Episcopal
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{{wiktionarypar|episcopal|Episcopal}}
'''Episcopal''' in principle means "of bishops", from the Latin for [[bishop]], ''episcopus'', itself from the ancient Greek επίσκοπος.
It may therefore refer to:
*Anything pertaining to bishops, e.g. An [[Episcopal Conference]] in the Catholic Church
*An [[Episcopal Church]], an alternative term for a church of the [[Anglican Communion]], since [[Anglican]] churches are based on the concept of church governance by the bishops collectively (as an "[[Episcopal polity]]"). The term Episcopal is in several churches considered preferable to the term Anglican, which originates in ''ecclesia anglicana'', a [[Medieval Latin]] phrase dating to at least 1246 meaning "the [[England|English]] Church".<ref name=cat>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Anglicanism}}</ref> Some feel that this might imply that there is an English ecclesiastical or nationalistic superiority, which is disputed. A member of an Episcopal church is an [[Episcopalian]].
*A number of minor churches which broke with the Anglican Communion use the title Episcopal Church in reference to their preservation of [[episcopal polity]] (i.e., governed by bishops).
*Any denomination that has bishops even if they may not be directly related to an Anglican Church such as the [[United Methodist Church]], which was originally the ''Methodist Episcopal Church'' and was an offshoot of the [[Church of England]], or the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]], which was not an offshoot.
== References ==
<references/>
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[[simple:Episcopalian]]