Only the local congregation is a church that can issue a divine call.

The church has 15,000 local congregations with 3.8 Million members worldwide.

Around the country, the local congregations consisted of a few families each.

Thus there are many variations and differences between local congregations.

For Baptists the church is above all the local congregation.

Initially, each local congregation in the Church had its own bishop.

They joined a local congregation and explored their faith further.

The local congregations taxed themselves at the rate of $12 a year for each family.

Pastors usually teach in the common language of the local congregation.

Though not considered clergy, women play a significant part in the operation of local congregations.