January 2, 2005
GN 1109b FD/MM/FM
FD/MM/FM 12/04
Dear Family,
GBAKY! Following is the second installment of Charter amendments as a result of the Family restructuring, and which are referred to in the "Getting Stronger" series. As with those in the first Addendum to "Getting Stronger—Part 2," some of the procedures below are temporary legislation and may change somewhat mid-2005 or so, once the coach program starts up. However, these procedures and rules will remain in effect until they are updated and new versions are published. We love you!
Love, WS
Family shepherds: When the Charter refers to Family shepherds, it includes the Home shepherds, coaches, and regional shepherds.
Family shepherds must:
A.Endeavor to carry out their duties in a loving, prayerful, and competent manner, and to the best of their ability properly and lovingly shepherd those whom they are responsible for.
Love is the most important attribute of godly leadership, and Family shepherds need to be loving shepherds. They also need to be faithful, prayerful, and competent, and to do their job to the best of their ability. "We need people first of all with love! If they haven't got love to begin with, they're nothing and they can do nothing! I don't want anybody in our leadership anywhere in the Family that's not working for that one reason, trying to save souls, the lost to begin with, and trying to help the soul savers!—Really, sincerely, honestly concerned about them, not just doing some kind of formal, mechanical job, going through the motions without the power thereof (2Timothy 3:5)" (ML #1819:24,25).
B.Operate within the authority granted them by the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights" and the "Fundamental Family Rules."
"We have to have certain standards for leadership, and they shouldn't be leaders unless they can keep those standards and operate according to those rules" (ML #1202:61). One of the main purposes for the Charter is to clearly define the responsibilities and authority of shepherding and leadership, so that everyone will know the boundaries Family leadership must operate within. Shepherds cannot take or exert any more authority than is granted to them in the Charter, and must operate within its boundaries.
C.Encourage individuals and/or Homes to live in accordance with the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights," the "Fundamental Family Rules," and the current board criteria by endeavoring to apply the spiritual and practical counsel given in the Word to their daily lives.
It's very important that shepherds encourage the Family to live in accordance with the Charter and with the spiritual and practical guidance, counsel, and instruction in the board criteria. If they find that someone or some Home isn't‚ they must point them to the Word and implement appropriate disciplinary action when necessary. These disciplinary measures must be applied in accordance with the proper procedures listed in the Charter.
D.Endeavor to answer questions and give counsel on how to solve spiritual and personal problems by encouraging the inquirers to hear from the Lord on the matter and directing them to the appropriate Bible passages or World Services publications that offer guidance and counsel on the matter; when needed‚ offer prayerful, Word-based advice, in counsel with their co-shepherds; or seek counsel from a higher authority on matters that no World Services publications address or are matters or questions beyond the experience and/or authority of the shepherd.
It is not a shepherd's job to make decisions for individuals or Homes that they should be making for themselves. Leadership needs to avoid—in fact, refuse—to make decisions that they are not supposed to make. Nor are the shepherds to demand that people do certain things. One of the main purposes of the Charter is to allow and encourage people to make their own choices according to the Word and their personal leading of what the Lord shows them through personal prophecy‚ reading His Word, and the other ways to know God's will as listed in the "Seven Ways to Know God's Will."
The primary job of a shepherd is to point people to the Word and to other Family pubs in order to lead them to the counsel that has already been written, and to encourage them to hear from the Lord on the matter. They can also direct people to the appropriate board if they have any questions concerning board matters.
Of course‚ if nothing has been published on the matter at hand‚ or the member wishes to ask for counsel in the case of the Word not being explicit on the matter, or for help in interpreting prophecy, the member can and should seek counsel from a shepherd who may have some experience or knowledge of the matter, and may have some prayerful counsel to give the person. When a shepherd needs to give an individual or a Home counsel on some matter, they should be very prayerful and sure that their counsel is Word based and that they have heard from the Lord concerning it. If they do not have experience in the matter‚ or are not sure of what counsel to give, the shepherd should ask the Lord and/or pass on the question to a higher level of leadership.
In either case, the person or the Home should make the final decision on a matter, not the shepherd. "Spiritual leaders of any kind must have a tremendous knowledge of the Word and be able to give the Word. That's the ministry of people who are shepherds: They have to feed the sheep. Then [the individuals or Homes] have to make their own decisions on the basis of the light that you give them and the food and the Word you give them. They have to make their own decision" (ML #1002:33).
