The Guild

REPORT OF THE GUILD FORMATION GROUP

SPRINGBOARD GATHERING, LAKE JUNALUSKA, NC November 30 – December 2, 2007 SATURDAY, MORNING AND AFTERNOON, DEC. 1ST

Group Participants

Jack Gilles Susan Craver David McCleskey David Rebstock Margaret Scott David Scott Bill Grow Bill Bingham Annette Bingham George Walters (Sunday, Dec. 2) Eleanor Kibrick

Data: (a review of morning brainstorm of entire gathering on question, “For the next few hours what do I want to work on in regard to the form of order we are becoming?”

- Formation – order/guilding in relation to needs of the world - Skill set - Challenges and needs of the people that we’re supporting in the world – how to organize skill set – forms – how do we support

Image – order dynamic in relation to guild is held at 4th level as para-vocation – “beyond vocation”. Note: This is a reference to Jack Gilles’ order/guild participation analysis screen. 1st level is “occupied”, 2nd is “engaged”, 3rd is “vocated”, 4th is “para-vocated”.

What are the guilds we are working with and how are they meeting their challenges?:

Circle of Learning - Margaret and David Scott, Montana

Beginning stages – pre-stages – “proto-guild” - guilding happening in the school. At point of trying to connect – had one workshop with teachers – Teaching (white) people about Indians – teach Indian education for all to all. The “Circle of Leaning” is far beyond Indian education for all.

Vehicle to identify those who care – may be moving away “Indian education for all to be inclusive to “indigenous learning” – helping teachers learn about indigenous lifestyles throughout history – needed now in the world –

Parallels between current brain research and global indigenous ways – have common threads about how the brain effectively works.

Experiential learning – outdoors (in part) – what were our experiences and tying to brain research. Genesis for Margaret and Dave – how do we help shape how our teachers are prepared – frustration re: new generation of teachers. There’s a world of difference between authentic education and what’s going on in the schools (data exchange). Authentic education – life changing events – leading to spirit – how to teach this.

Need to bring together a group of teachers who know what they’re seeing – how do we train other teachers? Lots of the teachers had been Margaret’s student teachers – wanting to create way to do that – Need to address vast majority of people in our schools.

Opportunity to be involved with Indian Education for All – use that to take next steps. Who are some new teachers who are in the same context?

Seminar – then could identify teachers at that point. Now what do we do?

All the people in “Circle of Learning” are all full-time doing something else.

Other resources – re: people around the world.

There is a movement in this domain – people taking aboriginal consciousness – into every structure of society.

“Look to the mountain” – Gregory Cajete –

Integral part of the life force behind all things manifest in all things – understood by all indigenous.

Western thought – split – rational (explicit) vs. implicate – need to develop ways to use it and apply to structures including education.

“D’Souza” Project (reported by Jack)

Mary and Cyprian D’Souza interested in setting up Institute in India – meta-guild of education or consciousness creation based on indigenous wisdom.

Local Sustainability – David Rebstock, California

Associated with urban environment and diversity – tutored in school in Sacramento - very diverse – including 2 or 3 kids from Pakistan, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Hmong, Russian and 1 or 2 white kids.

Financial consulting with small company evaluating teaching credentials of people coming from offshore – Mexico, Philippine, etc. Woman doing the evaluating is Russian – president of company is German. Their company keeps growing – evaluating more credentials. This is one area where the diversity is really an economic one.

Looking at contradictions – ecology and environment – needs to be transformation in most industries in this country – food, transportation, energy. All of this transformation needs to push toward the local and the grassroots.

Examples: - community markets exploding in every city in CA – April – November. - Barbara Kingsolver – attracted 1000 people to her book signing - grew her own food and only bought within 100 miles of her home. - All nine cities in Sonoma County have signed on to honor the Kyoto Protocol by reducing Green House gases to 25% below 1990 levels by 2015. This is said to be the boldest commitment by any community in the U.S. - Communities are headed for being responsible for the purchase and production of their own energy. Santa Rosa has made a $2 million plus investment in wave technology research. One resource is the Geysers north of Santa Rosa which provide thermal energy. - There is a great push toward the local – regions (counties) taking responsibility for their own food and energy. - Health care industry – spreading urgent care clinics in communities and away from ER’s. - Large impact of immigration from Mexico – affects health care, education and agriculture. Many restaurants would close down and harvests wouldn’t happen if they were sent back to Mexico.

When talking about transformation – what’s the market – who do we need to transform? In first instance – corporations.

(Four huge guilds – economic, education, health, energy – in this topic.)

