moving away from authoritative rule

Although the church, along with all institutions, will find adherents no matter how autocratic the rule of its membership is, I claim that in order for the church to survive in a healthy manner, in the best interest of its members, it must move towards a posture of self-rule by the members themselves.

All three possible phases in the journey of a member… joining, commitment and separation… must be voluntary and respected.

How teaching and learning goes on in this context is, of course, a challenge. But it is one which must be accepted. For instance, a few questions:

1. How does any teacher present his or her ideas without the necessity of homogenous agreement?
2. How can a diverse group of people (for that is indeed what it is beneath the presentation) remain in communion without subscribing to the agenda of one leader or team?
3. Or better yet: How can leaders of communities lead without an agenda, or with an agenda that is personal yet must not need to be met by the community for the leader and the community to experience union?

If we want to experience genuine community, then we are in for some difficult but I believe rewarding work.