ARTICLE I: DEFINITIONS
1.1 "Church" shall mean and include the CHURCH OF PHILOSOPHICAL SPIRITUALITY, an unincorporated association, its affiliated or subordinate organisations, and their predecessors and successors.
1.2 "Church Authority" shall mean and include the power and authority vested in the CHIEF MINISTER and his duly authorized delegates.
1.3 "Church Law" shall mean and include the Church's Articles of Association, its ecclesiastical doctrines and determination, and other rules, teachings, and customs as they are now in force or may hereafter be adopted, amended, or repealed, with or without notice, by the Church Authority.
1.4 "Ecclesiastical Determination" shall mean and include a decision that requires spiritual discernment. Such decision shall be within the sole and subjective discretion of the Church Authority, shall be conclusive and final, subject to review by the Church Authority, and shall not require oral or written evidence as to its basis.
ARTICLE II: OFFICES
2.1 The principal Office and other offices of the Church, for the transaction of its ecclesiastical and temporal activities, shall be designated by the Church Authority as necessary and according to circumstances.
ARTICLE III: MEMBERS
3.2 Association Members are distinct from the Church and shall have no voting rights, authority, or power over or regarding the ecclesiastical or temporal affairs of the Church, except as authorized by the Church Authority. The privileges of each Association Member shall be determined by the Church Authority. All Association Members consent and agree to be under the Church Authority and to be bound and abide by Church Laws.
3.3 The qualification for a person to become a Association Member shall be by voluntary affiliation with the Church by financial support and other activities.
3.4 The Church Authority shall be the sole source to make the Ecclesiastical Determination whether or not a person is an Association Member.
3.5 Association Membership shall be terminated automatically upon death, disqualification, or resignation.
3.6 The Church Authority shall be the sole source to make the Ecclesastical Determination whether or not to suspend, disqualify, or reinstate an Association Member.
3.7 Notification of suspension, disqualification, or reinstatement may be done orally or in writing, as elected by the Church Authority, who may inform the basic cause but shall not be required to delineate any of the evidence or information on which the decision is based.
3.8 A suspended or disqualified Association Member may appeal within 14 days from the date of suspension or disqualification by submitting, in writing, a request for reinstatement. Should said appeal be refused, the decision is deemed conclusive and final.
3.9 In the event of such appeal, the Church Authority shall establish the rules and procedures to decide the appeal as an Ecclesiastical Determination.
3.10 All memberships are non-transferable and non-assignable.
3.11 Association Members shall have no vested right, title, or interest, legal or equitable, to any Church assets in any form. An exception is that Association Members may hold title to Church assets in a capacity as Trustee for the benefit of the Church or its affiliated or subordinate organizations.
3.12 Any privilege or permission of an Association Member to enter upon or use the Church assets shall be revocable at any time, with or without cause or notice, and such privilege or permission shall be revoked and terminated automatically upon death, suspension, or disqualification.
ARTICLE IV - CHURCH RECORDS
4.1 Church documents and records shall be deemed absolutely confidential and secret, and no person shall have any right of access to or utilization of said information unless authorized and approved by an Ecclesiastical Determination of the Church Authority.
ARTICLE V - ADVISORY COUNCIL
5.1 The number of members of the Advisory Council shall vary, from time to time, as appointed or removed by the Chief Minister.
5.2 The Chief Minister shall be the Chairman of the Advisory Council for life. Members of the Advisory Council shall serve until they are removed.
5.3 The Chief Minister shall be vested with the unilateral and sole power and authority to appoint and remove any member from the Advisory Council, or to dismiss the entire Advisory Council, at any time, with or without notice or cause.
5.4 All meetings shall be held in such locations as the Chief Minister shall designate.
5.5 Only the Chief Minister shall be empowered to call meetings, at any time without advance or written notice.
ARTICLE VI - ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY
6.1 The Chief Minister shall be vested with the sole power and authority to approve candidates for the ministry. The Chief Minister or any ordained minister of the Church authorized to do so by the Church Authority shall be empowered to ordain or appoint a person so approved for the ministry. Upon such ordination, a certificate or license may be issued, and ownership of said document shall remain in the Church.
6.2 To qualify as a minister of the Church, the candidate must fulfill requirements as determined by the Church Authority.
6.4 The Chief Minister shall have the unilateral and sole power and authority to suspend or revoke an ordination or appointment, or to remove a minister from his office or from any particular rank, at any time, with or without cause or notice. Such a decision is an Ecclesiastical Determination.
6.5 In the event such ordination is revoked, the person shall no longer promote himself as a minister of the Church.
ARTICLE VII - INDEMNIFICATION
7.1 Every person who serves as a director, officer, employee, or agent of the Church, its affiliated or subordinate organisations, or their predecessors or successors, may in the discretion of the Church Authority, be indemnified and held harmless by the Church from and against any damages that may be imposed on or incurred by him, in connection with or resulting from any claim, action, suit or proceeding, either civil or criminal, in which he may become a party or otherwise involved because of his being or having been a director, officer, employee or agent of the Church, its affiliated or subordinate organizations, or their predecessors or successors, whether or not he has terminated said relationship when the damages were imposed or incurred.
7.2 The word "damages" shall include without limitation, all reasonable and necessary loss, cost, liability, expense and attorney's fees actually incurred or expended, in defense or settlement of said claim, action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil or criminal, whether only threatened or actually commenced, and all judgments, fines, or penalties levied or rendered against the indemnified person.
DRAFT April 1, 2014
Patrick Horn, Chief Minister
Chairman, Advisory Council