Glossary
Sometimes it may seem that we Episcopalians go out of our way
to use strange words to confuse outsiders. We hope that is not
the case. Sometimes we use those words to honor our tradition.
Sometimes we need special words to label things or practices
that are different enough to need a special word to describe
them.
Here are some definitions of words used in this site or
in our worship that may be new to you. (See also
FAQs--Frequently Asked Questions.)
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Advent is the first season of the
Church
Year. It starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas
and ends on Christmas Day, December 25. It is a season
of expectancy and preparation for the coming of God to
earth in birth of Jesus on Christmas.
"O come, o come, Emmanuel," is typical of
hymns sung during this season. (Emmanuel means "God
with us."). The liturgical color for advent
is Advent is purple, the color of preparation and
penitence or Marian Blue in honor of Mary. |
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The words mean "Lamb of God"
and refer to Jesus. It is from "Here is the the
lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"
in John 1:29. A hymn using those words is often
said or sung during the communion service: "O lamb
of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy
on us. O lamb of God, you take away the sin of the
world, have mercy on us. O lamb of God, you take away
the sin of the world, give us your peace." |
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Anglican means English. The
Anglican Communion is the worldwide collection of
autonomous national churches in communion with the
Church of England. The titular head of the
Anglican Communion is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who
is also the head of the Church of England. The Anglican
Church we are part of is called the Episcopal Church of
the United States of America. |
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The Grace Church congregation meets annually
in January or February to elect senior and junior wardens, mission council
members and delegates to diocesan convention. Reports from the past year and plans for the future
are presented and members of the congregation may comment. |
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Baptism is the sacrament by which God
adopts us as his children and makes us members of
Christ's body, the
church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.
Baptism with water in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, makes you a member of the family of Christ
(and not of a particular denomination) and thus need
not--in fact, should not--be repeated. Baptisms are
typically done at a service of public worship by an ordained
person but may be done at any time by anyone in an
emergency. Baptism, being an act of God, may be
conferred on infants. See
Confirmation. |
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A bishop is responsible for a Diocese.
Our bishop heads the Episcopal
Diocese of Southern Ohio. A bishop is consecrated by other
bishops and as such is a successor to the
Twelve Apostles. The word "episcopal" is derived
from the Greek word "episcopos" meaning "overseer." In Old English it became
"biscop," which came to be pronounced
"bishop" and later spelled that way too. |
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The Book of Common Prayer contains the
official liturgy of the Episcopal
Church. It is a collection of prayers, readings, psalms,
devotions, and worship services. Nearly all services in
any Episcopal Church will be printed in this book.
The word "common" is used in the sense of
being held in common, the property of all. Thus,
there are copies in every pew for use by all
worshippers. The common use of the BCP is the
basis for the high degree of congregational
participation typical of Anglican worship. |
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A set of rules that govern a church (as in
canon law). See the canons of the Episcopal Diocese of
Southern Ohio
here and the canons of the Episcopal Church USA
here. Grace Church is governed by these canons,
plus our own
By-Laws. The canon is also the official list of the books of
the bible (the scriptural canon). In the context of a
cathedral,
a canon is a priest who reports to the dean. |
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What! Episcopalians have catechism?
Yes, but it's not the catechism class that you might remember your
Roman Catholic friends attending. The word catechism is from the Greek "katecheo"--to sound aloud. You can read the Episcopal Church's
"Outline of
the Faith commonly called the
Catechism" in the Book of Common
Prayer
here. |
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A cathedral is a church that is the home
church of the bishop of a diocese.
A cathedral is administered by a priest who is referred
to as the dean. In every cathedral you will
find a seat (throne) for the diocesan bishop called a cathedra, from which the word
cathedral derives. |
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It is drawn from the Greek word meaning
"universal" or "found
everywhere." Although the term is often used to refer to the Roman
Catholic Church, it also includes
Anglican, Syrian, Greek, Coptic, Russian and other
churches, including the Episcopal Church.