There is a need to focus on the local communities and the grassroots for change. They do change their habits/behaviors. There is a need to consider our (ICA) Human Development Programs’ Economic Principles: circulate money, attain a better balance of cash flow and be more sustainable, etc. Every community has Wal-Mart and many outside chains where the money leaves the community and is invested outside the country.

In sustainability, we need to match up the large with the small for sustainability – e.g., at our Yulupa Co-housing we have solar where we offer energy (sell) into the grid and take it (buy) when needed. Every year at year-end we have produced more than we needed.

- Need to have merger between local and global – connectivity.

Prairie Wind Sangha – David McCleskey and Pat Webb, Oklahoma City

David and Pat operate the Silence Foundation in support of this “community of practices”. They have applied for 501(c)3 status.

Their clientele are the general public – network built up over 15 years – silence and art and poetry in school systems and other orgs.

Provide spiritual practices to enable them to be peacemakers in their workplaces, relationships, etc.

Pat – Public school – educational service – got her team of teachers of 6th grade – and do the reflective process – that process has been taken to the national level of Episcopalian schools.

Another related guild activity is Public Alternative Schools being trained in Denver by Oliveann Slotta – training teachers in alternative education to be spirit enablers and imaginal educators.

Training Futures - - Susan Craver – Arlington, VA

A work force development training program - also connected with NOVA. Have grant from Microsoft – unlimited potential program – want to tool up 1 million people to have access to technology – want to put $ into replicable programs.

(Susan just realized for the first time that she has a guild, with lots of resources.)

Need for Susan to become a “guild master” - what would it look like?

How to journey this – it’s urgent – standing on threshold to be able to replicate this model. May shortly get a grant for replication.

She’s the para-vocated order amid occupied, engaged and vocated guiders.

What would sustain Susan – to sustain her so she keeps going – since she’s standing alone?

Aventwest Community Development Corporation - Annette and Bill Bingham are serving five projects in Durham, NC under their umbrella organization, Aventwest CDC:

1. Shalom Zone Ministries – a national project of the United Methodist Church focused on engaging faith communities in promoting peace in their neighborhoods, which include 3 or 4 conclaves of Hispanics in their area. They are part of a network of over 200 such ministries nation-wide.

2. Promotores de Salud – they have trained primarily Hispanic women as lay health advisors who go out and help their constituency have better access to health care.

3. “Good Works”, teaches people in Durham to become entrepreneurs, how to start a business, how to buy a house, etc.

4. School of the Arts – will start to help children who want to learn – playing instruments, dance, theatre, etc.

5. KIDS CafĂ© - After School tutoring program – lots of volunteers to tutor the children – primarily from families that don’t speak English – help them with homework and learning English.

Healing York - Bill Grow, York PA (Also see attached document, “Local Community Portal Guild” based on the Healing York Initiative)

Nancy and Bill became involved when the Initiative was faltering. Description of the Initiative guild, the Order’s support role and next steps are in the attached paper.

The challenges in York are related to the global contradictions as still expressed aptly by H. Richard Niebuhr’s analysis of the “major evils of racism, nationalism and economic imperialism.” In York (and within the guild itself) these are manifested primarily as:

Tight lipped “culture of silence” Members of the guild fear reprisals for telling their stories. Paternalistic leadership doesn’t hold people accountable. Pressure of household and livelihood demands causes bifurcation of commitment.

Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) – Eleanor Kibrick, Arlington, VA

The Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) endeavors to be the “nursing conscience” of the international health community. Nurse-led and working hand-in-hand with existing relevant organizations, NIGH aims to:

create a global network of individuals—drawn from all walks of life—dedicated and working to creating a healthy world;

establish active links between the nursing community and other individuals and groups in society concerned with healthcare and a healthy society;

advocate and campaign for sound and effective healthcare programs;

promote and highlight good practices and case studies on healthcare within the nursing community;

and undertake initiatives, particularly training programs and workshops, to empower and strengthen the capacity of nursing.

The Nightingale Declaration Campaign (NDC) is one of the key programs of the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH).

The Nightingale Declaration Campaign has been created by NIGH to achieve the following key strategies:

1) A grassroots-to-global Nightingale Declaration Signature Campaign. This first strategy is aimed at gathering individual commitments from around the world.

The goal is: at least 2 million electronic signatures — from all 192 member states of the United Nations — between 2006 and 2008.

2) A proposed UN Resolution for an International Year of the Nurse in 2010 — the Centennial of Florence Nightingale's death.

The goal is: the adoption of this UN Resolution for the International Year of the Nurse in 2010.

