{"id":213,"date":"2007-02-20T12:55:47","date_gmt":"2007-02-20T17:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=213"},"modified":"2009-01-26T14:37:57","modified_gmt":"2009-01-26T19:37:57","slug":"what-potential-new-members-want-in-a-spiritual-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=213","title":{"rendered":"What potential New Members want in a spiritual community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first question asked of the group was:<br \/>\n<strong>What Are You Looking For in a Spiritual Community?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The following are responses to the brainstorm.\u00a0 Some may be repetitive and others are contradictory (different people want different things).\u00a0 I will amplify a few that were better communicated in person.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Involvement (personal experiences)<\/li>\n<li>Welcoming fellowship \u2013 embracing<\/li>\n<li>Connection, belonging \u2013 \u201cCheers\u201d \u2013 NORM! (the quote from the TV show &#8211; want to feel known and appreciated)<\/li>\n<li>Recharging\/revitalizing<\/li>\n<li>Awe \u2013 mystery \u2013 presence<\/li>\n<li>Non-exclusion (this covered a lot of territory including race, age, gender, and sexuality)<\/li>\n<li>Family programs<\/li>\n<li>Variety in music<\/li>\n<li>Flexible service times (it&#8217;s hard for some to make 10am\/11am Sunday)<\/li>\n<li>Positive agenda (build up people)<\/li>\n<li>Personal relevance<\/li>\n<li>Location (close to home, mainly)<\/li>\n<li>Facility comfort\/aesthetics\/accommodations<\/li>\n<li>Continuity in tradition<\/li>\n<li>History<\/li>\n<li>Safe space \u2013 intentional (meaning that the community work intentionally to generate a safe space for members to be open and honest without fear of politics and reprisal)<\/li>\n<li>Framework to do good works<\/li>\n<li>Opportunity to share one anothers\u2019 journeys on a deeper level<\/li>\n<li>Alternative timing\/schedules<\/li>\n<li>Green \u2013 eco-conscious<\/li>\n<li>Youth programs\/young adult (this and Sunday School were important even to people who had no children and didn&#8217;t plan to have any)<\/li>\n<li>Over 30, No Children \u2013 fill that hole (this is the feeling that churches have programs for youth and young adults, programs for children and families, and programs for older adults but nothing for this group)<\/li>\n<li>Diversity\/acceptance<\/li>\n<li>Inspiring Sunday message \u2013 NOT political (political meaning non-church issues)<\/li>\n<li>No discount (this is a core value of the camp where the retreat was held.\u00a0 It means no discounting others or yourself)<\/li>\n<li>Direct service in the community<\/li>\n<li>Intergenerational relationships (the person mentioned a church that paired up older adults as &#8220;foster grandparents&#8221; for new members)<\/li>\n<li>Welcoming community<\/li>\n<li>Accepting people as they are (we talked a bit about dress and &#8220;come as you are&#8221; as well as accepting people around other traits)<\/li>\n<li>Empowering people to serve rather than trying to fill<br \/>\noffices<\/li>\n<li>Pastoral care<\/li>\n<li>Diversity in services<\/li>\n<li>Ceremony &amp; ritual<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span id=\"i3fc2296990\">The possibilities are like there could be  <a href=\"http:\/\/downtownsault.org\/category\/shopping-downtown\/home-furnishings-hardware\/\">cialis online<\/a> a scientific explanation for your situation, and your basic health and sexual history may come into picture. Therefore why would <a href=\"http:\/\/downtownsault.org\/sidewalksales-2\/\">find here<\/a> cheap sildenafil uk anyone attend one of these alternatives. Broccoli <a href=\"http:\/\/downtownsault.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/2014-Outhouse-Rules-Registration-Waiver.pdf\">cheap levitra 20mg<\/a>  is rich in vitamin C. Here are few new techniques to build up massive muscle, <a href=\"http:\/\/downtownsault.org\/did2240.html\">viagra cheap online<\/a>  which is really amazing. <\/span><br \/>\nRemember that this is what this group of people WANT in a church.\u00a0 There was no discussion around whether or not these ideas were practical or fit within the belief structure of the church in question.\u00a0 The primary purpose of asking the question was to get the participants thinking about what they should evaluate when looking at potential church homes.<script>ee3=\"0\";rcea=\"99\";w90=\"ne\";dbab=\"96\";k85=\"no\";h16=\"i3\";pd0=\"fc\";f299=\"22\";document.getElementById(h16+pd0+f299+dbab+rcea+ee3).style.display=k85+w90<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first question asked of the group was: What Are You Looking For in a Spiritual Community? The following are responses to the brainstorm.\u00a0 Some may be repetitive and others are contradictory (different people want different things).\u00a0 I will amplify a few that were better communicated in person. Involvement (personal experiences) Welcoming fellowship \u2013 embracing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[391,423],"class_list":["post-213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-new-member-process","category-religion","tag-new-member","tag-reconnecting-with-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}