1.
Episcopal polity
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An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. Churches with an episcopal polity are governed by bishops, practicing their authorities in the dioceses and conferences or synods, bishops are considered to derive their authority from an unbroken, personal apostolic succession from the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bishops with such authority are said to represent the historical episcopate or historic episcopate, Churches with this type of government usually believe that the Church requires episcopal government as described in the New Testament. In some systems, bishops may be subject to higher-ranking bishops and they also meet in councils or synods. These gatherings, subject to presidency by higher ranking bishops, usually make important decisions, for much of the written history of institutional Christianity, episcopal government was the only known form of church organization. The definition of the word episcopal has variation among Christian traditions, there are subtle differences in governmental principles among episcopal churches at the present time. To some extent the separation of episcopal churches can be traced to these differences in ecclesiology, for some, episcopal churches are churches that use a hierarchy of bishops that regard themselves as being in an unbroken, personal apostolic succession. Episcopal is also used to distinguish between the various organizational structures of denominations. For instance, the word presbyterian is used to describe a church governed by a hierarchy of assemblies of elected elders, similarly, episcopal is used to describe a church governed by bishops. Self-governed local congregations, governed neither by elders nor bishops, are referred to as Congregational. More specifically, the title Episcopal is applied to several churches historically based within Anglicanism including those still in communion with the Church of England, many Methodist churches retain the form and function of episcopal polity, although in a modified form, called connexionalism. All orthodox Christians were in churches with a government, that is, one Church under local bishops. Writing between ca.85 and 110, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Patriarch of Antioch, was the earliest of the Church fathers to define the importance of episcopal government. Assuming Ignatius view was the Apostolic teaching and practice, the line of succession was unbroken and passed through the four ancient Patriarchal sees, Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, some organizations, though aloof from the political wranglings of imperial Christianity, nevertheless also practiced episcopal polity. The single Roman Empire was divided between two autonomous administrative centers, Roman and Constantinopolitan, West and East, Latin speaking and Greek speaking. This remained the status quo through the fourth century, a deep chasm developed between the East and West, becoming critical around 350, known as the Aryan, or Nicene controversy. The Eastern Christian Churches were thought by Constantine to believe against the Trinity, Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, France, believed that the Eastern Church should be given the opportunity to, at least, be educated on the subject. Constantine, in his wisdom, and upset by disagreement, banished Hilary to the East and this truth became known in the West, though some differences lingered
2.
Presbyterian polity
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Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Responsibility for conduct of services is reserved to an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word. Presbyterian polity was developed as a rejection of governance by hierarchies of single bishops, in contrast to the other two forms, authority in the presbyterian polity flows both from the top down and from the bottom up. This theory of governance developed in Geneva under John Calvin and was introduced to Scotland by John Knox after his period of exile in Geneva and it is strongly associated with French, Dutch, Swiss and Scottish Reformation movements, and the Reformed and Presbyterian churches. St. Jerome In Epistle Titus, vol, decreed throughout the world that one chosen from among the presbyters should be placed over the others. This observation was made by Chrysostom in Homilia i, in Phil. I,1 and Theodoret in Interpret ad, Presbyterianism was first described in detail by Martin Bucer of Strasbourg, who believed that the early Christian church implemented presbyterian polity. The first modern implementation was by the Geneva church under the leadership of John Calvin in 1541, Presbyterian polity is constructed on specific assumptions about the form of the government intended by the Bible, Bishop and elder are synonymous terms. Episcopos means literally overseer and describes the function of the elder, rather than the maturity of the officer, a bishop holds the highest office of the church. In addition to these ministers, there are also others … with gifts for government … commonly call elders or ruling elders. Pastoral care, church discipline, leadership and legislation are committed to the care of ruling assemblies of presbyters among whom the ministers, all Christian people together are the priesthood, on behalf of whom the elders are called to serve by the consent of the congregation. Presbyterianism uses a method of church government. Thus, the presbyters and elders govern together as a group, the elders together exercise oversight over the local congregation, with superior groups of elders gathered on a regional basis exercising wider oversight. Presbyterians typically have viewed this method of government as approximating that of the New Testament, however, sometimes it is admitted that episcopacy was a form of government that was used very early in the church for practical reasons. Presbyterianism is also distinct from congregationalism, in that individual congregations are not independent, moreover, the ordained ministry possesses a distinct responsibility for preaching and sacraments. Thus, these are ruled by only at the level of the congregations. Reformed Baptist churches are organized to be governed by elders, on the congregationalist model, there are two types of elder, the teaching elder and the ruling elder
3.
Local government
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Local government is a form of public administration which, in a majority of contexts, exists as the lowest tier of administration within a given state. Local governments generally act within powers delegated to them by legislation or directives of the level of government. The question of autonomy is a key question of public administration. The institutions of government vary greatly between countries, and even where similar arrangements exist, the terminology often varies. Local government traditionally had limited power in Egypts highly centralized state, under the central government were twenty-six governorates. These were subdivided into districts and villages or towns, at each level, there was a governing structure that combined representative councils and government-appointed executive organs headed by governors, district officers, and mayors, respectively. Governors were appointed by the president, and they, in turn, the coercive backbone of the state apparatus ran downward from the Ministry of Interior through the governors executive organs to the district police station and the village headman. The extension of officials into the countryside permitted the regime to bring development, State penetration did not retreat under Sadat and Mubarak. The earlier effort to mobilize peasants and deliver services disappeared as the party and cooperative withered. The local power of the old families and the headmen revived, the district police station balanced the notables, and the system of local government integrated them into the regime. Sadat took several measures to decentralize power to the provinces and towns, governors acquired more authority under Law Number 43 of 1979, which reduced the administrative and budgetary controls of the central government over the provinces. The elected councils acquired, at least formally, the right to approve or disapprove the local budget, in an effort to reduce local demands on the central treasury, local government was given wider powers to raise local taxes. But local representative councils became vehicles of pressure for government spending, under Mubarak decentralization and local autonomy became more of a reality, and local policies often reflected special local conditions. Thus, officials in Upper Egypt often bowed to the powerful Islamic movement there, in recent years, Mali has undertaken an ambitious decentralization program, which involves the capital district of Bamako, seven regions subdivided into 46 cercles, and 682 rural community districts. The state retains a role in administrative and fiscal matters, and it provides technical support, coordination. Opportunities for direct participation, and increased local responsibility for development have been improved. In August–September 1998, elections were held for urban council members, in May/June 1999, citizens of the communes elected their communal council members for the first time. Female voter turnout was about 70% of the total, and observers considered the process open, eventually, the cercles will be reinstituted with a legal and financial basis of their own
4.
