A Change in Pace
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Joseph McCauslin
Mar 13, 2011, 11:48:50 PM3/13/11
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Hello to all my Gnostic Friends:
Today, as Kevin and I sat in the Quaker Meeting House, we had some time to talk about the future of this church and where it is going. From our perspective, it became obvious that what we are doing is not being effective. If we did happen to market ourselves at a festival and a couple of individuals decided to join us tonight at 5 PM to see what we were about, they would simply find Kevin and me hanging out. This is not a judgment call, just an observation that we need to be a bit Darwinian...in other words, we need to either evolve or die, and as Johannites, if we die, we will simply resurrect into something new.
Today's theme was about self-examination, identifying what is no longer serving us and letting it die, creating room for new growth. So far this year, we are averaging 3.2 members per Sunday (3.4 if you count children). Members are tithing an average of $6.36 per week, which is $1.06 per member per week. This is not enough to justify renting the Quaker Meeting House any longer even if it is only twice a month. One reason why we have held onto it is because we wanted a home for an influx of potential members once we got our name out there, however I fear that what they would find is an empty church building, which is not fair to them or to us. Therefore, March 27th will be our very last Sunday at the Quaker Meeting House. After that, all services will be held at the rectory at 135 Lucknow Road in Harrisburg.
In addition, due to these changes, I also feel our goal to "come out of the closet" at the 2011 Central PA Pride Festival is not the wisest or most profitable goal at this point. What we have been trying to do this year is prepare ourselves for those who will come to us with questions and to at least be able to give the feeling that we are stable in our growth and progression. This is why we have been doing book study and practicing meditation, which is the groundwork to all prayer, a necessary step to truly understanding the more intricate details of our actual liturgy. However, the book study is slow because the reading is not getting done before hand and last week, nobody showed and without regular attendance for liturgy, it will always be shaky and lacking in solidity, and we will never move past meditation practice. Also our presence there would not be to the benefit of that particular community, but instead it would only be for ours. Until we are an organization that provides for this community in some way, we should instead stay on our own turf. Therefore, I am foregoing us going to the Pride Festival. We just are not ready. We will continue our scheduled calendar as planned. After that we will meet to decide what the future of this organization is before I head out to Conclave.
According to our calendar we will be discussing different modes of praxis and how we can connect with Divinity. To prepare for this discussion, please read pages 55-58 of Living Gnosticism ahead of time. If you do not have these pages, please let me know and I will provide them to you.
In Service to the Sacred Flame: RMJ
Today, as Kevin and I sat in the Quaker Meeting House, we had some time to talk about the future of this church and where it is going. From our perspective, it became obvious that what we are doing is not being effective. If we did happen to market ourselves at a festival and a couple of individuals decided to join us tonight at 5 PM to see what we were about, they would simply find Kevin and me hanging out. This is not a judgment call, just an observation that we need to be a bit Darwinian...in other words, we need to either evolve or die, and as Johannites, if we die, we will simply resurrect into something new.
Today's theme was about self-examination, identifying what is no longer serving us and letting it die, creating room for new growth. So far this year, we are averaging 3.2 members per Sunday (3.4 if you count children). Members are tithing an average of $6.36 per week, which is $1.06 per member per week. This is not enough to justify renting the Quaker Meeting House any longer even if it is only twice a month. One reason why we have held onto it is because we wanted a home for an influx of potential members once we got our name out there, however I fear that what they would find is an empty church building, which is not fair to them or to us. Therefore, March 27th will be our very last Sunday at the Quaker Meeting House. After that, all services will be held at the rectory at 135 Lucknow Road in Harrisburg.
In addition, due to these changes, I also feel our goal to "come out of the closet" at the 2011 Central PA Pride Festival is not the wisest or most profitable goal at this point. What we have been trying to do this year is prepare ourselves for those who will come to us with questions and to at least be able to give the feeling that we are stable in our growth and progression. This is why we have been doing book study and practicing meditation, which is the groundwork to all prayer, a necessary step to truly understanding the more intricate details of our actual liturgy. However, the book study is slow because the reading is not getting done before hand and last week, nobody showed and without regular attendance for liturgy, it will always be shaky and lacking in solidity, and we will never move past meditation practice. Also our presence there would not be to the benefit of that particular community, but instead it would only be for ours. Until we are an organization that provides for this community in some way, we should instead stay on our own turf. Therefore, I am foregoing us going to the Pride Festival. We just are not ready. We will continue our scheduled calendar as planned. After that we will meet to decide what the future of this organization is before I head out to Conclave.
According to our calendar we will be discussing different modes of praxis and how we can connect with Divinity. To prepare for this discussion, please read pages 55-58 of Living Gnosticism ahead of time. If you do not have these pages, please let me know and I will provide them to you.
In Service to the Sacred Flame: RMJ
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