Catholic churches generally accept the teachings of
tradition as well as scripture and usually accept the
validity of one or more ancient creeds as the summary of
the Christian faith. |
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AKA "Christian Education." Christian Formation is the process by
which people grow as Christians. This process is
facilitated by participation in Christian education
experiences, but there are other processes and experiences
that contribute as well. Thinking in terms of
Christian formation allows us to think holistically about
what makes for our growth as Christians. |
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The celebration of Jesus' birth starts
December 25 and continues 12 days until
Epiphany on January
6. On December 25--and not before--we put up Chistmas decorations
and being singing Christmas songs. Many Episcopalians
echo the tradition of the church in their home
lives and wait until Christmas (or just a little before)
before putting up their Christmas tree and Christmas
decorations and otherwise celebrating this great holiday
season. The liturgical color for Christmas is white, the
color of celebration. |
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The Church is described as a body of
people of
which Jesus Christ is the head. All
baptized people everywhere are
members of the Church, regardless of which branch they may
be affiliated with. "Church" may, of course, also refer to
a building that a congregation uses for worship. |
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Some companies have fiscal years that are
not the same as the calendar year. Similarly, the
church has its own church year with its own seasons. In
the Episcopal Church and other Western
Churches, the church year starts on the fourth
Sunday before Christmas. The
seasons of the church year are Advent,
Christmas, Epiphany,
Lent, Easter,
and Pentecost. Some
churches (such as Anglicans,
Lutherans and Roman Catholics) make more of the church
year than others.
Liturgical colors are used to help communicate the
theme of worship of each season of the church year. |
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A rite whereby the grace of the Holy
Spirit is conveyed in a new or fuller way to those who
have already received it in some degree or fashion through
Baptism. In the Episcopal Church,
young people or adults who have decided for themselves
that they wish to be Confirmed and who have been prepared
(typically through a Confirmation or
Enquirer's Class) are confirmed by a
Bishop. Confirmation marks one's formal entrance
into membership in the Anglican
Communion. People who have been Confirmed in the Roman
or Orthodox churches who desire to affiliate with the
Episcopal church are not again Confirmed, they are Received. |
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The group of people of a certain area who
are organized into a local church. An Episcopal congregation may be a
parish or a mission. A parish is fully
self-supporting, as contrasted with a
mission, which gets support from its
diocese. |
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The word "deacon" is very close
to the Greek word for servant. Deacons are ordained to a servant ministry to those in need under
the direction of the bishop.
Deacons will be found working with the youth, the
divorced, the sick in hospitals, in nursing homes, or in
private homes; with the poor, the rejected, the
immigrants, the dying, those in jail or prison, the
addicts, and on college campuses. Deacons also have specific roles to
play in the liturgy.
In
addition to those deacons who have made a lifetime
commitment to this servant ministry, there are other
deacons referred to as "transitional" or
"temporary." Because being a deacon is a prerequisite to being ordained
priest,
those who intend to become priests are ordained deacons for a
short time. |
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The diocese is the fundamental unit of
structure of the Anglican church. Every diocese has a
Bishop.
A diocese contains many churches, and normally dioceses
are combined into national churches such as the The
Episcopal Church, USA or the Church of England. Grace Church is part of the Episcopal
Diocese of Southern Ohio. |
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Easter is the day we celebrate
Jesus being resurrected from the dead. Easter is also a
season of celebration lasting for the 50 days after
Easter to Pentecost. Our liturgy
is especially celebrative and extraverted during this
season. Prayers of confession are often omitted and
"alleluias" are inserted in several places in the service.
The first celebration of Easter is the Great Vigil of
Easter on Easter Eve. The liturgical color of Easter
is white, the color of celebration. |
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Epiphany (January 6) is the day
we celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men to see Jesus.
