Glossary of Terms
Ornaments, Church
Items of symbolic or decorative value in church, such as an altar cross, a processional cross, and altar candles. There was considerable controversy in the Episcopal Church during the latter part of the nineteenth century concerning the use of church ornaments and other ritual or ceremonial practices such as genuflections and the use of incense. […]
Orphrey
An ornamental band of contrasting material on a vestment or altar hanging.
Osculatorium
See Peace, The.
Ostensorium
See Monstrance.
Otey, James Hervey
(Jan. 27, 1800-Apr. 23, 1863). Bishop and educator. He was born in Liberty in Bedford County, Virginia. Otey graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1820 and then served there as a tutor for a year. In 1821 he became the principal of Harpeth Academy in Maury County, Tennessee. From 1823 until 1825, he […]
Outline of the Faith, An
See Catechism.
Oxford Movement, The
A nineteenth-century movement which reasserted the apostolic and catholic heritage of Anglicanism. The Oxford Movement is also known as the Catholic Revival. It emphasized the church’s identity as the divine society and the sacramental character of the church’s corporate life. It also sought to uphold the BCP as the rule of faith. It began when […]
Oxon
Pertaining or belonging to Oxford, England. (From Oxoniensis, a latinized form of the Middle English Oxenford). Usages include reference to degrees and diplomas conferred by the University of Oxford and the ecclesiastical, titular surname of the Bishop of the Diocese of Oxford in the Church of England.
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.