E.Ensure, to the best of their ability‚ that the rights of the members and/or Homes within their jurisdiction are upheld and are not being infringed upon.
F.Endeavor to live in accordance with the counsel in the GNs and other World Services publications on the subject of wise and loving leadership.
G.Take time daily for personal prayer and fellowship with the Lord regarding matters relating to their shepherding.
It is required that Home shepherds take time daily (outside of their daily devotions) to fellowship and hear from the Lord concerning the shepherding of their Home. "The main job of a shepherd is to keep in touch with the Lord—to begin the day with sweet music—praise and fellowship. We have to learn how to first of all rest at the Lord's feet. The secret of calm and peace and rest and patience and faith and love is that resting in the Lord!—Getting calm before the Lord, praising the Lord and seeking the Lord first. And then you just impart this to the sheep—it's a spirit—you impart that very atmosphere" (ML #98:4,2).
(Note: This section replaces the amended "Responsibilities of Continental Officers" and "Authority of Continental Officers" sections published in GN 1033.)
Regional shepherds are responsible to and/or have the authority to:
1.Regional shepherds must inform World Services and the international board chairperson of the respective board concerning regional board chairperson appointments.
a.If the regional shepherds don't hear back within 14 days, they may proceed with the appointment.
T.Decide to withdraw a member's permission to remain in any country within their area in accordance with the "Procedure for Withdrawing Permission to Remain in a Country" unless:
1.The member is a national of or holds a passport of the country.
2.The member is a spouse or child of a national or a passport holder of the country.
U.Grant or deny clearance to any person requesting clearance to their region, in accordance with the "Procedure for Granting or Denying Clearance."
V.Decide if a Home may be opened in a city or metropolitan area that already has a Family discipleship Home when there is a disagreement between the Homes in the city and the Regional Council, in accordance with the "Procedure for Opening a Home in a City With a Family Discipleship Home."
W.Authorize Homes to duplicate their own outreach tools when warranted.
X.Approve any non-World Services audio or video tools produced in their area for mass distribution.
Y.Provide additional assistance to single parents and their children seeking a Home.
The RSs have no authority to demand that a Home take new members into their Home, but they are free to approach a Home and, if necessary, ask them to consider taking in certain personnel, particularly in the case of single parents. Each Home has to make that decision of its own volition, but should, of course, act in a loving manner and pray about and consider the request. The RSs may not always be able to find a Home for a single parent, but they can actively try to offer assistance in this respect.
By now you have read about the new Home teamwork structure in "Getting Stronger—Part 2‚" which gives a complete picture of the changes in and roles of the new teamwork. Very briefly, the goal is to create a structure whereby the Home will be both well–shepherded and well-organized, and to do this the Lord led to creating the Steering Council, which consists of two individual bodies—a shepherding body and a managerial body. The Steering Council replaces the Home teamwork of the past. The following few Charter sections outline the responsibility of the Steering Council, the Home shepherds, the Home managers, and the criteria monitors in accordance with "Getting Stronger—Part 2."
The Steering Council is made up of two bodies—the Home shepherds and the Home managers. When referring to the "Steering Council," we refer to these two entities together; together they form the body that determines the general plan for the implementation of the overall goals and direction of the Home set by the Home Council, as well as the fulfillment and implementation of the Charter and current board criteria in their Home. If these two bodies are kept informed and unified regarding the Home's needs, activities‚ decisions, priorities‚ problems, and initiatives‚ then the needs of the Home will be well covered and coordinated.
The Steering Council is responsible to and/or has the authority to:
A.Operate within the authority granted them by the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights" and the "Fundamental Family Rules."
The Steering Council cannot take or exert any more authority than is granted to them in the Charter, and must operate within its boundaries.
B.Make decisions concerning the Home, its needs, the implementation of the overall goals and direction of the Home as agreed upon by the Home Council‚ and the fulfillment and implementation of the Charter and current board criteria.
1.Decisions should be made by simple majority vote, unless otherwise specified in the Charter.
