Responsibilities and Authority of D.O. Leadership
Responsibilities and Authority of D.O. Leadership |
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19. ROLE OF WORLD SERVICES
In a nutshell, this is what WS does! And we truly pray that we have been, and will continue to be, a blessing to each of you.
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20. MAKE-UP OF WORLD SERVICES
This is a simple explanation of who makes up "World Services." Those who fall into one of the above categories are members of WS.
At times there have been questions raised by Family members about WS personnel. Some people seem to have the impression that those in WS are an elite group of perfect, problem-free people, which could not be further from the truth. WS personnel are people basically just like you. They have certain gifts and talents just like you do. They also have problems just like you do! They are just normal Family members who happen to be particularly good at various ministries and/or behind-the-scenes work. Those who work in publications are usually good writers, editors, layout artists, typists or secretaries. There are also cooks, childcare helpers, teachers, drivers, handymen, etc.
And like you, WS personnel have NWOs that need to be worked on. They sometimes get lonely and even get tired of working behind the scenes, and miss the excitement of witnessing on the front lines. You'd find that World Service personnel are basically just normal Family members who have given up a great deal of their personal freedom in order to serve the Lord and the Family in this fashion.
A WS Home is similar to your Home, with the exception that their main ministry is working on publications or tools behind the scenes. WS Homes have a daily schedule, including devotions, get-out, etc. If with their children, they fellowship with them at Parent Time, and basically do most of the things that you do. Similar to Service Homes, those in WS Homes relinquish some of the rights granted in the Charter. WS informs its members and potential members what those rights are.
At times some WS members have gone from living in a WS Home to living in a field Home. In such instances, often these field Homes have expected the people coming from WS to be perfect role models, not realizing that WS personnel are just normal, imperfect Family members. So if at any time you meet a member of WS, or someone who at one time was a part of WS, please keep in mind that they are basically just like you. Please don't expect them to be perfect, any more than you would want someone to expect you to be perfect!
The same holds true for WS-sponsored Service Homes, such as LIMs and International Audio and Video Homes, as well as other local, non-WS behind-the-scenes Homes in your Area, such as local music studios, LIT-PICs, etc.; they are made up of normal Family members just like you.
a) Maria: An interim leadership council consisting of Maria's personal Teamwork, plus one delegate from each Continental Office, and three delegates from the WS Publication Homes, will be convened immediately by Maria's personal Teamwork.
(1) Each Continental Office will choose their delegate by simple majority.
(2) The WS Publication Homes will choose their three delegates by a simple majority.
b) Maria and her personal Teamwork: An interim leadership council, consisting of one delegate from each Continental Office, and three delegates from the WS Publication Homes, will be immediately convened by the leadership of the main WS Publication Home.
(1) Each Continental Office will choose their delegate by simple majority.
(2) The WS Publication Homes will choose their three delegates by a simple majority.
Our beloved father in the Lord, David, has been taken Home to Heaven to his well-deserved reward. For many years he prepared each of us for his Homegoing by faithfully feeding and strengthening us with the Word. The Lord also prepared us all by making it very clear over the years, through revelation and otherwise, that Maria would take Dad's place as Prophetess and head of the Family. Having this specific direction, guidance and assurance has made Dad's passing easier for us all. As Dad said: "Who is the most logical instrument that God is going to use when I am gone?--Maria, of course!... The Lord has even said so several times, that she was going to become a great Prophetess of the Lord!" (ML #706:35.)
It is our sincere belief that nothing untoward will happen to Maria and that she will continue to be God's mouthpiece to us and the World until the return of the Lord. If, for some reason, the Lord has other plans, we believe that He will reveal this to Maria and that He will also reveal to her who should succeed her in leading the Family.
If, however, Maria were to become incapacitated or otherwise unable to continue to lead the Family, even temporarily, and she had not set forth in a written statement who should govern the Family, the above procedures would be put into effect.
The interim leadership council referred to in the above clauses would immediately gather together for prayer and counsel. They would unitedly make the decisions that WS Leadership normally make, and they would formulate a proposed plan for the structure and personnel that would then constitute WS Leadership.
We pray that this will never have to be put into effect, but in order to have a contingency plan in place, we felt it necessary to include these clauses in the Charter.
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21. RESPONSIBILITIES OF WORLD SERVICES' LEADERSHIP AND PUBLICATION HOMES
The responsibilities listed below outline what World Services does and has always done. It is our hope that clearly listing these responsibilities will give everyone a clearer picture and a better understanding of the function and role that World Services plays in the Family.
