Parish

A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within

a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often
termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or more curates, and who operates
from a parish church. Historically, a parish often covered the same geographical area as a
manor. Its association with the parish church remains paramount.[1]

By extension the term parish refers not only to the territorial entity but to the people of its
community or congregation as well as to church property within it. In England this church
property was technically in ownership of the parish priest ex-officio, vested in him on his
institution to that parish.

Etymology and use

First attested in English in the late, 13th century, the word parish comes from the Old
French paroisse, in turn from Latin: paroecia,[2] the latinisation of the Ancient Greek:
παροικία, romanized: paroikia, "sojourning in a foreign land",[3] itself from πάροικος
(paroikos), "dwelling beside, stranger, sojourner",[4] which is a compound of παρά (pará),
"beside, by, near"[5] and οἶκος οἶκος (oîkos), "house".[6]

As an ancient concept, the term "parish" occurs in the long-established Christian

denominations: Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and
Lutheran churches, and in some Methodist, Congregationalist and Presbyterian
administrations.
The eighth Archbishop of Canterbury Theodore of Tarsus (c. 602–690) appended the
parish structure to the Anglo-Saxon township unit, where it existed, and where minsters
catered to the surrounding district.[7]

Territorial structure

St James's church in Manorbier, Pembrokeshire, is a parish church dating from the 12th century and is a Grade
I listed building

St Margarete Parish Church, Berndorf, Austria

Broadly speaking, the parish is the standard unit in episcopal polity of church
administration, although parts of a parish may be subdivided as a chapelry, with a chapel
of ease or filial church serving as the local place of worship in cases of difficulty to access
the main parish church.
In the wider picture of ecclesiastical polity, a parish comprises a division of a diocese or
see. Parishes within a diocese may be grouped into a deanery or vicariate forane (or
simply vicariate), overseen by a dean or vicar forane, or in some cases by an archpriest.
Some churches of the Anglican Communion have deaneries as units of an archdeaconry.

Outstations

An outstation is a newly-created congregation, a term usually used where the church is

evangelical, or a mission and particularly in African countries,[8][9] but also historically in
Australia.[10] They exist mostly within the Catholic and Anglican parishes.[8][9][11][12][13][14]

The Anglican Diocese of Cameroon describes their outstations as the result of outreach
work "initiated, sponsored and supervised by the mother parishes". Once there is a big
enough group of worshippers in the same place, the outstation in named by the bishop of
the diocese. They are run by "catechists/evangelists" or lay readers, and supervised by the
creator parish or archdeaconry.[8]

Outstations are not self-supporting, and in poor areas often consist of a very simple
structure. The parish priest visits as often as possible. If and when the community has
grown enough, the outstation may become a parish and have a parish priest assigned to
it.[9]

The Assemblies of God denomination has churches and outstations throughout the
world.[15][16]

Church of England

Parish boundary markers for St Peter's and St Owen's in Hereford

St Mary's parish church in Hasfield, Gloucestershire.

The Church of England's geographical structure uses the local parish church as its basic
unit. The parish system survived the Reformation with the Anglican Church's secession
from Rome remaining largely untouched; thus, it shares its roots with the Catholic Church's
system described below. Parishes may extend into different counties or hundreds and
historically many parishes comprised extra outlying portions in addition to its principal
district, usually being described as 'detached' and intermixed with the lands of other
parishes. Church of England parishes nowadays all lie within one of 44 dioceses divided
between the provinces of Canterbury, 30 and York, 12.[17]

Each parish normally has its own parish priest (either a vicar or rector, owing to the
vagaries of the feudal tithe system: rectories usually having had greater income) and
perhaps supported by one or more curates or deacons - although as a result of
ecclesiastical pluralism some parish priests might have held more than one parish living,
placing a curate in charge of those where they do not reside. Now, however, it is common
for a number of neighbouring parishes to be placed under one benefice in the charge of a
priest who conducts services by rotation, with additional services being provided by lay
readers or other non-ordained members of the church community.
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland
Scotland up to the mid 19th century.[18] It had a similar status to a township but was so
named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish
church.[19]

In England civil parishes and their governing parish councils evolved in the 19th century as
ecclesiastical parishes began to be relieved of what became considered to be civic
responsibilities. Thus their boundaries began to diverge. The word "parish" acquired a
secular usage. Since 1895, a parish council elected by public vote or a (civil) parish
meeting administers a civil parish and is formally recognised as the level of local
government below a district council.

