The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume Basic Doctrine Because of the importance of the priesthood of every believer, the centrality of the freedom of conscience and thought in Baptist theology, and due to the congregational style of church governance, doctrine varies greatly between one Baptist church and another The following acrostic backronym, spelling BAPTIST, represents a useful summary of Baptists’ distinguishing beliefs that are held true across the spectrum: Biblical authority Autonomy of the local church Priesthood of all believers Two ordinances (Believer’s Baptism and the Lord’s Supper) Individual soul liberty Separation of Church and State Two offices of the church (Pastor and Deacon)5 As with many other faith practices, Baptist churches have gone through periods of division over the centuries That being said, there are a number of broad characteristics that are common to most, if not all These characteristics include adult baptism through full immersion, evangelism, pietism, and sectarianism All of these are intimately related to another characteristic: the independence of local churches, which may be one of the most important characteristics of Baptist churches Congregationalist church governance gives autonomy to individual local churches in areas of policy, polity and doctrine Baptist churches are not under the direct administrative control of any other body such as a national council, or a leader such as a bishop or pope For each congregation, there is no higher authority on earth than the vote of the congregation’s members Administration, leadership and doctrine are usually decided democratically by the lay members of each individual church congregation As a result, there is tremendous diversity of beliefs and worship practices among Baptist churches.6 Baptists through the centuries have insisted that the Bible is the sole ultimate written authority for Christian faith and practice They