In England, an ecclesiastical dignitary, next in rank below a bishop, who has jurisdiction either over a part or over the whole diocese. He is usually appointed by the bishop, and has an authority originally derived from the bishop, but now independent of him. He has a court, the most inferior of ecclesiastical courts, for hearing ecclesiastical causes, and the punishment of offenders by spiritual censures.
Word of the Day: Catachrestical
In England, an ecclesiastical dignitary, next in rank below a bishop, whom he assists, and by whom he is appointed, though with independent authority.
Archdeacon
Encyclopedia Britannica
ARCHDEACON. The office of archdeacon is of ancient institution in the Christian church, as archdeacons are mentioned in the 4th century after Christ. The title was originally given to the chief deacon in each diocese, who had the charge of the temporal affairs of the church, and the supervision of all matters which appertained to the order and decency of divine service. In the course of time the archdeacons encroached upon the episcopal jurisdiction, but their encroachments were restrained in England by the Council of London, 1237 a.d, and in other countries by ecclesiastical councils held in the 13th and 14th centuries....
There was originally one archdeacon in every English diocese, but there are at present by statute 6 and 7 Will. IV. c. 97, at least two archdeaconries in each diocese, and in some dioceses there are four archdeacons. The archdeacons are appointed by their respective bishops, and they are by 3 and 4 Vict. c. 27, § 27, required to have been six full years in priest’s orders. The functions of the archdeacon are in the present day ancillary in a general way to those of the bishop of the diocese. The archdeacon is sometimes styled “Oculus Episcopi,” and it is his especial duty to inspect the churches within his archdeaconry, and to hold annual visitations of the clergy and churchwardens of each parish, for the purpose of ascertaining that the clergy are in residence, of admitting the newly-elected churchwardens into office, and of receiving the presentments of the outgoing churchwardens. It is his privilege to present all candidates for ordination to the bishop of the diocese. It is his duty also to induct the clergy of his archdeaconry into the temporalities of their benefices after they have been instituted into the spiritualities by the bishop or his vicargeneral. Every archdeacon is entitled to appoint an official to preside over his archidiaconal court, from which there is an appeal to the Consistory Court of the bishop. The archdeacons are ex officio members of the Convocations of their respective provinces. See Convocation.
It is the privilege of the archdeacon of Canterbury to induct the archbishop and all the bishops of the province of Canterbury into their respective bishoprics, and this he does in the case of a bishop under a mandate from the archbishop of Canterbury, directing him to induct the bishop into the real, actual, and corporal possession of the bishopric, and to install and to enthrone him; and in the case of the archbishop, under an analogous mandate from the dean and chapter of Canterbury, as being guardians of the spiritualities during the vacancy of the archi-episcopal see. (τ. τ.)
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2, p. 370
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The office, jurisdiction or residence of an archdeacon. In England, every diocese is divided into archdeaconries, of which there are sixty, and each archdeaconry into rural deaneries, and each deanery into parishes.
The district, office, or residence of an archdeacon. See Benefice.
The office of an archdeacon.
The office of an archdeacon.
Clergy Roget’s Thesaurus §996
N. clergy, clericals, ministry, priesthood, presbytery, the cloth, the desk, clergyman, divine, ecclesiastic, churchman, priest, presbyter, hierophant, pastor, shepherd, minister, father, father in christ, padre, abbe, cure, patriarch, reverend, black coat, confessor, dignitaries of the church, ecclesiarch, hierarch, ebdomarius, eminence, reverence, elder, primate, metropolitan, archbishop, bishop, prelate, diocesan, suffragan, dean, subdean, archdeacon, prebendary, canon, rural dean, rector, parson, vicar, perpetual curate, residentiary, beneficiary, incumbent, chaplain, curate, deacon, deaconess, preacher, reader, lecturer, capitular, missionary, propagandist, jesuit, revivalist, field preacher, churchwarden, sidesman, clerk, precentor, choir, almoner, suisse, verger, beadle, sexton, sacristan, acolyth, acolothyst, acolyte, altar boy, chorister, pope, papa, pontiff, high priest, cardinal, ancient flamen, flamen, confessor, penitentiary, spiritual director, cenobite, conventual, abbot, prior, monk, friar, lay brother, beadsman, mendicant, pilgrim, palmer, canon regular, canon secular, franciscan, friars minor, minorites, observant, capuchin, dominican, carmelite, augustinian, gilbertine, austin friars, black friars, white friars, gray friars, crossed friars, crutched friars, bonhomme, carthusian, benedictine, cistercian, trappist, cluniac, premonstatensian, maturine, templar, hospitaler, bernardine, lorettine, pillarist, stylite, abbess, prioress, canoness, religieuse, nun, novice, postulant, prophet, priest, high priest, levite, rabbi, rabbin, rebbe, scribe, mullah, muezzin, ayatollah, ulema, imaum, imam, sheik, sufi, kahin, kassis, mufti, hadji, dervish, fakir, faquir, brahmin, guru, kaziaskier, poonghie, sanyasi, druid, bonze, santon, abdal, lama, talapoin, caloyer
V. take orders
Adj. the reverend, the very reverend, the right reverend, ordained, in orders, called to the ministry
No Bible verses found for "Archdeacon".