Coherence Workshops
As a result of the intensive civic engagement promoted by our sister organization, the Atlantic Regional Training Institute, a dynamic conversation is emerging among a growing number of community members about what is required to live a life of service. In particular, many questions have arisen around the principles and choices that must characterize the different facets of our lives, and the opportunities and obstacles to service that arise at different periods of the life course.
Freedom of movement and availability of time enable many youth to serve in ways that are directly related to the needs of the community, but as they advance further into their twenties, their horizons broaden. Other dimensions of a coherent life, equally demanding and highly meritorious, begin to make stronger claims on their attention. For many, an immediate priority has been further education, academic or vocational, according to the possibilities before them, and new spaces for interaction with society have opened up. Moreover, young women and men become acutely conscious of their desire to marry, have children, and engage in crafts and professions. Having taken up an occupation, youth naturally try to contribute to their field, or even to advance it in light of the insights they gain from their continued study and service in their neighborhoods, and they strive to be examples of integrity and excellence in their work. They are investigating how they can earn a livelihood and use their finances wisely and strategically to promote individual and collective prosperity. This generation of youth aspires to form families that can secure the foundations of flourishing communities. Their growing love and personal commitment to the moral framework explored in the courses of the educational programs of our community profoundly impacts the development of their own children.
However, the significant decisions youth make about the direction of their adult lives determines whether service to their neighborhoods is only a brief and memorable chapter of their younger years, or a fixed centre of their earthly existence, a lens through which all actions come into focus. As a result, the Center for Studies in Community Progress is organizing community conversations and documenting principles that can assist young people to navigate the social forces acting consciously and subconsciously on their lives. It is hoped that we can assist young people to move beyond conceptions of coherence that merely equates the concept with notions of balance and expand to a broader conceptual framework that disciplines our lives within a consistent set of moral and intellectual principles. Foremost amongst these principles is a twofold sense of purpose characterized by personal growth and service to society.
Presently the Center is exploring six themes related to the lives of adolescents:
1) Views on the Nature of Social Change
2) Identity
3) Education
4) Work
5) Family & Community Relationships
6) Media Engagement
We are conducting interviews, reviewing prevalent literature, and drafting concept papers that can be explored by individuals and families in our communities. Neighbors are invited to occasional weekly spaces and four annual workshops where we can consider these themes in a joyful and mutually supportive environment as we learn to walk a path towards a shared vision of spiritual and material prosperity. Hence, every member of the neighborhood is invited to be a part of a process of learning that would generate and disseminate knowledge conducive to progress of the communities where we live.