Apostolic succession
Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bishops. Those of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox; Oriental Orthodox and Church of the East; Scandinavian Lutheran, Anglican, Moravian and Czechoslovak Hussite; and Old Catholic traditions maintain that a bishop's orders are neither regular nor valid without consecration through apostolic succession.