Jun 28, 2010 -- 9:16AM, Svetlana wrote:

Jun 28, 2010 -- 1:01AM, Aka_me wrote:

 

Jun 27, 2010 -- 8:52PM, BillThinks4Himself wrote:

 

 

 

Jun 27, 2010 -- 8:47PM, Aka_me wrote:

 

 

 

Jun 27, 2010 -- 8:21PM, BillThinks4Himself wrote:

This is the best idea anybody has come up with for giving stability to a room full of swinging scepters.

 

 

 

that's only for lack of not knowing "all ideas" which exist.

 

 

 

Okay, metal man, how would you do it?

 

 

 

I didn't do anything, but I believe God has spelled out how He would like it done...

 

 

 

9 people elected to office without campaigning or nominating, at the global level (Haifa), country level (Chicago), and city level.

 

 

 

these 9 people have zero power and authority individually, it is only the collectively body which contains any power at all.

 

 

 

I happen to be an officer (treasurer) for my Local Spiritual Assembly, so I balance the checkbook but have no power over anyone, it only a serious responsibility to keep secret who contributes, by how much, and who does not. as well as continuously publish reports of how total income and complete expenditure.

 

Me!  You aren't Baha'i, you're a Congregationalist!

Svetlana, I was just thinking the same thing!

Jun 28, 2010 -- 7:25PM, Aka_me wrote:

Jun 28, 2010 -- 6:44PM, BillThinks4Himself wrote:

Jun 28, 2010 -- 9:16AM, Svetlana wrote:

Me!  You aren't Baha'i, you're a Congregationalist!

Svetlana, I was just thinking the same thing!

I hadn't heard of them before....

do they not have preachers, priests, pastors, reverends, decons, bishops, knights, rooks, or pawns?

Every Congregational church is different, but the point of it all is that the congregation makes all the decisions, and no one person or group has any more authority than anyone else.  We have absolutely no rank, just different responsibilities, and we are all easily interchangable in those responsibilities.  In my own church, we have a pastor who teaches us (having far more education in the history of Christianity, Greek, Hebrew, history, et al than the rest of us), but he has no more authority than any other member.  Every member can preach, and we often take turns to do so.  We have a treasurer who, like you, writes the checks but has no more authority over the expenditure of funds than does any other member.  The church is run by boards - trustees, stewardship, deacons, benevolence, fellowship, membership, education, etc., whose chairpersons form the Council.  Each board runs its own responsibilities, for lack of a better term, and the Council keeps tabs on the running of the church overall, submitting all major decisions to the entire congregation for a vote.  Your role sounds exactly like the role of our treasurer, and I assume the rest of your group functions pretty much like ours.  Yes, I'm a deacon, but that just means that I (and the rest of my board) make sure that there are candles on the altar and bread and wine for communion.  Any of us on any board has only enough authority to fill our responsibilities.  For example, as a deacon, I have the authority to purchase tablecloths and to charge the church for them, but not any more than that.