Towards Interchangeability

Reflections on Episcopacy in Theory and Practice

edited by Mark Chapman, Frank-Dieter Fischbach, Friederike Nussel and Matthias Grebe

Book cover: Towards Interchangeability

Extent: 136 pages

Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt

Subjects: Religious Studies

Series: Beihefte zur Okumenischen Rundschau

Series volume number: 135

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(August 2022)

ISBN: 9783374071234

Price: $45.00

In stock

This book examines how the practice of episcopacy in the Church of England and the EKD affects the claim that the ‘historic episcopate’ is a necessary condition for ‘the full interchangeability of ministers’. It addresses four questions relating to the practice of oversight: How have different forms of oversight sought to maintain the apostolic ‘historic’ faith in history and today? How does the exercise of authority within contemporary societies relate to the pre-modern ideas expressed in the idea of historic episcopate? How has the practice of oversight changed in the light of demographic changes and declining levels of church membership? What are the implications of synodical government and shared oversight for the concept of ‘historic episcopate’? The book’s goal is to explore whether an interdisciplinary analysis of episcopacy can assist the churches in establishing a new understanding of the “historic episcopate”. With papers by Rebecca Aechtner, Mark Chapman, Jonathan Gibbs, Matthias Grebe, Miriam Haar, Alex Hughes, Frances Knight, Morwenna Ludlow, Ralf Meister, Friederike Nussel, Bernd Oberdorfer and Peter Scherle.

  • Edited by Mark Chapman
  • Edited by Frank-Dieter Fischbach
  • Edited by Matthias Grebe
  • Edited by Friederike Nussel