Middle judicatory

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A meeting of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Metropolitan New York Synod Membership.jpg
A meeting of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

A middle judicatory is an administrative structure or organization found in religious denominations between the local congregation and the widest or highest national or international level. While the term originated in Presbyterianism, the term has been widely adopted by other Christian communions, including Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic and even some congregationalist churches.

Contents

Middle judicatories have different names and structures across Christian denominations, and they may also be layered. For example, in the Latin Catholic church, dioceses and archdioceses are grouped into provinces, and in the Presbyterian Church (USA), presbyteries are grouped into synods. The typical funding model for middle judicatories is by apportionments or tithes paid from individual member congregations that have achieved a minimal level of financial stability.

Terminology

In English, the term "judicatory" originated in Presbyterian polity, which consists of layers of church courts—rising from local session to presbytery to general assembly—that adjudicate church disciplinary matters. [1] However, the term is used within a variety of Christian traditions to describe their mid-tier organizations. [2] Traditions with middle judicatories include Anglicanism, [3] Lutheranism, [4] Methodism, [5] Roman Catholicism [6] and some congregationalist communions, such as the United Church of Christ in the United States. [7] Depending on the tradition, a judicatory may be called a classis, conference, diocese, district, eparchy, ordinariate, presbytery, synod or another term. [2] Middle judicatories may also be layered, with dioceses being grouped into provinces (as in the Anglican and Roman Catholic traditions [8] [9] ), districts being grouped into annual conferences (as in United Methodism [5] ) or presbyteries being grouped into synods (as in the Presbyterian Church (USA), where middle judicatories are known as "mid councils" [10] ). [11]

Although some Baptist denominations are organized into conventions and associations, in the Baptist tradition the local congregation is the primary church unit. As a result, not all Baptist conventions are considered middle judicatories. [12] Even in churches that do have professionally staffed judicatories, Lutheran minister and church executive Robert Bacher has challenged the use of the term "middle judicatories," claiming it suggests that "adjudication was their main or sole reason for being, [although] in recent years these collections of staff, volunteers, and their governance units have taken on even more important roles with greatly expanded responsibilities." [13]

History

Attendees at a meeting of a Welsh presbytery in Berriew in 1940. Montgomeryshire and Salop Presbytery meeting at Berriew (1459174).jpg
Attendees at a meeting of a Welsh presbytery in Berriew in 1940.

From its Presbyterian origins, the term "middle judicatory" came into more common use in the 20th century to describe historic church associational forms, primarily but not exclusively among mainline Protestant churches. [14] [15] The role of judicatories expanded from handling discipline and ordination to encompass programmatic activities, mission work and church planting coordination, becoming what Baptist pastor and church executive Ronald E. Vallet called "strategically important parts of the denominational system." [11] [16]

Some mainline denominations built new forms of middle judicatories during this era. For example, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) moved from a congregationalist to a denominational model in 1968, creating "regions," the Disciples' term for their middle judicatory. [17] [18] Middle judicatories often served as hubs of ecumenical and interfaith social services in local areas. [19] The integration of middle judicatories from different traditions was a major topic of discussion and tension in negotiations over church union in the 20th century. [20] By the 21st century, some middle judicatories had begun shifting away from confrontational trial-based judicial practices to focus on coaching and conflict resolution techniques, according to United Methodist bishop Will Willimon. [5]

Functions

Clergy convene at a synod of the Anglican Diocese of Ndokwa in 2022. Ndokwa Diocesan Synod 2022.jpg
Clergy convene at a synod of the Anglican Diocese of Ndokwa in 2022.

