A
bishop is an
ordained
or
consecrated member of the
Christian clergy who is generally
entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the
Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox,
Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the
Assyrian Church of the
East, in the
Independent Catholic Churches,
and in the
Anglican churches, bishops claim
Apostolic succession, a direct
historical lineage dating back to the original
Twelve Apostles. Within these churches,
bishops can ordain clergy including other bishops. Some
Protestant churches including the
Lutheran and
Methodist
churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not
always understood to be within
Apostolic succession in the same sense.
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints also has bishops, who serve as spiritual leaders of
local congregations (
wards).
Bishops are of a higher rank than priests. The
Church of God , the
oldest continuing
Pentecostal
denomination in the world, is led by the Presiding Bishop, who
works in conjunction with four Executive Bishops. They collectively
appoint leaders across the world, including State and Regional
Bishops, who, in turn, are vested with appointment authority for
local
pastorates.
The office of bishop was already quite distinct from that of
priest in the writings of
Ignatius of Antioch (died c. 107), and
by the middle of the second century all the chief centres of
Christianity were headed by bishops, a form of organization that
remained universal until the
Protestant Reformation.
History
The
earliest organization of the Christian
churches in Judea
was similar
to that of Jewish synagogues, which were governed by a council of
elders (presbyteroi). In
Acts 11:30 and 15:22, we see this
collegiate system of government in Jerusalem, and, in Acts 14:23,
the
Apostle Paul ordains elders in
the churches he founded.
Presbyters were apparently identical to
overseers (
episkopoi, i.e.,
bishops), as in Acts 20:17,
Titus 1:5,7 and
1 Peter 5:1. The earliest post-apostolic writings,
the
Didache and
Clement for example, show the church recognized two
local church offices—elders (interchangeable term with overseer)
and deacon.
The beginnings of a single ruling bishop can perhaps be traced to
the offices occupied by Timothy and Titus in the New Testament. We
are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete
to oversee the local church (1 Tim. 1:3 and Titus 1:5). Paul
commands them to ordain presybters/bishops and to exercise general
oversight, telling Titus to "rebuke with all authority" (Titus
2:15).
Various Christian communities would have had a group of
presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of the local church.
Eventually this evolved into a monarchical episcopacy in certain
cities.The monarchical episcopacy probably developed in other
churches in Christianity before it took shape in Rome. For example,
it has been conjectured that Antioch may have been one of the first
Christian communities to have adopted such a structure. The
emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not arise until
the middle of the second century. Linus, Cletus and Clement were
probably prominent presbyter-bishops but not necessarily
monarchical bishops. Eventually, Rome followed the example of other
Christian communities and structured itself after the model of the
empire with one presbyter bishop in charge ..." The organizational
structure subsequently evolved into the present form of one bishop
supported by a college of presbyters.
It is certain that the office of bishop and presbyter were clearly
distinguished by the second century, as the church was facing the
dual pressures of persecution and internal schism, resulting in
three distinct local offices: bishop, elder (presbyter) and deacon.
This is best seen in the 2nd century writings of St.
Ignatius of Antioch.
The bishop was understood mainly as the president of the council of
presbyters, and so the bishop came to be distinguished both in
honor and in prerogative from the presbyters, who were seen as
deriving their authority by means of delegation from the bishop.
Each church had its own bishop and his presence was necessary to
consecrate any gathering of the church.
Eventually, as the Church grew, individual congregations no longer
were served directly by a bishop. The bishop in a large city would
appoint a presbyter to pastor the flock in each congregation,
acting as his delegate.
The Apostolic Fathers
Around the end of the first century, the church's organization
becomes clearer in historical documents. In the works of the
Apostolic Fathers, and
Ignatius of Antioch in particular, the
role of the episkopos, or bishop, became more important or, rather,
already was very important and being clearly defined.
"Plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as
the Lord Himself" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
6:1.
"your godly bishop" — Epistle of Ignatius to the
Magnesians 2:1.
"the bishop presiding after the likeness of God and the
presbyters after the likeness of the council of the Apostles, with
the deacons also who are most dear to me, having been entrusted
with the diaconate of Jesus Christ" — Epistle of Ignatius to
the Magnesians 6:1.
"Therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, [being
united with Him], either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither
do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters." —
Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7:1.
"Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ
was to the Father [according to the flesh], and as the Apostles
were to Christ and to the Father, that there may be union both of
flesh and of spirit." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
13:2.
"In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus
Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of
the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the
college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even
the name of a church." —
Epistle of Ignatius to
the Trallesians 3:1.
"follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and
the presbytery as the Apostles; and to the deacons pay respect, as
to God's commandment" —
Epistle of Ignatius to the
Smyrnans 8:1.
"He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God; he that doeth
aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the
devil" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9:1.
— Lightfoot translation.
