Hierarchy of the Church of Talad
Since the schism in the church about 600 years ago, there are two distinct hierarchies in the church. Ranks are similar, as are services, but much bad blood exists between the two.
Geltan Empire
The Geltan Empire church is headed by the Patriarch, who is based in Asathe. Under him are the Cardinals, one in each Grand Duchy. A large city will have an Archbishop, a smaller city a Bishop, a town might have a Vicar. Each of these will have numerous priests under their direct authority. The Patriarch is selected from amongst the Cardinals by the Archbishops and Bishops. The rank structure from highest to lowest is naturally Patriarch, Cardinal, Archbishop, Bishop, Vicar, and priest. Since the hierarchy also reflects politics in the region, a Bishop from Wesai does not have to obey the Cardinal of Bardus, even though the Bishop is technically outranked.
Allied Kingdoms
The AK church is much more loosely organized. At the top are the four Prelates. Large cities will have Archbishops, and small cities Bishops. A Prelate is selected by the other prelates from amongst the faithful. It is not unheard of for a lowly priest to be selected and jump to the highest rank. In theory, their selection is a direct reflection of Talad's will.
None of the Prelates outranks the others, although the longest serving generally acts as head when the four meet. Each has responsibility for one section - northwest, northeast, southeast, or southwest.
Priests who belong to a local church know that the nearest Bishop or Archbishop is their immediate superior, whom they go to for advice and help. Itinerant (travelling) priests will usually respond to commands from ranking members of the church.
The Schism
The split occurred after the fourth Orcish Invasion. The head of the church at the time, and for the past few centuries of war, had also been the Champion of Talad. However, he died of wounds in one of the last battles, and no new Champion arose to take claim his place. In the meeting of powerful church members that followed, the members from Gelta who attended favored selecting a new head until the Champion returned, while the Allied Kingdom members wanted to go back to the old ways of centuries past in a loosely organized structure. The actual split was caused by two contentious points from Gelta: that the head be the Patriarch (ie a man) and that he always be human. This naked power grab by Gelta (all the high ranking church members were coincidentally nobles, mostly related to the Grand Dukes) caused the Allied members to leave the conference and start their own.
The power hungry Geltans appointed the emperor's third son Patriarch. It took about a century of their powers failing and accidents happening to ranking churchmembers and Grand Dukes before Talad got through to them that his church was not to be used in such a way. Since then, the Patriarchs and Cardinals have been selected for both political connections as well as wisdom and devotion to good. It's numbers are such that it is still a powerful political force, although it now moderates the more outrageous schemes of nobility. The schism remains, however, as each side still feels that their hierarchy is better. Since Talad apparently hasn't made a decision, the two sides respect each other but remain apart. It will probably take the appearance of the Champion to heal the church.
The Champion
Formerly the head of the church during the Orcish Invasions, the Champion (Talad's chosen representative) has been anonymous for over 500 years. Scholars agree that someone, somewhere, is still the Champion, but debate the reason for him/her to remain hidden. It is prophesied that the public re-appearance of the Champion will herald the next Invasion.