Episcopal polity conferences or synods. Their leadership is both sacramental and constitutional; as well as performing ordinations, confirmations, and consecrations, the bishop supervises the clergy within a local jurisdiction and is the representative both to secular structures and within the hierarchy of the church. Bishops are considered to derive their authority from an unbroken, personal apostolic succession from the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bishops with such authority are said to represent the historical episcopate or historic episcopate. Churches with this type of government usually believe that the Church requires episcopal government as described in the New Testament (see 1 Timothy 3 and
Reformed Episcopal Seminary in their desired ministerial and scholastic goals and to be grounded in Anglican polity and worship. The seminary trains clergy candidates for the Reformed Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in North America, and churches of many other traditions. Clergy are educated in a belief in the primacy and final authority of the Bible and educated about the sacraments, creeds, councils, and the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. The seminary was granted initial accreditation by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, effective August 8, 2013. The Theological Commission of the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church