Anglican Deans
In the Anglican Church, the rural dean is an officer of the bishop and, together with an elected layperson, chairs the deanery synod. In this capacity, the rural dean also participates in decisions affecting a benefice within the deanery. The Rural Dean's key roles include the care of parishes (within his/her Deanery) which are in interregnum, calling and chairing meetings of the Deanery Chapter (assembly of all licensed priests and deacons within the Deanery), co-chairing meetings of the Deanery Synod (elected representatives of every parish in the Deanery), caring for the clergy of the Deanery, providing a means of communication between the parishes and the Bishop of the Diocese, and carrying out a Visitation of any parish within the Deanery on behalf of the Archdeacon, when commissioned to do so. As the 'rural' prefix has appeared incongruous in some more urban zones, the term 'Area Dean' has officially replaced 'Rural Dean' in certain Dioceses.
In many areas rural deanery names preserve those of historic divisions (e.g. commotes or cantrefi in much of Wales).
Read more about this topic: Rural Dean
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