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The

Concise Lexicon of Christianity

Teachings, worship, rites, sermons, and terminology

Church Organization

General Information

Acolyte Anglican Communion ApostleArchbishop Bishop Canon (person) Cardinal Catechumen Celebrant Celibacy, Celibate Choir Robes Clergy Congregation Crucifer Curate Deacon Dean Diocese Elder Eparchy Father Lay Reader Minister Officiant Parish Pastor Patriarch Pope Presbyter Presbytery Priest Priests, Methodist Priests, Protestant Priesthood ProvinceRector Reverend See Sexton Thurifer Uniate churches Vestments Verger Vestry Vicar

Bible Study Architecture Clergy Clothing Terminology Theology Public Worship

In the beginning: The early Church was organized the same way as the synagogue, though many Bible translations obscure this fact.

Both the Church and the synagogue were led by one or more presbyters, which means elder and became the English word priest. If there were several elders, the leader was called the episkopos, which means supervisor and became the English word bishop. In the early days, bishops rode circuits, as the Apostle John did (Revelation 1-4). Deacons were the invention of the early Church. Their function is incompletely described in the New Testament, but they seem to have been administrators.

Thus the early Church consisted of congregations served by deacons, run by priests, and supervised by bishops. Or if you dislike words of Greek origin, we could say that early congregations had a board, ministers, and a district superintendent.

Modern Bible translations cause confusion by translating both πρεσβυτερος (presbyteros) and ’ιερευς (hiereus) as priest. 1 Peter 2:1-10 teaches a hierarchy of all believers, not a presbytery of all believers—meaning that all Christians have direct access to God, but not all Christians are clergy.

However, if you get twenty people from different backgrounds to study the Bible in order to determine what the Bible says about how the Church should be organized, you will get about forty answers. They will all have very cogent arguments for their positions. Probably the reason why there is so much disagreement on this subject is because the New Testament doesn’t prescribe church government so much as it describes it. Here are some terms that are used by historic churches and their general definition.

I am using historic terminology in this glossary. Church bodies are not obligated to use these terms. For example, in the Episcopal Church of the USA, the terms priest, presbyter, and elder are used interchangeably. Some denominations might have ministers, preachers, evangelists, elders, or pastors, all of which have the same role as priests. They might have regional clergy called superintendents or regional ministers, which have the role of bishops. The Episcopal Church of the USA has a presiding minister with the same function as an archbishop.

You can translate these terms to the ones you use in your church or denomination.

Acolyte
An acolyte is a lay person, often a child or a teenager, who performs minor duties during the worship service to assist the ministers, such as lighting candles, carrying books, directing traffic during communion, and so forth. Acolyte comes from a Greek word for follower.
The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is a free association of national churches that are in communion with each other and with the Church of England, and in most cases are outgrowths of the Church of England. All of the bishops of the Anglican Communion meet every ten years at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury; the meeting is called the Lambeth Conference, named after Lambeth Palace, where it takes place. Bishops in the Anglican Communion are in apostolic succession through Peter.

In accordance with Canon 2 of the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in 381, which is binding on the Anglican Communion, the national churches, as well as their provinces and dioceses, have geographical boundaries that must not overlap. The Anglican Communion does not recognize more than one denomination of Anglicans in the same country, and two bishops cannot have overlapping dioceses.

There is some confusion about the term Anglican in the USA, which is one of the reasons for this entry. The only church body in the United States that is in the Anglican Communion is the Episcopal Church. Some congregations have broken away from the Episcopal Church for various reasons, some because they reject the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer, some because they reject the ordination of women, and others because they reject the inclusion or ordination of gay people. They all put Anglican in their name, which correctly indicates their history, heritage, and worship. Because of the one-church-per-territory rule dating back to 381, they cannot be part of the Anglican Communion unless the Anglican Communion rejects the Episcopal Church and replaces it with them.

Some of the breakaway congregations in the United States have affiliated themselves with African bishops to remain in the Anglican Communion. As long as the Episcopal Church is in the Anglican Communion, they are breaking the rule against overlapping dioceses. If their conviction prevails that the Episcopal Church is not valid, they are not breaking the rule.

