Search the encyclopedia
1000 articles found for “an elder”
1 Timothy 3:2
[Bible Verses]This verse lists "the husband of one wife" among the qualifications of a bishop (church leader). Interpreters disagree over whether the phrase prohibits polygamy, prohibits remarriage, or means that only married men may serve. The question also bears on divorced officeholders and on women in church office.
Ezekiel 36:26
[Bible Verses]Ezekiel 36:26 records God's promise to give a new spirit, to take away the stony heart, and to give a heart of flesh. It is a principal Old Testament text on regeneration and the inward transforming work of the Holy Spirit, and it is frequently cited in discussions among denominations about how God's work and the human response relate to each other in conversion.
Matthew 18:15–17
[Bible Verses]Matthew 18:15–17 sets out a step-by-step procedure for when a brother sins: one should first admonish him privately, then with one or two witnesses, and, if he still refuses to listen, tell it to the church. It is the foundational text for church discipline, and its scope of application is debated when it is applied to conflicts and crimes within the church.
Matthew 5:38–42
[Bible Verses]A passage in the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus teaches a life of non-retaliation in place of the principle of retaliation, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." Because it bears on nonviolence and pacifism, state authority, and the protection of victims, it has received a range of interpretations.
Healing of the Demon-Possessed Boy
[Bible]The healing of the demon-possessed boy is a miracle in which Jesus, after coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration, cast a demon out of a boy whom his disciples had been unable to heal. The account appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Beth-shan
[Bible]Beth-shan was a Canaanite city located where the Jezreel Valley meets the Jordan Valley. It is known as the place where the Philistines fastened the body of Saul to the city wall, and in New Testament times it was one of the cities of the Decapolis.
Ahn Changho
[People]Ahn Changho (安昌浩, 1878–1938), known by his pen name Dosan (島山), was a Korean independence activist and educator during the period of Japanese colonial rule. A Protestant, he organized the Sinminhoe (New People's Association), the Heungsadan (Young Korean Academy), and other organizations. He also served in the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea as Minister of Home Affairs and Acting Prime Minister.
Colossians 2:16–17
[Bible Verses]Paul's instruction that no one should judge believers in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival, a new moon, or the Sabbath. Because Paul declares that these things are a shadow pointing to Christ, the passage serves as a key text in debates over the Sabbath, the Lord's Day, and dietary laws.
Jeremiah 29:11
[Bible Verses]Jeremiah 29:11 is the promise that God's thoughts toward his people are thoughts of peace and not of evil, intended to give them a future and a hope. It is one of the verses most frequently used at graduations and new beginnings, and it often prompts debate over whether a word given to the community of exiles in Babylon may be applied as a promise of personal success.
Associate Pastor
[Church Offices]An associate pastor is an ordained minister who assists the senior pastor of a congregation with preaching, pastoral visitation, education, administration, and other duties. In Korean Protestant churches, associate pastors, together with evangelists and licentiates, are commonly grouped as "assistant ministers."
Officer (Salvation Army)
[Church Offices]An officer is a member of the clergy of The Salvation Army, equivalent to a pastor in other denominations. Within the Salvation Army's military-style organization, officers complete training and are commissioned, after which they lead corps (local congregations) or carry out social service and administrative work.
Installed Pastor
[Organization & Polity]An installed pastor, a term used chiefly in Presbyterian churches, is a senior pastor who has been called by a congregation and installed by the presbytery to serve that church without a fixed term. The office is distinguished from that of a temporary (stated) pastor, whose term of service is limited.
Offering
[Christian Life]An offering is money that Christians give to God as an expression of gratitude and faith, or the act of giving it. It is usually presented during the offertory in worship. In the early Korean Protestant church it was commonly called yeonbo.
Independent Church
[Denominations]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."
Communion of Saints
[Doctrine & Theology]An article of faith confessed in the Apostles' Creed, referring to the fellowship and sharing among all believers who have been made one body in Christ.
Evangelist Pastor
[Church Offices]An evangelist pastor is a pastoral title used chiefly in the constitutions of Presbyterian denominations. It refers to a pastor sent by a presbytery to preach the gospel in an area without a church and to establish new churches there.
Institutional Pastor
[Church Offices]An institutional pastor is a minister who does not serve a local church but instead works in a Christian institution such as a denominational headquarters, school, hospital, media organization, or mission agency. The title is used chiefly in the constitutions of Presbyterian denominations.
Romans 12:1-2
[Bible Verses]An exhortation stating that presenting one's body as "a living sacrifice, holy" is "spiritual worship" (KJV: "reasonable service"), and urging believers not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. The passage opens the practical section of Romans and is a key text linking worship with the Christian life.
Philippians 4:6–7
[Bible Verses]An exhortation not to be anxious about anything but to pray with thanksgiving, with the promise that the peace of God will guard the heart and mind. The passage is widely cherished as a source of comfort and is frequently cited in discussions of how faith relates to anxiety and mental health.
Ecclesiastes 12:1
[Bible Verses]An exhortation to remember one's Creator in the days of youth, before the evil days come. It is one of the final exhortations of Ecclesiastes and one of the verses most widely used as a motto for youth ministry.