The Great Transition Initiative

Visions and Pathways for a Hopeful Future


A Great Transition to a future of enriched lives, human solidarity, and environmental sustainability is possible.

The Great Transition Initiative is a growing international network of scholars and activists that analyzes alternative scenarios and charts a path to a hopeful future.

At once rigorous and inspiring, the Great Transition story brings the message that we can create a better world if we shift our values and transform our institutions.

Critical to this transition is growing public awareness of the dangers ahead and the need to revise our ways of living – and living together – on this planet. In this, our time of choice, we need a vast movement of global citizens to carry forward a Great Transition.

http://www.gtinitiative.org/

....

this particular thing is new to me....let's have a look.

Who We Are


We are a global network elaborating visions and pathways for a future of enriched lives, human solidarity and a healthy planet. Even as environmental and social crises threaten the future of humanity and the earth, we believe a Great Transition is still possible if citizens around the world awaken and respond.

Coordinating Unit


Coordination of GTI is hosted by the Tellus Institute. Paul Raskin is the Director, Orion Kriegman is GTI Coordinator, and Tariq Banuri and Allen White are Senior Advisers. Dr. Raskin is founding director of the Tellus Institute and the Global Scenario Group; Dr. Banuri founded the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Pakistan and SEI-Asia in Bangkok and now serves at the UN as Director of the Division for Sustainable Development/CSD Secretariat; Dr. White co-founded the Global Reporting Initiative and Corporation 2020; Mr. Kriegman holds a degree from the Kennedy School of Government and has organized international civil society networks.

GTI Network


GTI’s network engages hundreds of scholars and activists across the planet bringing international experience from across disciplines on every relevant issue. They share a commitment to weaving these strands into a common vision, contributing to the substantive enrichment of the scenarios and providing channels for disseminating GTI ideas.

New participants are welcomed with the aims of broadening our collective diversity, experience and expertise, and reaching new audiences. People participate as individuals, not as representatives of organizations. To learn more about becoming a GTI participant, click here.

Background


GTI’s direct antecedent was the Global Scenario Group (GSG), an international group convened in 1995 by Tellus Institute and the Stockholm Environment Institute to examine the requirements for a sustainable and desirable future. Numerous international, regional, and national vision studies have relied on its comprehensive and detailed scenarios, such as the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environmental Outlook series. UNEP, the Nippon Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation provided major funding for this effort.

GSG's culminating essay, Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead, brought a message that resonated with thousands the world over. The moment had arrived for the energy and experience of the GSG to flow into an expanded effort, and GTI was launched in June 2003.

http://www.gtinitiative.org/about/whoweare.html

...

Looks like another 'global scenarios' think tank.

zone wrote:GTI’s direct antecedent was the Global Scenario Group (GSG)

The Global Scenario Group (GSG) was a team of environmental scholars, headed by Paul Raskin, who used scenario analysis to analyze future paths for world development in the face of environmental pressures and crises. Convened by the Tellus Institute and the Stockholm Environment Institute in the year 1995, the GSG based its scenarios on quantitative social, economic, and environmental research from world regions with the help of Pole Star, a comprehensive database and computational framework for representing alternative scenarios.

Scenarios

In 2002, the GSG formally presented their scenario approach in an essay called Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead.[1] In the essay, the Great Transition scholars indicate that civilization is currently at a turning point, entering a Planetary Phase of Civilization in which different values regarding the environment, human well-being, and global justice might lead to different scenarios for future development.

Three classes of scenarios are discussed – Conventional Worlds, Barbarization, and Great Transitions.

Conventional Worlds
The Conventional Worlds scenarios predict a future which unfolds without major surprises and with the continuity of present values. Market forces, new technologies, and policy adjustments allay environmental pressures as they arise.

Market Forces: The “invisible hand” of the free market corrects for inefficiency and thus staves off environmental crisis.

Policy Reform: Policy changes continually aim for sustainability by enforcing environmental efficiency wherever possible.

Barbarization
Breakdown: The world descends into conflict and collapse.

