ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Dioceses of the Church of the East to 1318

Okay kiddo, so a long time ago there was a really big church called the Church of the East. This church had a lot of followers and they would go to church in different places called dioceses. Think of dioceses like different neighborhoods where people go to church.

Now, in 1318, there were a bunch of dioceses in the Church of the East. There were 25 of them in total! Each diocese had its own leader called a bishop. Bishops were like the boss of the diocese and they helped make important decisions for their followers.

But, at this time, the Church of the East was having some problems. Some people didn't agree with the leaders and thought they were doing things the wrong way. So, they split off and made their own churches. This is called a schism, which is when a group of people break off from a larger group.

Even with this schism, the Church of the East continued to have its 25 dioceses, but they were split up between different groups with different beliefs. This made things a little confusing for the followers and leaders, but they still continued to go to church and worship together.

In summary, the Church of the East had 25 different neighborhoods where people went to church, called dioceses, with their own leader called a bishop. In 1318, the church experienced a schism, where some people left and made their own churches, causing a split in beliefs but the 25 dioceses remained.