LC: 22. AUTHORITY OF WS LEADERSHIP

If deemed necessary, WS leadership has the authority to:

A. Amend or suspend all or part of the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights," and the "Fundamental Family Rules."
         It is inevitable that as time goes on, and the needs of the Family change, that changes will be needed in the Charter or the Rules. We may also discover that there are points which we thought would be workable that turn out not to be and will need to be changed. Suggested changes in the Charter are welcome and can be recommended and suggested by anyone. This is your Charter. It has been written to help you in your service to the Lord, and if parts of it are not workable, become outdated or need revamping, we want to change it. So after using it for a while, please share with us any changes you feel should be made. WS leadership, in consultation with the CROs and the rest of the Family, will make any changes to the Charter.
         WS leadership also has the authority to suspend the Charter should there ever be a need. This would be highly unlikely, but should something occur in the future that we do not foresee now, WS leadership reserves the right and has the authority to suspend this Charter.

B. Declare a State of Emergency in any continental area, country, city or Home; thereby suspending all, or part of, the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights" and the "Fundamental Family Rules" for a specified area and period of time, and to inform the Homes affected.
         There are times when emergencies arise, as was the case with the persecution in Argentina, and because of the nature and seriousness of the situation, direct intervention of Family leadership was necessary. Leadership needs to be free to make decisions and instruct people to do whatever is necessary to manage areas in emergency situations. During such times it may not be possible to allow everyone to vote on every decision that has to be made, as among other reasons, there may not be time to do so.
         In a situation like this, World Services will declare a specific country, city, or Home to be under a State of Emergency, and state that the Charter and Rules are being suspended for a specified period of time. The Charter and Rules will not be suspended indefinitely. If the emergency is still in existence after the specified period of time, World Services will inform those affected that a new specified time period is in force. If World Services does not set a new time, then the State of Emergency is terminated once the original specified time period expires.
         Referring again to the persecution in Argentina as an example: it was necessary for WS to intervene, as virtually all of the leadership was incarcerated! Decisions had to be made and action taken without consulting with everyone involved. Had the Charter been in effect at the time of the raids in Argentina, WS would have declared Argentina in a State of Emergency.
         Once the brethren in Argentina were released and felt it expedient to leave the country, it meant that quite a number of Family members needed some place to land. In a similar case in the future, World Services might put surrounding countries under a State of Emergency and suspend the part of the Charter, which states that Homes have the right to vote to accept new personnel. Family members would have to have a place to go, so World Services could mandate that the Homes in those localities take in some of the refugees until further housing could be found for them.

C. Appoint to and/or remove from office any continental or area officers.

D. Veto or annul any decision made by continental or area officers, as well as any area goals.

E. Countermand any continental office appointments of area officers.

F. Arbitrate any matters that continental officers are not able or authorized to decide.
         There may be times when WS leadership will need to relieve a continental officer or area officer from their position, or veto or override one of their decisions. This rarely happens, and if it does, WS will explain its reasons to those involved, and if necessary to the whole Family, in order to account for its actions.


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family