It is clear that, by this period, a single bishop was expected to
lead the church in each centre of Christian mission, supported by a
council of
presbyters (a distinct and
subordinate position at least by this time) with a pool of
deacons. As the Church continued to expand, new
churches in important cities gained their own bishop. Churches in
the regions outside an important city were served by Chorbishop, an
official rank of bishops. However, soon, presbyters and deacons
were sent from bishop of a city church. Graudually priests replaced
the chorbishops. Thus, in time, the bishop changed from being the
leader of a single church confined to an urban area to being the
leader of the churches of a given geographical area.
Clement of Alexandria (end of
the 2nd century) writes about the ordination of a certain Zachæus
as bishop by the imposition of
Simon Peter
Bar-Jonah's hands. The words bishop and ordination are used in
their technical meaning by the same Clement of Alexandria. The
bishops in the 2nd century are defined also as the only clergy to
whom the ordination to
priesthood (
presbyterate) and diaconate is entrusted: "a
priest (presbyter) lays on hands, but does not ordain."
(
cheirothetei ou cheirotonei)
At the beginning of the 3rd century,
Hippolytus of Rome describes another
feature of the ministry of a bishop, which is that of the
"Spiritum primatus sacerdotii habere potestatem dimittere
peccata": the primate of sacrificial priesthood and the power
to forgive sins.
Bishops and civil government
The efficient organisation of the
Roman
Empire became the template for the organisation of the church
in the fourth century, particularly after the
Edict of Milan. As the church moved from the
shadows of privacy into the public forum it acquired land for
churches, burials and clergy. In 391,
Theodosius I decreed that any land that had
been confiscated from the church by Roman authorities be
returned.
The most usual term for the geographic area of a bishop's authority
and ministry, the
diocese, began as part of
the structure of the
Roman Empire under
Diocletian. As Roman authority began to
fail in the western portion of the empire, the church took over
much of the civil administration. This can be clearly seen in the
ministry of two
popes:
Pope Leo I in the fifth century, and
Pope Gregory I in the sixth century. Both of
these men were statesmen and public administrators in addition to
their role as Christian pastors, teachers and leaders. In the
Eastern churches,
latifundia entailed to
a bishop's
see were much less common,
the state power did not collapse the way it did in the West, and
thus the tendency of bishops acquiring secular power was much
weaker than in the West. However, the role of Western bishops as
civil authorities, often called
prince
bishops, continued throughout much of the
Middle Ages.
Bishops holding political office
As well as being archchancellors of the
Holy Roman Empire, bishops generally
served as
chancellors to medieval
monarchs, acting as head of the
justiciary and chief
chaplain.
The Lord
Chancellor of England
was almost
always a bishop up until the dismissal of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey by Henry VIII. Likewise, the
position of
Kanclerz in the
Polish kingdom was
always a bishop until the sixteenth century.
In
France
before the French
Revolution, representatives of the clergy — in practice,
bishops and abbots of the largest monasteries — comprised the First Estate of the Estates-General, until their role was
abolished during the French
Revolution.
The more
senior bishops of the Church of
England continue to sit in the House of Lords
of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom
, as representatives of the established church, and are known as
Lords Spiritual. The Bishop of Sodor and Man, whose
diocese lies outside of the United Kingdom
, is an ex officio
member of the Legislative Council
of the Isle of Man
. In the past, the Bishop of Durham, known as a prince bishop, had extensive viceregal powers
within his northern diocese — the power to mint money, collect
taxes and raise an army to defend against the Scots.
Eastern Orthodox bishops, along with
all other members of the clergy, are
canonically forbidden to hold political office.
Occasional exceptions to this rule are tolerated when the
alternative is political chaos. In the Ottoman Empire, the
Patriarch of Constantinople, for example, had de facto
administrative, fiscal, cultural and legal jurisdiction, as well as
spiritual, over all the Christians of the empire.
A recent prominent
example of this was Archbishop Makarios
III of Cyprus
, who served
as President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1960 to
1977.
In 2001,
Peter Hollingworth,
AC,
OBE – then the
Anglican Archbishop of
Brisbane – was controversially
appointed
Governor-General
of Australia. Though Hollingworth gave up his episcopal
position to accept the appointment, it still attracted considerable
opposition in a country which maintains a formal separation between
Church and State.
Episcopacy during the English Civil War
During the period of the
English Civil
War, the role of bishops as wielders of political power and as
upholders of the
established
church became a matter of heated political controversy.
John Calvin formulated a doctrine of
Presbyterianism, which held that in
the New Testament the offices of
presbyter and
episkopos were identical; he rejected the doctrine of
apostolic succession.
Calvin's follower John
Knox brought Presbyterianism to Scotland
when the Scottish church was reformed in
1560. In practice, Presbyterianism meant that committees of
lay elders had a substantial voice in church government, as opposed
to merely being subjects to a ruling hierarchy.
