COUNCIL IV

August, 1969

WORKING PAPERS

on the

L O C A L C H U R C H

Historical

Christianity

UN I V E RSAL

Church. In addition, by demanding a particular relevance, the Local Church holds Historical Christianity accountable to its task. Mysticism, for example, is rescued from disengagement from the world by this demand Moreover, the Local Church supports Historical Christianity by providing the resources needed for renewal. Third, the Local Church provides the fertile subsoil in which the Universal Religious can grow. Only in concrete local situations do sentinel individuals receive the vision and the permission to perform the functions of the Universal Religious, though they may reject the Local Church's particular manifestations. By caring in utter concreteness for the comprehensive spirit problems of a community, the Local Church forces seriousness on the Universal Religious. Neither liberal reductionism nor utopian idealism can fulfill the demand of the Local Church for comprehensiveness and particularity. Finally, by concretely embodying the gains of the Universal Religious, the Local Church refines and conserves them. The Local Church, then, unceasingly demands that all churchmen seriously distill and intentionally embody the historical inventions of hu man ness.

4. That dynamic within the People of God which discontinuously intervenes into the humanizing process is Historical Christianity. It is described by its relationship to the People of God, to the Universal Religious, and to the Local Church. First, Historical Christianity as the People of God constantly radicalizes humanness by self­consciously embodying the Word of the cross and the empty tomb. By pronouncing this Word in Jesus Christ on all men, Historical Christianity unveils the deeps of humanness itself. In its self­conscious affirmation of life in the midst of anguish, Historical Christianity is guardian of the mystery of the deeps of life. Second, Historical Christianity releases the Universal Religious from past struggles and opens it to new arenas of action by penetrating the Word of forgiveness into history. It also provides the limits for the Universal Religious by naming the edge struggles which are truly responsive to God. By living in the depths of the universal human word, Historical Christianity pushes the Universal Religious toward comprehensiveness. Finally, Historical Christianity revolts against the perversions of the Local Church by calling into question its inadequate practice. Yet by engaging in unremitting effort to stand present to the Local Church with enabling resources, it is a dynamic of radical affirmation. And Historical Christianity demonstrates a depth concern for the perpetual renewal of the Local Church by becoming a model of ever­new manifestations of the faith. Historical Christianity, then, unceasingly demands that all churchmen radically embrace and totally obey the Word in Jesus Christ.

5. The activity of the People of God has always enabled global concern for the well­being of every man to be grounded in structural forms though never synonymous with such forms. The relation of the Universal Religious with the People of God will be more structured to maintain both the tension and the collegiality with the Local Church and Historical Christianity such as regular conferences among Communists, Buddhists, artists, engineers, etc., to forge the vision and invent strategies and tactics for global revolution. Further, the manifest structures of the Local Church will hold more autonomy as a primal point of decision­making for the People of God. Finally, Historical Christianity will preserve its symbolic power as the catalytic dynamic presence of the People of God. The twentieth century has caused the old static forms of the People of God to crumble and demands that spirit men create new structures as embodiments of their functions.

RELIGIOUS

6. Those who wrestle to construct an adequate response to new demands on behalf of all mankind are the Universal Religious. They forge out new structures for social justice and equality at every level of human interchange. Three inseparable but radically distinct poles of activity comprise the Universal Relinious: The Latent Reliaious. the Established

it shakes established images and structures. It draws upon, renews, and uses the deeps of the stored wisdom of the Established Religious. The Intentional Religious as an ongoing dynamic of the People of God breaks loose the depths of human consciousness and invents radical human style.

10. It is crucial to see the Universal Religious dimension of the People of God as a set of interacting dynamics of human action which are continually giving form to revolutionary social renewal in history. In the activity of the Latent Religious, there will be intensification of the struggles against the injustices of racism, nationalism, and economic imperialism. The Established Religious dynamic will produce new forms of economic, political, and cultural institutions which must be adequate for the changing reality of today's world. In the Intentional Religious dynamic we will see the beginning of a universal style of human thoughts, symbols, and relationships necessary for global humanness. The activity of the Universal Religious in our day is taking on a new kind of form which can no longer be parochial but must be global in its sphere of responsibility.

TH E LO CA L C H U R C H

11. The appropriation, conservation, and structuring of the eternal Word of Historical Christianity to meet the human needs of a particular geo­social situation is the Local Church. It manifests itself in three inseparable but radically distinct poles of action: The Parish, Congregation, and Cadre. The Parish is the actualizing of care for all the needs of a particular geo­social reality. The Congregation is the comprehensive training and nurturing of a particular group of people in their particular heritage for service in and through the structures of the parish to which they are related. The Cadre is the leading that creates a vision of concrete love and enables the Congregation to actualize that vision.

PAri.ch

C­ ~qregation

12. Wherever the People of God respond to inhumanity within a particular geographical community by constructing and enacting a model of comprehensive caring for every part of that community, there is the Parish. The Parish is the faithful response of the Local Church to human need. The common actional thrust involving both the Parish and the Congregation is a sign that depth concern is not an exclusive property of the self­conscious congregation. The Parish deepens and focuses the Congregation's awareness of its actual situation, calling for a practical and pertinent response to that situation. By forcing the Congregation to see clearly the full scope and depth of its responsibility for the world, the Parish overwhelms and terrifies the Congregation. In its radical demands of the Congregation, it repeatedly explodes any romanticism about the nature of the task and exposes self­righteous pretensions to self­sufficiency. The sheer particularity of the Parish enables the Cadre to actualize its decision in concrete deeds rather than vague or general commitment, thereby purging the Cadre of abstract theorizing. By its demand for specific action, the Parish forces the Cadre to take responsibility for the Congregation. Finally, as the full implications of the actional demands become apparent, the Parish draws forth within the Cadre those radical new spirit depths that have become necessary to accomplishing the total task. The Parish, therefore, constitutes the full revolutionary program of love for a particular geographical community.

13. Wherever the People of God articulate the one Word about life out of the wisdom of a particular heritage of Historical Christianity and are enabled to become the necessary deed in response to the call of the Parish, there is the Congregation. The Congregation is that part of the Local Church which is and traditionally has been sociologically observable as the manifest church. It embodies within itself the one Word about life, made manifest through a particular set of gifts and traditions. Through the articulation of the Word, the Congregation comes to demand the leadership necessary in order to forqe out and brinq into beinq its

Ecumenical Christianity

Pluriform

,r,hristianity

Movemental

Christianity

whose lives are given permission to be who they are, and in cultic emphases such as liturgy, creeds, and covenantal life. Movemental Christianity is the Historical Christianity within Historical Christianity. It is the radicalization of the civilizational doing, the renewer of the healing Word, and the intensification of the style of being self­consciously the People of God.

17. In Historical Christianity, the stark lucidity about the global social dynamic is displayed by Ecumenical Christianity. Ecumenical Christianity forges one faith in the activity of God in history. It responds to that activity through the creation of universal symbols for Historical Christianity. Ecumenicity is the summons to attend to the one mission. As a reflection of universality, Ecumenical Christianity demonstrates the contentlessness of the Word to Pluriform Christianity. Ecumenicity, by its very presence, exposes any parochialism in Pluriform Christianity. It coordinates the cornrnon mission. In relation to Movemental Christianity, Ecumenical Christianity points to the necessity of going about the social task. It calls into question the tendency to move so far out on the edge that one becomes esoteric. At the same time, it gives Movemental Christianity permission to be at the creative edqe bY enablinq the experimentation.

18. Within Historical Christianity, the diversity of life­encounters is revealed by Pluriform Christianity. It provides historical relevance by grounding the particularity of the Jesus Christ event. As pluriform, it holds the memory of various communities of the People of God. It further transmits the traditions that each community has built to hold itself in being. While participating in the single thrust of Ecumenical Christianity, the pluriformity preserves the inescapable diversity. When Ecumenical Christianity is confronted by the pluriform expressions, thc inadequacies of mass uniformity are clearly demonstrated. Intellectual, spiritual, and social resources come from Pluriform Christianity to enable the common task. Pluriform Christianity is the historical tradition out of which Movemental Christianity is always born. Pluriform Christianity demands that Movemental Christianity take responsibility for the consequences of its actions. In every generation and Christian movement, the context for the discontinuity of the rearticulated Word and the unique Deed is provided by Pluriform Christianity.

