A parish church is simply a local church community; a community of faith that exists to meet the spiritual and temporal needs of its members. While sometimes the term “parish church” is used, it’s often just the term “parish” used to describe a group of people who attend a particular church. For example, “The church parish frequently gathers for dinner following Sunday service.” Or “The parish of the Baptist church has grown in recent years.”
A parish church is a common term used in both the Catholic and Protestant (largely Lutheran, Methodist, Congregationalist, and Presbyterian) churches.
While, many times, parishes are defined by boundaries or territories, they don’t always need to be. They can be large or small; urban or rural. Many parishes can be found within the same territory. To be a true parish, the pastor must exercise the ministry in his own name.
Parishes operate under a parish governance, which is essentially a blueprint of the parish— its structure, or how it operates. Differences in size, location, and congregation dictate how a parish is organized. The parish may be organized into different committees and even subcommittees to carry out its mission and implement its goals.