Excerpt from The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia The writer of the following pages has long been convinced, from an experience of many years in the Ministry, that a great desideratum among Church people is a Church Dictionary, especially one not so expensive as the more costly works, and at the same time something more complete and satisfactory than a mere glossary of terms. What seems to be needed is an inexpensive, handy volume, "short enough for busy people, plain enough for common people, cheap enough for poor people," yet complete enough to give the information needed. The present work was undertaken with this object in view. It was thought "worth while"; for if words are things, then greater familiarity with the phraseology of the Church will lead to greater knowledge "of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." What is here set forth is really a Handy Book of Ready Reference arranged in alphabetical order; and while some of the articles may seem to be too brief, yet the system of cross references adopted, it is believed, will throw considerable light on subjects where it is employed and thus enables the book to be kept within the limits already specified. The title, The American Church Dictionary, indicates the purpose as well as those for whom it is written. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.