19. The response of Movemental Christianity to the continually erupting Word is the motivating force within Historical Christianity. Historical Christianity is confronted with the depths of the times through the movemental dynamic. Movemental Chrlstianity is the perpetual demand for contemporaneity. It gives Historical Christianity the possibility of acting out of its own sensitivity. In its relationship to Ecumenical Christianity, the movement plumbs the depth spirit problems of life. It constantly holds the Word before the ecumenical mission by not allowing the mission to become synonymous with any particular social effort. The movemental gift to ecumenicity is the permission to be engaged in total global mission. Pluriform Christianity is indicted by the Movement's affirmation of the crises of life. Movemental Christianity demands relevant action by Pluriform Christianity in the face of these crises. It also initiates crises of rebirth within Pluriform Christianity.

20. The discontinuous dynamic of Historical Christianity will become embodied in structures to give contemporary form to the Word and Deed for our time. The ecumenical activity of historical Christianity functions to coordinate unified mission, or one missional thrust into history, standing in relationship with Pluriform Christianity. The pluriform activity of Historical Christianity functions as the continual maintenance of multiple historical forms through which the diversity of life is experienced and honored. The movemental activity of Historical Christianity functions as the catalytic agent for initiating reform and renewal within the existing structures of the Local Church. The structures of Historical Christianity have been, in the past, fixed and eternal, but must now be recreated as temporal expressions of sociological dynamics.

Imnact

Concept

Power

GUILD

method of formulation gives form to the human situation and focuses on the depth human problem. Being at the decision­points to affect the whole and calling attention to the symbolic as key to a renewed society are part of the method of permeation.

26. That dynamic which enables comprehensive change in existing social structures in the community is the Guild. The Guild Impacts the political, economic, and cultural structures and demands the they be more human. It creates a futuric Concept by doing the gridding, model building, and timelining necessary for community reformulation. It provides Power for intentional happenings through employing, awakening, and massing concerned persons. The Guild is the actualization, visualization, and mobilization which enables the Parish to create a responsible local­global society.

27. Impact directly influences the functioning of the Guild and simultaneously impinges upon Concept and Power. The Impacting of political, economic, and cultural forms in a Parish judges the Guild and demands a structured relatedness to the entire globe. This protects the Guild from spatial, temporal, and ideological reductionisms. New possibilities for social restructuring are therefore exploded. Anachronisms in mission, stance, and goals are revealed by concrete engagement in the Parish. This involvement saves the Guild from idealism and over­optimism. Thus, renewed hope and confidence in the future for relevant social alteration is created. The activity of reshaping social structures discloses the eternal, unlimited demand for resources and power. This disclosure redeems the Guild from detached do­goodism, and the only alternatives are dehumanizing obsolescence or perpetual revolution. The impacting by the Guild on civilizing structures results in the extension and intensification of the humanizing processes.

28. Adequate social change requires a Concept which clearly articulares the vision, goals, and stance which the Guild embodies and intends to actualize through social restructuring. Concept­forming creates a new social vision through model building and planning, enabling the Guild to appreciate its social responsibility. It requires of itself signal acts which give signs of possibility. In the stance it takes toward its Guild function, it embodies the humanness required in the future it is creating. The Concept sets an imaginal context for Power employment. It supplies the Guild forces with concrete goals to be achieved. In preparation for the task of creating human community it demands inclusive planning and disciplined organization. Concept requires that the structural reformulation being done be comprehensive in meeting every need for full humanness. To enable this it creates futuric models for the structures required of globally related communities. Concept then sustains Impact by providing relevant civilizing methodologies for effective actualization of the vision it holds. The dynamics which the Guild expects of Concept necessitate the corporate methods of work, training, and research which enable the Guild to function creatively on hPh~if nf th" \A/hr~lP P~ri~h

29. Power requires of the Guild Concept a clear vision, goal, and stance and that the actualization be comprehensive in the political, economic, and cultural dimensions of social existence. The Guild requires the forces necessary to accomplish the needed social restructuring. Lack of discipline or failure in mobilization of forces is the judgment which permits corrective action. Power demands that the restructuring be comprehensive. Nothing short of radical change will bring about total restructuring. This effort to achieve social change is saved from romanticism through the clarity maintained by well­trained forces. Power demands conceptual clarity. Through the comparison of the Concept with the results obtained, the necessity for the reordering of resources is seen. The interplay of these dynamics causes the tension which insures the demanded Impact of social restructuring.

~ '

STAKE

I/i.5it

f~rIr/

Meeting

36. The dynamic in which radicalized care of human beings takes place is the Stake. The three primary dynamics­within it are the Visit, the Grid, and the Meeting. A person­to­person relating in which direct individualized care takes place is the Visit. A relating between a person or group and the objective community picture in which care takes place is the Grid. A relating of people in which group­to­person care and person­to­group care takes place is the Meeting. Through the relationships of these three dynamics each individual is cared for.

37. So that the stake does not exclude any of the people in its task of radicalized caring, a dynamic is present which demands the inclusion of all people. Human gifts and needs are made known and new responses are activated by this dynamic. This dynamic is the Visit. In order that the Grid does not falsely represent reality by reducing information to data, the Visit holds the Grid to reality by demanding that it include more information. The Visit provides this information and indicates new directions. When the Meeting allows itself to be reduced to a fellowship, the Visit again is present to confront it with a corporate task. The Visit also exposes new arenas of human need and provides troops to enable the Meeting to rio its task.

38. Only by being part of a radical, comprehensive care structure and by being closely tied to all aspects of such a care structure can the Grid make its fullest contribution to radicalized care. The Grid calls the Stake into question by requiring it to objectify its data. At the same time it supports the Stake by providing a comprehensive picture for the Stake which symbolizes its decision of responsibility. It helps create the Stake by providing a perspective which shows the possibility of meeting all the needs of a particular area. Needs are lost sight of and are not dealt with unless there is some means of checking to see if all needs are included. The Grid performs this function by confronting the Meeting with the inadequacy of care structures. It sustains the Meeting by providing data which can be examined and used in Stake operation. It helps create an image or agenda on which the Meeting can be based by focusing attention on specific areas of interest or points of concern. The Grid tests the Visit when it provides criteria which measure the achievement. It informs the Visit by supplying information about established care structures. The priorities determined by the picture of the community enable the Visit to fulfill its mission most effectively.

39. The Meeting calls the Stake into question when the Stake eliminates group­person relationships from its care structures. The Meeting relates to the Stake by enabling care to happen through group­person relationship. The Meeting enhances the possibilities for individual caring by allowing persons to participate in concrete actions, sharing in the wisdom of the group, and celebrating the decision to be the caring community. The Meeting calls the Visit into question by exposing the potential perversion of purely individualized contact. The Meeting affirms the Visit by providing a group to share the responsibility of caring. The Meeting enhances the Visit by offering the possibility of individual participation in a group. The Meeting relates to the Grid by demanding that its information become comprehensive. The Meeting affirms the Grid by utilizing its information. The Meeting, by being aware of the constant process of change, helps the Grid continually to recreate the face of the community.

40. Radical caring dynamics are always embodied in structures. In the future, some of these might be:

1. A quad care net, providing for systematic visitation based on a limited geographic part of the Parish.

2. A community computer complex, handling the input and dispensing of information.

3. A community node, enabling the meeting of all ages. These three structures embody the three Stake dynamics of Visit, Grid, and Meeting.

College

44. The function of spirit sustaining in the Congrega.ion is called the College. Its primary relationship to the Congregation is the inventing of new humanness. The College, by exposing the Congregation to the mystery, enables the destruction of superficial securities. By experimentation with the archaic symbols, the College releases the Congregation to reclaim these symbols in contemporary forms. The College requires that the Sodality portray a comprehensive image of humanness in its activities. The College in its sustaining activity builds interior resources. The pioneering revolutionary spirit which issues from the College continually activates the Sodality as a living dynamic in the Congregation. The College demands life grounding of all knowing and challenges all abstractions. It redeems the Seminary by rehearsing and dramatizing the Christian heritage in ancient and contemporary form. By the radical life style of the new religious, the College explodes the Seminary to new clarity in its images of what it means to be religious. The College, in these nine relations, participates in the judging, sustaining, and creating dynamic which holds the Congregation in beina.

