Foundations (Purposes, Principles, Practices, and Structural Patterns)

Ideas for the foundational definition of a Christian Community

+ aims of Christian community:
  - sort of to instantiate an incarnation of the kingdom of God.
  - helping one another to know God and understand His creation.
  - 
+ principles
  + orthodoxy (expectations for full members)
    - adherence to basic Christian beliefs,
      as articulated in scripture and the creeds
  + orthopraxis (expectations for full members)
    - Christian initiation
      - baptism
    - Christian practice
      - belong to a church body
      - observe Lord's supper
      - behaving according to basic standards outlined in the epistles.
  + ecumenism
    - open to Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and protestant
    - not a church. respect closed communions.
      allow for the possibility of members who share common
      beliefs to form a communion.
    - seek to help one another be stronger members of the
      churches and fellowships of which we are members.
  + truth
    - transparency
      - objectives:
        - to live open lives with nothing to hide
        - to help others learn from us by seeing us for what we are.
    - accountability
    - confession of sin
      - prompt and open
  + covenant
    - commitment
    - freedom
      - clear consequences, not controlling
      - supportive of "entrepreneurial" initiatives
  + social responsibility
    - sharing
      - holding goods in common
      - the written resources we produce would by default
        be free to reproduce with little or no copyright restriction.
    - social justice
      - sensitivity to our obligations to others
        because of who we are and who they are.
  + discipleship
    - teachability
    - moldability
    - forthrightness
    - boldness
    - correctability
    - humility
    - patient rebuke
    - forgiveness
  + traditional monastic principles
    - poverty (relinquishing ownership)
    - chastity (sexual purity)
    - obedience (submission to authority)
  + wise organization
    (These ideas are more tentative.)
    + principles
      + God has given us (both human society in general and
        more specifically the church or Christian community)
        the responsibility to govern one another's behavior
        and to form and sustain collective and functioning
        governing agencies which constitute a mechanism for
        collective action and whose purpose is to serve the
        common good.
        - responsible to identify those who are worthy of respect 
          and influence.
        - responsible to rebuke our neighbor for wrong behavior.
        - responsible to submit to the judgments of others.
      - Similar principles apply at each level of scale.
      - Scripture reveals principles about how God's people
        are to govern themselves.
      - Study how people behave in groups.
      - Look for models and try to understand their successes and failures.
        Seek successful models to imitate.
    + objectives
      - to give consideration to the smallest voice.
      - to recognize and respect wisdom and expertise.
      - to sustain broad forums of thoughtful conversation
        which serve to guide the community and its leaders
        toward a reasoned consensus upon which to act.
      - to have the capacity for decisive action.
      + openness and responsiveness
        - open to the leading of the Spirit
          - in the actions we take
          - in the structures we form
        - open to criticism.
        - openness to missions.
        - openness to merging with other entities.
        - openness to spinning off entities.
        - balance rigidity vs. free-wheeling.
    + structure
      + "coalescing fractal"
        - default pattern varied according to local instantiations
        + default pattern of organizing
          - each level of organization is formed analogously
            from the levels beneath it.
          - administrator elected by council.  Council members chosen
            (by lot or by committee?) from nominees elected by those
            being governed.
      + spheres of authority and responsibility
        - Balance between local/individual autonomy, 
          hierarchical oversight, and mutual accountability
          (independence, hierarchy, and consensus).
      + Want an integrated society that also recognizes the
        benefits of strategic focus and decoupling.
        - Decoupling keeps things simple, small, and efficient.
          A way of managing complexity.
        - Spinning off smaller entities is a way of delegating
          authority and responsibility.
    + organizational patterns
      + "concentric" model
        - Degrees of membership.
          - model: Geneva Campus Church
          - allowing people to participate in the functioning of
            the community to the degree that their beliefs,
            practices, and level of commitment allow and make appropriate.
        - A covenant Christian community which serves the broader
          Christian community and the broader local community.
        - brotherhood: core servants.
          - assist in the raising, instruction,
            and enculturation of children (paideia).
      + "network" model
        - groups forming deeper or more casual relationships
          and stronger or weaker connections with other
          groups at levels appropriate to the principles,
          purposes, objectives, locations, and associations involved.
      + "hierarchy" model
        - appropriate to a group bound by mutual commitment.