Other Churches That Left the Catholic Church

The Church of England was not a unique case. The following churches were parts of the Catholic Church until they became independent Lutheran churches in about the 1530s. Many are still official state churches of their countries. Those that are not have special status or receive public funding.

Like the Church of England, they all have bishops, priests, and deacons. The links go to their respective websites.

  • The Church of Denmark (Folkekirken)
    The official state church of Denmark.
  • The Church of the Faroe Islands (Færøernes folkekirke)
    The Faroe Islands are part of the Kingdom of Denmark; hence the Church of the Faroe Islands began as a diocese of the Church of Denmark. In 2007, it became independent and it is now the state church of the Faroe Islands.
  • The Church of Finland (Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko) Because Finland used to be part of Sweden, it originated as part of the Church of Sweden and shared official status with the Orthodox Church of Finland. It became a separate church in 1809, when the country became the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire. Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917. The constitution of 1919 guarantees freedom of religion, which allows other religious bodies to exist.
  • The Church of Iceland (Þjórðkirkjan)
    The state church of Iceland.
  • The Church of Norway (Den norske kirke)
    It is no longer the state church of Norway since 2017, but receives funding from local governments.
  • The Church of Sweden (Svenska kyrkan)
    It is no longer the state church of Sweden since 2000, but it still receives state funding. If you visit the website, click on the first red button on the bottom left to accept necessary cookies.
Apostle
The word apostle is Greek for delegate or messenger. There was an inner group of apostles (Peter, James, and John), plus nine more to make the Twelve. After Judas died, the Twelve became the Eleven. Because of the symbolism of the number 12 (the 12 tribes of Israel), the Eleven met to complete the number by selecting a successor to Judas.

The eligibility requirements for being an apostle are given in Acts 1:21-22: a disciple of Jesus who followed Him from His baptism by John to His Ascension is eligible to be an apostle. Given those criteria, two people were equally qualified, Justus and Matthias. They cast lots to decide which one, and Matthias filled out the core group of 12.

The Twelve were not the only people who met the criteria for being an apostle. If you read Luke 10, you will discover 70 more disciples who met the criteria and whom Jesus gave the same authority and mission as the 12. These are recognized as apostles in the Orthodox churches, and you can find a list of their names on Orthodox websites or in Wikipedia. Hence, at this point, we have identified a total of 82 apostles, or 81 if Matthias had been promoted from the Seventy to the Twelve. Obviously, it was more effective to have about 80 apostles than just 12.

In addition to the apostles I just described, Paul was an apostle. Since he was recognized by the other apostles as a genuine apostle, he must have been among the group that followed Jesus from His baptism to His Ascension, but as a spy. Jesus commissioned Him on the road to Damascus

Obviously, there are no apostles after the first generation of apostles died out, because since that time, no one meets the qualifications in Acts. There are no apostles today, though modern churches can call their orders of clergy whatever they want, so they are free to call an order of clergy apostles.

Duties and Authority of Apostles

Apostles were missionaries who had the authority to establish churches, to appoint bishops to supervise them, and to ordain priests to run them. They were also able to work miracles at their own discretion (Acts 3:6). Today, anyone can request a miracle from God, but if it happens, it happens only at God’s discretion.

Archbishop
The word archbishop is Greek for chief overseer. (The prefix arch- essentially means chairman.) Therefore, archbishop is not a separate order of clergy, he is just a bishop who is the chairman of his fellow bishops in a geographical region. In some areas, bishops elect one of their number to be the archbishop; in other areas, the bishops rotate the office. The head of the Episcopal Church of the USA is called a presiding bishop rather than an archbishop, but the meaning is the same.
Bishop
Bishop is the English version of the Greek word επισκοπος (episkopos), which means overseer or supervisor. (Note the progression from episkopos to pickup to bishop.) The qualifications for bishops are given in 1 Timothy 3, but there is no scriptural description of their duties. In the middle of the first century, the local church, and the churches founded by its bishop, were headed by a bishop and the priests served as a board of advisors who also functioned as clergy under the bishop’s direction. By the time of Ignatius at the end of the first century, the Church had grown. By that time, bishops had territorial supervision over several churches, while the presbyters were responsible for pastoral care of individual churches. Ignatius describes a system identical to the modern practice, well in accord with Titus 1:6-9 and the situation in the seven letters in Revelation. Bishops wear purple clericals.