The traditional structure of the Church of England with the parish as the basic unit has
been exported to other countries and churches throughout the Anglican Communion and
Commonwealth but does not necessarily continue to be administered in the same way.

Church of Scotland

The parish is also the basic level of church administration in the Church of Scotland.
Spiritual oversight of each parish church in Scotland is responsibility of the congregation's
Kirk Session. Patronage was regulated in 1711 (Patronage Act) and abolished in 1874, with
the result that ministers must be elected by members of the congregation. Many parish
churches in Scotland today are "linked" with neighbouring parish churches served by a
single minister. Since the abolition of parishes as a unit of civil government in Scotland in
1929, Scottish parishes have purely ecclesiastical significance and the boundaries may be
adjusted by the local Presbytery.

Church in Wales

The church in Wales was disestablished in 1920 and is made up of six dioceses. Parishes
were also civil administration areas until communities were established in 1974.

Methodist Church

Although they are more often simply called congregations and have no geographic
boundaries, in the United Methodist Church congregations are called parishes. A
prominent example of this usage comes in The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist
Church, in which the committee of every local congregation that handles staff support is
referred to as the committee on Pastor-Parish Relations. This committee gives
recommendations to the bishop on behalf of the parish/congregation since it is the United
Methodist Bishop of the episcopal area who appoints a pastor to each congregation. The
same is true in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Christian Methodist
Episcopal Church.

In New Zealand, a local grouping of Methodist churches that share one or more ministers
(which in the United Kingdom would be called a circuit) is referred to as a parish.

Catholic Church

A small Roman Catholic parish church in Wróblik, Poland

Saint Martin's Collegiate Parish Church in Opatów, Poland

In the Catholic Church, each parish normally has its own parish priest (in some countries
called pastor or provost), who has responsibility and canonical authority over the
parish.[20]

What in most English-speaking countries is termed the "parish priest" is referred to as the
"pastor" in the United States, where the term "parish priest" is used of any priest assigned
to a parish even in a subordinate capacity. These are called "assistant priests",[21]
"parochial vicars",[22] "curates", or, in the United States, "associate pastors" and "assistant
pastors".

Each diocese (administrative region) is divided into parishes, each with their own central
church called the parish church, where religious services take place. Some larger parishes
or parishes that have been combined under one parish priest may have two or more such
churches, or the parish may be responsible for chapels (or chapels of ease) located at
some distance from the mother church for the convenience of distant parishioners.[23] In
addition to a parish church, each parish may maintain auxiliary organizations and their
facilities such as a rectory, parish hall, parochial school, or convent, frequently located on
the same campus or adjacent to the church.

Normally, a parish comprises all Catholics living within its geographically defined area, but
non-territorial parishes can also be established within a defined area on a personal basis
for Catholics belonging to a particular rite, language, nationality, or community.[24] An
example is that of personal parishes established in accordance with the 7 July 2007 motu
proprio Summorum Pontificum for those attached to the pre-Vatican II liturgy.[25]

Most Catholic parishes are part of Latin Rite dioceses, which together cover the whole
territory of a country. There can also be overlapping parishes of eparchies of Eastern
Catholic Churches, personal ordinariates or military ordinariates. Parishes are generally
territorial, but may be personal.

See also

Parish church
 Parish pump

Parish registers: Birth certificate, Marriage certificate, Death certificate

Collegiate church

Priory church

Cathedral

Parochial school

References

Citations
1. Michael Trueman and Pete Vere (July 2007), "When Parishes Merge or Close" (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20130615133347/http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/when-parishes-mer
ge-or-close) , Catholic Answers, vol. 18, no. 6, archived from the original (http://www.catholic.
com/magazine/articles/when-parishes-merge-or-close) on 2013-06-15

2. paroecia (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.005
9%3Aentry%3Dparoecia) , Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus

3. παροικία (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.005
7%3Aentry%3Dparoiki%2Fa) , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon,
on Perseus

4. πάροικος (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.005
7%3Aentry%3Dpa%2Froikos) , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon,
on Perseus

5. παρά (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3A
entry%3Dpara%2F) , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus

6. οἶκος (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3A
entry%3Doi%29%3Dkos1) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110629164225/http://ww
w.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Doi%2
9%3Dkos1) June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A
Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus

7. Wells, Samuel (2011). What Anglicans Believe. An Introduction (First ed.). Norwich: Canterbury
Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-84825-114-4.

