[wmfights]

WF: original guote "If you look at Scripture you will find that most of the churches he helped start elected their leaders. The leaders of these churches were not "appointed" by Paul."
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You really should endeavor to include the full quote. Otherwise, it might lead to a misunderstanding about what was meant. If you look I said "most" picked their leaders based on evidence of the Holy Spirit in those elders.

However, your noting Titus 1:5 does make my point. Paul is not picking any leaders in these churches. He is sending missionaries who are appointing leaders (plural). I would expect they would have looked for the same thing in these leaders as Paul pointed out in Acts 20:28, ie., evidence of the Holy Spirit within them revealed by gifts they possessed.

[Campion]

Well, I'm not sure what the qualitative difference is between Paul appointing someone who appoints presbyters (on the one hand), and Paul appointing presbyters himself (on the other).

It's certainly true that bishops were usually elected by the faithful in the early church. It's also true that that practice made it hard to extirpate heresy once it took root, which is why we don't do it anymore.