[Oe List ...] Our Legacy: Next Steps?

[Len Hockley]

Nancy and All

I ran across the following in the Repository which I found relevant to 
our discussion.


      Community: An Order Legacy

Fred Lanphear

Our family interned in the Indianapolis House in 1971. We were committed 
to the mission of the Ecumenical Institute and in the process, we 
discovered community. The communal style of living we experienced was 
not imaged as an end in itself, but rather a vehicle to more effectively 
enable the mission to be actualized. It became increasingly evident, as 
the mission unfolded, that sustaining the integrity of the community was 
foundational to accomplishing the mission. In retrospect, a primary 
legacy of the Order Ecumenical is the experience of living together in 
intentional community. It was a community of individuals whose lives 
were transformed and who continue to catalyze social change across the 
world.

Leaving the home we had built for us in a suburban development in West 
Lafayette, Indiana to move into a communal setting in the inner city of 
Indianapolis was not an easy transition. Our three children, ages 4, 8, 
and 10, would tell you it was very difficult. They were the only 
Caucasian children in their class. The teacher of our blonde-haired son 
Bruce called him her "little dandelion". As the minority kids, they 
experienced some understandable reluctance and fear of going to school.

One of the difficult transitions for us as adults was leaving our secure 
lifestyles and being faced with the daunting task of finding jobs to 
help support the community. As we were often re-assigned from one city 
to another, the task of finding new jobs and re-locating the children in 
new schools was a re-occurring dilemma. When our assignments took us 
into third-world countries and the children reached an age when they 
were not with us, the difficulties intensified. What sustained us in 
these settings were the intentional community patterns that established 
a strong cultural context and practices that gave meaning to everything 
we did. Nancy and I have carried these patterns with us as we 
participate in creating community in the work place and in our 
residential community.

The community patterns were designed to provide a sense of balance to 
our lives. There was time set aside for family and discontinuity as well 
as time for study and work. Rituals, or rehearsing the context, the why 
of what we were doing, was foundational to the community patterns that 
sustained us. Singing was another daily activity that nurtured us as a 
community. There were occasions to honor the individuals in the 
community as on their birthdays and at other times of transition or 
rites of passage.

At the core of our life together was a willingness to trust. We relied 
on each other, whether that was in taking responsibility for our various 
tasks in mission or in taking care of each other's children. Nancy and I 
had the honor and challenge of being legal guardians and directors of 
the youth program with 30-35 adolescents. We were very clear of the 
trust that had been placed in us by the parents of the youth, just as we 
had entrusted others to care for our own children. This was not a 
"blind" or naive trust. It recognized our human propensities, our 
vulnerabilities, and then acted in ways that took this into account, 
such as assigning individuals with compensating strengths to balance the 
weaknesses of others.

As important as trust was the willingness to forgive. We were confronted 
daily with the reality that our community consisted of individuals with 
many imperfections. No matter how well intended we were, each of us 
contributed our dysfunctional patterns into the daily life of the 
community. Some were subtle, others stretched our capacity to forgive.

There was a bit of fear and trepidation whenever we took on a new 
assignment and found ourselves living together with individuals and 
families with different lifestyles and perspectives. In India, we were 
often the only Westerners living with 15 to 20 young Indian village 
staff. Yet what we discovered was, that not only did we have the ability 
to flex and adapt, but we came to trust and deeply appreciate our 
colleagues and their children. They became our extended family. We ate 
together, sang and celebrated together, shared stories about our lives 
with each other, as we engaged in our common mission of caring for the 
villages of India.

After 17 years of being with the Order Ecumenical we re-entered the 
mainstream and began forging our own life patterns and sense of mission. 
In returning to the states in 1989 we wanted to continue living in 
community. I began to realize that creating community had become my 
life's work. This calling is in response to the sense of 
disconnectedness that has emerged out of the individualism of the latter 
part of the 20th Century. Community is about establishing meaningful 
relationships and authentic connections of self, family, friends and 
colleagues.

*Community in the Work Place:* Creating community in the work place has 
been a challenging and meaningful task. In 1989, we left our last Order 
assignment in India and came to Seattle where we began searching for 
jobs. I was fortunate to secure a position as the CEO in an acupuncture 
school. When the clinic receptionist position opened two weeks after I 
started work, Nancy took it and became an integral part of a 10-year 
journey of creating community where we both worked.