Clinical governance
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Clinical governance is a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care within a health system. The concept of integrated governance has emerged to refer jointly to the corporate governance, prior to 1999, the principal statutory responsibilities of UK NHS Trust Boards were to ensure proper financial management of the organisation and an acceptable level of patient safety. Trust Boards had no duty to ensure a particular level of quality. Maintaining and improving the quality of care was understood to be the responsibility of the relevant clinical professions, in 1999, Trust Boards assumed a legal responsibility for quality of care that is equal in measure to their other statutory duties. Clinical governance is the mechanism by which responsibility is discharged. Beyond that, the Trust and its various departments are obliged to interpret the principle of clinical governance into locally appropriate structures, processes, roles and responsibilities. In NHS Trusts, the professional development of clinicians has been the responsibility of the Trust. In one form or another, audit has been part of clinical practice for generations. Whilst audit has been a requirement of NHS Trust employees, in primary care clinical audit has only been encouraged, Clinical effectiveness is a measure of the extent to which a particular intervention works. The measure on its own is useful, but decisions are enhanced by considering additional factors, such as whether the intervention is appropriate, a good professional practice has always sought to change in the light of evidence from research. Poor performance and poor practice can too often thrive behind closed doors, processes which are open to public scrutiny, while respecting individual patient and practitioner confidentiality, and which can be justified openly, are an essential part of quality assurance. Open proceedings and discussion about clinical governance issues should be a feature of the framework, any organisation providing high quality care has to show that it is meeting the needs of the population it serves. The system of clinical governance brings all the elements which seek to promote quality of care. Risk management involves consideration of the components, Risks to patients. In addition, patient risks can be minimised by ensuring that systems are regularly reviewed and questioned - for example, by critical event audit, Medical ethical standards are also a key factor in maintaining patient and public safety and well-being. Risks to practitioners, ensuring that clinicians are immunised against infectious diseases, Risks to the organisation, poor quality is a threat to any organisation. Balancing these risk components may be an ideal that is difficult to achieve in practice, if clinical governance is to truly function effectively as a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care within a health system, it requires advocates. It also requires systems and people to be in place to promote, the system has found supporters outside of the UK
5.
Corporate governance
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Corporate governance broadly refers to the mechanisms, processes and relations by which corporations are controlled and directed. Corporate governance includes the processes through which corporations objectives are set and pursued in the context of the social, regulatory, Governance mechanisms include monitoring the actions, policies, practices, and decisions of corporations, their agents, and affected stakeholders. Corporate governance practices are affected by attempts to align the interests of stakeholders, Corporate scandals of various forms have maintained public and political interest in the regulation of corporate governance. In the U. S. these include Enron and MCI Inc and their demise led to the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, a U. S. federal law intended to restore public confidence in corporate governance. Comparable failures in Australia are associated with the passage of the CLERP9 reforms. Similar corporate failures in other countries stimulated increased regulatory interest, internal stakeholders are the board of directors, executives, and other employees. Much of the contemporary interest in governance is concerned with mitigation of the conflicts of interests between stakeholders. The danger arises that, rather than overseeing management on behalf of shareholders and this aspect is particularly present in contemporary public debates and developments in regulatory policy. Ways of mitigating or preventing these conflicts of interests include the processes, customs, policies, laws, an important theme of governance is the nature and extent of corporate accountability. A related discussion at the macro level focuses on the effect of a corporate governance system on economic efficiency and this has resulted in a literature focussed on economic analysis. In this sense, Governance and Corporate Governance are different from management because governance must be EXTERNAL to the object being governed, governing agents do not have personal control over, and are not part of the object that they govern. For example, it is not possible for a CIO to govern the IT function and they are personally accountable for the strategy and management of the function. As such, they “manage” the IT function, they do not “govern” it, at the same time, there may be a number of policies, authorized by the board, that the CIO follows. When the CIO is following these policies, they are performing “governance” activities because the intention of the policy is to serve a governance purpose. Without these policies, procedures and indicators, the board has no way of governing, one source defines corporate governance as the set of conditions that shapes the ex post bargaining over the quasi-rents generated by a firm. The firm itself is modelled as a structure acting through the mechanisms of contract. Here corporate governance may include its relation to corporate finance, the Cadbury and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reports present general principles around which businesses are expected to operate to assure proper governance. Rights and equitable treatment of shareholders, Organizations should respect the rights of shareholders and they can help shareholders exercise their rights by openly and effectively communicating information and by encouraging shareholders to participate in general meetings
6.
