The Church of
St. James is the established Church of
Cambria as was decided by the final outcome of the Convocation of Brimmingstone and ratified by the King.
As such the Church is expected to, among other duties, preside over all the great state occasions such as the coronation or
funeral of a King, provide chaplains for all army units and maintain a Church building in all communities
with a population of over 100 people.
The Churches ruling body is the Great Synod which in theory may include every cleric of the Church
each with an equal vote. On a day to day basis the Church is, however, run by the Archbishop of
Pell's Hold assisted by the Bishops (whose diocese more or less correspond to the provinces).
Junior clerics start their training as an assistant cleric in local church for up to
a year before moving to a seminary in Pell's Hold for a further two years.
The duties of a village priest include making sure the tithe is collected and redistributing
part of it (generally about half) to local worthy causes. In addition to being
responsible for the spiritual welfare of his flock the priest will be expected to make
sure that widows, orphans, the old, the sick and disabled are all adequately cared for.
In addition in smaller communities the priest may find he is the default community leader
particularly if, as in becoming increasing common, the lord of the manor spends the majority
of his time elsewhere. If there is enough money the priest may also be able to set up
a village school although finding an adequate teacher is frequently a problem.
Although the Church has sole entitlement to the tithe it is common for itinerant priests of St Erin and
St Olwyn to request donations to their particular causes and these are rarely refused (it is almost
impossible in a rural community where 80% of the congregation may privately follow
St. Olwyn or
St. Erin).
It is
rarer for this to happen at national level but for instance the Church subsidises all the army chaplains
even those of the
King's Rangers who are almost exclusively clerics of St. Erin.
The Church of St. James has traditionally tried to maintain friendly relation with the Pelorean
churches of other countries particularly
Reetland.
The Church has also historically tried to be as supportive of the state as it can but is finding this
difficult under the current King. It has spoken out about the poverty in Pell's Hold and at local
level clerics have found themselves in conflict with the
Geogoths and the
King's Men