Look up episcopal, Episcopal, or episcopalian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

An episcopal church has bishops in its organisational structure which is called Episcopal polity.

Episcopal Church may refer to:

Anglican Communion

• The Episcopal Church (United States) in the United States, Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe.
• Scottish Episcopal Church
• Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil (Brazil)
• Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba
• Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
• Episcopal Church in the Philippines
• Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church
• Episcopal Church of the Sudan

Continuing Anglican Movement

• Anglican Episcopal Church, U.S.
• Episcopal Missionary Church, U.S.
• Traditional Protestant Episcopal Church, U.S.
• Southern Episcopal Church, U.S.
• United Episcopal Church of North America, U.S.

Anglican, Independent

• Free Protestant Episcopal Church, North America
• Reformed Episcopal Church, North and South America, Asia, Europe. Now closely associated with some of the Continuing Anglican churches.

Methodist

• African Methodist Episcopal Church, U.S.
• African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, North America
• Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, North America
• Christian Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, U.S.
• the former Methodist Episcopal Church, now part of the United Methodist Church

Convergence Movement

• Charismatic Episcopal Church
• Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches

See also[link]

• Anglicanism
• Continuing Anglican Movement
• Convergence Movement
• Church of England
• Church of Ireland
• Episcopal polity
• Methodism
• Roman Catholic Church
• Eastern Orthodox Church
• Oriental Orthodox Church

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Archbishop of Canterbury
Arms of the see of Canterbury
Incumbent Rowan Williams since 27 February 2003
Style	The Most Reverend
Inaugural holder	Augustine of Canterbury 597
Website	Archbishop of Canterbury

Part of a series on the
Anglican Communion
Canterbury Cathedral
Organization
Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams) Primates' Meeting Lambeth Conferences Anglican Consultative Council Bishops / Dioceses Episcopal polity
Background and history
Christianity · Christian Church (Jesus · Christ · St. Paul) Anglicanism (history) Anglo-Catholicism Oxford Movement Apostolic Succession Ministry · Ecumenical councils Augustine of Canterbury · Bede Medieval cathedral architecture Henry VIII · Reformation Thomas Cranmer Dissolution of the Monasteries Church of England Edward VI · Elizabeth I Matthew Parker · Richard Hooker James I · Authorized Version Charles I · William Laud Nonjuring schism Ordination of women Homosexuality · Windsor Report
Theology
Trinity (Father · Son · Holy Spirit) Christian theology Doctrine · Thirty-Nine Articles The Books of Homilies Caroline Divines Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral Sacraments · Mary · Saints
Liturgy and worship
Book of Common Prayer Morning / Evening Prayer Eucharist · Liturgical year Biblical Canon High Church · Low Church Broad Church
Other topics
Ecumenism · Monasticism Prayer in Christianity Music · Christian art
Anglicanism portal
v t e

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group of Christians in the world^{[citation needed]}.

The current archbishop is the Most Reverend Rowan Williams. He is the 104th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to St Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", in the year 597. From the time of St Augustine until the 16th century, the Archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the See of Rome and thus received the pallium. During the English Reformation the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, at first temporarily under Henry VIII and Edward VI and later permanently during the reign of Elizabeth I.

In the Middle Ages there was considerable variation in the methods of nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops. At various times the choice was made by the canons of Canterbury Cathedral, the King of England, or the Pope. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has been more explicitly a state church and the choice is legally that of the British crown; today it is made in the name of the Sovereign by the Prime Minister, from a shortlist of two selected by an ad hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Commission.

Present roles and status[link]

Today the archbishop fills four main roles:^[1]

1. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, which covers the east parts of the County of Kent. Founded in 597, it is the oldest see in the English church.
2. He is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Canterbury, which covers the southern two-thirds of England.
3. As Primate of All England, he is the senior primate and chief religious figure of the Church of England (the British sovereign is the Supreme governor of the church). Along with his colleague the Archbishop of York he chairs the General Synod and sits or chairs many of the church's important boards and committees; power in the church is not highly centralised, however, so the two archbishops can often lead only through persuasion. The Archbishop of Canterbury plays a central part in national ceremonies such as coronations; due to his high public profile, his opinions are often in demand by the news media.
4. As spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop, although without legal authority outside England, is recognised by convention as primus inter pares (first among equals) of all Anglican primates worldwide. Since 1867 he has convened more or less decennial meetings of worldwide Anglican bishops, the Lambeth Conferences.