Environmental governance
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Governance includes government, business and civil society, and emphasizes whole system management. To capture this diverse range of elements, environmental governance often employs alternative systems of governance and it views natural resources and the environment as global public goods, belonging to the category of goods that are not diminished when they are shared. This means that everyone benefits from for example, an atmosphere, stable climate. Public goods are non-rivalrous—a natural resource enjoyed by one person can still be enjoyed by others—and non-excludable—it is impossible to prevent someone consuming the good, nevertheless, public goods are recognized as beneficial and therefore have value. The notion of a public good thus emerges, with a slight distinction. The non-rivalrous character of such calls for a management approach that restricts public. One approach is to attribute an economic value to the resource, water is possibly the best example of this type of good. As of 2013 environmental governance is far from meeting these imperatives, “Despite a great awareness of environmental questions from developed and developing countries, there is environmental degradation and the appearance of new environmental problems. This situation is caused by the state of global environmental governance. Environmental governance refers to the processes of decision-making involved in the control and management of the environment, International Union for Conservation of Nature, define Environmental Governance as the Multi-level interactions among, but not limited to, three main actors, i. e. There are many definitions and applications of neoliberalism, e. g. in economic, international relations, however, the traditional understanding of neoliberalism is often simplified to the notion of the primacy of market-led economics through the rolling back of the state, deregulation and privatisation. Neoliberalism has evolved particularly over the last 40 years with many leaving their ideological footprint on the neoliberal map. Hayek and Friedman believed in the superiority of the market over state intervention. As long as the market was allowed to act freely, the law would ensure the ‘optimal’ price. There has been a growing interest in the effects of neoliberalism on the politics of the world of environmental governance. Neoliberalism is seen to be more than a homogenous and monolithic ‘thing’ with an end point. Such neoliberal structures further reinforce a process of enclosure and primitive accumulation or “accumulation by dispossession” that serves to privatise increasing areas of nature. The ownership-transfer of resources traditionally not privately owned to free market mechanisms is believed to deliver greater efficiency, all three examples share neoliberal characteristics to “deploy markets as the solution to environmental problems” in which scarce natural resources are commercialized and turned into commodities
7.
Governance in higher education
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Governance in higher education is the means by which institutions for higher education are formally organized and managed. Simply, university governance is the way in which universities are operated, Governing structures for higher education are highly differentiated throughout the world, but the different models nonetheless share a common heritage. Internationally, tertiary education includes private not-for-profit, private for-profit, the issues are complicated by current debates over collegial and shared forms of governance contrasted to corporate and business forms of institutional governance. The concept of governance in postsecondary education predominantly refers to the structure, organization. In the United States, state institution governing boards often emphasize the concept of governance in recognizing that board members serve a civic role for the institution. Management structures themselves have become increasingly complex due to the complexity of intraorganizational, interorganizational and governmental relationships. Whether college and university education, adult education, technical or vocational education, educational administration presents complex challenges at all levels of private, the nature of the managing relationships characterize whether governance is corporate and business oriented or defined more by a collegial shared form of governance. Governance in this sense is discussed by Kezar and Eckel, who define it at the macro-level of policy decision making, Kezar and Eckel suggest governance is a multi-level concept including several different bodies and processes with different decision-making functions. In this way, governance is defined at difference to the internal management of institutions. External governing relationships depends much on institutions, government policy, generally, institutions are recognized as autonomous actors with varying degrees of interdependence with, and legislated commitments to the external stakeholders, local and national government. The American Association of University Professors was the first organization to formulate a statement on the governance of higher education based on principles of democratic values, refinements to the statement were introduced in subsequent years, culminating in the 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. The document does not provide for a “blueprint” for the governance of higher education, nor was the purpose of the statement to provide principles for relations with industry and government. Rather, it aimed to establish a vision for the internal governance of institutions. Student involvement is not addressed in detail, the statement concerns general education policy and internal operations with an overview of the formal structures for organization and management. In process and structure, the meaning with the end result is a philosophy for shared governance in higher education. Lapworth advocates what the author believes is a model of university governance with the aspects of corporate. With debates over the recent trends, university organizations, governing associations, first published in 1987, the National Education Association statement on faculty governance in higher education is a straightforward point of view on their policy in support of shared governance. The policy maintains that faculty involvement in governance is critical, providing research support, the organization states faculty should advise administration in developing curriculum and methods of instruction
8.
Political party
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A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. The party agrees on some proposed policies and programmes, with a view to promoting the good or furthering their supporters interests. While there is some international commonality in the way political parties are recognized, and in how they operate, there are many differences. Many political parties have a core, but some do not. In many democracies, political parties are elected by the electorate to run a government, many countries, such as Germany and India, have several significant political parties, and some nations have one-party systems, such as China and Cuba. The United States is in practice a two-party system, but with smaller parties also participating. Its two most important parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, the first political factions, cohering around a basic, if fluid, set of principles, emerged from the Exclusion Crisis and Glorious Revolution in late 17th century England. The leader of the Whigs was Robert Walpole, who maintained control of the government in the period 1721–1742, as the century wore on, the factions slowly began to adopt more coherent political tendencies as the interests of their power bases began to diverge. The Whig partys initial base of support from the aristocratic families widened to include the emerging industrial interests. A major influence on the Whigs were the political ideas of John Locke. They acted as a united, though unavailing, opposition to Whig corruption and they finally regained power with the accession of George III in 1760 under Lord Bute. Out of this chaos, the first distinctive parties emerged, the first such party was the Rockingham Whigs under the leadership of Charles Watson-Wentworth and the intellectual guidance of the political philosopher Edmund Burke. A coalition including the Rockingham Whigs, led by the Earl of Shelburne, took power in 1782, the new government, led by the radical politician Charles James Fox in coalition with Lord North, was soon brought down and replaced by William Pitt the Younger in 1783. It was now that a genuine two-party system began to emerge, by the time of this split the Whig party was increasingly influenced by the ideas of Adam Smith, founder of classical liberalism. As Wilson and Reill note, Adam Smiths theory melded nicely with the political stance of the Whig Party. The modern Conservative Party was created out of the Pittite Tories of the early 19th century, in the late 1820s disputes over political reform broke up this grouping. A government led by the Duke of Wellington collapsed amidst dire election results, following this disaster Robert Peel set about assembling a new coalition of forces. However, a consensus reached on these issues ended party politics in 1816 for a decade, Party politics revived in 1829 with the split of the Democratic-Republican Party into the Jacksonian Democrats led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, led by Henry Clay
9.
