How to Organize a Community Center

To attract members, a group of people who want to organize an active congregation of the Community of Jesus and Mary should strive to provide different kinds of tangible advantages for members.

1. Emotional: services should be joyous, relieve stress, build self esteem and a sense of belonging, and provide free counseling. Because the main purpose of the Community of Jesus and Mary is to provide a sense of joy and inclusiveness, Community leaders should pay particular attention to avoid factionalizing infighting and schisms. Whenever possible, different opinions and approaches should be allowed to co-exist. If an issue cannot be resolved by peaceful and respectful negotiation, then the best solution may be for a Community Center to split and allow members to decide which group they wish to go with.

2. Financial: Community membership should offer mentorships, free job and career counseling, investment clubs, job referrals, and offer a job to work in a Community cafeteria, daycare center, group youth home, and other businesses operated by the Community.

3. Lifestyle: Community membership should relieve parents from having to provide meals, showers, and laundry for their children. Members can take showers at the Community Center and get clean clothes from the Community laundry). Whenever possible, use the kibbutz model for childrearing]

A Community of Jesus and Mary might get started in an area by meetng in members’ homes, but as soon as possible the goal is for the establishment of a Community Center. Each Community Center should have a large worship room with comfortable folding chairs that also serves as a classroom during the weekend afternoons, a profitmaking business like a daycare center for young children and elders during the week days, a jacuzzi and steam room for relaxation, showers and laundry for the professionalization of housework, individual rooms for counseling, classes, mentoring, massage, etc.

If possible, a Community Center should offer a cafeteria with healthy food, that is open to the public for profits. On weekends the congregation does not come into the cafeteria until 1:00pm, after the noon rush, and eats dinner at 5:30pm before the evening rush.

To make money and provide jobs for members, set up a business like a daycare center for young children and for seniors (let the seniors interact with the kids) and/or take in homeless children and serve as a group home.

When possible, buy an apartment building close by for members to live in. Charge reasonable rents, and use the profits to run the Community.

Celebrants should ideally lead all or part of the weekly Worship Service, but they or others might give the Reflective Thoughts. The service is designed so that anyone who is a good speaker can lead it, even if they do not themselves present the Reflective Thoughts. For a small Community that cannot afford to hire a professional Celebrant, the Worship Service can be led by one or more volunteers. If the Community can afford to hire a professional Celebrant, the person hired ideally should have training in counseling psychology, to provide career advice, relationship, parenting, grief and dying counseling, and provide this to members free of charge. Individual counseling with the Celebrant should be available, by appointment at any time of the weekend, and evenings during the week. Celebrants should not have to work during the weekday daytime, and should have the day and evening off on Thursdays and Fridays.

11:20am—1:00pm Worship Service [at communion, offer a full glass of wine or juice, plus an assortment of various breads that are substantial, to hold people from hunger until 1pm]

2:00pm—5:30pm Language School for children ages 1-13: teach the three most widely-spoken world languages: Spanish, Chinese, English (for ESL)

2:00pm—5:30pm Group counseling for ages 14-24 (with Celebrant, peers, or others, focused on personal development, relationships, educational advice, mentoring, etc. Break up intensity with adolescent dancing,

2:00pm—5:30pm Group relaxation for adults (reading, massage, jacuzzi, discussion)

7:00pm Relaxation for everyone (reading, watch film and discussion, massage, jacuzzi)

The Community Center should pay for itself by operating a profit-making business, like a Daycare Center for elderly seniors and preschool for young children, to mix the generations. The elders help take care of the children, and the children give meaning to the lives of the elderly.

Library reading discussion groups, film watching discussion groups (TIVO), artistic creation groups, financial investment groups, job counseling and referrals, housing referrals, parenting advice, etc.

**At the end of their thirteenth year, each child will go through a Bar Mitzvah [puberty ceremony] to celebrate their end of childhood and emergence into a full member in the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. They will receive a nice certificate of membership. They will do a reading and give a personal speech about their hopes and dreams for their future, presented to the congregation. These speeches will be filmed and saved.

**Graduation recognition, when a member graduates from high school, or college, or a graduate/professional degree, with a personal speech telling the most important things they learned. This ceremony is to encourage and emphasize education among members.

**Commitment ceremony, for two people who wish to declare, or renew, their Holy Union.

**Memorial service to remember those who have died, and to offer support to their family and loved ones.

IF YOU LIKE THE IDEAS EXPRESSED IN THIS INSPIRED TEXT,

AND YOU WANT TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY OF JESUS AND MARY

send an email to creator@jesusandmary.info

with your name, address, telephone, email, and a statement of your areas of expertise and how you think you could best contribute to the growth and development of the Community.. Someone from the Community will be in touch with you as soon as possible. Thank you for your interest in helping to build a vibrant new spiritual awakening, based on the Teachings of Jesus.

TO ORDER THE COMPLETE TEXT OF "THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS"
SEND AN EMAIL TO creator@jesusandmary.info