The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia Part 5

John Calvin 1530-1564 {58}

English Reformation 1534-1559

First English Prayer Book set forth 1549

Present authorized version of the Bible 1611

Present English Prayer Book set forth 1662

Church introduced into America 1578-1607

Bishop Seabury consecrated in Scotland first American Bishop 1784

Three additional Bishops consecrated in England for American Church 1787-1790

Name changed to Protestant Episcopal 1789

American Prayer Book set forth Oct. 16, 1789

American Prayer Book revised 1883-1892

Church Club.--Throughout the American Church there are a number of Church Clubs composed of laymen, a.s.sociated together for the purpose of discussing problems of Church work and belief and studying out more thoroughly what this Church teaches and what its history is. In some of these clubs eminent Bishops and other clergy and laymen are invited to deliver lectures which are afterwards printed in book form. The Church Club has done much to raise up a cla.s.s of intelligent and well-informed Churchmen who are proving to be a great help and blessing to the Church.

Church Colors.--Also called Liturgical colors. From the most ancient times it has been customary to deck the Church's Altar with hangings of rich material which vary in color with the Church Season. As commonly used at the present time the Church colors are five in number, viz., white, red, violet, green and black. Their use may be briefly set forth as follows: _White_ is used on all the great Festivals of our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, and of those Saints who did not suffer martyrdom; it is also the color for All Saints'

Day, and the Feast of St. Michael and All {59} Angels; white is the symbol of joy and purity. _Red_ is used on the Feasts of Martyrs, typifying that they shed their blood for the testimony of Jesus; it is also used at Whitsun Tide, symbolizing the cloven tongues of fire in the likeness of which the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles. _Violet_ is the penitential color and is used in Advent, Lent, the Ember and Rogation Days, on the Feasts of the Holy Innocents, etc. _Green_ is the ordinary color for days that are neither feasts nor Fasts as being the pervading color of nature; it is chiefly used during the Epiphany Tide and the long period of the Trinity Season. _Black_ is made use of at funerals and on Good Friday. This use of the colors applies to the stole as well as to the Altar hangings. The black stole is always out of place, incongruous, except at funerals and on Good Friday. Where they are used, the cope, chasuble, maniple, dalmatic and tunic also vary with the Season in the same manner. The use of the Church colors, besides "decking the place of His Sanctuary" is also most helpful to the devotions of the people, in that it teaches them by the eye the various Seasons of the Church's joy or mourning.

Church Congress.--An organization of the Clergy and Laity in the American Church having for its object the general discussion of living questions of the day and the application of Revealed Truth to the needs of our modern life. It was organized in 1874 on the model of the English Church Congress which, no doubt, suggested such an organization for the Church in the United States. It is not a legislative body, but rather an "Open Court" for the free {60} exchange of views. Meetings are held annually and an elaborate programme of subjects is prepared for each meeting, with appointed essayists and speakers, and volunteer speakers are permitted. The proceedings of each Congress are published in book form, of which the Rev. Dr. Wildes for so many years the General Secretary says, "The proceedings, addresses and speeches of the several sessions embodied in annual reports form a _thesaurus_ of ripe learning, vigorous thought and eloquent utterance upon great questions of the times, of which the Episcopal Church may well be proud. To the student in Theology and its cognate topics, no less than to clergymen and thoughtful laymen, these volumes will be found most valuable."

Church Militant.--(See CHURCH CATHOLIC, THE).

Church Missions House.--This is a name that ought to be familiar to every American Churchman. It is the name given to the handsome building which is the headquarters of "The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America." For many years the headquarters of the Society were in rented rooms in the Bible House, New York City. By special offerings given for the purpose by many generous Churchmen, the Society was provided with the means to erect this beautiful and s.p.a.cious building. The corner-stone was laid on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Twenty-Second Street in New York City on October 3, 1892. The building was occupied by the Society on New Year's Day, 1894, and on the 25th of the same month, St. Paul's Day, the building was formally dedicated. "Thus after more than {61} seventy years, during which the Society had been a tenant, the Society, representing our whole Church, was established in its own beautiful home." The Church Mission House is a perfect beehive of Church work. Here all the leading interests of the Church are centred. In its s.p.a.cious, well-lighted rooms are the offices of the Missionary Society. Here, too, are the headquarters of the Woman's Auxiliary, the American Building Fund Commission, the officers of the General Convention, of the General Clergy Relief Fund, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, the Girls' Friendly Society and other Church agencies. Here, too, in its beautiful Chapel the noontide prayers are daily offered for the spread of the Gospel of Christ throughout the world. The Church Missions House is well worth a visit by those who are visiting New York even for only a few days.

