It is natural for us to balk at the idea of a new association. It does sound atavistic, hierarchical, complex and possibly a pain in the butt. Yet without a consistent and sustainable way to work together and communicate about the emergence of inter-spirituality, its future will in doubt. A formal association will provide a reliable context to work through the many interdependent issues that will arise in the coming years.
Therefore, some of us are proposing the establishment of an association. Its precise name, mission, purpose, programs and governance would be created by the members. Kurt and I are proposing that this association be launched at the upcoming conference at Camp Brotherhood in late September and early October.
It might unfold in the following way:
(1) On day-one, a core group would be formed to work on it over the course of the next few days.
(2) On day-two, this group would present a draft mission, purpose, membership, etc., to a plenary session for comments.
(3) On the final day, the final draft would be presented to a plenary session to vote on the establishment of the association.
(4) The first members would be those at the conference who are interested in joining.
(5) This Interspiritual blog could evolve into the the communications organ of the association.
(6) The final bylaws, etc., of the association would be worked out by a committee of the association over the course of months, then formalized by a vote of those who have agreed to be founding members.
Please comment on this idea!
I think this would be a logical next step so that we continue to bring coherence to what is forming up. As I note in my new post here today there are many queries arising about the future of an interspiritual movement and interspiritual/interfaith education from many groups new to us around the world. It is important that those of us already associated can serve has a hub for emerging “organization” [organ-ization], holonic of course!
I agree with Kurt that the movement seems to be moving towards some sort of “association” to come into form, one that functions in a synergistic way and allows, encourages and supports the small unique initiatives everyone is a part of.
One vision for the association would be for it to organize one large “colloquium” each year which would bring together all the interested parties and allow them to present to each other, form synergistic collaborations, and help congeal some natural ‘working groups’ throughout the year. It could be the association’s purview to help support some of these individual initiatives, perhaps by helping to organize some smaller dialogues throughout the year, maintaining “virtual space” to keep people connected, and envisioning natural alliances and helping to make connections across groups.