Reformed Christianese

Confidence that one truly is saved and forgiven — the settled sense that your standing with God is secure.

The opening words of a service — usually a psalm or scripture passage, often read responsively — that gather the congregation and begin worship.

A summary of Christian teaching in question-and-answer form, used to instruct new believers and the young (catechism); and a person being instructed in preparation for baptism (catechumen).

A church's formal process for confronting a member in serious, unrepentant sin — private conversation, then wider involvement, and, if it fails, removal from membership — with the aim of restoring them.

The uncomfortable inner sense that you're in the wrong and need to change — attributed by Christians to the Holy Spirit. Nothing to do with a courtroom.

The opening prayer of a service, asking God to be present and bless the gathering. Also the opening prayer at civic events — a graduation, a council meeting, a game.

A written statement of commitments — to attend, give, serve, live by the church's standards, and submit to its leadership — that some churches ask members to sign when they join.

A guest preacher who fills in when a church's regular pastor is away — sick, on vacation, on sabbatical, or gone — and the arrangement by which churches find one.

A personal, daily time set aside for reading the Bible and praying — usually in the morning, usually alone.

Teaching considered correct, healthy, and faithful to the Bible. "Unsound" is the polite theological word for teaching that isn't.