Rating: 
Summary: A great addition to clerical and parish library collections.
Review: A Dictionary For Episcopalians is a core and essential reference to the language of the Episcopal Church. This newest edition has been thoroughly updated and expanded to include new terms that have come into common usage since it was first published in 1985. The language Episcopalians use to describe their Christian faith, worship, and common life is a living thing that continues to expand and evolve within the Episcopalian community of faith. An ideal reference book for new members, A Dictionary For Episcopalians is highly recommended for use by seminarians, clergy, lay leaders, confirmation and inquirers' classes, altar guilds, and church school teachers. A Dictionary For Episcopalians is a welcome and practical addition to personal, clerical, parish library and sacristry collections.
Rating:
Summary: A great addition to clerical and parish library collections.
Review: A Dictionary For Episcopalians is a core and essential reference to the language of the Episcopal Church. This newest edition has been thoroughly updated and expanded to include new terms that have come into common usage since it was first published in 1985. The language Episcopalians use to describe their Christian faith, worship, and common life is a living thing that continues to expand and evolve within the Episcopalian community of faith. An ideal reference book for new members, A Dictionary For Episcopalians is highly recommended for use by seminarians, clergy, lay leaders, confirmation and inquirers' classes, altar guilds, and church school teachers. A Dictionary For Episcopalians is a welcome and practical addition to personal, clerical, parish library and sacristry collections.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, that funny hat he's wearing has a NAME!
Review: For many worshippers on Sunday in an Episcopal church, the intricacies of the liturgy do not occupy much thought beyond where in the prayer book we're reading from right now. Still, the Episcopal Church derives its current liturgy from a vast and rich tradition stretching back hundreds of years. The dictionary provides a thorough explanation of the liturgy, the vestments, the church architecture, the beliefs, and even the polity. Alphabetized by item, almost everything you might think of to ask about it is defined and discussed somewhere, from ambulatory to narthex. Even the most grizzled Episcopalian veteran might have difficulty telling you the difference between a rochet and a chimere, but it's spelled out plainly here. If it's not in this dictionary, it probably doesn't even HAVE a name. A very valuable reference.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, that funny hat he's wearing has a NAME!
Review: For many worshippers on Sunday in an Episcopal church, the intricacies of the liturgy do not occupy much thought beyond where in the prayer book we're reading from right now. Still, the Episcopal Church derives its current liturgy from a vast and rich tradition stretching back hundreds of years. The dictionary provides a thorough explanation of the liturgy, the vestments, the church architecture, the beliefs, and even the polity. Alphabetized by item, almost everything you might think of to ask about it is defined and discussed somewhere, from ambulatory to narthex. Even the most grizzled Episcopalian veteran might have difficulty telling you the difference between a rochet and a chimere, but it's spelled out plainly here. If it's not in this dictionary, it probably doesn't even HAVE a name. A very valuable reference.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent--and illustrations are beautiful
Review: I agree with the reviewers below that this is THE essential book for newcomers to the Episcopal church, or even for lifetime Episcopalians who just never got all those terms straight. Also a great gift for someone's confirmation, or for a wedding where one spouse is an Episcopalian and the other isn't. The illustrations deserve special mention, too--they're clear, crisp, and elegant. These, and the lovely design of the book, really enhance its gift-giving appropriateness.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent--and illustrations are beautiful
Review: I have to say that I loved this book/dictionary. For someone who did not come from a litergical background, this book illuminated so much for me. Every Episcopalian church should have this available for new members.
Rating:
Summary: Describe every imaginal Episcopalian word...
Review: I have to say that I loved this book/dictionary. For someone who did not come from a litergical background, this book illuminated so much for me. Every Episcopalian church should have this available for new members.
Rating:
Summary: Quick! What's a "dossal"?
