The religious heart of The Concord, the Church of Divine Spheres is a powerful organisation that has extensive political abilities in order to preserve the moral soul of the Realms. The church also acts as spiritual advisors and guidance for all members of the Concord, but particularly the Priests who minister to the people.

In 221 The Concordian Church of the Divine Spheres split off from the Artebazzani Church owing to political conflict between the two nations. Since this point the Concordian Church has attempted to find its own understanding of The Spheres influenced by the history they hold with the Artebazzani Church and their own modern understandings. The beliefs of the new Concordian Church are summarised within its Tenets, and its laws are summarised within its Strictures. Common prayers to each of the Eternals can be found on the page for each of the Spheres.

Function

At its core, the function of the Church is to proselytize to the people, to educate them on the spheres and assist every citizen on their path to the spheres and the eventual return of their spirit to the Mortal Sphere. With this in mind they receive many plights from the common folk for assistance or guidance.

In order to ensure that this function can continue, the Church has numerous political powers that ensure the people of great power within The Concord are also acting within the accordance of the Spheres and allowing others to do so. They also act as advisors to these powerful people, hoping that the powers of the church do not need to come to bear.

Finally, the Church maintains an interest in the heretical elements at work within The Concord. Such is the nature of The Divine Spheres that to weaken the overall preeminence is to weaken the chances for the whole. As such the church stands ready with its powers of Inquisition and Anathema.

The Church splits its power into two branches:

The Faithful, referring to the vast amounts of priests and worshippers who make up the bulk of the Church. The faithful control the religious dogma and orthodoxy of The Church, creating a living and changing understanding of the Divine Spheres. The Faithful Vote through priests utilising the Powers of the Church.
The Council of Six and the Church Executive (such as the Curates), referring to the civil servants, working priests, and laymen who support the Church as a political organisation. They collate funds, disperse goods, attend courts, and other such matters. These powers are controlled by The Council of Six and dispersed from them.

Powers

Declaration

A Church declaration allows the Church to speak public on certain issues, reflecting its collective will. At morning each day, prior to the meeting of the Church, any declarations will be read aloud in the centre of Passage. These declarations are likely to make their way out into the Concord proper and have further reaching effects. A Declaration requires a Lesser Majority.

Change in Doctrine

A serious proposition, a Change in Doctrine changes how the Church operates within The Concord. This might change what is and is not considered heresy, how the church preaches to the public and other such elements. A Change in Doctrine requires a Greater Majority.

Inquisition

An Inquisition targets a citizen of The Concord, and if it passes, a Priest (usually the person who passed the motion) is granted a Writ of Inquisition, which is a legal document requiring that they be to be brought before the priest that requested the inquisition (willingly or otherwise), and are subjected to up to an hour of questioning by the Priest who exercised the Writ. This is commonly used as part of an investigation into criminal or heretical acts, and following this questioning the Inquisition is considered to have been done. The Priest performing the Inquisition is then required to report on their findings to the next Council of Six. An Inquisition requires a Lesser Majority.

While an Inquisition can be called against any citizen for any reason as long as the Church is convinced they have committed some blight relevant to the Church, it is typically seeking to answer whether the target of the Inquisition has broken one of the Strictures of the Church, which are things the Church considers punishable offences.

Censure

Following an Inquisition (although not requiring one) a priest can put forward a motion of Censure targeting another priest. Censure can include any of the following:

Restricting a priest's ability to speak at Church Sessions.
Reducing or removing the number of votes a priest holds.
Removing a priest's access to the Sanctified Square to cast ceremonies.
Publicly denouncing a priest or a sect or the actions of a priest.

Penance

Following an Inquisition (but not requiring one) a priest can put forward a motion of ‘Penance’. A motion of penance is a formal request for the listed individual (who need not be a priest) to voluntarily submit to further punishment without involving a magistrate. Penance punishments often involve public statements, donation of resources, or service to the church. If the listed individual refuses to volunteer, nothing occurs, although this may be used as evidence towards a later motion of Condemnation.

Condemnation

Following an inquisition (but not requiring one) a priest can put forward a motion of ‘Condemnation’. A motion of condemnation is a formal request that the individual be charged with religious crimes by a Concordian Magistrate. Successful motions of condemnation are provided to a magistrate or Captain of the Watch for investigation and arrest. This is primarily used to access punishments inaccessible by the church such as fines, corporal punishment, or execution.

Anathema

Following an inquisition, a priest can put forward a motion of 'Anathema'. A motion of Anathema is to remove individuals from the protection and membership of The Church, and in doing so strips a citizen of their citizenship. Doing so requires a magistrate's signature and while they are not required by law to provide such approval, they are unlikely to refuse except in great miscarriages of justice. If successful, the targeted individual loses any titles they currently held and are ineligible to take up any new titles, Realmic or otherwise. The Church finally has the right to claim any funds the individual has on their person when they are served the Writ of Anathema. A motion of Anathema can also be used to remove that status from a character. An Anathema motion requires a Greater Majority.

