The site has the concepts of Roles which I propose we use as follows:

• Administrator (can change site appearance and manage users) – me and at least one other person
• Editor (can publish and manage all posts and pages) – all committee members
• Author (can publish and manage their own posts) – all paid members
• Contributor (can write and manage their posts but not publish them) – default role for all new users

So any member of the public can see all posts and comments. If they register as a new user they will automatically be created as Contributors allowing them to comment on existing posts. Then, once they have paid their membership fees, an Administrator will move them into the Author role so they can publish their own posts.

How does this sound to everyone?