The five essential elements of Basileia's charism form a whole greater than the sum of the parts.
Char•ism noun \'ker-i-zəm, 'ka-ri-\ an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church and the life of the world
The charism of Basileia has five essential elements that work together as one.
Passion That Inspires Us to Journey
Our passion is first to know God personally and intimately, to be filled with His Spirit and thereby comprehend the fullness of the Father’s pleasure to unite all things in Christ. This inspires us to journey with Christ, to speed the transformation of the world.
Convergence That Authorizes us to Assemble
A convergence approach, which integrates the three historic streams of the Church, enables us to assemble as the Church and as forerunners of the Kingdom.
Wisdom That Calls Us to Listen
An imaginative and creative wisdom kindles within us the desire to listen to the Word, understand its covenantal import and joyfully and practically obey it.
Empowerment That Anoints Us to Govern
We are empowered to press on to maturity and govern as we gather as the Church, appropriate the wisdom of the Word and experience the Real Presence of Christ at the Table.
Transformation That Compels Us to Serve
The transformation of individuals, society and creation from glory to glory joyfully stirs us to serve the Church and the world as we form colonies of heaven on earth.
An Expression of the Ongoing Life and Ministry of Jesus
Ultimately, Jesus Christ Himself is our Passion, Convergence, Wisdom, Empowerment and Transformation. And ultimately, it is in and with Him that we journey, assemble, listen, govern and serve. Our charism is what the ongoing life and ministry of Jesus looks like in a Basileian way. Our Constitution serves to declare, “Look and see what the Lord is doing and saying in and through us.”
In Christ we experience 1) passion for the journey, a journey we’re inspired to take as we feel the Father’s pleasure of uniting in Christ all things, transforming this good and bounteous world that has been ruined by evil, 2) joy in being chosen and assembled in a convergence of unlikely heroes gathered in secret places to be trained in the arts and sciences of making the world new again, 3) excitement in listening to the wisdom we need to travel dangerous paths together into the heart of darkness to crush evil under our feet, 4) the thrill of utterly exhausting evil from the empowerment we receive to govern ourselves in ways that reopen Paradise for all fallen people and the ruined creation and 5) transformation as we serve to advance the aesthetic, intellectual and juridical triumph of chivalric faith over all its foes, remaking the world into a place dripping with immortal, sophisticated, spell-bindingly beautiful, theanthropomorphic adult glory.
Our charism dares us to imagine what it means to be kingdomcultural, a lifestyle we didn’t discover, but that discovered us. It snuck up on us from out of the ages and grabbed our hearts. Our charism is a groan of the Spirit in us that words alone cannot express of a meaning of things that we feel in our bones. Therefore we use the language of both prose and print and of poetry and pictures to communicate with our heads and our hearts.
Liturgy, Catechism and Canons
The charism of Basileia is made practical and visible in
- Our mode of worship as expressed in our Liturgy
- Our way of life as expressed in our Lifestyle Disciplines
- Our manner of governance as expressed in our Canons
Our Liturgy, Catechism and Canons form a threefold cord that is not easily broken (Eccl. 4:13). Our way of life and manner of governance are modes of worship. Our mode of worship and manner of governance are ways of life. Our mode of worship and way of life are manners of governance. We do not separate these three strands, but distinguish between them in order to better interweave them.
But why even bother with liturgies, catechisms and canons unless we first dare to journey, assemble, listen, govern and serve in ways that manifest Christlike passion, convergence, wisdom, empowerment and transformation? We dare. In our Liturgy, Catechism and Canons we hear the voices of angels and of archangels and of the spirits of just men made perfect and join them in singing, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14).
In our Liturgy, Catechism and Canons we see Jesus in Hades standing upon death, crushing it under His feet. The locks and chains of Hades are smashed and scattered about while its shattered gates have fallen in the form of a cross. Second Adam grips First Adam’s wrist, raising him from the dead to shine like the sun. Eve is next.
In our Liturgy, Catechism and Canons we see the Father smiling; we touch the saints assembling; we taste chivalric victory as death is crushed into dust beneath Jesus’ feet; we hear the resurrection trumpet, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead;” we smell the morning.
