by David Newby

About 25 years ago, an old concept in church hierarchy was reintroduced to the church under a different label. It was partly built on relationship, which was good, but it was also a cover up for control.

As it developed, the "whose covering are you under?" question became somewhat meaningless to me personally. The reason was this.

I had been associated with some churches which came into relationship for the purpose of being under a "covering". The pastor of a church in Sydney would come under the covering of a pastor in Brisbane. The Brisbane pastor would be under the covering of a pastor in New Zealand who would in turn be under the covering of a pastor in Canada, and so forth.