About the Global Archives

This archive records the collective experience of several thousand people who took an active part in the thinking, organization and actions of the Spirit Movement and the Institutes — the Ecumenical Institute of Chicago (1954), the Order: Ecumenical (1967) and the Institute of Cultural Affairs (1972). The archive also contains materials from the Christian Faith and Life Community at the University of Texas in Austin. For those of you interested especially in the thinking and work of Joseph Wesley Mathews, two volumes are available on Amazon — Bending History Vol I and Vol II. His personal papers are archived at Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC.

Read these caveats before proceeding:  We were ordinary people, but privileged with resources and mindsets that gave us voice. We were eclectic as we borrowed concepts and ideas to give them structure and actions to bring them alive. Most items in this archive are internal documents containing language not in common use today that make up the “whole cloth” of our common  experience – twisting and turning between strategies, spiritual insights and insider remarks.

Today we need story tellers that will bring the insights, wisdom and stories alive.  We need people COMMITTED enough, STUBBORN enough, COURAGEOUS enough to take on legacies and TRANSFORM them before they go dark.  Much as Eliza Hamilton asks at the end of the “Hamilton” production, “Who lives, who dies, who tells the stories?”, the archive files are ‘asking’ for the stories to be told of transformation, of clues for future change in communities, organizations and individual lives. If this speaks to you, write icaglobalschedule@gmail.com or call 312.758.2551, to become a part of this storytelling.