The Apostolic Succession is the most ancient spiritual lineage that can be traced through history. It is more ancient than any historically extant Tibetan, Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese or other lineage of priesthood or discipleship. It is nearly 2000 years old. Embedded in the lineages are not only the divine Apostolic powers and energies transmitted directly from the Master Jesus by the laying-on of hands, but also the centuries of dedicated work of heart, soul, and spirit that all those who labored in the lineages transmitted through their striving and service.
Below are charts of the twenty-two extant historic lines of Apostolic Succession from the Master Jesus, through his Apostles, and through each of the successors of the Apostles (now called bishops), through the twentieth century to the present day. These are lists of bishops who consecrated other bishops. Peter, for example, laid hands on both Evodius in Antioch and Linus in Rome, and these Bishops consecrated their successors Ignatius Martyr and Anecletus, who later laid hands on their successor bishops.
The Western churches follow the conventions described by Augustine of Hippo in the Fourth Century for valid Apostolic Succession: 1. Consecration of a Bishop must be done in the context of the Eucharist or Holy Communion Liturgy 2. There must be an actual laying-on of hands by the Consecrating Bishop 3. The Consecrator must be a validly Consecrated Bishop and, 4. The Consecrator's intention must be to Consecrate a Bishop (i.e., not coerced).
The same conventions apply to Ordination as Deacon or Priest in the Apostolic Succession, although each of these offices may exercise Apostolic authority only under the oversight of a Bishop and as an extension of his/her authority as a Successor of the Apostles. Historically, the Bishop may chose to revoke the license of a Deacon or Priest to operate, in which case the Ordination is still valid, but the Deacon or Priest no longer has Apostolic Authority for sacramental or other work. Within the UNIVERSAL GNOSTIC FELLOWSHIP, a Priest, Priestess, Deaconess or Deacon may request another Bishop to mentor them with or without the prior approval or consent of their former Bishop.
Historically, all Deacons and Priests must operate under the authority of one Bishop, but may transfer to another Bishop's jurisdiction with Letters Dimissory from the Ordaining Bishop. Within the UNIVERSAL GNOSTIC FELLOWSHIP Deacons and Priests, Deaconesses and Priestesses may transfer to another Bishop's jurisdiction with or without the permission of their former Bishop because Bishops within the Church function as Mentors, Counselors, Consultants and Coaches but not as Dictators.
Deacons, Deaconesses, Priestesses and Priests do not have the authority to Ordain others to the Deaconate or Priesthood, but they may teach, heal, offer the Sacraments, and operate other ministries according to their office. Deacons and Deaconesses, Priestesses and Priests may ordain qualified candidates to the Minor Order of Server or Acolyte.
Please note that in some jurisdictions, including the UNIVERSAL GNOSTIC FELLOWSHIP, Letters Dimissory may not be required though each situation involving a conflict between a bishop and a priest or deacon is handled on its own merits. The following lists were edited or compiled by Bishop Bertil Persson, former head of the American branch of the world-wide Apostolic Episcopal Church and Director of St. Ephraim Institute in Sweden.
There are twenty-two valid extant or surviving Lines of Apostolic Succession. After the unfolding of the Antiochene (Eastern Orthodox) and Roman (Western Catholic) lineages, are included brief outlines of the other twenty extant Apostolic lineages that have been restored through the Corporate Reunion.