This vision of at least partial
democracy
in
ecclesiology paralleled the
struggles between
Parliament
and
the King. A body within
the
Puritan movement in the
Church of England sought to abolish the
office of bishop and remake the Church of England along
Presbyterian lines. The
Martin
Marprelate tracts, applying the
pejorative name of
prelacy to the church hierarchy, attacked the
office of bishop with satire that deeply offended
Elizabeth I and her
Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift. The
vestments controversy also related to
this movement, seeking further reductions in church ceremony, and
labelling the use of elaborate vestments as "unedifying" and even
idolatrous.
King James I, reacting against
the perceived contumacy of his Presbyterian Scottish subjects,
adopted "No Bishop, no King" as a slogan; he tied the hierarchical
authority of the bishop to the absolute authority he sought as
king, and viewed attacks on the authority of the bishops as attacks
on his own authority. Matters came to a head when King
Charles I appointed
William Laud as the Archbishop of Canterbury;
Laud aggressively attacked the Presbyterian movement and sought to
impose the full Anglican liturgy. The controversy eventually led to
Laud's
impeachment for
treason by a
bill of
attainder in 1645, and subsequent execution. Charles also
attempted to impose episcopacy on Scotland; the Scots' violent
rejection of bishops and liturgical worship sparked the
Bishops' Wars in 1639–1640.
During the height of Puritan power in
the Commonwealth and
the Protectorate, episcopacy was abolished
in the Church of England in 1649. The Church of England remained
Presbyterian until the
Restoration of the monarchy with
Charles II in 1660.
Churches
The Catholic Church, Orthodox churches and Anglican
churches
Bishops form the leadership in the
Roman Catholic Church, the
Eastern Orthodox Church, the
Oriental Orthodox
Churches, the
Anglican
Communion, the
Lutheran Church, the
Independent Catholic
Churches, the
Independent Anglican Churches,
and certain other, smaller, denominations.
The traditional role of a bishop is as pastor of a
diocese (also called a bishopric,
synod,
eparchy or
see), and so to serve as a "diocesan bishop,"
or "eparch" as it is called in many Eastern Christian churches .
Dioceses vary considerably in geographical and population.
Some
dioceses around the Mediterranean Sea
which were Christianised early are rather compact,
whereas dioceses in areas of rapid modern growth in Christian
commitment—as in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and the Far
East—are much larger and more populous.
As well as traditional diocesan bishops, many churches have a
well-developed structure of church leadership that involves a
number of layers of authority and responsibility.
- Patriarch:Patriarchs are the bishops
who head certain ancient autocephalous
or sui iuris churches, which are a
collection of metropolitan
see or provinces. Some of these churches call their
leaders Catholicos; the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church
of Alexandria, Egypt, is called Pope, meaning 'Father'.
While most patriarchs in the Eastern Catholic Churches have
jurisdiction over a "ritual church" (a group or diocese of a
particular Eastern tradition), all Latin
Rite patriarchs, except for the Pope, have
only honorary titles. In 2006, Pope
Benedict XVI gave up the title of Patriarch of the West. The first
recorded use of the title by a Roman Pope was by Theodore I in 620. However, early church
documents, such as those of the First Council of Nicaea (325) had
always listed the Pope of Rome first among the Ancient Patriarchs (first four, and
later five: Rome, Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem—collectively
referred to as the Pentarchy). Later, the heads of various
national churches became Patriarchs, but they are ranked below the
Pentarchy.
- Catholicos:Catholicoi are the heads
of some of the Eastern Orthodox,
Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern
Rite Catholic sui iuris churches (notably
the Armenian), roughly similar to a Patriarch (see above).
- Primate:A primate is usually
the bishop of the oldest church of a nation.
Sometimes this carries jurisdiction over metropolitan bishops, but
usually it is purely honorific. The primate of the Scottish Episcopal Church is
chosen from among the diocesan bishops, and, while retaining
diocesan responsibility, is called Primus.
- Presiding Bishop or President
Bishop: These titles are often used for the head of a national
Anglican church, but the title is not usually associated with a
particular episcopal see like the
title of a primate.
- Major archbishop:Major
archbishops are the heads of some of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Their
authority within their sui juris church is equal to that
of a patriarch, but they receive fewer ceremonial honors.
- Metropolitan bishop:A
metropolitan bishop is an
archbishop in charge of an ecclesiastical province, or group of
dioceses, and in addition to having immediate jurisdiction over his
own archdiocese, also exercises some oversight over the other
dioceses within that province. Sometimes a metropolitan may also be
the head of an autocephalous,
sui iuris, or autonomous church when the number of
adherents of that tradition are small. In the Latin Rite,
metropolitans are always archbishops; in many Eastern churches, the
title is "metropolitan," with some of these churches using
"archbishop" as a separate office.