In the last two of these functions he has an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England and worldwide.

The archbishop's main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. He also has lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury, located beside Canterbury Cathedral, where the Chair of St. Augustine sits.

As holder of one of the "five great sees" (the others being York, London, Durham and Winchester), the Archbishop of Canterbury is ex officio one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords. He is one of the highest-ranking men in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdom's order of precedence.

Since Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by the English (British since the Act of Union in 1707) monarch. Today the choice is made in the name of the monarch by the prime minister, from a shortlist of two selected by an ad-hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Commission. Since the 20th century, the appointment of Archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between more moderate Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals.^[2]

The current archbishop, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams, is the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 27 February 2003. As archbishop he signs himself as + Rowan Cantuar. Immediately prior to his appointment to Canterbury he was the Bishop of Monmouth in Wales. Whilst at Monmouth he was later, for a shorter period, also the Archbishop of Wales. On 18 March 2012, Rowan Williams announced he would be stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012.^[3]

Additional roles[link]

In addition to his office, the archbishop also holds a number of other positions; for example, he is Joint President of the Council of Christians and Jews in the United Kingdom. Some positions he formally holds ex officio and others virtually so (the incumbent of the day, although appointed personally, is appointed because of his office). Amongst these are:^[4]

Origins[link]

Arms of the see of Canterbury. Nearly 500 years after the Reformation, the arms still depict the pallium, a symbol of the authority of the Pope and metropolitan archbishops.

It has been suggested that the Roman province of Britannia had four archbishops, seated at London, York, Lincoln and Cirencester.^[6] However, in the 5th and 6th centuries Britannia began to be overrun by pagan, Germanic peoples who came to be known collectively as the Anglo-Saxons. Of the kingdoms they created, Kent arguably had the closest links with European politics, trade and culture, because it was conveniently sited for communication with the Continent. In the late 6th century, King Æthelberht of Kent married a Christian Frankish princess named Bertha, possibly before becoming king, and certainly a number of years before the arrival of the first Christian mission to England.^[7] He permitted the preaching of Christianity.^[8]

The first Archbishop of Canterbury was St Augustine (not to be confused with St Augustine of Hippo), who arrived in Kent in 597 AD, having been sent by Pope Gregory I on a mission to the English. He was accepted by King Æthelbert, on his conversion to Christianity, about the year 598. It seems that Pope Gregory, ignorant of recent developments in the former Roman province, including the spread of the Pelagian heresy, had intended the new archiepiscopal sees for England to be established in London and York.^[9] In the event, Canterbury was chosen instead of London, owing to political circumstances.^[10] Since then the Archbishops of Canterbury have been referred to as occupying the Chair of St. Augustine.

A Gospel Book believed to be directly associated with St. Augstine's mission survives in the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, England. Catalogued as Cambridge Manuscript 286, it has been positively dated to 6th century Italy and this bound book, the St Augustine Gospels, is still used during the swearing-in ceremony of new archbishops of Canterbury.

Before the break with papal authority in the 16th century, the Church of England was an integral part of the Western European church. Since the break the Church of England, an established national church, still considers itself part of the broader Western Catholic tradition as well as being the "mother church" of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Province and Diocese of Canterbury[link]

The Archbishop of Canterbury exercises metropolitical (or supervisory) jurisdiction over the Province of Canterbury, which encompasses thirty of the forty-four dioceses of the Church of England, with the rest falling within the Province of York. The four dioceses of Wales were formerly also under the Province of Canterbury until 1920 when they were transferred from the established Church of England to the disestablished Church in Wales.

View of Canterbury Cathedral from the north west c. 1890–1900.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has a ceremonial provincial curia, or court, consisting of some of the senior bishops of his province.^[11] The Bishop of London—the most senior cleric of the church with the exception of the two archbishops—serves as Canterbury's provincial dean, the Bishop of Winchester as chancellor, the Bishop of Lincoln as vice-chancellor, the Bishop of Salisbury as precentor, the Bishop of Worcester as chaplain and the Bishop of Rochester as cross-bearer.

Along with primacy over the Archbishop of York, the Archbishop of Canterbury also has a precedence of honour over the other bishops of the Anglican Communion. He is recognised as primus inter pares, or first amongst equals. He does not, however, exercise any direct authority in the provinces outside England, except in certain minor roles dictated by Canon in those provinces (for example, he is the judge in the event of an ecclesiastical prosecution against the Archbishop of Wales). He does hold metropolitical authority over several extra-provincial Anglican churches, and he serves ex officio as the Bishop of the Falkland Islands.

