IV.

The Parochial System

BY EDGAR C. S. GIBSON, D.D.

OTHING but the briefest sketch of the rise of the

parochial system in the Church can be attempted here; but without some such sketch it would be impossible to understand the system properly, or to comprehend what the theory of it really is. In the early days of Christianity, in both East and West alike, nearly every great town had its own bishop, and since throughout the Roman Empire each important city had the surrounding district attached to it for civil purposes, the Church was easily furnished with a natural limit for ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The city, together with the neighbouring district, became the "diocese" or, as it was originally termed, the "parish," * being worked by the bishop with his cathedral staff of presbyters and deacons. But around and between these compact dioceses there lay rural districts to which (as the words "pagani" and "heathen" testify) the gospel penetrated but slowly. These districts would be gradually evangelized by the clergy from the towns, who returned after their missionary tours to the cathedral centres to which they were attached. Naturally, however, as the country districts became more and more Christianized, necessity arose for providing a more permanent ministry * See BINGHAM's Antiquities, IX. ii. 2.

for them; and as it was not advisable to create a fresh bishopric for every new community, presbyters and deacons were detached from the staff of the city church, and sent not merely ad prædicandum, but also ad regendum. The connection of the bishop with the whole district thus evangelized was maintained by his visitation, and by the fact that the chrism was blessed, and Confirmation (at least throughout the West) was administered by him personally; and there are traces that at one time the idea of diocesan unity was kept up by a practice of the bishop sending round to the presbyters of the daughter churches a portion of the Eucharist consecrated by him on the Sunday.* At first it would appear that the presbyters were still on the roll of the city clergy, received their allowance from the common fund, and were liable to be recalled by the bishop; † but by degrees, as time elapsed, they obtained fixity of tenure, and instead of being regarded as merely mission clergy came to occupy the position known to us as that of parish priests. The above account holds good, broadly speaking, for continental Europe; but in England it must be remembered that the development of the diocesan system was carried out on rather different lines, and hence the rise of the parochial system requires separate treatment. In this country the dioceses were not limited to single towns with their surrounding districts. From the first they were of far wider extent, and were in many cases co-extensive with the tribe or the kingdom.‡ The popular idea that at a given time these large dioceses were formally parcelled out by a deliberate act into so many distinct parishes may be dismissed from our minds at once. In truth, as Bishop Stubbs says, the system, the

* Liber Pontificalis (ed. Duchesne), i. p. 168.

+ See Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, s.v. "Parish," vol. ii. p. 1555. See FREEMAN'S Norman Conquest, ii. 603; iv. 413.

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foundation of which is traditionally assigned to Archbishop Theodore, "needed no foundation."* It grew up naturally and spontaneously. The towns here in early days never had the same importance as on the Continent. The bishop was bishop of the tribe or kingdom rather than of the city, and in some instances his "bishopstool" might move from place to place according as the Court moved to one or other of the royal vills. So long as what may be called the missionary stage of the Church continued, the bishop and his clergy would endeavour to evangelize the whole territory for which they were responsible by missionary tours and circuits. So Bede describes Chad as "travelling about, not on horseback, but after the manner of the apostles, on foot, preaching the gospel in towns, in the open country, in cottages, villages, and castles" (A.D. 664).† Thus even when, as under the influence of Aidan, churches were built in various places, ‡ they were not at first served by resident priests, but were merely used from time to time as centres of mission work. Aidan and his company," says the latest writer on the subject, "would go to one of them, stay for a while preaching, administering the blessed sacraments, and working the surrounding district, and then either return to Lindisfarne, or go on to some other church, and, after Aidan had left, no more services would be held in the little church until he or some other missionary paid another visit to the district." § Naturally, however, it soon became necessary to make

more permanent provision for the dwellers in different localities; nor are we without information of the manner in which the change from an itinerant to a settled ministry was brought about. Shortly after the

• Constitutional History, i. 227.

+ BEDE, iii. 28.

66

Ibid., iii. 3: Construebantur ergo ecclesiæ per loca."

§ HUNT'S History of the English Church from its Foundation to the Norman Conquest, p. 79.

middle of the seventh century we find Cedd dedicating churches and ordaining priests and deacons among the East Saxons,* and apparently the churches were served by their own clergy, and were not mere mission stations. It is fairly claimed, therefore, by Mr. Hunt that these ordinations may "mark a step towards the establishment of a settled ministry."+ Rather later than this the provisions of Archbishop Theodore's Penitential imply the existence of local divisions, each under the charge of its own priest; and in Eddi's Life of Wilfrid the bishop is described as moving about his diocese, not only baptizing and confirming, but also ordaining priests and deacons for various places. § Moreover, when some wealthy landowner had built a church upon his estate it was natural that he should prefer to have a priest definitely attached to it rather than to be dependent upon the casual ministrations of itinerant evangelists; nor was it unreasonable that he should desire some voice in the selection of the priest (especially if he himself provided the endowments for his support), and this was often conceded to him, and originated the system of private patronage. So Bede, in his account of John of Beverley, gives incidental notices of his visits to different parts of his diocese, in order to consecrate churches which had been built by two counts. This refers to the closing years of the seventh century (c. 685), and between forty and fifty years later a still stronger light is thrown upon the subject by a passage in Bede's letter to Egbert, Archbishop of York, which is worth transcribing in full :—

"Because the extent of country over which the diocese committed to your government extends precludes the possibility of

BEDE, iii. 22: "Fecit per loca ecclesias, presbyteros et diaconos ordinavit." + History, p. 98.

Ibid., p. 160, and BRIGHT'S Early English Church History, p. 362. § Eddi, c. 21.

BEDE, v. 4, 5.

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your personally visiting the whole of it, and preaching the Word of God in every village and farmstead, even within the course of a whole year, it is very necessary that you should associate with yourself a greater number of assistants in the holy work, by ordaining presbyters and appointing teachers who may apply themselves in every village to preaching the Word of God and consecrating the holy mysteries, and, above all, to performing the office of holy baptism when opportunity occurs." *

Nothing could show more clearly than this how our parochial system came into existence. It implies that in Egbert's day it was becoming general, and was felt to be a necessity if the spiritual needs of the whole country were to be properly provided for. This letter was written in 734 or 735, and only about twelve years later a canon was passed by the Council of Clovesho (747), requiring presbyters to be diligent in baptizing, teaching, and visiting in the districts assigned to them by the bishops,† which may fairly be taken as indicating that by the middle of the eighth century the change from an itinerant to a settled ministry was complete, and that the parochial system was so far thoroughly established. Into questions connected with the appointment of tithe and endowments for the maintenance of the clergy there is no need to enter here; nor does it appear to be necessary to trace out the subsequent development of the organization of the parochial system, or to consider how far the civil divisions of the township or the manor were followed in marking out the boundaries of the ecclesiastical parish. § It will be

* Ep. ad Egb., 5.

+ Council of Clovesho, Canon 9: "Ut presbyteri per loca et regiones laicorum, quæ sibi ab episcopis provinciæ insinuata et injuncta sunt, evangelicæ atque apostolicæ prædicationis officium in baptizando, et docendo, ac visitando sub legitimo ritu ac diligenti cura studeant explere."-HADDAN and STUBBS, iii. 365.

Reference may be made to the late Lord SELBORNE'S Defence of the Church of England, part ii.

§ See STUBBS, Constitutional History, i. 85, 227.