Looking at the Church in Cyrodiil, any lore-buff worth his salt should, and does cringe; where's the imperial cult? the majesty of the church of the nine divines? where are the religious leaders, ceremonies, rights...

More to the point where are the priests? are they these sack-cloth clad beggars, without title or prestige, that loiter in the bare caverns that our church's have become? Now I'm not by any means a wannabe priest, but i find it more than disappointing that Cyroill, from which such an influential religion is spreading, has no religious presence at all. No priest hood, no back story, just a few church's a priory, and a knightly order. Wow

So, without further ado, some of us over in the modding forums decided to have a bash at it, thing is, were not sure how

Should there be weekly services? fines, penances, greedy money grabbing? how much influence does the church have, lore wise, on the average citizen? how to the authorities regard the priesthood? can the clergy go where they like, act as they please, or are they subject to the same law? How powerful are priests? are they just healers? or should they be infused with the power of their Gods?

It's alot to ask about, but i was hoping it would be a matter of interest here as well.

Isnt the Imperial Cult the missonary arm of the church in places such as Morrowind where they have their own religion? Hence why its not in Oblivion but is in TES:III

Should there be weekly services? yep.

fines, penances, greedy money grabbing? yep. depends on which divine though.

how much influence does the church have, lore wise, on the average citizen? depends on the citizen, though i doubt that they have as much influence as the church of medieval europe (due at least in part to the fact that there are so many different deities to worship)

how to the authorities regard the priesthood? i think priests are fairly high up the social ladder. they probably have more knowledge than your average citizen and have influence over people.

can the clergy go where they like, act as they please, or are they subject to the same law? i'd say they have more leeway, but they are not above the law.

are they just healers? or should they be infused with the power of their Gods? healers, missionaries, teachers, leaders. someone who has godly powers would be viewed as unique imo.

i personally think its a great idea theres a related threadhttp://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=992096 that may be of interest. i'd also check out the different cults in dagerfall for inspiration and TIL'shttp://www.imperial-library.info/nine_divines/ page for information.

Yes it is, It's just a missionary cult wich is present in all the other provinces...
It's not the name for the religion itself....

Hmmm, just my quick creative pass at it: Every church should have their own distinct problems. For instance the Cheydinhall church may have too much funds that it doesn't know where it apply it all beneficially and one of their priests is skimming off the top, but the Bravil church can't get enough funds to keep its doors open. I'd imagine something where each church had basic services for all, like the healing and services and cemetary and such, but they will each feel different based on their dedicated God. The Temple of Talos should be an obvious tool for promoting the Empire (or a soapbox to despair that Talos has left now that his blood no longer rules Tamriel), while the Temple of Julianos should have a library that might make even the Arcane University scholars jealous, while the Temple of Arkay should have a massive mausoleum and monastic order dedicated to protecting, tending, and sanctifying it.

In other words, monastic orders attached to Cathedrals were common during the Dark Ages, make use of it.

I have no idea right now about what you should do with the Temple of the One. I'll think on it, in the meantime post some of what you might have come up with and then I'll post what I come up with.

They're doing charitable work, collect alms (see Morrowind), heal and teach.
In Oblivion you can see people on a daily basis visiting chatedrals.
Anyway there are probably some rituals performed, but hey, game mechanics and development time are major trimming factor for many other "lore-ish" aspects. It's just a sandbox.