Episcopacy - Definition and Overview

Episcopacy is the regime of church government by bishops (Lat. episcopus), a form common to Roman Catholic, Orthodox and some Protestant churches, but opposed by those Protestants such as Calvinists, mainly on the grounds that it could not be justified from scripture.

Where episcopacy was the settled rule, or, for that matter, where it was not, doctrinal issues did not arise. It became an issue, however, in denominations where certain groups felt that the Reformation had not gone far enough, particularly in Anglicanism.

See also

• Episcopalian church governance
• Historic episcopate
• Presbyterian church governance