- adapted from a leaflet produced by St Luke's Cedar HIll.
The Anglican Church of today still uses many terms developed over the 2000-year history of Christianity - they are precise and specific, and mostly used only in church settings. This means they carry a lot of historic weight and meaning - but only if they are understood. When specialist terminology is not understood, it becomes jargon, which can be confusing, and can feel exclusive. But anyone can learn and use this vocabulary - there are no arcane secret meanings. Churches today can contain many different combinations or modern adaptations of these architectural and decorative elements, which combine to give structure and functional significance to the space - they are visual cues to what's going on where. The Episcopal Church (Anglican in the USA) website has a detailed and comprehensive glossary here. A quick "cheat sheet" is below:
NARTHEX: the inside entrance porch or lobby
NAVE: the main body of the church where the congregation sits. (from Latin navis, a ship - the shape of the roof/ceiling often looks like an upturned boat)
CHANCEL: front part of the church, usually raised one or more steps above the nave floor level. There is no chancel in St. Philip; the arch at the front of the nave creates a visual division between the nave and the sanctuary. Pronounced chance'll.
SANCTUARY: the area where the altar is placed, often raised one step above the chancel floor level. This is considered the holiest part of the church and is entered with extra respect, usually only by clergy, servers, chalice bearers, and the altar guild when on duty.
SACRISTY: a room near the altar where the eucharistic vessel and linens are kept. Vestments and other things used in worship may also be kept there, as well as flower vases, cleaning supplies and church registers. Clergy and servers often "vest" (put on their vestments) in this room.
VESTRY: also called VESTING ROOM, often interchangeable with SACRISTY. This word is also used for a parish's Annual General Meeting, the Vestry Meeting - this stems from the English tradition of church leaders holding church business meetings in the vestry room.
CATHEDRAL: the principal church of a diocese that serves as the bishop's official seat (cathedra) and a center for diocesan ministry, events, and administration. Often but not always the most central and/or largest.
PEWS: usually uncomfortable benches where the congregation sits. Many churches in modern times are reverting to ancient tradition and removing the pews, opting for more flexible (and perhaps comfortable) seating instead, such as upholstered stacking and interlocking chairs.
FONT: basin for holding water used for baptisms. Often with an ornate base/stand.
LECTERN: rest or stand for the Bible used for reading scripture during services
PULPIT: an elevated platform or reading desk, often partly enclosed up to desk height, used for preaching sermons. In some churches (such as St Philip) there is no separate lectern and lessons are read from the lectern inside the pulpit. In modern times it has become more common to preach simply standing at the front of the church rather than in the pulpit.
PRIE-DIEU: A prayer desk incorporating a seat, small desk and kneeler, where the priest may sit and pray at certain points during a service. There is a prie dieu consisting of a separate chair and prayer desk with kneeler at St Philip but it is not regularly in use. It can be seen against the south wall near the front of the nave, behind the chairs. (French, "pray to God")
PROCESSIONAL CROSS: carried in front of the choir and/or clergy upon entering and leaving the church.
BANNER: textile hangings, changed regularly throughout the year - colours and symbols/motifs are used to mark liturgical feasts, seasons, and events such as weddings or funerals.
ALTAR RAIL: low railing on the sanctuary step, physically dividing the sanctuary from the rest of the church space. There are often kneelers on the step in front of the railing; communion may be received here.
ALTAR: a consecrated table of wood or stone. The Holy Eucharist is celebrated upon it. Traditionally it was placed against the east end of the church; in this arrangement, the priest serves facing east, away from and in the same direction as the people. Later the altar in many churches was moved out from the wall; in this arrangement, which is in use at St Philip, the priest serves on the other side of the table, facing west (facing the people). Still later, in many churches the altar has been moved forward to the front of the nave, much closer to the congregation.
CREDENCE TABLE: a small side table for holding the eucharistic vessels and elements during a service. Pronounced cree-dunce.
REREDOS: decorated cloth hanging or carved wood on the wall behind/above the altar. At St Philip, there is a large cross in this position. pronounced rare-a-doss.