World Services is responsible to:
World Services' first and foremost responsibility is to publish the Word that the Lord has given Dad, and continues to give to Mama. If times get so rough or finances so low that World Services cannot publish any other material or provide any other leadership, we will continue, by God's grace, to always publish the Words that the Lord gives.
As you know, there have been many different MLs published on a great number of subjects. Some of these Letters present fundamental and essential Family beliefs. It is World Services' responsibility to determine which matters, among the many topics covered in the Letters, are to be considered fundamental beliefs that members must believe to retain their DO Status.
Most of our fundamental and essential doctrines are compiled in "Our Statement of Faith." WS hopes to publish a more complete list in the near future. (For more about fundamental Family beliefs see Responsibilities of Individual Members, point C, pg.2.)
WS publishes material on numerous subjects, all of which we feel is important and helpful to the Family. Much of this material is general guidance and direction that we believe will benefit those who implement it. In the past it has been somewhat difficult for Family members to know which of the things published in World Services publications are intended to be actual rules that must be obeyed, guidelines which should be followed but are not required, or general counsel that can be carried out if the person or Home chooses to. This has led to a certain amount of ambiguity, which has at times been a source of conflict. In some cases, one person or Home may feel that something written in a pub is to be followed explicitly, and if not followed, it should be met with disciplinary action. Others might interpret that same point as good counsel that is to be applied according to the faith and decision of each member or Home.
This particular clause has been included in the Charter in an effort to eliminate any questions that may arise in the future when something is published as to whether it must be obeyed as a new rule or a new part of the Charter, or if it is something that each individual or Home can apply as they feel led of the Lord. From this point on, if WS intends for something to be considered a rule, it will be clearly explained within the pub that the particular item is now an amendment to the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights," or is an addition or a change to the "Fundamental Family Rules." If it does not specifically state that it is a rule, then whatever is written is not to be regarded as a de facto Family rule, but as helpful guidance and wise counsel. If you have prayed about this counsel and feel that it does not apply to your situation, you will not be penalized or disciplined for not implementing it.
This is not meant to demean the importance of the general counsel contained in our pubs, nor does it mean that such counsel should not be implemented; it just means that Family members will not be penalized if they do not implement it. It is therefore up to each individual and/or their Home to decide if they will apply it or practice it in their situation.
For the sake of clarity, when a new rule or policy is being introduced, we will include in the publication a notation indicating that a certain point is now an amendment to the Charter or to the "Fundamental Family Rules," so that it will be clear to all. From time to time, God willing, we will publish updated editions of the Charter and the "Fundamental Family Rules" as they are needed.
Anything that does not fall into the category of being Family doctrine, an amendment to the Charter or a stated Family rule is considered general counsel and may be applied according to each Family member's and/or Home's personal decision and choice.
Attempting to help and assist the CROs in the shepherding of their Areas is one of the major roles that WS Leadership plays. There are times when WS Leadership offers counsel and advice directly to specific Homes or individuals through the CROs, but generally such counsel is given to the whole Family through the GNs and other pubs.
The CROs receive and read your TRFs, and World Services in turn gathers statistics and other information from the CRO Offices to monitor the progress the Family is making, how much literature is distributed worldwide, how many souls we're winning, etc.
Those in WS work a great deal on GP pubs and tools for the Homes to use in their outreach. In addition, some outreach tools are sometimes produced on a local level, which is explained in the next point.
a) The Continental Office, with WS Leadership approval, may authorize Homes to translate their own outreach tools when warranted.
a) Homes are permitted to include quotations and artwork from Family publications in their local pubs, and may translate these from the original publication without approval from their Continental Office
If anyone wishes to locally create a tool, whether it be a pub, video, audio tape, CD, etc., which will be used for GP mass distribution, they must receive approval from World Services before doing so.
The reason for this approval process of translations and production of other local pubs is that anything in print is a permanent representation of the Family. If a person is a poor sample in their personal witness, that of course reflects poorly on the Family, but usually at least there is no permanent written record of it. When a publication is a poor sample, there is a permanent record. It is a big responsibility to publish something in the name of the Family, because when you do, the whole Family may partake of the outcome and reaction to what is written. Because of this responsibility, WS, or those appointed by WS, must approve such written material.
WS publications, which are originally published in English, are to be translated into other languages by a recognized LIM or LIT-PIC under CRO supervision. The CRO may authorize a Teamwork or an individual in the LIM or LIT-PIC to give approval on material they translate. Dad said, "Translation into another language is so important!--To make sure they get it right and what I really said and what I actually meant; otherwise a whole country could go astray over a misinterpretation!" (ML #2057:2.)
