АҚШ-тағы Христиандық Қоғамдық Ұйымы

U. S. Christian intentional community

Membership is open to all baptized Christians who believe in the Nicene Creed. Each location of the community is called a branch. The larger branches are led by a group of branch coordinators. These branches are divided into areas, which are each led by an area coordinator. The principal branch coordinator serves as the main leader of the branch. Smaller or newer branches are led by a team of branch leaders. All these coordinators or branch leaders are selected from among the covenanted men in a branch. On matters of great importance, consultations involving all full or "covenanted" members of the community guide the direction of the community, including (within a branch) the selection of coordinators. Branch members nominate three people, and one is selected to be a coordinator by the overall coordinator.

Spiritual direction is an important part of People of Praise intentional community, which takes the form of headships or lay pastoral counselling; according to anthropologist Thomas Csordas, "individual members are supervised in their daily lives by a person regarded as more 'spiritually mature. heads, in general, give encouragement, correction, and help in decision making. Men have other men as their heads. Married women are headed by their husbands. Single women and widows usually have other women as their heads. Men and women with the appropriate skills are assigned as heads by the coordinators. People of Praise uses the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola as a basis for counsel and discernment. Women leaders "teach women on womanly affairs, give advice, help in troubled situations" and lead specialized women's activities. The term handmaid had been chosen in 1971 as a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who, in most English translations of the Bible, described herself as "the handmaid of the Lord" or a woman who is close to God.

The organization holds that homosexual activity is a sin and opposes gay marriage. Members who disclose such activity are expelled from the organization, and children of same gender parents are not allowed into the group's schools.

The Campus Division of the People of Praise is made up of mostly college students. Members live together in student households. Most households hold regular prayer together and often eat together. While some are not in school, most members of the Campus Division attend a variety of colleges and universities, including the University of Minnesota, IUPUI, Saint Mary's College, Holy Cross College and the University of Notre Dame. Members of the Campus Division consider their common life together to be part of what the People of Praise has labeled as to its city building work.

According to the organisation's website, the Action Division consists of high school students and adults working together "to bring Christ's love to impoverished communities in real and tangible ways." At this point, their work primarily involves outreach in a poor neighborhood called Allendale in the city of Shreveport, Louisiana. A second location has begun in inner city Indianapolis, Indiana. However, members say that they could work in other areas in the future. The Action Division aims to "provide those in need with an experience of God's love for them." This consists of providing jobs, affordable housing, strong families, and prayer for physical healing. Action Division members work together to "share all aspects of life" with those who are in need; these needs may be material, financial, spiritual, intellectual or social.

WorkLight (Formerly known as Christians in Commerce International) is a movement of business and professional men and women that is dedicated to helping members grow in the Christian life and to influence the world of commerce with the gospel. Although WorkLight operates independently from the People of Praise, the People of Praise movement helped form WorkLight in its initial stages and is actively engaged in its work. WorkLight is organized into 30 local Men's Chapters, Women's Chapters. These chapters have held retreats (Challenge Weekends) that have been attended by over 14,000 men and women.

The Brotherhood of the People of Praise is a private association of the Christian faithful with official status in the Catholic Church. While the People of Praise religious community has no official ties with any Christian church or denomination, a number of Catholic men who are members of this community have sought to regularize their status with the Catholic Church in order to be ordained Catholic priests. This group of men now has official status in the Catholic Church as a private association of the Christian faithful. "It has a membership of about 12 men, four of them now priests." Peter Leslie Smith, a member of the group, was named an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon by Pope Francis and was ordained a bishop on April 29, 2014.

Ralph Martin, the president of Renewal Ministries, who previously managed the 'association of covenant communities' alongside People of Praise leadership, stated in the National Catholic Register that People of Praise is "part of the papally approved mainstream of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which has been encouraged by every pope since Vatican II, none more strongly than Pope Francis." Adrian Reimers, a Catholic theological critic and pioneering member of People of Praise from 1971 until his dismissal from the group in 1985, has criticized teachings of People of Praise that he views as authoritarian and male gender centric and criticized its overall ecclesiastic structure, regretting its sense of primacy vis à vis the Church owing to the group's ecumenical nature and in turn its lack of direct oversight by professional Catholic clergy. Dr Reimers founded the organisation Free Again in Christ to help people leave the People of Praise and similar covenant community groups which Dr Reimers characterises as "particularly powerful means of psychological and social control". Some former members of People of Praise have described the group's culture as insular to the point that it felt intrusive and controlling, claims that the group's current members dispute. After the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, many articles from mainstream press referred to the People of Praise as a cult.

In October 2020, former member of the community, Sarah Kuehl, said she and others had been sexually abused when children during the 1970s by a community member who lived in her household. (Kuehl's family at the time belonged to Servants of the Lord, a covenant community that later merged with People of Praise.) Kuehl alleged that leaders in the People of Praise later attempted to "hide and cover up" what they knew about the abuse, as they kept her abuser in the People of Praise community.

In June 2021, the Washington Post interviewed nine members of a Facebook group who claimed to have been sexually abused at People of Praise community, and one person who claimed physical abuse.

In 2020, the coordinator of People of Praise, Craig Lent, said in an e mail that an expert investigation was being conducted into the allegations. Lent said, "We consider allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously and invite anyone with information about any acts of child sexual abuse to act consistent with our policies, which include immediately reporting to the appropriate authorities."

Amy Coney Barrett, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Peter Leslie Smith, a Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, has been a member since 1983. Christopher Dietzen, a former associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Joe Zakas, a former Indiana state legislator.