Chantry of Alstin

The Chantry of Alstin, also known as the Chantric Church, is the established Christian church in Alstin.

Name
Most historians believe the name "Chantry" began as a nickname. The most widely accepted version of the origin of the term relates to the Blandford Cathedral Choir and the arrival of Bishop John Hewald to Alstin upon its foundation. Historical records suggest the Blandford Cathedral and Hewald employed a with one of the most skilled choir in the Ænglish realm, and that the tradition of high quality sung  continued in the churches established by Hewald. Accordingly, the chant-oriented liturgies would have been referred to as "chants" in common parlance as of the 1590s, with the term "chantry" becoming a slang term for churches first attested to in 1610. The term entered increasing formal usage soon after, and the first official reference to the "Chantry Church" and "Chantry of Alstin" are from the 1640s.

Organization
Originally, the head of the Chantry of Alstin was the King of Alstin, who would appoint a Primate to oversee and administer Chantric in their stead. Following the proclamation and establishment of the United Republic in 1689, the Chantry has since been governed according to episcopal polity with its own system of canon law.

Early origins
When Alstanus Ryefield arrived and settled the city of Alstin in the 16th century as a Pharisedom, he was accompanied by three clergy from the Ænglish Church - the Bishop of Blandford, John Hewald, and two accompanying Ænglish priests. The Bishop was quickly decreed by Ryefield to be the Bishop of his new city, and the three churchmen soon began to reestablish church functions in their new homeland. Bishop Hewald and Ryefield worked together to build five churches, which would become the "five canons of Alstin", the oldest and most prestigious churches in the country. Alstin's economic growth and prominence gave it preeminent status among the Protestant refugees settling the islands, and the Bishop of Alstin was soon recognized by most colonies as the seniormost religious figure on the islands. Hewald soon ordained several additional priests among the colonist population and by 1570 had consecrated the two priests that came with him - Charles Horik and William Wardric - as Bishops of Wheatley and Plainsboro respectively. Hewald died in 1585 and chose Horik to succeed him, and Horik passed away in 1599. Horik selected Ewald Miller to be his successor, and Miller was the first Bishop born in Alstin.

The three first Bishops of Alstin - Hewald, Horik, and Miller - grappled with significant theological and practical questions. Many had believed God abandoned the Ænglish Church following their persecution in Levantia, and the three Bishops imparted on the believers in the young nation that God had, indeed, blessed them with this land. The three Bishops affirmed the and traditional Ænglish Church liturgy as those to be used in the new Alstinian Church, and reaffirmed the Acts of Godwin as the fundamental theological underpinnings of the Church. In 1604, Bishop Miller asked King Douglas I to invite Protestant scholars from abroad to create a new translation of the  to replace the  still in use and widely available at the time. The process was started and stopped several times resulting product, finished in 1622, became the, which became the most commonly used English translation of the Bible. for Protestants used worldwide.