There will be occasions when a LIM or LIT-PIC will not be able to service a Home (or Homes) because the language area is too small, or for other reasons. In such a case the Continental Office may, with WS Leadership permission, authorize a Home to translate the WS outreach tools on their own instead of being supplied with an official translation from the LIM or LIT-PIC.
The CRO may also give approval for specialized outreach tools to be created and used exclusively in one country; for example, a tract put together from different MLs to be used in a specific "Consider the Poor" ministry, such as for the homeless or a disaster situation. However, if the CRO wants to use this outreach tool in more than one country and/or throughout their Continental Area, they must have the tract or other publication approved by WS Leadership.
If a Home's newsletter, appeal letter or other local pamphlet is only going to be sent to their Home's contacts, or used only for local distribution, the Home may approve it. This includes local advertisements for your local work, like your show group, your youth club, etc. It would also cover your testimony sheets you send to friends and contacts, etc.
If the Home wishes to use quotations from the MLs in a newsletter, appeal letter or other local pamphlet, they may do so. If these quotations appeared first in an original English publication and have not already been translated into the needed language by a CRO-approved translator, the Home can translate them if they have a suitable translator. Allowing the use and/or translations of "quotations" does not give permission to publish compilations of quotations to the extent of creating a document that is completely or almost completely composed of quotations. For example, while you are allowed to use quotations in a newsletter, you are not allowed to weave together quotation after quotation after quotation in order to come up with what amounts to a publication that basically stands on its own. You would likewise be violating this clause if you were to write a newsletter that had just a short introduction from yourself saying, "The following are the upcoming Endtime events," and then the rest of the newsletter was all ML quotations you had taken out of the context of the original Letters and had woven together.
If someone in a Home is invited to give a speech to a local gathering, the Home may approve the speech. We advise that you research the various speeches that you have received from World Services, which may be adapted to your local occasion. You should be able to find such speeches in your Home's legal dossier.
If your speech, however, will be given to a national or international body, or will in some way have a significant impact on other Homes, even though delivered only to a local body, it would fall under the category of needing CRO approval before delivery.
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22. AUTHORITY OF WS LEADERSHIP
If deemed necessary, WS Leadership has theauthority to:
It is inevitable that as time goes on, and the needs of the Family change, that changes will be needed in the Charter or the Rules. We may also discover that there are points which we thought would be workable that turn out not to be and will need to be changed. Suggested changes in the Charter are welcome and can be recommended and suggested by anyone. This is your Charter. It has been written to help you in your service to the Lord, and if parts of it are not workable or become outdated or need revamping, we want to change it. So after using it for a while, please share with us any changes you feel should be made. Any changes to the Charter will be made by WS Leadership in consultation with the CROs and the rest of the Family.
WS Leadership also has the authority to suspend the Charter should there ever be a need. This would be highly unlikely, but should something occur in the future that we do not foresee now, WS Leadership reserves the right and has the authority to suspend this Charter.
There are times when emergencies arise, as was the case with the persecution in Argentina, and because of the nature and seriousness of the situation, direct intervention of Family leadership was necessary. Leadership needs to be free to make decisions and instruct people to do whatever is necessary to manage Areas in emergency situations. During such times it may not be possible to allow everyone to vote on every decision that has to be made, as among other reasons, there may not be time to do so.
In a situation like this, World Services will declare a specific country, city, or Home to be under a State of Emergency, and state that the Charter and Rules are being suspended for a specified period of time. The Charter and Rules will not be suspended indefinitely. If the emergency is still in existence after the specified period of time, World Services will inform those affected that a new specified time period is in force. If World Services does not set a new time, then the State of Emergency is terminated once the original specified time period expires.
Referring again to the persecution in Argentina as an example, it was necessary for WS to intervene, as virtually all of the leadership were incarcerated! Decisions had to be made and action taken without consulting with everyone involved. Had the Charter been in effect at the time of the raids in Argentina, WS would have declared Argentina in a State of Emergency.
Once the brethren in Argentina were released and felt it expedient to leave the country, it meant that quite a number of Family members needed some place to land. In a similar case in the future, World Services might put surrounding countries under a State of Emergency and suspend the part of the Charter which states that Homes have the right to vote to accept new personnel. Family members would have to have a place to go, so World Services could mandate that the Homes in those localities take in some of the refugees until further housing could be found for them.
There may be times when WS Leadership will need to relieve a Continental Officer or Area Officer from their position, or veto or override one of their decisions. This rarely happens, and if it does, WS will explain its reasons to those involved, and if necessary to the whole Family, in order to account for its actions.
