[Oe List ...] Part 1 - Excerpts from the Polity Document

[Janice Ulangca]

Rod Serling used to start his "Twilight Zone" TV programs with this line:  "Presented for your consideration ..."  Then he'd send us off into some weird new world - which might include something from the past and/or something from the future - which is a little how I respond to this extraordinary Polity Document.

The series of essays that is this document are organized into three main sections:  Part One, The Historical Perspective;  Part Two, The Essential Forms; and Part Three, The Futuric Implications.  What struck me as relevant for our current situation was two paragraphs from The Historical Perspective, and a number of paragraphs from The Futuric Implications.  The Essential Forms didn't seem to be enduringly essential! even though there are things to be learned from sections on the Priorship System, the Religious House, the Metro Cadre, the Problem Solving Unit, etc. etc.

Since this is long, it's coming in two parts.  And some of the following sections are not in the order they are in the Polity Document.  You can tell that from the page numbers.  This order seemed to make sense in a quick edit.  This message contains the 2 paragraphs from The Historical Perspective, plus the sections on  The Basic Frame and The Procedural Tools.  The rest of the sections are in another message, Part 2.

One further thing that seems very striking, re the Procedural Tools:  Most, if not all, of this can be communicated via e-mail - a tool we didn't have in 1977.  If we have the will.  And if those who have the experience and the wisdom will step forward and put in their insights.  As Ervin Laszlo says in the final paragraphs of his new book The Chaos Point:  "Our problems are becoming more visible every day, and with each passing day more people are waking up to the need to do something about them.  In a decision window, they can do something about them... Ours is not a time for despair; it is a time for action.  Not short-term remedial action, but action aimed at bringing about fundamental transformation."

Janice Ulangca

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Excerpts from The Order: Ecumenical Polity Document

>From Part One:  The Historical Perspective

>From Section A - The Historical Process  (Page 3)

PAST EXPERIMENTATION
During the past 20 years the Order has organized itself in many ways to come at various facets of the contradict­ion. There has been experimentation with a Permanent House Church and a Presbytery that included Senate, Session and Consistory; there have been ecclesiolas, congregations, teams, Presidiums, Councils, task forces, centrums and collegiums ­ each of which played a role in clarifying the issues of polity and allowing the necessary decisions to emerge as grassroots consensus, rather than hierarchically imposed directives. At times the forms have been cumbersome, at times the operations slow, but generally they have been effective in allowing the body to move creatively and in disclosing the fundamental dynamics of polity.

KEY FINDINGS

The key insight that has emerged from the years of experimentation is that the particular social forms through which the dynamics of polity operate cannot be solidified for a protracted period without seriously hampering the effective working of the dynamic itself. Because social forms tend to solidify and perpetuate themselves, periodic injections of innovation are required, but never for the sake of devotion to an abstract principle of balance. Polity itself is nothing. It is simply a servant of the task. When the task changes, or when the situation in which the task is to be performed changes, there is cause for a serious rethinking and regrounding of foundational polity forms. 

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>From Part Three: The Futuric Implications

>From Section B: The Inclusive Methodologies

1. The Basic Frame (Page 90)

The mandate which the historical situation has placed upon local man to build the new earth can only be received and acted out effectively when local forces become equipped with the methods that assure comprehensive relevant corporate action. The appropriateness of engaging in significantly directing social change is never a question for awakened local communities. The issue, however, is posed by the inaccessibility to methods which guarantee the effectivity of such engagement. One way to describe the role of the Order is, therefore, that of the guarantor of depth training in the use of the inclusive methods and procedural tools called for by history to perform the necessary deeds of awakenment and engagement.

The inclusive methodologies which the Order has developed over that past 20 years can be organized in a number of ways, but perhaps are most helpfully grouped in relation to three major categories. Each grouping contains practical methods which are directed toward comprehensive, intentional, futuric service. Each, in some fashion, provides fundamental, replicable means for demonstrating the authenticity, freedom and care that define the serving forces in history.

