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Catholic Churches
In the Catholic Church, a parish () is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the lowest ecclesiastical subdivision in the Catholic episcopal polity, and the primary constituent unit of a diocese or eparchy. Parishes are extant in both the Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches. In the 1983 Code of Canon Law, parishes are constituted under cc. 515–552, entitled "Parishes, Pastors, and Parochial Vicars." Types Most parishes are ''territorial parishes'', which comprise all the Christian faithful living within a defined geographic area. Some parishes may be joined with others in a deanery or ''vicariate forane'' and overseen by a ''vicar forane'', also known as a ''dean'' or ''archpriest''. Per canon 518, a bishop may also erect non-territorial parishes, or ''personal parishes'', within his see. Personal parishes are created to be ...
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Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.Gerald O'Collins, O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites#Churches, ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and Eparchy, eparchies List of Catholic dioceses (structured view), around the world, each overseen by one or more Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the Papal supremacy, chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The ...
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Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses of the Episcopal Church, provinces. The current presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Sean Rowe, Sean W. Rowe. In 2023, the Episcopal Church had 1,547,779 members. it was the 14th largest denomination in the United States. Note: The number of members given here is the total number of baptized members in 2012 (cf. #refBaptizedMembers2012, Baptized Members by Province and Diocese 2002–2013). In 2025, Pew Research Center, Pew Research estimated that 1 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 2.6 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians. The church has declined in membership and Sunday attendance since the 1960s, particularly in the Northeastern Uni ...
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Church Hall
A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use. In smaller and village communities, it is often a separate building near the church, while on more restricted urban sites it may be in the basement or a wing of the main church building. Activities in the hall are not necessarily religious, but parts of local community life, similarly to in an assembly hall. For example, Rovira House in Victoria, Australia is used by the Catholic Church in the suburb of Murrumbeena for events.https://pol.org.au/Portals/143/ParishData/Id175/Uploads/Type1/Newsletter%20-%20%2013th%20May%202018.pdf See also * Chapter house * Community centre * Fellowship hall * Hall church * Rectory * Refectory * Village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building w ...
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Rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, presbytery, rectory, or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically owned and maintained by a church, as a benefit to its clergy. This practice exists in many denominations because of the tendency of clergy to be transferred from one church to another at relatively frequent intervals. Also, in smaller communities, suitable housing is not always available. In addition, such a residence can be supplied in lieu of salary, which may not be able to be provided (especially at smaller congregations). Catholic clergy houses in particular may be lived in by several priests from a parish. Clergy houses frequently serve as the administrative office of the local parish, as well as a residence. They are normally located next to, or at le ...
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Deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, and Anglicanism, view the diaconate as an order of ministry. Permanent deacons (or distinctive deacons) are those who do not later transition to another form of ministry, in contrast to those continuing their formation who are then often called transitional deacons. Origin and development The word ''deacon'' is derived from the Greek word (), which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning "servant", "waiter", "minister", or "messenger". Recent research has highlighted the role of the deacon "as a co-operator" and "go-between," emphasizing their intermediary position in early Christian communities. It is generally assum ...
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Ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination vary by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is undergoing the process of ordination is sometimes called an ordinand. The liturgy used at an ordination is commonly found in a book known as an Order of Mass, Ordinal which provides the ordo (ritual and rubrics) for celebrations. Christianity Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches In Catholicism and Orthodoxy, ordination is one of the seven sacraments, variously called holy orders or ''Christian laying on of hands, cheirotonia'' ("Laying on of Hands"). Apostolic succession is considered an essential and necessary concept ...
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Religious (Catholicism)
A religious (using the word as a noun) is, in the terminology of many Western Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and Anglican Communion, what in common language one would call a "monk" or "nun". More precisely, a religious is a member of a religious order or religious institute, someone who belongs to "a society in which members ..pronounce public vows ..and lead a life of brothers or sisters in common". A religious may be ordained into the clergy, but ordination does not in itself define someone as a religious. Some classes of religious have also been referred to, though less commonly now than in the past, as "regulars", because of living in accordance with a religious rule (''regula'' in Latin) such as the Rule of Saint Benedict. Catholicism Catholic canon law definition Religious are members of religious institutes, societies in which the members take public vows and live a fraternal life in common. Thus monks such as Benedictines and ...
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Vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fifth of the budget of the British government. They were stripped of their secular functions in 1894 (1900 in London) and were abolished in 1921. The term ''vestry'' remains in use outside of England and Wales to refer to the elected governing body and legal representative of a parish church, for example in the Episcopal Church (United States), American and Scottish Episcopal Churches. Etymology The word vestry comes from Norman language, Anglo-Norman vesterie, from Old French ''vestiaire'', ultimately from Latin language, Latin ''vestiarium'' ‘wardrobe’. In a church building a Sacristy, vestry (also known as a sacristy) is a secure room for the storage or religious valuables and for changing into vestments. The vestry m ...
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Laity
In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In secular usage, by extension, a layperson is a person who is not qualified in a given profession or is not an expert in a particular field. The phrase "layman's terms" is used to refer to plain language that is understandable to the everyday person, as opposed to specialised terminology understood only by a professional. Terms such as ''lay priest'', ''lay clergy'' and ''lay nun'' were once used in certain Buddhist cultures, especially Japanese, to indicate ordained persons who continued to live in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery. Some Christian churches utilise lay preachers, who sermon, preach but are not clergy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the term ''lay pri ...
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Curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are assistants to the parish priest. The duties or office of a curate are called a curacy. Etymology and other terms The term is derived from the Latin (compare Curator). In other languages, derivations from ' may be used differently. In French, the is the chief priest (assisted by a ) of a parish, as is the Italian , the Spanish , and the Filipino term (which almost always refers to the parish priest), which is derived from Spanish. Catholic Church In the Catholic Church, the English word ''curate'' is used for a priest assigned to a parish in a position subordinate to that of the parish priest. The parish priest (or often, in the United States, the ''pastor'' or ''minister'') is the priest who has canonical responsibility for the ...
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