Unified Church of Faerun

The Unified Church of Faerun is an attempt at restructuring the Faerunean religious practices in a way that eliminates religious war and strife in pursuit of a more functional society. The Unified Church was started by the Lords' Alliance and the Order of the Gauntlet who co-operated on this endeavor. The Unified Church holds Lathander as the chief deity of the pantheon, and openly supports the worship of most deities in the Faerunean pantheon within their Unified temples, called "Churches". The first Unified Church, the Stormshore Tabernacle, opened in Baldur's Gate, under the patronage of Abdel Adrian, and since then, have become the norm across the Sword Coast.

Clergy

The Clergy of the Unified Church do not serve any one deity. They are organized as follows:

Layman

A member of a congregation, who has performed the necessary rites to join the faith as a serving member, but usually in a voluntary and part-time capacity (altar servers etc.). Most laymembers cannot practice divine magic, but typically have extensive knowledge of the faith.

Minister

Known as preachers or readers generally, Ministers are experienced, and adult laymembers, who continue to serve the church on a voluntary basis. Capable of some limited divine magic, they are on part with an initiate in power, but commonly much more well-versed in the church traditions and practices. Most ministers serve the church by ministering at a specific shrine and often specialize in services related to a singular deity.

Reverend

A Reverend is an honorific granted to those who have served the church as laymembers for some time, having achieved the powers of an acolyte, by means of self-devotion and service to the church. Reverends are typically "retired" ministers, or members of the wealthier upper class that have achieved this rank through a mixture of devotion and study as a means to express piety.

Initiate

A person who has taken the first steps into becoming a working member of the Church by attempting to become an acolyte. Initiates typically start their careers as laymembers, though some begin their journeys earlier. An initiate is capable of casting some divine magic (equivalent to a 5th edition character with the magic initiate feature). Not all initiates become acolytes, but an initiate is generally seen as an acolyte in training.

Prelate

The life of a serving church member isn't for everyone - some clergy members become Prelates - the expeditionary and adventuring part of the clergy (traditional "Clerics").
Set outside the normal Church Hierarchy, Prelates have no authority over any other Church members, but no church members, excepting a Bishop or higher, have authority over them either. Prelates, unlike most clergy members, are generally dedicated to a single deity, but still serve the Unified Church.

Monastic Branch

The Unified Church doesn't have its own Monastic varieties, but many initiates are referred to various Monastic Orders that the Unified Church has a good working relationship with, chiefly the Mercy Order.

Acolyte

Advancing beyond the point of initiate, an Acolyte has accomplished their first step in becoming a serving member of the Church by completing most of their initial training. Acolytes are church assistants working toward higher postings.

Prefect

A Senior acolyte who trains initiates to become Acolytes. A Prefect is on the same level as a Priest in power, but ranks just above an acolyte.

Deacon

A Senior acolyte that works as an assistant to a higher ranking church member. Deacons rarely come across as members of the clergy - they often know a specific trade and rarely advance beyond this position. Examples are stonecutters who make headstones for cemetaries, carpenters who specialize in manufacturing coffins amd many other professions chiefly associated with the church or that the church relies on having in-house. Deacons are an odd exception to the advancement of the church - many Deacons are promoted from among the laystaff due to their special skills, and many Deacons lack even basic abilities to call upon divine magic - most are on par with an initiate and have not undergone proper formal training of an acolyte.

Lector

A senior acolyte that acts as a teacher in the local school, chiefly devoted to Oghma. This is typically a career goal for academically inclined acolytes, who remain in this position until retirement.

Dean

A Senior Lector that serves as the leader of a larger school. The power and influence of a Dean is measured by the school they lead. Some schools teach initiates of the Church, and such a Dean will also rank above at least one prefect, while others may simply serve a larger school that has multiple Lectors.

Chaplain

A Chaplain oversees the services rendered a chapel. Chiefly devoted to Kelemvor, Chaplains serve as morticians and administer final rites to the dead. Smaller communities typically only have a Chapel, and so the Chaplain is more than just a devotee to Kelemvor, but most Chaplains do not seek advancement, though they effectively function as junior priests.

Vicar

Found only in larger communities, a Vicar is a junior priest that serves in a community with multiple churches. The Vicar leads services at one such church, but is not the local head of the Unified Church as a whole. While differing in rank from a proper Priest, a Vicar can be just as seasoned and experienced as any priest - politically, advancement beyond the rank of Priest is more likely for a Vicar (skipping the office of Priest), and so even though a Priest technically outranks a Vicar, the Vicar normally answers to a Bishop.

Priest

A Priest is the chief ordained clergy member at a singular church that serves a larger community. Most towns and townships as well as smaller cities have only a single priest who leads all members of the clergy within that jurisdiction. Any Priest usually has at least one Lector working under them, at least a handful of Deacons, commonly 3-4 Chaplains and commonly a dozen Ministers. Priests are accomplished practitioners of Divine Magic, capable of working powerful divine spells.

Bishop

A Bishop is the leader of the Unified Church Clergy in a larger region called a Diocese. A Bishop commonly ministers from a larger settlement, having several Vicars under them to tend to the congregations of the settlement in question, so that the Bishop can focus on the Church administration. Most Bishops have several Priests working under them as well.

Arch Bishop

An Arch Bishop administrates an Arch Diocese is an even larger region, consisting of a handful of Diocese.

Cardinal

Each nation that has adopted the Unified Church as their primary religious tradition has a Cardinal who administrates the Unified Church as a whole within that nation.

Hierarch

The Hierarch is the leader of the Unified Church. Despite originating in Baldur's Gate, the Unified Church calls Elturel home, and in the year 1491 DR, the reigning Hierarch is Thavius Kreeg.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Divines

• Abdel Adrian