[Springboard] Welcome From Jack Gilles

[Jack Gilles]

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the Springboard Listserv.  Your name is part of the  
original recipients because you either participated in one of the  
Springboard gatherings or expressed an interest in the work.   Of  
course you can delete your name from the list if you don't care to be  
part of the dialogue and discussions regarding the future work of the  
Order.  This listserv is not for everyone.  We are about giving form  
and substance to the task of "caring for Those Who Care (TWC)."  This  
is the term that we used 30 years ago to describe what would be the  
task of the Order Ecumenical once it was no longer focusing on  
Profound Awakenment (Town Meeting) and Social Demonstration.  We did  
not know at the time (1977) what that third campaign would look like  
nor did we anticipate the fact that the Order Ecumenical would be  
dissolved and its members scattered into a diaspora.  Now thirty  
years later we find ourselves called to look again at what that task  
might be.  But this is not a reconstituting of the Order Ecumenical.   
This Order has yet to be named and has no structure, polity or  
membership.  All of these can come if and when necessary.  It is  
however a covenanted body, committed to work together and supporting  
one another in this common task. (See the covenant at the Abbey North  
report at the web page noted below.)

We will have many people joining this listserv who have had little or  
no contact with OE, ICA or EI, but who see themselves as part of this  
covenanted body and wanting to be part of this work.  That is why we  
aren't using the old OE listeserv for this new work.  I will be  
announcing this listerv on the ICADialogue and OE listerv with an  
invitation to participate.  Gordon Harper will be posting a list of  
those who received the original invitation, but if you know of  
someone who needs or wants to be part of our common mission then  
please send the name and email address to Gordon Harper.  I intend to  
extend the invitation to at least 15 new colleagues here in India.

We will be announcing shortly the third Springboard gathering for the  
weekend of November 30th, December 1-2 at Lake Junaluska near  
Asheville NC.  Marshall Jones has explored this for us and I will be  
sending out his email as a separate notice.

Immediately before us will be to begin the dialogue on this meeting,  
it's design, content and products.  We hope all will join in so that  
we might get a lot done online before the gathering happens.  We hope  
to have electronic linkage at that gathering with Abbey North as well  
as with individuals who cannot travel to Asheville but might join us  
via Skype.  We also need to start a dialogue on the design and  
content of a web page that would be a resource for a much larger body  
of people with whom we will be interacting (TWC).   We have a tech  
team in place, but need input and help from those who are  
knowledgeable on web page design as well as those of us who will be  
sending people to this web page.

Some months ago several of us had some wonderful interchange on the  
concept, form and task of the Guild.  This work has been preserved by  
David Dunn and is in the process of being transferred to our  
Repository site <http://twiki.wedgeblade.net>.   I will shortly be  
starting a specific dialogue on the Guild with a position paper.   If  
you haven't done so we would encourage you to visit the site, click  
on "Recent Changes" and then on "Abbey North" to see the results of  
the last Order gathering.

So welcome aboard and let the creativity flow!

Jack Gilles