Mission Perspective: The Judicatory

By Robin G. Jordan

The term “judicatory” is used by ecclesiologists to describe the middle level administrative structure or organization found in a religious denomination between the local congregation and and the widest or highest national or international level. It is derived from presbyterianism where the local, regional and national bodies are themselves respectively higher courts. As used by ecclesiologists it is meant to be neutral with regard to polity. It may be applied to a conference of the United Methodist Church, a diocese of the Church of England, or a synod of the Evangelical Luthern Church in Canada. With a number of groups of churches exploring formation into a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, a brief overview of this particular structure or organization may be useful to such groups.

The former Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA was once a federation of autonomous dioceses. Each diocese was formed from a group of churches and was created to serve these churches. The governance of the diocese was shared by a bishop and a convention composed of clergy and laity. The bishop was elected by the convention. During the nineteenth centry the Anglo-Catholic movement not only sought to change the identity of the PECUSA but also its understanding of the nature of the diocese. It promoted the idea that the diocese was the local church, not the parish, and that parishes were the creatures of the diocese rather than the diocese the creature of its constituent churches. This represented a significant departure from the ecclesiology that underlay the formation of the PECUSA. During the twentieth century the PECUSA saw the increased centralization of the national church with the establishment of a Presiding Bishop and Executive Council elected by the General Convention.

More recently the PECUSA, now calling itself The Episcopal Church, has taken a step toward greater centralization with revision of its disciplinary canons. The Presiding Bishop has in effect been made a metropolitan over the other bishops in all but name only. There was another major shift in the ecclesiology of The Episcopal Church in which the denomination’s dioceses are now seen as branches of the national church rather than autonomous judicatories. Parishes and missions are viewed as sub-branches of the national church. The nation church is seen as having an interest in church property held in trust by the diocese.

It was against this background that the Anglican Church in North America was formed. In its constitution and canons the ACNA also shows a leaning toward centralization at the national level. The Archbishop and Primate of the ACNA has been given unprecedent authority in the area of church discipline that is not given even to metropolitans in the Anglican Church. This points to the need for groups of churches that do form dioceses within the ACNA to take steps to safeguard their diocesan autonomy in as many areas as they can.

The functions of a judicatory vary from denomination to denomination and may vary within a denomination. Among the more common functions of a judicatory are the following:

--Safeguards the doctrine and faith of its congregations and clergy.

--Develops and implements cooperative programs that benefit the ministry and mission of individual local congregations or the life of the judicatory as a whole. This may range from group health insurance, church building loans, and grants-in-aid for new church plants to conference centers, orphanages, and assisted living and skilled nursing care facilities for the elderly.

--Recruits, screens, and selects ministerial candidates, oversees their training, and certifies their fitness for ordination and licensing.

--Develops and implements training and continuing education programs for licensed and ordained ministers and other church workers (e.g., children’s ministry workers, youth workers).

Licensed ministers are laypersons trained and licensed to engage in gospel ministry. They include catechists, evangelists, lay preachers, lay readers, and pastoral assistants. Many denominations—both in and outside of North America—make much greater use of licensed ministers than The Episcopal Church. The effective use of licensed ministers is one of the factors that accounts for the explosive growth of the global South Anglican Provinces. According to Lyle Schaller, a leading US ecclesiologist, well over half of the local congregations in the United States are in charge of licensed ministers. In some provinces of the Anglican Communion (e.g., Anglican Church of Australia; Anglican Church of Canada) as well as in other denominations licensed ministers may receive a stipend.

--Ordains and licenses new ministers.

--Investigates the background of ordained ministers seeking license to minister in the judicatory’s churches and institutions and verifies the authenticity of their credentials.

--Receives ordained ministers from other judicatories and denominations and licenses them.

--Supervises licensed and ordained ministers, provides them with spiritual care and guidance, and enforces ecclesiastical discipline.

--Maintains a roster of all licensed and ordained ministers in the judicatory, listing those who are on leave of absence or retired as well as those who are active in ministry in the judicatory.

--Provides subsidies and other forms of assistance to local congregations.

--Mediates any disputes between a local congregation and their pastor.

--Helps local congregations in their search for a new pastor and their negotiation of a contract with a new pastor.

--Provide leadership and support to local congregations in mission, particularly in evangelism and church planting.

--Recognizes new congregations upon their formation in the judicatory and receives existing congregations into union with the judicatory.

--Organizes local congregations into areas, conferences, convocations, deaneries, districts, regions, and the like for common mission and mutual support in a specific geographic area.

