In those churches the local congregation has less autonomy and the bishop oversees them, assigning pastors and distributing funds.
Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, pastor of the Cathedral of Tbilisi is a charismatic figure and social activist.
The Baptists of Latvia are result from a revival among German and Latvian Lutherans and organized their first church in 1861.
It began with evangelical missionaries who accepted the Baptist doctrines and organized this denomination retaining the episcopal polity.
The EPB is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Église du Christ au Congo.