Glossary of Terms

The city in southeastern England that became the ecclesiastical center for England and, eventually, the Anglican Communion. The Benedictine monk Augustine founded the church in Canterbury on his mission from Rome in 597. From there Christianity spread throughout England. Canterbury has had a preeminence from the beginning of the English church. The Archbishop of Canterbury […]

Canterbury Cap

” A four-cornered cloth cap that is sometimes worn by Anglican clergy. It is soft, flat, and typically black in color. The Canterbury cap reflects a style of academic headgear that developed during the later middle ages. It served to keep the head warm in drafty lecture halls and churches. It is occasionally used by […]

Canterbury College

This school was established in 1946 and closed in 1951. It was begun with the gift of the buildings and campus of Central Normal College, which was founded on Sept. 5, 1876. It was at Danville, Indiana.

Canterbury Statement

This agreed statement on Ministry and Ordination was finalized by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) at Canterbury in 1973. It was eventually included within the ARCIC Final Report (1982). It expressed agreement upon such matters as the origins of sacramental ordination, emergence of the threefold ministry, relationship of the ordained ministry to the laity, […]

Canticle

A non-metrical song used in liturgical worship. Canticles are drawn from biblical texts other than the Psalter. The term is derived from the Latin canticulum, a “little song.” In practice, canticles are sung or said in worship. The BCP provides contemporary and traditional language canticles. Contemporary language canticles may be used in traditional language services […]

Cantor

A singer who sets the pitch and leads the liturgical singing of psalms, canticles, anthems, and other sung texts. Cantors often lead unaccompanied singing. In responsorial recitation of the Psalter, the cantor sings the verses of the psalm and the congregation sings a refrain after each verse or group of verses. This was the traditional […]

Cantoris

The term is from Latin meaning “place of the cantor.” Traditionally, the cantor sat on the north side of the cathedral. In antiphonal singing, the term cantoris indicates those who sit on the cantoral or cantor's side of the choir of a church or cathedral. The opposite side is known as “decani.” The terms were […]

Cantrix

A female cantor. See Cantor.

Canvass, Every Member

See Every Member Canvass.

Cape Palmas, Missionary District of

See Liberia, Diocese of.

Cappadocians, or Cappadocian Fathers

Three important theologians of the Patristic Era. Basil the Great of Caesarea (330-379), his brother Gregory of Nyssa (c. 330-395), and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus (329-389) all came from Cappadocia, a Roman province in what is now Turkey. In their lives and literary works, the three friends were largely responsible for extending the Nicene […]

Cardinal Rector

” An influential rector, usually of a large parish.

Cardinal Virtues

For Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), the cardinal virtues form the basis for moral growth and development in all persons, although for Christians they can only be understood and fully achieved through God's grace as given in the theological virtues. Initially stated in Book Four of Plato's Republic, Aristotle develops the cardinal virtues in his Ethics as […]

Carey, Arthur

(June 26, 1822-Apr. 4, 1844). Controversial figure in the Oxford Movement. He was born in the vicinity of London, England. When he was eight years old, his father moved the family to New York City. In 1839 he graduated from Columbia College. Carey was considered “the most brilliant student in the [General] Seminary” in the […]

Carillon

This musical instrument of twenty-three or more cast bronze bells ranges from two to six octaves, usually set in chromatic order like the keys of a piano. Instruments with fewer bells are called chimes. Unlike bells used in peals, carillon bells are stationary. Only the clappers move. They are activated by a carilloneur seated at […]

Carilloneur

A person who plays a musical instrument known as a carillon.

Carol

The term carol finds its origin in the French carole, a round dance in which the singers provide their own music by singing a refrain after uniform stanzas sung by a soloist. English medieval carols are poetic works in a similar form. Carols appear in a pattern of uniform stanzas, each with a burden, or […]

Caroline Divines

This unorganized grouping of seventeenth-century churchmen and scholars flourished during the reign of King Charles I (d. 1649) and derived its name from him. They furthered the theological precepts established in the sixteenth century by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556); John Jewel (1522-1571), Bishop of Salisbury; and Richard Hooker (1554-1600), the great Elizabethan theologian. Taking strong […]

Case, Adelaide Teague

(Jan. 10, 1887-June 19, 1948). The first woman to be appointed to full professional rank in an Anglican seminary. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in New York City. She received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in 1908, her M.A. in 1919, and her Ph.D. in 1924 from Columbia University. From […]

An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church