LEADERSHIP AND CHURCH GROWTH IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION: AN APPRAISAL OF EPISCOPAL AUTONOMY/PARTICIPATORY ADMINISTRATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY ANGLICANISM

Abstract

The system of leadership or governance, no doubt, is the most important factor that upholds a church, society or group’s sustainable existence and relevance. In Christendom, the office of a bishop evolved from the authority of the apostles of Jesus Christ, who left the work of world evangelization to them after his ascension into heaven according to Christian tradition. Using the qualitative methodology of research, this work applied both the primary and secondary methods of data sourcing to discuss episcopacy in Christianity as it applies in Anglicanism. The primary source and motivation for the research was mainly participant observation and experiential involvement in Anglican Church life, supported with secondary data such as literature and journals already written on the topic of the research. It was noted that the use of councils in the early Church with time, necessarily gave way to a single-leader bishop with authority to rule and be the rallying point in church governance. Generally, bishops are considered successors to the apostles, maintaining an unbroken line of authority back to the early Church, and entrusted with guarding the apostolic faith and maintaining unity in the Church. Leadership can take many forms, often emphasizing maintaining authority in a single person or a group of prominent persons. Basically, the diocese which is the third and the most significant level of church administration is headed by the Diocesan Bishop who is supposed to share authority with both the clergy and the laity of the diocese. This paper notes that the participatory leadership of the Anglican Church varies from province to province and from one diocese to the other because of the principle of autonomy. The historical roots of some of the terms and appendages used for the office and the person of the bishop in contemporary times have been highlighted in this work, like the usage of the majestic ‘we’, the lordship of bishops, and their rule by divine permission, all deriving from practices of the secular monarchy of the medieval periods. This article while offering insight into the biblical and historical origins of the office of bishops in Christianity, and noting the possibility of cases of abuse of its privileges and neglect of its responsibilities re-enforces the importance and effectiveness of the episcopacy in the Anglican Communion as a central rallying point for the effective dispensation of authority and cohesive administration, for the sustainable growth of the Anglican Church world-wide.