At present the archbishop has three suffragan bishops:

• The Bishop of Dover is given the additional title of "Bishop in Canterbury" and empowered to act almost as if he were the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, since the archbishop is so frequently away fulfilling national and international duties.
• Two further suffragans, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet and the Bishop of Richborough, are provincial episcopal visitors for the whole Province of Canterbury, licensed by the archbishop as "flying bishops" to visit parishes throughout the province who are uncomfortable with the ministrations of their local bishop who has participated in the ordination of women.

The Bishop of Maidstone was previously a second actual suffragan bishop working in the diocese, until it was decided at the diocesan synod of November 2010 that a new bishop will not be appointed.^[12]

Styles and privileges[link]

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York are both styled as "The Most Reverend"; retired archbishops are styled as "The Right Reverend". Archbishops are, by convention, appointed to the Privy Council and may, therefore, also use the style of "The Right Honourable" for life (unless they are later removed from the council). In formal documents, the Archbishop of Canterbury is referred to as "The Most Reverend Father in God, Forenames, by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan". In debates in the House of Lords, the archbishop is referred to as "The Most Reverend Primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury". "The Right Honourable" is not used in either instance. He may also be formally addressed as "Your Grace"—or, more often these days, simply as "Archbishop", "Father" or (in the current instance) "Dr Williams".

The Archbishop of Canterbury's official London residence is Lambeth Palace, photographed looking east across the River Thames.

The surname of the Archbishop of Canterbury is not always used in formal documents; often only the first name and see are mentioned. The archbishop is legally entitled to sign his name as "Cantuar" (from the Latin for Canterbury). The right to use only a title as a legal signature is only permitted to bishops, Peers of the Realm and peers by courtesy. The current Archbishop of Canterbury usually signs as "+Rowan Cantuar:".

In the English order of precedence, the Archbishop of Canterbury is ranked above all individuals in the realm, with the exception of the Sovereign and members of the Royal Family.^[13] Immediately below him is the Lord Chancellor and then the Archbishop of York.

Residences[link]

The Archbishop of Canterbury's official residence in London is Lambeth Palace. He also has a residence next to Canterbury Cathedral on the site of the medieval Archbishop's Palace. The archbishops had palaces on the periphery of London and on the route between London and Canterbury.

Former palaces of the archbishops include

• Croydon Palace: the summer residence of the Archbishops from the 15th to the 18th centuries.
• Addington Palace: purchased as a replacement for Croydon Palace in 1807; sold in 1897.
• Archbishop's Palace, Maidstone: constructed in the 1390s, the palace was seized by the Crown at the time of the Reformation.
• Otford Palace: a medieval palace, rebuilt by Archbishop Warham c. 1515 and forfeited to the Crown by Thomas Cranmer in 1537.
• Archbishop's Palace, Charing: a palace existed from at least the 13th century; seized by the Crown after the Dissolution.
• Knole House: built by Archbishop Bourchier in the second half of the 15th century, it was forfeited to the Crown by Archbishop Cranmer in 1538.
• The Old Palace, Bekesbourne, built c. 1552 for Archbishop Cranmer^[14]

See also[link]

• Accord of Winchester
• List of Archbishops of Canterbury
• Religion in the United Kingdom
• Pope
• Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
• Supreme Governor of the Church of England

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Archbishops of Canterbury

• Archbishop of Canterbury – official website
• The Archbishopric of Canterbury, from Its Foundation to the Norman Conquest, by John William Lamb", Published 1971, Faith Press, from Google Book Search

