Episcopal churches are churches that use an episcopalian church governance, i.e. that use bishops generally regarded as being in Apostolic succession. More specifically, the term "episcopal" is applied to those churches historically based within Anglicanism including those still in communion with the Church of England. It is also commonly used to distinguish between the various organizational structures of Protestant churches; for instance the word "presbyterian" (from the Greek πρεσβύτης) is used to describe churches governed by elected elders, while "episcopal" is used to describe churches governed by bishops (from the Greek επισκοπος). Self-governed Protestant churches, governed neither by elders nor bishops, are usually referred to as "congregational".
Examples of specific episcopal churches include:
The Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA)
The Scottish Episcopal Church
Any of several churches listed in the article titled Episcopal churches
The Charismatic Episcopal Church (no relation to the Church of England or the Anglican Communion)
However, other churches overseen by bishops and with a connection to the Church of England are not members of the Anglican Communion. The United Methodist Church is one example. All Methodist churches have their roots in Anglicanism because their founder, John Wesley, was an Anglican priest in England in the 1700s. Methodists, however, do not look to the Archbishop of Canterbury for leadership as Anglicans do, nor to the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (ECUSA) in America. Further, Methodist bishops are not in Apostolic Succession. Wesley held that bishops are merely presbyters (elders) who have been chosen for a supervisory position by the Church, and that there is, therefore, no necessity of them receiving a laying on of hands of prior bishops whose "orders" are allegedly traceable in unbroken succession to the Apostles.
Churches that are members of the Anglican Communion are episcopal churches in polity, and some are named "Episcopal." However, some Anglican churches do not belong to the Anglican Communion, and not all episcopally-governed churches are Anglican. The Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Churches (member of the Anglican Communion), and the Eastern Orthodox churches are recognized, and also their bishops, by Anglicans.
