A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. It is used by some Christian
churches, usually liturgical churches, and also by the civil government in a number of countries
(see civil parish).
Etymology
The term "Parish" derives from Anglo-Fr. parosse (1075), later paroche (1292), from O.Fr. paroisse, from
Latin paroechia = "diocese", from Greek παρоικια = "district" or "diocese", from Greek παρά = "beside", οικος = "house".
The Hellenistic Greek term παρоικια originally meant "sojourn in a foreign land" (in the Septuagint) or "community of sojourners", with reference to the Jewish people in a foreign land (1st cent.
B.C.), and later with reference to earthly life as a temporary abode (1st cent. A.D., also New Testament: 1 Peter 1:17, 2:11);
the term hence was applied to "Christian community" (3rd cent.), "diocese" (3rd cent.), and ultimately "parish" (4th cent.).
The alternate Latin spelling parochia which serves as the ultimate origin of the English word, arose from confusion
with parochus, a local official in the Roman provinces who supplied public officials with food, shelter, etc., when they
passed through his district (from Hellenistic Greek πάροχος = "riding in the same chariot as",
"beside the chariot of").
Ecclesiastical parishes
A parish is a territorial subdivision of a diocese, eparchy
or bishopric, within the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the
Church of Sweden, and of some other churches. The word "parish" is also used more
generally to refer to the collection of people who attend a particular church. In this usage, a parish minister is one who serves
a congregation.
Roman Catholic Church
- Main article: Parish (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, each parish has one parish priest (as he is usually called in
England, Ireland and Australia, among other places) or "pastor" (as he is called in the United States, among other places), who
has responsibility and canonical authority over the parish (the Latin for this post is parochus).
A parish priest may have one or more fellow priests assisting him. In Catholic usage this priest is technically a "parochial
vicar", but is commonly called an "associate pastor" or "assistant pastor" (or just "associate" or "assistant"), a
curate, or vicar - common as they are, these terms are inaccurate
and many dioceses have recently begun using the canonical term "parochial vicar" even in general parish communications (bulletins
and the like).
Each parish normally has a central church, called the parish church, where religious
services take place. Some larger parishes or parishes that have been combined under one pastor may have two or more such
churches, or the parish may be responsible for chapels (sometimes called "chapels of ease")
located at some distance from the parish church for the convenience of distant parishioners.
With the decline in the numbers of people seeking ordination, in some countries parishes
are now being merged together or are all sharing the services of one priest in a phenomenon known in the United States as
clustering.
In the Catholic Church there also exists a special type of ecclesiastical parish called a national parish, which is not territorial in nature. These are usually created to serve the needs of all
of the members of a particular language group, particularly of an immigrant community, in a large area: its members are not
defined by where they live, but by their country of origin or native language.
Other variations are also possible. In some Catholic jurisdictions created for the armed forces, for instance, the entire
diocese or archdiocese is treated as a single parish: all of the Catholics in the military of the United States and all of their
Catholic dependents, for instance, form the Archdiocese of the Military Services, USA, a diocese defined
not by territory but by another quality (in this case, relationship to the military) - this archdiocese has its own archbishop,
and all records and other matters are handled in a central office rather than by individual priests assigned to military post
chapels or chaplains of units in the field.
Church of England
- See also: How the Church of England is organised
Many Church of England parishes that existed at the beginning of the 19th century, owe their existence to the establishment of
estate churches by Anglo-Saxon or Norman landowners.[1] The
parish as a territorial unit survived the reformation largely untouched. Consequently, the 19th century parish boundary often
corresponds to that of an Anglo-Saxon estate.
In the Church of England, part of the Anglican Communion, the legal right to appoint or
recommend a parish priest is called an advowson, and its
possessor is known as a patron. The patron can be an individual, the Crown, a
bishop, a college, a charity, or a religious
body. Appointment as a parish priest entails the enjoyment of a benefice. Appointment of
patrons is now governed by the Patronage (Benefices) Rules 1987. In mediaeval times and
earlier, when the church was politically and economically powerful, such a right could have great importance. An example can be
seen in the article on Grendon, Northamptonshire. It was frequently used to
promote particular religious views. For example Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of
Warwick presented many puritan clergy. In the 19th century Charles Simeon
established a trust to purchase advowsons and install evangelical priests. Ownership of an advowson now carries little personal
advantage.
Even before the establishment of civil parishes, the Church of England parish had become
a unit of local government. For example, parishes were required to operate the Elizabethan poor
law.
Church of Scotland
In the Church of Scotland, the parish is basic level of church administration. The
spiritual oversight of each parish church is responsibility of the congregation's Kirk Session. Patronage was regulated this way
in 1712 (Patronage Act) and abolished in 1843, ministers must be
elected by members of the congregation. Many parish churches are now "linked" with neighbouring parish churches (served by a
single minister.) With the abolition of parishes as a unit of civil government in Scotland, parishes now have a purely
ecclesiastical significance in Scotland (and the boundaries may be adjusted by the local Presbytery).
Parishes in civil administration
- Main article: Parish (country subdivision)
In some countries a parish (sometimes called a "civil parish") is an administrative area
of civil government. Parishes of this type are found in England, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel
Islands, the U.S. state of Louisiana (where it is equivalent to a county), Estonia, the Charleston Lowcountry of the U.S. state of
South Carolina (where they resemble townships or public service districts), and a number of island nations in the region of the
Caribbean.
Civil parishes in England form the lowest level of local government. Since 1894, parishes with a population of more than 300
have an elected parish council (in some cases known as the town council).
Civil parishes in Wales were organised on the same system as England until 1974. In that year all civil parishes in the
principality were abolished and replaced with communities. The whole of Wales is divided into communities, although not all have
chosen to establish a community council. Like their English counterparts, a community
can be renamed a "town".
In Scotland, civil parishes existed until 1975. They were administered by parochial boards
until 1894, when elected parish councils were formed. In 1930 the parish councils were dissolved, but the parishes themselves
were grouped in districts and continued to exist for statistical and boundary purposes. The parishes were finally abolished on
the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1975.
In Quebec, a parish is a large rural municipality consisting mainly of farmlands, as opposed
to a village. which is also rural, but has a center with a church, a credit union, shops, etc.
(In a few cases, such as Notre-Dame-des-Anges, it is a municipality set up
to accord special municipal autonomy to a church facility.) See Parish
municipality (Quebec).
In New Brunswick and Prince Edward
Island, parishes are no longer used as administrative areas within counties, however several are used as census area
boundaries.
Historically, in New England, settlements that were at some distance
from the center of a town and had enough people could request to be "set off" as a separate parish with its own church, and would
then be freed of paying tithes to the main church. These parishes would eventually be established
as separate towns.
In Australia parishes, as subdivisions of counties, are part of the cadastral areas to identify land title, used in the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
In Louisiana counties are referred to as parishes.
Notes
- ^ Pounds, N.J.G. (2000) A history of the English parish: the culture of
religion from Augustine to Victoria, Cambridge University Press, 593 p., ISBN 0-521-63348-6
See also
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
