A Sabbath-keeping assembly
Peaceful Ministries is a small assembly built on the Statement of Faith, the Code of Doctrine and Discipline, and the plain conviction that a house of God should never hide behind vague language about money or belief.
"And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." (Mark 2:27, KJV)
The work of the Assembly
Everything the Assembly does flows from one purpose: to honor JESUS CHRIST in truth and conduct, and to serve people rather than use them.
Every seventh day the Assembly meets for the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the preaching of the word, prayer, the breaking of bread, and the collection for the saints.
A 52-week Sabbath teaching calendar walks the Assembly through the Scriptures in order, week by week, with written manuscripts kept for every message so the teaching can be examined by anyone.
The widow, the fatherless, the poor, and the stranger are the Assembly's charge. Benevolence relieves genuine need: rent kept current, lights kept on, food on the table.
The Assembly is a place for second chances: honest work, honest worship, and a community that receives people where they are and walks with them from there.
Ordination here is a recognition by the Church of a calling already given by GOD. It is granted only after examination, and it is never bought and never sold.
Every dollar in and every dollar out is recorded, reported to the membership annually, and handled under written financial controls. Stewardship is part of the ministry, not an afterthought.
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27, KJV)
The manner of the work
Sabbath-keeping and every other practice here is by persuasion and instruction. No member is interrogated about private observance, and no one is turned away because their work will not release them on the seventh day.
Every offering is counted by two unrelated persons, neither of them the Pastor, and both sign the count. Larger disbursements require two signatures. No cash goes home with anyone.
Help goes to the landlord, the utility, or the vendor whenever possible rather than cash in hand, decided by a committee and never by one person alone, with the file kept confidential.
A board of at least three directors carries the corporate authority, and a majority of it must always be persons who are not compensated and not family. The founder does not set his own pay and cannot vote on it.
Disputes and discipline follow the order of Matthew eighteen: private reproof first, witnesses second, the Assembly last, and restoration as the goal. Any credible report of harm to a child goes to the civil authority immediately, before any internal step.
Every donor receives a written acknowledgment that meets the substantiation rules of the tax code, and any gift given for a stated purpose is used for that purpose or returned.
What we believe
The Assembly holds to a historic, Nicene-shaped Christian faith. What follows is a summary of the thirteen articles that govern our teaching; the full text is kept in our governing documents.
One God, everlasting, in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, of one substance, power, and eternity.
We receive the Holy Scriptures as the word of God, read in the Authorized (King James) Version, together with the Apocrypha as bound in 1611 and the wider canon preserved by the Church in Ethiopia. The Law, Prophets, Gospels, and Apostles govern; no doctrine of salvation rests on the wider canon alone.
Man was made upright and fell; we are accounted righteous only through the merit of Jesus Christ by faith, a faith that is never alone but works by love.
The whole company of the faithful in every place and age; a local assembly gathers under the word, the sacraments, and lawful oversight for worship, teaching, discipline, and works of mercy.
Baptism upon profession of faith, and the Lord's Supper received in remembrance of His death until He comes.
A recognition by the Church of a calling already given by God, never bought, never sold, never granted without examination.
Holiness in body and spirit, honesty in business, care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, and peaceableness so far as it lies in us.
Ordained of God and owed honor and truthful dealing; where the command of men and the command of God cannot both be kept, we obey God and bear the consequence without violence or deceit.
The resurrection of the dead, the return of Christ in glory, the judgment of the living and the dead, and the life everlasting.
The gathering pattern
The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God, blessed, sanctified, and given for man, not one nation only. We gather on it gladly, not as a burden.
Sabbath is entered at sundown and released at sundown. The Assembly gathers every seventh day, Saturday, for the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the preaching of the word, prayer, the breaking of bread, the collection for the saints, and the care of widows and the fatherless.
Sabbath-keeping here is by teaching and persuasion, not by policing. No member is interrogated about private observance, and anyone whose work cannot release them on the seventh day is received without reproach and taught to keep the day as their circumstances allow.
Works of mercy and works of necessity are lawful: the healing of the sick, the feeding of the hungry, the lifting of the ox from the ditch. The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.
We follow the ancient practice of the Church in Ethiopia, which never let go of the seventh day, and we do not despise or condemn any brother who assembles on the first day instead.
A public gathering location, service times, and contact details will be published here once finalized.
Where we stand, in plain language
Peaceful Ministries proceeds as a church under 26 U.S.C. §508(c)(1)(A), the mandatory exception that excuses a church from the notice requirement of §508(a), without changing what the law itself already grants under §501(c)(3) and §501(a). We would rather explain this plainly than let anyone guess at it.
A church described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and exempt from federal income tax under section 501(a).
Excepted from the notice requirement of section 508(a) by section 508(c)(1)(A). Contributions to us are deductible under section 170.
Not required to file an annual information return, by reason of section 6033(a)(3)(A)(i). Any inquiry by the IRS into our church status is governed by the procedures of section 7611.
"508(c)(1)(a) tax exempt." Section 508 grants no exemption to anybody; section 501(a) is the exemption; section 508(c)(1)(A) only excuses the notice.
Claiming the IRS has approved, recognized, or determined our status. Nothing has been submitted, so nothing has been determined, and we cannot furnish a determination letter.
Promising that every gift is guaranteed deductible, or that we are immune from tax or audit. Payroll tax, self-employment tax on ministers, and other taxes still reach us where the law says they do.
This reading has not yet been confirmed in writing by a church-tax attorney. We are treating that confirmation as still outstanding.
Support the work
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Missouri law exempts religious organizations from charitable solicitation registration, so nothing is owed to the state before we may receive a gift. What remains is our own doing: the Assembly's incorporation, its own bank account, and its own giving processor, so that every dollar lands in the Assembly's name from the first gift. The buttons below go live the day those accounts do.
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7, KJV)