"Priesthood" of the church?

Is anyone out there familiar with the teaching(s) of what's been called by some as the "Priesthood" of the church?

As best I can tell, this idea seems to state that unless one has heard the Gospel preached by a "true" NT Baptist church, one hasn't really "heard" the Gospel and, therefore, hasn't truly been saved.

I asked someone who believed this about people such as C. H. Spurgeon, an author he often cited.

Spurgeon came to Christ in a Methodist church, but he turned out to be a famous Baptist preacher.

His reply was something on the order of, "Well, he might have been 'regenerated' at the time he heard the Word in a Methodist church, but, just as there is a gestation period in the physical sense before one is born, Spurgeon wasn't really 'born again' until he heard that message preached by a 'true' Baptist church!"

I have a hard time believing that line of reasoning.

This fellow went on to explain that since Christ founded His church during His earthly ministry (the first members being the 12 Apostles), and since the "Great Commission" was only given to the Apostles [i.e., His church], only they and their scriptural successors have the God-given authority to preach the Gospel. Hence, those who may hear the Gospel from an "unauthorized" source haven't truly heard it, thus they cannot be saved under those "unauthorized" circumstances.

As a corollary to this, since Christ only commissioned His church to baptize converts, some of these "Priesthood" advocates would also state that the authority to baptize resides solely in those "authorized" Baptist churches, and anyone who may be immersed after a profession of faith in Christ by the authority of an "unauthorized" Baptist church is still not scripturally baptized; hence that person is not a member of the Bride of Christ.

To me this concept seems to be quite a stretch.

What do you folks think?

 

Perhaps I should have stated in my OP that my question(s) had nothing to do with the doctrine of the Priesthood of the individual BELIEVER. I don't have any problems with that (or at least the way I understand what that doctrine teaches).

My question(s) were strictly about what I've heard folks refer to as the teachings of the Priesthood of the CHURCH (i.e., the kind of church which Jesus founded being the only authorized institution to evangelize the lost and hence only if the Gospel is heard from and authorized church can those who respond to it truly have the opportunity to repent and receive Christ as Savior).