Apparently the apostles had the strategy of evangelizing major urban areas, with the intent that those churches would evangelize the surrounding areas. The New Testament mentions the church at Ephesus, the largest city in the Roman province of Asia (now part of southwestern Turkey), but does not mention the nearby smaller city of Magnesia. In AD 117, Ignatius passed through the same area and was greeted by the bishop of Magnesia, from a church that had been founded after Paul left and before Ignatius arrived.

In the historic church, a bishop is a regional minister, a priest with administrative duties over a group of churches in a territory called a diocese. Only bishops can preside at the rite of ordination. An individual bishop can ordain a deacon or a priest, but it takes three bishops to consecrate a new bishop. A Roman Catholic bishop must remain unmarried. An Anglican, Lutheran, or Methodist bishop can be married. In the Orthodox Church, and in the Uniate Churches that are affiliated with Rome, only unmarried priests can become bishops, and bishops are not permitted to marry. See the entry on celibacy.

Bishops are the successors of apostles. For example, the Bishop of Rome is the successor-in-office of the Apostle Peter, and the Bishop of Alexandria is the successor-in-office of the Apostle Mark (one of the Seventy).

When they are ordained, Methodist ministers are presented with a document showing their apostolic succession back to Peter, but they are not priests in the Anglican Communion, since their ordinations pass through Wesley, who was never a bishop.

Duties and Authority of Bishops

Like apostles, bishops are missionaries who have the authority to establish churches, to appoint bishops to supervise them, and to ordain priests to run them. Saint Patrick became a bishop in order to evangelize Ireland. Alaska was originally evangelized by St. Herman of Alaska, a Russian Orthodox bishop.

Unlike apostles, they cannot single-handedly appoint a priest to the office of bishop. It took (and still takes) three bishops working together to do that, just as it takes three rabbis to ordain a rabbi. They also cannot work miracles at their own discretion (Acts 3:6) as the apostles could. Bishops also have the ability to appoint local feast and fast days for the churches under their supervision.

Since a bishop had authority over the churches he founded, it sometimes happened that a church came under the authority of a different bishop than the church next door, and that led to unseemly arguments among Christians. There was also the problem of priests, both real and fake, unilaterally moving from one bishop to another. Canon 2 of the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in 381, solved these problems by setting up geographical boundaries and prohibited overlapping jurisdictions.

Canon (person)
A canon is a priest who serves on the staff of a cathedral. The duties of a canon include conducting worship and performing pastoral services, especially when the bishop is visiting other churches in the diocese. If John Smith is a canon of a cathedral, he is called the Rev. Canon John Smith.

(The word canon also has another meaning.)

Cardinal
Cardinals have a long history in the western Church, but today they are peculiar to the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinals are bishops who serve as advisers to the pope and elect his successor-in-office. The pope can make any priest or bishop a cardinal; however, when a priest becomes a cardinal, he is consecrated a bishop. Upon the death, retirement, or resignation of a pope, they administer the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church until they can elect a new pope. Cardinals are the only clergy in the Roman Catholic Church who wear red clericals.
Catechumen
Catechumen is a Greek word that means, roughly, student. In the ancient church, a catechumen was a person who was taking instruction in with the goal of being baptized. In the ancient Church, catechumens were dismissed from the service between the Service of the Word and the Eucharist. (In some churches, announcements are made at this point.)

The term catechumen is still used by Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran Christians, and you may come across it elsewhere.

