1.   They held their own diocesan synods, ordained clergy, confirmed children and heard certain cases in their courts.

2.   For those sacraments, parishioners must still depend on ordained clergy.

3.   In Alabama and West Virginia, local pastors now outnumber ordained clergy.

4.   Most have no required order of worship, no ordained clergy or formal leadership structure and no specific creed.

5.   Quakers, on the other hand, have no ordained clergy and no traditional form of address.

6.   The dropout rate for newly ordained Protestant clergy is high in their first year, even among those who secure positions in big-city churches.