A church dictionary

by Walter Farquhar Hook

SEXAGESIMA. (See Septuagesima.)

SEXTON; from Sacristan. The sexton was originally regarded as the keeper of the holy things devoted to Divine worship: he is appointed by the minister or parishioners according to custom; and his salary is according to the custom of each parish, or is settled by the parish vestry. In the case of Olive v. Ingram it was held, that a woman is as capable of being elected to this office as a man, and that women may have a voice in the election. The duty of a sexton is to keep the church and pews cleanly swept and sufficiently aired; to make graves, and open vaults for the burial of the dead; to provide (under the churchwarden’s direction) candles, &c. for lighting the church; bread and wine, and other necessaries, for the communion, and also water for baptisms; to attend the church during Divine service, in order to open the pew doors for the parishioners, keep out dogs, and prevent disturbances, &c. It has been held that if a sexton be removed without sufficient cause, a mandamus will lie for his restitution. But where it appeared that the office was held only during pleasure, and not for life, the court refused to interfere. The salary, however, generally depends on the annual vote of the parishioners.

SHAFT. The central portion of a pillar, resting on the base, and supporting the capital. (See Pillar.)

SHAKERS. A party of enthusiasts left England for America in 1774, and settled in the province of New York, where the society soon increased, and received the ludicrous denomination of Shakers, from the practice of shaking and dancing. They affected to consider themselves as forming the only true Church, and their preachers as possessed of the apostolic gift: the wicked, they thought, would only be punished for a time, except those who should be so incorrigibly depraved as to fall from their Church. They disowned baptism and the eucharist, not as in themselves wrong, but as unnecessary in the new dispensation, which they declared was opening upon mankind; and this was the Millennium, in which, however, they expected that Christ would appear personally only to his saints. Their leader was Anna Leese, whom they believed to be the woman mentioned in the Apocalypse, as clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. The successors of this elect body have been, they say, as perfect as she was, and have possessed, like her, unreserved intercourse with angels and departed spirits, and the power of imparting spiritual gifts.

SHECHINAH. (Hebr.) By this word the Hebrews meant the visible manifestation of the Divine presence in the temple of Jerusalem. It was a bright cloud, resting over the propitiatory or mercy-seat; from whence God gave forth his oracles with an articulate voice, when he was consulted by the high priest in favour of the people. Hence God is often said in Scripture to sit upon the cherubims, or between the cherubims, because the cherubims shadowed with their wings the mercy-seat, over which the Shechinah resided.

The Rabbins tell us, that the Shechinah first resided in the tabernacle prepared by Moses in the wilderness, and that it descended therein on the day of its consecration. From thence it passed into the sanctuary of Solomon’s temple, on the day of its dedication by that prince; where it continued to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans, and was never after seen.

The Mohammedans pretend the Shechinah was in the shape of a leopard; and that, in time of war, when the ark of the covenant, over which it resided, was carried into the field of battle, it raised itself up, and sent forth such a dreadful cry, as threw the enemy into the utmost confusion. Others of them imagine it to have had the figure of a man, and say, that, when it was carried into the army, it stood up upon its feet, and came forth like a vehement wind, which, rushing upon the enemy, put them to flight.

SHEWBREAD. The name given to those loaves of bread which the Hebrew priests placed, every sabbath day, upon the golden table in the sanctuary. The Hebrew literally signifies bread of faces, these loaves being square, and having, as it were, four faces, or four sides. They are called shewbread by the Greek and Latin interpreters, because they were exposed to public view before the ark. The table on which they were placed was called the table of shewbread.

The shewbread consisted of twelve loaves, according to the number of the tribes. These were served up hot on the sabbath day, and at the same time the stale ones, which had been exposed during the whole week, were taken away. It was not lawful for any one to eat of these loaves, but the priests only. David, indeed, compelled by urgent necessity, broke through this restriction. This offering was accompanied with salt and frankincense, which was burnt upon the table at the time when they set on fresh loaves.

Authors are not agreed as to the manner in which the loaves of shewbread were ranged upon the table. Some think there were three piles of them, of four in each; others say, there were but two piles, of six loaves in each. The Rabbins tell us that, between every two loaves, there were two golden pipes, supported by forks of the same metal, whose ends rested upon the ground, to convey air to the loaves, to hinder them from growing mouldy.