Data source: Gina A. Zurlo and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024).
| Glossary item | Definition |
|---|---|
| sobor | (Russian). A synod or council. |
| sobornost | (Russian). Conciliarity, ecumenicity, spiritual harmony based on freedom and unity in love. |
| social communication | Organizations coordinating social communications for the churches number over 200 with over 100 training centers. |
| social concern | Organizations significant at the national or wider levels number over 500. |
| Social Democratic states | States in which the party in power is of social democratic persuasion. |
| Socialist countries | States committed to the full implementation of political Socialism; often used of Marxist and Communist countries. |
| society | In several denominations, a local congregation of believers; in Christian Science. |
| society) | (2) Amodality is the more normal or typical pattern for mission, i.e. the diocesan pattern of Christianity following civil-governmental patterns, church-oriented missionary outreach, parish system, family involvement, etc. |
| sociolect | An idiom or dialect differing from a standard only in pronunciation, accent, or special vocabulary. |
| sociology of religion | The study of religion from the standpoint of the science of society, social institutions, and social relationships. |
| sociology, religious | See religious sociology. |
| sociopeople | A people or population group defined primarily by some sociological category such as class, caste, occupation, age, abode, for which a specific evangelistic strategy may be developed; sometimes regarded as a bridge people useful for initiating evangelism. |
| socio-religious | Relating to social and religious factors. |
| sodality | In missiological use, part of the sodality/modality dichotomy. (1) A sodality is an organized society, fellowship, community, fraternity or brotherhood based on mission as the common purpose (e.g. monastic pattern, or missionary |
| soldier | In Salvationist usage, converted persons at least 14 years of age who have been enrolled as members of the Salvation Army after signing its Articles of War. |
| Songhai | An African ethnolinguistic family, with about 6 languages. |
| sorcerer | A person who practices sorcery; a wizard, magician. |
| sorcery | The use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits, especially for divining; necromancy, wizardry, black magic. |
| sound recordings | Christian organizations specializing mainly in this area and significant at the national or wider levels number over 200. |
| sous influence | (French). A statistical category enumerated in some Reformed denominations in Africa, covering the total membership plus non-members in the denomination’s comity area or otherwise under its influence. |
| Southern Amerindian | An American Indian ethnolinguistic family, with over 1,500 languages. |
| Southern Buddhism | Theravada or Hinayana (qv). |
| sovereign country | A nation, being an autonomous independent country free of external control. |
| sovereign territory, sovereign nation | An independent, self-governing, autonomous state. |
| spare-time worker | A recognized or accredited church worker who nevertheless has a full-time secular job and is able to devote not part-time service but only his spare time out of work hours (e.g. Sundays or evenings) to church work; spare-time as contrasted with part-time or full time. |
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.