--Estimates the financial needs of the judicatory and solicits and disburses funds for these needs.

This list is by no means exhaustive. The ecclesiology of a denomination will be a major factor in determining the functions of a judicatory. In some denominations such as the Anglican Church there is more than one recognized ecclesiological school of thought and different judicatories may reflect different ecclesiologies. They may also represent an attempted compromise between disparate ecclesiologies.

How judicatories are organized varies from denomination to denomination and may vary within a denomination. In some cases a small denomination may be organized into a single judicatory, for example, the Church of England in South Africa and the Reformed Anglican Church of Brazil.

The term used for a judicatory also varies from denomination to denomination: apostolic administration (Roman Catholic Church), conference (United Methodist Church, United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ), state convention (Southern Baptist Convention), convocation (The Episcopal Church), diocese (Anglican Church of Canada, Church of England, Reformed Episcopal Church, Roman Catholic Church, The Episcopal Church), district (Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod), mission district (Reformed Episcopal Church, The Episcopal Church), peculiarity (Church of England), personal ordinariate (Roman Catholic Church), prefecture apostolic (Roman Catholic), presbytery (Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church USA), regional network (Anglican Mission), synod (Evangelical Lutheran Church, Reformed Episcopal Church), territorial abbacy (Roman Catholic Church), territorial prelature (Roman Catholic Church), and vicariate apostolic (Roman Catholic Church).

A judicatory may be territorially defined. Or it may be distinguished by ethnicity, nationality, rite, or some other quality. Examples of the latter are the Diocese of All Saints and the Diocese of the Holy Spirit in the Anglican Church in North America, the Slovak Zion Synod in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Our Lady of Walsingham Personal Ordinariate in the Roman Catholic Church, and the All Native Circle Conference in the United Church of Canada.

A geographic judicatory may also have in union with it congregations that are located outside its territory. The administrative bylaws of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada permit congregations to become a member congregation of a synod adjoining the one in the territory of which they are located. The constitutions of its synods contain provisions identifying as within their territorial jurisdiction the geographic area served by member congregations outside the main territorial boundaries of the synod.

The constitutions of the Diocese of Quincy and the Diocese of the Gulf Atlantic in the ACNA contain provisions that enable congregations located outside their territory to unite with these dioceses. Through such provisions these dioceses seek to overcome one of the major drawbacks of organizing on the basis of territory a denomination in which a number of disparate theologies are represented. The Diocese of Quincy is traditionalist Anglo-Catholic in its theological orientation. On the other hand, the Diocese of the Gulf Atlantic recognizes the ordination of women.

The territory of a geographic judicatory may consist of a large city and its suburbs as in the case of the Diocese of London in the Church of England or a number of counties in the same state as in the case of most dioceses in The Episcopal Church. It may consist of an entire country as in the case of most dioceses of the Anglican Church of the Province of the Southern Cone of America. Argentina is divided into two dioceses—the Diocese of Argentina and the Diocese of Northern Argentina. It may consist of a number of countries as in case of the Church of England’s Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe and The Episcopal Church’s Convocation of American Churches in Europe.

The form of ecclesiastical governance of a judicatory varies from denomination to denomination and may vary within a denomination. It may be prelatical as in the case of the Anglican Mission and the Roman Catholic Church. A “prelate” is a bishop or other ecclesiastic of equal or higher rank. In a prelatical form of ecclesiastical governance a judicatory is governed by a senior prelate. He may be assisted by one or more prelates of inferior rank. The general term for the government of a Church by prelates is “prelacy.”

North American Anglicans tend to confuse prelacy with episcopacy. Prelacy is a form of episcopal government but it is not the only form of episcopacy, as we shall see.

In the Anglican Mission a missionary bishop governs each regional network. The missionary bishop derives his authority from the Primate of the Anglican Church of Rwanda through the Primatial Vicar who is the Primate’s deputy in North America. The Primatial Vicar has responsibility for governing the entire Anglican Mission with the assistance of the Council of Missionary Bishops. The Primatial Vicar is the sole legislator of the Anglican Mission. The Primatial Vicar is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Anglican Mission and may play a role in the selection of the members of the Board. The Anglican Mission has not posted its corporate bylaws on its website.

