Ecclesiastical Amendant Church of Ebrary
| Ecclesiastical Amendant Church of Ebrary | |
|---|---|
| Ecclesia Amendante Clerical de Ebraria | |
| Classification | Amendant |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Governor-Primate | Bishop of Ceres |
| Language | Ebrarese |
| Headquarters | Cathedral de Ceres, Ceres, Ebrary |
| Absorbed | Free Amendant Church of Ebrary (1940) |
| Separations |
|
The Ecclesiastical Amendant Church of Ebrary (Ebrarese: Ecclesia Amendante Clerical de Ebraria), known formerly (and still informally) as simply the Church of Ebrary (Ebrarese: Ecclesia de Ebraria), is an Amendant Christian church which was the established church of Ebrary until 1934. Members of the church are generally denoted as Ebraricists (Ebrarese: Ebraricistas), so the church is also sometimes referred to as the Ebraricist Church(Ebrarese: Ecclesia Ebraricista). As Ebrary's longest-lasting functioning institution, it has played an important role in the history and development of the Ebrarian nation. The bishop of Ceres is the most senior cleric, supreme governor, and chief pastor of the church. It traces its origins to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Aroman-speaking colonies of Ebrary in the 5th-century. The church is headquartered in the historic Cathedral of Ceres in the Ebrarian capital of Ceres.
Due to its history, the Ebraricist Church views itself as respecting unbroken apostolic succession from the apostles. In 1939, the Ebraro-Orthodox faction of the Church of Ebrary split and formed the Orthodox Church in Ebrary.
History
Pre-Reformation
Before the Amendant Reformation, the Ebrarian church was part of the Orthodox communion and headed solely by the Bishop of Ceres. In 1502, King Charles 'the Greedy' declared himself head of the church in Ebrary in order to expropriate church lands and wealth for the use of the Ebrarian state. This caused a break in communion with other autocephalous churches in the Orthodox churches. Discontentment with the state of the church ultimately led the priest August Roel to publish his "Proposal for Amending the Church" in Miron in 1513, which led to the Amendant Reformation.
Amendant Reformation
The Amendant Reformation itself is said to have lasted from 1513 to 1567. The church, stripped of much of its wealth and power and operating under a series of incompetent monarchs, styled itself "Orthodox under Ebrarian rule". Various acts of vandalism occurred performed by iconoclasts in many Ebrarian cathedrals and churches of the era. Church attendance dramatically lowered as a large number of Ebrarians were converted to various Amendant denominations. However, in 1567 the Vorstish King Gustav II took the throne and instituted a number of reforms to the church, installing Amendant-leaning bishops, and bringing the church more theologically aligned with the Amendant view. This effectively ended any pretense of the Church of Ebrary being an Orthodox church, although a large Orthodox-sympathetic faction continued to exist in the church until the 20th century.
Era as a national church
As a national church, the Church of Ebrary held a wide variety of theological viewpoints. Various factions such as strict-Amendant factions, Sanctity-Ebraricist factions, and Ebraro-Orthodox cliques formed in the church. In 1895, the Free Amendant Church of Ebrary broke away from the Church of Ebrary due to changes in liturgy which were felt by those leaving to not adhere to Amendant beliefs.
Disestablishment, reorganization, and merger
The Church of Ebrary was disestablished in 1935 after the Ebrarian Revolution established a liberal democracy. In 1939, the Ebraro-Orthodox faction of the Church of Ebrary split and formed the Orthodox Church in Ebrary. In 1940, the Free Amendant Church of Ebrary merged back with the Church of Ebrary to form the Ecclesiastical Amendant Church of Ebrary.
Since the Ebrarian Revolution
The Ecclesiastical Amendant Church of Ebrary was effectively neutral during the Ebrarian Revolution, but has supported the government of Sovereign Protector Daniel Lucas since he took power. The Constitution of Ebrary guaranteed the church is able to appoint members in both the Senate and the High Ecumenical Council.