Yes and no. 'Episkopos', the Greek word from which we get the word 'bishop' and its cousins in pretty much every language, literally means 'overseer'/'supervisor'. (It has that same 'skopos' stem in it that gives us telescope, periscope, etc, along with the epi- prefix found in epidermis and epidemic.) There's a strong argument that when this word is used in the New Testament, it means exactly an HR type of role, and not a super-priest at all. But then it's not clear from the NT that there should be three orders; it looks awfully as though there are deacons and bishops, and the priest/elder role is something that either of them might do.
In practical terms, it's different in the RC and the Anglican churches. In the RCC, the bishops are the overall managers, and run the show. In the Anglican church, they're the priests' line managers, but there's a separate non-clerical HR and finance department. (Indeed, there are two, one regional and one national.)
I don't know how the Orthodox arrange things. Some other churches (eg German Lutherans) have people they call bishops, who really are just overseers and have no special clerical role at all.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-03-09 10:11 pm (UTC)In practical terms, it's different in the RC and the Anglican churches. In the RCC, the bishops are the overall managers, and run the show. In the Anglican church, they're the priests' line managers, but there's a separate non-clerical HR and finance department. (Indeed, there are two, one regional and one national.)
I don't know how the Orthodox arrange things. Some other churches (eg German Lutherans) have people they call bishops, who really are just overseers and have no special clerical role at all.