Though the Steering Council "determines decisions concerning the Home‚ its needs, the implementation of the overall goals and direction of the Home as agreed upon by the Home Council, and the fulfillment and implementation of the Charter and current board criteria‚" ultimate responsibility for the Home remains with the Home Council.
The Home Council sets the overall goals and direction of the Home; however, it elects a Home Steering Council to oversee the implementation of those goals and the direction their Home has established. Therefore it is the responsibility of the Home's Steering Council to meet, counsel, and pray together concerning how to guide the Home in reaching the decided-upon goals, as well as fulfilling the Charter and the board criteria.
2.The implementation of those decisions is to be divided between the practical and the spiritual, with the Home managers taking care of the practical matters and the Home shepherds taking care of the spiritual matters.
a.If there is a question as to what falls under the practical or the spiritual, the Steering Council must decide by a majority vote whose responsibility the matter falls under. If the body cannot come to an agreement, the issue must be taken to the Home Council.
After decisions are made in the Steering Council meetings, the management team is responsible to carry out the practical aspects of the policy that was decided upon, and the shepherds would take care of the shepherding aspects of the decisions made.
The goal is to keep the two "arms" of the Steering Council separate, so that each team, the shepherds and the managers, can work at doing their job without either one being encumbered with the details of the other. The majority of the time the two arms of the Steering Council don't operate as one body.
C.Endeavor to live in accordance with the World Services publications on the subject of wise and loving leadership.
D.Take time daily for personal prayer and fellowship with the Lord on matters relating to the care and handling of their Home.
With prayer being such an important and essential part of our lives, members of the Steering Council should pray individually and together for the well-being of the Home's members, and for the Lord's wisdom, direction‚ and love concerning the care and management of their Home.
E.Bring up all matters submitted for discussion or vote in a Home Council meeting within 15 days.
Each of the Home's voting members has the right to bring matters up for discussion in the appropriate Home Council meeting, and to have it brought to a vote within 15 days. "We all need to work together, we need to listen to each other‚ counsel together, agree together, decide together‚ and then work it out together.—That it might 'seem good to all of them,' and that we might agree and work together as the Spirit leads, if we're going to get the job done, and when and where it is most needed" (ML #263:76‚80).
The Home shepherds are a team of two or more members who together make up the Home shepherding body within the Steering Council. It's up to the Home shepherds to lovingly and diligently care for and shepherd the Home and to apply all aspects of the Word to the Home and its members.
Good shepherding is a key to a Home being a winning team. As Mama has said, "If the spirit is right, the work will be right." In other words‚ if the spirit of the Home and its members is strong, obedient, full of faith, praiseful, etc., then the other aspects of the Home in the practical and other ministries will be right and will have the Lord's blessing. If the spirit is right and the Home has the Lord's blessing, then they'll be firmly on the path to fruitfulness and progress in all areas‚ including the practical aspects of the Home and its work. In the final analysis‚ it's the Home shepherds and the Home members who are the ones ultimately responsible for the spiritual state of the individuals and the Home overall.
Home shepherds are responsible to and/or have the authority to:
The Home shepherds are responsible to do all they can to ensure their Home members are happy, well cared for, and loved. Home shepherds are expected to help their Home members, as well as each other, overcome their personal weaknesses and be strengthened in the areas of their spiritual lives that they need help in through loving application of the Word.
D.Lovingly and faithfully shepherd, correct and discipline, in a manner appropriate and proportionate to the offense, individuals who fail to fulfill, or who violate or contravene, the "Responsibilities of Individual Family Disciples," the "Fundamental Family Rules," or agreed-upon Home regulations, or who fail to live in accordance with the Word by endeavoring to apply the spiritual and practical counsel given in the Letters to their daily lives.
1.If the offending member does not agree that the discipline is appropriate or proportionate, he may bring the matter before the Home shepherds. If an agreement cannot be reached, the Home shepherds must convene a Home Council meeting within three days to settle the matter. If a simple majority agree with the Home shepherds, the discipline is to be carried out. If the majority disagree, an alternative discipline must be found and agreed upon.
Home shepherds have the authority to discipline those in the Home who are not abiding by the Charter or the Home regulations enacted by the Home. The discipline must be appropriate and proportionate in each case. Often a verbal warning or reproof done lovingly, even if it must be firm, will suffice for the first offense.
