IHS are the first three letters of the name "Jesus" in Greek. This is Iota (I), Eta (H in capitalized form in Greek), Sigma (S). It is sometimes written IHC (the version of the capital letter sigma at the end of a word is C) and may include a bar over the H to indicate an abbreviation.
In Latin, the inscription came to stand for Jesus Savior of Humankind. This is Iesus (Jesus) Hominum (of humankind) Salvator (Savior).
IHS is often used as a monogram on worship furnishings.
This content was produced by Ask The UMC, a ministry of United Methodist Communications.
