Welcome to Agathos Ministries

1. Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability. For us, no one person is the source of Truth, so there is no authoritarianism. There was disagreement among the leaders on peripheral issues even before the founding of Agathos, and the way in which the disagreement is handled is part of what drew leadership together. The Senior Pastor is accountable to leadership for living what he teaches, and to the entire congregation to teach self-consistently. The QIC2 system helps keep leaders accountable to the congregation.

2. No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry. The first item in the QIC2 is Question. The final item is Counter-Point. We invite questions, even hard or "impossible" questions. We invite people to express their own opinions and support their position. In return, we also expect to be invited to express and support ours.

3. No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement. No one is on payroll at Agathos. At this time 100% of expenses are going toward material needs of the ministry. Anyone who wishes to know the plans for Agathos' money simply needs to ask.

4. Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions. We do not feel the need to hide from "normal life." If anything, because we are so willing to live normal and triumphant lives in the "world," we come under fire from those who believe that Christians need to withdraw from most of normal life and lead insulated lives.

5. There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil. Come and go as you like. Agathos, frankly, isn't for everyone. There are plenty of excellent reasons for not coming in the first place, and plenty of perfectly legitimate reasons for moving on. In fact, if we believe we are not a good fit for you, we will try to help you find a church more suited to you.

6. Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances. Agathos has no former members, but we are open and transparent about who we are and what we do. Besides this website, you may ask us questions and come and go from our church as you like.

7. There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader. We are not large enough to have such things.

8. Followers feel they can never be "good enough." We believe everyong is "good enough" to be here, and we are more interested in the growth of individuals. So long as you're growing, no matter your starting point, you are "good enough." For all of us, there is always more to be learned and more growing to do, but Jesus accepts us all exactly as we are, so we accept people as they are.

9. The group/leader is always right. We do try to be right, but the very fact we have Counter-Point on our QIC2 is our admission that we won't always be right. We may disagree, but both have reasonable positions, and we will respect that. Leaders can be expected to back up their positions and explain themselves, and in case of disagreement, the leaders will listen and explain. We define the "winner" of a disagreement as "whoever is right in the end" which means both people win if both are right - and since Reality is More Important Than Anything We Believe, we want to learn if we're wrong. Since we think through many of our positions pretty thoroughly, it may take a great deal of support to convince us we're wrong, but we will respect any reasonable disagreement.

10. The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible. Our three Core Organizing Principles define our way of knowing truth. No one has a lock on that. Our respect for alternative points of view on a great deal of subjects supports our lack of exclusivity to truth.

1. A safe group/leader will answer your questions without becoming judgmental and punitive.

2. A safe group/leader will disclose information such as finances and often offer an independently audited financial statement regarding budget and expenses. Safe groups and leaders will tell you more than you want to know.

3. A safe group/leader is often democratic, sharing decision making and encouraging accountability and oversight.

4. A safe group/leader may have disgruntled former followers, but will not vilify, excommunicate and forbid others from associating with them.

5. A safe group/leader will not have a paper trail of overwhelmingly negative records, books, articles and statements about them.

6. A safe group/leader will encourage family communication, community interaction and existing friendships and not feel threatened.

7. A safe group/leader will recognize reasonable boundaries and limitations when dealing with others.

8. A safe group/leader will encourage critical thinking, individual autonomy and feelings of self-esteem.

9. A safe group/leader will admit failings and mistakes and accept constructive criticism and advice.

10. A safe group/leader will not be the only source of knowledge and learning excluding everyone else, but value dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.