In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that's, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organisation. The term's similar to rector and's in contrast to a vicar, a cleric whose revenue's usually, at least partially, appropriated by a larger organisation. Today the term's normally used for some parish clergy of non-Roman Catholic churches, in particular in the Anglican tradition in which a parson's the incumbent… (More on Parson)