"We must be sure that [correction is] in the right spirit with the meekness and the quietness of a tender and gentle and loving and contrite heart in all humility.—To be sure that we're in the right spirit as we correct those around us for their mistakes and their errors and their sins, even as God does us and as we would want others to do unto us for ours.—Loving and forgiving one another for Christ's sake, even as He hath forgiven us for our sins" (ML #1250:43).
"With a lot of people's problems, you can just talk to them a little bit and you tell them the solution and they want to do better and they repent and change. With others, you talk to them and you pray with them and perhaps there's a short–lived victory, but then the problem returns over and over again. When there is that kind of problem, there needs to be something more than just talking and talking and praying and praying with them" (ML #1887:2).
Some examples of discipline that Home shepherds may need to enact include: loss of Home responsibilities; extra Home duties; temporarily relinquishing an activity or privilege, such as missing a recreational activity or an outing, etc. It is also a good idea to assign an appropriate reading list to help strengthen the Home member.
As mentioned, the Home has the authority to vote in its own Home regulations as long as these do not contravene the Charter. But in doing so, the Home members must understand that they are expected to abide by those regulations once implemented‚ and that the Home shepherds will have the authority to discipline those who disobey them.
Whenever discipline is assigned‚ it must be appropriate and proportionate to the offense. If the offense was very minor, then the correction must reflect this same degree of disciplinary action. If the Home shepherds assign a form of discipline which the offender feels is not appropriate or feels is excessive for the offense, he can discuss the matter with them.
The Home shepherds should hear out the member as to the reasons why he feels the discipline is not appropriate or proportionate. The member should also listen to the Home shepherds' reasons for their choice of discipline, and both sides should prayerfully and lovingly consider the reasons of the other.
If an agreement on the disciplinary action cannot be reached, the Home shepherds must call a Home Council meeting within three days to settle the matter. Both sides should be heard in the meeting and the Home should discuss it and come to a decision by means of a majority vote.
E.Recommend that a Home member be moved to Missionary or Fellow membership in accordance with the "Procedure for Moving a Family Disciple to Missionary or Fellow Membership."
F.Immediately report any accusations of offenses warranting excommunication or probationary status to the shepherding desk.
If someone within a Home reports that a Home member has committed an excommunicable or PS offense, the Home shepherds must immediately report it to the shepherding desk, who will see that the matter is investigated fully and that the appropriate Charter procedures are followed.
The Home managers are a team of two or more individuals who make up one of the two entities within the Steering Council. The Home managers are responsible for all aspects of the organization and practical running of the Home‚ including such practical things as scheduling, finances, business, Home care, etc., as well as to ensure that the practical aspects of the Charter and the various board criteria are fulfilled.
The Home managers are responsible to and/or have the authority to:
A.Endeavor to carry out their duties in a loving, prayerful, and competent manner.
Home managers need to be loving‚ faithful, prayerful, and competent‚ and do their job to the best of their ability.
B.Manage the Home and its members physically and organizationally.
The Home managers must diligently care for the functioning of the Home so that it operates well organizationally‚ allowing everyone to effectively and efficiently do their job. The Home members have a great deal of say in the management of their Home. They elect the Home managers and expect them to carry out the agreed-upon decisions.
C.Ensure that the Home is fulfilling the practical aspects of the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights," the "Fundamental Family Rules," and the current board criteria, and that its members are living in accordance with the Word by endeavoring to apply the practical counsel given in the Letters to their daily lives.
The role of the criteria monitors in the Home is primarily to be mindful of the criteria for their board. They are responsible to be thinking about that particular board's criteria, to study the board handbooks and practical how-to pubs for their board, to read the material supplied by the national‚ regional, or international board, and to help raise awareness in the Home or to the Steering Council about any lacks or needs regarding that pillar. Criteria monitors may also, if so decided on by the Steering Council, assist the Steering Council in carrying out certain responsibilities relating to their board's criteria.
The Home's criteria monitors are responsible to:
A.Help raise awareness in the Home and bring to the attention of the Steering Council any lacks or needs regarding the board criteria they monitor.
1.If assigned by the Steering Council, the criteria monitor may assist the Steering Council in helping the Home to fulfill the board criteria.
