Just hear me out for a minute before saying NO. We were talking about clerics and multiclassing in a different thread and it got me started thinking a little deeper about clerics in general. According to WOtC most clerics in a faith are not actually spell casters. The spellcasting clerics (adventurers and NPCs) are frequently outside of the normal priestly structure of their faith. (I grant that in a power oriented faith like that of the FR’s Bane they are effectively required to become the head of the faith if they can) their ability to cast spells is something unusual and only granted to a (favored) few.  Chosen are selected by their deity and granted special powers and spell like abilities. Both are expected to support and further the faith in some way if only in bringing it to the public’s attention through the reputation of the cleric or chosen. While Chosen generally get much more in the way of powers, abilities and resistances than (low level) clerics, by high level many clerics are on or nearly on par with at least the lower powered Chosen. Doesn’t this make them effectively minor league Chosen and if so shouldn’t we maybe be playing them as such not just as “walking Bandaids”?

I've often thought that it makes little sense for a Cleric to get all his magic powers just given to him. I mean, he still has to carry components and say the magic words -- he's clearly a practiced caster to some degree.

I think it makes more sense if you think of the spells as something you can learn (and cast) only by getting into the right mindset. In other words, devotion is a spell component. This would also explain why in some settings, Clerics can get powers from concepts rather than gods.

In a similar way to how a Monk might not be able to channel ki until she understands and internalizes the way the river flows, a Cleric maybe can't cast a spell until he internalizes the teachings of his god. It's about unlocking within yourself the pathways, and keeping them open. Yes?

This doesn't do much to explain why ordinary worshippers can't do magic, though. Maybe it's just the innate capability. Like how not everybody can become a Wizard by studying. You have to have the magic touch. Maybe Clerics could become Wizards if they devoted themselves to that instead.

You making my case for me Choir 😁! If they have to open their thought channels and the nternalize their deity’s teaching to allow the flow of deification magic/power to flow thru them in the casting of their spells isn’t this exactly what chosen do and if so shouldn’t our roleplay of them mirror that rather than just have them fight and heal as if their deity didn’t come into it at all?

I mean, I think there's two questions here that you're combining into one.

1. Does a Cleric necessarily have an uncommonly strong connection with his god? I think not. I think a Cleric could have the same devotion and the same connection as other members of his faith, but more spellcasting ability, either on account of talent or on account of practice, or both. Or he could be like a Chosen! That's valid, I just don't think it's the only way.

2. Should we really play Clerics without consideration for their gods? Certainly not. But what that means at your table could be really different from what it means at mine. For example, in my most recently concluded adventure, the Cleric came to understand that his goals and the goals of his god were aligned, moreso than their personalities. He had become a Cleric to this god in anger, and over time he became uncomfortable with what that meant, though he kept using the powers. That was me, the DM, playing the god and reacting to the way the player was playing the Cleric. But in another adventure, the Cleric was essentially a mouthpiece for the god, and whatever opinion he expressed was necessarily the opinion of the god, and whatever choices he made were necessarily the choices endorsed by the god. In that case, I was the Cleric and the god, and the DM didn't really get involved. I wasn't particularly interested in forcing my DM to judge and track my alignment, or give me special religious quests, or even know who my god was.

There are plenty of ways to play out the Cleric-and-god dynamic. Some players are more interested in it than others, and people will likely disagree about who should be in charge of what. I think it's something the books should do a better job at preparing you for, both as a player and as a DM -- same as the Warlock patron in many ways. The real trouble arises when there's not a session zero discussion about it. Everyone's heard the horror stories of DMs taking away PCs powers because of a no-win moral dilemma the DM invented, but that's only a problem because the player didn't give the go-ahead.

Your right I did sort of combine questions but …
1) I disagree to at least some extent, simply by being a cleric of a deity rather than just a worshiper the cleric clearly has a much greater connection to their deity than most of the “congregation” otherwise they wouldn’t be a cleric. On the other hand there are always a few in a congregation that are, in their own way, as or more devout than even most clerics. The only really good look we have ever had at “chosen” were Mystra’s in the FR where you had not only wizards and sorcerous as chosen but also bards, rangers and possibly other sorts of minor arcane casters so I can see clerics that are very different from the deity they deeply believe in and work towards the goals of.
2 & 3) indeed there are many ways to play the cleric-deity relationship and as long as they play SOME relationship. My complaint is with those that don’t seem to have any relationship and just cast spells as if they were a mage and not a cleric.

