The Council of the Godly.

The Council consists of the senior, members of the 'official' religions of Porter's Bar - The Arthians, The Yamarans, Shannans, The Wenans and the Royal Ancestor Worshippers.  It consists of the heads of each of the Temples  in the city, as well as the heads of the Ordaire Paupaire  and the  Brothers of Small Mercy  and is chaired by the Patriarch.    This means that the Arthians have a larger representation that the other religions on the council..

The council only meets occasionally, and then always  for a specific purpose.  The most important meeting is to appoint or recall a Patriarch.  Patriarchs can be elected by a straight majority, although the council normally work for a compromise.  This generally means the Arthian seen as most sympathetic to the other religions is elected.  To recall a Patriarch requires a unanimous decision by the rest of the council.  Once elected the Patriarch holds office for life [unless recalled].  S/he vacates their position as head of an establishment and moves into the Patriarch's house, and the establishment chooses a new leader (by whatever means they use) to replace him/her on the council.  The Patriarch chairs the council but doesn't vote - although s/he has the casting vote should there be a tie.

The council is also convened to  'approve' other religions.  If different religion wants to establish a shrine[1] in the city, they need the permission of the council to do so.  This is  generally granted unless the religion is  seen to  conflict  with the values of  any of the established religions, or is liable to endanger the city.  Religions that insist that their god is the one and only god are  automatically refused permission.  There are  3-4 shines of  various religions  dotted around the city, these include the Brethren of the Road (a sect  who runs a hostel for travellers and  worship Ptah), and a shrine to the Dwarven Pantheon, as  worshipped at Baraduum.

Once a religion has been established in the city for a while, they can apply to the Council of  Churches to  build a temple[2].  With this permission comes full recognition within the city and a seat on the Council of the Godly.  So far this permission has only been granted to the four main religions of the city.

Priests of recognised temples and shrines are automatically treated as citizens of Porter's Bar.

[1] A shrine is  seen as a room in a secular building set aside for the worship of a god, or  a small  religious  building of  no  more than  two  chambers.  There  can be no more than one full time priest  attached to a shrine, although it may have other (low-level) priests who work on a casual or part-time basis.
[2] A temple is a larger building intended primarily for the worship of a god, it  can have more than one full time priest attached to it.  Permission to  build a temple  automatically includes a place on the Council of the Godly, and  has never yet been granted to  any but the four main religions.