The Fenchurch

[Acyl]

This is a very strange idea. It just...hit me...and won't let go. I'm posting it now that I have proper computer access. I don't actually have any plans for this...it's just a sort of random universe rumination.
Might try to work up a short fic based on this. Once I actually finish the current bit of Fenspace writing I'm doing (an Island origin story).
This is presented largely as a Gazetteer entry, though I'd like...I dunno, input before I toss it into that thread. I'm just typing this out off the top of my 'ead here, I'm sleepy, and I'm not sure if I'm crazy or not. Is this just wrong?

---

The Church of Fenspace
(also known as the Fenchurch, particularly to Londoners and Douglas Adams fans)
Religion is closely tied to culture, community, and way of life. So it stands to reason that with the mass migration of people into space, new beliefs would evolve...or get created, as the case may be. The Church of Fenspace generally subscribes to the creation doctrine, on the basis that God clearly has a sense of humour.
The Church of Fenspace is the largest Christian organisation existing off-planet, and the only one recognised by Christian churches back on Earth. However, "recognised" might be a strong term; the degree of acceptance varies across the mundane religious community. The Vatican and several Protestant bodies regard the Fenchurch as a full-fledged denomination, albeit a strange one...but many others denounce them as a cult. Or worse.
The actual situation is somewhat problematic, because "organisation" is a bit of a stretch when describing the Fenchurch. "Organisation" tends to be lacking in any Fen endeavour, and the Church is no exception. Individual worshippers vary greatly in their theology and conduct. In practical terms, the Church of Fenspace is pretty much a catch-all category for any Fen that professes to be Christian.
That said, the Fenchurch does have a government of sorts. The various priests and pastors are on the same mailing list, and they have a message board. Flamewars are common, but the Church insists this merely shows their members have Fire of the Holy Spirit. God is their moderator, as it were.
And there are a few doctrinal matters that the Fenchurch agrees on. Kind of, anyway. As a general rule, the Church subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, accepting the existence of God and the divinity of Christ. It is a Protestant or Reformed body, insofar as it does not accept Papal authority...or at least the mundane Pope, but all efforts to appoint a new "Space Pope" have thus far met with failure.
Many Fenchurch members also venerate Saints, although Sainthood in this case is more Anglican in nature than Catholic. Saints are elevated by popular opinion as holy people, rather than formally canonized by Church authorities. Attempts have been made to draw up an official Litany of Saints, but discussions inevitably get bogged down. For example, many believe in St. Rei and St. Asuka of Evangelion...but the Sainthood of Shinji is a bit debatable.
Several groups fall within the umbrella of the Church of Fenspace, ranging from monastic orders such as the Grammaton Clerics and Order of Magdalene to regular places of worship like the Wolfwood Chapel and In Nomine Tether.
The Fenchurch has favourable relations with most other religious bodies in space, particularly the Unorthadox Jewish, Fen Muslims, and Space Buddhists. However, the Church has no association with the Jenova's Witnesses.

---

-- Acyl
EDIT: It stands to reason people will still have religion in space, right? So you'd get space Christians, space Jewish... here's just a little slice of that.
I'm Christian, really. I also have, however, a very odd sense of humour. And I hope this is an apros homage to both the religion and pop culture references. o_o)
-- Acyl

[Herr Bad Moon]

IHNTA, IJLS
---------------
-Jon
Being the Mariner hitting coach is like being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
-Poster on USSMariner.com
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"

[Vangeek]

....Jenova's Witnesses.
*begins to giggle madly*

[M Fnord]

If the church's headquarters aren't in St. Liebowitz's Cathedral, I shall be very cross indeed.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[CattyNebulart]

The headquaters should clearly be at Hades, since that is the noted place for such (no clud where St. Liebowitz's Cathedral is, a quick check didn't turn up anything.)
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[robkelk]

---

(no clud where St. Liebowitz's Cathedral is, a quick check didn't turn up anything.)

---

Check here for a quick overview...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[The Hunterminator]

---

That said, the Fenchurch does have a government of sorts. The various priests and pastors are on the same mailing list, and they have a message board. Flamewars are common, but the Church insists this merely shows their members have Fire of the Holy Spirit. God is their moderator, as it were.

---

*Rolls on the floor giggling like a maniac*

[Black Aeronaut]

Jenova's Witnesses!?!?!
Okay, the name alone is excuse enough for a sudden and horrible holy war. Story Arch anyone?

---

Black Aeronaut Technologies Group
Aerospace Solutions for the discerning spacer
"But first, let's test it on the penguin."
"Meep?" O.o

---

[The Hunterminator]

Griever was the first to mention fen Jenova's Witnesses, in his first post in fact.
You can find it in the convention thread.
I really like the fact that, upon being hailed by them, his reaction was to unleash Trigon on them.

[Acyl]

Well, no, Griever's scenelet was about regular Jehova's Witnesses - they mention the "Watchtower" when they call 'im, yeah?
Jenova's Witnesses are more about Sephiroth, I imagine.
I don't take credit for the pun, mind. It's an old joke, and VGcats in particular did a very nice comic based on it.
Seemed entirely logical that some Fen would take the notion and run with it. =)
Also...

---

Okay, the name alone is excuse enough for a sudden and horrible holy war. Story Arch anyone?