Epiphany is also a season of the church year running from
Epiphany (the twelfth day of Christmas)
to Lent. This season celebrates the appearance of Christ to the gentiles in
the persons of the Wise Men. The liturgical color
for Epiphany is green, the color of growth. |
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The word means "having
bishops." After the American Revolution, when the
former Church of England in the colonies was being organized
into a church independent of the mother church, a name
that did not mention England or Anglican was
needed. "Episcopal" was chosen to
differentiate our church from the other protestant
churches that did not have bishops. |
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Most Christians call it Holy
Communion. Some call it the Mass. Many Episcopalians
and some others call it Eucharist. It is Greek for
"thanksgiving." All Christians are invited to
God's table. |
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A worship service done in the late
afternoon or evening, many times every evening. In
its barest form, it consists of bible readings, psalms
and prayers. To see complete Evening Prayer
services for any day of the year, go to the Mission
St. Clare Daily Office web site and click on the
little moon on that date. |
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Evensong or Choral Evensong is Evening
Prayer set to music, typically done in Anglican
churches on Sunday evenings. |
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The first words (in Latin) of an ancient
hymn sung during many Communion services. In
English, it starts, "Glory to God in the highest
...." |
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Holy Communion, also called the
Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, is our principle worship
service. In it, we celebrate Jesus' victory over
death. In it, Christ invites the gathered
community to become one with him and with God,
secure in God's love. Our response is to leave our
seats and come forward to the altar in thanksgiving to
partake of Christ's body and blood as symbolized in
bread and wine. |
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Holy Week consists of the week before
Easter Sunday. There are
special worship services appointed for every day of this
week. It starts with Palm Sunday, when both Jesus'
triumphant entry into Jerusalem and his capture and death
are remembered. On Maundy Thursday, Jesus' Last
Supper with his disciples is re-enacted. Good Friday
services recall Jesus' execution on a cross. |
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Greek for "Lord," the first
word of a very ancient short hymn commonly sung during Communion
services in Lent. In English,
it goes, "Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy,
Lord have mercy." |
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The Laity are all members of the church
who are not clergy, that is who are not
Bishops,
Priests or
Deacons. Our
Catechism says, "The ministry of lay persons is
to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to
him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts
given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation
in the world; and to take their place in the life,
worship and governance of the Church." The
Episcopal church sees the relationship between Clergy
and Laity as being one of a partnership of people with
different roles to play, in which all are needed to be a
complete Christian community. |
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The lectionary specifies scripture
readings to be used for study, in worship and as the basis
for preaching throughout the church
year. The idea is to cover much of the Bible over the
period which the lectionary covers. Lessons are chosen to
support the seasons of the church year. There is a
three-year lectionary for Sundays and holy days (see
The
Lectionary Page) and a two-year lectionary for daily
morning and
evening prayer (see
here). |
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The season of Lent follows the Epiphany
season and covers the 40 days (not counting Sundays)
from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. It is a time of
preparation for Holy Week and Easter.
Many people use this time to deepen their spirituality
by taking on spiritual or other disciplines (prayer
would be one example, giving up meat another). Our liturgy
is more introspective and less celebrative during
Lent. Penitence is the order of the day. The
liturgical color of Lent is purple, the color of
preparation and penitence. |
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From a Greek word meaning a work of or
for the people. Nowadays, this term is usually applied
to the public celebrations of the church. The word is
generally used to refer to the full text of the words of
a worship service or the ritual order for holding a
church service. Our liturgy reflects the forms of
Christian worship which developed in the Western
Church during its first centuries. The liturgy
follows a fixed outline with portions which change with
the Sunday and the season of the church
year. Most of the liturgies used in the Episcopal
church are contained in the
Book of Common Prayer. |
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Color is used to
reinforce the themes of the days and seasons of the
church year. Liturgical
colors include white or gold for Christmas, Easter, other
feasts (except those of martyrs), marriages, and funerals;
blue or violet for Advent; violet for Lent; red for Holy
Week, martyrs, the Day of Pentecost, and ordinations;
green for the time after the Epiphany and after the Day of
Pentecost. Some use rose for Advent 3 and Lent 4. |
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The canons of the
Episcopal Chruch provide that all baptized persons who shall for one
year next preceding have celebrated and kept the Lord's
Day, commonly called Sunday, by regular participation in
the public worship of the Church, by hearing the Word of
God read and taught, and by other acts of devotion and
works of charity, using all godly and sober conversation,
unless for good cause prevented, are members of this church in good standing.
Members 16 or over can vote in the
Annual Meeting. |
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A mission is a
congregation which is not (yet) fully self-supporting.