(See DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY).

Church Temperance Society.--This Society was organized in 1881, and has for its object the promotion of _temperance_ in its strict meaning. Its adult membership combines those who temperately use and those who totally abstain from intoxicating liquors as beverages. It works on the lines of moral as well as legal suasion, and its practical objects are: 1. Training the young in habits of temperance. 2. Rescue of the drunkard. 3. Restriction of the saloon by legislation, and 4. Counteractive agencies, such as coffee-houses, working-men's clubs, reading-rooms and other attractive wholesome resorts. The Church Temperance Legion deals with boys, seeking to induce them to keep sober, pure, and reverent from the {62} earliest years of manhood and it endeavors to perpetuate those habits in men.

Church Wardens.--The name given to two officers of a parish usually distinguished by the t.i.tles, Senior and Junior. In some Dioceses they are elected directly by the people of the parish at the same time the Vestrymen are elected. In other Dioceses they are appointed by the newly elected Vestry. The Senior Warden is usually appointed by the Rector and the Junior Warden is elected by the Vestry. It is the special duties of the Wardens to see that the Church edifice is kept from unhallowed use; that it be kept clean and in good repair, duly lighted and warmed; to provide a sufficient supply of books and ecclesiastical vestments to be used in the public ministrations by the Minister, and to provide proper elements for the celebration of the Holy Communion and preserve due order during service. In the absence of the Rector one of the Wardens presides at Parish and Vestry meetings.

Church Year.--(See CHRISTIAN YEAR).

Churching.--Equivalent to the Purification among the Jews, and which in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary is commemorated as a Feast of the Church on February 2. The reader is directed to the service set forth in the Prayer Book under the t.i.tle, "The Thanksgiving of Women after Childbirth; commonly called, The Churching of Women."

"Although every deliverance from peril or sorrow demands a tribute of thanksgiving to G.o.d, yet G.o.d Himself has placed a mark on the pains of childbirth (Gen. 3:16); and therefore, as bearing special reference to the cause of {63} all other misery, the Church has appointed a special office of praise in acknowledgment of the primeval curse converted into a blessing."

Circ.u.mcision, The.--A Feast of the Church observed on January 1st, in commemoration of our Lord's obedience to the Law of Circ.u.mcision and His receiving the Name JESUS (which see, also HOLY NAME).

Originally this date was observed as the Octave of Christmas. Its first mention as the Feast of the Circ.u.mcision was about A.D. 1090.

In the Annotated Prayer Book there is the following note: "January 1st was never in any way connected with the opening of the Christian Year; and the religious observance of this day (New Year's Day) has never received any sanction from the Church, except as the Octave of Christmas and the Feast of the Circ.u.mcision. The spiritual point of the season all gathers about Christmas. As the modern New Year's Day is merely conventionally so (New Year's Day being on March 25th until about 150 years ago), there is no reason why it should be allowed at all to dim the l.u.s.tre of a day so important to all persons and all ages as Christmas Day." The Feast of the Circ.u.mcision is designed to be observed with great solemnity. There are Proper Psalms, being the 40th and 90th for Morning Prayer, and the 65th and 103d for Evening Prayer, also Proper Lessons and Collect, Epistle and Gospel, these last to be used every day until the Epiphany. The Church color is, white, and the Feast is placed among the DAYS OF OBLIGATION (which see).

Clergy.--A collective name for the Bishops, Priests and Deacons of the Church. The Priesthood and the {64} People are generally distinguished from each other by the t.i.tles _Clergy_ and _Laity_.

