The Church of Sartan/Organisation

Overview

The Church is run by the a Synod of the bishops and archbishops of the Church, led by the Archbishop of Niel. However, as the Synod meets only rarely to discuss major organisational changes or theological issues, the day to day running of the Church is in theory handled ultimately by the Archbishop of Niel but, in practice, by those appointed to take charge of the Church in various administrative units.

These various administrative units are explained below.

Congregation of Sartan

The Congregation of Sartan encompases the entirety of the Church and is the overall structure which binds the Church together.

The Holy Synod

When formerly convened, the full Synod meets to appoint a new Archbishop of Niel upon the death of the incumbent, to discuss matters pertaining to the Church as a whole, to resolve theological disputes and to try those members of the Church accused of heresy or of breaching the Code of Sartan.

The Synod is composed of the Bishops and Archbishops of the Church.

Congregation of Sorraine

Sorraine is a realm dedicated to Sartan and ruled by the Church annointed Holy Sartanian King. The overall responsibility for the Church within Sorraine falls under the Archbishop of Ossaet.

Archdiocese of Ossaet

Ossaet contains the greatest and oldest temple to Sartan - founded before the destruction of Old Sartania it the spiritual successor to the destroyed Great Temple of Niel. In recognition of this fact, the city of Ossaet itself remains an eternal gift to the Church from the kings of Sorraine and the Margrave of Osssaet is chosen by the Church.

The Archbishop Jatha Cyrith of Ossaet is also the most senior of the various Church positions within Sorraine and is responsible for presiding over the coronation and anointing of the Crown Prince of Sorraine and the Holy Sartanian King of Sorraine.

Diocese of Akanos

Akanos is another great city of Sorraine and the Bishop of Akanos is granted responsibility for the Church in the duchy of the same name. The current Bishop is Yarvik Melphrydd.

Diocese of Ozrat

Ozrat is Sorraine's capital city and the Bishop of Ozrat serves as the personal chaplain to the King as well as having responsibility for the Church around Ozrat.

Deanery of Westhaven

Westhaven is the county town of Hosiel and the province itself is run by the Church under the Deanery of Westhaven and its parishes. The Dean of Westhaven was originally a position held by High Priest Selene and therefore was outside the normal structure of the Church but now comes under the Diocese of Ozrat.

Congregation of the Dark Isle

The Dark Isle was once home to the now vanquished foes of Sartan; the Arcachonians and the Adgharists. After a great effort the pagans of the Dark Isle were converted and brought into the light of Sartan with the birth of a new Sartanian realm of Coralynth.

Archdiocese of Enlod

The Archbishop of Enlod is given personal responsibility for the Church on the Dark Isle with the current archbishop being Queen Eva Ji'Ardan. However, before this position was created, Azgath Cyrith, Keeper of the Flame held personal responsibility for the Mission which converted the Dark Isle and the Archbishop of Enlod is regarded as his successor.

Congregation of Arcaea

Arcaea has traditionally been a bastion of Aneilists, however, in recent years their strength has waned and converts to Sartan have sprung up across the land. Arcaea also contains the sacred city of Niel - the old capital of Old Sartania.

Arcaean Mission

Parts of Arcaea have formal Church structures but a significant minority of the land remains unconverted and dominated by heathens. Therefore the Mission of Arcaea exists to conduct missionary work and to convert the heathens to the true faith. The Mission is currently headed and overseen by the Archbishop of Niel.

Archdiocese of Niel

The sacred city of Niel is the ancestral home of the Sartanian faith and was the capital of Old Sartania - a realm now lost and passed into the annals of history. However, despite the brutal extirpation of the faithful from Niel by the Arcachonian infidels, the city was later reclaimed by the Church and remains the spiritual centre of the Sartanian faith with its archbishop acting as head of the Church in the Far East as well as in Arcaea. The current Archbishop of Niel is Martin Octavius.

Diocese of Remton

The city of Remtom is the capital of the Arcaean empire and, as such, is a diocese in its own right with charge over much of central Arcaea and second in seniority within the realm only to the Archbishop of Niel. The current bishop is Sythia Lanze.

Diocese of Hupar

The rural region of Hupar is notable mainly for being home to a small cathedral of Sartan and thus was selected as the seat for the Bishop of Hupar who has charge over the faith in southern Arcaea, although the seat and title of the diocese may well change as the Church grows stronger in the wider area. The current bishop is Chrotrud Cuvelier.

Congregation of Cathay

The Church in Cathay has a chequered history having been variously welcome and unwelcome through the time since the fall of Old Sartania. However, while the faith remains a minority within the realm, the return to Cathay of Roberd Galvez, former High Priest of Sartan, from retirement brought new life into the Church in Cathay and the wider south of the Far East causing it to be recognised as a congregation in its own right.

Diocese of Azros

Azros is one of the fear parts of Cathay with even a chapel of Sartan and so the city was chosen to be the seat of the Church in Cathay. While the congregation of the diocese is small it also covers a wide area of land and, it is hoped, will be able to spread faith in Sartan throughout the realm and what parts of the south which are not yet covered in ice. The current bishop is Roberd Galvez.

Congregation of Beluaterra

Upon her retirement as High Priest of Sartan, Selene Octavius left the Far East to carry the word of Sartan to other lands. Though failing in her Mission to Atamara, she succeeded in her Mission to Beluaterra which lead to the founding of the Beluaterran Church of Sartan. Despite being a new Church in its own right, the Beluaterran Church does recognise the seniority of the Far Eastern Church and is therefore mentioned here.

Proposed Missions

Despite it's greatly increased size, the Church still has much more to do and sometimes lacks the resources to immediately achieve all it would like. Therefore there are several missionary efforts that have been proposed but are still awaiting priests to undertake them.

Southern Mission

This is a proposed grand Mission to convert the nobles and peasants of the south and to rebuild the temples and shrines that once existed there.

Overseas Mission

This is a Mission to spread the faith of Sartan beyond the Far East and overseas to the other lands of the known world. It has so far met with some success in Beluaterra but there are many lands still yet to be converted before the whole world is united in devotion to Sartan.

Defunct Congregations

The Church is an ancient organisation and many of congregations and other groups formed within it no longer exist. Records of them are kept for the sake of posterity.

The Guardians of the Church

The Guardians of the Church were charged with the defence of the Church and with rooting out and bringing heretics and blasphemers before the Synod for trial and judgement. The Guardians were few in number but operated outside the normal structure of the Church and were subordinate only to the Cardinal placed in charge of the Guardians and to the High Priest herself.

However, the Cardinal in charge of the Guardians, Caspius, was himself ultimately tried for heresy and was never replaced, leaving the Guardians to fade away and ultimately be abolished by Archbishop Martin.

Ibladeshian Sect

Following the fall of the Church of Ibladesh, many Ibladeshians fled to refuge in the Far East. After discussion, the elders of the Church of Sartan agreed to allow the creation of the Ibladeshian Sect which ultimately dwindled away and was absorbed into the main body of the Church.

The Sect was outside of the normal church hierarchy though it still answered to the High Priest and to the Synod. Crucially, the Ibladeshian Sect were free to follow the rites, sacraments, prayers and other practices of the Church of Ibladesh, including honouring all the gods equally, on the condition that members of the sect offer additional prayers to Sartan twice a year.

Within the Ibladeshian sect was the symbolic diocese of Ibladesh representing the Church of Ibladesh and which had dominion over all those who followed Ibladeshi practices with the Bishop of Ibladesh being charged with providing spiritual guidance to the members of the Ibladeshian Sect. The first and last Bishop of Ibladesh was Lendin Bendix.