attend the Sunday meetings—but, again, only men whom the elders recognize as having the "call of God" on their lives for that particular ministry. Visiting speakers, however, are usually paid their travel costs and provided for with Sunday meals following the meetings. Open and Exclusive Brethren differ in how they interpret the concept of no clergy. The Open Brethren believe in a plurality of elders (; ,; ; Philippians 1:1), men meeting the Biblical qualifications found in and . This position is also taken in some Baptist churches, especially Reformed Baptists, and by the Churches of Christ. It is understood that elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) and are recognised as meeting the qualifications by the assembly and by previously existing elders. Generally, the elders themselves will look out for men who meet the biblical qualifications, and invite them to join them as elders. In some Open assemblies, elders are elected democratically, but this is a fairly recent development and is still relatively uncommon. Officially naming and recognizing eldership is common to Open Brethren (cf. ), whereas many Exclusive Brethren assemblies believe that recognizing a man as an elder is too close to having clergy, and therefore a group of leading brothers, none of whom has an official title of any kind, attempts to present issues to the entire group for it to decide upon, believing that the whole group must decide, not merely a body of elders. Traditionally, only men are allowed to speak (and, in some cases, attend) these decision-making meetings, although not all assemblies follow that rule today. The term elder is based on the same Scriptures that are used to identify bishops and overseers in other Christian circles, and some Exclusive Brethren claim that the system of recognition of elders by the assembly means that the Open Brethren cannot claim full adherence to the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Open Brethren consider, however, that this reveals a mistaken understanding of the priesthood of all believers which, in the Assemblies, has to do with the ability to directly offer worship to God and His Christ at the Lord's Supper, whether silently or audibly, without any human mediator being necessary—which is in accordance with , where it is stated that Christ Jesus Himself is the sole Mediator between God and men (men being used here generically of mankind, and not referring simply and