The Westminister Creed
The Westminster Creed was written in the eighteenth century by a British member of the Lancea Sanctum named Charles Emerson as a response to the Protestant Reformation. Anglican in life, Emerson fully accepted the Sanguineous Catechism, but wished to strip Sanctified faith of the oppressive ritualism that he believed made it difficult to win new converts in non-Catholic regions. The Westminster Creed eliminates the last four canons, significantly rewrites the Sixth Canon, and makes minor changes to the rest of the text to eliminate overt signs of Catholicism, but in principle accepts all of the major tenets of the covenant’s faith. This includes much of the hierarchy — Bishops and Archbishops still rule in Westminster domains, though Priests are often referred to as Reverends or Vicars. In practice, the revision resulted in only two major changes. First, Priests are not forbidden to form long-term relationships with other vampires, though such relationships remain rare due to the vampiric condition. Second, the Apostolica and Ecclesia were substantially rewritten to eliminate much of what Emerson called “excessive ceremonialism.” Most of the traditional rites remain, but the pomp and circumstance of the Monachal rites are replaced with a more staid and somewhat passionless approach, reminiscent of a more “vernacular” Presbyterian or Methodist service. Westminster services almost never run over an hour in length.
A secondary effect of Emerson’s changes is that it makes the Sanctified faith into a religion that other covenants could appreciate as an addition to their own sectarian beliefs (with the usual, expected exception of the Circle of the Crone, though the exclusion is often mutual). As such, services for adherents to the Westminster Creed are usually open to members of other covenants, though participation in the rites, and of course, tutelage in Theban Sorcery, is reserved exclusively for those who convert fully to the Lancea Sanctum. While Emerson’s hopes that his creed could lead to a merging of the Invictus with the Lancea Sanctum in his home domain have not yet come to fruition, the creed has become popular in Great Britain (and many of its former possessions) and the Eastern United States.
However, the Westminster Creed’s coziness with outside covenants has led to more than one vampire accusing the creed of fomenting apostasy. Such critics argue that the Westminster Creed merely promotes a form of “cafeteria vampirism,” in which worshipers become more concerned with gaining power in temporal, cross-covenant factions than in spreading The Testament of Longinus. Indeed, the Westminster Creed itself argues that the Sanctified should be content to leave worldly affairs to other Kindred if they are capable of governing in a moral manner. The duty of the Sanctified in such a domain is to serve as the conscience of the Prince. Detractors ask in reply: “Who will serve as the conscience of the Priest?”
A secondary effect of Emerson’s changes is that it makes the Sanctified faith into a religion that other covenants could appreciate as an addition to their own sectarian beliefs (with the usual, expected exception of the Circle of the Crone, though the exclusion is often mutual). As such, services for adherents to the Westminster Creed are usually open to members of other covenants, though participation in the rites, and of course, tutelage in Theban Sorcery, is reserved exclusively for those who convert fully to the Lancea Sanctum. While Emerson’s hopes that his creed could lead to a merging of the Invictus with the Lancea Sanctum in his home domain have not yet come to fruition, the creed has become popular in Great Britain (and many of its former possessions) and the Eastern United States.
However, the Westminster Creed’s coziness with outside covenants has led to more than one vampire accusing the creed of fomenting apostasy. Such critics argue that the Westminster Creed merely promotes a form of “cafeteria vampirism,” in which worshipers become more concerned with gaining power in temporal, cross-covenant factions than in spreading The Testament of Longinus. Indeed, the Westminster Creed itself argues that the Sanctified should be content to leave worldly affairs to other Kindred if they are capable of governing in a moral manner. The duty of the Sanctified in such a domain is to serve as the conscience of the Prince. Detractors ask in reply: “Who will serve as the conscience of the Priest?”
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