Depending on the polity, the middle judicatory can have decisive authority over a local church, can offer standing for clergy members but little or no control over congregations, can offer counsel and services but no authority, or can serve as an informal vehicle for fellowship and communication. Middle judicatories typically make decisions on the ordination and placement of clergy; deliver educational, training and outreach program; and represent the denomination to the congregation. Consistent with its origins in Presbyterian church courts, middle judicatories are also typically the principal venue for handling issues of clergy discipline. [2] Middle judicatories also often handle matters related to congregational mergers and closure. [21]

Judicatories are usually funded by apportionments or tithes from member congregations. [22] Many middle judicatories use these funds to operate with full- or part-time paid staff, with titles that variously include bishops and assistant bishops, superintendents, executive presbyters, executive ministers, stated clerks and canons. [2] In the mainline Protestant churches, declining attendance and budgets has often resulted in declines in employment at the middle judicatory level. [23] To help middle judicatories support congregations during an era of shrinking mainline churches, late 20th- and 21st-century commentators on church polity have called on middle judicatories to focus more on building denser networks of communication among their member congregations and emphasizing congregational activities and buy-in. [24] [25]

Effective judicatory operation generally requires greater engagement by judicatory officials (bishops, district superintendents and executive presbyters) at the congregational level, greater choice in which denominational programs congregations can support through their judicatory funding, direct congregational support for critical needs and clear communication about the effects of congregations' contributions to the judicatory body. [22] Likewise, Methodist religion scholar Jackson W. Carroll has observed that middle judicatories' role is "best fulfilled when the integrity of the church is respected and envisioning for the future is shared." [26]

Criticism

Many scholars and observers of religion have questioned the effectiveness of middle judicatories in supporting the local church. Ronald J. Allen, a Disciples of Christ minister and professor of preaching, has compared middle judicatories unfavorably to the leadership model presented in the Acts of the Apostles, noting that "ossification sometimes sets in so that leadership roles lose their missional dynamism and focus on maintaining the institution as institution. Indeed, churches today—upper and middle judicatories—[and] congregations sometimes develop elaborate leadership structures that delineate lines of authority so that officeholders maintain their domains of power." [27] United Church of Canada minister Thomas G. Bandy has argued that, when functioning poorly, middle judicatories "build processes of inquisition and censorship" and that they can impose "institutional rules" that curtail innovation and suffocate "transforming congregations," particularly in environments of organizational decline. He has also said that the structure of the middle judicatory, set between a larger church and individual congregations, can be "easily swayed by emerging regional and world issues," forcing congregations away from local issues and pushing changes at the churchwide level before previous priorities have been able to be achieved. [24] In denominations that have significant theological diversity, survey research has found that cooperation at the judicatory level was hampered and engagement by the laity was depressed. [22]

