Glossary of Terms
Episcopal Evangelical Journal, The
It is published by the Fellowship of Witness, the American branch of the Evangelical Fellowship of the Anglican Communion. The first issue appeared in July 1994.
Episcopal High School, Alexandria, Virginia
In 1831 the widow of William Holland Wilmer opened a school adjacent to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. The school was in a house called Howard, and it was […]
Episcopal Lay-Leadership Directory
Conceived as the lay ministry companion volume to the Episcopal Clerical Directory, this resource contained detailed biographical information about lay leaders in the Episcopal Church. First published in 1980 by […]
Episcopal Life
This monthly journal is an official publication of the Episcopal Church “that seeks faithfully and fully to support the whole life of the Church and its mission, encouraging all people […]
Episcopal Recorder, The
This weekly publication was a leading periodical standing for low church evangelical principles. It began publication on June 22, 1822, in Philadelphia, under the name The Church Record. With the […]
Episcopal Ring
A ring worn by a bishop as a sign of the bishop's office. It is worn on the third finger of the right hand. It is one of the traditional […]
Episcopal Services
Services in which a bishop presides. A bishop presides at Confirmation/Reception/Reaffirmation (BCP, p. 413), and a bishop may preside or officiate at any service. A section of the BCP is […]
Episcopal Theological School (ETS)
Predecessor to Episcopal Divinity School. The school was founded at Cambridge, Massachusetts, by a group of prominent Boston businessmen in 1867 to be a place of preparation for holy orders […]
Episcopal Theological School at Claremont (Bloy House)
A diocesan seminary which was originally begun in 1958 as an extension program through the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in the Diocese of Los Angeles. CDSP intended […]
Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky
Former diocesan seminary. It was founded in 1834 at Lexington by Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith to educate clergy for the western frontier. The school was granted a charter on Feb. […]
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Caribbean, San Juan, Puerto Rico
The seminary was founded in 1961, and its chapel was dedicated on Jan. 11, 1962, by Presiding Bishop Arthur Lichtenberger. The seminary trained more than seventy persons for ministry. It […]
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest (ETSS)
The idea for a seminary in Austin, Texas, was initiated in 1945. The Rt. Rev. Clinton S. Quinn, Bishop of Texas, approached the Board of Trustees of the Austin Presbyterian […]
Episcopal Visitation
A bishop's official pastoral visit to a congregation of the diocese. Canon law requires every diocesan bishop to visit every congregation in his or her diocese at least once every […]
Episcopal Visitors
The 1988 General Convention passed the legislation which created Episcopal Visitors. This legislation was to deal pastorally with those bishops, priests, deacons, and lay persons who were unable to accept […]
Episcopal Watchman
This journal was published at Hartford, Connecticut, from Mar. 26, 1827, until Nov. 2, 1833, when it was absorbed by the Churchman. Its motto was “the Gospel of Christ in […]
Episcopalian
A member of the Episcopal Church. The term is used as a noun, not as an adjective. The term can be applied to a member of any church under the […]
Episcopalian Harmony, The
A collection of hymns that was approved by General Convention and published in 1811 by John Cole in Baltimore. It was reprinted in 1817. The layout of text and music […]
Episcopalian, The
Predecessor to Episcopal Life. This monthly journal began publication in Apr. 1960, and continued Forth and The Spirit of Missions. The first issue stated that it was published by the […]
Episcopate, Episcopacy, Episcopos
Church governance under the leadership of bishops. The term is from the Greek for "overseer." The Prayer Book service for the ordination of a bishop states that a bishop "is […]
Episcopi Vaganti
“Wandering bishops” who acquired episcopal orders in an irregular or surreptitious manner. They are unaffiliated with any historic Christian body or jurisdiction. Their episcopal acts have questionable validity. See Jurisdiction […]
Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.