Consolidated Compilation of Spirit United Vision Retreat of Sat, February 18, 2017

PROGRAMMING & FORM FOR SPIRIT UNITED

Sunday Services:

  • Different themes for month or season that is united by our Sunday morning gatherings
  • More Christian Mysticism programming – make this our first focus
  • Continue to involve high quality speakers and musicians
  • Spirit United has evolved past “Interfaith Church” to more
  • Have Sunday gatherings be experiential rather than passive
  • Not churchy
  • Interactive internally and interactive communally
  • Involve community members with readings, etc.
  • Rituals to enhance Oneness with All, Spiritual Life Skill Practice, Ceremony

Programming:

  • Theme for the year for continuity and groundedness
  • Core curriculum of classes/workshops offered (regularly-demand basis)
  • Engage members and friends to share their gifts/talents to provide diverse programming
  • Team up with someone or individually bring a program to SU
  • Create a research project that can generate measurable outcome for living a holistic lifestyle (grant)
  • Retreats to help us remain centered

Language:

  • Move our language from “interfaith” to “Interspiritual”
  • Ground members in strength of core divinity and possibly creating an exquisite, abundant community
  • Stop looking like and acting like a church (Rid of bulletin, church language, marketing and documents)
  • Have intentional learning initiatives and extend the outreach for them and current programming

Wellness Center

  • Well-being Center form
  • Multicultural spiritual center
  • Wellness topics – body, mind, spirit
  • Increase healing services

Other Event – Not Necessarily Sunday Services

  • Afternoon/Evening Gatherings
  • Classes
  • Book Study Groups
  • No leader (guru)
  • Discussion and exploration
  • Participation
  • Rituals
  • Goddess Circle and / or quarterly Goddess events or rituals
  • Ceremony
  • Guest Presenters
  • Regular monthly Sunday evening events
  • Expo’s
  • Drumming
  • Conduct Discovery groups to explore and understand programming ideas, needs and desires of community
  • Social, Environmental, Economic, etc. Activism to open hearts
  • Regular Concerts
  • Kirtan
  • Other musical guests
  • Meet in other more conducive space – Off site of 701 Lexington Ave.
  • Events & Classes, Retreats & Experiences
  • Small group discussion gatherings
  • Coffee shop
  • Homes
  • After Sunday morning
  • Weekly gatherings PLUS interwoven network of programs and places
  • Have a “Both” “And” Structure to invite creative, loose and flexible organization – many sacred circles
  • Collaborations on and off our 701 site

SPIRITUAL FACILITATION – MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP

Leadership Form

  • Hire someone to keep things fluid, connected
  • Execute the business of SU
  • Keep integrity
  • Support shared governance of growth and development of the community
  • Paid position
  • Direct/Administrate community business
  • Coordinate Sunday events
  • Works with Sunday morning gathering committee
  • Heart centered, shared leadership organizational skills
  • Active in the community of Spirit United – attends Sunday morning and Events
  • Have a Group of Spiritual leaders who provide experiences rather than talks regularly AND adopt SU as their community so they are intrinsically connected
  • Facilitate shared governance training while aligning the sessions with intentional creation of abundance and growth
  • Spiritual synergic problem-solving through group prayer process

Spiritual Facilitation

  • Have a complementary spiritual teacher to come regularly like one time per month
  • Have a group of spiritual facilitators – 6 or 7 of diverse backgrounds/cultures who understand the Divine Mysteries and evoke the unfolding new story
  • Team of Counselors who are part of our community rather than just stop in on their week to present
  • Task executive leader with others to be in SU community and a larger spiritual community to evoke collaboration, partnership and over all unity
  • Have a Sunday morning spiritual gathering committee to plan Sunday mornings, invite and secure speakers and musicians, set annual and monthly themes
  • Ron stay part of the leadership team for his expertise, spiritual strength and wisdom as we move forward

Council of Stewards

  • Have more people on the Council
  • Have meetings open to guests to contribute ideas and concerns

GENERATING SUBSTANTIAL INCOME

Rental Income $$

  • Seek instructors, presenters to rent & give 40% of their income to SU
  • Increase number of renters & events
  • Expand advertising
  • Utilize our space all day and evening on Sundays and one Saturday each month
  • Increase fundraising events – kirtan, drumming, speakers, creative workshops
  • More frequent
  • Simple
  • Those who organize have a passion for it
  • Use free space in the greater community for meetings and events – i.e. Wilder, libraries, etc.