8. "Diocese" (http://anglicandioceseofcameroon.org/index.php/diocese) . Anglican Church Of

Cameroon. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
 9. Zingsheim, Brandon (12 September 2011). "The Outstation That Wanted to be a Real Parish" (htt
ps://catholicmissionquest.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-outstation-that-wanted-to-be-a-rea
l-parish/) . Leaves from the Tree. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

10. "History" (https://www.stkevinseastwood.org.au/history/) . St Kevin's Parish, Eastwood (in

Polish). Retrieved 18 August 2020.

11. "Southwark Cathedral and the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe" (https://cathedral.southwark.angli

can.org/about-us/cathedral-community-and-congregation/southwark-cathedral-and-the-an
glican-church-in-zimbabwe/) . Southwark Cathedral. 1 August 1952. Retrieved 18 August
2020.

12. "Brief History of St. Peter Society" (http://www.stmichaelcatholicchurchketu.org/st_peter.htm

l) . St. Michael Catholic Church. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

13. "Little by Little We Build our Church" (https://mcspa.org/little-by-little-we-build-our-church/) .

Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

14. Ball, Jeremy. (2010). "The 'Three Crosses' of Mission Work: Fifty Years of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in Angola, 1880-1930". Journal of Religion in
Africa. 40 (3): 331–357. doi:10.1163/157006610X532202 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F157006610X
532202) . JSTOR 25801381 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25801381) .

15. Fairchild, Mary (1 January 2010). "Who Are the Assemblies of God and What Do They Believe?"
(https://www.learnreligions.com/assemblies-of-god-denomination-700146) . Learn Religions.
Retrieved 18 August 2020.

16. "Mission" (https://asiapacificmissions.org/mission) . Asia Pacific Missions. 7 March 2019.

Retrieved 18 August 2020.

17. "Dioceses" (https://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/dioceses.aspx) . Church of England.

Retrieved 8 September 2021.

18. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=Ch Status details for

Chapelry. Vision of Britain through time. URL accessed 24 February 2008.

19. Status details for Township (http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_stat

us=Tn) . Vision of Britain through time. URL accessed 24 February 2008.

20. Code of Canon Law, canon 519 (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1T.HTM) : "The

parish priest is the proper clergyman in charge of the congregation of the parish entrusted to
him. He exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of
the diocesan bishop, whose ministry of Christ he is called to share, so that for this community
he may carry out the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling with the cooperation of other
priests or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of Christ's faithful, in accordance
with the law".
21. "Code of Canon Law, canon 545 in the English translation by the Canon Law Society of Great
Britain and Ireland, assisted by the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand and the
Canadian Canon Law Society" (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1T.HTM) .

22. "Code of Canon Law, canon 545 in the English translation by the Canon Law Society of
America" (https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1U.HTM) .

23. Alston, G.C. (1908)."Chapel" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03574b.htm) . New Advent -

Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2013-09-02.

24. "can. 518" (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1T.HTM) .

25. "Summorum Pontificum, article 10" (http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/summorum-po

ntificum.html) .

Sources
Sidney Webb, Beatrice Potter. English Local Government from the Revolution to the Municipal
Corporations. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1906

James Barry Bird. The laws respecting parish matters: containing the several offices and duties of
churchwardens, overseers of the poor, constables, watchmen, and other parish officers : the laws
concerning rates and assessments, settlements and removals of the poor, and of the poor in
general. Publisher W. Clarke, 1799

Further reading

Hart, A. Tindal (1959) The Country Priest in English History. London: Phoenix House

--do.-- (1958) The Country Clergy in Elizabethan & Stuart Times, 1558-1660. London:
Phoenix House

--do.-- (1955) The Eighteenth Century Country Parson, circa 1689 to 1830, Shrewsbury:
Wilding & Son

--do.-- & Carpenter, E. F. (1954) The Nineteenth Century Country Parson; circa 1832-
1900. Shrewsbury: Wilding & Son

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Parish".

Crockford's Clerical Directory (http://www.crockford.org.uk/)

 In praise of ... civil parishes (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/1
6/in-praise-of-civil-parishes) Editorial in The Guardian, 2011-05-16.

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title=Parish&oldid=1069341825"

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