General Synod
Encyclopedia
Church of England
In the Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, the General Synod, which was established in 1970 (replacing the Church Assembly), is the legislative body of the Church.
Episcopal Church of the United States
In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the equivalent is General ConventionGeneral Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention...
.
Other member churches
General Synods of other churches within the Anglican CommunionAnglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
- Anglican Church of AustraliaAnglican Church of AustraliaThe Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
- Anglican Church of CanadaGeneral Synod of the Anglican Church of CanadaThe General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada is the chief governing and legislative body of the Anglican Church of Canada , the sole Canadian representative of the Anglican Communion...
- Church of IrelandChurch of IrelandThe Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
- Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and PolynesiaAnglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and PolynesiaThe Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is a church of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands...
- Scottish Episcopal ChurchScottish Episcopal ChurchThe Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
- Hong Kong Sheng Kung HuiGeneral Synod of Hong Kong Sheng Kung HuiThe General Synod of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui exercises the metropolitical authority of the Anglican Province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. It is a tricameral synod which governs the Province and has the final authority in all matters affecting life, order and canonical discipline of the Church...
(Anglican Church in Hong Kong)
Other Churches
The United Church of ChristUnited Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
in the United States also calls their main governing body a General Synod. It meets every two years and consists of over 600 delegates from various congregations and conferences.
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church as it exists today is the remnant of a small denomination, which was formed from the Synod of the South, a division of the Associate Reformed Church...
has as its highest Church court the General Synod. The ARP General Synod meets yearly (in recent years, it has, almost without exception, been held at Bonclarken
Bonclarken
Bonclarken is a conference center located in Flat Rock, North Carolina operated by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church . It is used as a conference center by the ARP church, and is used to accommodate guests of 500 people during the summer and 400 people during the winter...
). The delegates to the General Synod of the ARP Church are the elder representatives elected from each church's Session and all ministers from all presbyteries that comprise the Church (excluding ministers and elders from the independent ARP Synods of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
).
Other uses
In the North American Lutheran tradition, General Synod refers to a church body (denomination) which existed from 1820-1918. See Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of North America.See also
- How the Church of England is organised
- List of Church of England Measures
- General Assembly (presbyterian church)