(1)Peter, 38; (2)Evodus 40; (3)Ignatius I, 43; (4)Aaron, 123; (5)Cornelius, 123; (6)Eodos, 142 (7)Theophulus, 157 (8)Maximinus, 171 (9)Seraphim, 179 (10) Astlediaes, 189 (11) Philip, 201 (12) Sebinus {Zebinus},219 (13) Babylos, 237; (14) Fabius, 250; (15) Demetrius, 251; (16) Paul I, 259; (17) Domnus I, 270; (18) Timotheus, 281; (19) Cyrilus, 281; (20) Tyrantus, 296; (21) Vitalius, 301; (22) Philognius, 318; (23) Eustachius, 323; (24) Paulinius, 338; (25) Philabianus, 383; (26) Evagrius, 386; (27) Phosohorius, 416; (28) Alexander, 418; (29) John I, 428; (30) Theodotus, 431; (31) Domnus II, 442; |32) Maximus, 450; (33) Accacius, 454; (34) Martyrius, 457; (35) Peter II, 464; (36) Philadius, 500; (37) Serverius, 509; (38) Segius, 544; (39) Domnus III, 547; (40) Anadtasius, 560; (41) Gregory I, 564; (42) Paul II, 567; (43) Patra, 571; (44) Domnus IV, 586; (45) Julianus, 591; (46) Athanasius I, 595; (47) John II, 636; (48) Theodorus I, 649; (49) Severus, 668; (50) Athanasius II, 684; (51) Julianus II, 687; (52) Elias I, 709; (53) Athanasius III 724; (54) Evanius I, 740 (55) Gervasius I, 759 (56) Joseph, 790 (57) Cyriacus, 793 (58) Dionysius I, 818 (59) John III, 847; (60) Ignatius II, 877; (61) Theodosius, 887 (62) Dionysius II 897 (63) John IV, 910 (64) Basilus I, 922 (65) John V, 936 (66) Evanius II, 954 (67) Dionysius III, 958 (68) Abraham I, 962 (69) John VI, 965 (70) Athamasius IV, 987 (71) John VII, 1004 (72) Dionysius IV, 1032 (73) Theodorus II, 1042 (74) Athanasius V, 1058 (75) John VIII, 1064 (76) Basilius II, 1074 (77) Abdoone, 1076 (78) Dionysius V, 1077 (79) Evanius III, 1080 (80) Dionysius VI, 1088 (81) Athanasius VI, 1091 (82) John IX, 1131 (83) Athanasius VII, 1139 (84) Michael I, 1167 (85) Athanasius VIII, 1200 (86) Michael II, 1207 (87) John X, 1208 (88) Ignatius III, 1223; (89) Dionysius VII, 1253 (90) John XI, 1253 (91) Ignatius IV, 1264 (92) Philanus, 1283 (93) Ignatius Baruhid, 1293 (94) Ignatius Ismael, 1333 (95) Ignatius Basilius III, 1366 (96) Ignatius Abraham II, 1382 (97) Ignatius Bacalius IV, 1412 (98) Ignatius Behanam I, 1415; (99) Ignatius Kalejih, 1455 (100) Ignatius John XII, 1483 (101) Ignatius Noah, 1492 (102) Ignatius Jesus I, 1509; (103) Ignatius Jacob I, 1510 (104) Ignatius David I, 1519 (105) Ignatius Abdullah I, 1520 (106) Ignatius Naamathalak, 1557 (107) Ignatius David II, 1577 (108) Ignatius Philathus, 1591 (109) Ignatius Abdullah II, 1597 (110) Ignatius Cadhai, 1598 (111) Ignatius Simeon, 1640 (112) Ignatius Jesus II, 1661 (113) Ignatius Messiah, 1661 (114) Ignatius Cabeeb, 1686 (115) Ignatius Gervasius II, 1687 (116) Ignatius Isaac, 1708 (117) Ignatius Siccarablak, 1722 (118) Ignatius Gervasius III, 1746 (119) Ignatius Gervasius IV, 1768 (120) Ignatius Mathias, 1781 (121) Ignatius Behanam, 1810 (122) Ignatius Jonas, 1817 (123) Ignatius Gervasius V, 1818 (124) Ignatius Elias II, 1839 (125) Ignatius Jacob II, 1847 (126) Mar Ignatius Peter III, 1872.
(127) Paulose Mar Athanasius (Kadavil Kooran) was consecrated on December 4, 1907 by Mar Ignatius Peter III as Syrian Antioch Bishop of Kottayam and Metropolitan of Malabar (India).
(128) Mar Julius I (Antonio Francis Xavier Alvares) was consecrated July 28, 1889, by Paulose Mar Athanasius, under authority of Patriarch Ignatius Peter III to be Archbishop of the Latin Rite Independent Catholic Church of Ceylon, Goa and India.
(129) Joseph Rene Vilatte was consecrated on May 29, 1892 in Columba, Ceylon at Our Lady of Good Death Cathedral by Mar Julius I, under authority of a Bull of Mar Ignatius Peter III, to serve as Archbishop of North America.
(130) Fredrick E. Lloyd, 1915 (131) Samuel Gregory Lines, 1923 (132) Justin Boyle, 1927 (133) Lowel Paul Wadle, 1940 (134) Herman Adrian Spruit, 1957 (135) Lewis S. Keizer, 1990 (136) Warren Smith, 1993 (137) John F. Gilbert and Betty Jean Reeves, 1994 (note) (138) Rhodonn Starrus, Marie Harris, Roberta Harris, Rita Baker and Santu Little Dog Peltier, 1994
[ Apostolic Lines of Succession - Part Two ]
[ Apostolic Lines of Succession - Part Three ]
[ House of Independent Bishops - Index ]
(Note: Drs. Gilbert and Reeves co-consecrated Starrus, M. Harris, R. Harris, Baker and Peltier in 1994)
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