The term Clergy is derived from the Greek word _Cleros_, meaning a lot or portion, either because the Clergy--_clerikoi_--are the Lord's portion, as being allotted to His service; or because G.o.d is their portion and inheritance. The Laity are so called from the Greek word _Laos_, meaning people, as being the chosen and peculiar people of G.o.d.

Clerical.--Pertaining to the work and office of the Clergy.

Cloister.--A covered walk about a Cathedral or Church or Collegiate building, oftentimes forming a portion of the quadrangle.

Coadjutor.--(See BISHOP COADJUTOR).

Collect.--The name given to the prayers set forth in the Prayer Book and especially to the short prayers used in connection with Epistles and Gospels. The origin of the name is uncertain and various meanings have been given to it. Some have connected it with the _collected_ a.s.sembly of the people; others have interpreted the name as indicating that the prayer so-called, _collects_ together the topics of previous prayers or else those of the Epistle and Gospel for the day. Another interpretation is that which distinguishes the Collect as the prayer offered by the Priest _alone_ on behalf of the people, while in the Litanies and Versicles the Priest and people pray alternately. As of Common Prayer in general, so it may be concluded especially of the Collect in particular, "that it is the supplications of many gathered into one by the voice of the Priest and offered up by him to the Father through our Lord and Mediator Jesus Christ." {65}

Comfortable Words.--The name given to the short pa.s.sages of Scripture read after the Absolution in the Communion service. It has been pointed out that these are peculiar to our Liturgy and that "perhaps the object of their introduction was the obvious one suggested in the t.i.tle of _Comfortable Words_, of confirming the words of Absolution with those of Christ and His Apostles; and of holding forth our Lord and Saviour before the communicants, in the words of Holy Scripture to prepare them for 'discerning' His Body in the Sacrament."

Commendatory Prayer.--A beautiful and impressive prayer added to the Prayer Book in 1661, and which is to be said over a dying person. This prayer ought to be memorized by every Churchman so as to use it in any emergency for, as Bishop c.o.xe suggests in "Thoughts on the Services," "whether a Clergyman be present or not, no Christian should be willing to die, or be permitted to die, without the _Commendatory Prayer_ said by some one present at or near the moment of departure. Church people are not heathen, that they should neglect this bounden duty to one who is pa.s.sing away.

'Father into Thy hands I commend My spirit,' said the Saviour with His dying breath. So should the sick person in his own behalf; or those who love him in his behalf, if because of the pain or unconsciousness of death, he cannot frame the pet.i.tion for himself."

Commandments, The Ten.--(See DECALOGUE.)

Common Prayer.--Bishop Whitehead has given the following explanation of this term: "Common Prayer is so called in distinction from private or {66} special prayer. It comprehends those needs and expresses those religious feelings which are common to all G.o.d's children who come together to worship. So we make our common supplications, confess our common sins, and offer our common sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, of alms and devotion." (See WORSHIP, also PRAYER BOOK.)

Communion, Holy.--(See HOLY COMMUNION.)

Communion of Saints.--An article of the Creed by which is meant the fellowship with, or union in Christ of all who are one with Him whether they are among the living in the Church on earth or the departed in Paradise. The Communion of Saints is specially realized in the Holy Eucharist. This spiritual food is our Lord's own divine substance and life, by partic.i.p.ation in which the faithful Christian enters into a communion with his Lord which death cannot end or even interrupt. All who enter, whether in the present or in the past, into this communion with their risen Lord are thereby bound together in holy fellowship one with another also. It is this holy fellowship of those whom the Spirit has sanctified, one with another and with their Lord, that we call the Communion of Saints.

(See ALL SAINTS' DAY.)

Compline.--One of the seven CANONICAL HOURS (which see).