- Archbishop:An archbishop is the
bishop of an archdiocese. This is
usually a prestigious diocese with an important place in local
church history. In the Roman Catholic Church, the title is purely
honorific and carries no extra jurisdiction, though most
archbishops are also metropolitan
bishops, as above. In most provinces of the Anglican Communion,
however, an archbishop has metropolitical and primatial power.
- Suffragan bishop: A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to
a Metropolitan. In the Roman
Catholic Church this term is applied to all non-metropolitan
bishops (that is, diocesan bishops of dioceses within a
metropolitan's province, and auxiliary
bishops). In the Anglican
Communion, the term applies to a bishop who is a full-time
assistant to a diocesan bishop: the Bishop of Warwick is suffragan to the
Bishop of Coventry (the
diocesan), though both live in Coventry
. Some Anglican suffragans are given the
responsibility for a geographical area within the diocese (for
example, the Bishop of Stepney
is an area bishop within the Diocese of
London
).
- Titular bishop:A titular bishop is a bishop without a diocese.
Rather, the bishop is head of a titular
see, which is usually an ancient city that used to have a
bishop, but, for some reason or other, does not have one now.
Titular bishops often serve as auxiliary bishops. In the Ecumenical
Patriarchate
, bishops of modern dioceses are often given a
titular see alongside their modern one (for example, the Archbishop
of Thyateira and Great Britain).
- Auxiliary bishop:An auxiliary bishop is a full-time assistant
to a diocesan bishop (the Catholic equivalent of an Anglican
suffragan bishop). An auxiliary
bishop is a titular bishop, and he is
to be appointed as a vicar general or
at least as an episcopal vicar of
the diocese in which he serves.
- Coadjutor bishop:A coadjutor bishop is an auxiliary bishop who
is given almost equal authority in a diocese with the diocesan
bishop, and the automatic right to succeed the incumbent diocesan
bishop. The appointment of coadjutors is often seen as a means of
providing for continuity of church leadership.
- Honorary Assistant bishop or Bishop Emeritus: The little is
usually applied to retired bishops who are given a general licence
to minister as episcopal pastors under a diocesan's oversight. The
title, in this meaning, is not used by the Catholic Church.
- Chorbishop:A chorbishop is an
official of a diocese in some Eastern Christian churches.
Chorbishops are not generally ordained bishops – they are not given
the sacrament of Holy Orders in that degree – but function as
assistants to the diocesan bishop with certain honorary
privileges.
- Cardinal:A cardinal is a member of the clergy
appointed by the pope to serve in the College of Cardinals, the body
empowered to elect the pope; however, on turning 80 a cardinal
loses this right of election. Cardinals also serve as advisors to
the pope and hold positions of authority within the structure of
the Catholic Church. Under modern canon law, a man who is appointed
a cardinal must accept ordination as a bishop, unless he already is
one, or seek special permission from the pope to decline such
ordination. Most cardinals are already bishops at the time of their
appointment, the majority being archbishops of important
archdioceses or patriarchs, and a substantial portion of the rest
already titular archbishops serving in the Vatican. Recent popes
have appointed a few priests, most of them influential theologians,
to the College of Cardinals without requiring them to be ordained
as bishops; invariably, these men are over the age of 80, which
means they are not permitted to take part in a conclave. The
purpose of these appointments is to recognise their tremendous
contribution to the life of the Church.
Duties
In
Catholicism,
Eastern Orthodoxy,
Oriental Orthodoxy,
Lutheranism, and
Anglicanism only a bishop can ordain other
bishops,
priests, and
deacons.
In the Eastern liturgical tradition, a priest can celebrate the
Divine Liturgy only with the blessing
of a bishop. In Byzantine usage, an
antimension signed by the bishop is kept on the
altar partly as a reminder of whose altar it is and under whose
omophorion the priest at a local parish
is serving. In Syriac Church usage, a consecrated wooden block
called a
thabilitho is kept for the same
reasons.
The
pope, in addition to being the Bishop of
Rome
and
spiritual head of the Catholic
Church, is also the Patriarch of the Latin Rite. Each bishop within the
Latin Rite is answerable directly to the
Pope and not any other bishop except to metropolitans in certain
oversight instances. The pope previously used the title
Patriarch of the West, but this title was dropped from use
in 2006 a move which caused some concern within the Orthodox
Communion as, to them, it implied wider papal jurisdiction.
In Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Anglican
cathedrals there is a special chair set
aside for the exclusive use of the bishop. This is the bishop's
cathedra and is often called the
throne. In some Christian denominations e.g.
the Anglican Communion, parish churches may maintain a chair for
the use of the bishop when he visits; this is to signify the
parish's union with the bishop.