The central purpose of the school was the academic training it provided, 
but the heart of the institution was the community clinic and the caring 
service it offered to anyone regardless of their ability to pay. As the 
school grew and was able to expand its clinical services it established 
clinics to serve refugees, addicts, homeless youth, elderly, low-income 
groups, and inmates of a minimum-security jail. There was a clear sense 
of mission and significant opportunities for all of us to act out our care.

Maintaining a sense of community was not easy. We established a 
participatory style of management with a consensual form of 
decision-making as a core dynamic. In the initial years, financial 
constraints and individualistic patterns were major challenges. As the 
institute began to flourish, the stress of rapid growth and development 
became the central challenge. In addition to the strong sense of 
mission, there were other dynamics put in place that were crucial to 
sustaining the community.

Developing a culture that enhanced relationships was crucial. Even as 
our student body tripled and our patients were over a thousand at any 
one time, we worked at greeting each person by name. We incorporated 
rituals and practices that honored the significance of each individual, 
not only in the work place, but in their personal lives. Birthday 
celebrations included asking "Order" questions of significant events of 
the past year and challenges for the coming year, followed by 
affirmations. Graduation also incorporated affirmations of each 
graduate, initially done by Nancy, but in later years the students did 
it themselves.

Establishing a culture that balanced the needs of the individual with 
the needs of the larger community was the fundamental challenge. Core 
values centered around trust, expecting the best of each employee and 
doing whatever was necessary to empower personal responsibility. These 
expectations were informed by participatory strategic planning resulting 
in clear objectives for each of us. Accountability, accompanied by 
appropriate affirmation and practical forgiveness when necessary, helped 
keep us on course.

Undergirding all of this was a focus on spirit. Creating and telling the 
story of who we were and what we were about as a healing and learning 
community was key. Creating meaningful symbols and surrounding ourselves 
with art reminded us of our Asian cultural connections. Publications 
conveyed an image consistent with our uniqueness. All of this was about 
building a sustainable community culture.

*Residential Community:* Creating intentional community in our home 
place has been equally meaningful. When we were looking for a place to 
live after India, the one requirement we would not compromise was living 
in community. We would only locate where there was an intentional 
community of which we could become members. The opportunity to be a part 
of the Residential Learning Center (RLC) in Bothell, WA was accepted 
with delight. The mission of the RLC was a continuation of the youth 
program known as the Student House we had been affiliated with in 1980. 
However, it became clear after about one year that this was no longer a 
viable program and a new vision for the community was required.

The following year was a time for study, exploration of other models and 
lots of planning. The vision that grew out of this was a 
multi-generational cohousing community with a biocentric focus, which in 
practice looks like "living lightly on the land". We wrote our values, 
which became our mission statement, and then began inviting others to 
join us. The cohousing model of community was different than we had 
experienced in the Order. It offered a helpful balance between the need 
for privacy and community as each family has its own private dwelling 
and the common house becomes the place for all to gather.

Creating a sustainable community culture has been the primary 
consideration. We spent six months deciding a name that would capture 
the spirit of who we are. It was one of those "aha" occasions when the 
name "Songaia" was suggested. It captures our relation to the earth 
through the Greek goddess Gaia and the fact that we are a community that 
sings. Songaia, "song of the living earth", has been a very sustaining 
symbol for us. Singing itself is an ongoing healing dynamic. It 
signifies our sense of connection and willingness to engage in common 
activities, while symbolizing our collective harmony.

Giving form to our values is a continuing challenge. Gardening, bulk 
purchasing of food, and sharing of resources, e.g. laundry, mower, 
tools, are practical ways we embody our values. Sharing Circles, 
planning meetings, workdays, child-care, and community celebrations are 
a few of the ways we organize and order our lives. Establishing 
structures and individually working at building relationships that 
instill trust and cooperation are the "glue" that sustains us. It is not 
unlike the dynamics of family life. In fact, we consider our community 
to be like an extended family of choice.

Recovering community is not just a dream, it is a necessary context for 
life. The legacy of creating and sustaining community is the purpose for 
making Order spirit methods accessible to all.

-- 09 Mar 2010




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