Diocese of Springfield, IL.
Springfield Diocese
The Church is the People of God
The church is not a building where people go to worship God. The church is all of God’s people. God’s people work in the world to help other people know about God’s love for all people. All of God’s people do God’s work. Some people are chosen to be leaders in the church. These people receive special training and education. They are “ordained.” This means they have been chosen by God and by the church to lead. They are called deacons, priests, and bishops. Other people do God’s work every day in everything they do. They are baptized. This means that they are part of God’s great family that we call the church.
The Structure of the Episcopal Church
Many decisions in the Episcopal Church are made by a system of elections done by people elected to represent others. The leadership of the church is organized in a way that comes from our tradition. There is one bishop who is the leader of the whole Episcopal Church. This Presiding Bishop leads and serves the church. He does not command the church. There are bishops who lead the dioceses of the church.
A “diocese” is a geographical area, like a state or a county. Each diocese has at least one bishop. A diocese has many member churches. They are called parishes or missions. The priest who leads a parish is called the rector; a priest who leads a mission is called the vicar.
The council of people who make decisions for a parish is called the vestry. With the rector, these people take care of the business of the church. Each diocese has a convention that does the business of the diocese. The clergy and other elected church members make decisions at these conventions. Every three years, there is a national General Convention. At this convention, elected representatives from each diocese meet to make decisions for the whole of the Episcopal Church.
Who Are Episcopalians?
The Episcopal Church is part of God’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church in the whole World! The name of our church comes from the Greek word Episcopos which means “bishop” or “overseer.” The leaders of our church are called bishops and we are called Episcopalians. All Episcopalians have bishops.