v t e Anglican hierarchy in Great Britain and Ireland Church of England Province of Canterbury Diocesan bishops Archbishop of Canterbury Bath & Wells Birmingham Bristol Chelmsford Chichester Coventry Derby Ely Exeter Gibraltar in Europe Gloucester Guildford Hereford Leicester Lichfield Lincoln London Norwich Oxford Peterborough Portsmouth Rochester Saint Albans St Edmundsbury & Ipswich Salisbury Southwark Truro Winchester Worcester Suffragan bishops Aston Barking Basingstoke Bedford Bradwell Brixworth Buckingham Colchester Crediton Croydon Dorchester Dorking Dover Dudley Dunwich Ebbsfleet Edmonton Europe Fulham Grantham Grimsby Hertford Horsham Huntingdon Kensington Kingston-upon-Thames Lewes Ludlow Lynn Plymouth Ramsbury Reading Repton Richborough Sherborne Shrewsbury Southampton St Germans Stafford Stepney Swindon Taunton Tewkesbury Thetford Tonbridge Warwick Willesden Wolverhampton Woolwich Province of York Diocesan bishops Archbishop of York Blackburn Bradford Carlisle Chester Durham Liverpool Manchester Newcastle Ripon and Leeds Sheffield Sodor & Man Southwell Wakefield Suffragan bishops Beverley Birkenhead Bolton Burnley Doncaster Hull Jarrow Knaresborough Lancaster Middleton Penrith Pontefract Selby Sherwood Stockport Warrington Whitby Other Bishop to the Forces Church in Wales Archbishop of Wales Bangor Llandaff Monmouth Saint Asaph Saint David's Swansea & Brecon Scottish Episcopal Church Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church Aberdeen and Orkney Argyll & The Isles Brechin Edinburgh Glasgow & Galloway Moray, Ross & Caithness St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane Church of Ireland Province of Armagh Archbishop of Armagh Clogher Connor Derry and Raphoe Down & Dromore Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh Tuam, Killala & Achonry Province of Dublin Archbishop of Dublin Cashel & Ossory Cork, Cloyne & Ross Limerick & Killaloe Meath & Kildare

Gerre Edward Hancock (February 21, 1934 – January 21, 2012)^[1] was an American organist, improviser, and composer. Hancock was a Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at the University of Texas, Austin. He died of cardiac arrest in Austin, Texas on Saturday, January 21, 2012. ^[2]

Hancock was born in Lubbock, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Texas at Austin and his Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York, from which he later received the Unitas Distinguished Alumnus Award. A recipient of a Rotary Foundation Fellowship, he also studied in Paris at the Sorbonne and during this time was a finalist at the Munich International Music Competitions.

Hancock served as Assistant Organist at Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, New York, Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Church (now Christ Church Cathedral) in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Organist and Master of the Choristers at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue from 1971 to 2004.

Hancock's compositions are published by Oxford University Press (OUP). His textbook, Improvising: How to Master the Art, also published by OUP, is studied by organists throughout the USA.

Hancock studied organ with E. William Doty, Robert Baker, Jean Langlais, and Marie-Claire Alain, and improvisation with Nadia Boulanger and Searle Wright (1918–2004). A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Dr. Hancock was a member of its National Council and was a founder and past president of the Association of Anglican Musicians. He served on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York City and taught improvisation on a visiting basis at the Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University in New Haven, CT, and The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.

In 1981 he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music and in 1995 was appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. Hancock received honorary Doctor of Music degrees from the Nashotah House Seminary and The University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. In May 2004 he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree (Honoris causa) from The General Theological Seminary in New York. He is listed in “Who’s Who in America,” and his biography appears in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition. In 2004 he was honored in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace in London where he was presented the Medal of the Cross of St. Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In May 2009, Hancock was made Doctor of Music (Honoris causa) at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. In June 2010, Dr. Hancock was presented the International Performer of the Year Award by the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. This is viewed by many as the most distinguished award that the American Guild of Organists bestows upon its colleagues.^[3]

A featured recitalist and lecturer at numerous regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and at national conventions of the Guild in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston, Washington DC, Detroit, Houston and New York City, Hancock also represented the AGO as recitalist at the Centenary Anniversary of the Royal College of Organists in London. Hancock was heard in recital in many cities throughout the United States and worldwide. On occasion he performed in duo recitals with his wife, Dr. Judith Hancock.

His compositions for organ and chorus are widely performed. He recorded for Gothic Records, Decca/Argo, Koch International and Priory Records, both as a conductor of The St. Thomas Choir and as a soloist.

References[link]

1. ^ "Organist Gerre Hancock dies at 78". Stltoday.com. 2011-11-21. http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/culture-club/organist-gerre-hancock-dies-at/article_c7faf34a-44be-11e1-968b-001a4bcf6878.html. Retrieved 2012-01-23. 
2. ^ "About Us - Latest News". Saint Thomas Church. http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/about/news. Retrieved 2012-01-23. 
3. ^ "International Performer of the Year — New York City Chapter AGO". Nycago.org. http://nycago.org/html/IPYA.html. Retrieved 2012-01-23. 

External links[link]

• Publicity site at Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.
• Faculty page at the University of Texas at Austin