Episcopal polity is a form of church governance which is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop (Greek: episcopos). This episcopal structure is found most often in the various churches of Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Anglican lineage. Some churches founded independently of these lineages also employ this form of church governance.

The cathedra of bishops, such as the chair of the Pope in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, represent their magisterium (teaching authority)

It is usually considered that the bishops of an episcopal polity derive part of their authority from an unbroken, personal Apostolic Succession from the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bishops with such authority are known as the historical episcopate. Churches with this type of government usually believe that the Church requires episcopalian government.[1]

For much of the written history of Christianity, episcopal government was the only form known to Christianity. (Some Baptists claim to descend from a continuous lineage of small churches which existed in parallel with the main stream of Catholic Christianity). This all changed at the Reformation. Many Protestant churches are now organized by either congregational or presbyterian church polities, both descended from the writings of John Calvin, a Protestant reformer working and writing independently following the break with the Roman Catholic Church precipitated by The Ninety-Five Theses of Martin Luther. However, the majority of Christians are still members of the historic churches of episcopal governance.

There are subtle differences in governmental principles among episcopal churches at the present time. To some extent the separation of episcopal churches can be traced to these differences in ecclesiology, that is, their theological understanding of church and church governance. The churches of Rome and Constantinople (the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches in modern terms) have an episcopal government, as do the Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Anglican, some Lutheran and many Methodist churches. [2]

Description

Churches having episcopal polity are governed by bishops, who have authority over dioceses, conferences, or synods (in general referred to as a judicatory). Their presidency is both sacramental and political; as well as performing ordinations, confirmations, and consecrations, the bishop supervises the clergy within the judicatory and is the representative to both secular structures and in the hierarchy of the church.

In some systems, Bishops may be subject to higher ranking bishops (variously called archbishops, metropolitans, and/or patriarchs, depending upon the tradition; see also Bishop for further explanation of the varieties of bishops.) They also meet in councils or synods. These gatherings, subject to presidency by higher ranking bishops, may govern the judicatory which are represented in the council, though the synod or council may also be purely advisory.

Note that the presence of the office of "bishop" within a church is not proof of episcopal polity. For example, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints an LDS bishop occupies the office that in an Anglican church would be occupied by a priest.

Also, episcopal polity is not usually a simple chain of command. Instead, some authority may be held, not only by synods and colleges of bishops, but by lay and clerical councils. Further, patterns of authority are subject to a wide variety of historical rights and honors which may cut across simple lines of authority.

Overview of episcopal churches

The definition of the word "Episcopal" has variation among Christian traditions. For some, Episcopal churches are churches that use a hierarchy of bishops that regard themselves as being in an unbroken, personal Apostolic succession.

Episcopal is also commonly used to distinguish between the various organizational structures of denominations. For instance, the word “presbyterian” (from the Greek πρεσβύτης, transliterated presbyteros) is used to describe a church governed by a hierarchy of assemblies of elected elders (see Presbyterian polity.) Similarly, “episcopal” is used to describe a church governed by bishops (Greek επίσκοπος, transliterated episcopos). Self-governed local churches (congregations), governed neither by elders nor bishops, are usually referred to as "congregational" (see Congregational polity.)

More specifically, the title Episcopal (capitalized) is applied to several churches historically based within Anglicanism (Episcopalianism) including those still in communion with the Church of England. See Episcopal Church (disambiguation).

Using these definitions, examples of specific episcopal churches include:

• The Roman Catholic Church
• The Eastern Orthodox Churches
• The Oriental Orthodox Churches
• The Assyrian Church of the East
• The Churches of the Anglican Communion
• The Old Catholic Church
• The Mar Thoma Church
• Numerous smaller Catholic churches
• Certain national churches of the Lutheran confession
• Some of the churches listed in the article titled Episcopal Church (disambiguation)
• The African Methodist Episcopal Church
• The Charismatic Episcopal Church

Some Lutheran churches practice congregational polity or a form of presbyterian polity.[2] Others, including the Church of Sweden, practice episcopal polity; the Church of Sweden also counts its bishops among the historic episcopate as do some American Lutheran churches like the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church and the Lutheran Orthodox Church.

Many Methodist churches (see The United Methodist Church, among others) retain the form and function of episcopal polity. Since all trace their ordinations to an Anglican priest, John Wesley, it is generally considered that their bishops do not share in apostolic succession, though United Methodists still affirm that their bishops share in the historic episcopate.

