Episcopal polity

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This article is about the form of church governance. For the churches
characterized by this form of governance and named themselves Episcopalian,
see Anglicanism.
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Ecclesiastical polity

 Episcopal
 Connexional
 Presbyterian
 Congregationalist

 v
 t
 e

Church authority in ceremonies is often represented by a mitre as headdress.

The chair (cathedra) of the Bishop of Rome (Pope) of the Catholic Church in the Archbasilica of St. John
in Lateran in Rome, Italy, represents his episcopal authority.
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical
polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop"
derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term *ebiscopus/*biscopus, from
the Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος epískopos meaning "overseer".)[1][2] It is the structure
used by many of the major Christian Churches and denominations, such as
the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anglican,
and Lutheran churches or denominations, and other churches founded
independently from these lineages.
Churches with an episcopal polity are governed by bishops, practising their
authorities in the dioceses and conferences or synods. Their leadership is
both sacramental and constitutional; as well as
performing ordinations, confirmations, and consecrations, the bishop supervises
the clergy within a local jurisdiction and is the representative both to secular
structures and within the hierarchy of the church. Bishops are considered to derive
their authority from an unbroken, personal apostolic succession from the Twelve
Apostles of Jesus. Bishops with such authority are said to represent the historical
episcopate or historic episcopate. Churches with this type of government usually
believe that the Church requires episcopal government as described in the New
Testament (see 1 Timothy 3 and 2 Timothy 1). In some systems, bishops may be
subject in limited ways to bishops holding a higher office (variously
called archbishops, metropolitans, or patriarchs, depending upon the tradition).
They also meet in councils or synods. These gatherings, subject to presidency by
higher ranking bishops, usually make important decisions, though the synod or
council may also be purely advisory.
For much of the written history of institutional Christianity, episcopal government
was the only known form of church organization. This 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 Catholic Church precipitated by The Ninety-Five
Theses of Martin Luther. However some people have disputed the episcopal polity
before the reformation, such as Aerius of Sebaste in the 4th century.[3]