Superintendent is the title given to a person who is a leader of a

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...

at the regional or national level in some Protestant denominations.

Lutheran usage

This title has been used in Lutheranism since 1527 for pastors leading a denomination at the regional level.The office was similar to that of bishop, but instead of being ordained by the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

, the superintendent was appointed by the Crown. This new model of

ecclesiastical polity Ecclesiastical polity is the operational and governance structure of a church or of a Christian denomination. It also denotes the ministerial structure of a church and the authority relationships between churches. Polity relates closely to ...

was partly political, as the Roman Catholic bishops before the Reformation held considerable political power and often used it against the king. Superintendents' loyalty was supposed to lie with the head of the church, the monarch. Some Lutheran theologians also considered the term less Catholic and therefore preferable to 'bishop'.

Presbyterian usage

The Presbyterian Church of Scotland's First Book of Discipline of 1560 provided for Scotland to be divided into ten dioceses with superintendents.

Methodist usage

The term "Superintendent" is used for several varying positions in Methodism worldwide since 1784.In the American sense, specifically within the United Methodist Church, the title is used not to refer to a minister who is equivalent to a bishop but to the supervisor of a district, which is a regional subdivision below an episcopal area (equivalent to a diocese). According to the '' Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church'', In the British Methodist Church and its offshoots, a Superintendent is a minister who serves in a supervisory position over a Methodist Circuit (a small group of churches to which ministers are appointed). The term Superintendent evolved in Britain before the death of Methodist founder

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

and was a description of the responsibilities of some of his Assistants (a role which later evolved into what is now known as ordained presbyteral ministry).

Pentecostal usage

In some Pentecostal denominations, the title is used, such as

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

since 1914, regionally and nationally. Drew Blankman, Todd Augustine, ''Pocket Dictionary of North American Denominations'', InterVarsity Press, USA, 2010, p. 21

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Superintendent (Christianity) Ecclesiastical titles Religious leadership roles