45. At this moment in its long history of changing structures, once again the Congregational dynamic is in transition from the present structure to something similar in principle to the Academy for Global Churchmen. The Academy includes the Sodality dynamic in such forms as the Parish laboratory and model building workshops. It also actualizes the Seminary dynamic through pedagogical training and cultural, theological, and methodological course study. The College dynamic operates in the Academy in such ways as the corporate offices and the Odyssey. The structure of comprehensive training for churchmen has been conceived and tested in a concentrated and experimental form, and now it is imperative to invent long range and locally grounded forms to express the Congregational dynamic in our time.

SODALITY

46. Sodality points to those ongoing activities of the Congregation which enable its members to participate in the Parish's struggle to create humanness. The Sodality dynamic functions as the Congregation structures the assignment of its members to specific tasks, empowers research in model building, and evolves a common style of corporate action. The Sodality dynamic is expressed through the missional assignment of all members of the Congregation. At the same time, the research function of the Sodality provides the comprehensive models, grids, and strategies which give direction to the Congregation's impact upon the Parish. Radical commonness is that aspect of the Sodality dynamic which births a Congregational style embodying collegiality, consensus, and common vision. Assignment, research, and commonness are those forms which give expression to the Sodality dynamic.

Assignment

47. In the Sodality, assignment of the Congregation deploys all its forces into the comprehensive Parish mission. Assignment alerts the Congregation to total Parish demand and calls for adequate response. Then, it structures the demand so that Congregational forces are commissioned to meet the goals established by strategic priorities. Also, the assignment dynamic determines a new direction for the Congregation by periodically making new assignments, responding to fresh demands of Parish reformulation. Practical experience, growing out of the assignment dynamic, tests and indicates necessary modifications in the research model. Common adherence to the assigned model by the Congregational forces makes available new data which confirms or modifies existing models

A oostolate

Facul ty

Friary

IV. TH E CAD R E

61. When a group of people arises who have a vision of total humanness for the times, who understand that humanness becotnes concretely available to man only in a given particular situation, and who radically decide to expend themselves for this availability to become reality, then by their decision the Local Church is constituted afresh and they themselves become the Cadre.

62. One dimension of the relationship of the Cadre to the Congregation is an active role in its transformation. This activity is called the Apostolate-those sent forth. As the Cadre engages in the struggle to transform the Congregation, it makes completely evident its own mistaken notions about what the Local Church is or what it is to become; on the other hand, this struggle is the vehicle which carries the thrust of the Cadre into the Local Church. The striving of the Cadre to transform the Local Church clarifies the problems and helps build and refine the models for carrying out the change demanded by the need for creating humanizing social structures. The Apostolate summons the Cadre to the necessity of providing a realistic curriculum and effective models relevant to the times. The labors of the Cadre in bringing the Local Church into being are a vital source of its corporate wisdom, and it clarifies the language and symbols of the Historical Church. There is a demand that the practical tools and models embody the corporateness of the Cadre; without corporateness the laborer is just another individualist. The corporate engagement in the mission firmly establishes the basis for the Cadre's spirituality, since it shows the necessity for being a whole man. In attempting to transform the Congregation, the Cadre discovers that there is both a gift and a contradiction in each situation. The Cadre then must build structures which enable it to impinge actively on the Congregation.

63. The Faculty is the articulating activity in the Cadre. We can point to the Faculty in any Cadre wherever we see methods and content being exposed as parochial The Faculty is always listening to the Cadre, constantly accumulating its corporate wisdom. The Cadre is acting as Faculty whenever it is doing research on methodology. The Faculty challenges the Apostolate by calling into question their limited methods. Furthermore, the Faculty stimulates the probing of new possibilities open to the mission. In order to enable the mission the Faculty teaches new methodology. This instructing activity grounds the depth decision which empowers the symbolic. The Faculty internalizes the powerful dynamic of encounter and affirms it. It is also pointing to a new possibility for the depth encounter. Al1 this is the dynamic of the Faculty.

64. The Cadre accepts responsibility for its own mission to the Local Church: this complex activity is called Friary. The role of the Friary is carried out in the Cadre whenever covenantal accountability is offered or demanded. In calling forth the celebration of life as it is given, the Friary sustains the Cadre. The necessary deed of the Cadre comes about only as the prophetic vision is held before it. In Cadre life, the Friary is the challenger that calls into question individualistic perversions of the missional thrust. When the Cadre in the midst of tensions, disappointments, or even glories says, "All our work is good," it is pronouncing the sustaining Word. When the Cadre lays out in concrete terms the demand of the future on the present, which is the prophetic vision, it serves the mission. Through the Friary activity, the Cadre presses the Faculty to have its curriculum historically grounded for the sake of the mission. The Cadre assures each of its members that his gifts are what are needed for the teaching mission. The Cadre structures opportunity for the decision to teach, to evolve. In order that it shall not fail in its responsibilities for the Local Church, the Cadre adopts symbols of what it has decided to do and to know and to be, and intentionally chooses structures which ensure that its members self consciously and regularly relate to their own decision. So emerges that style wherein the Cadre embraces reality, and gives birth to the I nrnI (:h''rn.h nf tnmnrrnw

RFMI ~6 Ry

51. In the dynamic of the Congregation one comes up against the pogoingness we name the Seminary. The Seminary is revealed to us by noting relationships among the educational dynamics we have named Revolution, Catechism, and Heritape.

RP'mllltinn

Catechism

Heritage

52. Within the Revolution training dynamic of the Seminary are three relationships: the Revolution relating to the Seminary as a whole, the Revolution relating in particular to the Catechism and to the Heritage. The relationship involved within the dynamic between Revolution and the Seminary as a whole comes into being as the Revolution calls into question the relevance of the educational forms of the Seminary. The Revolution, as it acts out its redemptive role, pronounces the possibility that the Seminary may risk itself in utilizing new forms to convey the Word which is grounded in Jesus Christ. Revolution gives impetus for the creation of new educational forms. In relation to the Catechism, the Revolution demands that the Word by articulated in twentieth century language. Therefore, as the Word is stated in the context of the times, the Revolution makes relevant or validates the authenticity of the Word. The cutting edge of the Revolution training dynamic provides cultural metaphors for new mythologizing of the Word. The relationship involved within the dynamic between the Revolution and the Heritage is manifest as the Revolution demands of the Heritage a new interpretation based upon the present historical situation of the story out of which the congregation lives. The supportive relationship enables and sustains the decisional interpretation of the story and history. Thus, the Revolution gives to the Heritage a new vision of what it means to be a predictor of history. The dynamic of Revolution training keeps the Seminary relevant to the times.

53. Catechism is that aspect of the Seminary that clearly articulates the Word usable by the Seminary. The Catechism dynamic demands that all forms of the Seminary be grounded in the Word and the times, calling into question the images, stories, and methodologies that do not convey the message of the gospel. That is possible only because the Catechism itself continually struggles to be radically clear about the Word and the signs of the times. When the Catechism articulates its clarity in the contemporary metaphor, the Seminary, in all its forms, has the possibility of reappropriating the Word and the times. The Catechism relates to the Revolution by demanding that the new images of humanness be freighted by the Word to the contemporary scene. The Catechism's redemptive relation to the Revolution is to direct the Word to the Revolution continually in the form of basic questions about life. The Catechism creationally relates by articulating the Word to the Revolution training in a specific style-to claim the direction of the Revolution and articulate it culturally. The Catechism demands the Heritage freight the Word in a form relevant to all men. It uses the Word as the test of faithfulness of the story to life experience. It uses the Heritage to articulate the Word in the light of the past and present to the demands of the future.

