The Church's opinion of and stance on nether in general.
Nether is a substance, with no inherent evil about it. The Church's stance is that nothing is in and of itself "evil", just as nothing is in and of itself "good". Those terms are instead used to describe motives behind actions. There is also no church-wide ban on the wielding or acceptance of nether. They do, however, forbid members of certain positions and any officers to use it, such as Templar and Monks, as the nether will hinder or outright prevent their ability to effectively channel their inner light. Not only that, but it is the Church's observation that nether often inspires certain tendencies in people that use it, such as a drive to attain further knowledge or power without regards to the cost. The latter is the issue, not the former - attaining knowledge and power can be used for good means as well as evil. Doing so at the cost of others and one's own standards and morals is the issue.
Whether the Church is involved in ceremonies of marriage or any other civil matters.
The Church considers marriage a completely civil matter, which is different depending on culture. Individual Church members may perform and put their own twist on marriages (such as true love being a powerful manifestation of the Inner Light of both individuals), but the Church itself has no official or special marriage ceremony. The Church generally tries to stay out of political and civil matters, preferring to be a neutral, charitable organization looking out for the well-being of the people.
Whether the Church promotes evangelism.
It does not. The Church wishes to help protect and care for any who might need it; they have no reason to evangelize or seek to "convert" anyone, other than hoping to motivate others, by their example, to also have care and concern for the well-being of others.
Whether singing and music have a special place within the Church. I have noted many Templar abilities are chants, which leads me to believe such is likely.
It does. Singing and music can be an extremely effective method of channeling one's compassion, emotion, and Inner Light.
The Church beliefs regarding an afterlife, life before birth, the nature of the soul, and similar, if any.
Strange as it might sound, Rook Parlour is far more interested in this type of thing than the Church. The Church does of course have interest in the nature of the soul, insomuch that they might better take care of the souls of those in their care. This would include what happens to souls after death. Church beliefs on these subjects haven't currently been worked out lore-wise, so you'll have to wait on the details.
Serafina's role in the Church, other than simply being a patron. It has been made very clear that she is not worshipped.
Church history tells of Vito, a humble farmer who had such genuine care and compassion for his family and other loved ones that he managed to discover the ways of thaumaturgy - that is, channeling his Inner Light. His ability at any actual channeling was weak, but he taught the discipline to like-minded people so that they too could better care for others, and formed a sort of unofficial charity organization. Soon after, it is said that Serafina appeared to Vito and the others in this organization and taught them how to better channel their Inner Light, always reminding them that the power came from within, and that they had the ability themselves to perform amazing things for the good of all so long as they had the proper knowledge and discipline. Since then Serafina has been a patron of the Church (as Vito's organization was later founded). She is occasionally called on for help by people in need, and while she will often only tell those who call on her to find the power within to help themselves, there are occasional reports of her intervening on behalf of those who are beyond being able to help themselves. She is also known particularly for supporting and even providing some of her own personal power to those Templar who daily hurl themselves into danger on behalf of others, putting their own safety behind the safety of those they have sworn to protect.
The Church's explanation of how thaumaturgy/Inner Light works: how it is wielded, and what effects it has.
See the recently-released Magic and Metaphysics FAQ on the wiki:
http://wiki.contrarium.net/index.php/Ma ... hysics_FAQ
Whether the Church has an official stance on how involved it may become in politics.
As stated before, the Church prefers to stay out of politics, trying to stay as neutral as possible. They may get involved in certain political events, however. If people were being oppressed or killed by an invading army of some nation bent on conquest, it's a good bet Templar would go out to protect the people while the Monks would go heal the wounded. The Monks could well be assisting the injured on both sides of the conflict, while the Templar would defend the innocent and helpless on both sides as well. These Monks and Templar would likely be acting independently, though, rather than on some official dispatch by the Church itself.
Particularly noteworthy Church figures, such as St. Vito, whose name is on the scriptures.
See the previous blurb about St. Vito. There are many more, we just don't have details on them yet.
Their view on providing healing to known criminals.
The Church takes no issue with their Monks healing criminals, leaving judgment up to their members on an individual basis regarding whether they should be helping the criminal in question. If a monk were to heal someone specifically so that the healed person could then go on to bring harm to others, or something like that, then that would be an issue, severity depending on the motives behind the monk's actions.
Monastic Order/Knights Templar relation
Thaumaturgy was originally used solely for rendering healing, aid, and relief to those in need. The Knights Templar were formed later on, when it was seen that the healers could only do so much as the world became more dangerous, and that in some cases it would be better to prevent harm and injustice from occurring, rather than healing and dealing with the consequences afterward. An ounce of prevention, and all that. The event that catalyzed the formation of the Knights Templar was Rhun's uprising in Ivial, when Rhun and his followers rebelled and openly attacked the Viali government with their powers over nether. After that uprising was quelled, the Knights Templar became peacekeepers, and were a fairly small group. They mostly dedicated their time to protecting travelers from robbers along major travel routes, as that was where the greatest danger was. The discovery of a powerful nethrim presence in the West caused renewed interest in the Knights Templar due to their particular strengths in combating the nethrim, causing the militant branch of the Church to grow and become more well-established, though their numbers are still relatively small.
Will Church services be available in other towns?
They don't really perform any civil services or ceremonies beyond simply healing the wounded that come to them, but any they might perform, they would be able to do wherever they had any established presence. The Church has a very minimal official presence in Mistral Lake - just one run-down church-house in the shabbier area of town - but they're there. Obviously, there won't be any Church presence in Corvus' outpost.
Traditional Church icons, symbols, and garb.
Not yet hammered out, other than the symbol of the blazing golden sun.
Traditional Church ceremonies.
To be determined.
