Glossary

Amen: A Hebrew word. Amen means something like 'I agree' or 'We agree' or 'yes that is right' or 'that is how things are'. In grown up words - 'a affirmation of assent'.
Attributes: Attributes are things which make people or objects special. Some of the attributes of a teddy bear might be soft, warm, cuddly. Some of God's attribues are loving, wise and strong.

Benedictus: Latin for 'blessing' - this is also the name of a song fron the Eucharist service.

Chaos: Pronounced kay-oss; Chaos means 'without order' or 'all mixed up'. For people, chaos is linked with violence, war and loss, Christians understand chaos as being caused by people not following the values that Jesus has given to us.
Chide: An old word for 'telling off' or 'reprimand'.
Christ: "The greek term for messiah
Creed: A word for belief, from a latin word Credo. The Creed is a part of worship where people say what they believe, to God and to each other.
Collect: A Collect is a special prayer which gathers up (collects) the themes of a story or a season. It is a prayer made with special rules, you can see Ella writing a Collect in the resources section.

Dismissal: A word meaning sending. In many situations people are 'sent way' or 'sent out'. In sport we hear of players being dismissed when they are 'sent off', in the forces an officer says 'dismissed' when he or she has finished speaking to other ranks and wishes them to go. In the same way worship ends with the worshippers being 'sent', but not simply sent away; Christians are sent out of worship with an important job to do - to live and share the values that Jesus showed us.

Eternal: This word means something like everlasting, or going on for ever.It is like many of the hopes of Christianity and helps us to think about becoming more like God.

Fast: A time when Christians spend time thinking about themselves and their relationship to God. This is often linked with not eating expensive or rich food. There are fasts in all the world Faiths.
Fellowship: Strong friendship, fellowship often include making public promises and stories of fellowships often include sacrifice such as in the first part of the Lord of the Rings - 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. A fellowship is a special kind of community. A Christian fellowship is special because of the values that hold it together.

Gospel: This word has three meanings for us. 1: the books of the Bible that tell the story of Jesus; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 2: the 'Good News' that God's Son Jesus has been sent to us. 3: A tradition of singing which began among the slave people of the Southern United States.

Hallowed: An old way of saying 'holy'. In the traditional Lord's prayer we say 'hallowed be thy name' meaning that God's name is just to be used for speaking to God - not as a swear-word!
Harvest: Christianity did not have a special 'harvest' festival such as is celebrated now for many years. Strictly what we celebrate today is a 'thanksgiving', it is an important occasion when the Local Community, Church and School can all come together for worship.
Heaven: In Christianity Heaven is where God is or 'dwells'. Heaven has been pictured in many ways the most common being a court (or palace) where God is a king on a throne or a place like the garden of Eden where all things live together in peace and love. Very few people would say that Heaven is a 'place' where you could land a spaceship.
Hebrew: This is the language of the Jewish people. Much of the Old Testament of the Bible was written down in Hebrew.
Holy: A word meaning 'given over to God', 'especially saved for God'. We use the word hallowed to mean the same thing in the Lord's Prayer.
Hosanna: A call or shout of praise. The word is an English version of a Hebrew word which actually means something like 'help!' or 'save me!'.

Latin: The language of the Roman Empire. For many years Latin was the official language of Christianity in Europe. In England this changed in Tudor times when the Church of England was created. Latin is still the language of the Roman Catholic church and many parts of Church worship are still known by their latin names such as 'Magnificat'.
Liturgy: This means, literally, 'the work (or duty) of the people'. It is often used to describe the patterns of prayers, songs and actions which Christians follow in church.

Messiah: A Hebrew word for 'the chosen one' or 'the anointed one'. Anointing is the action of pouring oil over someone's head. In the ancient world this was done to kingsto show that they were important.

Peace: In the Bible peace is not just 'calmness'. When we talk of peace in communities we mean a time when everything can happen wthout problems, where work and relationships go along smoothly - everyone feels safe and secure. For Christians this includes the 'work' of worship and love of God. In the Old Testament peace is often a translation of the Hebrew word shalom which has all these meanings of safety, security and working easily together.
Pentecost: An ancient Jewish festival to celebrate the wheat harvest. The word itself is Greek and means fiftieth because it is fifty days after Passover. For Christians Pentecost is the festival on which they celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts Chapter 2)

Ransomed: A ransom is a price paid or given for someone else. In the Christian faith the word is used for Christ's giving of himself for all people on the cross, on Good Friday.
Reconciled: A word which means something like 'brought together after an argument or separation'. Christians understand that because people do not live up to God's values (sin) we all need to be reconciled to God. The Gospels tell that Jesus did this for us through his teaching and sacrifice.

Sacrifice: This means 'giving something without counting or asking for the cost'. In the ancient world sacrifices to God often involved killing or burning because then the offering passed from this world into the next one where is was supposed that God is.
Sanctus: A latin word meaning 'holy'. It is also a the name of a sung part of the Eucharist service.
Sin: A word which Christians use as a name (noun) for things we do which do not match up to the values taught by Jesus and are found in the Bible. Sin is also a verb (doing word) used for those things we do which 'fall short' of the Christian values we know.
Spirit: The Holy Spirit is known to Christians as part of the Holy Trinity. In the Bible spirit is closely linked with the words 'wind' and 'breath'. Sometimes it is very difficult to know which one to use when making a translation, for an example look at the story of the Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37: 1-14 where breath, wind and spirit are used many times. The word 'spirit' is also used for the part of us which is affected by art, music, the natural world and which most easily forms a relationship with God.
Steward: Somone who looks after something on behalf of someone else. Very often this word is to do with property or land. The words in Genesis 1:26-30 are often understood to mean that people are to be stewards of God's world and to look after it well so that, in the end, God can take it back whole and complete.