The priest in charge of a mission, called a vicar,
is appointed by the bishop. See
congregation. |
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A mission has a mission council where a
parish has a vestry. See
Vestry or Mission
Council. |
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A worship service done in the morning,
many times every morning. In its barest form, it
consists of bible readings, psalms and prayers. To
see, listen to and/or read along with complete Morning Prayer services for any day of the
year, go to the
Mission
St. Clare Daily Office web site. |
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An entry room or hallway leading to the
worship space or other spaces. Grace's narthex is
the small entryway leading into the Nave.
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The part of a church where the
congregation sits. From the Latin "navis" meaning ship.
Look up; can you see that the roof looks like the inside
of a ship turned upside down? |
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Pentecost is the Sunday
celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit to the
disciples. Pentecost is also the season lasting from Pentecost
Sunday to Advent. It is the
longest season of the church year, covering most of
summer and fall. The liturgical color for
Pentecost Sunday is red, the color of the presence of the
Holy Spirit; the season after Pentecost Sunday is green,
the color of growth. |
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What many churches call ministers or
pastors, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Orthodox
call priests (from the Greek "presbyteros," elder.) A person becomes a
priest by being
ordained for life by a bishop.
Most bishops require candidates to undertake special
training before ordaining them, which training is
typically obtained in a theological college or seminary. |
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A parish is a
congregation which is self-supporting, as opposed to a
mission. A parish's priest, called
a rector, is called by the parish
vestry. |
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The priest
in charge of a fully self-supporting
parish. A rector is called by the parish
vestry, with the
approval of the bishop. |
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The portion of a church immediately
around the altar. Some use the word to refer to the
whole interior of the church, but this is not the usual
Episcopal usage. |
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Refers to an ancient hymn sung during
every Communion
service. "Sanctus" is Latin for the
first word in the first line of the hymn, "Holy,
holy, holy Lord, God of power and might
...." "Benedictus" is Latin for the
first word in a subsequent phrase which starts, "Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord." |
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The vestry or mission council is to a
parish or
mission something like
a board of directors is to a company. The
rector or vicar
fills a role similar to that of a company's board
chair and chief executive officer.
The primary difference between a vestry and a mission
council is that a vestry elects and calls a priest to be
its rector while the priest of a mission, called a
vicar, is appointed by the bishop.
The vestry or mission council consists of the rector or
vicar, the wardens and a number of vestry members elected
at the annual meeting for overlapping three-year terms.
Canonically,
the
vestry or mission council of the congregation takes
charge of the property and regulates all its temporal
concerns. Vestry or mission council pays all lawful
assessments on the congregation, keeps order in the
church during divine services and, in general, to act as
helpers to the rector, vicar, or priest-in-charge,
it being understood always that the spiritual concerns
of the church are under the exclusive direction of the
priest. The vestry or mission council also maintains the
congregation's property but does not have the right to
sell it without permission from the diocese.
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In the Episcopal Diocese of Southern
Ohio, a vicar is a priest or deacon in charge of a
mission. He or she is appointed by
the bishop and serves at his or her
pleasure. |
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Wardens are the chief lay officers of a
congregation. Canonically, wardens provide the
elements for the Lord's Supper, collect the alms at the
administration of the same, and keep and disburse such alms
in case the parish or
mission is destitute of a
rector or vicar,
and if the parish is destitute of a rector, provide for the
celebration of public worship. Vestry meetings are
called, in the absence of a rector or vicar, by the Senior
Warden, and in the absence of both by the Junior
Warden.
In the Diocese of Southern Ohio, wardens are elected
at the annual meeting or
by the vestry or
mission council, depending on the by-laws of the
particular parish. At Grace, wardens are elected by
the members at the annual meeting. |
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Western churches trace their origins in
some way back to the early Church in Rome. All
so-called protestant churches along with the Roman
Catholic Church and the Anglican churches are western
churches. Among
other things, these churches share the same church
calendar. Eastern churches are those that trace
their origins in some way back to the early Church in
Constantinople. Most Orthodox churches are eastern
churches. There are some churches whose origins
are in neither Rome or Constantinople, such as the
Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox churches in Africa. |