1 - There's a Chosen of Talos and of Umberlee in the adventure modules too. A sort of fallen Paladin and a Wizard respectively. Then there's the Chosen of Auril, who's more or less a Fighter, and is explicitly opposed to her goals and outlook.

The Chosen are sometimes selected to be pawns in a god's schemes, rather than because they're devout, is my point.

2 - I would think a Cleric to a trickery god, or of a god who's otherwise working in the shadows, would certainly pretend to be a Wizard. But, edge cases aside, I basically agree with you in principle, though I'm not actually annoyed because it's never happened to me.

Chosen are Endowed Pawns. As often as not unwilling pawns that don't even necessarily reflect anything that the God Does but are in some kind of unique position to further the desires and machinations of that god.   Even Chosen that Try to work against their God usually end up somehow doing what the God Wanted.

Clerics are empowered people of Faith. yes they follow gods and they are sometimes outside of the faith's structure. But they are not entirely outside of it in that they are still usually expected to interact with it to some extent and they tend to more match what the god is about.  Remember that Devotion is always a factor in the magic that Clerics work, not necessarily ritualized forumula's (though they can use them as part of their magic).  But they always body some kind of principles. Which is the first question actually making one suggests you ask because it affects things like the subclass you choose and what god you follow.

For a long time the only chosen (we know about) were Mystra’s and they were all willing accomplices, Elminster was briefly even a cleric of Mystra. Only recently did other gods make “Chosen” - your right about them they were often unwitting and unwilling pawns of their deity’s games. Mystra’s Chosen we’re a different kettle of fish - devout followers/lovers of the goddess that had been granted special powers above and (way) beyond the norm to use as they saw fit to push her agenda forward.  It is in that sense that I was asking about clerics with spells. Since the lore is that most clerics of a faith may not actually be able to cast spells (where are these clerics I don’t think I’ve ever seen or met one in any adventure) then those that can cast spells are in much the same position although perhaps watched more closely by the deity.

If I understand your questions correctly - it seems that you are asking two things:

1. What is the role of the cleric within the organizational structure of their temple/faith?

2. What is the role of the cleric in society at large?

Both are excellent questions and deserve to be addressed before a campaign begins and throughout the campaign. If I'm wrong about my understanding of your comment, please ignore the rest of this, as I may unintentionally ramble. I have had a doozy of a day. 

The cleric, as a class, is an individual who serves as an agent and perhaps even an avatar of their deity. That deity/temple tasks the cleric with performing certain actions in the world that require a great deal of power. That power is granted to the cleric by the deity to enable the cleric to perform the services that the deity requires of them. So let's look first at the first question: What is the role of the cleric within the organization structure of their temple/faith? The cleric is the field agent. They go out and get the work done. They are the "boots on the ground". They mingle with the people, they get their hands dirty, and they are prepared to kill and/or die if necessary to fulfill their mission. As such, they are accorded a great deal of honor and prestige within the temple and the faithful of their deity recognize the cleric as a worthy avatar of their deity. However, that does not mean that the cleric is the person in charge. A temple usually has a bureaucratic power structure that follows a strict hierarchy. Granted, the structure of some of the more chaotic deities will vary from this layout, but I will deal with the classic trope of the D&D cleric. Clerics go out and get the job done. But, they often receive instructions or guidance from the temple bureaucracy. To employ a military analogy, the High Bishop is the Commander in Chief who sets policy. The cardinal is the General who outlines those policies into a strategy. The bishop is the Major who then forms those strategic plans into a set of mission statements and assigns them to the relevant abbots. Each abbot is a Captain who receives their mission orders from on high, briefs the tactical teams on their responsibilities, and provides whatever training and equipping the tactical teams require to carry out the missions. The adventuring cleric is the Sergeant Major who leads a tactical team out into the field to get the job done. So, while the cleric may have access to magicks far more powerful than anything the High Bishop can employ, that magic is not the cleric's to use. That magic belongs to the deity. That magic is only granted to the cleric on the condition that the cleric use it to accomplish the assigned mission. Therefore, the adventuring cleric is far subordinate to the "civilian" temple hierarchy. Both are accorded great honor and prestige. But while history is more likely to remember names like William the Conqueror, Napoleon, Washington, or Churchill; everyone knows that the real work - the real victory - is due to the thousands upon thousands of rank and file troops who hit the ground and bled, or caused their enemy to bleed, to accomplish their assigned mission. 