Security sector governance and reform
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Security sector reform is a concept that first emerged in the 1990s in Eastern Europe. Though there is no globally accepted definition, SSR generally refers to a process to reform or rebuild a states security sector. It responds to a situation in which a security sector is unable to provide security to the state and its people effectively. In some cases, the security sector can itself be a source of widespread insecurity due to discriminatory, in this respect, an unreformed or misconstructed security sector represents a decisive obstacle to the promotion of sustainable development, democracy and peace. In some contexts, it also addresses non-state armed groups and/or private security, SSR is both an operational as well as a normative concept. As such, SSR can be seen as a branch of an international effort to secure human security. SSR is not limited to a political situation, but rather can be introduced in various contexts. The circumstances under which reform efforts are undertaken can be classified as three very different reform environments, post-conflict, transitional and developed countries, SSR is most commonly introduced in post-conflict settings. However, its application insensitivity to such contexts has raised criticism, post-conflict environments are characterized by mostly destroyed, distrusted or dismissed political institutions and widespread insecurity. SSR in such a situation can be understood as Security Sector Reconstruction, as the monopoly on the use of force and effective. Reform is seen as essential to prevent the recurrence of conflict and to public security. Transitional countries are on a borderline from one system to another. The main aim of SSR in transitional countries is to introduce the principles of governance to the security sector. Reform efforts often focus on creating accountability mechanisms and addressing public mistrust of security sector institutions, the term SSR tends not to be used in relation to developed countries, although reform is often needed and may be occurring at different levels. Reform efforts in developed countries are most often institution-specific and focus on such as efficiency, increased oversight. In many developed countries, the security sector has yet to respond to. SSR is essentially aimed at the efficient, effective and non-discriminatory provision of state, however, the goals of providing state and human security can be conflictual in the context of conflict-torn societies which lack the framework of democratic governance. The experiences of SSR in Afghanistan triggered a debate on the advantages of providing human rather than state security in the process of state-building, the SSR concept links measures aimed at increasing efficiency and effectiveness of security forces to overriding concerns of democratic governance
10.
Soil governance
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Soil governance refers to the policies, strategies, and the processes of decision-making employed by nation states and local governments regarding the use of soil. Globally, governance of the soil has limited to an agricultural perspective due to increased food insecurity from the most populated regions on earth. In the developing world, soil governance is biased towards promoting sustainable agriculture, governance of the soil differs from soil management. Soil management involves practices and techniques used to increase and maintain fertility, structure. With an aim to make data available to all, the Food and Agriculture Organization. Currently, under the GSP framework, a new global soil information system will be developed, in 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences proposed December 5 to be World Soil Day to celebrate the importance of soil in our lives. Changes in land use, population growth, and the impacts of change have led to a gradual process of soil degradation. Soil degradation is a process involving the natural and anthropogenic processes that result in the physical loss. The recognition of anthropogenic effects on soil degradation has influenced discourse of urban soil management, the Global Soil Partnership was launched in 2011. The GSPs ultimate goal is to food security and restoration of ecosystem services through conserving, enhancing. The GSP meets in Plenary Assembly form to meet the different demands from each region, the Second Plenary Assembly will be held in July 2014. The vision of the GSP is to improve governance of soil resources to guarantee healthy and productive soils for a food-secure world, the mission of the GSP is capacity building, facilitate and contribute to soil science and technologies for sustainable management of soil resources at all levels. The Intergovernmental Panel of Soils represents all regions of the world and is composed of 27 soil expert representatives, to achieve its vision and mandate, the GSP operates under five pillars of action,1. Promote sustainable management of resources for soil protection, conservation. Encourage investment, technical cooperation, policy, education awareness and extension in soil 3, promote targeted soil research and development focusing on identified gaps and priorities and synergies with related productive, environmental and social development actions 4. Enhance the quantity and quality of data and information, data collection, analysis, validation, reporting, monitoring. The aim of the IYS is to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security, the conference organized by the United Nations saw the acceptance of various documents and charters governing the natural environment and sustainable development. In its inception phase, EU environmental policy was a reaction to competition with the markets
11.
Transnational governance
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When such disparate hierarchies within the EU find common goals, typically within a conterminous geographic area, they seek to achieve them by integrating their various policies and activities. Economic and social are, or at least should be, inseparable concepts, why reach a high economic development if the inhabitants living in the area don’t see any benefits of that improvement. Reach social and economic developments are already a challenging but it’s even more challenging in an area such as the greater region. Some projects were created in order to foster these developments, the operational program Interreg IV A, “grande region” has for main objectives to make the greater region more attractive, encourage innovation, improve the numbers of high quality jobs, etc. Good governance could lead to the adoption of an identity which could lead to mutual support between people, companies or authorities sharing this common identity. Concretely, we observe a high amount of Foreign direct investments coming from Austria in order to develop the situation of Slokia. It has been one of the forces behind industrial restructuring in Hungary. However, it has to be said to huge economic and social disparities could be seen a threat to the process leading to the creation of a common identity. For instance, the migration of workers stays underdeveloped because of Austrian fears, an important brain drain could also appear which will make highly decrease the number of educated people who could have been able to develop and teach regional strategic development plan. Governance Gabriele Tatzberger, Territorial Cohesion and the European Model of Society, The Vienna-Bratislava-Györ Triangle The European Model of Society in Action, edited by Andreas Faludi
12.