Fortress World: In the face of environmental collapse, the international elite retreat to protected enclaves where they manage remaining natural resources and protect their interests. Outside these enclaves, the remainder of civilization endures poverty and degradation.

The Great Transition
The Great Transition scenarios envision practical, plausible solutions to the social, economic, and environmental pressures which will inevitably worsen as time passes. The Great Transition future is more than simply market and policy adjustments. It is a future in which fundamental societal values change – materialism and self-interest decline replaced by new notions of “the good life” inclusive of human solidarity and environmental sustainability. The potential of a Great Transition is linked to the emergence of a global citizens movement to advocate for new values to underpin global society.

Eco-Communalism: Localism and civil society help bring about the environmental transition. The Great Transitions scholars do not view this path as being incredibly plausible.

New Sustainability Paradigm: Population stabilization, lower consumerism, and greener values create a more humane world. Civilization has a smaller ecological footprint and its members live healthier, more equitable lives.

Applicability of scenario analysis
This scenario framework has formed the backbone of numerous global, regional and national scenario assessments and has been adapted for UNEP’s Global Environment Assessment (or Global Environment Outlook). According to their website, “The GSG’s research program continues through an expanded effort called the Great Transition Initiative, that takes the GSG’s scenarios as a point of departure in an effort to widely share a vision of hope and generate greater unity among global citizens.” In addition, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has based environmental assessments on the scenario analysis of the GSG.

wiki

"a form of global society will consolidate in the coming decades but its ultimate character remains highly uncertain......"

Wiki - Paul Raskin

Just more NWO drum beating.

Strangelove wrote:Looks like another 'global scenarios' think tank.

ya...i wonder which one they picked:roll:

Barbarization

Breakdown: The world descends into conflict and collapse.

Fortress World: In the face of environmental collapse, the international elite retreat to protected enclaves where they manage remaining natural resources and protect their interests. Outside these enclaves, the remainder of civilization endures poverty and degradation.

Latest Statements - BAN KI-MOON - UN

Washington, D.C., 7 May 2012 - Secretary-General's Remarks at the Atlantic Council, "The Great Transition" [as delivered]

Dr. Kissinger, thank you for that very kind introduction.

The world has looked to your wisdom and experience for many decades now, and your contribution has been great.

I thank you, Dr. Kissinger, for your very strong support for the United Nations and for myself as Secretary-General.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me join in congratulating the other honorees this evening: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Paul Polman, enlisted men and women of the United States armed forces, and his Royal Highness Prince Harry. This is really distinguished company indeed.

Gen. [Colin] Powell,

Dr. [Rajiv] Shah,

Maestro [Andre] Previn,

Honourable Members of Congress, Excellencies, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished participants.

Ladies and gentlemen:

Thank you, as well, for your warm welcome. And thank you to the board of the Atlantic Council … also your chairman, Sen. Hagel, and President Frederick Kempe … for this extraordinary honour.

I take it as an eloquent symbol of our partnership: the United States and the United Nations. And on behalf of all the staff and peacekeeping operations staff and I humbly accept this honour.

Seldom, if ever, have our principles and shared purpose been more relevant. Seldom, if ever, has this partnership been more vital than at this moment.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We just celebrated and commended the enlisted men and women of the US armed forces. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, my thoughts are with more than 120,000 UN peacekeeping operations staff — from more than 120 troop contributing countries —who work day and night under very difficult and dangerous circumstances for peace and stability around the world. They have my deepest admiration.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our world is a rough place.

Let us cast our eye across the geopolitical landscape.

In Syria, the violence still continues. We are in a race against time to prevent full-scale civil war — death on a potentially massive scale.

Tensions between Israel and Iran remain dangerous.

The DPRK recently launched another missile and appears to be contemplating another nuclear test, in defiance of the international community.

We see famine coming in the Sahel. Military coups in Mali and Guinea Bissau. Sudan and South Sudan on the brink of conflict that not long ago claimed two million lives.

Add to this the crisis in the euro area. Climate change. The pressures of a growing population of seven billion on our increasingly fragile planet.

Almost everywhere we look, it seems, we see growing insecurity … growing injustice … growing social inequality.