WS is the owner of the copyrights of all Family publications, written, audio and video, as well as all trademarks and trademark companies of all other Family materials. As such, it retains the right to give or deny permission for its use and to authorize or disallow any business matters relating to the copyrights, trademarks or trademark companies.
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23. OBLIGATIONS OF ALL FAMILY OFFICERS
All leaders and Shepherds in the Family are obligated to act in a certain way and perform certain duties if they wish to become or remain Family officers. Following are the obligations that apply generally to all levels of leadership in the Family, followed by a comprehensive list of the responsibilities and authorities for each level of leadership.
All Family Officers are obligated to:
Family leaders need to be loving leaders, as love is the most important attribute of Godly leadership. They also need to be faithful, prayerful and competent, and to do their job to the best of their ability. Lord help us all to be loving, wise and prayerful, and to lead people to His Word!
One of the main purposes for the Charter is to clearly define the responsibilities and authority of leadership, so that everyone will know the boundaries Family leaders operate within. Leaders cannot take or exert any more authority than is granted to them in the Charter, and must operate within its boundaries, and according to the "Fundamental Family Rules."
It's very important that leaders encourage the Family to live in accordance with the Charter. If they find that someone or some Home isn't, they must implement the proper disciplinary action. Such action could include placing someone on Probationary Status or TRF Supporter Status, or full or partial excommunication, or putting a Home on Probationary Notice, depending on the offenses and what the situation warrants. These disciplinary measures must be applied in accordance with the proper procedures listed in the Procedures section of the Charter.
This is a very major point! It's not a leader's job to make decisions for individuals or Homes that they should be making themselves, nor to demand they do certain things. One of the main purposes of the Charter is to allow and encourage people to make their own choices according to the Word and their personal leading of what the Lord shows them through the "Seven Ways to Know God's Will."
For various reasons, Family members have sometimes depended too much upon leadership to make personal decisions for them rather than deciding for themselves. In addition, leadership has sometimes taken too much authority upon themselves. It is our hope that the Charter will allow everyone in the Family to overcome these two problems.
The leader's job is not to make decisions that others are supposed to make for themselves; leadership needs to avoid--in fact, refuse--to make decisions that they are not supposed to make. The leader's job is to point people to the Word and to other Family pubs in order to lead them to the counsel that has already been written. Leaders must endeavor to teach people to go to the Word, to pray, to hear from the Lord and to counsel, so that they can personally find out what the Lord wants them to do.
When searching the Word for answers or direction, one will find that there may be a wide spectrum of choices within God's Word. In such a case, the person may want some counsel and guidance from leadership.
Of course, if nothing has been published on the matter at hand, or the member wishes to ask for counsel in the case of the Word not being explicit on the matter, then the member can and should seek counsel from a leader who may have some experience or knowledge of the matter, and may have some prayerful counsel to give the person. When a leader needs to give an individual or a Home counsel on some matter, they should be very prayerful and endeavor to be sure that their counsel is Word-based. If the leader does not have any experience in the matter, or is not sure of what counsel to give, he or she should pass on the question to a higher level of leadership.
In any case, the final decision on the matter should be made by the person or the Home, not by the leader.
It is paramount that leaders at all levels ensure that the individual rights granted in the Charter are being honored.
There are many Family publications covering in detail how to be a loving and wise leader, and how not to be harsh and dictatorial. All of our Family's leadership must endeavor to apply these principles in their lives.
With prayer being such an important and essential part of our lives, officers should pray individually and with others for the well-being of their flocks, and the Lord's wisdom, direction and love.
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24. RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONTINENTAL OFFICERS
All the points listed under this section are things that our CROs already do, but including them in the Charter will make it clear to all what the job of the CRO entails and what is expected of them.
Continental Officers are responsible to:
Because our leadership operates in Teamworks, there is no one individual that has sole authority or responsibility. Major CRO decisions must therefore be made by a majority vote of the CRO Teamwork after prayer and discussion about the matter. Not every matter has to be decided through voting. However, the major ones that affect the overall Area and/or Teamwork need to be decided in counsel and prayer together.
Besides general reporting, the CROs need to keep WS Leadership informed of anything out of the ordinary that they perceive is going to have a major effect on the Family in their Area, or other Areas, for either good or bad.
Every CRO needs to maintain an office to handle the administrative duties for their Area, including the reading and processing of Home TRFs, as well as coordination of communications between the different levels of leadership.