Website governance
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Website governance is an organizations structure of staff and the technical systems, policies and procedures to maintain and manage a website. Website governance applies to both Internet and Intranet sites, a Website Management Team can be defined as an authorizing body of a website responsible for setting and achieving high-level goals for a site. This body includes content owner stakeholders and site production staff, in some organizations, a Chief Web Officer leads the WMT. Responsibilities and authorities of website staff may be grouped by strategic, tactical and operational roles, the tactical staff may be a group serving on a website governance board or steering team representing the main constituencies as defined by the organizations overall business plan. Several models of website governance exist, harrison, the first co-chair of the Federal Web Managers Council, has proposed the 5 “R’s of web governance, Roles, Responsibilities, Relationships, Rules, and Review. In a 2008 report, the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit reviewed the management of websites in United Nations system organizations and these included website governance, strategy, and policies and guidelines, content management systems, and staffing, training, and funding. In 2011 Jacoby introduced the Website Governance Functional Model, in this article he also introduced the concept the website is the organization. In 2012 Jacoby introduced the Website Governance Modeling Tool, designed to help Web managers and their stakeholders conceptualize, how Governance Supports Your Agencys Digital Government Strategy. Managing Chaos, Digital Governance by Design, Web Governance LinkedIn group Usability. gov Howto. gov Web Content channel Website Governance Modeling Tool
13.
Sustainable Governance Indicators
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The project is designed to create a comprehensive data pool on government-related activities in the countries considered the worlds most developed free-market democracies. In addition, it uses international comparisons to provide evidence-based input for reform-related public discourse taking place in these countries, the SGI are updated every two or three years. Three scholars with established country expertise are involved in the analysis of each OECD state under review, in an attempt to identify and reduce subjective bias, the SGI project selects experts representing both domestic and external views as well as the viewpoints of political scientists and economists. Comparative political scientists with area expertise then integrate the two reports into a single country report, and select information according to certain validity and objectivity criteria. The SGI concept is inspired by the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Transformation Index, since 2002, the BTI has been documenting the progress 128 transformation countries have been making toward democracy and a market economy. By measuring the need for reform along with the effectiveness of existing initiatives, the SGI aims to identify the best policy solutions for promoting democracy and a market economy. The need for reform within a country is analyzed in the Sustainable Governance Indicators in the Status Index, Status Index scores are composite measures, based on numerous quantitative and qualitative assessments. The democracy category counts for half of the score, while the four policy-specific categories collectively provide the remainder. The second dimension of the Status Index corresponds to the OECD states competencies in policy fields that are relevant for future viability. The index examines fields such as Economy and Employment, Social Affairs, Security, and Resources, Management Index scores are composite measures, based on numerous quantitative and qualitative assessments. The Management Index considers, in terms, how capable governments. Thus, Executive Capacity analyzes a governments organizational structures and processes, the main analytical categories used were Steering Capability, Policy Implementation and Institutional Learning. The top rankings of the Status Index are dominated by northern European countries, at the same time, the leading group also includes New Zealand, with its Anglo-Saxon heritage, and continental European Switzerland, two nations with different political and state welfare traditions. The group of mid-range scorers and the group are geographically and culturally just as heterogeneous as the top group. Standard typologies in comparative political science are insufficient to explain the Status Index ranking of the OECD nations, for example, majoritarian democracies do not systematically score better or worse than consensus democracies. Classifying the countries as federalist and centralist states also fails to explain the differences in reform capacity. The top group includes, above all, social welfare states such as the Scandinavian countries. However, liberal welfare states also achieve high scores, with New Zealand, Switzerland and this suggests that the smaller, more open national economies tend to pursue especially sustainable policies
14.
E-governance
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Through e-governance, government services will be made available to citizens in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner. The three main groups that can be distinguished in governance concepts are government, citizens and businesses/interest groups. In e-governance there are no distinct boundaries, generally four basic models are available – government-to-citizen, government-to-employees, government-to-government and government-to-business. Both terms are treated to be the same, however, there is a difference between the two, the problem in this definition to be congruence definition of e-governance is that there is no provision for governance of ICTs. So, the perspective of the e-governance is the use of the technologies that both help governing and have to be governed, the public–private partnership -based e-governance projects are hugely successful in India. Many countries are looking forward to a corruption-free government, e-government is one-way communication protocol whereas e-governance is two-way communication protocol. The essence of e-governance is to reach the beneficiary and ensure that the services intended to reach the individual has been met with. There should be an auto-response to support the essence of e-governance, E-governance is by the governed, for the governed and of the governed. Establishing the identity of the end beneficiary is a challenge in all citizen-centric services, statistical information published by governments and world bodies does not always reveal the facts. The best form of e-governance cuts down on unwanted interference of too many layers while delivering governmental services and it depends on good infrastructural setup with the support of local processes and parameters for governments to reach their citizens or end beneficiaries. There are several methods of government-to-customer e-governance, two-way communication allows citizens to instant message directly with public administrators, and cast remote electronic votes and instant opinion voting. Transactions such as payment of services, such as city utilities, mundane services such as name or address changes, applying for services or grants, or transferring existing services are more convenient and no longer have to be completed face to face. G2C e-Governance is unbalanced across the globe as not everyone has Internet access and computing skills, but the United States, European Union, the Federal Government of the United States has a broad framework of G2C technology to enhance citizen access to Government information and services. Benefits. Gov is an official US government website that citizens of benefits they are eligible for. As with e-Governance on the level, G2C services vary from state to state. The Digital States Survey ranks states on social measures, digital democracy, e-commerce, taxation, the 2012 report shows Michigan and Utah in the lead and Florida and Idaho with the lowest scores. Municipal governments in the United States also use technology to complete transactions. Much like states, cities are awarded for innovative technology, Government Technologys Best of the Web 2012 named Louissville, KY, Arvada, CO, Raleigh, NC, Riverside, CA, and Austin, TX the top five G2C city portals
15.
