Pentecost was the “fiftieth” day after Easter and is celebrated in the Christian church as the day on which the Holy Spirit descended upon the followers of Christ gathered in Jerusalem, inspiring them to form a new community of preaching, praise, and practice. It is sometimes known as the birthday of the church. Its events are narrated in The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2.

Advent is the Christian season of preparation for Christmas, the four weeks before Christmas in the Western churches; the first Sunday in Advent is the beginning of the Christian liturgical year.

The Coptic Church is the ancient and still vibrant church of Egypt, an autonomous Christian church which dates its origins to Mark the Evangelist in the 1st century. It continues to be led today by a patriarch called a Pope; its liturgical life is conducted in both the ancient Coptic language and Arabic.

Joshua was the leader Moses appointed to succeed him after his death, laying his hands upon Joshua and committing to him the leadership of the people of Israel. According to biblical history, Joshua led the Israelites, who had been tested for forty years in the desert, across the River Jordan and into the promised land of Israel.

A pastor (from the Latin word for shepherd) is a member of the clergy with responsibility for a particular congregation. For Lutherans, it is a formal title for a parish minister.

Jerusalem, the ancient capital of Israel from the time of King David (c. 1000 BCE), was the ritual and spiritual center of the Jewish people for 1,000 years until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. For Jews, Jerusalem is still the geographical epicenter of the tradition. For Christians, Jerusalem the site of the mighty events of Christ’s death and resurrection. For Muslims, Jerusalem is the place where the prophet Muhammad came on his Night Journey from Makkah to the very throne of God.

Ordination means consecration to a priestly or monastic life. The term is used in the Buddhist tradition for the rites of becoming a monk (bhikkhu) or nun (bhikkhuni); in the Jewish tradition for the rites of becoming a rabbi; and in the Christian tradition for the rites of becoming a priest or minister.

The chancel is the part of church, often elevated by a few steps, where the altar and pulpit are located. Often this is where choir members are seated and the place from which clergy conduct the service.

Holy Thursday is the Thursday of Holy Week, the week before Easter. It is the day on which Jesus is said to have shared a final meal with his disciples before he was betrayed to the Roman authorities who arrested him. It is also called Maundy Thursday, from the new commandment (mandatum) Jesus gave his disciples on that day: to love one another as he had loved them.

The most universal creed of the Christian community worldwide, the Nicene Creed was formulated by the ecumenical council called by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in Asia Minor in 325 CE. The creed affirms a Trinitarian understanding of the One God—as Creator, as Christ, and as Holy Spirit.

The Roman Catholic counterpart of Ogou in the Haitian Vodou tradition. Also called St. James.

St. Bridget (1303-1373) was born in Sweden and devoted herself wholly to spiritual life after the death of her husband. She founded a religious order and lived the last decades of her life in Rome. She was canonized as a saint in 1391.

Fundamentalism is an early 20th century American Christian movement often seen as a conservative response to the influence of the Enlightenment, new Biblical scholarship, and the claims of modern science. It stressed five points of faith it called the “fundamentals,” beginning with the literal “inerrancy” of the Bible. The term fundamentalism is often used more widely to describe dogmatic forms of religious belief.

Minister is a general term for a member of the clergy in the Christian church. The term has also come to use in other religious traditions to designate a member of the clergy (as in the Jodo Shinshu tradition and the Nation of Islam).

The Quaker movement, properly known as the Society of Friends, had its beginnings in 17th century England with George Fox (1624-91), whose form of worship was liturgically sparse, relying on silence and the inspiring movement of the Inner Light, the spiritual presence within each person which prompts him or her to speak. The Society of Friends has been strongly committed to pacifism. William Penn, a Quaker, was the founder of the Pennsylvania colony based on the Quaker principle of religious tolerance.