Community Tithe Feast

The Community Tithe is distributed to those selected to receive it at a Community Tithe Feast, an event similar to a banquet at a wedding reception. Community Tithe Feasts are meant to be celebrated on a grand scale. Those in attendance include as many members of the Fellowship as possible, guests and those selected to receive this tithe. Basileia’s custom is to hold these feasts in a public location like a restaurant since Community Tithe Feasts are a special kind of civic communion service of the Church done as literally as possible in the midst of the city square. Thus the Liturgy is adapted to frame the entire event. When all are assembled (at the restaurant), the event officially begins with a liturgical procession with music and banners. The head Table is set as normally done in the Liturgy during which time all present are welcomed and introduced, including those who will be receiving the tithes. Scriptures are read and the Celebrant makes some brief comments. All stand to confess the Creed. The Peace is exchanged. At this point the tithes to be presented to the recipients are brought forward along with the bread and wine. The Eucharist unfolds as usual and the bread and wine are served. As Prayers of the People begin the recipients of the Community Tithe are invited forward, presented with the tithes, anointed with oil and prayed over. Additionally, the authority of the Church is then released in prayer upon the particular manifestation of evil that impacted the lives of those receiving the Community Tithe, binding it and banishing it from the city. The meal is then served. The evening concludes (as the Liturgy concludes) with a blessing and commissioning. As a whole, Community Tithe Feasts are the visible and tangible action of the Church in the public square making known the manifold wisdom of God to principalities and powers in the context of a feast where all gathered sit with Christ, eating and drinking with Him at His Table in His Kingdom. In these Feasts the Kingdom is made visible in a magisterial, kingly way. Community Tithe Feasts are special, celebratory occasions where the Church fulfills her role as guardian of the City, radically transforming the perceptions of all about the Church, Christ and the nature of the gospel.

Also see Community Tithe, and Tithe.

Confession

In general, in addition to private confession, public expressions of confession include confession as an element in the second movement of the Liturgy as well as a rite that may be performed in relation to a Soul Friend. Specifically, confession may also be performed as a Rite of Purification in the Catechumenate and Novitiate.

Also see Anointing, Exorcism, Forgiveness, Restitution, Rite of Incorporation, and Rite of Purification.

Congregation

The word congregation, like assembly, is another legitimate translation of ecclesia, which is used in Scripture to refer to the “church” in a home, in a city, in a region and even in the whole world. In this sense, every jurisdiction of Basileia is a congregation. And while it is tempting to refer to a Fellowship as a local congregation, the word “local” is problematic in a day when many people are intimately, genuinely and constantly connected in virtual ways that are anything but “local” in a geographic sense. Thus we don’t use the word congregation in any definite way, but employ it only as a synonym of assembly or ecclesia.

Also see Church, and Jurisdiction.

Consecrated

A Presbyter made an Abbot with episcopal authority to ordain is “consecrated” in contrast to a Presbyter “appointed” as an Abbot without episcopal authority to ordain.

Also see Abbot, and Ecclesial City.

Consensus Decision-Making

This ministerial form of decision-making discerns the will of God revealed through sacrament, in Scripture and by the Spirit as it is first expressed by members to the best of their capacity and, which secondly, is integrated in a Council by a Presiding Member in line with the Apostolic Rule of Faith. Consensus decision-making stands in contrast to mediatorial forms of decision-making (e.g., unanimity, democracy and autocracy) that ultimately fail to discern the will of God and thus inevitably use force to impose the autonomous will of man on others. While all of Christ's sheep can hear His voice, not all have an equal capacity to restate what they hear Christ speaking, not just to them as individuals, but also to the community as a whole. Thus while no member of a covenant community has more authority than another member, some members have a more developed capacity for helping the community as a whole define and defend its confession. Thus, in Basileia, Presiding Members facilitate the general role of all members in this process, placing greater weight on the input of those with more developed capacity to restate what the Lord is saying through all and to all (Josh. 9:15-21; Acts 15:6-35; 1 Cor. 14:26-35). Once the collective wisdom of a jurisdiction has been heard, the unique role of Presiding Members on behalf of their respective Councils is then to integrate and restate it in a manner (1) consistent with the Apostolic Rule of Faith and (2) that causes the jurisdiction as a whole to say, “it seem[s] good to the Holy Spirit, and to us” (Acts 15:28). This same approach to decision making is to be used by elders of families and elders of state. The Church models what this means, not just for the Church, but also for family and state.

