Ask the Patriarch 242
Another School Project - Church Statistics
from: Manuel
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I've read the questions from the ones already asked relating to school projects, but I couldn't find anything there relating to my project. It's going to seem like I'm making you do my homework, but I just can't find any other places with information
- Identify the members of the church and where the headquarters of this church are in the United States.
- Discuss the role of sacraments, membership requirements, and anything else that helps establish the belief system of this denomination.
- Discuss the book or books that are used.
- What is the expectation of behavior, life after death, and treatment of people?
- Explain the leadership of this church. Be sure to discuss who is in charge, what role each gender plays in the church and overall what role members of the congregation play in the church.
- Explain the size of this church in terms of size of its number of members in the United States, the world (if applicable)
If you could answer these questions, or tell me where I can find more information about the church, that’d be great
The Patriarch replies:
Following are answers to your questions in point form:
- Identify the members of the church: I don't know why your project needs this. This information is not shared. We respect members' privacy.
- where the headquarters of this church are in the United States: There is no US headquarters. The World Headquarters, formerly in Alberta, is now in British Columbia
- Discuss the role of sacraments: There are no sacraments.
- membership requirements: Acceptance of the three Articles of Faith. (You can find those by researching this site.)
- anything else that helps establish the belief system: In spite of the term “articles of faith” this is not a belief system. We do not believe. That is the essence of agnosticism.
- of this denomination: We are not a denomination, a term usually applicable to subsets of Christianity.
- Discuss the book or books that are used: This website is our "book".
- What is the expectation of behavior: Members are responsible for making their own decisions about behaviour.
- life after death: We leave opinions on this up to individual members. The head of the church regards it as extremely low probability.
- and treatment of people? Members are responsible to make their own moral decisions. See the Reflections on Ethics section
- Explain the leadership of this church. Be sure to discuss who is in charge: I founded this church. I am in charge to the degree any authority is exercised, which is very little.
- what role each gender plays in the church: there are no gender roles. Men and women are fully equal.
- and overall what role members of the congregation play in the church: Members fulfill whatever roles they wish. They are invited to contribute articles to the web site. They are invited to promote the church on the web and in their neighbourhoods. Those who are ordained are authorized to conduct ceremonies to celebrate life’s passages, including legally binding marriages in the USA.
Also, members and clergy are jointly responsible for selecting my successor from amongst the membership upon my death.
- Explain the size of this church in terms of size of its number of members in the United States, the world (if applicable): We keep no detailed statistics on those who identify with us. A fair estimate would be approximately 10,000 members worldwide with approximately 60% in the USA.