The criteria monitors are not responsible to make the Home do whatever is listed in the criteria of the board they monitor; they are to be a voice for the Home to the Steering Council and Home Council, if needed, regarding criteria points that need attention. The criteria monitor, however, has no more authority than the other members of their Home, unless authority has been assigned to them by the Steering Council, with the agreement of the Home Council‚ in which case they will help them in carrying the load of fulfilling that board's set of criteria.
B.Criteria monitors may or may not also be Home shepherds or Home managers.
1.The Coaching and Shepherding criteria monitor will always be one of the Home shepherds.
It's important to realize that if a criteria monitor is a Home shepherd or manager, their focus in Home or Steering Council meetings is the progress and needs of the whole Home. In such meetings they cannot put special emphasis solely on the board they monitor; they must put on their "shepherding or manager hats" and focus on the overall Home and the criteria needs of all the boards within their Home.
Following are the revised election rules. A general explanation of the Home election procedures was included in "Getting Stronger—Part 2," but we'll now explain how this works in terms of a Charter procedure. As stated in the "Definition of Terms," 16–year-olds are still voting members in the Home, except for financial decisions, which are made by voting members 18 years and older.
Please also note that service Homes will have the same shepherd/manager/criteria monitor structure as any other Home; however, the RSs still reserve the right to appoint some or all of the members of the Steering Council in a service Home according to the Charter "Rights of Personnel in a Service Home."
A.General voting rules:
1.Unless specified otherwise in the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights" or in these "Election Rules‚" a simple majority determines the outcome of the matter being voted on.
2.A two–thirds majority either in a Home vote or for area referendums is required to determine the outcome on any financial matter.
a.Only voting members 18 and over may vote on financial matters.
3.Unless specified otherwise in these "Election Rules‚" a Home should, by a simple majority, determine a fair, practical, and efficient method of voting.
Some voting procedures require the use of a secret ballot, but most do not; therefore each Home may decide by a simple majority what method of voting it will use. Such methods could include a discussion and simple show of hands, or checking off a chart left on the Home's bulletin board, etc. There are a variety of options, and the Home must decide by a simple majority which one to use.
4.Abstentions either in a Home vote or for an area referendum will decrease the voting population by one for that vote.
5.If voting members are absent from the Home at the time a vote is taken, they must be informed and allowed to cast their vote on the matter, either at that time or upon their return.
B.Elections for Home shepherds, Home managers, and criteria monitors:
1.Each Family discipleship Home will elect a minimum of two or three Home shepherds, a minimum of two or three Home managers, and criteria monitors for each of the six board pillars.
A criteria monitor, except the CS criteria monitor, who must be a Home shepherd, can be any member of the Home's voting population. The Home shepherds and Home managers do not have to be criteria monitors. Whether they are or not is up to the Home and would depend on the size of your Home. A Home could have Home shepherds and Home managers, and as many as five other criteria monitors, none of whom are Home shepherds or Home managers. The overall goal is to share the load by having different people take different criteria monitor positions as much as may be possible.
2.Elections for Home shepherds, Home managers‚ and criteria monitors are to be held prior to the date set by their reporting office for the May and November Home TRFs.
3.One week before Home elections, the Home must read the "Home Election Guidelines," Appendix E, and hold a meeting in which Home members decide the number of Home shepherds and Home managers they will elect and then submit their nominations for Home shepherds, Home managers, and criteria monitors.
Larger Homes may want to elect more than the required number of Home shepherds and Home managers for their population. It depends on the needs of the Home. The number of Home shepherds and Home managers does not have to be the same, but there must be at least two or three in each body, depending on the number of members in the Home 16 and up.
4.When the elections are held, each individual position should be voted on by separate ballot.
ii.Home managers and Home shepherds may additionally hold the position of up to two criteria monitors.
1.The Home shepherd also elected as the Coaching and Shepherding criteria monitor may not be the criteria monitor for a second board as well.
c.All Home elections should be by secret ballot.
5.A committee selected from two or three of the Home's voting members must count the votes. This committee will announce the results of the election to the Home Council.
6.Once the elections are held and the results announced, the term of office will begin immediately.
a.Outgoing Home shepherds and Home managers must turn over all files, Home records, HER fund locations, etc., held in their portfolio to the new incoming Home shepherds and Home managers within 24 hours of the election.
