Writing about Universalist Christianity and improving how churches work
Can’t wait to try a newly-released piece of publishing software: Booktype. Ah, but the download servers for the software is down! So watch this and think on what a self-organizing group of people might develop.
Booktype, the open source publishing platform. from Sourcefabric on Vimeo.
I mentioned the concept of the Esperanto weekend before. Think low-cost, lightly pre-programmed meetings with a focus on fellowship. Perhaps the container for an unconference. Two more thoughts.
1. The next Esperanto weekend will be in Richmond, Virginia. (details in English and Esperanto). Here is a how-to, if you read Esperanto.
2. Buses. Megabus, the emerging intercity bus carrier, is expanding in the mid-Atlantic region. When you look at their service map, consider supporting rail service and highways, good value, restaurant and services in “in-between” locations, some go-to cities pop up for further research. A goal is regional convenience, not national scope.
This isn’t for me. Really. But in a larger sense it may be for all of us.
Does anyone have experience buying a house or apartment with a non-relative on a cooperative basis? Since strong households — in concert with, but also optionally apart from, families — can be a protection against poverty and deprivation, I’ve been thinking about how they can be created. And created on a formal, objective basis if need be.
Cooperatives are a powerful tool, but we commonly think of them beyond the domestic scale. Examples of successful coops include apartment buildings, credit unions, wholesale buyers or rural utilities. Big projects to fund and operate that which might not otherwise be created. Smaller coops — say, a health food store — fall into that mixed blessing category: well-loved, but eccentric, difficult and marginal.
I’m thinking of something smaller still. Cooperative arrangements made with a handful of people, are for a limited time period or are organized on an ad-hoc basis. Consider also food buying clubs, pooled lending, tool shares and systems of childcare. (Unitarian fellowships?) I’d like to hear of your successful examples of these. (And if I’ve piqued your interest, I read about some of these in a book I noted recently.)
Back in June I assumed the Unicorporated Nonprofit Association act become law in the District of Columbia. See, we have this window where the Congress can zap legislation so it’s not always clear until the “birth announcement” is made. The change was a part of an omnibus bill that revamped Title 29 of the D.C. code, which also includes the provisions for corporations, LLCs, cooperatives and the like.
Well, it seems that the law became active January 1, 2012. I say seems because that’s when the new fees became valid, but since there’s no filing requirement for the unincorporated nonprofit associations, there’s consequently no fee and so no reference in this notice.
Over the years, I’ve tried to lose weight and am fully aware of what works for me (eating high-fiber, low-fat vegetarian food; counting and recording calories) and what doesn’t (everything else).
My reasons for trying to lose weight, however, have changed. The vain reasons of youth have become the health-preservation demands of middle age. Why, to you the reader, might this matter?
Because it meshes well with one of two ideas I have about the Occupy movements. On the one hand, by pushing the political expectations of the country (I can’t speak to how it plays out overseas) to the left, and by encouraging activists, I think there is more possibility for an equitable political solution. (The main line of the Democratic party isn’t going to do it.) What does that have to do with weight loss? Nothing.
The other hand suggests that the fight is going to be generations-long and that the reliable help that comes will be softer, smaller-scale and sometimes insufficient. Encouragement over aid. Solidarity over programs. Pig-headedness, perhaps, over leadership. It means we’re going to have to take care of our own health, finances, social affairs and even religious needs even while others profit unfairly from our labor and government remains unresponsive to citizen demands. It means preparing ourselves bravely and creatively to have less. Sounds very tiring, but this situation has been decades in the making.
So I’m trying to lose weight to stave off diabetes and coronary disease, and rely on the support of a few good friends to make it happen. It may not be enough, but If that’s as much health care as some people have. Time, I think, to consider self-care — not in that sickly-sweet way ministers once talked about among themselves — and solidarity action. And if that works, then why not housing, food, tools, education and religion? I would rather starve the forces that try to control us than surrender.
Let’s start with the “too big to not be bailed out” banks. Then move to abusive multinationals and the producers of goods who finance the corrupt system we see. That I’m hungry for.
Today, I read an interesting and compelling article in The Atlantic magazine website called “The Bitch Is Back” by Sandra Tsing Loh. If you’re menopausal, perimenopausal or know someone who is, do read this because it asks — with women’s lifespans being so much longer than they once were — what hormonal or nuturing normality is. In the middle of the article, she throws out, this:
On the one hand, as a longtime veteran of the nonprofit world, I can no longer afford to humor the endless requests to do everything for free, particularly because no one treats you worse than the penniless.
