A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, presbytery, rectory, or vicarage.

Function

A clergy house is typically owned and maintained by a church, as a benefit to its clergy. This practice exists in many denominations because of the tendency of clergy to be transferred from one church to another at relatively frequent intervals. Also, in smaller communities, suitable housing is not always available. In addition, such a residence can be supplied in lieu of salary, which may not be able to be provided (especially at smaller congregations). Catholic clergy houses in particular may be lived in by several priests from a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. Clergy houses frequently serve as the administrative office of the local parish, as well as a residence. They are normally located next to, or at least close to, the church their occupant serves. Partly because of the general conservation of churches, many clergy houses have survived and are of historic interest or importance. In the United Kingdom, the 14th-century Alfriston Clergy House was the first property to be acquired by the National Trust. It was purchased in a state of near ruin in 1896 for £10, the vicarage having moved elsewhere long before. In some countries where the clergy houses were often rather grand, many of them have now been sold off by the churches and replaced by more modest properties. Numerous clergy houses have been acquired by families for use as private homes. Others have been adapted as offices or used for various civic functions. In many villages in England, the former clergy house is called the "Old Vicarage" or the "Old Rectory". In Scotland, a former clergy house may be known as the "Old Manse".

Nomenclature

There are a number of more specific terms whose use depends on the rank of the occupant, the denomination, and the locality. Above the parish level, a bishop's house was traditionally called a " Bishop's palace", a dean's residence is known as a deanery, and a canon lives in a canonry or "canon's house". Other clerical titles have different names for their houses. A parsonage is where the parson of a church resides; a parson is the priest/presbyter of a parish church. A rectory is the residence of an ecclesiastical rector, although the name may also be applied to the home of an academic rector (e.g., a Scottish university rector), or other person with that title. In North American Anglicanism, a far greater proportion of parish clergy were (and still are) titled as rector than in Britain, so the term rectory is more common there. The names used for homes of ordinary parish clergy vary considerably and include the following: * The Anglican Communion uses the terms vicarage or (more informal and old-fashioned) parsonage, and rectory if appropriate. *

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

s use the terms priory, clergy house, parochial house (mostly in Ireland), chapel house (in Scotland), presbytery, and rectory (especially in Massachusetts) if appropriate. In the Philippines, the term convent is used, a direct

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of the Spanish ''convento''. An ''ecclesiastical residence'', sometimes called a presbytery, is the residence of a cleric in their diocese or parish. * Manse (cognate with

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

) is a Scottish term that is used in Scottish Presbyterianism, and also in other parts of the British Isles by Non-conformist churches such as the Methodists and the United Reformed Church. This name is also commonly used by Baptists in the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries. * Pastorium is the usual term in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

, especially among Baptists."Pastorium." Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pastorium. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024. *

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

churches often use parsonage. * The name "parish house" is used by many denominations.

Gallery

File:Pfarrhaus Ilmenau.JPG, A rectory in Ilmenau, Germany File:Front Parish House Josephs Cathedral Allahabad Dec23 A7C 08450.jpg, Parish house, St. Joseph's Cathedral, Prayagraj, India File:Plebania BaczalDolny2013.JPG, The rectory in Bączal Dolny,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(1923) File:Valoprastgard.jpg, The rectory in Valö, Uppland, Sweden File:Edsleskogs prastgard 2007.jpg, The rectory in Edsleskog,

Dalsland Dalsland () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

File:Alatornio Old Rectory Tornio 20150806 03.JPG, The rectory in Alatornio, Lapland,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

File:Halton Vicarage.jpg, Halton Vicarage, England; 1739 and still used File:The Old Vicarage, Morwenstow. - panoramio.jpg, The old vicarage, Morwenstow, England File:The Abbey Sutton Courtenay.jpg, The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay, former rectory of Abingdon Abbey, England File:West Manse Sanday.jpg, The West Manse, Sanday, Scotland (formerly the Free Kirk manse) File:Vieux presbytère de Deschambault 02.jpg, Old rectory of Deschambault (1815–1818), Canada File:Sacred Heart Rectory Davenport IA.jpg, Sacred Heart Cathedral Rectory in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

, USA File:Immaculate Conception Rectory at Botkins.jpg, An 1887 Catholic rectory in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

File:Ashburton House.jpg, Ashburton House, the parish house of St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington D.C.

Function

Nomenclature

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading