• The Bible We believe that God and God's people can speak to us through the Bible. All the things we need for a good life are in there.
• Our Tradition We are a church with many old stories. Some of these stories connect us to Jesus and the things he taught us. Some of the stories help us understand what other people think about God and Jesus.
• Thinking The Episcopal Church does not have a human-made set of rules for being God's people. We believe that in our life with God we should use our minds, we should think about the Bible, tradition and our own experience.

• Anglican An adjective describing the worldwide communion of autonomous churches in communion with the Church of England. The Episcopal Church is part of that communion. Anglican can also be a noun, a member of the Anglican Communion.
• Apostolic Succession Episcopalians, along with other Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Orthodox and some other Christian bodies, trace their bishops' spiritual heritage in an unbroken line back to the first apostles of Jesus. The importance of the historic episcopate is a major point in ecumenical discussions.
• Book of Common Prayer The primary guide for worship in the Episcopal Church. The first Anglican Book of Common Prayer was written in English in 1549 by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, drawing on material from a number of Latin books and manuals then used to conduct services.
• Canons The written rules governing church policy, structure and procedure. There are national canons and each diocese has its own.
• Catholic From the Greek, this word means "universal." With a lower case 'c', it can be applied to all Christian denominations that profess the universal belief in God as Creator, Jesus Christ as God's Son and our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as the animating, life-giving Force of the Church. With a capital 'C' it describes a Church with three distinctions:
  1. The Church has retained a historic ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons in unbroken line of succession from Jesus and the Apostles;
  2. The Church confesses its faith with the historic Catholic Creeds, primarily the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds; and
  3. The Church offers the seven formal Catholic sacraments. (The two "essential" sacraments are Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. The others are Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Penance, Holy Unction, and Holy Orders.) There are three main bodies of Christianity that qualify as capital 'C' Catholic by those criteria: the Eastern Orthodox Churches (Greek, Russian, Armenian, etc.), the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion, which includes our Episcopal Church. While many Episcopalians would describe our Church as a Protestant Church with a rich Catholic heritage, many others describe it as a Catholic Church with a rich Protestant heritage. In the Sixteenth Century, the reformers in the Church of England demonstrated what the Eastern Orthodox Church had shown in the Eleventh Century - that it is possible to be Catholic without being Roman Catholic.
• Diocese A diocese is made up of several local congregations with a bishop as its chief pastor. Since only a bishop can consecrate other bishops, ordain priests and deacons and confirm, the diocese is the basic local unit of the church. Depending on the number of Episcopalians, a state may have one or several dioceses. The legislative body of the diocese is an annual convention of clergy and lay deputies from each congregation.
• EpiscopalAn adjective derived from the Greek word, episkopos, meaning overseer or bishop. Episcopalian is the noun. Episcopalians attend the Episcopal Church.
• General ConventionThe General Convention is the highest legislative body of the Episcopal Church. It meets every three years and is made up of a House of Bishops and a House of Deputies. Half the deputies are clergy and half lay persons.
• Lambeth QuadrilateralIn 1888 the world's Anglican bishops, meeting at Lambeth in England adopted four articles as essentials in any plan of union with other Christian bodies: The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, the sacraments of baptism and holy communion, and the historic episcopate (see Apostolic Succession).
• VestryLay members of the vestry are elected at a parish's annual meeting. The rector presides at meetings of the vestry, which handles the parish's business matters and serves as a council of advice for the rector.

Ecclesiastical Titles

• BishopA bishop is a chief minister (servant) or chief pastor (shepherd) in the Episcopal Church, serving a number of local churches that make up a diocese. A large diocese may have more than one bishop. In that case the chief bishop is called the diocesan. Assisting bishops are usually called suffragan bishops. An assisting bishop who will succeed the diocesan is a bishop coadjutor. All are addressed as "bishop".
• PriestThis word comes from a Greek word, presbyter, meaning elder. Usually a priest is the chief minister in a local congregation. Forms of address- father, mother, etc. -depend upon the priest's preference and local custom.
• DeaconA deacon, like a bishop or priest, is an ordained minister. Deacon comes from the Greek word, diakonos, meaning servant. Deacons usually serve in local congregations and have a special ministry to the poor, the sick and the troubled. Deacons are addressed as deacon, mister, miss, mrs., etc. according to preference or local custom.
• MinisterThis is a Latin word, meaning servant. In the Episcopal Church lay persons as well as bishops, priests and deacons are ministers, servants of God, caring for their brothers and sisters in the church and those outside it.
• PreacherPreaching is only one function of the ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church and so preacher is not an appropriate synonym for bishop, priest or deacon.
• Rector/VicarThe priest in charge of a parish, a self-supporting church, is the rector. The rector is elected by the vestry. Assisting priests the rector appoints may be called curate, assistant or associate. The priest in charge of a mission, supported financially from outside, is the vicar. The vicar is appointed by the bishop.
• ReverendThe Reverend is an appropriate title to precede the full name of a priest or deacon. The Right Reverend is used for a bishop. Reverend is an adjective, not a noun, and is incorrectly used with a last name only, or without the article, the, as in "Reverend Jones."

Architecture

• NarthexThe entrance hall, called by some denominations the vestibule.
• Nave The pew area of the church building, where the congregation sits, stands or kneels during public worship. The nave is more than an auditorium, where people listen, because worship in the Episcopal Church involves everyone as participants.
• ChancelIn classic church design, an area of pews, seats, stalls or prayer desks set apart from the nave, used by the ministers leading services and sometimes used by the choir.
• SanctuaryThe area immediately surrounding the altar, often enclosed by an altar rail. In some denominations the word refers to the entire worship space.

Sacraments and Services

• Holy Baptism and Holy EucharistThe two major sacraments in the Episcopal Church. In baptism God makes us his children, members of the church, the Body of Christ. The Episcopal Church recognizes baptism in other Christian bodies, done with water in the name of the Trinity. In the Holy Eucharist Episcopalians recall the saving acts of God and enter communion with Christ and Christians of all times and places. In this sacrament we are fed spiritually with the Body and Blood of Christ.
• Other SacramentsConfirmation, in which members make a mature commitment to Christ and receive strength from the Holy Spirit. Ordination, in which bishops, priests and deacons are made, receiving authority and grace of the Holy Spirit. Holy Matrimony, in which woman and man enter a life-long union, receiving the grace and blessing of God to help them fulfill their vows. Reconciliation of a Penitent, in which those who repent of their sins may confess them in the presence of a priest and receive assurance of pardon and the grace of absolution. Unction of the Sick, the anointing with oil or laying on of hands by which God's grace is given for the healing of spirit, mind and body.
• Other Services The Book of Common Prayer provides a variety of services for individual and corporate worship. The most widely used, other than the Holy Eucharist, the central act of corporate worship, are Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, both of which may be used for private devotions or public worship.

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