Intellectual methods forge the common images and modes of thinking and pedagogy which expand human understanding. This category of methods rests on the presupposition that mental competence serves effective action in the world. Intellectual methods relate to the operator o f grassroots polity in the degree to which such methods give shape to an adequate context for individuals and groups engaged in the various aspects of local decision making.

Social Methods deal with ways to corporately work, plan and maintain effective common engagement. This category of methods rests on the presupposition that life is expenditure and that responsible living is effective corporate engagement in the necessary deed. Social methods relate to the operation of grassroots polity in the degree to which they equip local forces to think tactically, to forge the commonality required for consensus building and to sustain the group motivity which allows decisions on every level to become implemented.

Piety Methods sustain the individual as a solitary presence, capable of objectifying and acting out profound vocation. This category of methods is grounded in the presupposition that the strength of Spirit which is reflected in the style of steadfast service is dependent upon the designs that enable local man to confront the mystery, depth and greatness of his own life. Piety methods relate to the operation of grassroots polity in the degree to which they allow for the focusing and refocusing of relevant broodings, the rehearsal of foundational resolves and the renewal of decisions for passionate involvement.

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>From Part Three (The Futuric Implications), Section B - The Inclusive Methodologies

2.  The Procedural Tools  (Page 91)

The procedural tools employed in support of the inclusive methods are numerous, and could constitute a document on their own. The following paragraphs represent a selection of the procedures which are foundational to and directly employed in the process of consensus building. Other procedures can well be added to this initial compendium in the future as each bears at least an indirect relationship to the polity dynamic as it influences the Order's operation and mission.

a. The Individual Brooding

The process of decision making begins with the activity of brooding. Brooding is the individual preparation for responsible participation in the corporate stew, or discussion. Brooding is practical, concrete action and, as such, is a form of prayer. It is a solitary exercise during which an unresolved dimension of the common mission is met and wrestled to the point of revealing new clarity about a recommended direction. Brooding occurs both in the midst of, but more frequently around the edges of direct missional engagement. It is most effectively done with a pencil in hand, and begins with lists of concerns, worries, contradictions, blocks, deterrents to the mission. Such lists in their many forms provide the comprehensive context for claiming the particular promise which constitutes brooding as a prayerful act. The specific issues which become the focus for brooding at any one time are characterized by their futuric implications. They are always related to the contradictions which lurk around the corner of tomorrow and which are not consistently apparent in daily task engagement. Yet they are those issues upon `'hose solution the sustained effect of today's engagement depends. Brooding is doing ones homework in pivotal arenas prior to injecting creative stuff into the stew of corporate deliberation. It is the aspect of intellectual discipline which catalyzes the transformation of intuitions into insights representing wisdom, rather than simply opinions or good ideas. It both issues from and is the sine qua non for the Order's deliberative interchange. Brooding symbolizes the decision to embrace divine judgment and see within it the divine mercy which allows the body to creatively move forward.

b. The Context Building

Context building is a critical procedure at various points in the decision making process and is used in a number of direct and indirect ways. Usually the context is formally set at the beginning of a corporate sessions by the assigned leader. In less structured situations the context for discussing an issue can be set indirectly by one or several parties at various points as they deal with various issues. Broader contexts are built over periods of time which extend beyond a single session.

When effectively established, the context significantly shapes the work of the group?. Effective context setting dramatizes that the power in the center of the table is available to all. The function of the context is to delineate the focus of the group's attention in such a way that its motivity and engagement in deliberation is sustained and the relevance and quality of its treatment of the issue is assured. The basic components of any context are as follows: 1) an affirmation of the present situation as the required launching point; 2) an identification of the current contradiction and historical trend which necessitate a response; 3) an indication of the future indicative before the corporate body, and 4) radical permission for the group to make the indicative called for creative response to its imperative.