Review: On the surface of things, there might seem something a bit precious about a dictionary that explains "churchy" terms. It smacks of private language and esoteric, self-enclosed culture--two characteristics frequently ascribed to the Episcopal Church. But in fact John Wall's (revised & expanded) dictionary is a gem for at least three reasons. First, it helps the average Episcopalian to get in better touch with his/her tradition. Two thousand years of practice are embedded in the Eucharist and other religious liturgies, and it helps to heighten appreciation and celebration when the richness of that practice is better understood. (The priest's washing of hands is called "lavabo," from the Latin for "I will wash," and dates back at least to Jewish ceremonial ablutions.) Second, any Episcopalian who will ever serve on the altar guild or vestry or as a lay eucharistic minister is going to run across terms that are unfamiliar--paten, pall, centrum, burse, etc. In fact, people in the pew who play no other role in church are likely to be confused at some terms: for example, concelebration, collect, rood, proper. So the dictionary is incredibly helpful from a purely practical perspective. Finally, it's simply very cool to learn that objects in the church and acts in liturgy actually have names: cincture, solemn vs. simple bow, orans position. Believe it or not, this is one dictionary you'll read straight through. By the way: a dossal is the "large piece of fabric, often decorated with symbols, hung on the wall behind the altar. The term is derived from the Latin word for 'back'" (p 45).
Rating:
Summary: Quick! What's a "dossal"?
Review: On the surface of things, there might seem something a bit precious about a dictionary that explains "churchy" terms. It smacks of private language and esoteric, self-enclosed culture--two characteristics frequently ascribed to the Episcopal Church. But in fact John Wall's (revised & expanded) dictionary is a gem for at least three reasons. First, it helps the average Episcopalian to get in better touch with his/her tradition. Two thousand years of practice are embedded in the Eucharist and other religious liturgies, and it helps to heighten appreciation and celebration when the richness of that practice is better understood. (The priest's washing of hands is called "lavabo," from the Latin for "I will wash," and dates back at least to Jewish ceremonial ablutions.) Second, any Episcopalian who will ever serve on the altar guild or vestry or as a lay eucharistic minister is going to run across terms that are unfamiliar--paten, pall, centrum, burse, etc. In fact, people in the pew who play no other role in church are likely to be confused at some terms: for example, concelebration, collect, rood, proper. So the dictionary is incredibly helpful from a purely practical perspective. Finally, it's simply very cool to learn that objects in the church and acts in liturgy actually have names: cincture, solemn vs. simple bow, orans position. Believe it or not, this is one dictionary you'll read straight through. By the way: a dossal is the "large piece of fabric, often decorated with symbols, hung on the wall behind the altar. The term is derived from the Latin word for 'back'" (p 45).
Rating:
Summary: Quick! What's a "dossal"?
Review: On the surface of things, there might seem something a bit precious about a dictionary that explains "churchy" terms. It smacks of private language and esoteric, self-enclosed culture--two characteristics frequently ascribed to the Episcopal Church. But in fact John Wall's (revised & expanded) dictionary is a gem for at least three reasons. First, it helps the average Episcopalian to get in better touch with his/her tradition. Two thousand years of practice are embedded in the Eucharist and other religious liturgies, and it helps to heighten appreciation and celebration when the richness of that practice is better understood. (The priest's washing of hands is called "lavabo," from the Latin for "I will wash," and dates back at least to Jewish ceremonial ablutions.) Second, any Episcopalian who will ever serve on the altar guild or vestry or as a lay eucharistic minister is going to run across terms that are unfamiliar--paten, pall, centrum, burse, etc. In fact, people in the pew who play no other role in church are likely to be confused at some terms: for example, concelebration, collect, rood, proper. So the dictionary is incredibly helpful from a purely practical perspective. Finally, it's simply very cool to learn that objects in the church and acts in liturgy actually have names: cincture, solemn vs. simple bow, orans position. Believe it or not, this is one dictionary you'll read straight through. By the way: a dossal is the "large piece of fabric, often decorated with symbols, hung on the wall behind the altar. The term is derived from the Latin word for 'back'" (p 45).
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