3) A proposed UN Resolution for a UN Decade for a Healthy World--2011 to 2020 —- the Bicentennial of Nightingale's birth. Building upon these first and second strategies, NIGH will submit these signatures in support of the adoption of this proposed Resolution — by the United Nations General Assembly in November/December 2009.

The goal is: the adoption of this UN Resolution for a United Nations Decade for a Healthy World, 2011-2020 and to commit Member States to the development and implementation of a full-scale plan of action at the national level and to participate globally in a overall action plan, worldwide, with interdependent resources and strategic management leading to 2020, insuring the grassroots-to-global involvement of nurses in all stages of this plan.

In early 2007, the website—www.nightingaledeclaration.net—was created to facilitate individual commitments to the Nightingale Declaration on a worldwide scale, to become a global resource on the relevance of Nightingale’s work to today’s healthcare issues and to be a leading-edge Internet site where the value of nursing’s contribution to human health can be fully demonstrated and celebrated. The site and internet strategy is fronted by the UK-based, Changeways International.

As of October 2007, more than 15,000 individuals have signed the Nightingale Declaration from more than 85 countries and a 1000 have signed on behalf of their organizations and for millions of their members, worldwide. In addition, NIGH and the Nightingale Declaration Campaign have received support from many nursing and health care institutions, medical and scientific experts. These include: The American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and Johnson & Johnson. The Declaration has received endorsement from over 20 schools of nursing. The prestigious Beijing Tiantan Puhua Hospital is the latest institution to endorse this Declaration.

NIGH is administered by a board of directors. An international advisory council, drawn from people from all walks of life, provides strategic advice and support. Information about the board and the advisory council is available on the website.

Literacy for Social Change – Elise Packard, Santa Fe, NM

The Transformational Leadership Lab (TLL) – Jack Gilles, Mumbai, India

In India – number of experiments going on – transformation teams in organizations – worked on skill sets, inputs, nurture that’s required for them to be effective – can draw from these experiments. Those people who were compatible with philosophy and organizational change – create curriculum to generate these kinds of people.

Put hundreds of people through this training, mainly executives.

Worked with several companies in depth –

Cadre that began to arise – became a group of people interacting with one another under TLL leadership – became a guild.

Found themselves caring for those who care.

Over the years – network of colleagues mainly in Bombay – that constitute “changemasters guild”.

Independent of that, Vinod Parekh – did in a different ways – focused on young entrepreneurs – 2nd generation leaders – the Teaching Learning Community (TLC) – change agent group – consciousness is right.

Transformational Leadership Corps is also their name (from Jack).

Vinod introduced Jack etc to them, and Jack began to take the Indian ethos and let them see the gift of their ethos in their situation.

Developed a number of tools shaped around the Indian ethos.

Took Al Gore’s movie and also their families came – had conversation around that. Re: organizational transformational needs.

Company in Rajasthan – TLL graduate – really needs to transform an operation there. Jack got a team for him to work with – Vinod is one of them.

Also – Jack did not want to be paid and wanted at the end of the year – he could decide what it would be worth to him and donate to designated cause.

Process is launched. Bonswara Synthetics Transformation.

Team gathered to talk about the future – The future of the world is in India’s hands where spiritual transformation needs to take the lead. Ravi Toshinval is the managing director and is profoundly vocated, as are 4 to 5 others.

Vinod’s group, TLL and Bonswara demonstration will have a new guild formed. The transformation of the company has to happen in one year.

Part of the future is to train Ravi’s small team to be transformational agents.

U.S. Department of Education Technical Assistance and Dissemination – Marilyn Crocker, West Newfield, ME (see her report on page 12).

What next?

Reflective comments – metaguilds – matrix behind them – interlinked – what is primary – 12 portals – education, environment, health and ….

Need spirit people who understand the world we’re in and what it takes to lead the changes in the transformation.

Equipping and sustaining spirit giants.

Structural reformulation – spirit is the key.

Giving people tools – strategies, etc.

Linking up with people who have the same set of images that empower their capacity to link with one another.

Continuing to develop transformation and networking people to accelerate change.

Susan: Has 5 layers of partnership – what is expected of Susan. She needs colleagues, coaching, nurturing, etc.

