3. The episcopal system centres in the bishop. The Roman Catholic Church is governed by the Pope as bishop of Rome, which it calls the primal Christian see. He creates cardinals, archbishops and bishops, calls ecumenical councils, at long intervals, to advise him, but he is always the su preme head of the Church, °the vice-regent of Christ on earthy The Anglican Communion and the Eastern Orthodox Churches are also episco pally governed, though the state comes in to modify the system somewhat. The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States has a triennial General Convention, composed of two houses, the house of bishops and the house of clerical and lay deputies, the latter elected by the diocesan conventions. This is the supreme legis lative body of the Church. Concurrence of both houses is necessary to the enactment of legislation. The Methodist Episcopal Church, a type of a number of bodies similarly i organ ized, lodges supreme legislative and iudicial power in the General Conference, a body com posed of ministerial and lay delegates elected by the annual conferences and lay electoral conferences. The bishops preside over its ses sions, but are not members of it, and have no part in its proceedings, except as presiding offi cers. Prior to 1872 this body consisted solely of ministers; since that date laymen have par ticipated in the government of the Church.
The patronage of the Church, the appointment of pastors, is vested by the constitution in the bishops.
The denominations provide judicial courts to determine the validity of ecclesiastical legis lation and to try ministers and laymen accused of offenses against discipline, and morality, according to the polity in use, recog nizing the principle generally that ministers should not be condemned except by tribunals constituted of ministers, or of ministers and laymen.
Briefly, the following distinctions are char acteristic of the different ecclesiastical polities: In the congregational form, no convention or council has power to legislate for the local churches or to make and enforce rules for their government. The local church is the fountain of ecclesiastical power. In the pres byterial form, the presbytery is the ecclesiastical unit, but with no power of legislation, which rests with the denomination in a representa tive general synod, or general assembly, con sisting of representatives of the presbyteries. In the episcopal system, as represented by the Protestant Episcopal Church, supreme power belongs to the denomination, as in the presby terial form, but bishops have a co-ordinate power in legislation with clerical and lay dep uties of the dioceses, while in the Roman Catholic Church, the bishop holds, in the person of the Pope, all power in his hands.