In the Roman Catholic Church a bishop governs each diocese. The diocesan bishop is appointed by the Pope and derives his authority from the Pope. He may be assisted by a coadjutor bishop, one or more auxiliary bishops, a vicar general and one or more episcopal vicars. A coadjutor bishop and auxiliary bishops are also appointed by the Pope, the latter at the request of the diocesan bishop. The authority of these officials like the diocesan bishop is derivative—directly from the Pope in the case of coadjutor bishops and auxiliary bishops or through the diocesan bishop from the Pope in all other cases except when a vicar general or episcopal vicar is a coadjutor bishop or auxiliary bishop.

The diocesan bishop may occasionally convene a diocesan synod composed of these officials, the priests of the diocese, and lay representatives. However, this body is purely consultative. The diocesan bishop is the sole legislator in the diocesan synod. The diocesan bishop is also assisted in the governance of the diocese by a council of priests. From the members of this council he appoints a college of consulters to advise him and to perform such other functions as may be determined by canon law.

The form of ecclesiastical governance in a judicatory may be synodical. This is most common form of ecclesiastical governance found in Anglican Churches around the world. The term “synodical” is derived from the word “synod.” A “synod” is “an ecclesiastical governing or advisory council.” The term “synod” may also refer to “an assembly of bishops in the Roman Catholic Church,” “the governing assembly of an Episcopal province,” “a Presbyterian governing body ranking between the presbytery and the general assembly,” and “a regional or national organization of Lutheran congregations.” It may, in addition refer to “the ecclesiastical district governed by a synod.”

In a synodical form of ecclesiastical governance a bishop shares governance of a judicatory with a synod of clergy and lay representatives and a number of other bodies. The bishop of the judicatory may be appointed or elected in a number of ways. The most ancient method of episcopal election is nomination and election by the clergy and people of the diocese and confirmation by the bishops of the province. To give the reader a better idea of how bishops are chosen in the Anglican Church and other denominations I am examining a number of the methods in a three-part article, “Methods of Episcopal Appointment and Election.”

The duties, responsibilities, and powers of the bishop of a judicatory vary from denomination to denomination and may vary within a denomination. In the Anglican Church there is more than one school of thought regarding the duties, responsibilities, and powers of a bishop.

In some judicatories the bishop have a fixed term of office. This term of office may be extended in accordance with the provisions of the bylaws, canons, ordinances, or regulations of the judicatory. In other judicatories he may retain his position as the pastor of a congregation in the judicatory and exercise a part of his ministry in that congregation. The instruments of governance of a judicatory generally contain provisions for the forced resignation or removal of a bishop on the grounds of permanent incapacitation, neglect of his duties and responsibilities, abuse of his powers, and other forms of misconduct, or prolonged absence from the judicatory.

In the synodical form of ecclesiastical governance the synod or its equivalent is the legislative authority of the judicatory. In some cases it is designated as the supreme authority in the judicatory in its constitution (Church of England in South Africa, Church of the Province of Uganda).

Other terms commonly used to designate a synod include assembly (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), conference (the Church in Wales), convention (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Lutheran Church of Australia; The Episcopal Church—most dioceses), and council (the Anglican Church of Australia, The Episcopal Church—the Dioceses of Mississippi, Virginia, and Northwest Virginia).

In addition to a synod or its equivalent a judicatory in a synodical form of ecclesiastical governance may have an executive body that conducts the affairs of the judicatory between the meetings of the synod or its equivalent. The functions of this body are prescribed in the bylaws, canons, ordinances, or regulations of the judicatory. This executive body is variously known as the Bishop-in-Council, Bishop’s Council of Advice, Diocesan Board, Diocesan Council, Executive Board, or Standing Committee.

One of the peculiar features of the dioceses of The Episcopal Church, when compared with other Anglican Provinces, is that they typically have a Standing Committee and a Diocesan Council or Executive Board. These two bodies have different functions. The Standing Committee serves as the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese in the absence of the diocesan bishop or during a vacancy in the office of diocesan bishop. It may have other duties and responsibilities. The Anglican Church in North America has adopted this peculiar feature for its judicatories. Its canons prescribe that all its judicatories must have a Standing Committee.

In place of a Standing Committee of the type found in The Episcopal Church, other Anglican Provinces have a Diocesan Administrator or Vicar General who performs various duties and responsibilities of the Diocesan Bishop in his absence or during a vacancy in the office of Diocesan Bishop. In the case of the Diocese of Armindale in the Anglican Church of Australia the “Senior Clergyman”—the senior most presbyter by date of ordination in active ministry in the diocese—has responsibility for taking the necessary steps to convene a Special Session of the Synod of the Diocese for the purpose of electing a bishop or delegating the choice of a bishop to a Selection Committee. He also has other responsibilities prescribed by the ordinances of the Diocese.