Group Brainstorm on Guild Needs

This is what the guild needs from her leadership. (Guildmasters). [Guild is about producing spirit giants (Jack)]

1.acknowledgement – spirit wisdom 2.structure – models to be built 3.courage 4.leadership 5.light touch -sacrifice being right for being open and caring 6.transfer wisdom capacity 7.being a reflective practitioner including modeling, demonstrating, clarifying and questioning 8.facilitation skills adapted to situation – esp. kinds of questions 9.grounding stories that emote possibilities of change and 10.ability to find people who can simplify the complexity up front to the issue 11.consensus training 12.persistence 13.transparentization- see through to the mystery – ability to bleed meaning out of every situation. 14.model building 15.groundedness 16.nurturing 17.dramatization that we’re not alone 18.on behalf-of-ness 19.constant co-revisionist partnership – constant evolving 20.Zorba-hood – be able to handle – when it collapses you dance 21.reinforcement of their intuitions 22.partners dance with me – standing together 23.bravery – to make the decisional questions – decisionality 24.non-positionality or detachment 25.stability in midst of instability 26.bring spirit to everything – 5 S’s of spirit – if spirit is contained in our midst – need to have Silence (centering capacity), Space (how space is the container); Scanning (charting the day); Sound (vibration – spirit is a vibration eg singing, poetry); Symbol (key is story – everything has a story).

What FORMS do we need to think about or create: how might this (addressing needs) be imparted?

Brainstorm: Giving form to our service-hood (where would Guilders go to get support?)

1.spirit chat rooms for those who care out on a limb – virtual coaching 2.project highlights for Nightingale Declaration Campaign (NDC) website 3.demonstration platform 4.speakers bureau or panels 5.targeted consults/spirit colleague problem solving units (PSU’s) 6.Guild Virtual Academy (outcome) 7.Video manuals (for sale) DVD 8.local human support 9.fixed or mobile wayside units 10.St. Francis of the Woods Retreat Center, Clare 11.transparentization hotline – interactive repository 12.Virtual story telling 13.story telling circle (human not virtual) 14.Litibu Center 15.Symbolic dress 16.spirit practices – short courses on-line (click a short course) 17.identify ourselves as what we do/offer/willing to do – resource directory 18.spiritual directors structure 19.a clearing house to acquire spirit support tools – includes a price list

Notes from Sunday’s prep: What if we created spirit tools to have poetry and music, etc that people could buy.

SUNDAY MORNING, DEC. 2ND

Pat Webb joined our group by Skype

Priority and Plans Workshop

What resonates with us from our sharing yesterday?

2 levels – how to support the leadership in a guilding dynamic – how to support the trans-vocated and how to journey the guild (the other 3 levels, i.e., the occupied, engaged and vocated). So many different proto-guilds – could be our working demonstrations. If we got that many just from our table – many more out there. There might be ones be willing to be “guinea pigs” to create format to learn over this period of time. The repository is huge. What we don’t know about what we know is immense. Linkages between people working on same or similar activities. Lots of people who’ve tried things like this – e.g., Peter Senge, Joe Jowarski with U-Group. Important to map what is or has been going on. Where can guilds go to get nurtured, trained, journied? Flexibility and centeredness is a guild need. Para-vocated people don’t walk around wearing a badge – you encounter them by their energy – they’re flexible, resilient, centered and hold steady. Guilds are still learning and yet are willing to share what they already learned and risk it being challenged. How do Guilds need to be and how to sustain and develop that. This is your “hour of power” – find Jack on line. Virtual Coaching is great image – for those who care out on a limb.

Sharing the Wedge blade image between the “no longer” (no longer working) and the risk of the “not yet” (awe-filled, nothing yet to replace the things that worked in the past). Guilding is a way to talk about being “out there” on the point of the wedge in the not yet. Story of two Dominican monks, one a great and talented preacher, the other feeling useless and pleading for a significant role. The preacher gives the other monk the task of sitting at the base of the lectern and supporting the preacher by praying for him. Both “guild master” and “order” changed history.

We need to embody the effulgence of being out there. Create a container to help stay out in the risk zone – beckoners to have people jump out and join us.

What are new insights from yesterday’s work?:

Item 19 on the Forms brainstorm (the clearinghouse): A place to acquire spirit support tools – rituals or poetry or effective quotes that people could acquire. Eg – Bonswara – for first 3 months they had to create a “war room” with a place to highlight their victories, how to be organized and run an effective meeting so something significant happens to spirit – how to set up your space, etc.

Example – David and Margaret Scott are going to bring the Homequists (Bret and laura), from the Circle of Learning, to Litibu for experiencing groundedness and zorbahood in a personal transference of wisdom on simplifying the complex question, what form does the Circle of Learning take now?

This expands the notion of the wayside inn. Global Matre Di – concierge.

