Legal Standing & Spiritual Character
Reference for affiliates, advisors, and partners. Not legal advice.
What Saba is
Saba Cooperative is an interfaith spiritual organization under 508(c)(1)(a), with auxiliary missions that affiliate while remaining independent.
The body’s work includes spiritual exploration, interfaith community, ecological stewardship, education and training, and infrastructure for self-governing communities and ministries.
Some affiliated offerings are contemplative or entheogenic — sacred practice, mystical study, or facilitated work with entheogenic substances where lawful, under each offering’s own standards. Others are practical: tech, land, mutual aid, solarpunk building. All sit inside one cooperative body without a single creed or central leader.
Federal tax law labels organizations like Saba religious organizations. We describe ourselves as an interfaith spiritual cooperative. Same body; different vocabulary for different contexts.
Structure
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 508(c)(1)(a) | Federal tax-exempt category for church-related organizations |
| Interfaith | Multiple spiritual paths; no unified creed required |
| Auxiliary missions | Affiliated ministries and projects aligned with the body’s purpose |
| Distributed congregational model | Each offering self-governs; Saba provides affiliation and shared visibility |
Affiliation
Affiliation provides: alignment with Saba’s interfaith spiritual ethic, optional network visibility, and a cooperative container for ministry and community work.
Affiliation does not provide: tax exemption for your offering, legal cover, ownership transfer, or immunity from local law.
Each ministry or mission handles its own compliance and finances. You may leave affiliation at any time.
If you receive compensation while using cooperative support, we ask for voluntary reciprocity when able. There are no dues to join.
Entheogenic & contemplative offerings
Entheogenic or deeply contemplative work belongs in independent affiliated offerings, not at the cooperative center. Those offerings carry their own legal duties, consent practices, and safety standards.
Saba does not dispense substances or run central facilitation. Affiliation is for ministries whose spiritual work fits the cooperative’s interfaith purpose.
Governance
- Ministries and missions affiliate as auxiliary offerings
- Each offering sets its own leadership, finances, and spiritual direction
- Sociocratic circles handle shared cooperative matters
- No single person holds veto over all affiliated work
Expectations
Non-aggression. No proselytizing. Respect for autonomy and ecological responsibility. Honesty about legal status and scope of practice.
For partnership or anchoring a ministry: Partner with Saba · Handbook
Updated July 2026.