Lay member of chapter

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Someone who is not ordained but is a member of a Cathedral chapter. The 1999 Church of England Cathedrals measure [1] introduced a requirement for cathedrals to include on their chapters a number of lay people. This varies according to each Cathedral's statutes. Some lay members are appointed by the diocesan bishop while others may be appointed by the cathedral community.

According to both Anglican and Catholic canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics (chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. These chapters are made up of canons and other officers, while in the Church of England chapters now includes a number of lay appointees; in the Roman Catholic Church their creation is the purview of the pope. They can be "numbered", in which case they are provided with a fixed "prebend", or "unnumbered", in which case the bishop indicates the number of canons according to the rents. In some Church of England cathedrals there are two such bodies, the lesser and greater chapters, which have different functions. The smaller body usually consists of the residentiary members and is included in the larger one.

A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight.

Some lay members of chapter are also appointed canons but this practice is not universal.

Canon (priest) Ecclesiastical position

A canon is a member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule.

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Chapter (religion) body of clergy in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches

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