Ecclesiastical polity
From ReformedWiki.org, the wiki for Reformed Christianity
Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church.
There are local (congregational) forms of organization as well as denominational. A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polity relates closely to ecclesiology, the theological study of the church.
There are four general types of polity: episcopal, connexional, presbyterian, and congregational.