And that brings us to the second question - the role of the cleric in society at large. Clerics know they are servants. They serve the deity, they serve the temple, they serve the officers appointed over them in the command structure. But the people out in society - they are mostly unaware of those organizational structures. They don't give a rat's patootie who issued the order to wipe out the witches in the woods or who devised the policy of woodland renewal in the Eastern Hills. All they know is that there were witches in the nearby woods, and then a cleric showed up on horseback and wiped those witches out. History may record the High Bishop's name, but you can bet your sweet bippy the farmers and the craftspeople of that fair village will be drinking toasts to the cleric in the tavern that night. When a cleric of a friendly deity rides into town, the people should feel safe, and relieved, and protected. And it is the responsibility of the DM to make note of this during the game session. When the party enters the town, some stranger should ask the cleric for a blessing. Someone might offer to pay for the cleric's meal at the tavern. Someone might thank the cleric for something that some other cleric of their temple did for that town last year. On the flipside, when a cleric of a not-so-friendly faith enters a town, the DM should make it clear that people actively turn away from them, or refuse to look them in the eye. The towns guard may follow them around and make it clear that they should not expect to be welcome in town for too long. 

During the usual gameplay of D&D, the player will mostly see the second answer. As a player, your character will spend a lot of time traveling around, meeting people, getting the work done. So you may feel the adulation of the common folk pretty regularly. But when you return to the temple to check in, you should be immediately reminded of your true place within the hierarchy. You will bow, you will salute, you will capitulate to your superiors and you will resign yourself to carrying out the orders you are given. Because you are a servant. You may carry within your heart the thanks and the respect of the people out in the heath and hamlets. But on your shield you bear the mark of your deity, and your feet take you where your superiors tell you to go. 

Keep in mind, again, that this entire rambling bunch of nonsense only applies to the more traditional cleric of generally good and/or lawful types of alignments. If you're curious how these questions would be applied to a more chaotic type of faith, I'm afraid that would be an even longer story.  Anyways, I hope this helps.

This was pretty much my take as well. My question went a bit further tho and may apply most to more chaotic faiths. What if a cleric is not tied closely to a church hierarchy? Many perhaps most adventure clerics don’t seem to really have anyone over them telling them when and where the HAVE to go. If anything they are outsiders with powers the hierarchy doesn’t have and the hierarchy is Requesting their help and the help of any team they are associated with. Their powers seem to be based directly n their personal relationship with their deity. That is much the same in my eyes as the relationship between Mystra’s chosen and Mystra. The Chosen like the spell wielding cleric are outside of any hierarchy of the faith but their devotion to the deity has caused the deity to respond with special powers (the spells) to allow them to better serve the deity and the deity’s goals. In that sense they are like minor league chosen- they don’t have all the powers but they act in the world under the principal of “ not my will but thine” to a greater or lesser extent. While the non spellcasting hierarchy pays lip service to this but spends much of its time in hierarchical infighting.

Granted, my previous response addressed mostly the faiths of the more lawfully-aligned deities and the followers who espouse such beliefs. The faiths of the purely chaotic column (CG/CN/CE) would require quite a bit more time for me to address. But I think I can take a stab at the neutral column (NG/N/NE). For reference, I will be addressing the same two questions as before: 1. What is the role of the cleric within the organizational structure of their temple/faith? and 2. What is the role of the cleric in society at large?

Faiths of the less-lawful deities will typically coalesce into less of a rigid hierarchy and more of a cellular network. The lawful alignments structure their hierarchy on tradition, rote mastery of texts, and a willingness to sacrifice anything for strict adherence to a code. To some that would be considered evidence of the highest degree of religious purity, and thus of goodness. To others that could come across as a callous indifference to the realities on the ground and an almost bullheaded unwillingness to recognize the unique nuances of each situation. The neutral column of faiths are the masters of just that... nuance. 

It is my belief that no one is born religious. You may be born "faithful", but that faith is rooted in a particular set of ideals. It is not until you find others with similar ideals that you learn that there is a network of like-minded people who share in the efforts of embodying those ideals and of projecting the alleged benefits of those ideals out into the world. That is what religion is. In another thread a while back I discussed whether any deities are pre-existant to our belief in them, or whether it is in fact the shared Will of the followers that manifest in an enhanced set of capabilities within a handful of the strongest in the group. For the purposes of this discussion I will be tabling that discussion and assuming that the deities in question are pre-existant and that they bestow certain capabilities onto their chosen avatars. 

