I assume the Jehovah's Witnesses church has structure and organization for its membership. Who are the leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and what is their role? From whom do members receive guidance and counsel?

Complementarians believe that men and women are equal but have different yet complementary roles assigned by God. What do complementarian church leaders in history believe are the differing roles of men and women in the church?

I'm watching the semi-annual LDS General Conference. One segment just went by that was some general business of voting to retain people in various roles or assign new ones. Several thousand people are present and voting. The camera work going into the live broadcast was hard to see, but it looked like the entire audience voted on every issue instantly and unanimously. Having watched and participated in many similar events both secular and in various Christian traditions, this seems inconsistent with what inevitably crops up: human nature seems to dictate that given enough people, there is always some sub-set of nay-sayers. What do these votes represent? Have these issues been vetted some other way first? What procedure would be followed in the event of some opposition votes? Is it an issue of needing a majority? What personal experiences would somebody expect if they were to vote against an issue like retaining a prophet or one of the other major leadership roles in the LDS church?

Coming from a denomination that doesn't subscribe to one earthly central Church authority, or a rigid structure, I find it very interesting to learn about denominations that do have such a structure. While browsing through the "Gospel Topics" section on the LDS website, I ran across the article on Tithing, which says this: > Church members give their tithing donations to local leaders. These > local leaders transmit tithing funds directly to the headquarters of > the Church, where a council determines specific ways to use the sacred > funds. This council is comprised of the First Presidency, the Quorum > of the Twelve Apostles, and the Presiding Bishopric. Acting according > to revelation, they make decisions as they are directed by the Lord. > (See D&C 120:1.) That's a very clear, understandable high-level explanation of the process including who makes the decisions. Before getting to the question, here's a high-level explanation of my Church's process and who makes the decisions. In my own Church (A Baptist one) it's handled in a more straightforward democratic fashion. Once per year, the Pastor puts together a budget of *anticipated* expenses (by category - Pastoral care, Sunday School Supplies, etc.) and *anticipated* income (based on last year's Tithes, growth trends, etc.), and presents it to the Church. The Church (meaning the voting (age 18+) members of the local Church) discuss and vote on the budgets. Usually we accept the Pastor's budget, but we may discuss and adjust certain line-items. Then, throughout the year, as needs arise, they are met if they fall within the budget. The Pastor has some leeway on certain items. For example, we have a line item for "Needs of others", and the Pastor can dole that out to individuals in need at his discretion. One last thing before the actual question, I really am interested in how this is handled in other denominations, but I don't want to turn this into a "list" question. And I don't want to re-post the same question over and over naming different denominations in each. So I'm going to focus on one Church with a central authority and a well-defined structure that interests me, and ask about them. --- Without further ado: In the Catholic Church, can someone provide an overview of who makes the broad financial decisions, and what is the process?