Strugr

 Actually, Ruben and Heidi are the only known people on the face of the earth to claim adherence to *The 1629 Charter Of Massachusetts Bay. *This being since the Charter was revoked in 1684. This is due to the fact that the colony consistently violated the terms of the charter and repeatedly evaded or ignored royal orders by operating an illegal mint, establishing religious rather than property  Anglicans.

 But, in actuality Ruben and Heidi are making a false claim of adherence due to lack of members. In order to properly adhere they will need 18 more Africans in order to properly adhere to the 18 Assistants*/[1]/* whose office must be held in order to comply to the charter. This is presupposing that Ruben and Heidi each hold the offices of Governor and Deputy Governor respectively. With that said, Ruben and Heidi are going to need more than one  person in order to properly adhere to the 1629 Charter.

 *Also note that the charter is not valid unless it is adhered to in the original Old Puritan English. If you "correct" the spelling  of the document it will lose its divine inspiration and thereby the sacraments of all adhering congregations will loose their  efficacy. *

 */[1]/* *excerpt from the charter,*  And our Will and Pleasure is, and Wee doe hereby for Us, our  Heires and Successors, ordeyne and graunte, That _*/from  henceforth for ever, there shalbe/*_ *one Governor, one Deputy Governor, and eighteene Assistants *of the same Company, to be from tyme to tyme constituted, elected and chosen out of the Freemen of the saide Company, for the twyme being, in such Manner and Forme as hereafter in theis Presents is expressed, which said Officers shall applie themselves to take Care for the best disposeing and ordering of the generall buysines and Affaires of, for, and concerning the said Landes and Premisses hereb  mentioned, to be graunted, and the Plantation thereof, and the Government of the People there.

 *Furthermore the Charter nullifies itself because of the statement  "from henceforth and for ever..." Since there has not been one  Governor one assistant Governor and eighteen assistants the  charter is by its own definition invalid, that is unless you can find each gov, asst gov, and 18 assistants from the revoking of  the charter in 1684 until the present day. This is in order to preserve the truth of said statement. *

** So the current hunt is on for not only 18 current assistants, but also the lineage of assistants gov and asst govs in the past in order to not nullify the charter.

Holly Dean Writes in response:

Yes, it would appear that Heidi and Ruben are in over their heads this time.  Perhaps they'd be more comfortable organizing their little congregation under the rules of a Wendy's franchise agreement--as long as they wouldn't be offended calling their ruling elder a "manager" and having a pretty unvarying pot-luck menu.  I'm sure they could find a dishwashing sink large enough to be used for a baptistry (though I'm not sure OSHA would approve of baptism by immersion) or even a shower in an emergency.  And drive-through services wouldn't even be out of the question.  I believe they could operate this "church" with a minimum crew of 6, which makes its organization a whole lot more likely than if they held out for the eighteen descended from the ancients needed for the Massachusetts Charter.  Plus, any South African member of the church would help them fly under the EEOC radar.  Excommunication would have to follow a strict procedure of  "3 warnings--1 verbal and 2 written."  This would keep the "manager" from getting power-hungry and provide the check and balance a local church without a denomination would need.

Coming tomorrow (or sometime soon)....   "The Mengdom Kingdom Charter," a document nobody in their right minds would sign, and only an insane person could compose.....