<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>On May 3, 2012, at 4:16 AM, R Williams wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Tahoma">To the point, what is the state of being of an organization, i.e. the Catholic Church, where people can't go to the bathroom without hierarchical permission? These guys are so afraid of losing control that they're rendering the church irrelevant, and losing control. Just one more sign, I fear, of institutional decay.</font></div></span></blockquote><br></div><div><br></div><div><b>There are interesting developments in the historical church:</b></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• new monasticism</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• emergent churches</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• co-located congregations</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• <i>independent Catholic churches</i></div><div><br></div><div><b>I know the most about the <i>Ecumenical Catholic Communion</i> (ECC)</b>, a 13-year old network organization of nearly 50 autonomous Catholic parishes around the U.S. Think: </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• Catholic, but not "Roman"</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• sacramental, eucharistic</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• married priests, ordained women</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• welcoming gays and lesbians</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• transparent, decentralized polity</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• apostolic succession with clergy-laity parity</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• acknowledging the Bishop of Rome, but not the Papacy</div><div><br></div><div><b>The ECC is wrestling with <i>movemental challenges</i></b> that will resonate with many of us:</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• a young, growing organization</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• local self-sufficiency and decisional autonomy</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• structural contradictions</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• the role of symbolic leaders</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• bureaucratic systems and participatory process</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• organizational capacity building</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• depth spirit formation</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• sharing common memory</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• rapid leadership development</div><div><br></div><div><b>The <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#ff2a1a">"bottom line"</font> —<i> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#103ffb">the need for an order colleague network </font></i><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#103ffb">to mentor the ECC</font></b></div><div>Are any of you intrigued with making yourselves available to this movement as mentors to individuals, ECC parishes, or projects. I'm exploring a "creative companioning" relationship with ECC colleagues and wish I had a few order colleagues with whom I could consult and collaborate.</div><div><br></div><div>Be in touch. Let's explore.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>David Dunn</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div apple-content-edited="true">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">David Dunn<br>740 S Alton Way 9B<br>Denver, CO 80247<br>--<br><a href="mailto:dmdunn1@gmail.com">dmdunn1@gmail.com</a><br>720-314-5991<br><br><br><br></div></span></span>
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