Also see Apostolic Rule of Faith, Capacity, Charism, Council, and Ministerial Authority.

Constitution

Our Constitution expresses our charism, that is, the divine graces, distinctive orientation, spiritual qualifications, cultural ethos and special characteristics of the mission and values granted to us in Jesus Christ for the life of the world. In that our charism shapes who we are, what we believe and what we do, which together make us an unique kingdomcultural expression of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, the four parts and other sections of our Constitution harmonize to give an official, integrated feel and portrayal of what it means to be Basileian.

Also see Canons, Catechism, Charism, and Liturgy.

Contemplative Prayer

Contemplative prayer is the simple and pure experience of being encountered by Christ in the depths of our being, resulting in a process of interior transformation that leads to divine union or Theosis. Basileians are Contemplatives who, in our primary discipline of journeying to the Mountain, integrate the practice of contemplative prayer with Eucharistic worship and praying the Daily Office.

Also see Contemplatives, Journey, and Theosis.

Contemplatives

Basileians are Contemplatives who in the practice of contemplative prayer cultivate the real presence of Christ in all times and places. This kingly lifestyle practice is related to our primary discipline of journeying to the Mountain with Christ.

Also see Global Pilgrims, Journey, and Worshipers.

Convergence

Convergence, as the second dynamic of our charism related to our primary discipline of assembling, authorizes us to assemble. Convergence is a movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church that began in the latter part of the 20th century that is a coming together of the liturgical and sacramental, Evangelical and Reformed, and Orthodox and charismatic expressions of the Church. This is resulting in existing expressions of the Church that may have narrowly or exclusively identified with one of these three streams being open to more holistically integrate the other two. In other cases, as with Communio Christiana, the Convergence Movement has propelled new and fresh expressions of the Church into existence that operate as communions in unity with the whole Church in contrast to the divisiveness created by the spirit of denominationalism.

Also see Empowerment, Passion, Transformation, and Wisdom.

Corrective Discipline

Corrective Discipline is a form of discipleship that requires repentance, or literally, a “change of mind.” In distinction from “formative discipleship,” which may generally be understood as exercising a right mind, corrective discipline requires a change of mind and therefore is the primary way sin is addressed and dealt with. Therefore, if an individual does not exercise self-corrective discipline, then according to Matthew 18:15-20 the next step is for one person to call the individual to make the needed correction. If this doesn’t succeed, then the next step is for two persons to call for correction. If this proves ineffective, then the matter is to be brought before the Presbyters of the community. If the individual still fails to repent, then the Presbyters excommunicate the individual with the prayer and the hope that repentance will be quickly forthcoming and the individual can be received back. From a covenantal perspective, corrective discipline is the transfer of authority and blessing from covenant-breakers to covenant-keepers, not merely for punitive or retributive reasons, but for the purpose of restoring covenant-breakers back to the path of formative discipleship. The goal of corrective discipline is to empower those being corrected to become more effective agents of transformation, who in turn can then empower still others undergoing corrective discipline in the same way.

Also see Formative Discipleship, and Judgment.

Cosmic Impersonalism

Cosmic impersonalism is a view of reality that sees all things, including God, as fundamentally one, which may be called the Universe or Reality, where such names are capitalized to indicate their ultimacy. This monistic view can be pictured as one circle, which contains everything, including God. Practically, this subjects all things, including God, to an ultimate reality that is impersonal. This in turn causes the collapse of knowledge into uncertainty since there is no person, including God, who has exhaustive knowledge about all things. This in turn causes a collapse in ethics, that is, in what is believed about right and wrong since there is no ultimate authority who can declare what is right or wrong. Those who obtain sufficient power then enforce their views of right and wrong on others. But this only leads in time to further disintegration of society as others obtain power and repeat the cycle over and over until all that is left is death. The kingdomcultural alternative to cosmic impersonalism is cosmic personalism. 