54. In the Seminary there are three Heritage training dynamics: Heritage to the Seminary as a whole, Heritage to Revolution, and Heritage to Catechism. The third dynamic of the Seminary is the Heritage, the appropriating of the Word for living by the Congregation. It demands that the Seminary's teaching and training be faithful to the Church's heritage, honoring the Church fathers by continuing that same struggle through history. It reminds the Seminary that it has been selected to hold the Word in history as its own intentional obligation, so that the mighty deeds of the fathers can be interpreted. By providing images for remembering and rites for acting out of the Word, Heritage enables the creation of a new humanness to come into being for the sake of all. A key to the relationship of Heritage to

APOSTO LATE

66. The Cadre is the leadership principle of the Local Church which has always been there, assuming direct responsibility for the community reformulation task. The dynamic of the Cadre particularly relating to the Parish is the Apostolate. The Apostolate manifests itself as the Reformulator, the Evangelist, and the Pastor. The Reformulator dynamic enables the Guild, provides social planning, and serves as a spirit­catalyzing force. The Evangelist dynamic enables the Forum, serves as the mindset programmer, and constantly revolutionizes the parochial images of the Parish into universal life images. The Pastor dynamic, by comprehensive planning and journey projecting, and by brooding on the problems of individuals enables the Stake to respond to the depth need of the person. Thus the Apostolate engages in Parish reformulation by doing the necessary deed, propagating the Universal Word, and being present to every human need.

Pastor

65. The corporate pastorale is one image of the new structure within which the Cadre dynamic could become manifest. Members of the corporate pastorale may be assigned to forge out a comprehensive model to provide care for every person within a delimited geographic area, and to share their resources and talents to provide whatever is demanded to implement the model. They will systematically train themselves to assume responsibility for the religious and cultural education within the Congregation. They will engage in a disciplined symbolic life, experimenting with a corporate office, a common meal, and a daily solitary exercise in meditation, contemplation, and prayer.­ The Cadre, a temporal dynamic, is never confined by any temporal structure, for form is always being constructed and reconstructed for the sake of mission

Reformulatnr

Evangelist

67. The Reformulator dynamic constantly questions and challenges structural reductionism at all levels of the Apostolate dynamic, thus aiding in taking all factions into account. This dynamic called the Reformulator is intensely concerned about getting the necessary social deeds done. It also provides comprehensive structural models to enable the Apostolate to fulfill its function. The Reformulator challenges the unreality of the content and the articulation of the Word This dynamic affirms the crucial importance of grounding the Word, in order to carry out the activity of community reformulation. By providing relevant models, such as a comprehensive model for education, the Reformulator enables the Evangelist to do his task of evangelization and re­education. The Reformulator, in order to prevent a reduced vision of caring, points out to the pastoral dynamic of the Apostolate the futility and dangers of overemphasis on individualism. The dynamic relationship here affirms that caring is essential. It also provides structural models for inclusive care for ali.

68. In relationship to the Apostolate is a whole, the Evangelist is constantly demanding the use of powerful symbols. Struggling to maintain clarity on the Word is the Evangelist dynamic's main gift to the Apostolate. This dynamic continually regrounds the historical Word in the changing social context. The Evangelist dynamic calls the Pastor to attention by pointing to the perversions of love in pastoral care. As the same time, necessity of such care is revealed. The Evangelist dynamic establishes what it is to care by re­imaging love. The Evangelist holds the Reformulator up against the failure of the present structures to deal with the spirit depths of life. The redeeming Word in the midst of this relationship is that the task of reformulating structures is essential for enabling humanness. The Evangelist dynamic contributes to this relationship as story­teller.

69. The Pastor challenges the Apostolate to continually enable reformulation of humanizing care structures for every human being. The Pastor dynamic is sensitive to the relevance of every human life. The Pastor dynamic is operative in enabling the humanizing process to progress by being the fraternal embodiment. The Pastor dynamic relates to the Reformulator dynamic by calling the renewal structures into question at any point that man is dehumanized by the structures of society. The Pastor dynamic shows the siqnificance of


Prior

_'rophet

FRIARY

the theological meaning and implications of his intended action. Then, out of this interaction, the Dean is enabled to draw upon his entire fund of practical information in a comprehensive manner. Finally, the Pedagogue receives and refines the intellectual insights of the Dean. Among the Faculty, the Pedagogue holds the responsibility for receiving every illumination of the Word. It is then necessary for hind to preserve these intellectual insights and interpret them so they will be clear to all. It is also his function to disseminate those insights with all of his pedagogical gifts. In his function of demanding rationality, the Pedagogue makes available to the Prior, through their interaction, the content of the Heritage and gives him the intellectual basis for his decisions. Thus the Prior is held accountable for his spirit insights in the course of giving them external consistency. Only through the work of the Pedagogue training his colleagues in the intellectual aspects of life can the Prior make his spiritual and stylistic impact. Thus the function of the Pedagogue as a member of the Faculty enables him to deal with the life issues of his fPlln\A/c

74. The collegial relationship of the Prior to the Faculty is a catalytic one-always confronting, clarifying, and releasing new possibilities in the midst of the Faculty. The Prior summons the Dean to accountability in his role of leader of the Faculty dynamic through spiritual criticism and confrontation regarding the Dean's decisions. Narrow decision is confronted and exposed. the Prior then accepts and affirms the Dean's limitations and provides the Word by which new probing and creativity can be achieved. Finally the Prior guides and counsels with the Dean in his decision­making role, thereby enabling spiritual fullness and insight. The Prior prevents the Pedagogue from becoming solidified in his teaching by calling into question his wisdom and methods of communicating about the way life is. He says "no" to that which is not dealing comprehensively with all of life. At the same time, the Prior says "yes" to the Pedagogue and affirms his task as the crucial force in the whole dynamic of the Faculty's task of education. Thus the Prior keeps the Pedagogue continually renewed by pushing his content and methods to reflect symbolically and clearly the deeps of life. The Prior's action in the Faculty is constant judgment of the spiritual selfhood of the Faculty. In relation to the total Faculty, the Prior teaches the Word concerning that mystery which is the eternal foundation for all human life that is to be authentic. The Prior instills the mystery into the hearts and minds of the Faculty. Finally the Prior is that dynamic within the Faculty which gives form and meaning to spirit care.

75. The dynamic called Faculty will probably take the form of a corporate rabbinate who take upon themselves the total educational task of the Congregation. They will be responsible for teaching and administrating the Sodality, the Seminary, and the College. They will maintain and sharpen their skills by operating out of teaching guilds. This transition might come about by taking all those now involved in teaching activities in the present Congregation and by providing a structure whereby they can systematically obtain the skills now available in teaching, administrating, and depth counseling.

76. The Friary is the intensification of the self­conscious spirit life of the Cadre. Whenever a group of people have become intentionally religious in order to sustain their missional existence, that dynamic is the ongoingness called the Friary. Its three polarities are the social thrust of the Prophet, the exposing lucidity of the Guru, and the spirit depth of the Saint. The Prophets have always been those who disclosed the chaos that always exists within all the enduring structures of civilization. The Gurus have always known that the intellectual forms of humanness inevitably exposed the absurdity of life. The Saints have always been those in the humanizing process who saw that finally it is only man's relationship to the mystery that gives him his being.

77. The role of the Prophet in the Friary can be understood only by pointing to relations between the Prophet and the Friary dynamic, the Guru, and the Saint. In the midst of the


Guru

Saint

Friary dynamic, the Prophet pronounces and challenges social injust,ce so that all become irrevocably lucid about the depth spirit problem in all society. The Prophet gives permission to the Friary to be the white­hot sign of global worldly humanness which stands as the luminous signpost pointing toward visionary change. The Prophet calls the Friary into passionately engaging in history, dramatically embodying the eternal story in the midst of eternal crisis, bearing the unbearable suffering of all men. Encountering the eternal story of sociality being embodied by the Prophet challenges the ethereal psychotic poetry of the Guru. This encounter gives the Guru permission to risk all his knowing of knowing in dramatizing new social vision. In the confronting of the Guru by the Prophet, the Guru is called into deep spiritual embodiment of creative social poetry. The Prophet exposes the spiritual self­seducing of the Saint, demanding that religious style care for the lives of all men. To honor total humanness, the Prophet gives the Saint permission to embody worldly suffering as a part of divine suffering. The Prophet's embodiment of the story about all of human existence challenges the Saint to be all those who have ever been pure spirit journey and all those who ever will be pure spirit journey. Thus the vision embodied in the Prophet's story­telling calls the Friary into being sheer being in the midst of all of history.

