We govern from the Table in three ways: as Sentinels, Friends of God and Stewards.
Govern from the Table
Our empowerment to press on to maturity in relation to God, ourselves, others and creation flows as we govern from the Table in anointed ways that bring chivalric justice to victory.
We govern from the Table in three ways.
- As Sentinels who welcome all whom Christ authorizes to come to the Table.
- As Friends of God who make consensus decisions that bind and loose.
- As Stewards who create wealth, give and tithe to fund the government of the Kingdom of God.
We follow Christ as our lead Sentinel (priest), Friend of God (prophet) and Steward (king). Christ is both our model and the source of our empowerment in these practices of listening.
Welcome All to the Table
Basileians govern from the Table as Sentinels in our priestly practice of open communion* even as we guard the covenantal boundaries that distinguish the Fallen World System from the Kingdom of God.
As Sentinels, we welcome all to the Table who are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, who are not lawfully excommunicated and who hold that by faith we are encountered by the real presence of Christus Victor in the Eucharist. All who desire to come to the Table but who are not yet baptized, we bless in our Eucharistic assemblies. They are invited to become catechumens* and enter into a period of preparation for baptism and chrismation.
By welcoming all to the Table, we are able to incorporate the contributions of all in making consensus decisions according to the will of God, not man.
Make Consensus Decisions
Basileians govern from the Table as Friends of God in our prophetic practice of participating in consensus decision-making, binding and loosing in the Council of the Lord.
As Friends of God, we immediately turn what revelation has come to us through creation, in Scripture and by the Spirit back into conversation with God in the Council of the Lord. This conversation takes the form of listening to what the Holy Spirit says through each other. While some have a more developed or different capacity to say what they hear the Spirit saying to the Church, we all carefully listen and honor the Lord by honoring the contributions of all. In this way we govern in the safety of the counsel of many. We seek nothing less than to be like Jesus who only said what He heard His Father saying and only did what He saw His Father doing.
Only in the safety of the counsel of many are we then able to fulfill our calling as Stewards who create wealth, give and tithe.
Create Wealth, Give and Tithe
Basileians govern from the Table as Stewards in our kingly practice of creating wealth, giving and tithing to fund the government of the Kingdom of God.
As Stewards, we establish a kingdom economy that confirms the covenant and reverses the curse, even as Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit created the world and now redeems it from ruin by His death and resurrection. We regard the three tithes as necessary to fund the government of the Kingdom as the City. Giving offerings is beyond the tithe and voluntary.
Together, these three practices by which we govern from the Table as Basileians set in place what is needed for us to advance the Kingdom by serving the Church and the world.