Also see Certain Knowledge, Cosmic Personalism, and Mediatorial Authority.

Cosmic Personalism

Cosmic personalism, as the kingdomcultural alternative to cosmic impersonalism, is the view of reality that sees all things as fundamentally two, one being the Creator and the other being the creation. Divine being and created being can be pictured as two circles where the bigger circle representing the Creator is positioned over, but not overlapping with, a small circle representing the creation. The two circles can be pictured as connected by a ladder or bridge that represents the Word of God as revealed in creation, in Scripture and by the Spirit. This view of reality provides a rock-solid basis for certain knowledge because here, God, who created all things and sustains all things knows all things. Because God’s knowledge is exhaustive His Word is certainly true. While human beings are finite and fallible and can on their own know nothing for certain, God has revealed His Word, making certain knowledge a derived reality for those who receive it by faith. If we make His Word the foundation of our thinking, then we can be certain that our thinking rests upon certain truth. This dependent way of knowing things for certain makes ethics no longer a matter of mere opinion where power struggles between those of different opinions continually degrade the world. Instead, truth can be embodied personally in ways that do not require compulsive force in relation to others since all truth is self-authenticating. Thus cosmic personalism is foundational to what kingdomculture is.

Also see Certain Knowledge, Cosmic Impersonalism, and Ministerial Authority.

Council

A Council is a governing body that may take the form of a Presbyter Council, Deacon Council or a Missional Council. When a Council’s numbers exceed 12 members, the Council elects an Executive Team that in turn elects their own Presiding Member. With Presbyter Councils alone the Presiding Member may also be called the Head or Head member. In the early stages of founding a new jurisdiction (which might in some cases go on for years), there could, for example, be only one Presbyter to start with. In such a case, this one Presbyter is the “mustard seed” out of which a fully developed Presbyter Council, Deacon Council and Missional Council must emerge.

Also see Deacon Council, Executive Team, Head, Missional Council, Presiding Member, and Presbyter Council.

Council of the Lord

The Council of the Lord (also, Secret Counsel) is a phrase based in Scripture that describes a circle of God’s own friends who join Him around a Table to discuss what His Word means and how it should be applied to new situations that no one has ever faced before. When consensus is reached in the council, it can be imagined that after the decision is written down by scribes, the Lord then takes his signet ring and stamps the legislation as approved, authorizing its implementation on earth. The Hebrew word for this council is sode, which is often translated into English as “secret,” or “secret counsel” or even “friendship.” The equivalent New Testament word is mysterion, which is the origin of the English word “mystery.” The equivalent Latin word is sacramentum, from which we get the English word "sacrament." Thus the concept of the Council of the Lord is foundational to a proper understanding of what sacraments are, what prayer meetings are, what sitting at Christ’s Table in Eucharistic worship as His friends is really about and so on. The concept of the Council of the Lord is fundamental to the whole of Basileia’s charism.

Also see Consensus Decision-Making, and Counsel of Many. And see Boyd's Secret Counsel blog series.

Counsel of Many

Proverbs 11:14 says, “in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” This goes to the heart of what consensus decision-making is and what it is not from a covenantal perspective.

Each person is uniquely gifted to enter into the Council of the Lord to see, heard and mark His Word. Each person therefore brings a special, needed, and valuable perspective to the Table discussion about what God’s Word means and how it should be applied. However, due to differences in gifts, various degrees of maturity, the influences of sin, and so forth, each person has a different capacity in being able to fully, accurately and faithfully express their perspective.

Therefore, in Basileia the practice of making wise decisions happens through a process of consensus where a Presiding Member is ultimately responsible to gather together the “multitude of counselors” and listen. The role of the Presiding Member is to speak least and speak last. Once all have had their say, the Presiding Member then speaks, integrating the input of all into a coherent whole. The Presiding Member says nothing new in regards to content, but for the first time gives an overall context or framework that brings the parts together as a whole. When an integrating statement rings right, as happened in the Acts 15 Council, the group assembled will say, “This seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” There is safety, security and certainty that what has been decided by this group of fallible and finite people is according to the will of God and not man.

