Results for “Church”
Articles 1,000, showing 20
- Sexual Violence in the ChurchControversies
Sexual violence in the church is sexual violence that occurs within communities of faith such as churches and mission organizations. Views differ on what procedures the church should use to handle such cases and on whether a pastor who has committed abuse may return to ministry.
- Church DisputesControversies
Church disputes are conflicts among church members over matters such as pastoral calls, finances, church discipline, and denominational affiliation. The principal issues are whether members may bring suit in civil courts and to whom property belongs when a church divides.
- Church FathersHistory
The Church Fathers are the leaders and theologians of the early church who, from the late first century to around the eighth century, helped establish the framework of Christian doctrine, biblical interpretation, and worship.
- Church of the Holy SepulchreHistory
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Old City of Jerusalem, built on the site traditionally identified as Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, and as the tomb in which he was buried. First built under Constantine the Great in the fourth century, it is now administered jointly by several denominations.
- Church HistoryHistory
Church history is the history of the church, or the academic discipline that studies that history. Eusebius's fourth-century Ecclesiastical History is regarded as the beginning of systematic writing in the field. Today church history is taught in seminaries as a branch of historical theology.
- Church of AntiochHistory
The church of Antioch was an early church founded in the first century in Antioch, a major city of Syria. It was there that believers were first called "Christians," and it was this church that sent Barnabas and Paul on the mission to the Gentiles.
- Church in RomeHistory
The church in Rome was the Christian community in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, during the first century. It was the church to which the apostle Paul addressed his Epistle to the Romans, and it appears to have consisted of several house congregations.
- Church Growth MovementHistory
The Church Growth Movement is a current within evangelical missiology that sought to study the causes of church growth through surveys, statistics, and sociology and to apply the findings to evangelism and mission. It originated in the 1950s with the missionary Donald McGavran and is also known as church growth studies.
- Church MusicDoctrine & Theology
Church music is the general term for the music the church uses in worship and in the life of faith. It includes congregational hymns, choral anthems, responses, and accompaniment.
- Church Architectural StylesDoctrine & Theology
Church architectural styles are the period and regional forms evident in the floor plan, exterior, and ornamentation of church buildings. The arrangement of a building reflects theological convictions about what belongs at the center of worship.
- Church Anniversary SundayChristian Life
Church Anniversary Sunday is a Sunday on which an individual congregation remembers the day of its founding and holds a service of thanksgiving. Because it is not a common observance of the church year, each church sets its own date and manner of observance.
- Church BazaarChristian Life
A church bazaar is a church event at which members sell donated or handmade goods and food, using the proceeds for relief, missions, or church projects.
- Forms of Church GovernmentChristian Life
Forms of church government classify church organization according to who holds decision-making and disciplinary authority in the church. They are commonly divided into episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational polity.
- Particular ChurchOrganization & Polity
A particular church is an individual local church that belongs to the whole church throughout the world, the universal church. The term is used chiefly in Presbyterian church constitutions. In Korean Protestant usage, the corresponding term can also refer to a branch congregation that a megachurch establishes in another area.
- House ChurchChristian Life
A house church is a form of church in which believers gather in homes to share meals, study the Word, and pray together as a community. Among Korean Protestants, the term usually refers to the pastoral model that Pastor Young-Gi Chai began at Seoul Baptist Church of Houston.
- Eastern Orthodox ChurchDenominations
The Eastern Orthodox Church is one of the three major traditions of Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. It is a communion of Eastern churches that take the tradition of the early church and the decisions of the seven ecumenical councils as their standard of faith. It is also commonly called the Orthodox Church.
- Catholic ChurchDenominations
The Catholic Church, also called Catholicism or the Roman Catholic Church, is a Christian church under the leadership of the Pope in Rome. Together with Protestantism and the Orthodox Church, it is regarded as one of the three main branches of Christianity.
- Independent ChurchDenominations
An independent church is a Protestant church that does not belong to a denomination; each congregation manages its own affairs and makes its own decisions. Because such churches do not identify with any particular denominational tradition, they are also called "nondenominational churches."
- Congregational ChurchDenominations
The Congregational Church is a Protestant denomination that follows congregational polity, in which the entire membership (the congregation) of each local church makes the final decisions on church matters. It arose from the Puritan and Separatist movements of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England.
- The Church and PoliticsControversies
The question of how the church and individual Christians should engage in politics. Views differ on the meaning of the separation of church and state, the boundary between preaching and political speech, and the proper forms of the church's social engagement.