The election or appointment of these bodies varies from judicatory to judicatory. They may be elected by the synod or appointed by the bishop in consultation with the synod and subject to its approval. They may be elected in part by the synod and appointed in part by the bishop.

The form of ecclesiastical governance in a judicatory may be conciliar. The term “conciliar” is used to describe “the theory of church government that places final ecclesiastical authority in representative church councils instead of in a papacy.” It can also refer to any form of ecclesiastical governance in which a representative church council governs the judicatory.

The conciliar form of ecclesiastical governance is similar to the synodical form of ecclesiastical governance except that the judicatory has no bishop. However, a conciliar form of ecclesiastical governance may have a moderator, president, superintendent or the equivalent who is elected by the representative governing body and whose role is close to that of a bishop in a synodical form of ecclesiastical governance, for example, the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church of Australia. The president of a district in these Lutheran bodies has similar duties and responsibilities as a bishop does in an Anglican diocese. In these two bodies a new pastor, however, is ordained by the pastors of the district at an ordination service. The district president’s responsibility is to make the necessary arrangements for the ordination.

Conciliar forms of ecclesiastical governance are involuntary and voluntary. In the involuntary conciliar form of ecclesiastical governance the congregations forming the judicatory and the clergy licensed by the judicatory are bound to comply with the decisions and policies of the representative governing body of the judicatory. In uniting with the judicatory they have agreed to submit themselves to the authority of its representative governing body.

In the voluntary conciliar form of ecclesiastical governance the decisions and the policies of annual meeting of representatives of the congregations that form the judicatory only affect the ministries and programs that the judicatory itself operates. They are not binding upon the congregations forming the judicatory. Rather they may constitute recommendations to these congregations, which may accept them or disregard them as they choose. The local congregation is the final authority in all matters. It may choose to contribute toward the support of the ministries and programs that the judicatory operates or it may elect not to support them. This form of ecclesiastic governance is generally seen in denominations with a congregationalist polity (Southern Baptist Convention).

The representative governing body in a conciliar form of ecclesiastical governance usually has an executive body like that of a synod or its equivalent of a judicatory with a synodical form of ecclesiastical governance. The membership of this executive body, the mode of their appointment or election, and their term of office, and the functions of the executive body are prescribed in the bylaws, canons, ordinances, or regulations of the judicatory.

In a follow-up article to this one I am planning to examine specific provisions of the constitution and canons of the Anglican Church in North America and their implications for existing judicatories as well as groups of churches exploring formation as a judicatory of the Anglican Church in North America. In drafting its own constitution and canons would-be judicatories need to be wary of the “minimalist” approach that then Common Cause Partnership Moderator Bob Duncan urged the Governance Task Force to adopt. The result was two instruments of governance that are lacking in precise language and sufficient details where such language and details are needed.

The thinking behind this approach see these documents as a mandate that the leadership may use to do whatever they see fit, rather than as norms and procedures by which they must operate. As a consequence the present leaders have exercised much more discretionary judgment than the ACNA constitution and canons, if strictly interpreted, allows them. They have taken actions that constitute flagrant violations of the provisions of these documents. They are taking what in terms of constitutional and canonical interpretation is a very liberal approach to these documents—adding to them without formally amending them. At this stage member congregations and clergy of the ACNA appear to be willing to tolerate such an approach. The precedents that the present ACNA leaders are establishing, however, may prove even more problematic in the future when a different set of leaders replaces them.

At the middle judicatorial level such an approach would be as problematic as it is at the international level, if not more so. (The Anglican Church in North America has a judicatory in Canada as well as judicatories in the United States.) This is only too evident from reading the history of the Church particularly in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth century.

The norms and procedures by which a middle level judicatory is to operate need to be delineated in clear but concise language with ample detail where it is needed. The limits of the discretionary powers of various decision-making bodies and officials need to be well defined. It should be plain to everyone in the judicatory, including the bishop or bishops that the judicatory will be operating in accordance with the principles of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Vague references to traditional episcopal powers should be avoided as such powers are open to wide interpretation and are a potential source of conflict. Two or more different groups, when they read the judicatory’s constitution and canons or their equivalent, should have the same understanding of what they say and what they mean. The instruments of governance of a judicatory should foster cooperation and mission, not competition and factionalism. Otherwise the congregations and clergy of the ACNA judicatories will in a few years find themselves in the same kind of predicament as they experienced in the dioceses of The Episcopal Church that they left.

To read "Methods of Episcopal Appointment and Election--Part 1" click here.