§ 119. Auxiliary Administrative Organs in the Protopresbyterates

In larger protopresbyteral districts the protopresbyters are assisted in administration either by designated assistants, or by permanent protopresbyteral institutions. Assistants to the protopresbyters are appointed from among the more respected and more capable parish priests of the district concerned, and they exercise the relevant supervisory duties in the name of the protopresbyter himself, but without independent jurisdiction of their own.[1] But besides these assistants there exist in many of today’s autocephalous churches permanent auxiliary protopresbyteral organs.

In the Russian Church there exists in every district a благочинническій совѣтъ [deanery council]. This council is composed of at least three priests under the presidency of the blagochinny, and they are elected by the clergy of the district concerned at their assemblies (at the благочинническій съѣздъ). This council is convoked by the blagochinny himself according to need. This council deals with questions concerning the conduct of the clergy, their material condition, which priests in the course of the year are to preach in which churches, and similar further questions, and it also adjudicates disputes that arise between individual priests, and this council sees to it that these disputes are composed, just as it sees to the correction of individual priests against whom a complaint has been brought that they do not properly perform their pastoral duties.[2]

Similar to this is the case in the Bulgarian Exarchate. The archiereyskite namestnitsi in every district, together with four further members, compose the district council concerned, which is competent in everything touching clerical discipline in the district concerned, and no complaint is received for deliberation in the diocesan spiritual council (consistory) unless the district spiritual council has previously been informed of it and has given its opinion.[3]

In the Metropolitanate of Sibiu this protopresbyteral council has been developed on a large scale. There exists, for strictly church matters, the protopresbyteral council (senatul protopresbiteral), which is composed, under the presidency of the protopresbyter, of six priests. For matters that are church-economic, scholastic, and foundational, there exists the protopresbyteral synod (sinodul protopresbiteral), composed of two-thirds laymen and one-third priests as members. As the organ that executes the decisions of that protopresbyteral synod there exists in turn the protopresbyteral committee (comitetul protopresbiteral), in which there are two-thirds laymen and one-third priests. Finally there is also the protopresbyteral epitropy (epitropia protopresbiterala), composed of four epitropoi, which sees to the expenses for the church and school needs of the whole protopresbyterate.[4]