78. As one dynamic in the Friary, the Guru produces the tension between the particular and the comprehensive, which exposes the depth spirit content out of which the Friary must operate. It is with the redeeming aspect of the Guru dynamic that the depth human struggle of every man is illuminated. Through creative media the Guru dramatizes the Word about life that all is good, the past is approved, and the future is open. The Guru relationship to the Prophetic dynamic is one of bringing transparency to the spirit problems of the Friary. When the Prophetic sensitivity envisions actions of social pioneering, the Guru's enabling relationship is to suggest directions toward possible fruition. And it is the Guru who confers permission for the Prophet to move on with the refined vision. The Guru calls the Saint to articulate his depth spirit journey so that all men might share in its address. The Guru affirms the discontinuity of the Saint who embodies radical disengagement from the world, self, and others; radical obedience to all that is; and the desire to do only the will of God. Finally the Guru names the Saint by pointing to the one who is the Savior of God, the embodiment of the possibility and the one who is no­thing in the midst of all that is.

79. That dynamic of the Friary which is being the Saint is the embodying of the spirit depth of human existence and the manifestation of being itself. The Saint demands that the Friary suffer the pain of all humanity which he himself willingly suffers as a sign among men. In the midst of the Friary's struggle to stand before all that is, he becomes that reality. He is therefore the singular sign that no­thing can contain the significance of a man's existence and that no­thingness is the only reality there is. In relation to the Prophet, he shows the primacy of structuring the internal life, as the only means to the interior reserve needed to stand in the face of all opposition. The Saint impacts the Prophet with the absurd truth that significant human existence is possible precisely within the dehumanizing structures against which the Prophet speaks. He reveals to the Prophet that the only deed is the eschatalogical deed done on behalf of all men and for the sake of the future. To the Guru, the Saint is the moral man, living his life with total self­consciousness' thereby demanding that the Guru be what he evokes from other men. The Saint demonstrates the depths of responding to the Guru's word, thereby summoning from him still further insight into the solitary life.

80. The Friary dynamic in the intentional religious demands new strategic structures to enable the function of the Friary. These might be a reordering of the Cadre member's relationship to time and space through patterns of sleep, study, and service. The creation of new religious rites that appropriate the wisdom of such activities as confession and penance offers the Friary new ways of giving form to its own spirit life. The same is true for the creation of new forms of symbolic acts such as solitary journeys and corporate offices.

Dean

community reformulation as the deed necessary for every man. The Pastor dynamic demands a comprehensive picture for the concerns of every human being and provides a comprehensive vision of depth needs. The Pastor challenges the Evangelist to create a comprehensive story that will release all the gifts of every man. The Pastor confronts the Evangelist with information as to who the excluded are and where their depth human problems lie. The Pastor dynamic enables all the victims of society to be included in the story the Evangelist is telling.

70. The new form of the Apostolate within the new form of the Cadre, as corporate pastorale, takes the shape of a task­team assignment in the area of Parish reformulation. Participants of this task­team will assume responsibility on a rotational basis in order that all members of the Cadre may have an opportunity to work directly in the Parish. The task­team will be involved in meeting regularly to do comprehensive Parish model building. The task­team will divide or unite efforts in the area of Guild formation and enablement, Forum formation and enablement. and Stake formation and enablement as needed

FACU LTY

71. Throughout history, every people functioning as a Cadre under whatever name or! context has had as a part of its task futuric and inclusive education. The symbol given to j this reality is the Faculty: those people who, having access to ordered wisdom, take responsibility for disseminating that wisdom to others. As such the Faculty images itself as "the other than" those to whom it must impart wisdom. Participating in this dynamic is never understood to be eternal but rather to impart ordered wisdom adequately and faithfully. This necessitates a relative stance of authority and possession of wisdom beyond the wisdom imparted at any one time. Just as the Cadre is composed of an aggregate of! separate entities, the Faculty is also composed of identifiable parts. As organizing and systematically guiding for missional relevance, it is seen as Dean. As relating all to the heritage of the Christian Word in a readily comprehensive and elegantly symbolic form, it is seen as Pedagogue. As cultivating and sustaining the interior life style of authenticity, it is seen as Prior. Finally, those functions do not exist in and of themselves but must be seen as a composite of dynamic relationships.

72. The Dean is clearly defined as a dynamic relationship to the Faculty as a whole, to the Pedagogue, and to the Prior. In relation to the Faculty, the Dean presents the demand of keeping all forms of educative leadership clearly related to the contemporary realities of life and the mission of the Church. To enable the meeting of this demand, the Dean provides the administrative leadership which makes available all necessary tools and organizational structures. Beyond this, however, the Dean acts out in his own life the fullness of a sociologically relevant Faculty. The Dean holds the Pedagogue accountable for adequate preparation in order that all his teaching is effective in depth. He does everything possible to keep the Pedagogue open to and striving after comprehensiveness of knowledge and skill. He also makes radically clear the cruciality of the pedagogical task in dealing with the present human situation. In his relationship to the Prior, the Dean calls into question any understanding or acting­out of spirituality which manifests detachment or insensitivity. He searches out and nurtures the depth capability of the Prior. The Dean above all, pushes the Prior to perform his specific task and thus concretize his dedication. The functional dynamic of Dean is not often clearly seen in the Church today, though it is a function which is always going on. As we look into the immediate future, we can envision this function being acted out in the person of a religious education director who has skills in teaching, administration, and counseling. This person might be professional or lay.

Pedaqocue

73. The essential existence of the Pedagogue, that role which holds and transmits the . whole of the heritage, may be found in its interaction with the other parts of the Faculty and the Faculty as a whole. As the Pedagogue interacts with the Dean, he reminds him of

C,ArPC

the Revolution is its demand that the Revolution happen not only for the sake of future generations but also on behalf of those fathers of the Church who gave their lives to bring into being new understanding of humanness in their time. In doing this, Heritage both affirms the Revolution as true to the Word and at the same time undercuts the illusion that is often prevalent in revolutionary thought that nothing from the past can be used in the present or the future, or that all things can be created anew. The Heritage offers to the Revolution the vast wisdom of the past which it possesses, nurtures and sustains the Revolution through its own deserts, and helos celebrate its victories. The reality which has been named Heritage relates to that reality Catechism in a relationship of judgment, as the Heritage demands that the Catechism remain faithful in its teaching to the continuum of revelations of the Word to people throughout history. Heritage supportively relates to Catechism by grounding the Word in antiquity. That is to say, the Word pronounces authentic as Heritage casts fresh light on the past, when the Word was stated and lived by our ancestors. Another relationship of Heritage to Catechism is expressed as the offering of stories to be constructs for understanding the Word, allowing us to reclaim now and in the future the vision of the Exodus people, the freedom of the Jesus people, and the faithfulness of the Historical Church.

COLLEGE

55. The Seminary is that complex of relationships within the Congregation which, as the training institute, intentionally sets out to nurture the common study life in the Local Church. Within this dynamic, the Revolution pole is the experimental and inventive creator of new images that let loose the Word into the new age. Catechism delineates that essential content of the basic theological tool kit necessary for every man to do his own theologizing. Heritage conserves the wisdom of the past and so provides the inspiration for comprehensive and disciplined study on behalf of all time. The imperative for the Congregation is to establish or identify and appropriate the training structures necessary to enable the Congregation to be disciplined and resource­filled leaders in the Parish.

56. In the Congregation there has always been activity which sustains man in the deeps of his spirit; this dynamic is the College. Cares deal with accountability for mission, enablement for holding to that task, and pronouncement of absolution, thereby freeing man to reappropriate his decision. Nurtures allow creation of the story of man's depth struggle, internalization of the wisdom of his heritage, and ritualization of man's spirit journey so that he is freed to participate in the human drama. Exercises develop the interior discipline which issues in the willing of one thing, authentic devotion that enables encounter with the mystery, and solitary journey which demands that man deal self­consciously with the religious dimension of his life. Seeing Cares, Nurtures, and Exercises being enacted is seeing the College in being.

