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The [[SolSeed Services]] are regular in-person gatherings in Portland, Oregon.
They are designed to be spiritual but not [[SolSeed and Religion|religious]], creating a space for the appreciation of [[Life]], of each other, and of the sacred. The goal is to create and nurture a sort of "spiritual [[SolSeedCommunity|community]]."
Each service has a "seed" topic that guides discussion as well as choices of music, poetry, and other [[Creativity|creative]] aspects.
== List of services ==
[[Service February 6, 2010]] - seed: [[Empathy]]
[[Service March 20, 2010]] - seed: [[Balance]]
== Discussion at the [[Longest Night Festival]] ==
=== Participants ===
* [[Ben Sibelman]] ... convener
* [[Brandon CS Sanders]]
* [http://artbrock.com Art Brock]
* [[Mickki|Mickki Langston]]
* [[Shelley Schoepflin Sanders]]
* [http://keithl.com Keith Lofstrom]
* Judy Sibelman
* Steve Sibelman
=== Discussion ===
* Keith: We could have karaoke set to space and growing/life imagery
* Art: Organizations/structures to shape the social architecture to give room for every voice to be heard
** [[Brandon]]: Learn from ToastMasters
** [[Mickki]]: Quaker meetings
*** Knowledge that there is a sacredness to speaking
*** Speak intentionally (is this knowledge really meant for the group?)
* Steve: L. Ron Hubbard treated religion as a business model
* Keith: Figure out how more women can get their concerns into the story
** Generative ideas rather than just starships
*** [[Ben]]: Tell a story about a wonderful community that lives on a starship?
* Judy: My story about singing in a choir and helping this corner of the world
** Via audience donations that all go to a chosen beneficiary
** Yearly "iSing with Cake" event is a cake auction to support the choir itself
** [[Brandon]]: I like this model
* Art: What is the context/purpose for the services
** Aesthetically pleasing services
** Bring community together
*** Judy: The best services I've been to were ones where I could feel like potentially part of a community of the people in the room
*** Art: Sense of belonging
** Ground you in the now
** Give meaning
*** Steve: But what does that mean?
*** [[Mickki]]: Give a space or a vessel to be filled
*** Steve: Opposite of other religious leaders who created some meaning first in order to pull people in
**** [[Ben]]: Can provide a general framework at least
**** [[Brandon]]: [[Bringing life]] and the mythos of [[TheDestiny]] make a good filter for who would be interested
* Keith: Individual productive work during a service while singing (or talking) would attract me
** Art: Different from a work bee session, where the work replaces the discourse
** [[Brandon]]: I like Keith's image of a woman holding a baby while working on building a starship (or sitting in the captain's chair on its bridge)
* [[Mickki]]: What is the content or inquiry for the community at the service?
** Incorporating co-creation into the structure of a service
** Judy: Have a "seed" for each service to which everyone contributes (wisdom, a story, music, etc)
** Steve: Continuity/reliability of structure (Art: and schedule) from one meeting to the next
*** Rituals to begin and end service
*** Announcement time for what will be happening in the community
*** Some part of structure that is aesthetically focused (ex. singing)
*** Space within structure for interchange
**** People talking about what matters to them
**** Art: Making meaning together
*** Art: Informal social space just afterward, particularly related to food
* Models to look at
** [[Mickki]]: look at Jehovah's Witnesses' Theocratic Ministry School meetings
*** Anyone can be assigned to deliver a specific piece of content
*** Very rigid, but still some room to be creative
*** Opportunity for feedback (because speakers are trainee ministers)
*** Steve: We could have readings without an actual scripture
**** [[Mickki]]: Readings could range from transcendent to utterly practical
** Art: Christian Science
*** Ministry serves terms in different positions, usually with elections
*** Testimony meeting: space for anybody to share stories about what's working
**** As opposed to "trauma sharing," i.e. complaining together
* Art: Twice a month is a bare minimum in terms of community continuity