Celebrant
A term for the minister who is the moderator of a worship service that includes communion. In most cases, only a member of the ordained clergy can be a celebrant.
Celibacy, Celibate
Today, the word celibate means unmarried. In the last couple of centuries it has acquired the added meaning of sexually abstinent.

In ancient times, people lived in households, which were a combination of an extended family and a business. Since home and work were the same thing, managing the business and staff of a household was a full-time job. Ordination would have conferred a second full-time job on top of the first one, which would not work out for obvious practical reasons. Since celibacy was a practical necessity for bishops, they were required to be celibate. If a priest was married at ordination, he remained married, but he was not allowed to divorce or remarry if he was widowed. Priests who were single at the time of their ordination were not allowed to marry afterwards, because learning the skill of balancing two full-time jobs after ordination wasn’t practical. (That is still the rule in eastern churches, even those affiliated with Rome.) Later, the western church required all priests to be celibate both at ordination and afterwards.

This is still the rule in Ortodox and Uniate churches.

Today, professional life is separate from family life. It is possible to quit a secular job to become clergy and maintain a normal family life after ordination. For that reason, Protestants do not require either their regular clergy or their bishops to be celibate.

In theory, the rules about celibacy could be changed in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, because it is not a matter of dogma or doctrine, just church discipline. Change is unlikely, because of the historical and institutional inertia behind these rules.

Choir Robes
A term for the vestments worn by members of the choir. In some churches, no other vestments are used.
Clergy
The word clergy comes from a Latin word that means office holder. It refers to ordained ministers who are authorized to conduct the rites and sacraments of the church. Some clergy may have administrative duties at various regional and national levels of a church.

In some legal jurisdictions, clergy status may automatically empower a person to perform legally binding weddings; in others, clergy must obtain a license from the court. Courts generally do not require clergy to divulge what people have told them in confidence; this is often called the sanctity of the confessional. However, there can be exceptions. Many legal jurisdictions impose criminal penalties on clergy who do not immediately report information about certain types of crimes, such as suspected child abuse, even if the information was given in confidence.

Congregation
The people who have gathered (congregated) for worship. The term has two meanings:
  • Those presently assembled for worship.
  • All of the people who make up the local church’s constituency.

In many churches the word congregation is only used in the first meaning, and the word parish is used for the second meaning.