1. A less-than-lawful faith begins as a grassroots movement among a handful of individuals who share a devotion to a certain set of ideals. Numerous disconnected such groups may crop up in various areas completely independent of, and perhaps even unaware of, each other. As each group performs the dedications to their deity and perform works that further the agenda of that deity, the deity may reward that group by bestowing magical powers upon one of its members. This person becomes the Cleric. This will not only enhance the capabilities of the group to perform the deity's work, but it will also motivate the other members of the group to work harder in the hopes of being the next one chosen to receives such gifts. Keep in mind that each group may only have anywhere from a few to maybe a few dozen members at most. But there are many such groups around the continent. Eventually, news of the efforts and exploits of one group may reach the ears of another group, and they realize that they are two teams working toward similar goals. They do not join together, and neither is higher or lower than the other in status. Rather, the coalition of cells becomes a network equivalent to the Knights of the Round Table. As a cellular network, they are more flexible in their reaction to the changing situations on the ground. They are harder for the authority holders to eradicate, as the removal of one cell does not jeopardize the overall mission. They are also capable of making decisions must faster, since the decision is not made by some distant bureaucracy following the convoluted and arcane rites of the ancient texts, but rather the decisions are made by only those who are present in the room and who are not accountable to anyone except their deity and their own consciences. Thus the role of the cleric within the group may be to be the final arbiter of those decisions. All members must agree, and it is the unity of the group that gives validation to the decision, but it is the Cleric - the living avatar of the deity itself - who blesses the final decision with the imprimatur of the deity. The Cleric becomes a spokesperson and a symbol. When groups communicate, it is through the clerics. When the greatest dangers must be faced, it is the clerics who lead the charge. Clerics don't hold other members accountable for their transgressions. The group as a whole does that. The cleric simply acts as the motivator to action. "I go... sometimes people follow." The cleric does not "outrank" other members of the group, at least not officially. For who can criticize the deity's judgment in the assigning of its powers? All members of the group are equal, because all share the same ideals and all are willing to do what they can and what they must to achieve their shared goals. But the cleric is - like Arthur - First Among Equals. The cleric has greater capability and thus takes on a greater role, but not through pride or ambition. Rather, the cleric is humbled by being chosen to receive the deity's gifts, and wants nothing more than to continually strive to be worthy of those gifts, and that begins with never letting your team down. 

2. Society will view the cleric not as an individual, but as a member of a group of shared ideals. How that society regards that group may depend on how closely the ideals of that society align with the ideals of that group's patron deity. A rural farming community may consider the cleric a regional leader who can bring forces to bear to help those in need and to defend the smaller towns from incursions during the seasonal migrations of the orc tribes. While a dense urban center may consider that same cleric and that same group to be troublesome meddlers with radical ideas about equality and shared justice and why can't those fools just fall in line and obey?!?! The neutral-column of the faithful will learn to recognize - often the hard way - that their ideals, their actions, and society's perception of them are subject to a high degree of nuance. They will learn to skirt the edges of the law when necessary. They will work in that gray area between the "intent" of the law and the "letter" of the law. And they will justify their actions by the belief that those laws were written by people, and as such are finite and fallible. While the group's actions are guided by the ideals of their deity, blessed by the Cleric, and thus are beyond contestation and are subject to no man's sanction. This will often result in the group - and thus the Cleric - being recognized as a hero of the underdog and protector of the downtrodden by those with little political power, but as a d*mn pain in the *ss by those in positions of recognized legal authority. 

I was about to continue into the dangers of nuance and the paths that could lead such cells of idealists down the path toward neutral evil, but that may have to wait. It's late. I'll sleep on it. I hope that's enough for now. Food for thought. 

Beautifully written, but it almost doesn’t touch the main question about whether clerics are the minor league versions of something like Mystra’s Chosen. The closest I saw was the line about being the local avatar of the deity which goes along with my idea.

The answer is no. They are not.  They are clerics.  There are many, many clerics for most of the gods in most settings.  The concept of Mystra's chosen is much rarer. Chosen is an elite relationship above and beyond the normal cleric.

BUT... in your campaign, or for your character (DM willing) they could be.  I would recommend using some of the piety rules from Theros to add some juice to the character in that case.  As long as it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the table it could be a very fun individual storyline to mesh with the rest of the table.  What I think you are doing well here is delineating how a "chosen" cleric would be different both mechanically and in flavor from the standard garden variety.

"The Chosen were individuals imbued with divine power by at least one of the deities. It gave them power that was comparable to a demigod."
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Chosen