Christ and the Corporate Being
When Jesus went down to the river that day
He was baptized in the usual way.
And when it was done, God blessed his Son,
He sent him his love,
On the wings of a dove.
(Gospel Hymn)
One of the great moments in the Gospels comes at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, immediately after his Baptism in the Jordan. At that moment Jesus has received into himself the Spirit of God, which has descended like a dove, and the voice of God proclaims His love for His Son, through whom He will be revealed.
This is a moment of great power, a supreme moment of the infusion of Spirit into matter. It is at this time, when the Power of God is so strongly felt, that the Temptation by the Adversary Powers takes place.
The Adversary offers up three temptations: rulership over the world, invulnerability, and the ability to turn stones into bread. Christ refuses these temptations and begins the process of uniting His Being with that of humanity, so that we ourselves may bring into being The Christ who dwells within each and every member of the human family.
When we look at our world today and how it operates, we see that the most powerful being on our planet is the global corporation. Read more
Rev. Ann Burfeind was born in Chicago and grew up on a farm in the upper Midwest. She was a Waldorf class teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and for many years worked, in various capacities at the Christian Community summer camp in the Midwest. Earlier this year she completed the Seminary curriculum in Stuttgart, Germany, and was ordained on March 18th, in Spring Valley, NY. Rev. Burfeind is now returning to her roots in the Midwest as a priest in the Christian Community in Chicago. Welcome back Ann!
Rev. Darryl Coonan is a native of Australia and lived there until he entered the Seminary in Chicago, in 2008. During his time in his home land, he worked as a nurse for 13 years. His experience working as a community health nurse led him to further his education to more effectively work with drug dependence and mental illness. He went on to complete four graduate level programs, which he then utilized in his work in the field of addictions, major psychiatric conditions, and in his own private psychotherapy practice.
The Future Initiatives Group has been a beehive of activity throughout 2010. The current members, Ann Elizabeth Barnes, Fiona Gold, Cindy Hindes, Carol Kelly, Patrick Kennedy, and Oliver Steinrueck, were joined by two new members, Anna Claire Novotny (Spring Valley) and Eileen King (Washington DC), who has agreed to join us at our next meeting. The group has been meeting twice a year, most recently in Los Angeles, CA and Spring Valley, NY, and has had numerous teleconferences during the year. And like bees in the winter that exchange sing song, much discussion was had, and like bees in the summer, scouts have been flying all over North America searching for nectar. Funny how searching for future directions brings you smack, kerplop into the present. Here is a summary of projects to date. If you have extra energy, ideas and enthusiasm sparked by any of these projects, please get in touch with anyone on the Future Initiatives Group.