---

My proposed writeup for the Fenchurch mentions the Grammaton Clerics and Order of Magdalene. The Clerics are the gun-kata enforcers from Equilibrium, and the Order are the...er...gunbunny demon hunters from Chrono Crusade (or Chrno Crusade, if you prefer).
Bang bang.
-- Acyl

[classicdrogn]

I imagine the Jonova's witnesses would be a developement after someone comes up with a strain of biomodding 'weave that generally leaves brilliant green eyes along with whatever else.
Also, I must make mention of the Immigrant Fleet and Church of Ormus from the Xenosaga series - not that I know what to do with them, but there they are, in case somone comes uyp with it. U-DO would be a reasonable stand-in for the Data Entities of Haruhi canon as well.
- CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Acyl]

---

I imagine the Jonova's witnesses would be a developement after someone comes up with a strain of biomodding 'weave that generally leaves brilliant green eyes along with whatever else.

---

*snort*
Yes. Of course, one wonders what their theology would be... I'm getting horrible flashbacks to Sephiroth's zaniness in FFVII or whatsisname in Advent Children.
And I'm picturing folks walking around with excessively long weapons, and completely useless biomod wings, flight being difficult to achieve with only one wing...
*snrk*
There might be enough material in the long-haul for a gazetteer writeup on Fen religions (or cults, whatever) in general, but I figured it'd be easier to just zero in on a specific cluster for...well, what I originally posted up there.
If it seems cool, I'll probably toss it over to the Gazetteer thread in a bit.
-- Acyl

[Bob Schroeck]

Well, you can bet your booties the Discordians will be well represented, with free Pope cards for everyone in sight.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Sirrocco]

Flying with one wing? Is true. Is no so easy. Still, handwavium tends to be good at gravtech, and it doesn't take much grav to do that "hovering in midair" schtick. You could fit that into a biomod, I think.
Mind you, the psychological disadvantages the biomod gave you to compensate would probably be pretty bad, but that's in-genre too.

[Ebony]

---

Well, you can bet your booties the Discordians will be well represented, with free Pope cards for everyone in sight.

---

And the Sub-Genii will probably be up for meeting the aliens halfway, since they keep getting X Day wrong. Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Acyl]

Version two. No real changes to the first part of the text, but a considerable bit added towards the end - M Fnord's idea about St. Liebowitz's Cathedral, mainly. Also a joke about bake sales.

---

The Church of Fenspace
(also known as the Fenchurch, particularly to Londoners and Douglas Adams fans)
Religion is closely tied to culture, community, and way of life. So it stands to reason that with the mass migration of people into space, new beliefs would evolve...or get created, as the case may be. The Church of Fenspace generally subscribes to the creation doctrine, on the basis that God clearly has a sense of humour.
The Church of Fenspace is the largest Christian organisation existing off-planet, and the only one recognised by Christian churches back on Earth. However, "recognised" might be a strong term; the degree of acceptance varies across the mundane religious community. The Vatican and several Protestant bodies regard the Fenchurch as a full-fledged denomination, albeit a strange one...but many others denounce them as a cult. Or worse.
The actual situation is somewhat problematic, because "organisation" is a bit of a stretch when describing the Fenchurch. "Organisation" tends to be lacking in any Fen endeavour, and the Church is no exception. Individual worshippers vary greatly in their theology and conduct. In practical terms, the Church of Fenspace is pretty much a catch-all category for any Fen that professes to be Christian.
That said, the Fenchurch does have a government of sorts. The various priests and pastors are on the same mailing list, and they have a message board. Flamewars are common, but the Church insists this merely shows their members have Fire of the Holy Spirit. God is their moderator, as it were.
And there are a few doctrinal matters that the Fenchurch agrees on. Kind of, anyway. As a general rule, the Church subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, accepting the existence of God and the divinity of Christ. It is a Protestant or Reformed body, insofar as it does not accept Papal authority...or at least the mundane Pope, but all efforts to appoint a new "Space Pope" have thus far met with failure.
Many Fenchurch members also venerate Saints, although Sainthood in this case is more Anglican in nature than Catholic. Saints are elevated by popular opinion as holy people, rather than formally canonized by Church authorities. Attempts have been made to draw up an official Litany of Saints, but discussions inevitably get bogged down. For example, many believe in St. Rei and St. Asuka of Evangelion...but the Sainthood of Shinji is a bit debatable.
Several groups fall within Fenchurch's umbrella, ranging from monastic orders such as the Grammaton Clerics and Order of Magdalene to regular congregations like the Wolfwood Chapel and In Nomine Tether.
However, the largest place of worship is St. Liebowitz's Cathedral, possibly the biggest religious structure off-Earth. It has the worshippers to match, making it the unofficial headquarters of the Fenchurch. Located on Mars, the Cathedral holds services throughout the week, catering to all believers. There are occasional clashes...for instance, Quakers insist on silence during their services, but their weekly meeting in the Cathedral coincides with the Klingon Prayer Group...but such things are usually peacefully concluded in the universal brotherhood of Christ. Or sisterhood. Or gender-neuter-hood, considering some of the stranger biomods out there.
The Church of Fenspace is supported mainly by voluntary donations and tithes from members, although there are occasional fundraising activities like bake sales. Considering the amount of handwavium used by the average churchgoer, it might not be a wise idea to eat the cakes.
The Fenchurch has favourable relations with most other religious bodies in space, particularly the Unorthadox Jewish, Fen Muslims, and Space Buddhists. However, the Church has no association with the Jenova's Witnesses.

---

-- Acyl

[drakensis]

The Fenchurch unoffically declares itself to encompass all sides of the 'True Fiancee' and 'Hinata-bashing' sectarian violence, while condemning the use of flaming in resolving these differences.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[itsune9tl]

---

regular places of worship like the Wolfwood Chapel

---

Is the Wolfwood Chapel an Orphanage supported by a group of bounty hunting, biomodded, possibly heretical, Catholic Priests?
They'd have handwaved motorbikes, 'danetech weaponry mounted in 'waved Crucifixes, a folding cardboard confessional, and dispensation to grant "Mercy".