titles include elders, presbyters or ministers.
Congregational churches, ruled by the lay members of each congregation, who vote on nearly every issue of importance, from hiring a pastor to approving a budget. Even if they associate with a larger group (say the Southern Baptist Convention), they remain autonomous.
That's the fundamental issue in all debates about church governance: "Who did Jesus leave in charge?"
What some say
Some say he put in charge a priestly class of men who continue to lead today by "apostolic succession." Others say he taught his successors to lead and teach their successors, lay and clergy. Still others say all followers of Christ are equally capable of organizing themselves.
Adherents of every form of church governance use New Testament verses to support their systems. All say their system is grounded in the earliest practices by the earliest Christians. Truth is, they all might be right.
The word presbyter, which means "overseer," is a transliteration of the word elder. Some referred to the top (or teaching/preaching) elder as a "bishop," others as a "pastor." The word presbyter itself was later shortened to priest. The word church comes from the Greek "ecclesia," which means "assembly of the whole."
"Great people will work together in any system," Don Whitney, professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary told ministrycraft.com in a special series on church governance.
"In reality, it's the people more than the system that makes things work well. Obviously, we want to follow what we believe to be the scriptural order. But in the end, no 'system' can work if people aren't godly.
"And godly people can make just about any system of church polity work."
Not the most lyrical statement, but it might be worth sticking inside the hymnals.
Scripps Howard