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Stevens, Abel

(Encyclopedia)Stevens, Abel, 1815–97, American clergyman, noted as the historian of Methodism, b. Philadephia, studied Wesleyan Univ. He became (1834) a member of the New England Methodist Conference, and filled ...

Brooks, Phillips

(Encyclopedia)Brooks, Phillips, 1835–93, American Episcopal bishop, b. Boston. In 1869 he began his ministry at Trinity Church, Boston, where he became one of the most influential ministers of his time. In 1891 h...

Cameron, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Cameron, Richard kămˈərən [key], 1648–1680, Scottish leader of the Cameronians, an extreme group of Covenanters. In 1672, under the influence of the open-air preacher John Welch, he became a Cov...

Wilberforce, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Wilberforce, Samuel wĭlˈbərfôrs [key], 1805–73, English prelate; son of William Wilberforce. In 1845 he became bishop of Oxford. He did not support the Oxford movement; instead, he attempted to ...

Ribe

(Encyclopedia)Ribe rēˈbə [key], city (1992 pop. 7,892), capital of Ribe co., SW Denmark, on the Ribe River. One of the oldest cities of Denmark, Ribe was mentioned in the 9th cent. and became an episcopal see in...

nonjurors

(Encyclopedia)nonjurors [Lat.,=not swearing], those English and Scottish clergymen who refused to break their oath of allegiance to James II and take the oath to William III after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. T...

Akinola, Peter Jasper

(Encyclopedia)Akinola, Peter Jasper, 1944–, Nigerian Anglican prelate. He was ordained a deacon in 1978 and a priest in 1979. From 1978 on he built the Anglican church in Abuja, Nigeria, from practically nothing ...

Vatican Council, Second

(Encyclopedia)Vatican Council, Second, popularly called Vatican II, 1962–65, the 21st ecumenical council (see council, ecumenical) of the Roman Catholic Church, convened by Pope John XXIII and continued under Pau...

confirmation

(Encyclopedia)confirmation, Christian rite in which the initiation into the church that takes place by baptism is confirmed. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches, it is a sacrament by which a Christi...

Garrettson, Freeborn

(Encyclopedia)Garrettson, Freeborn, 1752–1827, American Methodist preacher, b. Maryland. At the time of his conversion to Methodism (1775), he freed his slaves and began his journeys as a preacher. In 1784 he tra...

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