Distinctions in Practice
Church governance is generally organised in one of three main types:
- Episcopal polity, in which churches are governed in a hierarchical fashion, with the role of elders being fulfilled by external bishops. It is common in Anglican, Orthodox, Methodist, Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches, and was prevalent up to and after the Reformation.
- Presbyterian polity, in which churches are governed on a denominational, geographical basis by committees of elders.
- Congregational polity, in which each church is responsible for its own governance. Churches employing this method include Baptist, Congregational and Plymouth Brethren churches. Some churches are led by a pastor; some maintain a plurality of elders.
Read more about this topic: Elder (Christianity)
Famous quotes containing the words distinctions in, distinctions and/or practice:
“Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.”
—Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274)
“I will not allow mere names to make distinctions for me, but still see men in herds for all them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It has always been my practice to cast a long paragraph in a single mould, to try it by my ear, to deposit it in my memory, but to suspend the action of the pen till I had given the last polish to my work.”
—Edward Gibbon (1737–1794)