Laity Council Update Early in June the Laity Council participated in an extraordinary and historic first-time event. We met together in a joint session with the Ministers and Practitioners Council, to share our goals and discover ways that our councils can work together to achieve the greatest good for the organization and its members.
We began work on our own group to bring forward a vision for the year and identify priorities. What clearly emerged from the process was a need to identify ourselves with more clarity. The term “laity” has been a challenge to explain and understand (even more so now that we have men on our “lady” council). So as spirit moved through us as vision, we have a new name and a clear purpose. We are the Member Leadership Council. We represent the general membership, giving them a voice in the organization and providing them with information and resources that enhance their personal engagement in their spiritual community and empower them to expand membership. One way the Council can do that is to reach out with proven resources, such as board development, new member and fund-raising programs and volunteer support resources. Many Centers have developed tried and true programs, so the Council will act as a conduit to collect and distribute those resources to the benefit of all. Our purpose is to grow all aspects of our community by empowering our member base. For example, we recognize that our general members are woefully under-using practitioners. If we can encourage them to access the important services of their practitioners, then that’s what we are here to do. An increase in membership will be a natural by-product of an empowered spiritual community. We will soon be issuing a news release to our communities sharing this message, and we will begin the process of contacting ministers and subject matter experts to see what’s working. We want to engage the general membership by giving them a strong voice in the values survey process and in supporting key events, such as the World Day of Service on September 13, 2014, AGNT Awakened World Film Festival in Santa Barbara and the 2015 Spiritual Living conference in Las Vegas. We are motivated, purposeful and excited for the opportunity to bring our entire community to a place of greater experience and expression. In Light, Love, and Joyful Service |
|
 |
|
By Layne Taylor, Chair