Bishop Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Pentecostalism === ==== Church of God in Christ ==== In the [[Church of God in Christ|Church of God in Christ (COGIC)]], the ecclesiastical structure is composed of large dioceses that are called "jurisdictions" within COGIC, each under the authority of a bishop, sometimes called "state bishops". They can either be made up of large geographical regions of churches or churches that are grouped and organized together as their own separate jurisdictions because of similar affiliations, regardless of geographical location or dispersion. Each state in the U.S. has at least one jurisdiction while others may have several more, and each jurisdiction is usually composed of between 30 and 100 churches. Each jurisdiction is then broken down into several districts, which are smaller groups of churches (either grouped by geographical situation or by similar affiliations) which are each under the authority of District Superintendents who answer to the authority of their jurisdictional/state bishop. There are currently over 170 jurisdictions in the United States, and over 30 jurisdictions in other countries. The bishops of each jurisdiction, according to the COGIC Manual, are considered to be the modern day equivalent in the church of the early apostles and overseers of the New Testament church, and as the highest ranking clergymen in the COGIC, they are tasked with the responsibilities of being the head overseers of all religious, civil, and economic ministries and protocol for the church denomination.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=COGIC Manual|publisher=Church of God in Christ Publishing House|year=1973|isbn=978-1940378428|location=Memphis, Tennessee|pages=133β141}}</ref> They also have the authority to appoint and ordain local [[pastor]]s, [[Elder (Christianity)|elders]], [[Minister (Christianity)|ministers]], and [[The Reverend|reverends]] within the denomination. The bishops of the COGIC denomination are all collectively called "The Board of Bishops".<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.cogic.org/about-company/the-judicial-branch/board-of-bishops/|title=Board of Bishops|work=Church Of God In Christ|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en-US|archive-date=3 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103015210/http://www.cogic.org/about-company/the-judicial-branch/board-of-bishops/|url-status=dead}}</ref> From the Board of Bishops, and the General Assembly of the COGIC, the body of the church composed of clergy and lay delegates that are responsible for making and enforcing the bylaws of the denomination, every four years, twelve bishops from the COGIC are elected as "The General Board" of the church, who work alongside the delegates of the General Assembly and Board of Bishops to provide administration over the denomination as the church's head executive leaders.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=http://www.cogic.org/about-company/the-executive-branch/general-board/|title=The General Board|work=Church Of God In Christ|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en-US|archive-date=4 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904113917/http://www.cogic.org/about-company/the-executive-branch/general-board/|url-status=dead}}</ref> One of twelve bishops of the General Board is also elected the "presiding bishop" of the church, and two others are appointed by the presiding bishop himself, as his first and second assistant presiding bishops. Bishops in the Church of God in Christ usually wear black clergy suits which consist of a black suit blazer, black pants, a purple or scarlet clergy shirt and a white [[clerical collar]], which is usually referred to as "Class B Civic attire". Bishops in COGIC also typically wear the Anglican Choir Dress style vestments of a long purple or scarlet chimere, cuffs, and tippet worn over a long white rochet, and a gold pectoral cross worn around the neck with the tippet. This is usually referred to as "Class A Ceremonial attire". The bishops of COGIC alternate between Class A Ceremonial attire and Class B Civic attire depending on the protocol of the religious services and other events they have to attend.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> ==== Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) ==== In the polity of the [[Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)]], the international leader is the presiding bishop, and the members of the executive committee are executive bishops. Collectively, they supervise and appoint national and state leaders across the world. Leaders of individual states and regions are administrative bishops, who have jurisdiction over local churches in their respective states and are vested with appointment authority for local pastorates. All ministers are credentialed at one of three levels of licensure, the most senior of which is the rank of ordained bishop. To be eligible to serve in state, national, or international positions of authority, a minister must hold the rank of ordained bishop. ==== Pentecostal Church of God ==== In 2002, the general convention of the [[Pentecostal Church of God]] came to a consensus to change the title of their overseer from general superintendent to bishop. The change was brought on because internationally, the term ''bishop'' is more commonly related to religious leaders than the previous title. The title ''bishop'' is used for both the general (international leader) and the district (state) leaders. The title is sometimes used in conjunction with the previous, thus becoming general (district) superintendent/bishop. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page