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1975-1976

The Year of Demonstration
Home / A Chronological History / July 1972—June 1976 / 1975-1976
Summer 1975

Global Research Assembly

 

• Created the Town Meeting ’76 (TM) program with the goal of doing 5,000 town meetings during the U.S. Bicentennial.

 

• The Town Meeting Song, Story, and Symbol Workshop was adapted from the Local Church Experiment (LCX).

 

• Launched eight new Social Demonstration Projects.

 

• The Human Resurgence Mission (HRM) was developed.

 

• Images of Faith, Hope, and Love and Those Who Care were predominant.

 

• Initiated Profound Consciousness dialogues.

 

• Presented Sociological Love discourses.

 

• Kemper Village July 4 Town Meeting.

 

• Everyone went to the Soldier’s Field fireworks and attended the play, “The Skin of Your Teeth.”

Town Meeting ’76 used the same format as the Local Community Convocation and looked at challenges facing both the community and the nation. Town Meeting ’76 became a national Bicentennial program officially recognized by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration and was offered in communities under local sponsorship (Town Meeting ’76, 1975).

  Global Council of the Order Ecumenical

 

The Council undertook the first of four years of work on Global Strategy, Memorials, and Priorities: The Three Campaigns.

 

The Council’s spirit undergirding involved The Starets’ Prayer and the concept of Taking Care of Yourself.

 

Rite of Passage (1975)—6th grade trip to the Blackfoot Indian Reservation near Browning , MT

Section 2

Fall 1975

 

The Movement

 

Training, Inc., Oakbrook, DuPage County, Illinois opened in the fall. Training, Inc. is a 14-week office careers training program serving disadvantaged people. It offers a comprehensive training program focused on the developing self confidence through skills mastery. It was created by the ICA in cooperation with the Greater Chicago YMCA. The program uses Imaginal Education to:

 

• Awaken self-consciousness

 

• Develop self-reliance through skills training

 

• Build positive self-images and self-confidence

 

• Give experience in making responsible decisions

 

Trained ICA leadership for the Town Meeting campaign and subsequently trained the first local community workshop leaders for Town Meetings.

 

The Global Women’s Forum was launched. A one-day participatory program designed to address current issues. Held in modules for twenty to fifty participants.

 

Nava Gram Prayas—the “New Village Effort”—was an experiment in rapid Human Development Project replication at the village level, in the State of Maharastra, India (The Institute of Cultural Affairs, 1979).

A Global Trek of the Health Team was conceived during a Continental Meeting in October or November. This was the start of sending special support forces to the Demonstration Projects for acceleration of programs and provided the next avenue of engagement for Guardians.

 

Colleagues went on the last Global Odyssey.

 

Conducted a door-to-door survey and community assessment as a prelude tolaunching the 5th City model. Brainstormed and organized data from the surveyto build a 5th City “Problemat.”