If I were to speak like an economist, I might say we have an over-supply of problems — and a deficit of solutions. A deficit of leadership.

That partly reflects the great changes transforming our modern world. Power is shifting. The old order is breaking down, and we do not yet know the shape of the new.

Twenty years ago, at the end of the Cold War, the United States and its traditional allies could be counted on to lead the world through uncertainty and change.

Today, that is much more difficult.

And yet, tonight, I want to say clearly: we need leadership and your leadership.

In these times of deep uncertainty … during this era of change and transformation … we need the sort of leadership that has long distinguished this venerable Atlantic Council.

A leadership dedicated to the common good — a global common good. A leadership of nations acting in concert as we have seen — in truly global stewardship.

This is the leadership that created the United Nations and its founding Charter. And this is the leadership that will keep its principles alive and strong.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As you may know, I lived through the Korean War, as was eloquently introduced by Dr. Kissinger. The United Nations led by the United States helped us through that dark hour. They came to us to rescue on the brink of collapse. Forever after, the UN for me has been a beacon of hope — and it still is for billions of others around the world.

Whenever I see all of them who are looking to the United Nations, I am humbled, just thinking of what kind of support I can bring to them.

Today … as then … I believe the United Nations can — and must — be the solution to the world’s great challenges.

Engagement through the UN is the way forward — to share the costs and responsibilities of leadership … to uphold universal values … and to steer the world through this Great Transition.

That is why in January, as I began my second term, I set out a road-map for my five year second term as Secretary-General. They are, in effect, five imperatives for collective global action — five generational opportunities to create the future we want:

— How to fight climate change and chart a new path of sustainable growth and development…

— How to prevent conflict and better respond to natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies…There are many man-made tragedies, man-made crises.

— How to create a more just, secure and equitable world grounded in universal human rights…

— How to support nations in transition for democracy, where many people still in Arab and North Africa are struggling for their rights and for their legitimate aspirations. Legitimate rights for human dignity…

— And how to give the world’s women and young people greater voice and opportunity.

I will not go into these here. But let me say a few words about the common thread that weaves through all of them:

That is the importance of putting people first … the role of justice and fundamental freedoms … and the essential quality of human dignity. This is what the United Nations and I as Secretary-General are trying to achieve. Putting people first.

Ladies and gentlemen,

During the past year, our collective values were severely tested. To a degree greater than we might realize, the international community responded with courage, decisiveness and unity.

When an incumbent president refused to stand down after having lost an election in Cote d’Ivoire … when he threatened his people with civil war in order to preserve his own power, illegal power … we stood firm for democracy and human rights. Today, Laurent Gbagbo is awaiting trial in the International Criminal Court in The Hague — and a legitimate president, Alassane Ouattara, is in office.

When Muammar Qaddafi of Libya threatened to kill his own people, we acted. In doing so, we gave force to a fundamental new principle — that is the “Responsibility to Protect.”

And in each case, it is important to recognize that we acted, collectively, under an umbrella of legitimacy provided by the United Nations and regional organizations — the African Union, League of Arab States and others.

Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who has been such a strong leader of this Atlantic Council, said himself that this is the way of the future. I could not agree more.

Few events in modern memory have been more inspiring — or more challenging — than the Arab Spring.

From the outset of this transition, transformation, I called, the United Nations have called on leaders to listen to their people, carefully and sincerely, what their challenges, what their concerns are, what their aspirations are … and to enter into an inclusive dialogue with them … to act before it was too late.

Now, we must help these nations in transition. That is one of my priorities.

In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere, we are working for solutions that focus on people — building democratic institutions, helping to promote human rights, creating jobs and economic opportunity, especially for women and young people.

The challenge in Syria is especially difficult.

The government continues to assault its people. Every day, unfortunately we see the most appalling images — troops firing in city centers …innocent civilians dying, even children. Security forces are arresting and torturing people with great brutality.

Meanwhile, attacks by the opposition and other armed groups have escalated.