Confirmation.--An ordinance of the Church, sacramental in character and grace conferring. It is administered to those who have been baptized and is effected by prayer and the Laying on of Hands by the Bishop. Hence the Scriptural name for it is "The Laying on of Hands." Its chief grace is the seven-fold {67} gift of the Holy Ghost by means of which we are sealed, made firm or strong, and equipped "manfully to fight under Christ's banner against sin, the world and the devil." Confirmation is a further advance in the Christian Life and ent.i.tles the recipient to be admitted to the Holy Communion.

The Scriptural authority for Confirmation is very manifest. Thus in Acts 8:5-17, we have the first recorded Confirmation, and in the 19th chapter we find another account of the same administration. In Hebrews 6:1, 2, we find Confirmation or the Laying on of Hands mentioned as a first or foundation principle of the Doctrine of Christ, as necessary to the health of the soul as Repentance, Faith, Baptism, Resurrection and eternal judgment. In Ephesians 1:13 and 14, it is spoken of as a "sealing," and made a plea for righteousness of life: and in the fourth chapter, verse 30, it is spoken of in the same way, as well as other pa.s.sages which might be cited.

Confirmation having such Scriptural authority, it is to be noted that it has always and in all places been practiced by the Historic Church and that even at this present time nine-tenths of all Christian people still hold to Confirmation as essential and necessary to the religious life. While the above Scriptural authority and universal practice are sufficient evidence that the use of Confirmation is according to the mind of Christ, yet it will be interesting to know the estimate of this holy ordinance by those who have departed from the practice of the Universal Church, which is given as follows:

Methodist Testimony.--"I was determined {68} not to be without it, and therefore went and received Confirmation, even since I became a Methodist preacher."--_Dr. Adam Clarke_.

Baptist Testimony.--"We believe that Laying on of Hands, with prayer, upon baptized believers as such, is an ordinance of Christ, and ought to be submitted unto by all persons to partake of the Lord's Supper."--_Baptist a.s.sociation, September 17, 1742_.

Congregational Testimony.--"The confession of the Name of Christ is, after all, very lame, and will be so till the discipline which Christ ordained be restored, and the Rite of Confirmation be recovered in its full use and solemnity."--_Dr. Coleman, Boston_.

Presbyterian Testimony.--"The Rite of Confirmation thus administered to baptized children, when arrived at competent years, shows clearly that the Primitive Church in her purest days, exercised the authority of a Mother over her baptized children."--_Committee of the General a.s.sembly_.

Consecrate.--To make sacred; to set apart for sacred use, as the elements in the Holy Communion, Church buildings, etc. A Bishop is said to be consecrated to his office by the act of Laying on of Hands by other Bishops.

Consecration, Prayer of.--That portion of the Communion office beginning with the words, "All glory be to Thee, Almighty G.o.d,"

etc., and by which the Bread and the Wine become the Body and the Blood of Christ. This is the most solemn act of the whole service and comprises (1) the words of Inst.i.tution, (2) the Oblation and (3) the Invocation, followed by the Intercessions. {69}

Consecration of Church Buildings.--The service provided in the Prayer Book whereby a church building erected and paid for is separated, by the administration of the Bishop from all unhallowed, ordinary and common uses and dedicated to G.o.d's service, for reading His Holy Word, for celebrating His Holy Sacraments, for offering to His glorious Majesty the sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving, for blessing His people in His Name, and for all other holy offices. The building thus set apart becomes G.o.d's House and not man's, and as such calls for acts of reverence on man's part as he enters it to meet G.o.d where He has thus caused His Name to dwell there.

Convention.--A name quite generally used in the United States for a Council of the Church. (See GENERAL CONVENTION, DIOCESAN CONVENTION, also COUNCIL.)

Convocation.--The term "Convocation" as used in the American Church has reference to certain territorial divisions in a Diocese, or the grouping together of the Clergy and Laity of certain districts of a Diocese, for the more efficient and systematic work of missions.

Usually each Diocese is divided into two or more Convocational Districts, each one presided over by a Priest, either elected by the Clergy of the Convocation or appointed by the Bishop, and usually called the "Dean of Convocation." This arrangement has been found to be very helpful in creating a greater interest in the work of Diocesan Missions and in promoting Church extension within the Convocational limits.