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 and/or practice:
“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)
“In the case of all other sciences, arts, skills, and crafts, everyone is convinced that a complex and laborious programme of learning and practice is necessary for competence. Yet when it comes to philosophy, there seems to be a currently prevailing prejudice to the effect that, although not everyone who has eyes and fingers, and is given leather and last, is at once in a position to make shoes, everyone nevertheless immediately understands how to philosophize.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)