The mission of Ecclesia America is to provide a framework on which to build free, responsible communities aligned with Natural Law as expressed in the COURT OF AGES Law of the Land Handbook.
General meetings are open to anyone who has received a personal invitation. Membership in an Ecclesia requires alignment with the COURT OF AGES Law of the Land Handbook. |
A Different Way of Doing Church
The cornerstone of American life is crumbling, some researchers claim, because people who insist that church is important do not attend. Studies consistently show about 40 percent of Americans claim to be church goers but actual head-counts contradict that figure.
A study by C. Kirk Hadaway and Penny Long Marler published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion states: “Opinion polls indicate that over 40 percent of Americans attend worship services each week. However, attendance counts in several North American counties and Roman Catholic dioceses suggest that worship attendance may be much lower.” An Outreach Magazine article published in churchleaders.com entitled 7 Startling Facts: An up close look at church attendance in America says, “Even with a broader definition of church attendance, classifying a regular attendee as someone who shows up at least three out of every eight Sundays, only 23–25 percent of Americans would fit this category. Olson notes that an additional million church attendees would increase the percentage from 17.7 percent to only 18 percent. ‘You”d have to find 80 million more people that churches forgot to count to get to 40 percent.’” We clearly have a disconnect. The Barna Research report, State of the Church 2016, resolves the conflict this way: “Even though a majority of Americans identify as Christian and say religious faith is very important in their life, these huge proportions belie the much smaller number of Americans who regularly practice their faith. When a variable like church attendance is added to the mix, a majority becomes the minority. When a self-identified Christian attends a religious service at least once a month and says their faith is very important in their life, Barna considers that person a “practicing Christian.” After applying this triangulation of affiliation, self-identification and practice, the numbers drop to around one in three U.S. adults (31%) who fall under this classification. Barna researchers argue this represents a more accurate picture of Christian faith in America, one that reflects the reality of a secularizing nation.” Barna says 73% of Americans identify as Christian. Yet professed Christians who forego practices such as Bible reading, prayer and church attendance comprise approximately 48% of all American adults. If these figures are accurate, nearly half of all Americans have secularized their faith, as Barna describes it. So its clear that in America, ‘faith’ is still important but has parted ways with church and traditional religious practices. And while Americans still value the idea of church, most refrain from attending. Conclusion? Traditional church no longer meets people’s needs. The institution of church must either align itself with people’s needs or simply fade away. Church Based on the Ecclesia Model
Anyone who has gone for a walk in the woods knows—you don’t need to go to church to experience God. With more than half of all Americans forgoing church, no longer is church attendance considered the measure of one’s connection with God.
Ecclesia (or ekklesia) is a Greek term that refers to a body of people who meet, discuss and agree upon matters that concern their community as a whole. It is the framework by which societies in Athens, Greece once organized life together and was adopted by early followers of the biblical Christ. The ecclesia, or church, was a civil body meant to replace first century government. Why? Because just as today, the people were oppressed by money interests operating through empire. From the beginning of recorded history, humanity has been on a constant mission to gain indepenence from those who pull the strings behind the scenes of money, government, and religious systems. But only in the last few decades have the masses begun realizing that our very survival depends on humanity taking responsibility for ourselves rather than passing the buck to government babysitters. A Little History
Government systems of control are as old as recorded history beginning with the Sumerian law codes. One of the earliest is the Code of Hammurabi, the sixth Babylonian king, and dates to around 1754 BC. In his preamble, Hammurabi extols the names of gods Bel, lord of heaven and earth, and Marduk whom he says assigned him rule over mankind so human slaves might receive fair treatment.
Moses’ law appeared a few hundred years later and contains such similarities to Hammurabi’s law that historians and archeologist believe Moses took his from Hammurabi. The fact is, Babylonian law is the foundation upon which International Law and thus, the legal system in the United States, is built today. The “God” in which America has trusted belongs to a pantheon of pagan Anunnaki deities. Hammurabi’s Babylon fell and was resurrected repeatedly through the ages, eventually rising to take over Rome. In 27 BC the people thought they’d won a Republic when they elected Octavian as their leader. But it soon came apart when the shadow-government-controlled Senate named Octavian “Augustus” (the venerated) granting him complete authority over Rome. Rome’s separate branches of government were actually controlled by one empirical faction operating behind the scenes. It was within this political context that the first century church, operating largely underground, grew rapidly despite severe persecution. Finally, in 312 AD Emperor Constantine legalized it, effectively bringing the church under government control. Constantine oversaw the first ecumenical council where Christian doctrine was developed, holy books were chosen and early canon law, now International Law (Corporate Law), was officially adopted. The first century church is the closest the world has ever come to gaining independence from money interests and corporate controllers. The movement lost steam when ‘Christianity’ was legalized. Customs were ritualized and combined with Constantine’s Mithraism (sun god worship) and Babylonian astrology. Sundays were set aside in honor of Sol Invictus for observing rituals. Lead by a “pater” or father, catechisms were recited, liturgies for ascent of the soul were performed, and instead of self-governing communities, the ecclesia was reduced to the nominal church organizations we know today. The early church was a distinct challenge to the establishment. It couldn’t be stopped, so it was absorbed and taken over instead. Learning from history, Ecclesia America does not expect approval from corporate governing apparatuses. We do, however, expect to co-exist peacefully during what we believe could be a worldwide transition to Natural Law. Ecclesia and Government
Ecclesia America seeks peaceful cooperation with local governments while, at the same time, making clear the difference.
Ecclesia: Moral foundation; shared values; STRONG CULTURE Government: Political foundation; profit-based values; WEAK CULTURE |