As of today, the United Nations has deployed 59 UN monitors. And we will expedite this number. By Thursday this week we will have more than 130, and by May 15 we will have more than 230. And we are accelerating to implement Security Council resolutions to deploy the full complement of 300 military supervisors and approximately 100 civilians by the end of this month.

Our most immediate goal is to save human lives, to see the end of this violence. The presence of UN monitors has in some cases reduced the intensity of violence in Syria. But the situation is still very precarious and fragile. We also seek to create an opening for political engagement between the government and those seeking change.

Let me say clearly: this is a difficult mission at a difficult moment … a very dangerous mission. We know the security risks to our brave UN observers. We know that Syrian citizens could face punishment for even speaking with them. And we know the nature of the regime, which could well use the presence of the mission to prepare for further violence.

The efforts of our Joint Special Envoy, Kofi Annan, embody a hard-headed strategy to deal with these challenges. Once again, I call on the Syrian government to uphold its responsibilities under the six-point plan — fully, without further delay.

As ever, strenuous partnership is indispensable — the UN and regional organizations such as the League of Arab States … the UN and nations represented here tonight.

We cannot predict how this will end. But we do know that there can be no compromise on fundamental principles of justice and human rights, in Syria or elsewhere. No amount of force can squash people’s aspirations to live in dignity and decency.

Twelve days ago, Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, was found guilty by our special tribunal for Sierra Leone. Today I say: no leader, anywhere, anytime, should imagine that he — or she — enjoys impunity for crimes of atrocity.

Those responsible for such acts — in Syria or elsewhere — must be held accountable by the international community.

Ladies and gentlemen:

I began these remarks with a call to action — a call for global collective leadership that puts people first.

We need to create a more humane world, a world of real solutions for ordinary people. A world of greater justice … with more robust and proactive protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms … with greater security and equity for all.

As I see it, justice and dignity are not abstractions. They are not mere aspirations. They are rights of people— they are the responsibilities of governments to deliver.

None of these ideas are alien to anyone here this evening. They are core American values … they are core trans-Atlantic values … increasingly widely shared around the world.

Our challenge is to continue to spread these principles all around the world — and this universal code. And that takes leadership, your leadership.

If I could leave you with one thought, it would be this: the Atlantic Council has always stood firm for justice and equal rights in larger freedom.

Now is not the moment to lose heart … or change course.

And I thank you very much for this honour and thank you for your leadership and commitment. Let us work together to make this world better for all.

Thank you very much.


http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=6044

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Biblical Transition Initiative.

Breakdown: The world descends into conflict and collapse in this age due to the dispicable wickedness of fallen men.

The age to come: Jesus comes back in the clouds, burns up this wicked world and gathers His saints to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. The international elite are forced to kiss the boots of the saints before being utterly destroyed in divine fire. The remainder of civilisation are seperated by God...sheep vs goats and,,,,,judged.

Strangelove wrote:Biblical Transition Initiative.

Breakdown: The world descends into conflict and collapse in this age due to the dispicable wickedness of fallen men.

The age to come: Jesus comes back in the clouds, burns up this wicked world and gathers His saints to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. The international elite are forced to kiss the boots of the saints before being utterly destroyed in divine fire. The remainder of civilisation are seperated by God...sheep vs goats and,,,,,judged.

i love it!!!!!!
on that note...ttyl Docman!!

zone wrote:


The Global Scenario Group (GSG) was a team of environmental scholars, headed by Paul Raskin, who used scenario analysis to analyze future paths for world development in the face of environmental pressures and crises. Convened by the Tellus Institute and the Stockholm Environment Institute in the year 1995, the GSG based its scenarios on quantitative social, economic, and environmental research from world regions with the help of Pole Star, a comprehensive database and computational framework for representing alternative scenarios.
wiki

google:

Public Health Literacy for Lawyers | The Journal of Law ...
Tellus Institute, Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, "Daubert The ... at 47; C. Taylor, "Atomism," in S. Avineri and A. de-Shalit, eels., Communitarianism ...
www.allbusiness.com/legal/3587034-1.html - Proxy - Highlight

Page Not Found
The website reported that this page (http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/3587034-1.html) no longer exists.


long story short: same group, same plan.
old order (thesis) + barbarism (antithesis) = communitarianism [UNTHINKABLE SOVIET MODEL OPPRESSION] (synthesis)

Kissinger 1992
"Today American's would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government."

