The Mercian Christian Church (MCC) has created its first Diocese outside of Mercian borders today, with a new Diocese in the Tsardom of Nolland. The Foreign & Confederal Secretary of Nolland, Leon Williamson (who is also a Baron in Mercia) has agreed to become the Bishop of Richmond. The leadership of the MCC now stands at three people; His Lordship Richard I, the Lord Spiritual; and Bishops Llewelyn Lawton and Leon Williamson, of the Dioceses of Mercia and Nolland respectively.
The MCC has already made a stance on disallowing Women Bishops while allowing Women Deacons, as well as publishing 33 Articles of Faith that define the core tenets of the church, which exists as a kind of episcopal baptist establishment. The MCC’s Synod is yet to vote on the church’s official position on gay marriage, which has recently sent tremors through the conservative Christian wing of the Micronational community.
While it is good the Church has proscribed female bishops/overseers, it must follow the Holy Writ in entirety and forbid female deacons as well. This I say strictly as a former Bishop of the Mercian Church, which, though I admire, I find a few small theological discrepancies in.
I do hope the Church will vote against same-sex marriage. If, perchance, the Mercian Church voted in favor of same-sex marriage, it would unfortunately be prohibited from practicing within New Israel.