Head of the Church is a title given in the New Testament toJesus.In Catholic ecclesiology, Jesus Christ is called the invisible Head or the Heavenly Head, while the Pope is called the visible Head or the Earthly Head. Therefore, the Pope is often unofficially called the Vicar of Christ by the faithful.

It is found inColossians 1:18,Colossians 2:19,Ephesians 1:22,Ephesians 4:15 andEphesians 5:23.

InCatholic ecclesiology, Jesus Christ is called the invisible Head^[1] or theHeavenly Head, while the Pope is called the visible Head^[2][3] or theEarthly Head. Therefore, the Pope is often unofficially called theVicar of Christ^[4] by the faithful.

At the time of theEnglish Reformation,Henry VIII took for himself the title ofSupreme Head of the Church of England; his daughterElizabeth I changed this toSupreme Governor of the Church of England.

ThePresbyterian system, codified in theWestminster Standards, outlines teachingelders (Ministers) and ruling elders, and courts presided over by Moderators sitting "primus inter pares", and gives practical effect to the concept of the equal status of all believers behind the one and only head of the church - Jesus Christ. This gives rise to the section of theWestminster Confession of Faith that says in its 25th Chapter entitled "The Church", article 6:"There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof: but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God."^[5]

In Evangelical literature, this Roman Catholic distinction betweenVisible Head andInvisible Head is often attacked as being ideas not founded in scripture. Evangelical literature harmonizeschristology andecclesiology within the context ofsola scriptura.

• Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament