History Main / ChurchOfSaintGenericus

* Lampshaded in-story in Creator/GKChesterton's "The Vampire of the Village". Since "the English know nothing about the Church of England", it takes the Catholic priest Literature/FatherBrown to spot that the [[TheVicar village parson's]] purported doctrinal beliefs are an implausible mish-mash of High Church and Low Church opinions, indicating that he is really a [[BadHabits criminal impostor]].

* ''Film/PerfectCreature'' depicts an [[ReligiousVampire vampire Christian order]] of unclear denomination, but is seemingly inspired by Catholicism and Anglicanism in aesthetics and are monastic in nature.

* Completely averting this trope is ''Film/TheWitch'', where the family's Calvinism drives several plot points as discussed in the (spoiler-filled) note. It's a case study of how a work can benefit from averting this trope, in this case, for ReligiousHorror. [[note]] ''The VVitch'' is about a Calvinist family. Calvinists believed in predestination, where nothing you can do affects whether you go to Heaven or Hell, and most of us are Hell-bound. The family is excommunicated from their church and the family's baby is stolen, presumed dead. Then the family's torments at the hands of a barely-glimpsed witch begin. As far as the family believes, their infant died unclean and now is in Hell, and as individuals are killed, most of them die ''believing they are Hell-bound.'' Thus, at the end when we see the family's teen daughter, in a raw twist of the FinalGirl, receive a visit from (presumably) Satan offering her power in exchange for submission, she readily agrees. And it makes sense because as a Calvinist, she's already been told she's probably going to Hell, everything that's happened to her family supports it, and she would be better off submitting and getting to "live deliciously" than go and have Satan himself really annoyed with her.[[/note]]

* ''Film/PerfectCreature'' depicts an [[ReligiousVampire vampire Christian order]] of unclear denomination, but is seemingly inspired by Catholicism and Anglicanism in aesthetics and are monastic in nature.

* Completely averting this trope is TheWitch, where the family's Calvinism drives several plot points as discussed in the (spoiler-filled) note. It's a case study of how a work can benefit from averting this trope, in this case, for ReligiousHorror. [[note]] The Vvitch is about a Calvinist family. Calvinists believed in predestination, where nothing you can do affects whether you go to Heaven or Hell, and most of us are Hell-bound. The family is excommunicated from their church and the family's baby is stolen, presumed dead. Then the family's torments at the hands of a barely-glimpsed witch begin. As far as the family believes, their infant died unclean and now is in Hell, and as individuals are killed, most of them die ''believing they are Hell-bound.'' Thus, at the end when we see the family's teen daughter, in a raw twist of the FinalGirl, receive a visit from (presumably) Satan offering her power in exchange for submission, she readily agrees. And it makes sense because as a Calvinist, she's already been told she's probably going to Hell, everything that's happened to her family supports it, and she would be better off submitting and getting to "live deliciously" than go and have Satan himself really annoyed with her.[[/note]]

* ''Literature/TheBestChristmasPageantEver'' revolves around the activities of a Christian church in the 1970's, and takes the combination-of-elements approach. The fact that the building is called a church indicates it is not the worship place of Jehovah's Witnesses (who worship in Kingdom Halls) or Quakers (who worship in meeting halls); the church has a Reverend, placing it firmly with the Protestant persuasion, but not the Salvation Army (whose leaders are called generals). The church celebrated Christmas, which means it isn't Adventist and probably isn't Independent Fundamentalist Baptist. The made-for-TV movie adaptation shows an almost entirely white congregation which means the church is probably not Pentecostal. Gladys Herman drinks what Alice at first believes is communion wine but what Beth correctly says is grape juice, and not many Protestant groups drank grape juice at communion exclusively, adults and children, that long after Prohibition except Baptists and the Christian & Missionary Alliance. At the same time, the congregants seem to have a higher opinion of the Virgin Mary than any Protestant group except Lutherans.

* What church, exactly, did the Ingalls family attend on LittleHouseOnThePrairie? Reverend Alden never gave a clue.

* ''Literature/TheBestChristmasPageantEver'' revolves around the activities of a Christian church in the 1970's, and takes the combination-of-elements approach. The Virgin Mary seems to be revered pretty highly for a mainstream Protestant denomination, the church is presided over by a married-with-children "Reverend," and the King James Version is used at a time when more contemporary translations were quickly gaining ground.

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* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', the Maxwell Church is supposed to be a Catholic church, although it's unusual because it's not named for Mary or a saint (it's named for the street it's on), and the roles Father Maxwell and Sister Helen play are [[NunsAreMikos more akin to a Shinto priest and miko]].

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* In ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'', the White House has a non-denominational chapel with pews and stained glass art of doves. Interesting considering that not long before, the Vatican was destroyed by earthquakes, and not long after, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery is destroyed by a tsunami.

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* TruthInTelevision. Many chapels in RealLife hospitals, airports, and other public facilities play this trope straight, to accommodate the needs of multiple denominations.

