The regulation on reporting and document flow of the Church of Unity

Working translation. Synchronized with the Russian corpus as of 2026-10-25. Canonical formulas are binding only in the Russian original; publication — after human review.

Chapter I. General provisions

Article 1. The goals and tasks

1.1. This Regulation defines the order of keeping document flow and reporting in the Church of Unity.

1.2. Document flow and reporting are built on the principles:

• of honesty and transparency;
• of responsibility for the reliability of information;
• of the accessibility of information to members of the community;
• of systematicity and order;
• of keeping the Dunbar barrier (about 150 people) for effective management.

1.3. This Regulation is based on the Canon (Chapter 8. On Society) and the Covenant (Chapter 11. On material resources).

Chapter II. The kinds of documents

Article 2. The classification of documents

2.1. The documents of the Church of Unity are divided into:

• organizational-legal;
• personnel;
• financial;
• protocol;
• informational-reference;
• archival.

2.2. Each kind of document has its own rules of drafting, keeping and use.

Article 3. Organizational-legal documents

3.1. Organizational-legal documents define the structure, goals and rules of the Church's activity:

• the charter of the church;
• Regulations on structural subdivisions;
• Regulations;
• Instructions;
• Other documents regulating the Church's activity.

3.2. Organizational-legal documents are approved by the core of the community or the Council of Representatives.

3.3. Changes to organizational-legal documents are made by the core of the community by a majority of two thirds of the votes.

Article 4. Personnel documents

4.1. Personnel documents regulate the relations with members of the community and hired workers:

• the registry of members of the community;
• the registry of ministers;
• labor contracts;
• agreements with ministers;
• orders of appointment and recall;
• other personnel documents.

4.2. Personnel documents are kept by the Scribe.

4.3. Personnel documents are kept for the established term.

Article 5. Financial documents

5.1. Financial documents reflect the movement of monetary funds and property:

• the accounting records of income and expenses;
• financial reporting;
• the budget;
• the registry of property;
• other financial documents.

5.2. Financial documents are kept by the Scribe.

5.3. Financial documents are kept no less than 5 years.

Article 6. Protocol documents

6.1. Protocol documents record decisions and discussions:

• the protocols of gatherings of the community;
• the protocols of sittings of the core of the community;
• the protocols of sittings of the Council of Representatives;
• other protocol documents.

6.2. The protocols of gatherings are kept by the Scribe; if the Scribe himself holds the gathering, the protocol is kept by a member of the core appointed by the community.

6.3. The protocols must contain:

• the date and place of holding;
• the list of participants;
• the agenda;
• the brief content of discussions;
• the decisions made;
• the results of the vote.

6.4. The protocols are approved by the core of the community.

Article 7. Informational-reference documents

7.1. Informational-reference documents contain information about the Church's activity:

• reports on activity;
• informational letters;
• announcements;
• other informational-reference documents.

7.2. Informational-reference documents may be:

• internal (for members of the community);
• external (for the wide public).

7.3. Informational-reference documents must be clear, understandable and reliable.

Chapter III. The order of document flow

Article 8. The creation of documents

8.1. Documents are created as needed for performing the tasks of the Church.

8.2. A document must contain:

• the name of the document;
• the date of creation;
• the author of the document;
• the content of the document;
• the signature (if required).

8.3. Documents are created in Russian or in the language accepted in the community.

Article 9. The coordination of documents

9.1. Documents requiring coordination must be:

• considered by the responsible persons;
• discussed at the gathering (if required);
• approved by the core of the community.

9.2. The order of coordination is determined by the kind of document.

9.3. Coordinated documents are signed by the responsible persons.

Article 10. The registration of documents

10.1. All documents of the Church are subject to registration.

10.2. The registration includes:

• the assignment of a registration number;
• the entry in the registration journal;
• the indication of the date of registration;
• the indication of the author of the document.

10.3. The registration is kept by the Scribe.

10.4. The registration journals are kept for the established term.

Article 11. The keeping of documents

11.1. Documents are kept in paper and electronic form.

11.2. Paper documents are kept in a safe place protected from damage and unauthorized access.

11.3. Electronic documents are kept on protected carriers with backup copying.

11.4. The terms of keeping documents:

• organizational-legal — permanently;
• personnel — 50 years;
• financial — 5 years;
• protocol — permanently;
• informational-reference — 3 years.

11.5. After the term of keeping expires the documents are destroyed with the observance of the requirements of confidentiality.

Chapter IV. Reporting

Article 12. The kinds of reporting

12.1. The Church's reporting is divided into:

• internal (for members of the community);
• external (for state organs and the wide public).

12.2. The internal reporting includes:

• financial reporting;
• the report on activity;
• the report on the carrying out of decisions;
• other reports required by the core of the community.

12.3. The external reporting includes:

• reports to state organs (if required by legislation);
• public reports on activity;
• other reports required by external sides.

Article 13. Financial reporting

13.1. Financial reporting includes:

• the report of income and expenses;
• the report of the movement of monetary funds;
• the balance of assets and obligations;
• an explanatory note on the essential operations.

13.2. Financial reporting is provided:

• to the core of the community — monthly;
• to the Council of Representatives — quarterly;
• to state organs — by the requirement of legislation.