Also see Certain Knowledge, Consensus Decision-Making, Council, Council of the Lord, and Fallible and Finite.

Covenant

A covenant is the structure of authority that defines five things about authority: 1) the source of authority, 2) the delegation of authority, 3) the standards of authority, 4) the transfer of authority and 5) the expansion of authority. Basileia’s fivefold charism, the five movements of the Liturgy, the five primary disciplines of our way of life and the five sections of our Canons are all reflective of this fivefold pattern of the covenant. The Scriptural basis upon which we operate in regards to the covenant is as follows: All relationships between God, man and creation, and among humans are either explicitly or implicitly covenantal. We therefore affirm that the covenantal pattern is God's ordained pattern for all nations and for all areas of thought and life. It is the “pattern which was shown you on the mountain” in contrast to the “pattern of this world” (Ex. 25:40; Rom. 12:2). Just as God's people are to “observe” all the “statues and judgments” of the covenant (Deut. 4:5, 6), so Christ has commissioned His Church to teach nations to “observe all things” He has commanded (Matt. 28:20). This is made practical as the Church fulfills her role as the keeper of the keys of the Kingdom in regards to all aspects of human society under Christ. The covenantal (or federal) view of mankind is central to the shaping of Christian civilization in general and of the Church in particular. It is so basic that, least it become invisible to citizens of the Kingdom of God who dwell in cultures that are becoming more covenantal, we must deliberately work at talking about it in order not to lose sight of it, but to self-consciously understand it (Deut. 4:9). Otherwise we will forget who we are (i.e., a holy nation of nations) and lose ground already gained. Therefore, we seek to pattern our understanding of Christ, Scripture, the creation, man, history, the Church, and the Kingdom of God around the covenant.

Also see Apostolic Rule of Faith, Catechism, Canons, and Liturgy.

Create Wealth

Creating wealth, giving and tithing work together to “confirm” that when people come together in covenant unity they can in Christ reverse the curse, not just in their own lives, but also on behalf of all creation (Deut. 8:18). Basileians are Stewards who, in our primary discipline of governing from the Table, integrate the practice of creating wealth, giving and tithing with welcoming all to the Table and making decisions by consensus.

Also see Govern, and Stewards.

Creating Thin Places

Creating thin places happens in a liturgical and sacramental way in the Liturgy and in a general way in daily community life when believers come together in unity and exercise the authority of their respective ruling offices to buildup the Church and destroy evil. Basileians are Forerunners who, in our primary discipline of assembling as the Church, integrate the practice of creating thin places with belonging in order to believe and forming colonies of heaven on earth.

Also see Assemble, Forerunners, and Thin Places.

Creeds

The word credo means “I believe.” A creed is therefore simply an expression of belief. The statement, “I don’t believe in creeds” is therefore nonsense because not “believing in creeds” is a belief; it is a creed. Therefore, the only question is whether what an individual or a community confesses in their creed is true or not. It is the proper application of the Apostolic Rule of Faith according to the One-Source View that makes any creed or judgment of any expression of the Church authoritatively true. The Two-Source View in the form of “Solo” Scriptura or Qualified Infallibility does not generate authoritatively true creeds.

Also see Apostolic Rule of Faith, Certain Knowledge, One-Source View, and Sola Scriptura.

Cultivating Colonies of Heaven on Earth

Cultivating colonies of heaven on earth happens in a liturgical and sacramental way in the Liturgy and in a general way in daily community life when believers come together in unity as an Ecclesial City, where each person is called and empowered to embody the Kingdom in their respective vocations. Basileians are Celtic Community-Builders who, in our primary discipline of assembling as the Church, integrate the practice of cultivating colonies of heaven on earth with belonging in order to believe and creating thin places.

Also see Assemble, Celtic Community-Builders, and Ecclesial City.