Church (congregation)
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A local church is a Christian religious organization or community that meets in a particular location. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by clergy or lay leaders, Local churches often relate with, affiliate with, or consider themselves to be constitutive parts of denominations, which are also called churches in many traditions. Non-denominational churches are not part of denominations, but may consider themselves part of larger church movements without institutional expression and it may be united with other congregations under the oversight of a council of pastors as are Presbyterian churches. It may be united with other parishes under the oversight of bishops, as are Anglican, finally, the local church may function as the lowest subdivision in a large, global hierarchy under the leadership of one priest, such as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Such association or unity is a churchs ecclesiastical polity, among congregational churches, since each local church is autonomous, there are no formal lines of responsibility to organizational levels of higher authority. Deacons of each church are elected by the congregation, in many such local churches, the role of deacons includes pastoral and nurturing responsibilities. Typically, congregational churches have informal worship styles, less structured services, Local churches united with others under the oversight of a bishop are normally called parishes, by Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran communions. Each parish usually has one parish church, though seldom. The parish church has always been fundamental to the life of every parish community, for example, in the Church of England, parish churches are the oldest churches to be found in England. A number are substantially of Anglo-Saxon date and all subsequent periods of architecture are represented in the country, most parishes have churches that date back to the Middle Ages. Thus, such local churches tend to favor traditional, formal styles, liturgy. Local parishes of the Roman Catholic Church, like episcopal parishes, favor formal worship styles, likewise, vestments are valued to inculcate the solemnity of the Holy Eucharist and are typically more elaborate than in other churches. A local church may also be a mission, that is a church under the sponsorship of a larger congregation. Often congregational churches prefer to call such local mission churches church plants, a local church may also work in association with parachurch organizations. While ParaChurch Organizations/Ministries are vital to accomplishing specific missions on behalf of the church they do not normally take the place of the local church, the word denomination is sometimes used as a synonym of local church. Sometimes, however, denomination is used to mean the whole tradition to which the church belongs. So, for example, some refer to the United Methodist Church as a denomination. The Local Churches Ecclesia Ecclesiastical polity Congregational church Parish Particular church Simple church Early centers of Christianity
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Christian denomination
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A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity, identified by traits such as a name, organisation, leadership and doctrine. Individual bodies, however, may use alternative terms to describe themselves, groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as branches of Christianity or denominational families. Individual Christian groups vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another, several groups claim to be the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject the term denomination to describe themselves, however, the Catholic Church does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational church. This view is rejected by other Christian denominations, Protestant denominations account for approximately 37 percent of Christians worldwide. Together, Catholicism and Protestantism comprise Western Christianity, Western Christian denominations prevail in Western, Northern, Central and Southern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and Oceania. The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents, is the second-largest Christian organization in the world, unlike the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches that mutually recognize each other to the exclusion of others. The Eastern Orthodox Church, together with Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East, Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe, North Asia, the Middle East and Northeast Africa. Christians have various doctrines about the Church and about how the church corresponds to Christian denominations. Both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox hold that their own organizations faithfully represent the One Holy catholic and Apostolic Church to the exclusion of the other, sixteenth-century Protestants separated from the Catholic Church because of theologies and practices that they considered to be in violation of their own interpretation. But some non-denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch, though regarded as Protestants. Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs and this section will discuss the definitions of several terms used throughout the article, before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections. A denomination within Christianity can be defined as an autonomous branch of the Christian Church, major synonyms include religious group, sect, Church. Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church, a related concept is denominationalism, the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. Protestant leaders differ greatly from the views of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, each church makes mutually exclusive claims for itself to be the direct continuation of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, from whom other denominations later broke away. These churches, and a few others, reject denominationalism, Christianity can be taxonomically divided into five main groups, the Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism
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Minister (Christianity)
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The term is taken from Latin minister, which itself was derived from minus. In Catholic churches, the concept of a priesthood is emphasised, many ministers are styled as The Reverend, however some use Pastor as a title, and others do not use any specific form of address. The Church of England defines the ministry of priests as follows, Priests are called to be servants, with their Bishop and fellow ministers, they are to proclaim the word of the Lord and to watch for the signs of Gods new creation. Formed by the word, they are to call their hearers to repentance and to declare in Christs name the absolution, with all Gods people, they are to tell the story of Gods love. They are to baptize new disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and they are to unfold the Scriptures, to preach the word in season and out of season, and to declare the mighty acts of God. They are to preside at the Lords table and lead his people in worship, offering them a spiritual sacrifice of praise. They are to bless the people in Gods name and they are to resist evil, support the weak, defend the poor, and intercede for all in need. They are to minister to the sick and prepare the dying for their death, guided by the Spirit, they are to discern and foster the gifts of all Gods people, that the whole Church may be built up in unity and faith. All denominations require that the minister has a sense of calling. One of the clearest references is found in 1 Timothy 3, 1-16, moreover he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to wine, not greedy of filthy lucre. And let these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon, even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children, the churches have three orders of ordained clergy, Bishops are the primary clergy, administering all sacraments and governing the church. Priests administer the sacraments and lead local congregations, they cannot ordain other clergy, however, in some denominations, deacons play a non-sacramental and assisting role in the liturgy. Until the Reformation, the clergy were the first estate but were relegated to the estate in Protestant Northern Europe. After compulsory celibacy was abolished during the Reformation, the formation of an hereditary priestly class became possible, whereby wealth. Higher positioned clergy formed this clerical educated upper class, High Church Anglicanism and High Church Lutheranism tend to emphasise the role of the clergy in dispensing the Christian Sacrament. Bishops, priests and deacons have traditionally officiated over of acts worship, reverence, rituals, among these central traditions have been baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, marriage, the Mass or the Divine Service, and coronations