The bishop is also the proper minister of the
sacrament of
confirmation, and in the Anglican Communion and
Liberal Catholic communion only a bishop may administer this
sacrament. However, in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox
churches
chrismation is always done at
the same time as
baptism, and thus the
priest is the one who confirms. Within Catholicism, it is
invariably the priest who confirms those being received as adults
into the Church. Also, a Catholic bishop may delegate a priest to
administer the sacrament in his place; these men are called
episcopal vicars and are usually
responsible for a particular area of the diocese.
Ordination of Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Bishops
Bishops in all of these communions are
ordained by other bishops through the
laying on of hands. While traditional
teaching maintains that any bishop with
Apostolic succession can validly
perform the ordination of another bishop, some churches require two
or three bishops participate, either to insure sacramental validity
or to conform with church law.
Roman
Catholic doctrine holds that one bishop can validly ordain
another male (priest) as a bishop. Though a minimum of three
bishops participating is desirable (there are usually several more)
in order to demonstrate collegiality, canonically only one bishop
is necessary. The practice of only one bishop ordaining was normal
in countries where the Church was persecuted under
Communist rule.
Apart from the ordination, which is always done by other bishops,
there are different methods as to the actual selection of a
candidate for ordination as bishop. In the
Catholic Church the
Congregation for Bishops oversees
the selection of new bishops with the approval of the
pope. The papal nuncio usually solicits names from the
bishops of a country, and then selects three to be forwarded to the
Holy See. Most Eastern Orthodox churches
allow varying amounts of formalised laity and/or lower clergy
influence on the choice of bishops. This also applies in those
Eastern churches which are in union with the pope, though he is
required to give assent.
Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Liberal Catholic and some Lutheran
bishops (e.g. Sweden) claim to be part of the continuous sequence
of ordained bishops since the days of the apostles referred to as
Apostolic succession. Since
Pope Leo XIII issued the bull
Apostolicae Curae in
1896, the Catholic Church has insisted that Anglican orders are
invalid because of changes in the Anglican ordination rites of the
16th century and divergence in understanding of the theology of
priesthood, episcopacy and Eucharist. However, since the 1930s,
Utrecht Old Catholic bishops (recognised by the Holy See as
validily ordained) have sometimes taken part in the ordination of
Anglican bishops. According to the writer Timothy Dufort, by 1969,
all Church of England bishops had acquired Old Catholic lines of
apostolic succession recognised
by the Holy See. This development has muddied the waters somewhat
as it could be argued that the strain of Apostolic Succession has
been re-introduced into Anglicanism, at least within the Church of
England.
The Catholic Church does recognise as valid (though illicit)
ordinations done by breakaway Catholic, Old Catholic or Oriental
bishops, and groups descended from them; it also regards as both
valid and licit those ordinations done by bishops of the Eastern
churches, so long as those receiving the ordination conform to
other canonical requirements (e.g. is an adult male) and an
orthodox rite of episcopal ordination, expressing the proper
functions and sacramental status of a bishop, is used; this has
given rise to the phenomenon of
episcopi vagantes (e.g. clergy of the
Independent Catholic groups which claim Apostolic Succession,
though this claim is rejected by both Orthodoxy and
Catholicism).
The Orthodox Churches would not accept the validity of any
ordinations performed by the Independent Catholic groups, as
Orthodoxy considers to be spurious any consecration outside of the
Church as a whole. Orthodoxy considers
Apostolic succession to exist only
within the Universal Church, and not through any authority held by
individual bishops; thus, if a bishop ordains someone to serve
outside of the (Orthodox) Church, the ceremony is ineffectual, and
no ordination has taken place regardless of the ritual used or the
ordaining prelate's position within the Orthodox Churches.
The position of Roman Catholicism is slightly different. Whilst it
does recognise the validity of the orders of certain groups which
separated from communion with Holy See. The Holy See accepts as
valid the ordinations of the
Old
Catholics in communion with Utrecht, as well as the
Polish National Catholic
Church (which received its orders directly from Utrecht, and
was—until recently—part of that communion); but Roman Catholicism
does not recognise the orders of any group whose teaching is at
variance with core tenets of Christianity e.g. The
Liberal Catholic Church which has a
strong theosophist tendency and permits belief in reincarnation;
this is the case even though the clergy of the Independent Catholic
groups may use the proper ordination ritual. There are other
reasons why the Holy See does not recognise the validity of the
orders of the Independent clergy: (a) the continuing practice among
many Independent clergy of one person receiving multiple
ordinations in order to secure apostolic succession, betrays an
incorrect and mechanistic theology of ordination as far as the Holy
See is concerned (b) the practice within Independent groups of
ordaining women demonstrates an understanding of Priesthood which
is totally unacceptable to the Catholic and Orthodox churches as
they believe that the Universal Church does not possess such
authority; thus, any ceremonies performed by these women are
considered to be sacramentally invalid. (c) the theology of male
clergy within the Independent movement is also suspect according to
the Roman Catholics as they presumably approve of the ordination of
females, and may have even undergone an (invalid) ordination
ceremony conducted by a woman.
