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Presbytery
[Organization & Polity]A presbytery is a governing court in Presbyterian churches in which the ministers and ruling elder representatives of a given region meet to govern the churches of that region. It is the intermediate court between the session and the general assembly.
District Conference
[Organization & Polity]A district conference is an intermediate-level body formed by the churches of a given region in Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and other denominations, or the meeting that such a body holds. It occupies roughly the same position as the presbytery in Presbyterian churches.
Hymn
[Worship & Rites]A hymn is a song sung by a congregation to praise God and confess the faith; the term also refers to a book collecting such songs. In Korean Protestant churches, the term commonly refers to the common hymnal shared by many denominations.
Responsive Reading
[Worship & Rites]A responsive reading is an element of worship, and also the text used for it, in which the leader and the congregation read a passage of Scripture, usually from the Psalms, alternately verse by verse. In Korean Protestant churches it is also known as seongsi gyodok, "the alternate reading of sacred poems."
Church Constitution
[Organization & Polity]A church constitution is the foundational body of rules in which a denomination codifies its principles of confession of faith, church government, offices, worship, and discipline. Depending on the denomination, it may be called a "constitution," *The Doctrines and Discipline*, or another name.
Church Plant
[Organization & Polity]A church plant is a newly established church, founded in an area with no church or too few churches or directed toward a new group of people; the term also refers to the process of establishing such a church. In Korean Protestant usage, it commonly denotes a church in its early years with a small congregation and a limited financial base.
Denomination
[Organization & Polity]A denomination is a grouping of Protestant churches that share the same theological tradition and form of church government. Examples include the Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, Pentecostal, Anglican, and Lutheran churches.
Congregational Meeting
[Organization & Polity]A congregational meeting is an assembly of all the baptized (communicant) members registered in a local church, convened to decide important matters such as electing church officers, calling a pastor, and approving the budget. The name is used in Presbyterian churches; in Korea, other denominations use names such as "general business meeting," and the courts refer to it as a "general meeting of church members."
Pastoral District (Gyogu)
[Organization & Polity]A pastoral district is a unit into which church members are divided, by region or by group, for pastoral care and church governance. In Korean Protestantism the term (gyogu) usually refers to a pastoral district within a single congregation, while in Anglicanism it refers to a regional church unit, or diocese, under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
Particular Church
[Organization & 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.
Theological Seminary
[Organization & Polity]A theological seminary, or graduate school of theology, is a graduate-level program whose primary purpose is the training of pastors. Its core program is the Master of Divinity (M.Div.), and many Korean Protestant denominations treat completion of this program as a basic requirement for ordination.
Non-Self-Supporting Church
[Organization & Polity]A non-self-supporting church is a church that cannot cover its pastor's living allowance and operating expenses from its members' offerings alone and therefore receives support from its denomination or from other churches. It is also called a "future self-supporting church."
Denomination
[Organization & Polity]A denomination is an organized body formed by churches that share a common confession of faith and system of church government. Several denominations may exist within a single denominational tradition.
Small Group
[Christian Life]A small group is a gathering within a church in which anywhere from a few to a dozen or so members meet regularly to share Scripture, pray, and care for one another. Depending on the church and denomination, such groups go by various names, including cells and classes; Korean churches also use terms such as guyeok (district), sokhoe (class), mokjang (pasture), darakbang (upper room), and sun.
Special Dawn Prayer Meeting
[Feasts & Seasons]A special dawn prayer meeting (teuksae) is a dawn prayer gathering that a church holds for a set period and around a chosen theme, with greater intensity than its regular dawn prayer meetings. The practice grew out of the dawn prayer tradition of Korean Protestantism.
Thanksgiving Offering
[Christian Life]A thanksgiving offering is an offering given in gratitude for grace received from God. In Korean churches, it is commonly given separately from regular offerings, with the giver writing the reason for thanksgiving on an offering envelope.
Church Membership Register
[Christian Life]A church membership register is the record of a person's status as an enrolled member of a particular church, together with that member's personal details and history of faith; the term can also refer to the membership status itself.
Building Fund Offering
[Christian Life]A building fund offering is an offering collected separately from general offerings to pay for constructing, purchasing, or renovating church buildings such as sanctuaries and education buildings.
Testimony
[Christian Life]A testimony is a believer's account, given before others, of faith experiences in his or her own life, bearing witness to what God has done.
House Church
[Christian 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.