Search the encyclopedia
1000 articles found for “an elder”
Session (Presbyterian)
[Organization & Polity]The session is the lowest church court in Presbyterian polity, governing an individual congregation. Composed of the senior pastor and the active ruling elders, it oversees the spiritual life of church members and makes decisions about the operation of the church.
Second Epistle of John
[Bible]The Second Epistle of John is the twenty-fourth book of the New Testament, a brief letter of thirteen verses from an author who calls himself "the elder" to "the elect lady and her children." It sets forth the commandment to love one another and warns against false teachers.
Installation of Church Officers
[Worship & Rites]The installation of church officers is a rite in which a church formally sets apart the officers it has elected, such as elders, deacons, and, in Korean churches, kwonsa (exhorters). In Korean Protestant usage, the rite is called an ordination service when it involves the laying on of hands, an inauguration service when duties are entrusted without the laying on of hands, and a pastoral installation service when a pastor is installed in a local church.
3 John 1:3–4
[Bible Verses]Third John 1:3–4 is the passage in which the elder rejoices at hearing that Gaius walks "in the truth" and declares, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." Because it speaks of the unity of faith and life, it is frequently cited in pastoral ministry and in the Christian nurture of children.
Interim Moderator of Session
[Organization & Polity]In Presbyterian churches, an interim moderator of session is a minister whom the presbytery temporarily appoints to preside over a congregation's session when the church has no senior pastor or the session cannot otherwise be led by its pastor.
3 John 1:2
[Bible Verses]Third John 1:2, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (KJV), is an epistolary greeting. The verse is widely known as the basis for the "threefold blessing" taught in the Korean Pentecostal movement, and debate continues over whether it can serve as a foundation for prosperity theology.
Henry Dodge Appenzeller
[People]Henry Dodge Appenzeller (1889–1953) was an American Methodist missionary born in Seoul. He served for about twenty years as the fifth principal of Pai Chai Haktang, the school founded by his father, Henry Appenzeller, and led relief work during the Korean War.
Corban
[Bible]Corban is a Hebrew word meaning "an offering given to God." In the New Testament it appears in Mark 7:11, in a passage where Jesus criticizes the practice of using a vow to avoid supporting one's parents.
High Priest
[Bible]The high priest held the foremost position among the priests of Old Testament Israel, an office whose holder entered the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement to make atonement for the people. The New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews presents Jesus Christ as the eternal High Priest.
1 Peter 5:7
[Bible Verses]1 Peter 5:7 urges suffering believers to cast all their cares on God because God cares for them. It is widely quoted as a word of comfort and an encouragement to prayer, and commentators note that it should be read together with the call to humility in the preceding verse.
James 5:16–18
[Bible Verses]A passage that urges believers to pray for one another when sick and to confess their sins to one another, citing the prayer of Elijah as an example. It is frequently cited in discussions of intercessory prayer, divine healing, and the practice of confession.
1 Timothy 5
[Bible]In this chapter Paul instructs Timothy on how to treat older and younger members of the church, widows, and elders. It addresses the care of widows who are truly without support, as well as the principles governing honor for elders and accusations against them.
Pastor's Wife (Samo)
[Church Offices]A pastor's wife is the spouse of a pastor. In Korean Protestant churches she is addressed by the honorific title samo. The title does not denote an office established by church constitutions, but in many churches the pastor's wife assists in pastoral ministry.
Deuteronomy 27
[Bible]Deuteronomy 27 records Moses' instructions that, after entering Canaan, Israel is to set up on Mount Ebal stones inscribed with the law, together with an altar. It then directs six tribes to stand on Mount Gerizim and six on Mount Ebal, and commands the people to answer "Amen" to each of twelve curses proclaimed by the Levites.
Titus 1
[Bible]The first chapter of the Epistle to Titus, in which Paul greets Titus, sets out the standards for appointing elders in every city of Crete, and instructs him to rebuke false teachers sharply.
Cyril and Methodius
[History]Cyril and Methodius were ninth-century missionary brothers from Thessalonica in the Byzantine Empire. They introduced worship in the Slavic language in Great Moravia and created the Glagolitic alphabet, earning them the title "Apostles to the Slavs."
2 John 1:6
[Bible Verses]Second John 1:6 states that love consists in walking according to God's commandments, and that the commandment is to walk in love, as the readers have heard from the beginning. The verse is frequently cited for defining love and obedience in terms of each other.
Jephthah
[People]Jephthah was a judge from Gilead in the Book of Judges. He is widely known for defeating the Ammonites and for losing his only daughter because of a rash vow.
Mark 7:18–19
[Bible Verses]In this passage Jesus explains to his disciples that food entering a person from outside cannot defile that person. Its closing clause, often rendered "declaring all foods clean," is frequently debated because translations and interpretations differ over whether it abolishes the Old Testament food laws.
Kim Pil-rye
[People]Kim Pil-rye (1891–1983) was one of the three founders of the Korean YWCA. A Presbyterian educator, she served as principal of Speer Girls' School and Chungshin Girls' School and devoted her life to secondary education for women.