Mission-Centered Partnership

Unity Santa Fe

“Our Co-Creative Journey for a SpiritGroups Mission-Focused Ministry:

Two Key Movements

 

  1. A movement in ministry transmission from…

 

seeing the minister as the main focal point /arbiter/transmitter of the spiritual community’s message/spiritual principles and provider of pastoral care…

                                                   to

the community assuming a co-partnership with the minister in that transmission, principally by adopting a SpiritGroups ministry infrastructure to directly support the mission of “raising consciousness, transforming lives, and healing the plant.”

 

 To facilitate this co-creative journey, a community…

 

  • takes on a larger responsibility for communicating the ministry’s message and spiritual principles as well as taking on a bigger role in offering pastoral care.
  • becomes active owners/partners as compared to passive receivers.  A shift from observation to participation/collaboration.  Specifically through SpiritGroups as a core venue for the transmission of the Unity Santa Fe’s mission.
  • understands that while the minister is no longer considered at the epicenter, the minister is nonetheless an essential resource and participant with specific organizational and spiritual responsibilities pertinent to the role of minister.

 

“The classic structures of Christian transmission are breaking down.”

 --Cynthia Bourgeault

 

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you are to love one another.”

 --Jesus speaking to the apostles at the Last Supper. He wants to prepare the apostles to move them from seeing Him as the earthly transmitter of the Good News to their being the transmitters—with, of course, the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Think Pentecost!)

 

  1. A movement in levels of consciousness from …

 

a conditioned mind [egoic consciousness] to  open-hearted, pure awareness [Christ consciousness].

 

A conditioned mind often sees the world through…

 

 

                                                                                                                                      1.

  • a consciousness of fear, separation and disease

 

  • a tense, restless consciousness given to complaint, thoughts of lack, and an arrogant resistance to life’s unfoldment

 

  • a consciousness which is addicted to telling stories that argue with life, saying “I/others/the world should be showing up differently.”

 

  • a consciousness that also says, “I know better how life should be operating than this universe, which is continually making mistakes.”  

 

Open-hearted, pure awareness, on the other hand, is graced with…

 

  • a consciousness of infinite love, oneness and healing.

 

  • a peace-filled consciousness that fully relaxes into the freedom of allowing all of life to be as life is.

 

  • an ever-blessing consciousness of gratitude, unlimited abundance and a humble surrender to life’s perfect unfoldment, seeing every life experience as a gift for our highest good.

 

  • a welcoming consciousness that continuously says, “Yes, thank you!” to how life is showing up.

 

A community committed to living a consciousness of heart-centered, pure awareness…

 

  • cultivates a unitive seeing—that is, a single eye—which honors and holds diversity/particularity/polarities in the arms of infinite love. Specifically, a community that follows St. Paul advice to “Put on the mind of Christ”—Christ, the Eternal Reality of infinite love that is our True Nature.

 

  • hungers for something bigger than small, egoic-self achievement/advancement. It desires to make a difference in the world—for example, spiritual social action.

 

  • avoids falling into a consciousness of victimhood (e.g. “Life is against me” duality and drama) for a full embrace of life. Life is seen as unfolding perfectly (i.e., whole, complete, non-dual) for the highest good. As Gary Simmons writes, “Our life is always for us.”

 

                                                                                                                              2.

  • develops an appreciation of living in an ever-present abundance as Source Energy (i.e. “One Divine Self” in movement) rather than living in lack/not enough. Expressions of gratitude abound.

 

  • understands that a conditioned-mind consciousness is heavily marked by “I/others/life should be different” judgments—whereas a consciousness of open-hearted, pure awareness embraces all of life as life is in a continuous flow of loving and being loved. Indeed, when living in an open-hearted, pure awareness we participate in the Trinitarian dance of creation, as described by Richard Rohr in his book The Divine Dance.

 

        

          “We can be assured, that through our individual efforts to raise our own

          Consciousness, we will not only help ourselves live a more balanced life,

          we will also be simultaneously raising the collective consciousness of

          humanity.”

          --Amara Mahdhuri

 

         “The shift from conditioned mind to unconditioned consciousness [pure

           awareness] is what enlightenment is all about.”

         --Adyashanti

 

         “The only way to change the kind of world we experience is to change the

         kind of creative consciousness we have.”

         --Beatrice Bruteau

 

          “As your consciousness is, so is your world.” –Imelda Octavia Shaklin

 

          “When identification with the small sense of self drops away, what remains

           is the spacious heart that is connected with all things.

            --Jack Kornfield

 

         “From an evolutionary point of view, the most remarkable even in the history

          of humanity is the phenomenon of people dissolving their identification

          with the prevailing systems of thought, beliefs, rituals, and practices,

          and entering an experience of unconditioned awareness, which is

          identical for everyone.”

           --Peter Fenner

 

 

                                                                                                                                                      3.

Practices, Programs, Actions and Trainings a la Gary Simmons

to support

“Our Co-Creative Journey for a SpiritGroups Mission-Focused Ministry!”

 

SpiritGroups Circles

 

Annual Membership Renewal

--community memberships and governing memberships

--Requests are made of an individual who wishes to enter membership (e.g. specific community participation, minimum contribution)

 

Shadow/Limiting Beliefs Work (e.g. Q Process Training)

 

Board Training for Board Candidates

--conducted prior to board service with community invited to the training

 

Welcoming/Engaging First-Timers

--guiding a first-timer towards community membership status in six weeks.

 

Sunday Service

--frequently include brief update on progress of “Our Co-Creative Journey for a Mission-Focused Ministry” plus community members’ testimonials of personal transformation.

 

Move from “Tithing as Receiver of Inspiration” to “Tithing as Source of Inspiration”

--Go from 20/80% to 60/80% ratio of community providing contributions for 80% of the operation.

 

MindMovies

--DVD created for each community member to capture in images and sounds community member’s spiritual aspirations, imbued with a heightened feeling state

 

Note:  What we’re already doing at Unity Santa Fe to support Our Co-Creative Journey for a SpiritGroups Mission-Focused Ministry.

 

Prayer Chaplain Program

Loving-Kindness Meditation

Centering Prayer

Healing Service

Small Group Circles

Self-Responsible Communication Agreements & A Healing Circle Process