Whilst members of the
Independent
Catholic movement take seriously the issue of valid orders, it
is highly significant that the relevant Vatican Congregations tend
not to respond to petitions from Independent Catholic bishops and
clergy who seek to be received into communion with the Holy See,
hoping to continue in some sacramental role. In those instances
where the pope does grant reconciliation, those deemed to be
clerics within the Independent Old Catholic movement are invariably
admitted as laity and not priests or bishops.
There is a mutual recognition of the validity of orders amongst
Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox,
Old Catholic,
Oriental Orthodox and
Assyrian Nestorian
churches.
Some
provinces of the
Anglican Communion have begun
ordaining women as bishops in
recent decades e.g. the United States, New Zealand, Canada and
Cuba. The first woman bishop within Anglicanism was
Barbara Clementine Harris, who was
ordained in the United States in 1989. In 2006,
Katharine Jefferts Schori, the
Episcopal
Bishop of
Nevada, became the first woman to become the Presiding Bishop
of the Episcopal Church.
Lutheranism
In the
Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and the
Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada (ELCIC), the largest Lutheran Church bodies in
North America and roughly based on the
Nordic Lutheran state churches (similar to
that of the
Church of England),
bishops are elected by Synod Assemblies, consisting of both lay
members and clergy, for a term of 6 years, which can be renewed,
depending upon the local synod's "constitution" (which is mirrored
on either the ELCA or ELCIC's national constitution). Since the
implementation of concordats between the ELCA and the
Episcopal Church of the
United States and the ELCIC and the
Anglican Church of Canada, all
bishops, including the Presiding Bishop (ELCA) or the National
Bishop (ELCIC), has been consecrated using the historic succession,
with at least one Anglican bishop serving as co-consecrator.
Since going into ecumenical communion with their respective
Anglican body, bishops in the ELCA or the ELCIC not only approve
the "rostering" of all ordained pastors, diaconal ministers, and
associates in ministry, but they serve as the principle celebrant
of all pastoral ordination and installation ceremonies, diaconal
consecration ceremonies, as well as serving as the "chief pastor"
of the local synod, upholding the teachings of
Martin Luther as well as the documentations of
the Ninety-Five Thesis and the
Augsburg Confession. Unlike their
counterparts in the
United
Methodist Church, ELCA and ELCIC synod bishops do not appoint
pastors to local congregations (pastors, like their counterparts in
the Episcopal Church, are called by local congregations), and are
not "bishops for life," they revert to the title "Pastor" after
completing their episcopal service. The Presiding Bishop of the
ELCA and the National Bishop of the ELCIC, the national bishops of
their respective bodies, is elected for a single 6-year term and
may be elected to an additional term.
It should be noted that although ELCA agreed with the Episcopal
Church to limit ordination to the bishop "ordinarily", ELCA
pastor-
ordinators are given permission to perform the
rites in "extraordinary" circumstance. In practice, "extraordinary"
circumstance have included disagreeing with Episcopalian views of
the episcopate, and as a result, ELCA pastors ordained by other
pastors are not permitted to be deployed to Episcopal Churches
(they can, however, serve in
Presbyterian Church USA,
Reformed Church in America, and
Moravian Church congregations, as
the ELCA is in full communion with these denominations). The
Lutheran
Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the
Wisconsin Evangelical
Lutheran Synod (WELS), the second and third largest Lutheran
bodies in the United States and the two largest
Confessional Lutheran bodies in North
America, do not have a bishop as the head of the church or middle
jurisdiction, practicing a form of congregationalism similar to the
United Church of Christ. It
should also be noted that the largest of the three predecessor
bodies of the ELCA, the
Lutheran Church in America (whose
"Canada Section" became part of the ELCIC), was also a
congregationalist body, with national and synod presidents before
they were re-titled as bishops (borrowing from the Lutheran
churches in Germany) in the 1980s.
Methodism
United Methodist Church
United Methodist Episcopal
Shield
In the
United Methodist
Church (the largest branch of Methodism) bishops serve as
administrative and pastoral superintendents of the church. They are
elected for life from among the
ordained elders (presbyters) by vote of
the delegates in regional (called jurisdictional) conferences, and
are consecrated by the other bishops present at the conference
through the laying on of hands. In the United Methodist Church
bishops remain members of the "
Order
of Elders" while being consecrated to the "
Office of the Episcopacy." Within the
United Methodist Church only bishops are empowered to consecrate
bishops and ordain clergy. Among their most critical duties is the
ordination and appointment of clergy to serve local churches as
pastor, presiding at sessions of the Annual, Jurisdictional, and
General Conferences, providing pastoral ministry for the clergy
under their charge, and safeguarding the doctrine and discipline of
the Church. Furthermore, individual bishops, or the Council of
Bishops as a whole, often serve a prophetic role, making statements
on important social issues and setting forth a vision for the
denomination, though they have no legislative authority of their
own. In all of these areas, bishops of the United Methodist Church
function very much in the historic meaning of the term. According
to the
Book of
Discipline of the United Methodist Church, a bishop's
responsibilities are
In each Annual Conference, United Methodist bishops serve for four
year terms, and may serve up to three terms before either
retirement or appointment to a new Conference. United Methodist
bishops may be male or female, with the Rev.
