Apostolic Church of Kezan
The Apostolic Church of Kezan is a Nazarene church that operates within the County Palatine of Kezan. As a registered religious institution, as opposed to the unorganized Spiritual Nazarene movement, its operations are overseen by the Information Bureau's Office of Rites and Practices.
The head of the Apostolic Church is the Metropolitan of Idassa, Ioann (Nahurui). Its headquarters is located at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St Nicholas the Wonderworker. It has seven dioceses, one for each honour, plus the Metropolis of Idassa, and the Vicariate of Hawshire.
History
Founded as the Vicariate of Eleutheria, the early church provided spiritual services to the few Antican Nazarenes who had settled on the islands. At the time, the local Sunderneyer population practiced a decentralized form of worship based upon the Schlichting Confession. The Cathedral of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker was commissioned by Christopher Octavius, but was not completed until after his death.
Following the foundation of the County Palatine and a major influx of Anticans and, to a lesser extent, Elws, the landscape of Nazarene worship was transformed. Displaced Nazarenes, including a hodgepodge of clergy who had fled from both Continental Antica and Kaikias, necessitated a new ecclesiastical order in Kezan. A General Assembly of Representatives of the Antican Church Abroad was held in Panalkey Ward in 1611 AN, with representatives from the Orthodox Church of Amokolia and Elwynn, from Autocephalous Nazarene Church of Alexandria, and from the Sunderneyer Brethren.
As part of this General Assembly, communion with both the Amokolian and Alexandria churches were confirmed, a form of low ritual practice was authorized, called the Sunderneyer Rite, which adapted the worship practices of the Sunderneyer Brethren to an Orthodox theology, and a new ecclesiastical structure was confirmed. Displaced bishops, with titles to cities that no longer existed, were compelled to retire.
The decisions of the assembly were officiated on 13.X.1611 AN, at the celebration of Holy Pascha, during which the Vicar of Eleutheria was elevated to that of Metropolitan of Idassa, and five priests, who had been selected by the assembly, were consecrated as bishops for each of Kezan's wards.
Not all Sunderneyer Kezanese joined the Apostolic Church of Kezan. Various splinter groups claim to succeed the Sunderneyer Brethren, maintaining competing networks of parishes overseen by lay pastors. Unity has eluded the community, which has seen additional fractures and incomplete unifications over the decades since.