Program Fees - $$

  • Facilitate ongoing workshops, events and gatherings that generate revenue from participants
  • Cover charge for special programs, events, people on Sunday mornings instead of having an offering
  • Bring in well-known spiritual teachers regularly
  • Have weekend seminars for a fee

Culture of Abundance - $$

  • Create a clear mission that the community members and beyond want to support financially
  • Create a culture of giving support
  • Teach principles of abundance -vs- poverty
  • Class or each week on Sundays
  • Be more clear about the need for $

Grants - $$

  • Write Grants
  • Collaborate with other communities (Bush Foundation Innovation Grants)
  • New projects that are supported by the mission statement
  • Research
  • Write
  • Evaluation
  • Use 501c3 to secure program grants to further the SU mission
  • Utilize the ideas Dr. DEW talked about with us

Collaboration - $$

  • Trim the budget of unnecessary expenses
  • Collaborate with like groups
  • Large concerts – use more than one organization for work force – split proceeds

Product Sales - $$

  • Ongoing revenue producers that require small volunteer efforts (i.e. blank greeting cards)

BUILDING & GROWING COMMUNITY

Partnership with Communities Outside of SU

  • Other Organizations-Collaboration
  • Take programming (events/classes) to other organizations to promote SU
  • Co-sponsors events with other non-profit organizations
  • Link and integrate with other community groups
  • Greater community healing gatherings available on a regular basis where healers outside of our community are included – do a sampling for reasonable fee/donation to SU
  • Cultivate partnerships with other groups – like Spirit Walkers to have them promote us as we promote them
  • Outreach
  • Advertise in the Midway Monitor
  • Promote on computer and flyers
  • Focus on the neighborhood
  • Spring social on the lawn this spring to attract neighbors
  • Volunteer in the Greater Community
  • Wear SU clothing to help people notice us
  • Talk about SU with other like-minded people
  • Contact people on the members & friends list
  • Inquire about attendance
  • If not attending regularly, why not
  • If attending regularly, what keeps them engaged
  • Ask about wanting to remain on the list
  • Check email address – update
  • Check phone number options need
  • Check address accuracy
  • Generate a survey to gather interests and ideas for Sunday mornings
  • Have discovery small group sessions
  • What community to look like
  • Express through SU
  • Facilitate community building intention and training with practice elements

Marketing – Advertising

  • Look at all advertising, publicity and information to see Spirit United to omit SU Interfaith and Church
  • Focus on Website and YouTube – blog and sampling
  • Signs and Banners to help folks find us
  • Newsletter has a spotlight of one community member either weekly or monthly
  • Interview how they are helping the global transformation

Events & Small Groups

  • Hospitality – Welcoming New People when they arrive
  • Potluck dinners
  • At SU
  • Study and activities
  • Breakout event
  • Dances
  • Singing
  • Educational
  • Book study
  • Spiritual Music Concert
  • Regionally in people’s homes
  • Study and activities
  • Specific Healing/Support Groups
  • Limited time frame or ongoing to open the conversation
  • Addiction in its many guises
  • Study groups
  • Family members, et. al.
  • Intimate collaborative connection – connectivity
  • Person to person
  • On-line interactive
  • Meet people where they are
  • Gather around specific ideas, courses or activities
  • Portable labyrinth – canvas
  • Visual arts and crafts fair