Etymology

The word episcopal is derived from the Greek επίσκοπος, transliterated epískopos, which literally means "overseer"; the word, however, is used in religious contexts to refer to a bishop.

The government of a bishop is typically symbolised by a cathedral church, such as the Orthodox Patriarch of Bulgaria's seat in Sofia

Before the Great Schism

All orthodox Christians were in a single Church with an episcopal government, that is, one Church under local bishops and regional Patriarchs. Writing between ca. 85 and 110, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Patriarch of Antioch, was the earliest of the Church fathers to define the importance of episcopal government. Assuming Ignatius' view was the Apostolic teaching and practice, the line of succession was unbroken and passed through the four ancient Patriarchal sees (those local churches known to be founded by apostles), Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria. Rome was the leading Patriarchate of the ancient four by virtue of its founding by Saints Peter and Paul and their martyrdom there.

Shortly after the Roman Emperor Constantine I legalized Christianity in 321, he also constructed an elaborate second capital of the Roman Empire located at Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople, in 324. The single Roman Empire was divided between these two autonomous administrative centers, Roman and Constantinopolitan, West and East, Latin speaking and Greek speaking. This remained the status quo through the fourth century.

In the fifth century, the Western Roman Empire declined and was overrun by German and Frankish peoples. Although the city of Rome was in ruins, distant from the seat of secular power, and constantly harassed by invaders, the Roman Patriarchate remained the center of the Western or Latin Church. Claiming the ancient primacy of Peter and the title of "Apostolic See," it remained the last court of episcopal appeal in serious matters for the whole Church, East and West.

However, the center of the civilized Roman world had shifted definitively to Constantinople, or New Rome, the capital of the Greek speaking Empire. Along with this shift, the effective administration of the Church in the Eastern Roman Empire also shifted. This practical eminence of Constantinople in the East is evident, first at the First Council of Constantinople 381, and then ecumenically at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

Beginning with John the Faster, the Bishop of Constantinople (John IV, 582-595) adopted as a formal title for himself the by-then-customary honorific, Ecumenical Patriarch ("pre-eminent father for the civilized world") over the strong objections of Rome: a title based on the political prestige of Constantinople and its economic and cultural centrality in the Empire. In the following years, Rome's appeals to the East were based on the unique authority of the Apostolic See and the primacy of Peter, over against the powers of councils as defended by the East (councils, for example, had endorsed that lofty title which Rome contested).

The sometimes subtle differences between Eastern and Western conceptions of authority and its exercise produced a gradually widening rift between the Churches which continued with some occasional relief throughout the following centuries until the final rupture of the Great Schism (marked by two dates: 16 July, 1054, and the Council of Florence in 1439).

Pope Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council that approved the dogma of Pope as the visible head of the church, prime bishop over a hierarchy of clergy and believers[3]

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church has an episcopate, with the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome, at the top. The Catholic Church teaches that juridical oversight over the Church is not a power that derives from human ambition, but strictly from the authority of Christ which was given to his twelve apostles. The See of Rome, as the sole unbroken line of apostolic authority, descending from St. Peter (the "prince and head of the apostles"), is a visible sign and instrument of communion among the college of bishops and therefore also of the local churches around the world. In communion with the world-wide college of bishops the Pope has all legitimate juridical and teaching authority over the whole Church. This authority given by Christ to Peter and the apostles is transmitted from one generation to the next by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands, from the Apostles to the bishops, and from bishops to priests and deacons, in unbroken succession.

Eastern Orthodox Churches

The conciliar idea of episcopal government continues in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the sixteen or so autocephalous primates are seen as collectively gathering around Christ, with other archbishops and bishops gathering around them, and so forth, in a model called "conciliar hierarchy". This is based in part on the vision in the book of Revelation of the 24 elders gathered around the throne of Christ, who are believed to represent the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. There is no single patriarch with exclusive authority comparable to the Pope in Rome.

Oriental Orthodox churches

In the fifth century, several of the Oriental Churches separated from Rome and Constantinople. These were the (Nestorian) and Egyptian Coptic Orthodox (Miaphysite). Differences concerning the theological language for describing the person of Christ at the Council of Chalcedon caused these Churches to break full communion with the rest of the ancient Church. These Churches also trace their epicopal lineages to the ancient apostolic succession.

Both the Greek and Coptic Orthodox churches have a bishop in Alexandria, both of whom trace their apostolic succession back to the Apostle Mark. There are official ongoing efforts in recent times to heal this ancient breach. Already, the two recognize each other's baptisms, chrismations, and marriages, making intermarriage much easier.