57. The Cares are related to the College as a whole, to the Nurtures, and to the Exercises. Cares say a radical "no" to collegiality which has been introverted and redirects the College into mission. Cares enable the College to embody corporateness in its struggle to be mission. Cares demand that the College radically expend its life. Secondly, Cares prevent the reduction of nurture to individual self­analysis. Cares bind man to the perpetual struggle with his interior deeps. Cares set the solitary exercises in the context of mission. Cares plunge man into the depths of the spirit by holding the tension between radical obedience to mission and futuric absolution. Thus, the internal dynamics of the College are disciplined, freed, and intensified by the presence of the Cares.

Nurtures

FxPrf:i.sPs

58. The Nurtures are related to the College as a whole, to the Cares, and to the Exercises. The Nurtures call the College to spirit seriousness. They also provide the script by which men rehearse the cruciform life. The Nurtures call the College to spirit seriousness. They also provide the script by which men rehearse the cruciform life. The Nurtures prepare the way for the College to reaffirm the radical decision to be men of faith. Secondly, the Nurtures in relation to the Cares wage constant battle with forces of self­righteousness. The Nurtures ground the Cares in revolutionary Church memory. The Nurtures provide reminders of our affirmation and continual,reaffirmation of our decision to be radically obedient. Finally, the Nurture life of the Congregation requires that its contemporary spirit Exercises be held in dialogue with the ancient wisdom of the fathers. These historic fathers are a sign of the power of the life style rooted in spiritual Exercises. They demand of us the creation of depth religious Exercises for our time. Thus the internal dynamics of the College are disciplined, freed, and intensified by the presence of the Nurtures.

59. The Exercises are related to the College as a whole, to the Cares, and to the Nurtures. The Exercises prevent the College from becoming a reduced fellowship by pushing it to the depths of humanness. It is the Exercises which release the gift of discontinuity to the keeping of the College. Yet the Exercises cannot control the mystery from which all men are equidistant and to which all men have equal access; they press the College to a radical new decision to stand before the mystery. Secondly, the Exercises push the question of the relevance of Cares by always making radically clear that man makes the spirit journey utterly alone. The Exercises affirm the Cares by always showing that it is the permission­giving of the Cares which frees the journeys from paralysis. The Exercises internalize each encounter with the mystery brought about by the absolving power of the Word. Finally, the Exercises, through the acting out of the depths of humanness, attack the rationality of consciousness as it is awakened in the Nurtures. Exercises confirm the sense of awe experienced in the midst of the struggle formed by the Nurtures. And they transform the experience of unfulfillment into a deeper search for humanness. Thus the internal dynamics of the College are disciplined, freed, and intensified by the presence of the Exercises.

60. The College dynamic in the Congregation might take the forrr, of a weekly house­church meeting. The College needs concrete forms of caring, such as symbolic accounting before the concrete assignments given to each person. At the conclusion of the accounting, rites of absolution permit appropriation of actual guilt and permission to move into new dep~hs of obedience. The College needs concrete forms of nurture, such as depth study, whereby the spirit wisdom of our fathers can be internalized, rites by which the stance of faith can continually be reappropriated, and new myths through which men of faith can participate in the humanizing journey of our time. The College needs concrete exercises whereby the man of faith as solitary can bring discipline to his interior life, such as a solitary office in which time is structured for meditation on the fathers, contemplation of the final mystery, and prayer for the life of the Church and world can be articulated. Through such concrete structures the College dynamic sustains the man of faith in the deeps of his spirit.

RP'.sParr:h

Commonness

and breaks open new edges of research. The wisdom gathered in the midst of performing an assignment demands of research a new, more comprehensive model. Intentional periodic reassignment of forces creates a stance of openness toward old problems and new diverse aspects of the common thrust. The assignment reporting process, in objectifying discoveries and releasing blocks, sustains and moves the Congregation forward in its common tasks. In the process of evaluating, the interaction of assignment activities mobilizes the total resources of the Congregation to meet total Parish demands.

48. Research serves as that Sodality dynamic in the Congregation which requires missional assignments to be made for the accomplishment of the Parish thrust through which commonness is enabled and intensified. Corporate decisions are continually modified by this research activity, i.e. a particular timeline is shown to be unrealistic. The research dynamic makes necessary the invention of tools and methodologies that strengthen corporateness. Research intensifies the commonness without which comprehensiveness is impossible. The models growing out of research radically question the forms or structures in which the Sodality dynamic is functioning. Research absolves the guilt of the Congregation by prioritizing the tasks which are beyond current capability. The Sodality dynamic explodes toward comprehensiveness as the process of research expands in scope and probes in depth. Research processes the data which evaluates the missional relevance of assignments. At the same time it pushes assignment structure in new and increasingly effective directions. In this process, the imperative task which determines particular assignments is outlined in terms of necessity and priority. Therefore, it thrusts the Congregation toward perpetual renewal by continually revealing the tasks which must be done and enabling the commonness which allows the tasks to be assiqned.

49. The Sodality, functioning as a corporate body, says "yes" and "no" to specific demands by its development of a comprehensive, long­range understanding of its task. The Sodality's common vision of the demand which the community's needs place upon it keep from losing itself to its own internal functioning. The missional vision itself becomes more comprehensive as the Sodality functioning as a corporate entity makes the practice decisions demanded by the vision. Commonness impinges on assignment through corporate assessment of task results. Common rites and rituals provide the symbolization to enable the members to celebrate their commitment to and success or failure in the assignments. Common decisions create the context of assignments by establishing task priorities. The result of research-the model-is continuously reviewed by the corporate body and demanded to be appropriate to the task which has been decided upon. In its nonchalant attitude toward the fallibility of models the corporate body enables research to take up a detached stance toward a particular model for the sake of the task. Whenever a model can no longer enable the required results the consensus demands a new model. The internal dynamic which is commonness is visible as serious twentieth century men within a Congregation decide to organize corporately the expenditure of their lives through collegially structured task forces which allow a common vision to become incarnate in the Parish.

50. Therefore we visualize the Sodality's function as the catapult which launches the whole Congregation as a corporate social engineer. The deployed Congregation, provided with common methods and concrete models, studies the ever­changing tasks, thereby enabling a common vision. The Sodality dynamic is present in the historical reality; it becomes a form, but is continually being transformed in response to the radical demand of the Parish that is ever­changing. Therefore, the imperative upon the Congregation, as the People of God, is to be the SodalitY. which is present and evolving in the Parish.

Sodality

Seminary

I I I. TH E CONG R E GATI nN

41. Throughout history there has been the reality which comes into being when a body of people hears the indicative of the gospel and responds to its imperative. This activity of address and election, whenever or wherever it occurs, is called the Congregation. While the Congregation is always a singular reality, a tri­polar dynamic is always present within it. First, the activity of responsive commissioning, addressing the needs of a particular Parish as an expression of global concern, is the Sodality dynamic of the Congregation. Second, the activity of basic re­imaging, continually appropriating the indicative of the Word in the light of the times, is the Seminary dynamic. Third, the activity of spirit sustaining, caring, and nurturing those struggling to embody the cruciform life style, is the College dynamic. Where one dynamic is present, be it Sodality, Seminary, or College, there the other two will also be present, each existing in a judging, supporting, and creative relation to the others and to the whole.

42. The Sodality is the activity of responsive commissioning within the life of the Congregation. This dynamic calls the Congregation to love the world. It also commissions and sustains the Congregation in its mission to the Parish. The Sodality provides the revolutionary tools for missional architecting and releases the Congregation to ground itself concretely on behalf of the world. The Sodality relates to the Seminary by demanding relevant expression of the Word in response to the times. It also informs the Seminary of the context into which the Word must be spoken. The Sodality points to the activity of the Lord of history today, enabling it to convert the contemporary story into tomorrow's heritage. The Sodality demands that the College create the new religious style. The Sodality upholds the College in the freedom of accountability to its decision to be in, but not of, the world. The Sodality stimulates the College to experiment missionally with contemporary symbols. Although the dynamic relationships of Sodaiity to the whole Congregation will never be synonymous with any structures, they will always appear structurally.