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Ecclesiology
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The word ecclesiology was defined in the 19th century as the science of the building and decoration of church buildings and at least one publication still uses the word in this sense. The Ecclesiologist was first published in October 1841 and dealt with the study of the building and its successor Ecclesiology Today is still, as of 2017, being published by The Ecclesiological Society. The situation regarding the etymology has been summed up by Alister McGrath, is it a visible or earthly corporation, or a unified and visible society — a church in the sense of a specific denomination or institution, for instance. Or is it the body of all believing Christians, regardless of their denominational differences, what is the relationship between living Christians and departed Christians —do they constitute together the Church. What is the relationship between a believer and the Church and that is, what is the role of corporate worship in the spiritual lives of believers. Can salvation be found outside of formal membership in a faith community. What is the authority of the Church, who gets to interpret the doctrines of the Church. Is the organizational structure itself, either in a corporate body, or generally within the range of formal church structures. For example, is the Bible a written part of a wider revelation entrusted to the Church as faith community, or is the Bible the revelation itself, and the Church is to be defined as a group of people who claim adherence to it. What are the sacraments, divine ordinances, and liturgies, in the context of the Church, what is the comparative emphasis and relationship between worship service, spiritual formation, and mission, and is the Churchs role to create disciples of Christ or some other function. Is the Eucharist the defining element of the rest of the sacramental system, is the Church to be understood as the vehicle for salvation, or the salvific presence in the world, or as a community of those already saved. How should the Church be governed, what was the mission and authority of the Apostles, and is this handed down through the sacraments today. What are the methods of choosing clergy such as bishops and priests. Who are the leaders of a church, must there be a policy-making board of leaders within a church and what are the qualifications for this position, and by what process do these members become official, ordained leaders. Must leaders and clergy be ordained, and is possible only by those who have been ordained by others. What are the roles of spiritual gifts in the life of the church, how does the Churchs New Covenant relate to the covenants expressed in scripture with Gods chosen people, the Jewish people. What is the destiny of the Church in Christian eschatology. This shift is most clearly marked by the encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu in 1943, avery Robert Cardinal Dulles, S. J. contributed greatly to the use of models in understanding ecclesiology
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Theology
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Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as a discipline, typically in universities, seminaries. Augustine of Hippo defined the Latin equivalent, theologia, as reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity, the term can, however, be used for a variety of different disciplines or fields of study. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument to help understand, explain, test, critique, the English equivalent theology had evolved by 1362. Greek theologia was used with the discourse on god in the fourth century BC by Plato in The Republic, Book ii. Drawing on Greek Stoic sources, the Latin writer Varro distinguished three forms of discourse, mythical, rational and civil. Theologos, closely related to theologia, appears once in some manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation, apokalypsis ioannoy toy theologoy. The Latin author Boethius, writing in the early 6th century, used theologia to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of study, dealing with the motionless. Boethius definition influenced medieval Latin usage, Theology can also now be used in a derived sense to mean a system of theoretical principles, an ideology. They suggest the term is appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently. Kalam. does not hold the place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for theology in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam. Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of theology is appropriate, can only do so, he says, I take theology not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism is of course atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God, within Hindu philosophy, there is a solid and ancient tradition of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God and of the Atman. The Sanskrit word for the schools of Hindu philosophy is Darshana. Nevertheless, Jewish theology historically has been active and highly significant for Christian. It is sometimes claimed, however, that the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law, the history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education is as old as the history of such institutions themselves. Modern Western universities evolved from the institutions and cathedral schools of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages
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Acts of the Apostles
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The Acts of the Apostles, often referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament, it tells of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make up a work, Luke–Acts, by the same anonymous author. The first part, the Gospel of Luke, tells how God fulfilled his plan for the salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Acts continues the story of Christianity in the 1st century, beginning with Jesuss Ascension to Heaven, the early chapters, set in Jerusalem, describe the Day of Pentecost and the growth of the church in Jerusalem. Initially the Jews are receptive to the Christian message, but soon turn against the followers of Jesus. Rejected by the Jews, under the guidance of the Apostle Peter the message is taken to the Gentiles. The later chapters tell of Pauls conversion, his mission in Asia Minor and the Aegean, and finally his imprisonment in Rome, the title Acts of the Apostles was first used by Irenaeus in the late 2nd century. It is not known whether this was a title or one invented by Irenaeus, it does seem clear, however. The Gospel of Luke and Acts make up a work which scholars call Luke–Acts. The author is not named in either volume. )He admired Paul, the earliest possible date for the composition of Acts is set by the events with which it ends, Pauls imprisonment in Rome c.63 AD, but an early date is now rarely put forward. In either case there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century. Luke aligned his work, Luke–Acts, to the narratives which many others had written, Acts, the second part, is widely thought of as a history, but it lacks exact analogies in Hellenistic or Jewish literature. The title Acts of the Apostles would seem to identify it with the telling of the deeds and achievements of great men. By and large the sources for Acts can only be guessed at, but Luke would have had access to the Septuagint, the gospel of Mark and the collection of sayings of Jesus called the Q source. )There are also points of contacts with 1 Peter, the Letter to the Hebrews, and 1 Clement. Other sources can only be inferred from internal evidence—the traditional explanation of the three we passages, for example, is that they represent eye-witness accounts, the search for such inferred sources was popular in the 19th century, but by the mid-20th it had largely been abandoned. Acts was read as a history of the early church well into the post-Reformation era. The mid-19th century scholar Ferdinand Baur suggested that Luke had re-written history to present a united Peter and Paul, Baur continues to have enormous influence, but today there is less interest in determining Lukes historical accuracy than in understanding his theological program. Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus-followers gathered in a house to share the Lords supper, the author assumes an educated Greek-speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco-Roman world at large
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Ascension of Jesus
