Data source: Gina A. Zurlo, ed., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2025).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| shamanists | Ethnic religionists with a hierarchy of shamans and healers. |
| Shias | Followers of the smaller of the 2 divisions of Islam, rejecting the Sunna and holding that Mohammed’s son-in-law Ali was the Prophet’s successor and itself divided into the Ithna-Ashari Ismaili, Alawite and Zaydi groups. |
| Shintoists | Followers of the indigenous religion of Japan, a collective of native beliefs and mythology dating back to 660 BCE and includes worship at public shrines in devotion to a number of gods. |
| short-term missionaries | Persons serving as foreign missionary personnel for a single period between one week and two years only. |
| Sikhs | Followers of the Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak in the 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Traditions include Akali, Khalsa, Nanapanthi, Nirmali, Sewapanthi and Udasi. |
| Spiritists | Non-Christian spiritists or spiritualists, or thaumaturgicalists; high spiritists, as opposed to low spiritists (Afro-American syncretists), followers of medium-religions, medium-religionists. |
| suffragan diocese | In Catholic usage, any diocese that is part of an ecclesiastical province and therefore to some extent dependent on its metropolitan see. |
| Sufis | Islamic mysticism, including scores of millions of Sunni Muslims in 70 orders including Ahmadiya, Bektashiya, Christiya, Dargawa, Dervishes, Fakirs, Malamatiya, Mawlawiya, Naqshbandiya, Qadriya, Qalandariya, Rifaiya, Shadhiliya, Shattariya, Suhrawardiya, Tijaniya. |
| Sunnis | Sunnites. Followers of the larger of the major branches of Islam, that adheres to the orthodox tradition of the sunna, acknowledges the first 4 caliphs, and recognises 4 schools of jurisprudence: Hanafite, Hanbalite, Malikite, Shafiite. |
| syncretism | The blending of beliefs from different sources. |
| synod | An ecclesiastical council or church governing or advisory body, including general synod diocesan synod, holy synod; either regularly meeting, or a one-time occasion. |
| Synod of Bishops | Since 1965 a permanent, central ecclesiastical institution assisting the Roman pope in the governing of the Catholic Church. |
| Theravadins | (Theraveda). The Teaching of the Elders or the Hinayana school of Buddhists (qv), or Southern Buddhism (in Sri Lanka, India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos). |
| tradition | An ecclesiastical family or type of denominations sharing historical and/or many common features. |
| traditional religion | Often used of the dominant pre-Christian religion in a country, sometimes described as tribal religion (qv). |
| tribal religionists | Ethnic religionists (qv). |
| unaffiliated Christians | Persons professing allegiance and commitment to Christ but who have no church affiliation. |
| Uniate | Referring to a Christian or jurisdiction of an Eastern rite not belonging to a Latin patriarchate but in union with and submitting to the authority of the Roman papacy. |
| Unitarians | A non-Trinitarian Christian tradition. Includes Universalists. |
| United churches | Churches formed from the union of various Protestant denominations (including Anglicans). |
| urbanites | urban dwellers; persons residing in a city, town, or recognised urban area. |
| Vaishnavites | Worshippers of Vishnu in any of his forms or incarnations, in several schools, including Sri Sampradayins, Vadagalai, Tengalai, Ramanandis, Vallabhacharins, Chaitanyas, Nimbarkas, Madhvas and others. |
| vicariate | (symbol V). The office, authority, or jurisdiction of a vicar. |
| Wesleyans | Holiness Christians (qv). |
| Yazidis | Members of a monotheistic religion that has elements of ancient Mesopotamian religions and also combines aspects of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. |
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.