Every kindred structure is riven with division. This is so because we are, by our natures, aggressive and confrontational. The Beast that beats within our breasts makes it so, raising its hackles whenever we encounter another of our kind. With such a nature, it is difficult to organize ourselves on a large scale.
The Lancea Sanctum is no different in this regards. The Sanctified are divided into as many (or more) Longinian Churches as there are praxes. Historically, each diocese of the Lancea Sanctum was its own self-enclosed body. It was established thus by this way because of an understanding of our natures, and of the vulnerability of corruption, paralysis, internal strife, or external assault in a unified structure.
This practice allowed the Lancea Sanctum to flourish in many places. In the ancient days, there was no need to wait for word to travel to and from a distant senior member of the Church. All matters were local and all decisions were local. This led to both a variety of practices and expressions of faith, as well as over time to the development of various creeds, broad sects within the Lancea Sanctum based on differing interpretations of the Testament and other early documents of the faith.
Broadly speaking, there are three major creeds within the Lancea Sanctum, a half dozen minor creeds, and myriad more diocese that operate without an espoused creed at all. In the modern nights in particular, as ease of travel has increased and the mixing of previously distinct cultures and races have risen cities around the world, many dioceses have Sanctified who adhere to differing creeds. This all makes for a very curious local Church where some worship using rituals that are clearly drawn from Catholicism, while others handle snakes and leap over bonfires in ecstatic displays of faith.
The most traditional and prominent within the Lancea Sanctum is the Monachal Creed, which yet makes up half of Sanctified around the world. The percentage may be lower in the United States, though no full census has ever been taken. The Monachal Creed draws its name from the Monachus, the first childe of Longinus, and draws heavily from the writings of the Monachus contained in The Sanguineous Catechism. Its rituals, as the oldest and most traditional of the Creeds, are drawn in structure from Catholicism.
The second of the major Creeds is the Westminster Creed. It is perhaps surprisingly modern, having only been penned and formalized in the 18th century as a delayed response to the Protestant Reformation that swept Europe two centuries prior. The Westminster Creed, while wishing to adhere to much of the traditional texts of the Lancea Sanctum, sought to shake free of many of the most ancient practices. It eschews the traditional rituals of the faith, crafted new and simpler ceremonies, as well as altered the names of various traditional offices within the Lancea Sanctum. It did so and blossomed in areas of the mortal world where Catholicism had never been or was no longer welcome.
The third of the major Creeds began here in the United States. The Tollison Creed was drafted in the 1920s by a former Pentecostal minister. In a similar fashion to Pentecostalism, where there is a belief that the Holy Spirit might move through any person at any time and direction from God is personal, so members of the Tollison Creed open themselves up to direct and personal experience with God, angels, or similar spirits. Theirs is a passionate and ecstatic faith, marked by extreme displays and personal revelations.
Some of the larger minor creeds include: the Iblic Creed, the Dammitic Creed, and Exotheists. The Iblic Creed, which was drafted in 1420 to reconcile the Islamic theology with the traditions of the Lancea Sanctum. The Dammitic Creed was founded in the 18th century to similarly reconcile Jewish traditions with the Lancea Sanctum. The Exotheists are the most modern of the minor creeds, following the publication of the Exotheist Manifesto in 1924, which eschews religious structures entirely while allowing that the Testament of Longinus might yet be an important philosophical treatise on kindred nature and how we might structure our requiems.
All of these creeds, and more, live under one very large roof within the Lancea Sanctum. The diversity occurred, at least in part, because of our earliest teachings and structure. We largely manage to reconcile ourselves in these modern nights, working together because despite our differences in our understanding of it, we do believe that there is an essential ordering to the world, and a place in it for us in accordance with God's plan.
Much more has and is required for a deep understanding of the Lancea Sanctum, and each of its many creeds, and the individual variations within them. However, I hope that this has at least presented some grounding for the diversity that exists and thrives under the auspices of this one covenant.
Sum Sanctus,
Simon Patterson Gloveli
Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni
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