13.3. Financial reporting must be understandable and accessible to all members of the core of the community.

Article 14. The report on activity

14.1. The report on activity includes:

• the description of the events held;
• the statistics on participants;
• the results achieved;
• the plans for the next period.

14.2. The report on activity is provided:

• to the core of the community — monthly;
• to the Council of Representatives — quarterly;
• to the wide public — annually.

14.3. The report on activity must be honest and transparent.

Article 15. The transparency of reporting

15.1. The internal reporting is accessible for familiarization to all members of the core of the community.

15.2. Any member of the core of the community has the right to ask questions on the reporting.

15.3. The external reporting is published on the official site of the Church (if there is one) or by another accessible way.

15.4. The reporting must not contain confidential information about members of the community without their consent.

Chapter V. Control and responsibility

Article 16. The control over document flow

16.1. The control over document flow is exercised by the Scribe.

16.2. The core of the community appoints an audit commission for the checking of document flow.

16.3. The audit commission conducts a check no less than once a year.

16.4. The results of the check are provided to the core of the community.

Article 17. Responsibility for violating the Regulation

17.1. The violation of the provisions of this Regulation entails responsibility according to the Disciplinary code.

17.2. Violations of document flow include:

• the untimely creation or registration of documents;
• the falsification of documents;
• the loss of documents;
• the violation of the rules of keeping documents;
• the violation of the terms of providing reporting.

17.3. The severity of the sanctions depends on the scale of the violation and its consequences.

Chapter V-a. The registry of the word

What this is

The registry of the word — a public accounting of the promises of members of the community and the chronicle of the community's word: every main word has an entry. The acceptance of the Covenant, the union (marriage), the pause, the transformation and the laying down of the union (divorce), the exit from the community, the restoration — they all live by one grammar: the word is taken aloud before the circle, lives in the Registry, ends aloud before the circle. The entry by the orders is kept in the scope of the chapter of rites; the general rules — here. The ground — the tenth commandment: "Keep your word." A word given to people or to oneself receives an entry and an outcome.

How it works

1. A promise is written into the registry: who, what, by what term. The form is simple: one line.
2. The one who promised closes the entry himself: the note "done" and one sentence — how exactly.
3. The unfulfilled by the term does not disappear silently: the one who promised either moves the term with an explanation or closes the entry with the admission "did not keep." The entry remains: the registry is not a court, the registry is memory.

The principles

• The entry of official words — is obligatory by the order: the Covenant, the union, the pause, the exit, the restoration live by the grammar "aloud — Registry — aloud" (the entry is kept in the scope of the chapter of rites). Other promises are written voluntarily: a word given before the community is accepted to be written — the community heard it.
• The registry is public for the community. There are no secret entries: a secret word — is not a word.
• The registry is not used for reproach: by the entries no one is shamed. "We do not shame. We heal."
• No one is obliged to explain why he did not write some word of his: the registry — an instrument of honesty, not a trap.

Why this works

A person who knows his word will become an entry gives his word more rarely, and keeps it — more often. A community that sees what is fulfilled trusts more than any declarations. A screenshot of the registry says about the community more than a page of sermon.

Chapter V-b. The annual report

What this is

Once a year the community publishes an open report: what was done, whom they helped, what did not make it. The annual report — not an accounting document but a promise of transparency fulfilled in deed.

The composition of the report

1. Deeds. What the community did in the year: help, knowledge, creation — in simple numbers and words.
2. Wounds. What did not come out, whom they did not manage to help, who left offended. The unhealed is named the unhealed — by the same measure of honesty as at the send-offs.
3. Money. How much was collected, spent on what, decided by whom. Every sum — checkable.
4. The registry of the word of the community. How many words written, how many fulfilled, how many admitted unkept.
5. The plan of the year. What the community intends to do in the next year.

The principles

• The report is signed by those who answer for the deeds: names, not "the administration."
• The report is open to all, not only to members: it lies in open access.
• The report does not contain others' secrets: personal stories enter only with the teller's consent.
• The report does not embellish: "we healed less than we wanted" — a normal line of the report.

Chapter V-c. Personal diaries

Personal records of practice (the diaries of thoughts and deeds) — the property of the writer. The community does not collect, does not keep and does not require diaries: surveillance is forbidden as a claim to omniscience.

The records are disclosed only by the writer's wish: to show a passage to the table, to read at the Evening of Unity, to give to the Speaker for the word about the life — all these are the author's decisions, and any of them can be cancelled.

A request to show the diary gives no one the right to pressure: "no" is accepted without explanations.

Chapter VI. Final provisions

Article 18. The order of changing the Regulation

18.1. Changes to this Regulation are made by the core of the community by a majority of two thirds of the votes.

18.2. Proposals of changes may be made by any members of the core of the community.

18.3. The changes must not contradict the Canon and the Covenant.

Article 19. Coming into force

19.1. This Regulation comes into force from the moment of its approval by the core of the community.

19.2. All previous documents regulating document flow and reporting in the Church lose force.

Conclusion

This Regulation on reporting and document flow of the Church of Unity is based on the principles of honesty, transparency and responsibility. It ensures the systematic keeping of documentation and reporting, which helps effective management and the carrying out of the Church's mission — the road to the One through creation and ministry.