Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| Papuan | An Oceanic ethnolinguistic family, with 700 languages. |
| para-Christians | See marginal Christians. |
| parachurch | Almost a church, partly a church, usually a service agency of the churches, but offering alternate or rival Sunday worship services unrelated to existing churches. |
| para-church | Almost a church, resembling a church. |
| para-church agencies | Service agencies (qv), especially those which develop a life distinct or separate from the organized churches. |
| paradenomination | A recent network of churches that is becoming a new denomination but resisting denominationalist shortcomings. |
| para-denomination | A service agency which develops its own distinct and separate church life and resembles a new or separate denomination, offering its members worship facilities and other denominational perquisites. |
| parallel church | In Catholic usage, suppressed but ongoing underground liberal or activist groups within the church, especially of priests (as in Portugal). |
| paraphrase | A loose translation of Scripture incorporating overt interpretation (e.g. NTME, LB). |
| parareligionists | Members of a body that is almost a religion, partly a religion, often self-identifying as such. |
| parentheses | In printing, curved marks ( ) in contrast to square brackets [ ]. |
| parish | An ecclesiastical unit of area committed to one pastor; a portion of a diocese committed to the pastoral care of one clergyman. |
| parson | A clergyman; rector or incumbent of a parochial church. |
| partially-closed countries | 43 countries in the world which are not fully closed to foreign mission, though strict control is exercised. |
| participating member | A practicing Christian (qv) or practicing church member. In Disciples (USA) usage, ‘one who exercises a continuing interest in one or more of the following ways: attendance, giving, activity, spiritual concern for the fellowship of the congregation regardless of the place of residence’. |
| participatory media | See folk media. |
| particular church | In Catholic usage (as e.g. in Vatican II documents), the universal church as organized in a particular diocese: the diocesan church; sometimes called the local church. |
| Partners in Mission | A scheme within the Anglican Communion whereby an autonomous church invites a number of sister churches or provinces to confer with it on discharging its mission in its own locality. |
| part-time worker | A recognized or accredited church worker whose main work is Christian ministry but who is also engaged in part-time secular work for his livelihood; in contrast to spare-time or full-time workers. |
| party | A politico-religious grouping of religionists with its major function as a political one. |
| pasaka, pasika | (Shona and other African languages). Passover, Easter communion service in certain African indigenous churches, attracting scores of thousands of members. |
| pascalisants | (French). See Paschal communicants. |
| Paschal communicants | Catholic Easter communicants (qv); all who actually take communion at Easter over a 4-week period. |
| passover | Annual Jewish religious festival commemorating deliverance from Egypt; for Christians, symbolic of Christ’s atonement for sin. |
| pastor | A clergyman, priest or minister responsible for the cure of souls. |
Data on 18 categories of religion, including non-religious, by country, province, and people.
Data on all religions, Christian activities, and trends.
Membership data, year begun, and rates of change.
Population and religion data on all major cities & provinces.
Detailed information covering religion, culture, and geography.
A repository of historical data, including a chronology of Christianity from the 1st to 21st centuries.