Marjorie Matthews being the first woman to
be consecrated a bishop in 1980.
The collegial expression of episcopal leadership in the
United Methodist Church is known as
the
Council of
Bishops. The Council of Bishops speaks to the Church and
through the Church into the world and gives leadership in the quest
for Christian unity and interreligious relationships. The
Conference of Methodist Bishops includes the United
Methodist
Council of Bishops plus bishops from affiliated
autonomous
Methodist or
United Churches.
John Wesley consecrated Thomas Coke a "General Superintendent,"
and directed that Francis Asbury also
be consecrated for the United States of America
in 1784, where the Methodist Episcopal Church first
became a separate denomination apart from the Church of England. Coke soon
returned to England, but Asbury was the primary builder of the new
church. At first he did not call himself bishop, but eventually
submitted to the usage by the denomination.
Notable bishops in United Methodist history include
Coke,
Asbury,
Richard
Whatcoat,
Philip William
Otterbein,
Martin Boehm,
Jacob Albright,
John
Seybert,
Matthew Simpson,
John S. Stamm,
William Ragsdale Cannon,
Marjorie Matthews,
Leontine T. Kelly ,
William
B. Oden,
Ntambo Nkulu Ntanda,
Joseph Sprague,
William Henry Willimon, and
Thomas Bickerton.
Methodists in the United Kingdom acquired their own bishops early in the nineteenth
century, after the Methodist movement in Britain formally parted
company with the Church of England. The position no longer
exists in British Methodism.
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
In the
Christian
Methodist Episcopal Church, bishops are administrative
superintendents of the church; they are elected by "delegate" votes
for as many years deemed until the age of 74, then he/she must
retire. Among their duties, are responsibility for appointing
clergy to serve local churches as pastor, for performing
ordinations, and for safeguarding the doctrine and discipline of
the Church. The General Conference, a meeting every four years, has
an equal number of clergy and lay delegates. In each Annual
Conference, CME bishops serve for four year terms. CME Church
bishops may be male or female.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the
Bishop is the leader of a local
congregation, called a
ward. As
with most Mormon priesthood, the Bishop is a part-time lay minister
and earns a living through other employment; in all cases, he is a
married man. As such, it is his duty to preside at services, call
local leaders, and judge the worthiness of members for service. The
bishop does not deliver sermons at every service (generally asking
members to do so), but is expected to be a spiritual guide for his
congregation. It is therefore believed that he has both the right
and ability to receive divine inspiration (through the
Holy Spirit) for the
ward under his direction. Because it is a
part-time position, all able members are expected to assist in the
management of the ward by holding delegated lay positions (e.g.
women's' and youth leaders, teachers) referred to as
callings. Although members are asked to confess serious
sins to him, unlike the
Roman
Catholic Church, he is not the instrument of divine
forgiveness, merely a guide through the repentance process (and a
judge in case transgressions warrant excommunication or other
official discipline). The bishop is also responsible for the
physical welfare of the ward, and thus collects
tithing and
fast
offerings and distributes financial assistance where
needed.
A bishop is the president of the
Aaronic priesthood in his ward (and is
thus a form of Mormon
Kohen; in fact, the
church's
Doctrine and
Covenants states that any "descendant of Aaron" who converts to
Mormonism has no need to be ordained to the office of bishop as
they descend from that lineage directly). A bishop is also a
High priest in the
Melchizedek priesthood. Each
bishop is selected from resident members of the ward by the
stake presidency with
approval of the
First Presidency,
and chooses two
counselors to form a
bishopric.
In special circumstances (such as a ward consisting entirely of
young university students), a bishop may be chosen from outside the
ward. A bishop is typically released after about five years and a
new bishop is called to the position. Although the former bishop is
released from his duties, he continues to hold the priesthood
office of bishop, and is usually still referred to by the title
"Bishop" as a term of respect.
Latter Day Saint bishops do not wear any special clothing or
insignia the way clergy in many other churches do, but are expected
to dress and groom themselves neatly and conservatively per their
local culture, especially when performing official duties. Bishops
(as well as other members of the priesthood) can trace their line
of authority back to
Joseph Smith,
Jr., who, according to church doctrine, was ordained to lead
the Church in modern times by the ancient
apostles Peter,
James, and
John, who were ordained to lead the Church
by Jesus Christ.
