Vocational

The word “vocational” is built upon the word “vocal” which is rooted in the idea of a calling of God. The imagery of “The Abbey and the Oak Tree” is a poetic way of embracing the full spectrum of all vocational callings as vital and necessary to establishing an Ecclesial City, a colony of heaven on earth, a thin place where heaven and earth kiss and angels ascend and descend, where the privileges of Adam and Eve lost in the Fall are restored to the Sons of the Resurrection, not just for their sake, but for the life of the world. A vocational calling is not just what we do “Monday through Saturday” in our cultural callings beyond the “Abbey” out under the “Oak Tree.” Each of us is also vocationally called to exercise our unique priestly roles when we gather on “Sunday” at the “Abbey” to engage in our cultus (“worship” that is liturgical). It takes all vocations united as one, first in the Liturgy, to holistically live out a Eucharistic Lifestyle in community in kingly ways. Therefore, every Fellowship of a Basileia Community worships in two ways: 1) in the priestly form of cultus on Sunday and 2) in the kingly form of culture (that externalizes cultus) Monday through Saturday. The most basic definition of “culture” is “worship; religion externalized.” To help facilitate this second kind of kingly worship we form Vocational Societies composed of Chapters, which in turn are also membered to Fellowships. 

Also see Ecclesial City, Chapters, Colony, and Vocational Society.

Vocational Assemblies

Vocational Assemblies are a prophetic form of assembling as the Church in vocational Eucharistic celebrations such as weddings and funerals and, in Basileia, also in the membership ceremonies of Chapters. In the Old Covenant era such assemblies took the form of Levites assembling with Israelites in their local areas in order to holistically empower them in obedience to the Word of God, particularly in the peoples’ specific areas of vocation. In the context of the Church as an Ecclesial City, Vocational Assemblies are one of the three main types of assemblies that make the Church a City on a hill, the other two being Festival Assemblies and Community Assemblies. In Basileia, while Presbyter Councils and Missional Councils play a role in Vocational Assemblies, the Deacon Councils play a leading prophetic role in Basileian Vocational Assemblies such as the Eucharistic membership ceremonies of Chapters and all other pastoral Rites of Incorporation.

Also see Deacon Councils, Ecclesial City, Festival Assemblies, Rite of Incorporation, and Vocational Tithe.

Vocational Tithe

Basileians who are members of one or more Chapters, submit their Vocational Tithes* to the Chapter or Chapters proportionally. If they are not members of one or more Chapters, then they submit their Vocational Tithes to one or more Chapters they select from their home Fellowship. In the Old Covenant era the Vocational Tithe was paid to the non-priestly, local Levites who in turn paid a tenth to those Levites descended from Aaron who served as priests in the Temple (Num. 18-21-24, 26-28; Neh. 10:38). The bulk of the Vocational Tithe financed the non-priestly, local Levites in their three main functions as (1) composers and musicians of worship (2) teachers of God's word applied to all areas of thought and life, and (3) officers and judges of the people. Thus the Vocational Tithe finances the priestly, prophetic and kingly services of Levites in holistically equipping the people in the midst of their daily lives. Basileians therefore likewise submit their Vocational Tithes to vocational Chapters that function as 21st equivalents to the roles performed by Levites in days past.

Also see Community Tithe, Festival Tithe, and Tithe.

Voluntary Exiles

Basileians are Voluntary Exiles who in the practice of traveling to the edges of established expressions of Christendom embody a future-ancient faith that is rooted in what has come before us even as we launch out over the horizon to see the Kingdom established in ways few if any have dared to imagine. This kingly lifestyle practice is related to our primary discipline of serving the Church and the world.

Also see Ambassadors, Hosts, and Serve.