43. The function of basic re­imaging within the life of the Congregation is called the Seminary. Entrusted with the contentless Word, the Seminary calls into question any reducing of the faith to any particular content. With similar intentionality, the Seminary proclaims the gospel by filling the Word with content to make certain the Congregation hears the radical permission of the Word in all of its particularity and to enable the Congregation to stand faithful in the contemporary setting. The Seminary points to the historical ordination of the Congregation, thereby releasing a new image of its continuing election. The Seminary requires that the College's task of spirit formulation be couched in a rigorous rationality which objectifies its concerns and prevents detached mysticism. It provides an arena of Christian memory which gives the College permission to probe self­consciously the spirit deeps. The Seminary catalyzes within the College the consciousness which shapes the religious style of the Congregation. In its relationship to the Sodality, the Seminary demands eschatological fidelity, judging impulsive missional responsiveness in the light of the eternal Word. At the same time, the Seminary enables the Sodality by equipping it with intellectual and practical tools from the wisdom of the Church and the world. The Sodality is enhanced and stimulated because the Seminary teaches the images of historical pioneering and puts the contemporary imperative in a destinal context. Only when the Seminary has expression in effective, vigorous forms is the Congregational dynamic present in the Local Church.

Stvlization

FORI IM

In7aoinization

Svn7bolization

30. Social change dynamics are always embodied in structures. In the future, some of these might be: .

1. An Urban School Project in which teachers are creating life in the public schools as actors who fill full dead structures with more meaning than they can contain.

2. A network of councils and consultations which would allow a constant sharing of collective wisdom in the form of data retrieval and new plans.

3. A recruitment network to mobilize the forces of the community.

These three structures embody the three Guild dynamics of actualization, visualization, and power mobilization.

31. The Forum is the dynamic in which consciousness is intentionally created and the mindset of the community thus reprogrammed. The Forum consists of Stylization, Imaginization, and Symbolization. Identifying with a global self­understanding and intentionally being disciplined is Stylization. The bombardment of new images against the reduced pictures of life is Imaginization. The intentional use of myths, rites, and icons is Symbol ization.

32. Self­conscious participation in life is human Stylization. It relates to the Forum by embodying the human style necessary for the glabally related community of the future. It reveals what the Parish has decided to become, then directs it in becoming that reality. Stylization gives it new images out of which to operate. It is the embodiment of images which tell it what it is. When life images are inadequate, new styles emerge to demand that new life pictures be created. Stylization relates to Symbolization by embodying the universal humanness contained in its myths, rites, and icons which will enable new styles to come into being.

33. Imaginization relates to the Forum by providing the images for its programs. Since the image of life which a community shares determines its understanding of everything that happens, changing images reprograms the mindset of the community. By setting images in the broadest possible context, Imaginization insists that only symbols have the power to sustain the life picture of global consciousness. The images and pictures are concretized and dramatized in symbols and myths. The bounds of Imaginization are expressed in style. The possibility of resetting those boundaries and actually living at a global edge is present only with intentional discipline.

34. Symbolization relates to the Forum by exposing the dehumanization of reduced style, offering the possibility of a depth human style, and promising a new style which will come into being. Symbolization, by exploding old images, exposes reduced life pictures and enables the development of new unlimited life image possibilities. By giving concrete form to images, symbols objectify parochial life images, enable creation of new life operating images, and give them life. New possibilities are offered when Symbolization breaks illusions and gives new forms to reality. Symbolization requires that humans be conscious of their relationships. It holds that consciousness in concretion, and it allows authentic humanness to emerge.

35. Mindset reprogramming dynamics are always embodied in structures. In the future, some of these might be:

1. A museum of world cultures, exposing all people to the various cultures and enabling a new life style of globality.

2. An Imaginization center, offering new images for the total community.

3. A Mobile Story­teller's Union, giving communities a means of holding themselves in consciousness through symbolizing their self­identity. These three structures embody the three Forum dynamics of Stylization, Imaginization, and Symbol ization.

quild

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II. THE PARISH

21. Love for a particular piece of geographical social reality is a dynamic that has always been present in history. We name this dynamic the Parish. This love has been expressed through the restructuring of inadequate social structures, giving images of humanness more fully lived, and radical caring for people. We name these dynamics the Guild, the Forum, and the Stake.

22. The Guild relates to the Parish and to the internal dynamics of the Parish. It demonstrates the inadequacy of present Parish structures by its very action. By performing a signal action, it provides a vision of the redemptive possibility of changing those inadequate structures. It calls the overlay of love into being by demanding relevant activity. The Guild provides a concrete test of the symbolic and intellectual framework in relation to the Forun, dynamic, illuminating where this framework is inadequate to meet the present situation. It redeems the Forum dynamic by calling for new images. It calls the Forum into being by demanding visions and strategies for its activity. The Guild is constantly calling into question the failure of the Stake to expend its power in necessary actions. Yet it also is redemptive of the Stake by actualizing human hopes and aspirations. Finally it calls the Stake to intentionality by demanding it use its forces to impact inadequate structures.

23. The dynamic of the Forum within the Parish is one of secular evangelism, which points to the Forum directing the Parish in its stylistic, imaginal, and symbolic life. This image will be clarified by describing the relational dynamic of the Forum to the Parish and the Form to the other two facets of the Parish: the Stake and the Guild. With regard to the Parish dynamic the Forum widens the context of the Parish to the global and to the particular. This is accomplished through the use of symbols and images that carry both the judgment and the radical life possibilities of the Parish. The Forum enables the Parish to live humanly through meaningful rituals. Relative to the Stake dynamic the Forum calls the parochialism of the Stake into question. The Stake gives a vision of redefined relationships to the Parish and to the world; the Forum redeems the Stake from its parochialism. The Forum continually struggles to reprogram the r iindset of the Stake toward the intentional, the futuric, and the comprehensive. Within the Guild dynamic the Forum points out the inadequacy of the existing structures. At the same time the Forum provides an intellectual framework from which the Guild obtains perspective on the problems. The Forum demands concretization of the insights of the Guild, thereby forcing it toward the creation of

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24. The Stake calls into question gathered groups within the Parish and demands that they be responsible. It demonstrates the possibilities of radical caring and demands of the Parish continual renewal of the overlay of love. Relative to the Guild dynamic the Stake exposes the human needs of the Parish. Meeting those needs demands that the Stake provide the necessary human resources. Then the Stake calls the Guild to expend itself structurally in radical caring. The Stake presents situations to be named to the Forum. To enable the Forum to know those situations, the Stake provides contemporary descriptions. From this the decision demanded of the Stake is to take responsibility for its task.

25. Any historical transition requires not only theoretical models, but practical strategic methods. The three types of transformational methods which the People of God have always used are penetration, formulation, and permeation; each of which exists in the Local Church dynamic. Operating locally is related to all three methods but most specifically to penetration. To penetrate is to deal with a defined area. Penetration is not possible on geography in general. To penetrate in an effective manner is comprehensively to break open all that is contained in the area to be penetrated, i.e. all the problems and all the ages. The

~. 7~rP

vision of the future. The Cadre is required by the Congregation to acknowledge and honor its heritage. The Congregation further demands that the Cadre provide that depth spirit care which alone enables the Congregation to be that embodiment of the Word in action which it has seen itself called to be. It provides the tools, facilities, and troops which forge the Cadre's vision. The Congregation creates the climate of moral concern within the Parish that enables those not formally within the community of faith to lay down their lives on behalf of all. The Congregation forces the Parish to deal with actual sociological structures and the particular wisdom of the Congregation's heritage. It formulates and interprets the story of the Parish. The Congregation is the sociologically manifest part of the Local Church which maintains in history the truth about life and transmits its particular gift to the community.

14. Wherever the People of God transparently embody the Word and stand as the undefeatable core of the Local Church in catalytic relation to the Congregation and Parish, there is the Cadre. As the leadership of the Local Church, the Cadre, in all its actions, radicalizes human experience. It constantly unveils the depths of humanness in the lives of men. As the guardians of the mystery, the Cadre is that group which reveals and stands before the uncontrollableness of life itself and the struggle for the new creation. The Cadre affirms the presence and activity of its other revolutionary colleagues in the humanizing process that is the Parish. In the midst of this collegial relationship, the Cadre perceives the depth human problems of the community and guides the Parish fully to recognize and respond to them. The Cadre maintains its right to say a necessary "no" to that which is reduced and insists upon the responsible deployment of forces in accordance with the Parish model. The Cadre embodies the demand of history that the Congregation be the relevant presence of the Word addressing itself to a particular situation at a specific time. The Cadre places itself in covenantal relation to the Congregation, radically affirming the possibilities inherent within this structure of the People of God. Developing the necessary methodologies, the Cadre allows the Congregation to discover and relate its unique gifts to the Parish. It is that group which embodies the demand to be utterly involved, committed and responsible to the Congregation and Parish, yet retains free detachment with final accountability only to the Lord of history.