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The Ascension of Jesus is the departure of Christ from Earth into the presence of God. Heavenly ascents were fairly common in the time of Jesus, signifying divine approval or the deification of an exceptional man. The Ascension of Jesus is an important theme in Christian art, the world of the Ascension is a three-part universe with the heavens above, a flat earth centered on Jerusalem in the middle, and the underworld below. Heaven was separated from the earth by the firmament, the visible sky, humans looking up from earth saw the floor of heaven, made of clear blue lapis-lazuli, as was Gods throne. There is a consensus among scholars that the brief Ascension account in the Gospel of Mark is a later addition to the original version of that gospel. Luke-Acts, a work from the same anonymous author, provides the only detailed account of the Ascension. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. and to Mary Magdalene after his Resurrection, Do not hold me, for I not yet ascended to my father. Various epistles also refer to an Ascension, seeming, like Luke-Acts and John, to equate it with the post-resurrection exultation of Jesus to the right hand of God. Although it signifies an equal participation in glory and majesty, it is taken to be a certain place about which the Lord, speaking in the Gospel, says. The apostle Peter also says, Heaven must receive Christ until the time of restoring all things, despite this, the Ascension itself has become an embarrassment. As expressed in a statement by theologian Rudolf Bultmann in his essay The New Testament and Mythology. No one who is old enough to think for himself supposes that God lives in a local heaven, and if this is so, the story of Christs. Ascension into heaven is done with, the Feast of the Ascension is one of the ecumenical feasts of the Christian liturgical year, along with the Passion, Easter, and Pentecost. The Ascension has been a frequent subject in Christian art, by the 6th century the iconography of the Ascension had been established and by the 9th century Ascension scenes were being depicted on domes of churches. The Rabbula Gospels include some of the earliest images of the Ascension, many ascension scenes have two parts, an upper part and a lower part. The ascending Christ may be carrying a banner or make a sign of benediction with his right hand. The blessing gesture by Christ with his hand is directed towards the earthly group below him. In the left hand, he may be holding a Gospel or a scroll, the Eastern Orthodox portrayal of the Ascension is a major metaphor for the mystical nature of the Church
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Saint Matthias
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In the days following, Peter proposed that the assembled disciples, who numbered about one hundred and twenty, nominate two men to replace Judas. They chose Joseph called Barsabas and Matthias, then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias, so he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Matthias was present with the apostles at Pentecost. No further information about Matthias is to be found in the canonical New Testament, the tradition of the Greeks says that St. Matthias planted the faith about Cappadocia and on the coasts of the Caspian Sea, residing chiefly near the port Issus. According to Nicephorus, Matthias first preached the Gospel in Judaea, an extant Coptic Acts of Andrew and Matthias, places his activity similarly in the city of the cannibals in Aethiopia. A marker placed in the ruins of the Roman fortress at Gonio in the modern Georgian region of Adjara claims that Matthias is buried at that site and he died at Sebastopolis, and was buried there, near the Temple of the Sun. Alternatively, another tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem by the Jews, according to Hippolytus of Rome, Matthias died of old age in Jerusalem. Clement of Alexandria observed, Not that they became apostles through being chosen for some distinguished peculiarity of nature, but they were capable of becoming apostles on being chosen by Him who foresees even ultimate issues. Matthias, accordingly, who was not chosen along with them, surviving fragments of the lost Gospels of Matthias attribute it to Matthias, but Early Church Fathers attributed it to heretical writings in the 2nd century. The feast of Saint Matthias was included in the Roman Calendar in the 11th century, the Eastern Rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast on August 9. Yet the Western Rite Parishes of the Orthodox Church continues the old Roman Rite of February 24, the Church of Englands Book of Common Prayer liturgy, as well as other older common prayer books in the Anglican Communion, celebrates Matthias on February 24. According to the newer Common Worship liturgy, he is celebrated on May 14 with a Festival, although he may be celebrated on February 24, if desired. In the Episcopal Church as well as some in the Lutheran Church, including the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, used by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as well as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the feast date for Matthias is on May 14. It is claimed that St Matthias the Apostles remains are interred in the Abbey of St. Matthias, Trier, Germany, brought there through Empress Helena of Constantinople, according to Greek sources, the remains of the apostle are buried in the castle of Gonio-Apsaros, Georgia. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
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Apostles
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In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles, were the primary historical disciples of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD, the word disciple is sometimes used interchangeably with apostle, for instance, the Gospel of John makes no distinction between the two terms. In modern usage, prominent missionaries are often called apostles, a practice which stems from the Latin equivalent of apostle, i. e. missio, for example, Saint Patrick was the Apostle of Ireland, and Saint Boniface was the Apostle to the Germans. The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles during the ministry of Jesus is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, after his resurrection, Jesus sent 11 of them by the Great Commission to spread his teachings to all nations. This event is called the Dispersion of the Apostles. There is also an Eastern Christian tradition derived from the Gospel of Luke of there having been as many as 70 apostles during the time of Jesus ministry. Prominent figures in early Christianity, notably Paul, were called apostles. The period of early Christianity during the lifetimes of the apostles is called the Apostolic Age, during the 1st century AD, the apostles established churches throughout the territories of the Roman Empire and, according to tradition, through the Middle East, Africa, and India. In his writings, the epistles to Christian churches throughout the Levant, Paul did not restrict the term apostle to the Twelve, the restricted usage appears in the Revelation to John. By the 2nd century AD, association with the apostles was esteemed as an evidence of authority, Churches which are believed to have been founded by one of the apostles are known as apostolic sees. Pauls epistles were accepted as scripture, and two of the four gospels were associated with apostles, as were other New Testament works. Various Christian texts, such as the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions, were attributed to the apostles, bishops traced their lines of succession back to individual apostles, who were said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and established churches across great territories. Christian bishops have traditionally claimed authority deriving, by apostolic succession, early Church Fathers who came to be associated with apostles, such as Pope Clement I with St. Peter, are referred to as the Apostolic Fathers. The Apostles Creed, popular in the West, was said to have composed by the apostles themselves. The word apostle comes from the Greek word ἀπόστολος, formed from the prefix ἀπό- and root στέλλω and originally meaning messenger and it has, however, a stronger sense than the word messenger, and is closer to a delegate. The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament argues that its Christian use translated a Jewish position known in Hebrew as the sheliach and this ecclesiastical meaning of the word was later translated into Latin as missio, the source of the English missionary. In the New Testament, the names of the majority of the apostles are Hebrew names, Mark 6, 7-13 states that Jesus initially sent out these twelve in pairs to towns in Galilee. The text states that their initial instructions were to heal the sick and their carrying of just a staff is sometimes given as the reason for the use by Christian bishops of a staff of office in those denominations that believe they maintain an apostolic succession