RETABLE: a shelf behind the altar where candles, flowers and an altar cross may be kept.
MISSAL: the liturgical book containing the full text of the Eucharist service. Pronounced miss'll.
MISSAL STAND: a stand or cushion for the MIssal to rest on
ANTEPENDIUM: a textile hanging
PARAMENTS: collective term for all the church textiles used to cover the altar, communion table, lectern and/or pulpit. These are normally coloured according to the changing seasons of the church year, and decorated with seasonally appropriate symbols.
FRONTAL - a textile hanging used on the front of the altar, often floor length.
SUPER FRONTAL - a short hanging that may hang on the front of the altar by itself or over the longer frontal if there is one.
FAIR LINEN - a white cloth that is placed on the altar. It represents the linen cloths in which Jesus was wrapped for his burial. Five crosses are often embroidered on the fair linen, one at each corner and one in the centre. The fair linen may be longer than the altar is wide, and the crosses should coincide with the corners of the table. If there is a design in the centre of the fair linen, is should be placed so that the priest sees it the correct way round from the usual side of the altar they stand on.
CERE CLOTH - underlinen, traditionally made of waxed linen, the exact size of the altar, to protect from moisture/spills. (from Latin for wax, pronounced "seer")
PROTECTOR - simple, coarse linen cloth to cover the fair linen when the Eucharist is not being celebrated,
CREDENCE CLOTH - white linen cloth on the credence table
CANDLE LIGHTER-EXTINGUISHER - a long handle with a taper and snuffer on the end, for lighting and extinguishing tall candles.
Candles
GOSPEL CANDLE - the Candle on the Gospel side of the altar (north side).
EPISTLE CANDLE
Priest's vestments (ceremonial clothing)
Communion: Eucharistic Vessels, elements & linens
Other items found/used in church
Liturgical colours
DIfferent colours of paraments, banners, and vestments are used to mark the cycle of feast days and seasons of the church year.
WHITE: signifying purity, used for all feasts of the Lord and for saints who were not martyrs. It may also be used for funerals.
PURPLE: signifying penitence, used in Advent and Lent. May be used for funerals.
RED: signifying the sacrifice and renewal of blood and fire, used for Holy Week, Pentecost and feasts of martyr saints.
GREEN: signifiying life and growth, used for Epiphany (after the feast), Trinity, and periods of Ordinary Time.
BLACK: signifying death and mourning, may be used for Good Friday and funerals.
BLUE: used for feasts of the VIrgin Mary; used in some churches for Advent. Blue became associated with the Virgin Mary in the West from the late Middle Ages onwards; as lapis lazuli was a particularly expensive mineral for making pigments, it (and its less expensive lookalikes) were often used to depict the robes of the Virgin in manuscript illuminations and church paintings. In earlier depictions her robes are often more ordinary shades of red or green.
LENTEN ARRAY - special altar hangings used in Lent (until Holy Week); usually made of plain unbleached linen decorated with the Instruments of the Passion (cross, nails, crown of thorns).
Roles, titles, and administrative units
Roles and titles you may encounter
The Anglican Church worldwide is divided up geographically into Provinces. Canada has 4 Provinces. Some of the ecclesiastical (church) Provinces and diocese share the names of civil provinces for historical reasons, but their geographical boundaries are not the same. Each Province is divided into Dioceses (plural pronounced DYE-o-seez). The Diocese (singular pronounced DYE-o-sess) is the basic administrative unit of the Anglican church, and is composed of a number of sub-units called parishes, i.e. congregations. A parish may have more than one church building or congregation in it. In short: yes, it is a bit confusing!
Map of provinces & dioceses in Canada
ARCHBISHOP: the senior Bishop in a Province
BISHOP: the spiritual leader of a Diocese. Adjective: episcopal. From Latin episcopus and Greek episkopos, overseer or supervisor.
COADJUTOR BISHOP: assistant BIshop with the right of sucessions (becoming the next diocesan bishop) when the Diocesan Bishop retires.
SUFFRAGAN BISHOP: assistant bishop without the right of succession
DEAN: Rector of the Cathedral
Photo by Alejandro Morelos on Unsplash