College of Levantine Churches: Difference between revisions

The '''College of Levantine Churches''' is a {{wp|Protestant}} {{wp|Full communion|communion}} of churches primarily within the [[Levantine Union]]. It is the largest Protestant denomination in [[Levantia]] and the second largest denomination behind the [[Catholic Church]]. Members of the College of Levantine Churches are typically referred to using the term "Collegiate", though this term is not used in any official Church capacity.

By 1845, there was a significant enough Chantric population in [[Levantia]] - possibly as high as 10,000 Levantines - to warrant a reorganization of Church function there. Previously, clerics associated with embassies or merchants were assigned largely on an ad hoc basis, serving very limited time abroad and returning to [[Alstin]] to their normal parish functions. In 1846, the [[Imperial Diet]] - in the midst of the [[Third Caroline War]] and needing to maintain good relations abroad - gave the government of Alstin, and by extension the Chantry, permission to organize a formal hierarchy in Levantia. This permission came with a strict prohibition on missionary activity and disallowance of "prosletyzing...in any manner". This had the effect of creating a less open method of joining the Chantric Church than had existed in decades prior as local clerics sought to avoid confrontations with the [[Imperial Inquisition]], but committed Protestants were still able to join with some commitment. Historians have uncovered specific episodes of Chantric clergy offering {{wp|bribes}} to local and Inquisitorial authorities in exchange for ignoring their growing populations, though it is unclear how widespread this practice was. The 1846 permission from the Diet lead to the adoption by the Chantry, in late 1846, of the Instrument of Organization in Levantia, which established a Bishop of Ericaner (in modern [[Lutsana]]) as head of the Chantry in Levantia, formally the ecclesiastical "Province of Dericania and the Vandarch". As a result, the Chantry's local church in Levantia took the popular name the "Provincial Church", though this name was never used in any official capacity. Along with a formal episcopate, the Chantry also assigned 25 permanent clerics to Levantia to serve under the Bishop, and gave the Bishop wide authority to ordain deacons and priests as needed. The Instrument of Organization created the first public-facing Protestant church organization in the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] since the end of the [[Great Confessional War]]. As was the case before, the public availability of the Chantry greatly increased its accessibility and desirability to local Protestants, with 50,000 adherents by 1900 and many native-born Chantric clergy being organized between 1846 and 1900.

Self-identified independent Catholic groups have a long history in modern [[Levantia]]. Due to the widespread prevalence and social dominance of the [[Catholic Church]] throughout the [[Levantine Union]], many groups who have otherwise separated from the authority of the [[Pope]] have nonetheless retained a self-proclaimed "Catholic" identity. The largest concentration of these groups are "{{wp|Old Catholic Church|old Catholic}}" in nature, that is, individual communities and churches who separated from the Catholic Church over the issue of {{wp|Papal infallibility}} as defined at the {{wp|First Vatican Council}}. The second largest group are the so-called "national" churches which formed throughout Levantia in the 19th century as part of the broader nationalist and Romantic movement. The most prominent of these was the National Catholic Church of the Vandarch, which achieved legal recognition as a minority religion in [[Hollona and Diorisia]] in [[1883]] and espoused national supremacy over union with the [[Pope]] and achieved as much as ten percent of the population as members by [[1900]], though declining thereafter. The "Vandarch church", as a legally recognized organization, held pride of place and prestige within independent Catholic circles, with the national Bishop of Mesellianum assuming an unofficial role as spokesman for independent Catholics. These national groups largely maintained the same theology and {{wp|ecclesiology}} as the Catholic Church, with concerns for political independence driving their foundation. Finally, a smaller number of self-identified "old" Catholic communities existed in rural parts of eastern [[Rhotia]], with most scholars describing their position as {{wp|Jansenist}}.  

As the number of independent Catholic groups increased at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, calls for unity outside of that with [[Papal State|Urceopolis]] were echoed throughout many of these groups. The National Catholic Church of the Vandarch took the lead on attempting to organize these efforts. In [[1924]], four different Old Catholic Churches and six various independent and national Churches met at the Synod of Mesellianum in [[Hollona and Diorisia]] with the intent of forming a loose association between the groups, with common ordination and mutually recognized {{wp|Apostolic succession}}. These groups founded the Independent Catholic Association effective 1 January 1925, and organization which changed its name to the Independent Catholic Association of Levantia in [[1935]] during the [[Second Great War]].

In addition to the organization of the College in [[Levantia]], the College has erected "Mission Areas", administrative jurisdictions outside Levantia for the purpose of missionary activity and spreading the faith. The majority of active mission areas in the late 2020s are in [[Alshar]], with a sizeable and growing number being in [[Crona]]. Mission Areas function under a shared jurisdictional basis, with individual congregations and metropole-like "regions" functioning in an area, while a growing number of missions also include independently operating "faith engagement groups", non-clerical organizations of volunteers which preach to local populations. The faith engagement groups are known to be more {{wp|Evangelical Christian|Evangelical}} in theological outlook and temperament than the primary Collegiate hierarchy.  

As of 2028, 12 Mission Areas existed serving 19 different sovereign entities. Of these, 6 are in [[Alshar]], 4 are in [[Crona]], 1 is in [[Audonia]], and 1 is in [[Polynesia]]. Three of the four mission areas in Crona were established between 2015 and 2026, and these three serve the [[Nysdra Sea]] region including [[Cusinaut]] and now [[Varshan]] as well as other adjoining regions. The one mission area in [[Polynesia]] is exclusive to the area of [[Stenza]].

Partners in the Church Invisible (commonly referred to as "PCIs") are Christian Churches with whom the College does not share communion, but nonetheless recognizes as having some valid {{wp|Apostolic succession}} as well as legitimate exercise of the Christian ministry and sacraments. The primary organization falling under the status of PCI is the [[Catholic Church]], though recognition was extended to the [[Imperial Church]] during its existence and, controversially, the [[Democratic Christian Church of Corumm and the East]].

[[Category:IXWB]]