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Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church. There are local (congregational) forms of organization as well as denominational. A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polity relates closely to ecclesiology, the theological study of the church.
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 ...
Ecclesiastical government, ecclesiastical hierarchy, or ecclesiocracy may refer to: Theocracy, a form of religious State government; Hierocracy (medieval), papal temporal supremacy over the State; Ecclesiastical polity, the government of a Christian denomination Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders.Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session (or consistory), though other terms, such as church board, may apply.
Congregationalism is a Protestant tradition with roots in the Puritan and Independent movements. In congregational government, the covenanted congregation exists prior to its officers, [3] and as such the members are equipped to call and dismiss their ministers without oversight from any higher ecclesiastical body.
The Church's tradition taught that government and laws originally emerged from the people, and were justified with their consent . Catholic thinkers believed that government authority was to be limited by natural and customary laws, as well as independent institutions such as the Church. [2]
While the two denominations had different systems of church government, they were both parts of the Calvinist tradition. This shared heritage and the necessity of evangelizing the west led them to form united Presbyterian-Congregational institutions and churches in areas where ministers and resources were in short supply.
Presbyterianism is a Reformed (Calvinist) Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. [2] Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word Presbyterian is applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that were formed during the English Civil War.