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September 10, 1975 Open Letter to the Participants of The Stelle Group In reading the Trustees’
cover letter attached to the By-law amendment proposal as well as the
proposed by-laws, I find it necessary to reply to some of their statements
and concepts. Because I have been asked
by the Board of Trustees to submit alternate proposed by-laws, it is obvious
to all of you that I am not in favor of the Trustees’ proposal. Section 1. Qualification of
Membership. I have three main
objections to this section. (1) The term minor children is not defined.
Although in Illinois, children reach majority at 18, after my experience with
Rolf Raillard and the feedback I got from various members, I believe some
people would interpret this as 21 years of age. (2) “... all minor children
of a family must meet minimum standards of training in discipline and social
attitudes.” If I were to include this in my proposal, (which I did not do,
since I was setting up qualifications of the individual) I would have had to
speak of high standards rather than minimum standards. (3) “To be accepted as
a member of The Stelle Group, each applicant must demonstrate his ability to
contribute to the overall balance...” It is unclear to me what is meant by
“overall balance.” It seems to me that, although this statement was made in The
Ultimate Frontier, it is open to much interpretation outside of the
context of The Ultimate Frontier. The standards for membership by
which you were accepted are much more complex and comprehensive than these. Section 2. Admissions
Committees. As you probably all know, I
do not believe that admissions should be placed within the structure of The
Stelle Group. Admission to the Nation of God depends on the judgment of the
Brotherhoods and admission to the first civilization depended on the judgment
of the Elders. Neither situation had the admissions function under the
structure of the society itself. In addition, there are no qualifications for
admissions committee members, other than being a full member, listed in the
proposed by-law amendment. I do not believe people tend to make wise
decisions without sufficient criteria and parameters. I realize that right
now you may feel that you know each other well enough, but how would this
work with one thousand people, let alone ten thousand? I cannot responsibly agree
to the election of persons by the general membership to a position which I
know has been delegated. It is not within my authority to make or sponsor
such an agreement. Section 3. Classes of
Membership. Although much of my
proposal may seem similar to the proposed amendment by the Board of Trustees,
from my experience I do not believe that it is wise to now set up classes of
membership. When the concept of associates, non-residents, etc. came up in
the first place, Richard made it clear that these participants were not to be
considered as secondary or partial members, but only as candidates for membership.
One of the reasons for this was to allow Admissions to observe the candidate
in action, to evaluate him over a longer period of time, to minimize the Page 2. pressure on him from lower
entities, and to be able to disassociate a person when he is not fulfilling
the criteria without enturbulating The Stelle Group. The whole idea of a
hearing on his case by a review panel negates one of the principal reasons
for setting up the associate concept in the first place. And please remember,
that setting up the associate period was a step forward and an improvement
based on our experience. Like the Trustees, I too,
am interested in an admissions procedure which “insures a high quality of
membership in The Stelle Group so that Stelle can fulfill its long-term
purpose in the Great Plan of the Brotherhoods.” However, I do not believe
that their proposed by-law amendments can insure a high quality of
membership. In fact, it is more likely to create a political position out of
admissions and places those persons on the admissions committee in a position
where they are likely to feel the need to please the membership rather than
serve the Brotherhoods and Christ. As Admissions, I have been
in the situation since April of 1974 of having to choose at times between my
friends and the Brotherhoods. I know what it means to fulfill the
responsibility even though your heart wishes it were not so. When I accepted
responsibility from Richard, I was fully aware of what it would mean. Anyone
who is asked by me to serve with me on Admissions will have to be willing to
put Christ and the Brotherhoods above all else. The Trustees have raised
the question of the line of responsibility/authority from the Brotherhoods in
their cover letter. Because I disagree with their conclusions and because the
line of responsibility/authority to the Brotherhoods seems to be a key issue,
I feel that the time has come to make a statement to all of you. The line of
responsibility/authority from the Brotherhoods is as follows: 1. Melchizedek, 2. Council of Seven, 3. Dr.
White, 4. Richard, 5. Gail and Jim. In reference to the
Trustees’ comment on page 2 of their cover letter, Richard did not replace
himself, but rather he delegated some of his responsibilities.
Although he delegated the Admissions function to me, and other
responsibilities to Jim, Richard did not delegate his responsibilities toward
the establishment of the Nation of God. I know that the delegation of those
responsibilities were within his right, and were honored by the Brotherhoods. The Trustees have implied
that admissions has always been a part of the organization of The Stelle
Group. “Stelle has been founded, and the admissions of new members is an
integral part of our affairs. Unless we are informed otherwise, it is our
opinion that this aspect should remain part of our organizational structure.”
This implication is not correct. Admissions is not nor has it ever been a
part of the organizational structure. In addition, the Trustees
have stated that “unless they are informed otherwise,” admissions is to
become part of The Stelle Group. They have been informed otherwise. And for
the record, I will state publicly to all of you—Admissions is not supposed to
be a part of The Stelle Group. Gail Kieninger |
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