Superintendent (ecclesiastical)

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Superintendent is a title for the head of an administrative division of a Protestant denomination, largely historical but still in use in Germany. A superintendent is one who superintends (oversees) the work of less-senior clergy. The title took the place of bishop in Northern Germany and Scandinavia after the Protestant Reformation, since bishop (from Greek : ἐπίσκοπος, romanized: epískopos, lit. 'overseer') was associated with Roman Catholicism. It was also used in the early days of the Church of Scotland. Later, the title was adopted to describe clerical positions in the hierarchy of Methodist churches.

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Lutheran usage

Sweden

Superintendents were created in Sweden after the Protestant Reformation. The office was similar to that of bishop, but instead of being ordained by the archbishop, the superintendent was appointed by the Crown. This new model of ecclesiastical polity was partly political, as the Roman Catholic bishops before the Reformation held considerable political power and often used it against the king. Superintendents' loyalty was supposed to lie with the head of the new Church of Sweden, the monarch. Some Lutheran theologians also considered the term less Catholic and therefore preferable to 'bishop'.

In Sweden proper, the following dioceses have been governed by a superintendent:

The diocese of Lund was equally administered by superintendents from 1537 to 1637, but was at that time part of Denmark.

Norway

Superintendents in the diocese of Oslo
Superintendents in the diocese of Stavanger
Superintendents in the diocese of Bjørgvin
Superintendents in the diocese of Nidaros

Baltic states

The Church of Sweden's organisation in the Baltic provinces were created by similar provisions. Livonia came under a superintendent in 1622 and a superintendent-general from 1678. Superintendents were also appointed to Ingria in 1641 and to Saaremaa in 1650; a superintendent was also appointed to Estonia for a shorter period, probably 1622-1638, as well as to Riga and Reval.

German-speaking Europe

In 1652 the general government of Swedish Bremen-Verden introduced a Consistory, led by a General Superintendent, for this German territory of Imperial immediacy.

In 1535 the Estates of the Land of Hadeln introduced a consistory, led by a General Superintendent.

The Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover used to maintain several consistories until 1922, each led by a General Superintendent.

In the Electorate of Brandenburg the title General Superintendent was used until 1632. In the years since 1817 during the constitutional reforms of the Evangelical Church in Prussia, including the then March of Brandenburg provincial subsection, the title General Superintendent was reintroduced in 1828, with each general superintendency (German : Generalsuperintendentur) supervising a number of deaneries. The title superintendent referred to the head of a deanery.

In the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, a successor church body of the former, the term Superintendent refers to the head of a deanery (German : Kirchenkreis). The term General Superintendent refers to the each head of one of the three regions (German : Sprengel), each comprising several deaneries.

Slovenia

From 1561 to 1564 Primož Trubar was superintendent of Slovenian Protestant church in Ljubljana (Laibach).

Methodist usage

The term "Superintendent" is used for several varying positions in Methodism worldwide. In the American sense, specifically within the United Methodist Church, the title is used not to refer to a minister who is equivalent to a bishop but to the supervisor of a district, which is a regional subdivision below an episcopal area (equivalent to a diocese). According to the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church ,

The offices of bishop and district superintendent exist in The United Methodist Church as particular ministries. Bishops are elected and district superintendents are appointed from the group of elders who are ordained to be ministers of Word, Sacrament, and Order and thereby participate in the ministry of Christ, in sharing a royal priesthood which has apostolic roots (I Peter 2:9; John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; I Peter 5:2-3; I Timothy 3:1-7). [1]

In the British Methodist Church and its offshoots, a Superintendent is a minister who serves in a supervisory position over a Methodist Circuit (a small group of churches to which ministers are appointed).

The term Superintendent evolved in Britain before the death of Methodist founder John Wesley and was a description of the responsibilities of some of his Assistants (a role which later evolved into what is now known as ordained presbyteral ministry). [2]

Presbyterian usage

The Hungarian Reformed Church has bishops which continue to this day, unlike in Scotland, where the positions were more like roles rather than offices of the church and were historically discontinued. [3] The Church of Scotland's First Book of Discipline of 1560 provided for Scotland to be divided into ten dioceses with superintendents. [4] They were: -

  1. Orkney
  2. Ross
  3. Argyll
  4. Aberdeen
  5. Brechin
  6. St Andrews
  7. Edinburgh
  8. Jedburgh
  9. Glasgow
  10. Dumfries

However, only five superintendents were ever appointed. [5] They were: -

  1. Séon Carsuel - Argyll and the Isles
  2. John Erskine of Dun - Angus and Mearns - appointed while still a layman.
  3. John Spottiswood - Lothian - father of John Spottiswoode, Archbishop of St Andrews
  4. John Willock - the West
  5. John Winram - Fife and Strathearn

There were other roles not used by later Scottish Presbyterians. For example John Row was appointed Commissioner of Nithsdale and Galloway.

