Organization
The Grayson branch of the Church has two official heads, one temporal and one spiritual. The Protector of Grayson serves ex officio as the temporal head of the Church. In fact, the Grayson state is considered to be the temporal arm of the Church, although the Church has striven since the Civil War to not interfere with the running of political affairs.
The spiritual head of the Church is the Reverend, a title given to the First Elder of the Church. The Reverend can, in consultation with the leadership of the Church, issue decrees regarding Church policy, doctrine, and internal affairs. By tradition, every week the Reverend celebrates a service in the cathedral of a Steading, cycling through Grayson's eighty-two Steadings and beginning again.
The Reverend presides over a Council of Elders, seconded by a Second Elder of the Church, who assumes the duties of Reverend and First Elder in the event of the Reverend's death or retirement. This method of succession was seen when Second Elder Jeremiah Sullivan became Reverend and First Elder after Reverend Julius Hanks was murdered by conservative elements.
In turn, the Council of Elders is the leading organ of the Sacristy, as the ruling body of the Church is known. The Sacristy serves as the Church's organizational and theological authority. Beneath the Sacristy, there is a distributed church organization corresponding to the Steadings, with a Brother serving as the local head of the Church for each Steading as well as the Steadholder's personal chaplain.
There are three levels of priesthood:
- Elders, whose Council, presided by the Reverend, leads the Church
- Deacons, with an intermediate degree of authority within the Church's structure
- and Brothers, who serve as local priests
The organization of the Masadan branch prior to its defeat and occupation was more political and more theocratically absolute than on Grayson. There is also a Council of Elders led by a First Elder. Unlike Grayson, the Masadan Council of Elders was the ruling body of the Masadan theocratic government.
Read more about this topic: List Of Organizations In The Honorverse, Church of Humanity Unchained
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