15. Those who lay down their lives in a particular community for the well­being of every man are functioning as the Local Church. The Parish structures function in a specific delimited geographic area to solve all the problems of all the people. They deal with the depth human problem, using a specifically created symbol system. The network of missional structures, which are the Congregation, plan for mission, educate the people, and care for the spirit life. The Cadre functions as a corporate ministry to produce the leadership of the Congregation and Parish by developing methodologies for missional action, teacher training, and spirit care. The old structures of the Local Church, most commonly conceived of as bureaucratic and administrative congregational institutions, are giving way to structures that enable comprehensive care of a particular community in the midst of global concern.

HISTORICAL CHRISTIANITY

16. Historical Christianity is manifest as a self­conscious practice of symbols which allows the self­conscious being of the People of God to be radically exploded. Three inseparable but radically distinct poles of activity comprise the dynamic of Historical Christianity: Ecumenical Christianity, Pluriform Christianity, and Movemental Christianity. Ecumenical Christianity is the "to the end of the earth" passion of Historical Christianity. It is the drive toward an utterly catholic mission, the realization of one apostolic witness, and the sacramentalization of awe in all creation. Pluriform Christianity is the established memory, nurturing, and training within Historical Christianity. It takes on many forms of diversity: diversity in relation to many types of social situations, to the sense of life of the people

Latent

Religious

Established

Religious

Intentional

Religious

Religious, and the Intentional Religious. Those who respond first to human need not being met by the structures of society and reach beyond those structures for new possibilities are the Latent Religious. Those who coalesce that response and the wisdom emerging from it, and create the comprehensive models of the future, are the Established Religious. They preserve and transform the new models of social reality in order to organize the reformulation of human society. The Intentional Religious are those who reveal the edge of human consciousness to mankind by standing present to the perpetual discontinuity of mystery in the civilizinq orocess.

7. In socially sensitive response to human suffering, the Latent Religious People of God are seen. These are the ones who lay down their lives in the struggles for human justice, protesting against dehumanizing institutional perversions. They identify in their struggle the contradictions in the social order, and begin the modeling of the new order. They see the new society coming into being, and reach out for that possibility. The Latent Religious dynamic strips away the false images and illusions of the social order held by the Established Religious. It proclaims judgment, as it enacts in flesh and blood the ideals being articulated by the Established Religious. It forces the Established Religious to deal with the new imperatives of the times. The Latent Religious dynamic releases the dynamic creativity of the Intentional Religious. It forces a here­and­now concretization of the life style pioneered by the Intentional Religious. It carves out the arena in which the life views and newly invented patterns of the Intentional Religious may be embodied The Latent Religious dynamic continually holds before the People of God the imperative of social awareness, justice, and equity and continually points to the possibility of expending life on behalf of humanity's future.

8. Where human wisdom is being appropriated, conserved, and built into new social structures, there are the Established Religious. These are the ones who organize themselves intentionally to build the required social structures. They anchor themselves in the social order as the repository of the human heritage. And they concretize the significance of the heritage in particular forms, stories, and communities of concern. The Established Religious dynamic provides cultural identity to the Intentional Religious, so giving birth to its struggle to create new human styles. It demands a decision of the Intentional Religious to be accountable to present wisdom and structures in its efforts to deepen and intensify humanness. It supports the Intentional Religious by allowing it freedom of expression, nurturing its struggles, and recognizing its gifts. The Established Religious dynamic provides the milieu of historical grounding and the fertile soil of idealism in which the social reform action of the Latent Religious takes root. It demands seriousness and comprehensiveness of the Latent Religious by exposing the inadequacies of its plans and structures, forcing it to deal with the power of the social order. Finally, it conserves, refines, and transmits insights to clarify the vision and provide general direction to the Latent Religious. The Established Religious as an ever­present dynamic of the People of God makes available the wisdom of the past and insists on commitment to the present order for the shaping of the future.

9. The embodiment of the life styles of new humanness in history is the activity identifying the Intentional Religious. These are the ones who experiment internally on the raw edge of human consciousness. Their disciplined solitary struggle opens up and intensifies new possibilities of patterns for human life. They continually hold before the awareness of men the eternal awe and dread of the abyss in the midst of human existence. The Intentional Religious pioneers new styles that affirm and appropriate the signal acts of the Latent Religious. The Intentional Religious dynamic exposes the futility of short­signted and non­focused activity. It creatively releases manifold possibilities of sociality for the Latent Religious to thrust into the new social order. From its research into primordial humanness, the Intentional Religious dynamic demands of the Established Religious a whole new grounding of present institutions in the past. BY its radical vision and intentional style.

Universal Religious

L ocal

Church

1. THE PEOPLE OF GOD

1. The People of God is that sensitive and responsive part of the human race which continually stands between the No Longer and the Not Yet, and with its whole being appropriates the heritage of the past and forges the future on behalf of all men. This, the People of God, is the key dynamic of all civilization, from the beginning to the end of history. The People of God is that enduring presence in history which responds first to God, altering the structures of life to meet and care for every human problem, and saying to every human being that his life is good and can be lived as it is. The People of God is a happening, a process, a social dynamic, and can never be reduced to the structural forms which it necessarily takes upon itself in history, whether these forms be cultures, institutions, groups, or religions. Three inseparable but radically distinct poles of activity comprise the whole People of God: The Universal Religious, the Local Church, and Historical Christianity. The Universal Religious is the ever­recurring response to the edge actualities of the historical process. It is the expression of authentic humanness in action. The Local Church is the interaction of enduring humanization within particular communities. It is the locus where individual lives are transformed in all their concrete dimensions. Historical Christianity is the self­conscious embodiment of being the People of God. It emerged in its fullness in the Jesus Christ event, but is historically present wherever the secret that life is absolved and open for the future is self­consciously made the basis of existing.

2. That dynamic within the People of God which is always responsive to the need for change in history, though never naming the Name, is the Universal Religious. It is described by its relationship to the People of God, to the Local Church, and to Historical Christianity. First, the Universal Religious serves the People of God by sensing the conditions of existence which deny humanness, by making the structures of society vulnerable because of its pointed awareness of their inhumanity, and by constantly pointing beyond the present into the future. Second, because the Universal Religious focuses its attention and concern on the depth human problems of the day, it exposes the illusions of the Local Church. Thus, for example, the Black Power movement in the United States has exposed to the Local Church its illusions about its inclusive love. The Universal Religious further demands that the Local Church become involved with radical, specific human problems, threatening its static existence. The Universal Religious, by its response to the edge issues of history, sensitizes the Local Church to the relevant issues of its particular situation. Third, the Universal Religious calls forth a depth spirit response from Historical Christianity by presenting the relevant issues in society. By leading the way into social battles, it demands that Historical Christianity concretize its dedication. Thus, when the Universal Religious makes it clear that hunger is a crucial social issue, Historical Christianity joins in the concrete deed of alleviating innocent suffering. The Universal Religious, as self­conscious, need­oriented men for others, provides general direction for Historical Christianity. The Universal Religious, then, unceasingly demands that all churchmen sense after the imminent future and invent the social models which will bring justice to all men.

3. That dynamic within the People of God which grounds humanness in every community is the Local Church. It is described by its relationship to the People of God, to Historical Christianity, and to the Universal Religious. In the first place, it is the Local Church which provides continuity with the past by being an uninterrupted presence in particular locations. It also provides the People of God with a depository or memory bank for its wisdom by continually grounding the depth human issues. Furthermore, by forming and nurturing the style of successive generations, it transmits the heritage of the People of God through history. Second, the Local Church gives birth to Historical Christianity. Paul, Augustine, Luther. Loyola. and all the heroes of Historical ChristianitY were nurtured by the Local