French Revolution
Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution and Revolt in the Vendée

September Massacres, 1792
The Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution is a conventional description of a campaign, conducted by various Robespierre-era governments of France beginning with the start of the French Revolution in 1789, to eliminate any symbol that might be associated with the past, especially the monarchy.


[huh? pretty tame]


Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact Countries
Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union and Persecution of Christians in Warsaw Pact countries
After the Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks undertook a massive program to remove the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the government and Russian society, and to make the state atheist. Tens of thousands of churches were destroyed or converted to other uses, and many members of clergy were imprisoned for anti-government activities. An extensive education and propaganda campaign was undertaken to convince people, especially the children and youth, to abandon religious beliefs. This persecution resulted in the martyrdom of millions of Orthodox followers in the 20th century by the Soviet Union, whether intentional or not.

oh my God are you serious?

and wheres the 66 million figure?
66 MILLION SLAUGHTERED. MANY IF NOT MOST CHRISTIANS...yet all you can find is a lame wiki paragraph under Persecution of Christians

Tabernacle and Temple and the Church in Transition

by Leonard Hjalmarson

We create our buildings and thereafter our buildings create us.
Sir Winston Churchill

This spring I read Gilbert Bilezikian's "Community 101." In his book he states that, "An increasing number of Christians are waking up to the fact that .. the church has become ineffective in fulfilling its mission because it has lost a sense of its own identity as a community. They realize that not every organization that calls itself a church represents the church as Christ conceived it." He goes on to say that he asked fifty junior and senior college students to write a one sentence definition of the church. Their answers varied from "people who are saved," and "places of worship" to "opportunity to put on a Sunday disguise" and "sanctified gossip centers." Zondervan, 1997, pp.48-49 .....


The Loss of the Prophetic Voice and the Danger of Idolatry

With the building of the Temple a religious class grew up, and eventually the priests were found in the Temple, but the prophetic voice was outside it. There came an inevitable separation, because God was increasingly identified with a structure He had never intended. Israel had literally placed "God in a box," to try to make him safe. But God is never safe, and doesn't dwell in our boxes.

This separation between the prophetic and the pastoral is a common problem in our modern churches. Many churches have completely lost the prophetic voice, and are unable to listen to God. They intuitively know that He is not safe. Inviting Him to speak would be like letting the lions loose. They sense that they are not really pursuing the kingdom, but only playing church games. But the games are comfortable and familiar....

...Recently, Andrew Strom wrote about the movie Braveheart on the New Zealand Prophetic List:

"The thing that struck me most about this film was that the majesticly daring spirit displayed by William Wallace throughout WAS EXACTLY THE KIND OF DARING TENACITY THAT GOD REQUIRES OF ALL WHO WISH TO BE PART OF THE COMING MOVE OF GOD. God spoke to me several years ago about the major qualification required to enter into the coming Reformation / Revival. He simply told me: "WHO DARES WINS". And if there is one spirit which imbues the film 'Braveheart', it is this spirit of DARING.

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force". It is not enough to prophesy (though prophesying is good). It is not enough even to pray (though praying is good also). For only those who DARE will win their way through into the coming move of God. Ours is to be a 'violent' faith - a 'violent' DARING, which takes the kingdom by force. Only then will true Revival and Reformation come down.

Two years ago Rick Joyner wrote that,

"The seeming foolishness of the new leaders to actually believe the war can be won is going to bring about considerable discord... many leaders who are accustomed to fighting only in the trenches will be discouraged when the new leaders refuse to get in the trenches with them.

"However, the new movements which are being raised up are called to "ADVANCE" and not merely to hold the old lines."