Crucifer
Crucifer is a Latin word meaning cross-bearer, used for the acolyte who carries the cross in a church procession. It is an ancient custom for the clergy and the other ministers to enter the church after the worshipers have already assembled. When this is done in a procession, the procession is led by the crucifer, usually a young person, bearing the cross. The crucifer is followed by the choir, the acolytes, the lay ministers, and finally the clergy; the highest-ranking clergy last.
Curate
Curate is an Anglican term for assistant pastor. The word cure is related to the word care. A curate is a person who takes care of a cure, that is, the congregation, viewed as a spiritual charge. Assistant pastors are usually assigned the duty of routinely visiting the members of the congregation who are sick, shut-in, or in distress; hence the term. The word curator (as in a museum) is related. See also rector and vicar.
Deacon
The word deacon comes from the Greek word διаκονος (diakonos), which means servant. The New Testament records the appointment of the first deacons in Acts 6 and lists their qualifications for office in 1 Timothy 3. The New Testament describes the function of the first deacons, but it does not lay down a general charter for the function of deacons in the church. Up through the fourth century, deacons had administrative functions, and because even the largest churches limited themselves to seven deacons, they often had more power and prestige than the presbyters, who nominally outranked them. This situation was corrected by the Council of Constantinople in AD 381 and by allowing larger churches to have as many deacons as they needed. Today, depending on the church, a deacon can be any of the following: a member of the clergy; a lay minister; or a lay administrator.
Dean
The word dean has many uses throughout Christendom. Most often the term is used for the bishop’s assistant who actually runs the cathedral.
Diocese
In the Roman Empire, the diocese was a unit of local government, like a county in England or Virginia, a borough in Alaska, a parish in Louisiana, or a Landkreis in Germany. One of the ancient ecumenical councils of the Church resolved to follow the political boundaries of the Roman Empire in setting up church jurisdictions; therefore the term diocese has come to mean the territory of a bishop’s jurisdiction. Modern churches also generally follow political boundaries when they set up ecclesiastical regions, even if they don’t call them dioceses. In Orthodoxy, a diocese is called an eparchy.
Elder
Elder is the English word which translates the Greek word presbuteros (or presbyter), which came down to us in English as priest.
Eparchy
See diocese.
Father
In Roman Catholicism, in Orthodoxy, and to some degree in Anglicanism, people often address priests as father. In general usage, if John Smith is a priest, he is called Father John, but if he is an Anglican priest, he might be called Father Smith. Protestants do not call their clergy father, based on Matthew 23:9, but they do not use the same reasoning to ban the term teacher, following Matthew 23:10, so the prohibition is mainly a reaction against Roman Catholic practice. Groups who do use this term argue that the contextMatthew 23:1-12 only forbids Christian leaders to use titles such as father and teacher hypocritically or for self-promotion. They use 1 Corinthians 4:15 as an example of how the term father can rightly be applied to a Christian leader. However, if you are writing a letter to a Catholic priest called Father John Smith, the address on the envelope should say The Reverend Father John Smith. Otherwise, the envelope should say The Reverend John Smith.
Lay Reader
A lay reader is a lay person who is authorized to read the scripture lessons and lead the congregation in certain parts of the worship service. In many circumstances, a lay reader can be authorized to conduct worship or administer sacraments under strict instructions from the clergy. The lay reader is essentially the Christian continuation of the lay reader in the synagogue.
Minister
Minister is the Latin word for doer of little deeds, as opposed to a magistrate, who is a doer of great deeds. In some churches, the word minister denotes a person who is charged with the spiritual care of a church. In most churches, minister is a generic term that includes all who assist in worship, whether clergy or lay. All of the following are ministers: bishops, priests, deacons, acolyte, lay readers, crucifers, and even the members of the congregation.
Officiant
A term for the minister who is the moderator of a worship service. This term is most often used when the service does not include communion. Depending on circumstances, the officiant may be an ordained minister, a lay minister, or a lay person.
Parish
In some churches, the geographical territory of a local church. In general, the constituency of a local church; that is, all the people who are members or who informally consider it to be their church. In many churches, congregation is used for this term.
Pastor
Pastor is the Latin word for shepherd. This word refers to the ordained minister who is charged with the primary spiritual care of a local church.
Patriarch
A patriarch is not a separate order of clergy, just a bishop who has administrative duties over archbishops and bishops in an extended geographical region. Generally, a patriarch is whichever person is elected to be bishop of a designated area; for example, in secular terms, we might say that the Bishop of Alexandria is ex officio the Patriarch of Alexandria. The Patriarchs of Rome and Alexandria have the title pope. Pope (Emeritus) Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) gave up the title of patriarch; however, since that title was bestowed on the Bishop of Rome by an ancient ecumenical council, I’m not certain that his action means anything to the other Patriarchs.
Pope
The term pope or papa originated as a term of endearment for bishops and sometimes even priests. It is a form of the word father.

The Western Church—Carthage (during the second century)
The Bishop of Carthage had the courtesy title pope for about a hundred years, beginning in the late second century. That usage has not survived.

The Eastern Church—Alexandria (from the third century on)
Beginning in the third century and extending through the present day, the Patriarch of Alexandria of the Coptic Orthodox Church is the only one who has had the official title pope. Unlike the Roman Catholic pope, he does not claim universal jurisdiction over all Christians. In November 2012, Pope Theodoros became the 118th pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, succeeding Pope Shenouda III, who died in March 2012.

The Western Church—Rome (from the 11th century on)
In 1073, Pope Gregory restricted the use of the title pope to himself, his successors, and his predecessors in office. Therefore in western Christian usage, the term pope refers exclusively to the Bishop of Rome. The Roman Catholic pope claims jurisdiction over all Christians, hence for Catholics the title pope means universal head of the Christian church. Gregory also instituted a number of measures called the Dictatus Papae that strengthened the papacy. The pope is the only member of the Roman Catholic clergy who always wears white vestments and clericals.

Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) resigned in February 2013 and became pope emeritus. His successor, Pope Frances (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was elected in March 2013.

History books written in the west generally conform to Catholic practice and refer to all bishops of Rome before 1073 as popes. If you are reading Orthodox documents, or western documents written before 1073, the term pope might refer to the Patriarch of Alexandria or it might be a courtesy title for someone else.

Presbyter
The Greek word πρεσβυτερος (presbyteros) is used in the New Testament for people who perform the functions of clergy in the Church. It means elder. The English word that developed over time from presbyter is priest. (Note the progression from presbyter to prester to priest.) The qualifications for presbyters are given in 1 Timothy 5, but their duties are not listed in scripture. The office, function, and name came into the Church from the ancient synagogue.

Presbyters, that is, regular ordained clergy, wear black clericals.

Presbytery
The word presbytery has several meanings in current use. In Presbyterian churches, it refers to a council of presbyters (elders) and a geographical area that corresponds to a diocese. In the Catholic Church, it can refer to a priest’s residence. Presbytery is also a synonym for priesthood.
Priest (Catholic and Orthodox)
In many New Testament translations, the word priest is used to translate both presbyter and hierarch, which can confuse the reader. It gives the false impression that the Church has no clergy or that all Christians are clergy. The Greek New Testament teaches a hierarchy of all believers, not a presbytery of all believers—meaning that all Christians have direct access to God, but not all have administrative, supervisory, or sacramental duties in the Church. (See 1 Peter 2:1-10 in the original Greek.)

Roman Catholic priests must be unmarried at the time of their ordination and they must remain that way. In the Eastern Church, a priest must remain in the state in which he was ordained. If he was single when he was ordained a priest, he must remain unmarried. If he was married when he was ordained a priest, he may remained married, but he is not permitted to remarry if he is widowed. Anglican and Lutheran priests can marry after ordination. (Lutheran clergy in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries are called priests.) If an Anglican or eastern priest becomes a Roman Catholic priest, his marital status is not a barrier. This means that there are a few married priests in the Roman Catholic Church. See also the entry on celibacy.

Priests, that is, regular ordained clergy, wear black clericals.

Priest (Methodist)
The question arises, Why are there no Methodist priests, even though the Methodist movement originated within the Church of England, which has priests? Methodist ordinations went back to John Wesley, who was not a bishop; hence the people he ordained were not priests.

His proposal was for the Church of England to divide the United States (whose western border was the Mississippi River at the time) into two geographically equal dioceses, one east of the Appalachians for the Episcopal Church and one west of the Appalachians for the Methodist Church. John Wesley wanted to be made the bishop of the western diocese, so the elders he ordained would be priests. The Church of England declined his offer on the grounds that Methodists, who had originated in the illiterate lower class in England, could not even read. (Which was not true, but they didn’t know it.) Consequently, Methodist clergy are ordained as elders, not priests.

Priest (Protestant)
In countries where the entire state church went from Catholic to Protestant, regular clergy are ordained by bishops in apostolic succession and are priests. This happened in England, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

In Protestant bodies in areas where the Catholic Church had special legal status, regular clergy could not be called priests, for legal reasons. In those areas, calling Protestant clergy priests would have been illegal impersonation. They called their clergy ministers or pastors, or by some other name, and many wore street clothes or academic robes instead of vestments. This necessity became a virtue as they grew to interpret it as validating them and contrasting them from the Catholic Church that had oppressed them.

Many of these people immigrated to what was later to become the United States to avoid the Catholic Church, which was unpopular, hated, or even illegal. One colony, Maryland, was set up as a haven for Catholics, but there were small Catholic communities elsewhere. Protestant churches were free to call their regular clergy priests, but because the only church they knew about that had priests was the Catholic Church, they carried over their terminology from Europe. Congregations of the Church of England in the United States had priests, just as in England.

