Glossary of Terms

Postulant (Holy Orders, Monastic)

One who tests a vocation such as a vocation to an ordained ministry or the religious life. Postulants for holy orders seek ordination as deacon or priest. The length of postulancy varies. The time involves meeting with the bishop of the diocese, examination by the Commission on Ministry, along with physical and mental examinations, and […]

Potter, Alonzo

(July 6, 1800-July 4, 1865). Bishop and educator. He was born in Beekman (La Grange), Dutchess County, New York. He graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1818. In 1819 he returned to Union College as a tutor and in 1822 was made professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. At the same time he […]

Potter, Henry Codman

(May 25, 1835-July 21, 1908). Bishop and advocate of social justice. He was born in Schenectady, New York, and was the son of Alonzo Potter, the third Bishop of Pennsylvania. In 1845 the family moved to Philadelphia, and he attended the Episcopal Academy in that city. He was a student at the Virginia Theological Seminary […]

Potter, Horatio

(Feb. 9, 1802-Jan. 2, 1887). Bishop and educator. He was born in Beekman (La Grange), Dutchess County, New York. He received his B.A. from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1826. He was ordained deacon on July 15, 1827, and priest on Dec. 14, 1828. His diaconate was spent at Trinity Church, Saco, Maine, and […]

Praise (Prayer)

Loving worship of God in prayer. We may respond with praise for God's mighty deeds throughout salvation history. The Canticle Te Deum laudamus (Canticle 21, BCP, pp. 95-96), begins, “You are God: we praise you.” It recalls that Christ “became man to set us free,” he “did not shun the Virgin's womb,” he “overcame the […]

Prayer

The experience of corporate or individual nearness with God, through words, acts, or silence. Any act or activity offered to God in a spirit of dedication may be prayerful. This nearness may take the form of addressing God, as in prayers of petition, praise, and thanksgiving; or the form of listening, as in contemplative and […]

Prayer Book

See Book of Common Prayer, The (“BCP”).

Prayer Book Commentary

A comprehensive study of the liturgical and theological background of a Prayer Book. During the Puritan Commonwealth in England, when the BCP was outlawed, two systematic commentaries were published: Anthony Sparrow's A Rationale or Practical Exposition upon the Book of Common Prayer (1655) and Hamon L'Estrange's The Alliance of Divine Offices (1659). Thomas Comber published […]

Prayer Book Concordance, The

An examination of word usage in the 1979 BCP. This volume was published in 1988 by the Church Hymnal Corporation. It was edited by Galen Bushey. There are 6,423 separate and distinct words which appear at least once in the 1979 BCP. The first section of this book is a concordance (alphabetical index of words […]

Prayer Book for Soldiers and Sailors, A

This small volume of ninety-one pages was published by the Army and Navy Commission of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1941. It was sent as a gift to those serving in the army and navy as a “reminder that the Church follows you into the Service with deep interest.” It contained An Order of Worship, […]

Prayer Book Preface

The Preface printed in every edition of the American BCP is an abbreviated form of the Preface prepared for the Proposed BCP of 1786 by the Rev. Dr. William Smith, then rector at Chestertown, Maryland, and founder of Washington College in that town. The second and third paragraphs and a portion of the fourth are […]

Prayer Book Studies

A series of booklets issued by the Standing Liturgical Commission beginning in 1950 making proposals for the revision of the BCP. Prayer Book Studies 16 proposed the method adopted to produce the 1979 revision of the BCP. Prayer Book Studies 17-28 were drafts of services for that revision. In 1975-76 several unnumbered Studies containing additional […]

Prayer Desk

See Litany Desk; see Prie-Dieu.

Prayer, Principal Kinds of

The principal kinds of prayer include adoration, praise, thanksgiving, penitence, oblation, intercession, and petition. (see BCP, pp. 856-857, and individual entries for each of the principal kinds of prayer).

Prayers of the People

The BCP uses the title “Prayers of the People” for the oratio fidelium or general intercessions in the eucharist. Such prayers have a long and venerable history. Their existence was first mentioned by Justin Martyr about the year 150, and for centuries they formed a vital part of the Daily Office and eucharistic liturgy. In […]

Prayers We Have in Common

See International Consultation on English Texts (ICET) (1969).

Pre-Lenten Season

The observance of a period of a few weeks in preparation for Lent. Septuagesima Sunday was the first Sunday of the Pre-Lenten season. It was the third Sunday before Lent and the ninth Sunday before Easter. The name literally indicated seventy days before Easter. This was inaccurate since this Sunday fell sixty-four days before Easter. […]

Pre-Sanctified, Mass of the

Celebration of communion with previously consecrated eucharistic elements, in a eucharistic liturgy without a prayer of consecration. It makes possible eucharistic sharing on days of fasting when the eucharist is not celebrated. In the Byzantine Rite, the liturgy of the pre-sanctified is used on weekdays during Lent (usually on Wednesdays and Fridays) when the eucharist […]

Preacher

The one who preaches the sermon. In some Protestant churches, the term is used as a title for a member of the clergy. See Preaching.

Preaching

The event and act of proclaiming the Word of God through a sermon or homily. Preaching interprets the gospel tradition in light of faith and in the context of the liturgical and pastoral occasion of the service. The sermon draws together the life of the parish community, the life of the preacher, and the lives […]

An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Glossary of Terms