The article closes..
"The end of trench warfare is near. The church will break out of the four walls of her own buildings, attacking the enemy FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE and from street to street, until the victory is won for our cities and our nations."

http://nextreformation.com/wp-admin/articles/tabernacle.htm

...

from: NEXT WAVE CHURCH AND CULTURE

Transitions [2]
Endings...the Neutral Zone...New Beginnings
by Todd Hunter

We come to the theme of transition with the realization that many people who visit Next-Wave are in transition of one sort or another: job changes, ministry changes, rethinking theological positions for the express purpose of becoming better followers of Jesus, etc.

In the last installment I described (thanks to William Bridges) how transitions actually begin with endings. Endings are the process by which we let go of the old in order to pick up the new. You might think of the process of repentance a la Zacchaeus, Levi, etc.

When one takes a significant new path it means leaving—to one degree or another---a whole bunch of stuff behind: social ties, self-identity rooted in the old reality and enchanted (read false) views of the past. Thus endings can be disorienting. A person in deep transition would not be blamed for feeling as if they were now in a “non-world” as they seek to create their “new world”.

http://www.next-wave.org/mar03/transitions2.htm

...

The way ahead always seems counter-intuitive to those plastered in place in the present. The story-teller strips the old wallpaper away, revealing the possibilities inherent within a new approach; one in which: “Behavior opens the door for believing. Doing what once seemed difficult or impossible empowers courage to envision a different world and believe we can make a difference. Without practices, faith is but an empty promise.” (p.208).

In conclusion, the story-teller guides us through what she envisions as The Great Awakening; a movement that has no name (p.247). Yet, it is one that is inhabited by “a generative spirit, a creative and innovative openness, a sense of hope-filled realism, of pragmatic idealism, of an interconnectedness of all things, of urgency and wonder, and of experiencing the divine in the here and now.” (p.247). She adds, “Awakening is not a miracle we receive; it is actually something we can do.” (p.251)….I can make a difference. You can make a difference. We can make a difference…God makes a difference…We must prepare, practice, play and participate (p.259). Yet, it’s up to us:

“It’s our awakening. It is up to us to move with the Spirit instead of against it, to participate in making our world more humane, just and loving.” (p.269).

http://www.the-next-wave.info/

....

Transitioning: Leading Your Church Through Change

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

Transitioning takes readers through a step-by-step process that can help any church make the transition from being program driven to purpose driven.


Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover

In a church, change is like oxygen, essential for life and growth. Handle it wrong, though, and you'll start a fire you can't put out. So if the thought of switching from a traditional church to a purpose-driven church leaves you with mingled feelings of excitement and fear, good! It means that, as a pastor, you know the incalculable worth of aligning your church with God's vision. It also means you understand how potentially explosive such a venture can be. Transitioning is written for you. This book can help you and your congregation successfully navigate change to attain rewards that far exceed the risk. Drawing principles from the book of Nehemiah, Pastor Dan Southerland maps out an eight-step strategy for moving from a typical, program-driven church to a purpose-driven church. It's no cut-and-dried process, any more than God himself is cut and dried. Rather, it's a biblical look at how to steer your congregation in a new and exciting direction -- one that's aligned with God's intentions not just for any church, but your church. Southerland takes you step by step through preparing for vision, defining the vision, planting the vision, sharing the vision, implementing the vision, dealing with opposition, making course corrections, and evaluating the results. Transitioning illustrates practical, field-tested concepts with examples from the Bible and Southerland's own experiences. But this book doesn't end at the blackboard. Its detailed workbook section is packed with fill-in-the-blanks, Scripture passages, and action steps to help you and your leadership team convert knowledge to implementation. Getting in step with what God wants to do in and through your church opens the door for transformation and growth -- not just corporately, but in your own life as well. Amazing things happen when you choose vision, rather than circumstances or tradition, as your guiding star. So get read! You're about to discover the power and effectiveness of becoming a purpose-driven church.

http://www.amazon.com/Transitioning-Leading-Church-Through-Change/dp/0310233445#_

...

