Bishops

[graceandpeace]

In your tradition, what makes one legitimately a bishop?

Non-apostolic churches also sometimes use the title bishop, but I wonder if they use it incorrectly?

Thoughts?

 

[Cappadocious]

Hmm. I suppose it would be the following:

1. They hold the correct faith.
2. They are commemorated/recognized by other bishops, and the members of their diocese.
3. They received a canonical ordination.

Bishops are the highest ordinary rank in the Church. They participate in synods, oversee parishes within a diocese, enforce the canonical structure of the Church, etc.

 

[Albion]

In your tradition, what makes one legitimately a bishop?

Non-apostolic churches also sometimes use the title bishop, but I wonder if they use it incorrectly?

Thoughts?

It would be hard to use it incorrectly since the New Testament uses the word to mean just a presbyter/priest/elder who has a special responsibility. I guess that those non-denominational pastors who have assumed the title upon themselves could be said to be using it improperly, but not those churches that have supervisory clergy that are styled bishops.

In the churches that practice Apostolic Succession, it usually is thought that what makes one a legitimate bishop is for him to have been called (i.e. voted) by the church according to some process and to have be had hands laid upon him by an existing bishop in an ordination ceremony for the elevation of a priest to the status of bishop.

 

[Kalevalatar]

Our bishops are first and foremost tasked to be the guardians of Christian faith: that the Word is rightly preached and the Sacraments properly administered. In order to be consecrated Bishop, one must receive the recognition of other guardians of Christian faith, i.e. other bishops, that one does indeed teach the Word and administer the Sacraments properly. The laying on of hands signifies their approval as well as encouragement and blessing far exceeding any human support.

In the churches that practice Apostolic Succession, it usually is thought that what makes one a legitimate bishop is for him to have been called (i.e. voted) by the church according to some process and to have be had hands laid upon him by an existing bishop in an ordination ceremony for the elevation of a priest to the status of bishop.

Exactly. The episcopal insignia of a bishop -- the pectoral cross, the staff, the mitre and the cope -- do not belong to the bishop: they belong to the diocese and to the church. And they cannot be taken but must instead be received, be given.

The unity of the Church is not an abstraction but a fellowship of human beings belonging to the fellowship of the whole Church, and the laying on of hands and the visible insignia of a bishop are the visible signs of that unity: that the bishop is not on his own, working in isolation but is connected to the long, historical fellowship of Christ's Church throughout the world, going back to the days of the Early Church.

 

[Liberasit]

In your tradition, what makes one legitimately a bishop?

Non-apostolic churches also sometimes use the title bishop, but I wonder if they use it incorrectly?

Thoughts?

A bishopis someone who impresses a vacancy-at-see committee and gets the approval of the Prime Minister, and then undergoes consecration.