Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Occasional services
(1,503 words)

1. Definition

In Protestant churches, occasional services (from Latin casus, “case, occasion”) are worship services that unlike Sunday or Christmas services are not held on regularly recurring days but “on occasion” (as needed), especially on biographically significant occasions or at special public events or events in the life of the congregation. The core of the occasional services were the sacrament of baptism along with confirmation, weddings, and burials; there were also church dedica…

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Albrecht, Christian, “Occasional services”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 02 June 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_021998>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200128



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