Origins and Usage
The term arose from the monastic practice of organizing monks in very large monasteries into groups of ten, headed by a decanus, a senior monk among the ten. The term then came to be used for clerics in various positions of seniority. Rural deans were appointed to oversee sections of a diocese far removed from the bishop, who was located in the large city of the area. Although once universal, the title has been legally altered to Area Dean in certain urban Anglican dioceses where the older version had become an archaic oddity. In the Roman Catholic Church, such clerics are usually just referred to as a dean.
Read more about this topic: Rural Dean
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