Have to agree with nostr:npub1e5sergtz9hym5dj5ze4zfl8akll9lugnsdvhrmnt9yv9u0vuefhqxeylem on that one, though he won't like what I say next (ha) - Calvin has a great section in his _Institutes_ on how the Bishop of Rome slowly schemed to make himself "first among equals." And he rehearses the embarrassing (to Rome) truth that at one point, there were three Popes and they all excommunicated each other (!). The Conciliar period is also a counterfactual to the argument about "one unbroken papal succession from Peter."

Scriptures have clearly said that the church is to be governed by elders (Gk., "presbyteros") which is why we do it that way. Even the recent Pope Benedict admitted that the early church was de facto presbyterian (i.e., ruled by "elders"), and that Paul's Epistles made presbyterianism the rule de jure as well. Not congregational, not personal prelates--elders.

Be that as it may...it is not **who** we have earthly communion with, but **what** we actually believe, that defines the church. Which is why there are true Christians -- at varying degrees of maturity and understanding -- in nearly every communion or denomination. I'm relying here, of course, on the distinction between the church 'visible' (i.e., institutions and denominations) and the church 'invisible' (i.e., those individuals who are truly in Christ).