Each CRO Area is responsible to make sure WS mailings are prepared and sent to the Homes, as well as any other communications World Services requests to be passed on to the Homes.
It is not possible for the CROs to ensure that the national disciples in every language area get the pubs in their language, and especially not all the DO pubs. Unfortunately, we simply do not have the manpower or the resources needed to translate the DO pubs, or even many GP or DFO pubs into so many languages. However, when it is possible, feasible and necessary, an attempt should be made to do so.
In some language areas we have LIMs which reproduce virtually all the major World Services publications in their local languages. However, in other areas, where the national Family population is not so large, we have LIT-PICs instead of LIMs to translate some of the Family pubs mainly for GP consumption, and occasionally various other pubs for our national disciples. In other areas where there are very few nationals, it has been necessary for the nationals to learn English in order to read Family pubs.
The CROs are responsible to supply, as best they can, outreach tools for their Area. This is generally accomplished through Publications Production Centers (PPCs) which the CRO is responsible to oversee in order to guarantee a continued flow of outreach tools to the Homes.
There may be occasions when a PPC will not be able to service a Home or Homes, either because the Home is too distant, or for a number of other reasons. In such a case the Continental Office may, with WS Leadership permission, authorize a Home to reproduce the WS outreach tools on their own instead of being supplied from a PPC.
Without this specific permission, Homes are not permitted to reproduce WS outreach tools, except for the black-and-white tracts that WS has produced.
The CRO is responsible to duplicate outreach tools that can be used in the Area, but this doesn't necessarily mean that it must be in the language of the Area. An example is Norway, where we may not be able to have all of our GP pubs available in Norwegian, simply because we don't have the translators or the resources to translate all the GP material. However, because a majority of the people that we reach in Norway speak English, the CRO would be fulfilling their responsibility by supplying English lit, as that would be an "appropriate language."
On the other hand, supplying GP pubs in English for Russia would not necessarily be an "appropriate language," since few Russian people can understand or speak English.
The concerns of the Family and Education Department will include many areas of family life, especially those concerning the children and young people, such as: childcare and shepherding, pregnancy and baby care, health, home schooling, teacher training, parenting, JETT/teen shepherding, JETT/teen education, Christian Vocational College (CVC), educational resources, etc.
The word "education," in this sense, does not just refer to scholastic education. The education that our Family children receive in fact includes at least four major areas: the Word, scholastics, vocational training and witnessing. As Dad said, "Our whole purpose is education--educating people in the truth of the Gospel!" (MOP 26:54.)
The Member Evaluation Form has now been discontinued. All clearance applications now only need to include the application form and a Want Ad, unless the applicant wants to open their own new Home in a city presently without a Home, in which case only the Clearance Application Form is needed to apply for clearance. The Continental Office will decide whether or not to publish the individual's Want Ad, depending in part on whether they are considering denying clearance to that individual. If a Want Ad is published, this would also signify that the clearance has been granted. Although the applicant receives automatic clearance if the Continental Office does not deny clearance within the specified time period, members planning to pioneer their own Home are responsible to ascertain whether the city they are planning to move to already has a DO Home. If so, they will need to follow the Procedures for Opening a Home in a City That Already Has a DO Home.
In the Right of Mobility section (pg.18), clearance to another Area is explained more fully, but in brief:
1.) A person is free to move anywhere within their present country without the permission of the CRO providing they meet various conditions.
2.) Members may only move from country to country within their CRO Area if they have received clearance from their CRO. A Clearance form is available to be used in such cases. (See Continental Clearance Request Form in Appendix B.) The CRO must respond to these clearance requests within 30 days of receipt.
3.) Members who wish to move to a country in a different CRO Area must apply for clearance from the CRO Area they wish to work in. Again, a Clearance form is available to be used in such cases. (See Intercontinental Clearance Request Form in Appendix B.) The CRO must respond to these clearance requests within 90 days of receipt.
The CRO has been given 90 days in the latter case to allow time to get a thumbnail sketch or other information on the member. CROs are often away from their Home Base and thus unable to answer every request immediately, so 90 days is to allow sufficient time to answer clearance requests.
When seeking clearance to go to another Continental Area, members should send their clearance request to their CRO, who will immediately pass it on to the appropriate CRO. "The Continental Office must acknowledge receipt of your clearance request within 14 days. Your clearance request will automatically be granted unless you receive notification from your Continental Office, within 30 days from the date on the notification receipt from the Continental Office, that your clearance has been denied."
If someone wants to move to a Home in a country in another Continental Area, they would probably want to write for, and perhaps even wait to receive their clearance before giving their 30-day notice to leave the Home.
