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OP Speaking of bishops,would you mind explaining "suffragan"?
There are three subspecies of bishops in the American Episcopal Church: bishop, bishop coadjutor, and bishop suffragan. There are no archbishops because this is the Colonies and we were allergic to arch-anything, at least at the time of the American Revolution.
A diocesan bishop is called a "bishop" and is sometimes also called the "ordinary" -- in reference to his/her role in ordaining priests and deacons.
A bishop coadjutor is a person elected to succeed the diocesan bishop upon the latter's retirement. Such a bishop is elected "early" in order to provide some overlap between the retiring ordinary's term and the term of the successor ordinary. While the retiring bishop remains in office, the newly-elected bishop is called coadjutor. This title drops off (sort of like the umbilicus on a newborn baby) on the day the ordinary retires.
A bishop suffragan is subordinate to and an assistant of an ordinary, with no right of succession. The term "suffragan" derives from a Middle English word which derived from a Latin word that mean "to support." [It is also the root of the word suffrage, in the sense of the right to vote.]
The old joke is that the difference between a suffragan and a coadjutor can be discerned by the first thing they say to the ordinary in the morning. The suffragan says "Good morning, bishop. How may I help you today?" The coadjutor says "Good morning, bishop. How are you feeling?"
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted Gone Walkabout Father Steve 04/28/04 04:12 AM Re: Gone Walkabout Bingley 04/28/04 04:21 AM Re: Gone Walkabout wsieber 04/28/04 05:28 AM Re: Gone Walkabout Jenet 04/28/04 09:17 AM Re: Gone Walkabout dxb 04/28/04 10:38 AM Re: Gone Walkabout Jackie 04/28/04 01:26 PM Re: Gone Walkabout RhubarbCommando 04/28/04 01:41 PM Re: Walkabout - off track wow 04/28/04 02:19 PM Something and Pony Show Father Steve 04/28/04 07:10 PM Re: Something and Pony Show Faldage 04/28/04 07:42 PM The View from Olympus Father Steve 04/28/04 08:25 PM Re: The View from Olympus Capfka 04/29/04 10:25 AM Re: Something and Pony Show Jackie 04/30/04 01:13 AM Sufferin' Bishops Father Steve 04/30/04 03:59 AM Re: Sufferin' Bishops :-) Jackie 04/30/04 12:57 PM
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