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Diocese Christian district or see under the supervision of a bishop

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Church of Sweden

The Church of Sweden is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with 5.8 million members at year end 2019, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe and the third-largest in the world, after the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.

Consistory court

A consistory court is a type of ecclesiastical court, especially within the Church of England where they were originally established pursuant to a charter of King William the Conqueror, and still exist today, although since about the middle of the 19th century consistory courts have lost much of their subject-matter jurisdiction. Each diocese in the Church of England has a consistory court.

Catholic Church in Sweden Overview of the role of the Catholic Church in Sweden

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Pomeranian Evangelical Church

The Pomeranian Evangelical Church was a Protestant regional church in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, serving the citizens living in Hither Pomerania. The Pomeranian Evangelical Church was based on the teachings brought forward by Martin Luther and other Reformators during the Reformation. It combined Lutheran and Reformed traditions. The seat of the church was Greifswald, the bishop's preaching venue was the former Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Greifswald.

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Anders Arborelius Swedish Roman Catholic cardinal

Lars Anders Cardinal Arborelius is a Swedish Roman Catholic cardinal. He has been the Bishop of Stockholm since 1998. Pope Francis made him a cardinal, the first ever from Sweden and Scandinavia, on 28 June 2017.

Diocese of Oslo

Oslo bishopric is the Church of Norway's bishopric for the municipalities of Oslo, Asker and Bærum. It is one of Norway's five traditional bishoprics and was founded around the year 1070.

Diocese of Nidaros

Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. The diocese is divided into 10 deaneries (prosti). Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg Finnset who took over from the Bishop Tor Singsaas who retired. The Bishop Preses is also based at the Nidaros Cathedral and serves as the dean of the Nidaros domprosti (deanery) in Trondheim.

Diocese of Bjørgvin

The Diocese of Bjørgvin is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second largest city. Bergen Cathedral, formerly the Church of Saint Olaf, serves as the seat of the presiding Bishop. The bishop since 2008 has been Halvor Nordhaug.

A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian Churches.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm

The Diocese of Stockholm is an exempt Latin Catholic ecclesiastical bishopric in Sweden and the only Roman Catholic diocese established in Sweden since the Protestant Reformation.

Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover is a Lutheran church body (Landeskirche) in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of the former Kingdom of Hanover.

The Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Brandenburg, Berlin and a part of Saxony.

Kurmark

The German term Kurmark referred to the Imperial State held by the margraves of Brandenburg, who had been awarded the electoral (Kur) dignity by the Golden Bull of 1356. In early modern times, Kurmark proper denoted the western part of the margraviate to the exclusion of later acquisitions.

Ancient See of Roskilde

The Roman-Catholic Diocese of Roskilde was a diocese within the Roman-Catholic Church which was established in Denmark some time before 1022 and lasted until the Lutheran Reformation.

Consistory (Protestantism)

In Protestant usage, a consistory designates certain ruling bodies in various churches. The meaning and the scope of functions varies strongly, also along the separating lines of the Protestant denominations and church bodies.

References

  1. ↑ The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church 2008: Chapter Three. The Superintendency. Section II. Offices of Bishop and District Superintendent - ¶ 402. Special Ministry, Not Separate Order(retrieved 10 October 2014).
  2. ↑ What is a Circuit Superintendent?. The Methodist Conference. 2005.
  3. ↑ Lynch, Michael (1992). Scotland: A New History. London: Pimlico. pp. 198–9. ISBN   0-7126-9893-0.
  4. ↑ The First Book Of Discipline (1560) - The Fifth Head Concerning the Provisions for the Ministers, and for the Distribution of the Rents and Possessions Justly Pertaining to the Kirk - The Names of the Places of Residence, and Several Dioceses of the Superintendents
  5. ↑ Kirk, James (1980). "The Polities of the Best Reformed Kirks': Scottish Achievements and English Aspirations in Church Government after the Reformation". The Scottish Historical Review. 59 (167 part 1): 30. JSTOR   25529356.
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