When receiving clearance to a country, you have the CRO's permission to move to the country; however, it is up to you to find a Home that will receive you before you move to that country, as the CRO has no authority to insist that a Home take someone in. So if you are not in contact with any Homes in your prospective destination, it would be wise to send a Want Ad to the CRO of that Area to place in their Want Ad pub, in addition to seeking general clearance to the country. (See Want Ad Guidelines in Appendix B.) Assuming you receive clearance from the CRO, and a Home or Homes responds to your Want Ad, you then could directly work out your arrangements for joining a Home.
Or if you receive clearance to a country from the CRO, you have the right to open a Home in any city that doesn't already have a DO Home.
If the main purpose of your trip is to visit friends and relatives and you will not be involved in outreach work, such as a witnessing road team would be, then you would not need prior clearance.
Ideally, individuals and Homes will be able to initiate personnel moves themselves, including handling the necessary communications directly between themselves. However, since this may not always be possible, due to a lack of available information, this CRO service has been designed to assist Family members in exercising their Right of Mobility.
The Area Shepherds will no longer orchestrate personnel changes in the Homes, as this right and responsibility is up to the individuals and individual families to handle. However, if a person wants to move out of their present Home but doesn't know the needs, or even the whereabouts, of other Homes, he obviously won't be able to move very easily, unless he decides to open his own Home. How is he going to know which Homes to write to for acceptance? By the same token, how is a Home that has a need for a person with particular gifts or skills going to know where they can find such a person, or if such a person is looking for a new Home?
Although the CROs will not be orchestrating movement of personnel between Homes, realistically there will be a need for general assistance from the CRO. It seems that the best avenue for this would be for the CROs to regularly publish a "Want Ads" pub, or add this as a section to their newsletters and advisories to the Homes. People in their Area that want a change could write and give information about themselves, their skills, experience, etc., to see if any Homes need them. For example, "Single man with two children (ages 4 and 10), handyman, driver, good witnesser and JETT teacher, seeking a Home that needs my abilities in this or another country." Or a Home could write, "Our Home in such-and-such a city needs someone with childcare skills."
Also, for members wishing to move to another Continental Area, Want Ads could be placed in the appropriate CRO's Want Ad pub, by sending an ad to their CRO to pass on to the CRO of the other Area.
It would not be the CRO's duty to solicit such information from the Homes, but simply to publish the information they receive each month. For the sake of security, those placing ads in the pub or newsletter will need to use the CRO address as the initial contact point. You will be receiving details from your CRO on how all this will work in your Area.
This Want Ads pub should also be used as a vehicle to update all Homes in the Area of any Homes that are presently on Probationary Notice.
The CRO has no authority to demand that a Home take new members into their Home. CROs and VSs are, of course, free to approach a Home and, if necessary, ask them to consider taking in certain personnel, particularly in the case of single parents. Each Home has to make that decision of their own volition, but should, of course, act in a loving manner and pray about and consider the request. The CRO may not always be able to find a Home for someone, but they can actively try to offer assistance in this respect.
The CRO cannot ask their Area Officers to do something that the Charter and the Rules do not allow them to do.
Our CROs sometimes visit Homes, and when they do, if they find it is necessary to perform the Area Officer's responsibilities, they are empowered to act in a similar capacity as Area Officers.
The CROs may offer counsel to TRF Supporters when they feel it's necessary, although their main responsibility and obligation is to the DO Family.
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25. AUTHORITY OF CONTINENTAL OFFICERS
The Continental Office is authorized to:
The CROs have the authority to appoint the Shepherds above the Home Officer level. This means they do not have the right to appoint Home Shepherds (other than in Service Homes, or Homes in Sensitive Countries).
CROs can only appoint Area Officers at leadership levels set by World Services, which at present are the Visiting Servants (VSs).
CROs are responsible to inform WS Leadership of all appointments of Area Officers. And although we feel it would be rare, WS Leadership reserves the right to annul any Area Officer appointment.
These Area Officers (VSs) must undergo a vote of confirmation twice a year on the dates specified in the Election Rules in the "Fundamental Family Rules" (pg.140). The voting procedures for such a vote of confirmation are handled as a Home Referendum, which is specifically laid out in the "Fundamental Family Rules." VSs that the Homes confirm on these semi-annual confirmation dates may continue in their position; those who are not confirmed must be removed from office.
The Continental Officers have the right to replace any of the Area Officers but they first must receive WS Leadership approval. And when seeking approval, the CROs will be expected to explain why they wish to replace them. Of course, if the Homes do not confirm the Area Officer then the Continental Office must replace them, and in such a case would not need prior WS approval.
