The Assemblage of Areté is the official organization of Aretéanism
Non-Profit
The Assemblage of Areté is a religious non-profit corporation, similar to a church denomination, founded in California on February 23rd, 2016 CE / 12,016 HE; by Nicholas S. Colin Campbell, who is usually known just as Colin Campbell. The first services of The Assemblage of Areté were held by the San Diego Village, in La Mesa, California, on March 20th, 12,016.
Lay-Clergy
The Assemblage of Areté is run by a lay-clergy, which means that instead of having professional pastors trained in seminaries, all of our religious leaders are members of the "laity", or regular members of the general body; called upon by other Assemblage leaders to volunteer their time to serve their communities. No baskets are passed around during a service to guilt attendees into donating; any donations made to support the Assemblage's operation are made completely voluntarily and can be made privately.
Structure
The Assemblage of Areté is organized in a hierarchical fashion, which provides a clear line of authority and personal responsibility for actions taken at any level of the Assemblage.
The fundamental unit of the Assemblage is the village. Our congregations are specifically meant to include those geographically near to us because humans are physical beings, despite living in a digital age. Spending time with our neighbors helps us build stronger communities and to be present in the world literally around us.
Each village is led by a "narrator", who narrates the flow of our convocations. Narrators also direct the general business of the village they are responsible for. Because The Assemblage of Areté is still so new, there is only one village currently: the San Diego Village, which is currently led by the founder of Aretéanism and The Assemblage of Areté, Narrator Colin Campbell; as well as his counselor in the narratorship, Al Smith.
As the Assemblage grows, there are multiple layers of authority designed to help manage regional affairs for the Assemblage, but the highest authority of The Assemblage of Areté is the "Supreme Mugwump". While the term mugwump comes from Algonquin for "great chief", its modern usage is considered somewhat comical for English speakers due to its sound. We take advantage of both meanings- while the position deserves some respect as the chief executive for The Assemblage of Areté in both administrative and religious matters, mindless obedience to the Supreme Mugwump is laughable. The current Supreme Mugwump is also Colin Campbell; but it is important to note that the Mugwumpship is not intended to be a life-long calling. One day when The Assemblage of Areté has grown larger and more stable, this leadership position will be passed to a new Supreme Mugwump through a council of other mugwumps, called the Quorum of Mugwumps. Currently Colin Campbell is the only Mugwump, though Bryon Pavlacka has also been a member on two separate occasions in the past, and more Mugwumps are sure to follow.
Leadership positions in The Assemblage of Areté are not permanent, and most leadership positions are designed to be held for only a few years before being passed to other qualified members of the Assemblage; though some exceptions are likely to happen during the formative years of the Assemblage.