[Oe List ...] THE DECLARATION OF THE SPIRIT MOVEMENT

Mon Oct 3 08:28:18 PDT 2016

When I came to intern in the autumn of 1967, The Institute of Cultural Affairs was already a division of The Ecumenical Institute.  The Fifth City project came under that heading.
Karen, you raise, though, an interesting point.  We studied a book back in the day called Invisible Religion, by Thomas Luckmann.  He went to great lengths to describe how the phenomenon of "religion" was a part of every society, a sociological reality.  We encapsulated this strain of thinking later in the social process triangles where the process of "Common Symbols" (top pole of the Cultural Commonality triangle) was delineated as "Corporate Language", "Social Art" and "Common Religion" (which included the processes of "Unifying Icons", "Common Rites", and "Inclusive Myths".  The insight here is that one of the realities that comes into play when we humans get together is we start creating "religion"
ON THE OTHER HAND, IN OUR WORLD, we have a number of long-standing historical communities/movements also called "religions" -- Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. 
It seems hard, even today, to know clearly which reality is being pointed to with the term.
 Jim Wiegel  
“If you want an adventure . . . what a time to be alive!”. Joanna Macy
401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353623-363-3277jfwiegel at yahoo.comwww.partnersinparticipation.com
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      From: Karenbueno <karenbueno at aol.com>
 To: kenfisher1942 at gmail.com; oe at lists.wedgeblade.net; jfwiegel at yahoo.com 
 Sent: Monday, October 3, 2016 7:25 AM
 Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] THE DECLARATION OF THE SPIRIT MOVEMENT

My memory holds that when we decided to work in India, and India did not want any more "Christian missionaries",  the call to have a secular name and a secular task was too loud not to answer.  I remember Joe Mathews talking about an "end run around the church".
Karen Bueno

-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Fisher via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: Jim & Judy Wiegel <jfwiegel at yahoo.com>; Order Ecumenical Community <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Mon, Oct 3, 2016 7:30 am
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] THE DECLARATION OF THE SPIRIT MOVEMENT

Jim,
Very good answer. I recall the extraordinary excitement of seeing Town Meetings and Community Forums be transformational.
Ken

On Oct 2, 2016, at 11:40 PM, James Wiegel via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Well, that is a good and interesting question, Zoe.  And probably many people might have answers . . 
Here are a couple possible ones that come to my mind.
The Fifth City Project and, later human development projects and town meetings had a lot more visceral excitement for us than the slow work of congregational renewal.  This might have been more particularly true for us younger, non clergy folks who came right after you all . . .
The Local Church Experiment with Galaxies and all did not produce exciting enough results to be sustained, and we never got sufficiently strong and widespread support from the denominational heirarchies to keep it going.  It may well also have been the case that the "risks" that the Galaxy leadership and clergy families in the order and movement sort of derailed their career prospects in Ecclesiastical circles.
God chose fundamentalism and the charismatic approach over existential theology.  I was struck, travelling cross country several years ago, on 2 lane highways, that it seems as though only the conservative churches have had heart and passion to root themselves in many local places.  Music and broadcast christianity as well.
With our focus on "globality", staying within the framework of Historical Christianity became increasingly relative as we engaged in countries not dominantly Christian
In looking at old documents, like the Declaration of the Spirit Movement,  I can see one could say that the primary concern was to address the "cultural revolution of the 20th century", ("renewal of the church FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD") Even the contextual documents on the local church describe it as an anthropological phenomenon and not a Christian reality 
>From a practical (and economic) perspective, at some point, participation in RS-1 peaked and we needed something else to keep the "movement" moving.  While we talked of ourselves as an "Order" -- Religious Order, Historical Order, Global Order,  seems we depended a lot on keeping momentum going.  Sustainability and slowness were less important than Expenditure and transformation.
What is your take on it?Jim Wiegel  
“If you want an adventure . . . what a time to be alive!”. Joanna Macy
401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353623-363-3277jfwiegel at yahoo.comwww.partnersinparticipation.com
Upcoming ToP training opportunities in Arizona
More info on:
ToP® Facilitation Methods ToP® Strategic Planning: Mastering the Technology of Participation  
Register on line / see the ToP National ScheduleAICP Planners: 14.5 CM for all ToP® courses
The AZ ToP® Community of Practice meets the 1st Friday, of every month, 1-4 pm, at ACYR, 648 N. 5th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003

      From: zbarley <zbarley at earthlink.net>
 To: James Wiegel <jfwiegel at yahoo.com>; Order Ecumenical Community <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> 
 Sent: Sunday, October 2, 2016 4:35 PM
 Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] THE DECLARATION OF THE SPIRIT MOVEMENT

 Jim
Why did the Order abandon the church?
Spong's latest sure calls for what began lo these many years ago.
Zoe 

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

-------- Original message --------
From: James Wiegel via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> 
Date: 2016/10/02 5:14 PM (GMT-07:00) 
To: Frank Knutson <f.knutson at earthlink.net>, Order Ecumenical ICA-USA <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>, Order Ecumenical Community <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> 
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] THE DECLARATION OF THE SPIRIT MOVEMENT 

like what is an example, Frank? Jim Wiegel  
“If you want an adventure . . . what a time to be alive!”. Joanna Macy
401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353623-363-3277jfwiegel at yahoo.comwww.partnersinparticipation.com
Upcoming ToP training opportunities in Arizona
More info on:
ToP® Facilitation Methods ToP® Strategic Planning: Mastering the Technology of Participation  
Register on line / see the ToP National ScheduleAICP Planners: 14.5 CM for all ToP® courses
The AZ ToP® Community of Practice meets the 1st Friday, of every month, 1-4 pm, at ACYR, 648 N. 5th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003

      From: Frank Knutson via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
 To: Order Ecumenical ICA-USA <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> 
 Sent: Saturday, October 1, 2016 4:06 PM
 Subject: [Oe List ...] THE DECLARATION OF THE SPIRIT MOVEMENT

Searching through old documents I found THE DECLARATION OF THE SPIRIT MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN CENTURY TWENTY.   I am amazed, at over 50 years ago, how on target it is today.  It provides a lot for today’s discussions.

"We can't solve our problems with the same level of thinking (or consciousness) that created them." 
       ~Albert Einstein

❤ Frank       

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