Well, ain’t that just true, or at least true enough. With the caveat that those organizations that think they’re penniless are just as bad, while some people who have little can be remarkably giving and realistic about money. On the one hand, I think there’s the legacy presumption that if you volunteer or contribute to a lean nonprofit then you are supposed to understand and forgive shortcuts and rough manners. Also, I suspect (without evidence) that lean nonprofits — including churches — are full of people who serve and serve and serve, and don’t have much left to give. And then there’s simple forgetfulness and inertia.
No great thoughts, except that
Because nobody can — or should have to be – nurturing or giving all the time.
A person I respect — wise, patient and politically savvy — asked me credit unions today. It seems the excesses of the large, national banks, epitomized by their recent collective fee increases, led him to consider a credit union in place of the large national bank that he uses.
I mention this, not to suggest that everyone would join a credit union or that he is cheap or petulant, but to consider how we choose to give over power, in this case financial and social power. These banks are “too big to fail” both in their political power and their hold — as impressive, important institutions — in our own consciences. And so it’s easy for them (at least easier than what you and I) to extract government support, defense from industry and — at the end — profits from customers. But if you remember that there are alternatives to the banks — or Facebook, or particular retailers or even churches — even if the best alternative is “none of the above.” And once you realize you can live without something, you’re in a better position to choose how your money, effort and influence works to what you believe in. A simple thought, but worth repeating. And one of the reasons I buy American-made clothing and don’t eat animals.
For the record, if you live, work, study or worship in the District of Columbia — one of their membership classification — I can recommend Signal Financial Federal Credit Union. And here’s my last blog post on local credit unions, at the beginning (2008) of the current economic crisis. Read it for the comments.
I believe I’ve praised the Esperanto culture of membership organizations and conferences. (You have to love a language that makes membership blank a basic vocabulary word. And for any number of internal cultural reasons, Esperanto conferences tend to be very, very good value. After all, the goal is to have Esperanto speakers meet and (since some of whom have their own additional interests, such as ham radio, keeping cats or Unitarian Universalists) conduct the work of organizations. With a focus on low-pressure fun. A time to make fellowship. Bring your ukulelo.
So consider the Mekaro, la Mez-Kanada Rekontigxo (The Mid-Canada Gathering). It’s a weekend of sightseeing, free time and dining in Kingston, Ontario. Tapas or Cambodian? Alehouse or coffeehouse? $50 for adults, including four museum entry fees, plus the cost of two dinners and a lunch, perhaps another $50. College housing available for about another $50, single. Exciting? Doubtful. But I bet it was fun.
And look at this weekend in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The main considerations seem to be that it is accessible to different people and that the costs are low. (Walking access to rail and bus help here.) Offers to share a room (that comes with breakfast) plus two meals (essentially a split check, and with cuisine that accommodates vegetarians) with a single outing and loosely structure fun time. A minimum of organizing that provides the introduction for people to have fun and an opportunity to do something else (plan another event; launch a website; teach a class?) if they want. Or not.
An opportunity, at a price and structure that promises little and risks little, has a lot to speak for it.
It isn’t easy to organize people for fellowship or to engage in a common purpose, but there’s no reason it needs to be made any harder for lack of resources and perspective.
This is the first part of an occasional series about the simple organization of religious groups: churches, but also support organizations for groups of churches and IRS “religious organizations” akin to the former Unitarian Universalist Association “independent affiliate” status.
I carry two assumptions:
Disclaimer: Lastly, I’m a minister and a nonprofit administration pro. But I’m not a lawyer nor an accountant and don’t give legal, accounting or tax advice. I’ll tell you what I would do, and where you can get facts and resources, but the decisions are finally yours.
I started working on this blog post three days ago, and the economic reality keeps changing.
First, I’m not happy with the banking situation, but it’s a piece of news unrelated to the mortgage bailout that sticks in my craw today. From the Seattle Times via the Neatorama blog, we learn that Alan H. Fishman, the 17-day’s CEO of the failed Washington Mutual bank ” is eligible for $19.1 million in compensation.”
Even if doesn’t get that, or declines it, my question is how does his work merit it, and how much of it will the American people eventually pay? The system is broken, and I won’t support it. In the mean time, my own bank, Wachovia, failed and has been bought by Citigroup.
I’m getting just disgusted and am opting out. My way out is by changing my financial services to a credit union: a cooperatively-owned financial institution answerable to its members. I’m looking for one that meets my needs for a good online user experience, and — because membership is not universal — one that I’m eligible to join.
I’ll keep you posted, and thanks to J.T. for the lead.