The old BUG model of the local church needs to be looked at.: On the left, the interior components of symbolic and study life. On the right, the missional components of justing love (social engagement), witnessing love and presencing love. Re-doing of this holding image of what it means to be a cadre. Every guild will have its own name, e.g. Circle of Learning. Used to do – “who is the church” – giving analogies – What is a guild like – in India it’s like a sangha, like an alliance – people who are going to effect change. The word “alliance” resonates for Margaret. Guilds of the middle ages were the way the bourgeois overthrew the feudal society and were the change agents. Eventfulness and the activity is what people will resonate with rather than a name (like, “guild”).

Individual and Group Brainstorm on Sticky Wall: What items (from our earlier work) do you feel are most urgent in support of your actual guilding that we need to work on in the coming months/year?

After the cards were organized on the sticky wall, the group was asked to initial the cards they would be excited to work on.

The product can be viewed as the chart attachment entitled “Order/Guild Formation Action Priorities.” Most of the actions represent medium and long term efforts, however all the initialed actions are intended to be started by the end of March 2008. A task force will meet at Litibu (Mexico) beginning in early December 2007 to start this process.

Comments on some of the action chart items

Item D3 – Proto-guild assessment process. Example:

1. What is it – how does it operate 2. How it is funded 3. How does it relate to global contradictions 4. What is the Rational Objective/Existential Aim 5. What are the tools – training needed 6. What is its name

Item F4 – Collect avocation stories. Avocation is about your whole life – vocation is about your work

Item C5 – Opportunity response process. This item was initially linked with D3, however it also opens another significant area not directly addressed elsewhere in the action chart: processes that actually introduce the order to the guild, or vv. For instance, some of us (Order) were linked to a guild beginning with a contract, employment or volunteering. On the other hand, some guilds found us. This may need some intentionalizing (akin to a marketing process).

Some additional information, notes and reflections

1. The reports of our guild experience revealed that we are working with guilds in varying states of development and with most of the master portal guilds introduced at Abbey North (health, education, law & justice, the arts, communications/media, environment, development (local community), inter-faith, business/commerce and governance). Also, we are involved with at least three types of guilds in terms of their organization: partnership guilds, network guilds, and specific organization guilds.

2. A special thanks is in order for our scribe, Eleanor Kibrick, for her devoted recording of our working group’s deliberations.

3. At the Junaluska gathering we commented about continuing to identify and collect other examples of guilds. Below is Marilyn Crocker’s contribution submitted 12/05/07:

U.S. Department of Education Technical Assistance and Dissemination

I will say a couple of sentences about the network I have been working to support since the early 90s This network generates most of my specific consulting project contracts.

That is the technical assistance and dissemination network of the US Department of Education that you can view by copying the following website reference, pasting it into your webserver and clicking GO www.rrfcnetwork.org/images/stories/FRC/placemat%20march%202007.pdf

I have worked to support this network, a wide-ranging constellation of process and content centers for over 15 years. At times I work with the directors of the Regional Resource and Federal Centers (RRFC) in facilitation and leadership development. At other times I work with a crossover combination of RRFCs and Comprehensive Centers (CCs) to align planning and implementation across special and general education. I have also conducted strategic planning for various departments and offices of the USDOE. In all of this work I have called upon "our" intellectual, social, spirit and transformational methods. I know that my clients "purchase" me -- the chemistry needs to be appropriate. But I also know that my clients are benefiting from the many decades (1960s - 80s and beyond) of O:E corporate wisdom-development that honed me into a totally "new" human being from the one I might have been if I had never become part of our Order and remained "just another Ed.D."


  • Guild_Action.jpg:
    Guild Action.jpg

  • Guild_Action_2.jpg:
    Guild Action 2.jpg

-- Submitted by Bill Grow


I Attachment Action Size Date Who Comment
Guild_Action.jpgjpg Guild_Action.jpg manage 110 K 31 Dec 2007 - 01:32 GordonHarper  
Guild_Action_2.jpgjpg Guild_Action_2.jpg manage 107 K 31 Dec 2007 - 01:28 GordonHarper  
Junaluska_Guild_Formation_Action_Chart_12-6-07.docdoc Junaluska_Guild_Formation_Action_Chart_12-6-07.doc manage 66 K 24 Dec 2007 - 14:39 BillGrow Order-Guild Action Plan Dec. 2007
Order_Junaluska_Report_from_Guild_Formation_Group.docdoc Order_Junaluska_Report_from_Guild_Formation_Group.doc manage 82 K 24 Dec 2007 - 14:31 BillGrow Report of the Guild Working Group at L. Junaluska Dec. 2007
Topic revision: r1 - 02 Jan 2010, UnknownUser
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