The
Presiding Bishop
oversees the temporal affairs (buildings, properties, commercial
corporations, etc.) of the worldwide Church, including the Church's
massive global humanitarian aid and social welfare programs. The
Presiding Bishop has two counselors; the three together form the
Presiding Bishopric.
New Apostolic Church
The
New Apostolic Church (NAC)
knows 3 classes of ministries: Deacons, Priests and Apostles. The
Apostles, who are
all included in the apostolate with the
Chief Apostle as head, are the highest
ministries.
Of the several kinds of priest-ministries, the bishop is the
highest. Nearly all bishops are set in line directly from the chief
apostle. They support and help their superior apostle.
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
In the polity of the
Church of God , the
international leader is the Presiding Bishop, and the members of
the Executive Committee are Executive Bishops. Collectively, they
supervise and appoint national and state leaders across the world.
Leaders of individual states and regions are Administrative
Bishops, who have jurisdiction over local churches in their
respective states and are vested with appointment authority for
local pastorates. All ministers are credentialed at one of three
levels of licensure, the most senior of which is the rank of
Ordained Bishop. To be eligible to serve in state, national, or
international positions of authority, a minister must hold the rank
of Ordained Bishop.
Pentecostal Church of God
In 2002, the general convention of the
Pentecostal Church of God came to
a consensus to change the title of their overseer from General
Superintendent to Bishop. The change was brought on because
internationally, the term Bishop is more commonly related to
religious leaders than the previous title.
The title Bishop is used for both the General (International
leader) and the district (state) leaders. The title is sometimes
used in conjunction with the previous thus becoming General
(District) Superintendent/Bishop.
Others
Some Baptists have begun taking on the title of Bishop.
[331]
In some smaller Protestant denominations and independent churches
the term bishop is used in the same way as pastor, to refer to the
leader of the local congregation, and may be male or female. This
usage is especially common in African American churches in the USA.
In the
Church of
Scotland
, which has a Presbyterian church structure, the
word "bishop" refers to an ordained person, usually a normal parish
minister, who has temporary oversight of a trainee
minister.
While not Christian,
Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica uses
roles and titles derived from Christianity for its clerical
hierarchy, including Bishops who have much the same authority and
responsibilities as in Roman Catholicism.
The Salvation Army does not have bishops but have appointed leaders
of geographical areas known as Divisional Commanders. Larger
geographical areas, called Territories, are led by a Territorial
Commander, who is the highest ranking officer in that
Territory.
Dress and Insignia
Traditionally, a number of items are associated with the office of
a bishop, most notably the
mitre,
crosier, and
ecclesiastical ring. Other vestments and
insignia vary between Eastern and Western Christianity.
In the Latin branch of the
Catholic
Church, the
choir dress of a bishop
includes the purple
cassock with amaranth
trim,
rochet, purple
zucchetto (skull cap), purple
biretta, and
pectoral
cross. The accoutrements of a bishop include the
pontifical gloves and
pontifical sandals, but these items are
rarely seen today except within the context of the Extraordinary
Form (the
Tridentine Mass). The
cappa magna, which was once used as
choir dress for bishops on solemn occasions, is also rarely seen
although its use is permitted. The coat of arms of a Latin Rite
Catholic bishop will usually display a
galero
with a cross and crosier behind the
escutcheon; however, the specifics
will differ by location and ecclesiastical rank (see
Ecclesiastical heraldry).
Anglican bishops generally make use of the
mitre,
crosier,
ecclesiastical ring, purple
cassock, purple
zucchetto, and
pectoral
cross. However, the traditional
choir
dress of Anglican bishops is quite different from that of their
Catholic counterparts; it consists of a long
rochet which is worn with a
chimere.
In the
Eastern Churches (
Eastern Orthodox,
Eastern Rite Catholic) a bishop will
wear the
mandyas,
panagia (and perhaps an
enkolpion),
sakkos,
omophorion and an Eastern-style
mitre. Eastern bishops do not normally wear an
episcopal ring; the faithful will kiss the bishop's hand. To seal
official documents, he will usually use an inked stamp. An Eastern
bishop's coat of arms will normally display an Eastern-style mitre,
cross, eastern style crosier and a red and white (or red and gold)
mantle. The arms of
Oriental Orthodox bishops will
display the episcopal insignia (mitre or turban) specific to their
own liturgical traditions. Variations will occur based upon
jurisdiction and national customs.
See also
Notes
References
- Ignatius of Antioch,
Epistles of to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallesians, and
Smyrnans, Lightfoot, trans., Harmer, ed. (Kessinger,
1891/2003). ISBN 0-7661-6498-5
- Mathews, James, Set Apart To Serve: The Role of the
Episcopacy in the Wesleyan Tradition (Nashville: Abingdon,
1985).
- Moede, Gerald, The Office of Bishop in Methodism: Its
History and Development (Nashville: Abingdon, 1965).
External links
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