General Structure

Consistory:

District and administrative unit of the Lutheran Augsburg church. The Konsistorialbezirk Warschau was divided into 5 Dioceses: Warschau, Kalisch, Płock, Augustów and since 1901 also Petrikau.

Diocese:

District and administrative unit of the Lutheran Augsburg church headed by a Superintendent. The Diocese Płock consisted 1849 of 21 parishes and 6 Filials: Płock with the Filial Dobrzyń nad Wisła, Ossówka, Lipno, Sierpc, Wyszogród with the Filials Płońsk and Secymin, Michałki, Przasnysz with the Filial Mława, Pułtusk with the Filial Nasielsk, Gąbin, Gostynin, Chodecz, Sompolno, Babiak, Przedecz, Ozorków with the Filial Łęczyca, Zgierz, Lodz, Nowosolna, Włocławek, Nieszawa and Nowa Wieś.

Parish:

Independent community with a pastor and a church.

The pastors kept church books.

The parishes often covered wide areas. So the pastors had to travel a lot to pay regular visits to the Kantorats.

The pastors usually held services for marriages and confirmations. They also controlled and advised the Kantors and teachers.

Branch (Filial):

A Filial had almost the status of a parish, but did not have it's own pastor. So a Filial was always administrated by the pastor of the parish it belonged to.

Many Filials were founded for "political" reasons. The upgrading of a Kantorat to a Filial sometimes kept people from switching to other religious movements.

Kantorat:

Part of a parish consisting of Lutherans from one or more villages. The members kept a Kantor, a prayer house and most times also a school, where the Kantor also acted as the teacher.

The prayer house and the school often were the religious centers for many wide spread villages.

The Kantor provided the "Lesegottesdienst" (reading and singing guided by the Kantor) on Sundays when the pastor could not be there.

The Kantor usually was also responsible for baptisms and funerals.

Sources:

Eduard Kneifel: Die evangelisch-augsburgischen Gemeinden in Polen 1555-1939