Appointment

The Council of Six may appoint individuals to position within it. The following titles are found within the Church:

Reward

The Church may reward individuals for actions it considers in support of the Spheres in a profound way. These rewards must come from currency or resources that the Church holds. A standard Reward requires a Lesser Majority to pass. Rewards containing the following require a Greater Majority to pass:

More than 10 Locks
More than 5 Measures of resources
At least 1 Wain of resources

Proclaim Paragon

The Church may choose to Proclaim a deceased (or living, due to motion passed Summer 222) individual to be a Paragon of the Church, a title of great esteem and reverence whose holders' names are known from household to household, and leave a lasting impact on the world after they have gone. The Council of Six may choose to Proclaim whomever they wish to be a Paragon, though traditionally they have looked to the Aspects of the Paragon, and usually only those who can clearly be shown to fulfil 5 out of the 7 are even considered.

The process for Proclaiming a Paragon is as follows: an investigator is chosen by the Church after a greater majority motion, who is sent to investigate how many of the Aspects the individual has successfully accomplished. They then make their findings plain (and in written form) to the High Priests, who must unanimously agree one way or the other within the span of a year since the original motion - either unanimously declaring the individual a Paragon, which can never be revoked, or unanimously declaring that they are unsatisfied. If they declare that they are unsatisfied, this does not prevent the individual being raised up for Paragon later in the future, though a different investigator must be chosen each time.

Proclaim Holy Site

The Church may choose to Proclaim a location to be a Holy Site of the Church. Holy Sites are locations that are recognised as being in some nature important to the Spheres. This nature varies from site to site but regardless can form the basis of new locations of worship, nexuses of Spheric magick, or focus points of Spheric mysteries. For some these locations are cultural in origin, always having been a part of the firmament of their lives. For others they are spontaneous miracles, crafted by the adventure that is life through the Spheres. The Council of Six may choose to Proclaim wherever they wish to be a Holy Site, though they must consider the Aspects of a Holy Site. While no precedent exists, the Civil Service suggests following the precedent set for Paragons which is that only those who can clearly be shown to fulfil 5 out of the 7 are even considered.

The process for Proclaiming a Holy Site is as follows: an investigator is chosen by the Church after a greater majority motion, who is sent to investigate how many of the Aspects the location fulfills. They then make their findings plain (and in written form) to the High Priests, who must unanimously agree one way or the other within the span of a year since the original motion - either unanimously declaring the location a Holy Site, which can never be revoked, or unanimously declaring that they are unsatisfied. If they declare that they are unsatisfied, this does not prevent the location being raised up as a Holy Site later in the future, though a different investigator must be chosen each time.

Voting

Voting in the Church is atypical within The Concord. When a motion is put forward (a motion template can be found here), it is placed on the exterior of the Church. A priest can vote for or against it by placing their name in the appropriate section. Before the next meeting of the Council of Six, all votes will be tallied and a verdict announced in council - motions come down off the board at 11:30am each morning.

Motions require one of two different kind of vote to pass.

A Lesser Majority: requires more votes for it than against with a minimum of five different priests being in support of the motion.
A Greater Majority: requires one of the following:; a) more votes for it than against it, with at least half of the available votes of the Church being listed in support of it.; b) the holders of 66% or more of all unenchanted tiers of Congregations voting in support of it it.

Past Motions of the Concordian Church

Summary of Motions - Page Links
Year
Historic (Pre-223)	Motions
223	Winter	Summer
224	Winter	Summer
225	Autumn	Spring
226	Autumn

Resources

The Church maintains a treasury for use by The Council of Six and other titled individuals. This treasury can contain any conceivable resource and is held by The Curates. The Church Treasury pays out its required funds in a particular order to ensure that priorities are paid correctly. It is as follows:

Grants of funds or supplies from the Church are paid out in the following order:

The Bursar's due through the Coinmasters Hand
Requests through the larger Church Motions of the Faithful.
The High Priest of Panoply’s due.
The payment of any Consignments or Expeditions.
Council of Six Endowments (in order of motion)

Members

The primary members of the Church are the priests who minister to the people of the Concord. Accordingly, these priests form the voting members of the church’s decision making process. Priests are granted votes from either having ranks in Divine Lore, reflecting a recognition of magical ability, or from holding a Congregation, reflecting the will of a larger group of people. Priests may submit a motion to the Curate at any point, except after the meeting of the Church on the Sunday. Provided this motion is supported by at least one other priest it will be put forward for voting by being written up and placed on the exterior of the building, at which point it can be voted on.

Finally, there is the office of the Curate, a Civil Service member whose duty it is to ensure that the Church meetings are conducted well, to act as a spiritual advisor to the priests, and to oversee their ceremonies.

Chambers

The chambers of the Church are open to the public, as is befitting an organisation focused on assisting the public. Within the main chamber you will find room for the entire priestly body to assemble for the purposes of church meetings, as well as for sermons outside of this time. On the exterior of the chamber, the varied motions being voted on by the Church can be found, along with the votes that have been cast. Finally, in front of the Church the Sanctified Square can be found, an enchanted location capable of focusing the energies of Sects towards their ceremonies.

Meetings

The Church meets many times throughout the Summit, although these are primarily either Rites or Council of Six meetings.

There is a single rite for each Sphere at differing points throughout the Summit. Rites are public moments of worship and reflection led by the High Priest of that Sphere or the Curates. They allow layfolk and priests a chance to revel and dwell upon the Spheres and their place within them. The divine magic that infuses Rites also provides a boon to those who attend, which takes a variety of forms. More information on the Rites can be found here.

The Council of Six meets twice throughout the Summit, at midday each day. More details can be found here.