Priesthood
Priesthood is a synonym for clergy in Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox churches. The phrase priesthood of all believers comes from 1 Peter 1:4-10. In this passage, the word priesthood translates a Greek word that does not refer to presbyters, but to people who have direct access to God. Thus this passage says that all Christians have direct access to God; it does not say that all Christians are clergy.
Province
Some churches are divided into provinces, which are groups of dioceses. The Church of England, for example, is divided into the Province of Canterbury and the Province of York. The Episcopal Church in the United States has nine provinces, which have no names but are designated by Roman numerals. The Roman Empire was politically divided into various jurisdictions, the most important being the province, which corresponds to a state in Australia, Austria, Germany, or the United States. As in the Roman Empire, a province contained a group of dioceses.
Rector
Rector is the Anglican word for the elected pastor of a financially self-supporting congregation. The term derives from the fact that if there are multiple clergy on staff in a church, the pastor has primary responsibility for directing the worship. Historically in the Church of England, the terms rector and vicar had different meanings, but today the distinction lies in the history of the parish. See also vicar.
Reverend
The term reverend is an adjective that simply indicates that a person is a member of the clergy. In the United States, it is abbreviated Rev; outside the United States, it is abbreviated Revd. If John Smith is a member of the clergy, you can refer to him in writing as The Rev. John Smith, or The Rev. Smith. If he has a doctorate degree, you can refer to him as The Rev. Dr. John Smith, or The Rev. Dr. Smith.

When you are talking to John Smith, who is clergy in your church, use the form of address that is common for clergy in your church. If you are talking to John Smith, who is clergy in a different church, you might be unsure what to call him or you might be on the spot with no one to ask. You could also be confused. The bare fact that John Smith is Lutheran clergy is not enough to know what to call him. If his denomination originated in Germany, he is a pastor, but if he is Lutheran clergy from Scandinavia, he is a priest. It might be hard to know which is which and what to call whom, in which case just call him Reverend Smith. Don’t worry, it won’t offend anyone, even if it is technically incorrect. Nevertheless, most members of the clergy are humble and are not offended if you get their titles wrong.

When in doubt, refer to clergy as Rev. So-and-so, using their last name. That way no one will think you are being disrespectful.

See
The word see comes from a Latin word meaning seat. It refers to the city in which the bishop’s home church (cathedral) is located.
Sexton
Chiefly in the Anglican Communion, the sexton is the custodian of the facilities and grounds.
Thurifer
A thurifer is a person who carries and swings the thurible in a worship service. In case that doesn’t clear it up for you, a thurible (or censer) is the device in which incense is burnt.
Uniate Churches
Uniate churches are former Eastern or Orthodox churches that have put themselves under the jurisdiction of the Church of Rome, but retain their own ritual, practice, and canon law. The term has a negative connotation for them and they don’t often use it to refer to themselves.

Even though they count as Catholic churches, their priests are not required to be celebate. This leads to the disconcerting situation where some men who are considered Catholic priests are married with children, and it’s okay with the church.

Vestments
You can read more information about vestments.
Verger
In an Anglican church, the verger can be a parish employee or a volunteer who is the custodian of the buildings, or it can be the person who leads the procession or indicates to lay readers where the appointed passages are. The exact function of a verger can differ from congregation to congregation.
Vestry
In the Anglican Communion, the vestry corresponds to the board of directors of a secular organization. The vestry elects the rector of the church and conducts its secular business.

George Washington, the first president of the United States, was a member of the vestry of the Falls Church in the city of the same name in Fairfax County, Virginia by virtue of his vast landholdings. His personal beliefs were Deist.

Vicar
In the Anglican Communion in the United States, if a church is not financially self-supporting and is unable to pay a full-time pastor, the bishop is nominally the pastor. The bishop appoints a priest to do the actual work. Since this priest is only functioning as a stand-in for the bishop, he or she is called a vicar from the Latin word for stand-in. When the church becomes self-supporting, its vestry calls and elects a rector to take the place of the vicar. Historically in the Church of England, the terms rector and vicar had different meanings, but today the distinction lies in the history of the parish.