The Gift of Intentional Transition Ministry

The Rev. Kathryn A. Rust, M. Div.
Paper presented to the
Wisconsin Congregational Theological Society
May 15, 2008


Introductory Foundation:

This paper is an “opinion” piece. The purpose for writing this paper is to provide you with one person’s approach to this emerging time of opportunity in the life of “doing” church in the early 21st century. As I have said throughout my ministry, as followers of Jesus Christ, the great transformer, we will be in for a fantastic journey of transformation in our churches of tomorrow.

Define: Intentional; Interim; Transition; Transformation

Intentional: Done by design; intended.

Interim: An intervening time; between.

Transition: A passage from one state, stage, subject or place
to another; change; a movement, development or
evolution.

Transform: To change in composition or structure.

Transformation: An act, process, or instance of transforming
or being transformed.

Transformational: Concerned with transformation.

http://www.wiscongregational.net/WCTSPapers/Rust_Interim08.doc

...

The Connecting Church

Pastor and consultant Frazee begins with a problem that many church leaders admit only hesitantly: small groups, widely hailed as a means to achieve authentic community, often fail to achieve the hoped-for experience of "life together." This book follows the story of Frazee's congregation, Pantego Bible Church in suburban Dallas/Ft. Worth, in its efforts to "take [the small group movement] to the next level." Frazee's proposal is no quick fix; it belies megachurch stereotypes by taking a countercultural stand against the individualism and consumerism that Frazee says plague contemporary American life. Drawing on biblical models as well as sociological research and urban planning principles, Frazee makes a strong case that the mobility and privacy of "American Dream" suburbia fosters a spirit of fragmentation and isolation that is unworkable as a basis for authentic community. Frazee recommends "consolidating relationships," opting out of multiple activities and superficial social circles in favor of "a circle of relationships that produces a sense of genuine belonging." Small groups emerge as a necessary but insufficient ingredient for attaining Frazee's vision of "biblical community." The author's fondness for lists and systematization make for a dense read at times, but the human insights and real-life examples that really drive the book have a powerful appeal. Given the popularity of small group spirituality, and its potential discontents, this book should find a wide audience.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Connecting-Church-Randy-Frazee/dp/0310233089

......

Frazee makes a strong case that the mobility and privacy of "American Dream" suburbia fosters a spirit of fragmentation and isolation that is unworkable as a basis for authentic community.

This emphasis on teamwork was heavily promoted in the Air Force during the mid-1980s with Total Quality Management. The purpose was to bring quality to the product and performance of the team, but there is an inherent danger of TQM. It also intended to produce quality humans that fit the changing global standards for beliefs, attitudes, compliance and group thinking.[5] This philosophy of management was brought to us by Peter Drucker - the mastermind of the Purpose Driven church....


Showing posts with label Noahide Laws. Show all posts

Monday, March 5, 2012


Communitarianism: Collectivist Values in Transition - Part 2





Elite collectivist thinkers have a theory that individual rights have broken down the moral fiber of society.[1] Collectivists, through the Communitarian agenda, desire to create a new society within the shell of the old, with the philosophy of the new.

Communitarianism, also known as the Third Way:

• is described as social cohesion that finds common ground, and is similar to nationalistic communism, or various forms of authoritarianism.
  
• Communitarian Elites believe that the rights of the individual must be balanced against the interests of society as a whole, which is detrimental to individual liberty.
  
• Communitarianism embodies a vision of a social order that encourages communal bonds.
  
• Both Democrats and Republicans push Communitarian policies, [2][3]
  

American sociologist and educator Amitai Etzioni was one of the prominent founders of this newly shaped philosophy. He believes that individuals have been given too much freedom and not enough responsibilities. Etzioni and other communitarians are in favor of more obligations and fewer rights.[4]They desire the community to live up to the basic principle of the good society. But as you will learn, it will only be good for those in charge.





Documented Evidence
In the following videos, you will get a glimpse of this good society. Amitai Etizioni, a globalist, discusses the foundations of communitarianism. He explains his ideas of finding a balance between individual rights and the responsibilities to community. He desires a Democracy (not a Republic), a new Bill of Rights, and a sense of mutual tolerance. Etzioni says that if the government gives, then something must be given in return.


http://fanaticforjesus.blogspot.ca/search/label/Noahide%20Laws

...