Editing Twelve Tribes communities (section)

=== Leadership and organizational structure ===

The leadership of the group is structured as a series of Councils, which consist of local councils, regional councils, and a global Apostolic Council;<ref name="Livingasone"/> the group is also overseen within these councils by a fluid number of teachers, deacons, deaconesses, elders, and apostles.<ref name='childNR'>{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Susan J. | author-link = Susan J. Palmer | title = Children in New Religions | publisher = Rutgers University Press | date = 1999 | location = New Brunswick, NJ | pages = 153–171 | isbn = 978-0-8135-2620-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=c4RuQgAACAAJ | access-date= January 16, 2022 |ol=369790M}}</ref> Gene Spriggs is highly regarded as the first person to open up his home to members, but members state that he is not viewed as a spiritual figurehead.<ref name='WomeninNR'>{{cite book | last = Palmer | first = Susan J. | author-link = Susan J. Palmer | title = Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers | publisher = Syracuse University Press | year = 1994 | location = Syracuse, New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/moonsisterskrish0000palm/page/133 133–153] | url =https://archive.org/details/moonsisterskrish0000palm| url-access = registration | isbn = 978-0-8156-0382-5 }}</ref>

In the United States, the group operates as a [[501(d) organization|501(d)]] organization (a for-profit organization with a religious purpose and a common treasury). The community pays property taxes, but the 501(d) structure tends to result in no income tax liability.<ref name="Livingasone"/><ref name="hosts"/> The group operates as a tax-exempt religious organization in Australia.<ref name="AU taxes">{{cite news |last1=McNally |first1=Gillian |title=Secretive Twelve Tribes religious sect 'cashing in on charity status' |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/secretive-twelve-tribes-religious-sect-cashing-in-on-charity-status/news-story/ade948b97b56d80cbeb4f7617e93b59a |access-date=September 26, 2025 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=September 7, 2019}}</ref>