CROs have the authority to convene meetings such as JETT and Teen Camps, Delegates Meetings, Childcare Seminars, etc., and to invite delegates to attend such meetings. Delegates would include: JETTs, JETT Shepherds and others who would attend a JETT Camp; Home representatives who attend a Delegates Meeting; Teachers who attend a Seminar for Teachers, etc.
Meetings such as JETT Camps, Seminars, and Delegates Meetings can be offered as a service to the Homes by the CROs and Area Officers. Attending such meetings can involve considerable expense for travel and other costs, plus the added factor of having personnel away from the Home. It is therefore up to the Homes to consider these factors and decide if they wish to send delegates to attend such meetings. Attendance at meetings and seminars convened by the CRO and/or Area Officers is not mandatory, but voluntary, though recommended when possible.
Area Officers may also convene Meetings and Seminars, but only with CRO approval.
These points cover the authority that is already granted to the CROs in other areas of the Charter and therefore do not require further explanation.
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26. RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY OF AREA OFFICERS
Area Officers are non-WS Officers appointed by the Continental Office, and subject to the approval of WS Leadership. A Home Referendum on the confirmation of Area Officers must be held in accordance with the Election Rules in the "Fundamental Family Rules."
The Area Officers are appointed by the Continental Office, and are subject to WS Leadership's approval. Area Officers must be confirmed twice each year on specified dates as outlined in the Election Rules in the "Fundamental Family Rules." This does not mean that the Homes elect Area Officers, they only vote to confirm or not to confirm them.
For example, if the Continental Office appoints a Visiting Servant (that is an Area Officer), the VS can begin his duties immediately, providing WS approves the appointment. Then, depending on when the next vote of confirmation is held, this VS may visit the Homes for a few months before the date arrives for the Homes to vote on his confirmation. At the Vote of Confirmation, if the Homes confirm the VS's appointment, then he will remain as a VS for the next six months until the next Vote of Confirmation, unless the Continental Office has reason to dismiss him from his duties. If you are unhappy with your Visiting Servant, you can vote against confirmation. If a simple majority of the Homes vote the same way, then the Visiting Servant will be replaced.
Area Officers are responsible to:
One of the main reasons for developing the Charter was to allow each Home to govern itself without much, if any, outside help from leadership. Visitation by overseers is not a right granted to the Homes by the Charter. Since the number of VSs will be limited, it remains to be seen how much visitation they will be able to undertake.
Homes and their members must assume the responsibility for management of their affairs, and not expect their VSs to sort things out for them. We need to move away from Homes and individuals constantly looking to leaders to tell them what to do or to answer all of their questions. You must look more to the Lord for answers, as it is just not humanly possible for your leaders to handle the myriad of decisions that our Homes worldwide face.
The Charter is a guide to help you know how to govern your Home, how to make decisions and how to sort out problems. You've been given a great deal in the way of rights, and it is also clearly stated what your responsibilities are, so it's now up to you to apply this to your life and to your Home. It is therefore vitally important that you study the Charter, and if some problem or question comes up, you should endeavor to solve or answer it according to the Word within the parameters of the Charter.
When the Visiting Servants come for a visit, you are expected to welcome them and to treat them with hospitality and respect. They are there as representatives of your Continental Office and their intent is to be a help to you.
The Continental Office will be the one to assign the Area Officers their specific duties, as to whether they will major on visiting the Homes or whether they will handle the administrational side of the VS Teamwork's duties.
Because our leadership positions are Teamworks, there is no one individual that has sole authority or responsibility. Major decisions facing the Area Office must therefore be made by a majority vote of the Area Officers after prayer and discussion about the matter. Not every matter has to be decided upon by voting, but major ones that affect the overall Area and/or Teamwork do need to be decided in counsel and prayer together.
Although the Homes should be able to settle most matters that may come up between them on their own, there may be times when they can't. In such cases, the Area Officers can be called upon to try to help settle them.
Area Officers may and should point things out to the Homes when visiting, and give them tips and counsel on any subject to help them progress and to take good care of their members. Such counsel does not need to be enacted unless the Home agrees to do so. However, if the Area Officers find that your Home is falling short in some aspect of the Charter or the "Fundamental Family Rules," and they point this out to the Home, the Home is expected to make whatever changes are suggested. If not, they are in jeopardy of being placed on Probationary Notice.
