Synod Synod Raimo Heino Category="Religious law"A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a Church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine or administration. An Ecumenical council is so named because it is a synod of the whole church (or, more accurately, of what those who call it consider to be the whole church.)

The word comes from the Greek "synodos" meaning assembly, and it is synonymous with the Latin word "concilium" - council. Originally synods were meetings of bishops, and is still used in that sense in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Sometimes the phrase general synod or general council refers to an Ecumenical council. The word synod also refers to the standing council of high-ranking bishops governing some of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches.

There is a synod of catholic bishops going on in Vatican City right now, as of October 24.

Uses in different Communions

Roman Catholic and Orthodox usage

In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, synods are composed of bishops. Under the Roman Catholic Church the synod was originally mandated by the second Vatican Council's decree on the Bishops' Pastoral Office in the Church (n.5) The Pope serves as its president, determines its agenda, and can grant it deliberative power, if he so chooses.

Anglican usage

In the Anglican Communion, General Synods are elected by clergy and Laity. In most Anglican churches, there is a geographical hierarchy of synods, with "General Synod" at the top; bishops, clergy and laity meet as "houses" within the synod.

Lutheran usage

In Lutheran traditions a synod can be either a local administrative region similar to a Diocese, such as the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or denote an entire church body, such as the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Sometimes the word is also used of the meeting of the priests of a diocese. In such case, the word carries no administrative meaning.

Presbyterian usage

In some Presbyterian polities of church, a synod is a level of administration between the General assembly and the local Presbytery. This applies in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Uniting Church in Australia, and the Presbyterian Church USA. All of these were influenced in their constitution by the Church of Scotland, which however dissolved its synods in the 1980s. See List of Church of Scotland synods and presbyteries.

Reformed usage

In Swiss and Southern German Reformed churches where the Reformed churches are organized as regionally defined independent churches (e.g. Reformed church of Zurich, Reformed church of Berne) the synod corresponds to the General assembly of Presbyterian churches. In Dutch Reformed churches (and their North American counterparts), the "synod" is a denominational meeting of representatives from each local classis.

Some notable synods

See also

External links