Lists of middle judicatories

Anglicanism

Eastern Orthodoxy

Lutheranism

Methodism

Presbyterianism

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Roman Catholicism

Unitarian Universalism

United churches

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Reifsnyder, Richard W. (1992). "Managing the mission". In Coalter, Milton J.; Mulder, John M.; Weeks, Louis B. (eds.). The organizational revolution: Presbyterians and American denominationalism. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox. p. 69. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Richey, Russell E. (2010). "Denominationalism". In Lippy, Charles H.; Williams, Peter W. (eds.). Encyclopedia of religion in America, volume 1. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. pp. 547–548. Retrieved 27 August 2024. Such campaigns disclose yet a third internal system, congregations and regional or middle judicatories. The latter, variously termed association, presbytery, conference, diocese, region, or synod, functions administratively between congregations and the national or international structures and authority. At this level, church officials decide to ordain, hire, and dismiss clergy; conduct problem solving; mount educational, training, and outreach programs; and negotiate denominational style, ethos, and identity. Bishops, presidents, clerks, district superintendents, and their staffs interact with pastors and congregations in quite complex ways, behaving in effect like congregations' regional service centers. This level deals with charges of clerical misconduct either through denominational judicial procedures or through civil or criminal proceedings, or through both. Findings can sometimes be appealed to other levels, but much denominational judicial, disciplinary, and personnel activity focuses on the regional judicatory.
  3. ↑ Hall, Peter Dobkin (2001). "Historical perspectives on religion, government and social welfare in America". In Walsh, Andrew (ed.). Can charitable choice work? Covering religions' impact on urban affairs and social services. Hartford, Connecticut: Pew Program on Religion and Public Media. p. 94. ISBN   1931767025.
  4. ↑ Crabtree, J. Russell (2016). The State of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Magi Press. p. 11.
  5. 1 2 3 Willimon, William H. (2012). Bishop: the art of questioning authority by an authority in question. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press. p. 96. ISBN   9781426742293 . Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  6. ↑ Zajac, Frances Barsodi (March 9, 2017). "Catholics and Lutherans join to commemorate the Reformation". Herald-Standard. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  7. ↑ Child, Virginia Helman (1999). "Education for faith and spiritual formation among middle-judicatory volunteers in the Connecticut Conference United Church of Christ" (doctoral dissertation). Hartford Seminary. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  8. ↑ Melton, J. Gordon (2005). Encyclopedia of Protestantism. New York: Facts on File. pp. 28–29. ISBN   9780816069835 . Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  9. ↑ Ensign-George, Barry (2017). Between Congregation and Church: Denomination and Christian Life Together. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 275. ISBN   9780567658364 . Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "What is a mid council?". About PC(USA). Presbyterian Church (USA). Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  11. 1 2 Vallet, Ronald E. (1995). The mainline church's funding crisis: issues and possibilities. Grand Rapids, Michigan: W. B. Eerdmans. p. 144. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  12. ↑ Igleheart, Glenn A. (1980). "Ecumenical concerns among Southern Baptists". In Boney, William Jerry; Igleheart, Glenn A. (eds.). Baptists and ecumenism. Valley Force, Pennsylvania: Judson Press. p. 57. ISBN   0817008934 . Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  13. ↑ Bacher, Robert (2007). Church administration: Programs, process, purpose. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. pp. 202–203. ISBN   9780800637422 . Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  14. ↑ Richey, Russell E. (2003). The foreign missionary enterprise at home: Explorations in American cultural history. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p. 76. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  15. ↑ Borden, Paul D. (2009). Assaulting the gates: Aiming all God's people at the mission field. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press. p. 24. ISBN   9781426702204 . Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  16. ↑ Rouch, March (2000). "From yesterday to today in continuing education". In Reber, Robert E.; Roberts, D. Bruce (eds.). A lifelong call to learn: Approaches to continuing education for church leaders. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press. pp. 28–29. Retrieved 27 August 2024. Gradually denominational programming has shifted to middle judicatories, but this has not reversed the trend toward a reduction of programming. A few judicatories, such as the United Methodist North Indiana Annual Conference, still offer a full range of opportunities.
  17. ↑ Hamm, Richard L. (2007). Recreating the church: Leadership for the postmodern age. St. Louis: Chalice Press. pp. 32–27. ISBN   9780827232532 . Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  18. ↑ Sprinkle, Stephen (2004). Ordination: celebrating the gift of ministry. St. Louis: Chalice Press. p. 84. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  19. ↑ White, Charles R. (2004). "Local interfaith ecumenism: Buffalo and Syracuse as case studies". In Kelley, Arleon (ed.). A tapestry of justice, service, and unity: Local ecumenism in the United States, 1950-2000. Tacoma, Washington: National Association of Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff Press. p. 134. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  20. ↑ Middle Judicatory Structures and Mission in the COCU Churches: Report of a Survey by the Commission on Structures for Mission of the Consultation on Church Union. Consultation on Church Union. 1974.
  21. ↑ Bandy, Thomas G. (1999). Christian chaos: Revolutionizing the congregation. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press. p. 155. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  22. 1 2 3 Lummis, Adair T. "Connections and Unity Among and Between Congregations, Middle (Regional) Judicatories and Their National Church". Hartford Institute for Religious Research. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  23. ↑ Hamm, Richard L. (2007). Recreating the church: Leadership for the postmodern age. St. Louis: Chalice Press. pp. 76–92. ISBN   9780827232532 . Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  24. 1 2 Bandy, Thomas G. (1998). Moving off the map. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press. pp. 24–26. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  25. ↑ Erickson, Theodore H. (1977). "New expectations: Denominational collaboration with small churches". In Carroll, Jackson W. (ed.). Small churches are beautiful. San Francisco: Harper & Row. pp. 166–174. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  26. ↑ Carroll, Jackson W. (1977). "Introduction". In Carroll, Jackson W. (ed.). Small churches are beautiful. San Francisco: Harper & Row. p. xiv. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  27. ↑ Allen, Ronald J. (2013). Acts of the apostles. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. p. 61. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
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