How to Start a Community Group
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Thank you for your interest in IONS' community groups. Starting an IONS Community Group is an excellent way to exchange ideas with like-minded people and expand your knowledge of noetic subjects. We would love for you to start a group in your area!
Shift in Action has a directory of local community groups that are presently active (or in formation) and names a contact person for each group.
Participating in a community group allows you to explore more deeply those topics that most interest you, as well as learn about topics in which others have developed expertise. Group participants choose the topics they wish to address and develop their own schedule and formats for meetings. In addition, you meet others who share your interest in exploring the frontiers of consciousness research, human potential, mind-body healing, and personal and social transformation.
If you would like to start a community group, you need to become a member of the Institute of Noetic Sciences at the $10-a-month membership level. This gives you complete access to the website and all it has to offer you and your group. There are many tools for you and your group including:
- weekly discussions with the top leaders of the consciousness movement available to you LIVE on the phone each week for education and inspiration on subjects like personal transformation, subtle energies, collective intention, evolving world views and global healing
- community-building tools to discover, connect, comment, explore, meet and collaborate with like-minded allies from around the world
- four or more new audio and video programs available for download every week
- quarterly CDs featuring special offerings from consciousness leaders
- a yearly featured book.
If you are already a $10-a-month member, simply contact your regional representative, who will orient you.
Community Groups are self-organizing, self-directing, voluntary associations of members and friends. The website also includes lists of educational resources we provide, tips on coordinating a community group, materials on the dialogue process and more information about IONS.
The registration form is important, as we need to keep track of all our coordinators and their contact information to keep them informed of all the happenings here at "hubquarters."
Should you decide to start a group, we can send you Institute brochures to distribute to people unfamiliar with our work. Non-members are encouraged to visit community group meetings. We ask that after 3 -4 meetings, non-members join the Institute of Noetic Sciences to help support our combined efforts.
When interested members contact you, you will need to work out a mutually convenient time and place for your first meeting. Feel free to screen potential group members to make sure that you feel comfortable inviting them to participate. Some groups meet in members’ living rooms while others reserve space at their local church, library or community center.
At your group’s first meeting, participants will need to identify topics of interest, a working format for meetings, and a schedule for future gatherings. Popular topics include mind-body healing, spirituality, intuition, and creativity. Group formats often include presentation, discussion and an experiential component (such as meditation or visualization).
In each group, one person should be responsible for communication with your regional representative. This is the coordinator role. Initially the contact person is the member who organizes the group, but we encourage groups to use a "shared leadership" organizational format. Existing community groups have discovered that they are most effective when responsibility for their success is shared. For example, different members of the group might take responsibility for publicizing meetings, providing refreshments, and making (or arranging) presentations. Such partnerships create a stronger foundation for the group and foster a greater sense of community among participants.
We encourage you to use your Regional representative as your resource for help, advisement and connection. The IONS Regional Council consists of over 25 IONS Community Group representatives from different geographic regions all over the world who have joined together to be of service to and represent the Community Group network. Through a model of shared leadership, deep inquiry, collective visioning, and collaborative work, the Council provides guidance and leadership for the IONS Community Group Network. Look up your state and please don't hesitate to contact your representative with any questions and needs for assistance.
The philosophy that guides our support for local groups is based upon our commitment to encouraging diversity and local control of local activities. We believe that diversity is most richly expressed and decentralization most fully realized when local groups are self-organizing, self-directing, voluntary associations of members and their friends. Hence, while we assist groups in a variety of ways, each local community group operates independently of the Institute and is legally and financially responsible for its own activities.
Because local groups are legally and financially independent of the Institute, they are not sheltered by the Institute's nonprofit status and are not eligible to use our nonprofit mailing permit or logo.
One of the first questions we hear from new or potential members of the Institute is often, "Is there a community group in my area?" Thanks to the effort of group coordinators all over the world, we can increasingly say, "Yes there is!" The network has become one of the most dynamic dimensions of the Institute.
We hope that you are as excited about our community groups as we are. As a group coordinator you take the first step in bringing people together in your area and become a valued partner of the Institute. We think that if you do join our network you'll find out that noetic sciences are really about you.
If you have technical questions or need further information, please consult the Community Group Coordinators' Handbook or contact its author, Ann Frost, at annfrost@shaw.ca.
