Conventicle

Conventicle
A Covenanters convecticle by Roger Griffith.

A conventicle is a small, unofficial and unofficiated meeting of laypeople, to discuss religious issues in a non-threatening, intimate manner. Philipp Jakob Spener called for such associations in his Pia Desideria, and they were the foundation of the German Evangelical Lutheran Pietist movement. Due to concern over possibly mixed-gender meetings, sexual impropriety, and subversive sectarianism conventicles were condemned first by mainstream Lutheranism and then by the Pietists within decades of their inception. In Finland conventicle has remained the base activity especially in the Finnish Awakening revivalist movement. Today, the cell groups used in some churches are similar.

See also

  • The Conventicle Acts of 1593, 1664 and 1670 in English Parliamentary history.



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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Conventicle — Con*ven ti*cle, n. [L. conventiculum, dim. of conventus: cf. F. conventicule. See {Convent}, n.] 1. A small assembly or gathering; esp., a secret assembly. [1913 Webster] They are commanded to abstain from all conventicles of men whatsoever.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • conventicle — index collection (assembly) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • conventicle — (n.) from L. conventiculum a small assembly, dim. of conventus (see CONVENT (Cf. convent)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • conventicle — [kən ven′ti kəl] n. [ME < OFr conventicule < L conventiculum, dim. of CONVENT] 1. a religious assembly held illegally and secretly by certain Protestant sects that disputed the authority of the Church of England in the 16th and 17th cent. 2 …   English World dictionary

  • Conventicle Act 1664 — A sermon in the mountains A Covenanters Conventicl …   Wikipedia

  • Conventicle Act — The Conventicle Act can refer to any of the following English Acts of Parliament: Conventicle Act of 1593 Conventicle Act 1664 Conventicles Act 1670 A similar law was enacted in Norway in 1741 (see Haugean) This disambiguation page lists articles …   Wikipedia

  • Conventicle Act of 1593 — The Law= The Conventicle Act of 1593 was an English law requiring separatists to convert to Anglicanism. Those who refused to convert were to be executed or most likely exiled. [ The Western Heritage . 8E. Donald Kagan, Steven Ozmet, Frank M.… …   Wikipedia

  • conventicle — noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin conventiculum, diminutive of conventus assembly Date: 14th century 1. assembly, meeting 2. an assembly of an irregular or unlawful character 3. an assembly for religious …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • conventicle — conventicler, n. conventicular /kon ven tik yeuh leuhr/, adj. /keuhn ven ti keuhl/, n. 1. a secret or unauthorized meeting, esp. for religious worship, as those held by Protestant dissenters in England in the 16th and 17th centuries. 2. a place… …   Universalium

  • conventicle — noun a) a secret, unauthorized or illegal religious meeting b) the place where such a meeting is held …   Wiktionary

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