Vicar (Anglicanism)

Vicar

Anglican vicar wearing choir dress
Occupation
Names	Vicar, rector, parson
Occupation type	Vocation
Activity sectors	Parish ministry within the Church of England
Description
Competencies	Spirituality, personality and character, relationships, leadership and collaboration, faith, mission and evangelism, quality of mind[1]
Education required	Ministerial training, typically at degree level, followed by experience as a curate
Related jobs	bishop, priest in charge, curate

Vicar is a title given to certain parish priests in the Church of England and other Anglican churches. It has played a significant role in Anglican church organisation in ways that are different from other Christian denominations. The title is very old and arises from the medieval arrangement where priests were appointed either by a secular lord, by a bishop or by a religious foundation. Historically, but no longer, vicars share a benefice with a rector (often non-resident) to whom the great tithes were paid. Vicar derives from the Latin vicarius meaning a substitute.

Historically, Anglican parish priests were divided into rectors, vicars and (rarely) perpetual curates. These were distinguished according to the way in which they were appointed and remunerated. The church was supported by tithes: taxes (traditionally of ten percent) levied on the personal and agricultural output of the parish.