The VSs may make suggestions to the Teamwork regarding ways to help the personnel in the Home become happier or to overcome problems. It is within their authority to recommend to he Teamwork that someone in the Home be placed on Probationary Status if they feel it is necessary. Placing a member on Probationary Status is a Home decision, though, so the Area Officer can't enact it, but only recommend it.
When the Area Officers pay a visit to a Home, they are supposed to observe, investigate and talk with Home members, among other reasons to determine if the Home and the Home members are fulfilling their responsibilities.
If an individual member is not fulfilling the Responsibilities of Individual Members, the Area Officer has the option of suggesting to the Home that the member be put on Probationary Status, which is subject to the Home's final decision, as covered in a previous explanation.
If the offense is more serious and appears to warrant it, the Area Officer has the authority to recommend a member for TRF Supporter Status.
Or, if a whole Home is errant, the Area Officer can likewise begin the procedures for putting the Home on Probationary Notice.
Or if the Area Officer encounters someone who has been accused of committing an excommunicable offense, the Area Officer is likewise authorized to and must take action, as outlined in the following clause.
For details on the various options--that is, Probationary Status, TRF Supporter Status, Probationary Notice and Excommunication--please see the Procedures section of the Charter.
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27. RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY OF HOME OFFICERS
Being a Home Teamworker is one of the most difficult jobs in the Family. The Home Teamworks are the backbone of the Home. Their love, diligence and good business and personnel management can help create a successful Home, and the lack of these attributes can break a Home. God bless you faithful ones who have accepted such a challenging and demanding job!
The Home Officers are responsible to:
Home Teamworkers are also Family Officers who must endeavor to fulfil the basic obligations of all Shepherds and leaders in the Family.
The Home Teamwork is responsible to shepherd the Home and to do all they can to ensure the Home members are happy, well cared-for and loved. They must also diligently manage the Home so that it functions well organizationally, allowing everyone to effectively and efficiently do their job. The Home members have a great deal of say in the management of their Home, and they elect the Home Teamwork, which is expected to carry out the agreed-upon decisions.
Home members are expected to respect and cooperate with the Home Teamwork. They must also obey the Teamwork in the matters that the Teamwork has been given the authority over, either by the Charter or by the Home. Please do all you can to help uphold your Teamwork, as you have chosen them as your Home Shepherds.
A Home's Teamwork must have the authority to discipline those in the Home who are not abiding by the Charter or the Rules, or even the Home Regulations enacted by the Home. The discipline must be appropriate and proportionate in each case. Often a verbal admonishment will suffice for the first offense. The definition of admonishment is "a gentle but earnest reproof or warning." You will notice we didn't use the term rebuke, which means "to criticize or reprove sharply," neither did we say reprimand, which means "a severe, formal, or official rebuke or censure." If you have to correct someone verbally, please do so lovingly, even if it must be firmly.
Some examples of discipline that a Teamwork may need to enact include: Assigning extra duties like dishwashing; loss of Home responsibilities; temporarily relinquishing an activity or privilege, such as missing a movie or an outing, etc. It is also a good idea to assign an appropriate reading list to help strengthen the Home member.
As mentioned elsewhere, the Home has the authority to vote in its own Home Regulations as long as these do not contravene the Charter or "Fundamental Family Rules." But in doing so, each Home member must understand that he is expected to abide by those Regulations once they are implemented, and that the Home Teamwork will have the authority to discipline those who disobey them.
Whenever discipline is assigned, it must be appropriate and proportionate to the offense. If the offense was very minor, then the correction must reflect this same degree of disciplinary action. If the Teamwork assigns a form of discipline which the offender feels is not appropriate or feels is excessive for the offense, he can discuss the matter with them.
The Home Teamwork should hear out the member as to the reasons why he feels the discipline is not appropriate or proportionate. The member should also listen to the Teamwork's reasons for their choice of discipline. Both sides should prayerfully and lovingly consider the reasons of the other.
If an agreement on the disciplinary action cannot be reached, the Teamwork must call a Home Council Meeting within three days to settle the matter. Both sides should be heard in the meeting and the Home should discuss it and come to a decision by means of a majority vote.
If someone within a Home reports that a Home member has committed an excommunicable offense, the Home Teamwork must immediately report it to both the Area Office and the Continental Office, who will investigate the matter speedily, unless the person being partially excommunicated agrees to waive the investigation and accept the sentence of the Continental Office.
As each voting member has the right to bring matters up for discussion in the appropriate Home Council Meeting, and to have it brought to a vote in 15 days, it is the responsibility of the Teamwork to make sure that all such matters are voted on within that time frame.