7.If a Home shepherd, Home manager, or criteria monitor position becomes vacant for longer than two months, the Home must hold an election within seven days to fill the position. The person elected to this position would hold office until the next Home election‚ and would still be subject to a vote of confirmation at the midterm dates.
C.Vote of confirmation within the Home.
There are two kinds of votes of confirmations within the Home. The first is the required midterm vote of confirmation for the Home shepherds‚ Home managers, and criteria monitors. The second is a vote of confirmation for the Home shepherds, Home managers, and criteria monitors to be held 10 days from the date a Home has been placed on probationary notice, to give them the opportunity to change any of their three elected bodies‚ if needed.
When the Home engages in a vote of confirmation‚ they vote for or against the specific body as a whole. So if there is one member of one of the elected bodies who the Home members feel is not doing a good job and they would like them to step down from their position, the Home would need to vote to not confirm that entire body. For example, if the Home's voting members do not confirm the Home shepherds, then a new election would be called for all the Home shepherds‚ though not for the Home managers or the criteria monitors if those two bodies were reconfirmed. If Home members wish to renominate any of the previous shepherds who they feel should be reelected, they may do so, as well as any other of the Home's eligible members.
1.The midterm vote of confirmation must be held midway through the Home shepherds', Home managers' and criteria monitors' period of office to confirm that they have the support of the Home.
I confirm the Home shepherds: yes ___ no ___
I confirm the Home managers: yes ___ no ___
I confirm the criteria monitors: yes ___ no ___
b.If there is a two-thirds majority vote against confirming any one of the three elected bodies‚ the Home will hold Home elections for that body within seven days‚ in accordance with these "Election Rules."
i.The term of office of the new Home shepherds, Home managers, or criteria monitors is only until the next Home election date as specified in these "Election Rules."
The purpose of this midterm confirmation vote is to make it possible to call for a new election of one or more of the three bodies in the Home should the Home find them incapable of doing the job, or if for some other reason the Home feels they should be removed from office.
Since the members of each body were originally elected by a simple majority, it will require a two-thirds majority to recall them from office at the time of the midterm vote of confirmation. Since voting to recall your Home shepherds, Home managers, or criteria monitors is a rather sensitive matter, the vote of confirmation is to be held by secret ballot.
2.The probationary notice vote of confirmation must be held when a Home has been placed on probationary notice to confirm whether the Home shepherds, Home managers, and criteria monitors continue to have the support of the Home.
ii.If the reason for probationary notice was not resolved within 10 days, the Home should proceed with the vote of confirmation. The voting ballot should read:
I confirm the Home shepherds: yes ___ no ___
I confirm the Home managers: yes ___ no ___
I confirm the criteria monitors: yes ___ no ___
b.If there is a simple majority vote against confirming any one of the three elected bodies, the Home will hold Home elections for that body within seven days, in accordance with these "Election Rules."
i.The term of office of the new Home shepherds, Home managers, or criteria monitors is only until the next Home election date as specified in these "Election Rules."
The probationary notice vote of confirmation must be held if a Home has not heard back from their reporting office or the regional desk within 10 days of being placed on probationary notice that they are no longer on probationary notice. The purpose of this confirmation vote is to make it possible to call for the election of either one or all of the bodies of Home shepherds, Home managers, and criteria monitors in the case of the Home being placed on probationary notice.
While the Home is fully accountable as a whole for being placed on probationary notice, because the members of the Steering Council bear a great deal of responsibility in how the Home is run and in the fulfillment of the Home's responsibilities, and the criteria monitors in monitoring the Home in its fulfillment of the boards' criteria, part of the solution to getting off probationary notice may be to change one or more of these elected bodies, if the Lord leads.
In the case of probationary notices, because of the time constraints placed on the Home's Family discipleship status—i.e., if the specific issues aren't rectified within 60 days‚ the Home will automatically become an MM or FM Home—in order to remove any of the three elected bodies in the Home at the PN vote of confirmation, it will only require a simple majority to recall them from office, rather than the two-thirds majority vote required during the normal vote of confirmation. Since voting to recall your Home shepherds, Home managers, or criteria monitors is a rather sensitive matter, the vote of confirmation is to be held by secret ballot.
D.Home referendums: (unchanged)
(To be read one week prior to each Home election date.)
