Akronism: Difference between revisions
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The Church of Akrona is governed by a body known as The Elders. The First Elders were the first seven women to whom Akrona appeared and personally blessed. That body has continued uninterrupted to today, always consisting of seven women. The Elders are led by a figure known as The Matron. The Matron is believed to be the singular "head of the Church" and both representative of the faithful to Akrona and representative of Akrona to the faithful, although when The Elders meet as a body to deliberate, she has only one vote the same as every other Elder. When an Elder dies, a replacement is named by the Matron to serve for life. When The Matron dies, the remaining six Elders appoint a new Matron, who may be one of their own or who may come from outside the Elders. In the case that an Elder is appointed Matron, the new Matron appoints a replacement to the seat she vacated. Other than being a woman, there is no other qualification set out under the law for someone to be selected as Matron. Acronian constitutional scholars have noted that there is not even a written requirement that an Elder be a member of the church. The Elders have never disclosed any of the factors they use in deciding who should be a Matron. In 2018, the current Matron made an unprecedented disclosure, in response to a question from a member of the church, that for purposes of selecting an Elder the definition of "woman" is any individual who identifies as and "sincerely holds themselves to be, in their whole self and spirit" a woman - meaning transgender women are eligible for the office. It is unknown if any transgender women have ever served as an Elder - although it is equally unknown if any cisgender women have ever served in the role.
There have been thirty-seven individual women who have served as Matron. Each of them, upon their election, has been known only as "The Matron." In situations wherein distinction is necessary, one may say "the current Matron", "the thirty-sixth Matron" or "the then-Matron." It is considered impolite, but not against church doctrine, to refer to a Matron by the name she held before she was elected. [[The 37th Matron|The current Matron]] - elected in
Individual Elders are identified by the same names as the First Elders. The given names of the First Elders, not including the first Matron, were Laika, Nelat, Anda, Vreila, Nanshai, and Endi. The line names and family names of the First Elders, and the entire name of the first Matron, have been lost. Upon each of the deaths of the First Elders, the Elder appointed to replace them was known by the name of the one they replaced - for example, the Elder appointed when Anda died was also known as Anda. As such, there are six "seats" of the Elders, referred to as "the seat of Laika" or "the seat of Nanshai." To differentiate between different individual Elders, one might say "the current Laika," "the thirty-ninth Laika," or most formally, "the thirty-ninth Elder to sit upon the Seat of Laika."
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