These components are not intended as procedural steps, but rather as a screen for use in creating and checking a particular context. A context can be as short as one sentence or as long as a brief spin. It never attempts to do the work for which it is intended to set the stage. Its power depends on the degree to which it compellingly presents an image which communicates "we are the ones, now is the time, this is the task "

c. The Foundational Brainstorming

Brainstorming is foundational to consensus building. It taps the objective date and reflective intuitions of the corporate body relative to a particular issue under consideration It elicits the grassroots wisdom which is prerequisite to locally based decision making.

Brainstorming is the procedure by which the individual responses of each participant are called forth to create a bank of data, or raw grist, for inclusive deliberation. The brainstorm is always corporate and rests on the understanding that each person's insight is worthy of tabulation. In this respect brainstorming methodologically grounds the decisional stance of humility before the radical possibility and unconditional openness every situation poses.

The individual items brainstormed by a group in response to a given issue are questioned during the brainstorm only in terms of their clarity (understandibility) or pertinence (obvious) relationship to the issue posed). In general, brainstorming operates out of the basic understanding that every insight is important and acceptable. This guideline encourages broad based participation in consensus building from the outset. A brainstorm often begins by each person in the body offering at least one response, and then additional responses being offered at random. The result of the brainstorming procedure is a relatively comprehensive but unorganized catalogue or listing of clear, relevant responses to a given issue.

d. The Rational Gestalting

Gestalting allows for the rational organization of the raw brainstorm. Related items in the brainstormed list are grouped together into .master arenas which are reflected in the raw data. These groupings are given holding titles which serve as imaginal handles on the variety of items subsumed into each. Gestalting organizes the chaos of possibility so that the group can grasp one picture of the whole entity the brainstorm represents and can then focus attention on paramount and basic components contained within the whole dialoguing about their relationship and relevance to the main issue in question, prioritizing them according to selected values and deciding to employ or bracket the wisdom they represent.

The gestalt arranges data into a holding screen, which offers a fresh perspective on the topic under consideration. It reflects the rational order which explicitly reveals previously implicit, intuited relationships. The gestalt is never imposed or prescribed by a formula; it emerges as a unique creation from the raw data catalogue which has been transformed by the corporate mind. Gestalting releases the body from paralysis in the face of the impact of sheer possibility and enables decisions for action to be made. It is the ordering dynamic in the deliberative process which seizes the plethora of grassroots wisdom available in any moment and drives it with focus into the future.

e. The Corporate Writing

In an age of mass media, consensus building is heavily influenced by the written word. Discussion, spinning, debating and speechmaking, can significantly happen and authentically shape emerging consensus. However, at points,' from time to time, it becomes necessary to anchor the corporate insight of a particular moment in a more objective and replicable form than either individual or corporate memory. It is at such points ­ and these are never prescribed in advance ­ that corporate writing becomes an important tool in decision making.

The product of corporate writing is the body's common articulation of its present insight, including its reading of the current situation and blocks, and its insights about the necessary future directions. It allows for an objective fix on an aspect of the model being forged by the deliberative processes. It marks the journey of the Order toward arriving at consensus. It guarantees that history will benefit from the revelation of a particular moment, and in this way is rooted in the foundational principle of action on behalf of the world.

The procedures of corporate writing are based on the understanding that the corporate mind is as important as individual creativity. The task begins with a group brainstorm which forms the basis of the statement in consideration. The outline is commonly forged and ­the relevant issues of style identified by the whole group. Individual writing is assigned by paragraph or section which, when completed, is corporately critiqued on the basis of a common screen. Revising or rewriting is undertaken on the basis of this, and successive critiquing as called for. Final polishing and editing is done by a small group or one individual on behalf of the group, and then is checked by several from the group at large before publication.

Corporate writing enables the building of the common mind  which is symbolized by consensus. It becomes increasingly important as the Order is more widely dispersed across the world. It ensures the accessibility to and interchange of common thinking to the whole body at any point in the decision making process. In this respect it is crucial to maintaining the network of consciousness that safeguards the Order's globality.

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Janice Ulangca
3413 Stratford Drive
Vestal, NY  13850
607-797-4595
aulangca at stny.rr.com
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