You should choose people you love, trust, and respect to be your Home's shepherds and managers—those who have courage to make difficult decisions, which the Home shepherds or Home managers will have to make. They should be those who can encourage you to do your best for the Lord and His work and who can lovingly correct you when you're not doing your best. Home elections are not popularity contests, and you have a serious responsibility to desperately pray for the Lord to lead and guide you to choose those whom He wants to shepherd and manage your Home. United prayer for the Lord's help and guidance should always accompany Home elections.
If you feel your present Home shepherds or Home managers, or individual members of those bodies, aren't sufficiently living up to the shepherding and Home management standards defined in the Letters‚ you should vote in those whom you feel will.
Please take into consideration that both shepherding and running a Home is a difficult responsibility. It's a very big sacrifice, and Home shepherds and managers do what often seems like a thankless job. If you find you're regularly voting out your Home shepherds or Home managers and you can't find anyone who can do the job the way you think they should‚ then maybe you're part of the problem; maybe you're extremely difficult to shepherd and need to pray and ask the Lord to help you.—Or maybe you can ask to try the job yourself for a while.
By your collective decision of who shepherds and manages your Home, you take the responsibility of the Home on your shoulders. The Home as a whole is accountable for how fruitful it is and how efficiently it operates and will be judged accordingly. If your Home doesn't run well, then you're partly to blame, since you elected those who run it.
Even though the responsibility and authority to make sure the boards' criteria is implemented in the Home lies with the Home's Steering Council‚ the criteria monitors are an important position in your Home‚ and you should choose those who you feel will do their job faithfully, keep abreast of how the Home is doing in regards to the board criteria they are monitoring, and be faithful to point out lacks in the fulfillment of the criteria to the Home shepherds, Home managers, and Home Council as needed.
1. Each Home should hold mandatory Home elections every six months, prior to their May and November Home TRF reporting dates. New Homes should hold elections within seven days of opening, and then hold their next elections at the regular Home election times as stated in the "Election Rules."
2. Voting members of the Home include all who have reached the age of 16. Only voting members 18 years or older can be nominated and elected as Home shepherds or Home managers. Voting members 16 years and older can be nominated and elected as criteria monitors‚ with the exception of the Coaching and Shepherding criteria monitor, who is also one of the Home shepherds.
3. One week before Home elections‚ the Home must read these "Home Election Guidelines" and hold a meeting in which the number of Home shepherds and Home managers the Home will elect is decided upon. Home members can then submit their nominations for the individual Home shepherds‚ Home managers, and criteria monitors they would like to see elected.
Those nominated and seconded for any of the elected positions should be consulted before their name is brought up for election, in case they don't want the job. If the nominations are verbal, then those people may feel pressured to accept, even though they don't want the position or don't feel capable of handling it. To avoid this, Home members could submit written nominations for the Home positions, which would give the people nominated a chance to be consulted and either accept or decline the nomination. Written nominations also give the shyer people a chance to participate more, since they may not feel as free to voice their opinions; or if anyone feels intimidated nominating people other than the present elected members, this would give them a chance to do so in a private manner.
The names of those nominated to each of the two Steering Council entities or to criteria monitor positions should be posted somewhere in the Home so that throughout the week everyone can be reminded who has been nominated. This will give the Home members a full week to think and pray about whom they personally feel would be the best choices to fill the various posts. It's better to refrain from talking with others about whom you or they are going to vote for‚ as this could cause a rash of gossip, peer pressure, or lobbying for votes. Use this week to pray and seek the Lord about the available choices, so that when you do vote you will be voting according to how the Lord has led you and not because someone else has convinced you to vote for a certain person.
4. Voting for each Home position should be conducted separately, first voting individually for each one of the Home shepherds, second for each of the Home managers, and third for each of the criteria monitors. The guidelines for the type and number of positions a Home shepherd or Home manager can fill, as listed in "Election Rules" B.4.b., must be followed.
5. The Home can determine the method of voting they use, but voting must be conducted by secret ballot. A committee of three people, selected by the Home, should count the votes. This committee would announce the winners, but the winning margins should remain confidential to spare the feelings of those who lost.
6. In the event of a tie vote, a run-off election must be held for that position. If the tie is unbroken after three run-offs, the Home must decide by a simple majority if the two candidates should both hold the position in question.
Copyright © 2005 by The Family International.
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