* The very beginning of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' includes a character dressed as what is clearly an angel for a SchoolPlay -- she has a rainbow for a halo rather than anything explicitly Judeo-Christian, probably a winking nod to Noah's Ark. Later, we see a polar bear cross himself, and numerous characters say "Oh, my God!", "Hallelujah!", and the like. No further specifics about this sapient-mammals-only world's version of Judeo-Christianity are given.

* The bishops who appear in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' and ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' wear national symbols on their mitres instead of crosses: the sun of Corona and the crocus of Arendelle respectively. [[FanWank State-sponsored religions maybe?]] In Corona at least, the name and some of the solar iconography (particularly the cross replacement and the patium designs) seems to indeed imply a state religion akin to real life solar henotheism, like in Heliopolis and Emessa. Given that RealLife Scandinavia is chock full of current or until-quite recently state churches, this might well be TruthInTelevision.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}: The Wedding Album'', Clark and Lois get married at the Metropolis Chapel of United Faiths.

* Many Protestant and Evangelical denominations (especially those with roots in Calvinism, Quakerism, or Anabaptism) place a fairly low value on religious symbolism, so they can appear to be rather generic when compared to symbol-rich traditions such as [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholicism]] and Orthodoxy. Those expecting a house of worship to be filled with icons, statues, paintings, vestments, and altars may be surprised to find a church building that looks like almost any other community center, with maybe at most a cross, some pews, and stained glass windows with geometric patterns. Newly constructed churches (or more austere denominations) might not even have those.

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* The very beginning of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' includes a character dressed as what is clearly an angel for a SchoolPlay -- she has a rainbow for a halo rather than anything explicitly Judeo-Christian, probably a winking nod to Noah's Ark. Later, we see a polar bear cross himself, and numerous characters say "Oh, my God!", "Hallelujah!", and the like. No further specifics about this sapient-mammals-only world's version of Judeo-Christianity are given.

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* Creator/{{Pixar}} has a fondness for this trope, it's used in the wedding scene in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''.
* Pictured above in ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'', Carl sits at the chapel, mourning his wife. No explicit holy symbols are shown.
* In ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', the church shown in Calhoun's [[DarkAndTroubledPast ambushed wedding flashback]] and [[spoiler:later wedding to Felix]] is shown this way, with pews, a dais, and a pretty sunburst stained glass front lacking any denomination. Interestingly, the church ''is'' very angularly designed to fit in with the noir/futuristic setting of ''Hero's Duty'', Calhoun's game.
** The church in ''Hero's Duty'' is actually based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Academy_Cadet_Chapel United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel]] in Colorado Springs; the interior shown in the movie specifically resembles the Protestant Chapel section. Comparison [[http://i-dont-give-a-boo.tumblr.com/post/67603978364/queenscream3-norewardisworththis-sgt here.]]
* The bishops who appear in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' and ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' wear national symbols on their mitres instead of crosses: the sun of Corona and the crocus of Arendelle respectively. [[FanWank State-sponsored religions maybe?]]
** In Corona at least, the name and some of the solar iconography (particularly the cross replacement and the patium designs) seems to indeed imply a state religion akin to real life solar henotheism, like in Heliopolis and Emessa.
** Given that RealLife Scandinavia is chock full of current or until-quite recently state churches, this might well be TruthInTelevision.
* The very beginning of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' includes a character dressed as what is clearly an angel for a SchoolPlay -- she has a rainbow for a halo rather than anything explicitly Judeo-Christian, probably a winking nod to Noah's Ark. Later, we see a polar bear cross himself, and numerous characters say "Oh, my God!", "Hallelujah!", and the like. No further specifics about this sapient-mammals-only world's version of Judeo-Christianity are given.

* Shepherd Book in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' is part of an unnamed Christian religious order, though most of the beats are Catholic: he wears Catholic-like clothing (loose shirt with a circular straight collar), lived in a monastery for a while, and is apparently celibate. The ExpandedUniverse states he's a member of an entirely fictional group called the Order of Shepherds.

** In ''Frozen'', however, a cross wreathed in decorations is seen being raised for the coronation.
*** That would be a [[http://gullringstorpgoatsblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/hpim0768.jpg Scandinavian maypole]], which reveals that Elsa is crowned around the time of Midsummer (some mistakenly think her coronation date indicates her birthdate, but this isn't the case - Elsa canonically was born on the Winter Solstice, but traditionally in Norway, a new young ruler's coronation takes place during the midsummer following their coming-of-age). The maypole is actually a pagan tradition which predates Christianity, but like many was carried over after their conversion.

* Cicely's community church in NorthernExposure falls into this. Chris presides, after a mail-order ordination in "The First Church of Truth and Beauty".... and what his theology is, or whether he even has one, is anyone's guess.

* Even some Protestant and evangelical churches (especially if descended from Calvinism) can appear to be this. They might have little religious symbolism beyond a plain cross, sometimes not even an altar. If they have stained-glass windows, they might be geometric designs instead of pictures of saints. The minister might deliver the service in a suit instead of holy vestments. Replace the pews with chairs, and it would look like any union or civic hall. The names are usually simply the name of the denomination like "First Baptist Church", not "the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation and St Michael".