Council of the Order Ecumenical
1983-1984
The Year of Order Council.Summer 1983
September 1983 to December 1984 was named The Year of Order Council. The events of the sixteen months were focused on creating and re-creating the forms, structures and relationships within the Order: Ecumenical community. Over 200 talking papers emerged from this dialogue (The Global Order Council Report. July/August 1984. p. 5)
Rite of Passage (1983)—6th grade trip to the Canadian Boundary Waters
1983-1984
July 1983
• An Academy was held in Brussels, Sharon Turner, Dean. Worked on the transposition and updating of the Academy curriculum.
• Research and Interchange worked on recreating The Academy for the 1980s. The team was led by Jim Wiegel.
• Westside Leadership Lab held in Chicago.
• First Area Prior team of women was assigned to Area Houston.
The Vocational Journey Lab was developed and piloted in the United States and tested in Australia, India and several other places. The Lab addressed the question of one’s existence and explored the terrain of the journey of vocated living (Brian Stanfield, 1992)
The Movement
• The ICA and 39 organizations from across the sectors launched the Loisaida Employment Task Force to research and develop a plan for revitalizing the economy of Loisaida, a low-income neighborhood on the lower East Side of New York City.
• Effective Leadership Training was held in New York and Toronto.
• The LENS Design Conference was created.
Hundreds of Project Documentation Labs were held around the globe to select projects for the International Exposition of Rural Development (IERD) (Brian Stanfield, 1992).
During 1983–84, Human Development Training Schools were held in Egypt, Kenya, Tonga, Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, Jamaica, Chile and Portugal.
European Volunteer Placement program in London placed 47 [volunteers] in 15 projects in developing nations.
Kenya. Over 700 villages were participating in the replication process [and] over 7,000 village leaders were trained in aspects of rural development.
(The Institute of Cultural Affairs, 1983–84.)
• Elsa Bengel brought the Training, Inc. model from Chicago in 1984. The program has been part of the YMCA of Greater Boston ever since.
February 1984
Sharing Multi-National Successes in Rural Development
The IERD
The International Exposition of Rural Development (IERD) Central International Event was held February 5–15, 1984 in New Delhi, India.
During this time, 650 delegates from 55 nations gathered in New Delhi to share exhibits, participate in workshops and visit 30 selected projects across the subcontinent ( John Burbidge, 1988).
• IMAGE on the IERD was published in Chicago, 1984.
• “Sharing Approaches That Work,” was produced. An eight minute video reproduction of a three projector slide-show illustrated approaches that were working in community development grassroots initiatives.
• “The Courage to Care,” produced by Dick Young. The 15 minute film was narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough and captured the spirit of “Sharing Approaches That Work” around the world.