Developing Strategies for Diverse Groups Seeking Authentic Common Ground and Forging Consensus

Understanding And Embracing Diversity: Building Bridges For Consensus

In today’s increasingly interconnected and multicultural world, it is essential to develop strategies that enable diverse groups to find common ground and forge consensus. Understanding and embracing diversity is crucial in this process, as it allows us to appreciate the richness of different perspectives, experiences, and values. To build bridges for consensus, it is important to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels heard and respected.

This involves actively listening to one another without judgment, valuing diverse opinions, and promoting open dialogue. By fostering a culture of empathy and understanding, we can bridge gaps between individuals from various backgrounds. Additionally, acknowledging the complexity of diversity requires recognizing intersectionality – how different identities intersect within individuals – which can influence their viewpoints. By considering these intersecting identities such as race, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status when seeking consensus, we can better understand the unique challenges faced by each group.

Effective Communication Techniques For Bridging Differences

When seeking common ground and consensus among diverse groups, effective communication becomes paramount. To bridge differences and foster understanding, it is crucial to employ specific techniques that promote open dialogue and mutual respect. Firstly, active listening plays a vital role in effective communication. This involves attentively hearing others’ perspectives without interruption or judgment. By truly understanding their viewpoints, individuals can find commonalities and build upon them.

Additionally, employing empathy allows individuals to see beyond their own experiences and understand the emotions and motivations of others. This technique promotes a sense of connection and fosters an environment where diverse perspectives are valued. Furthermore, using inclusive language is essential in bridging differences. By avoiding exclusive terminology or assumptions, individuals can create an atmosphere of inclusivity that encourages everyone’s participation.

Lastly, practicing patience and staying open-minded are key to successfully navigating disagreements.

Finding Common Ground: Collaborative Strategies For Consensus Building

In a world marked by diversity, finding common ground among individuals or groups with varying perspectives can be challenging. However, employing collaborative strategies can help forge consensus and create a shared understanding. One effective approach is active listening. By truly hearing and understanding others’ viewpoints, we can identify areas of agreement and build upon them. Additionally, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and respected is crucial.

Encouraging open dialogue allows for the exchange of ideas and promotes mutual understanding. Furthermore, employing compromise as a strategy can help bridge gaps between differing opinions. By seeking middle-ground solutions that incorporate elements from all sides, we can move towards consensus without sacrificing individual values. Finally, building trust through transparency and accountability is vital in creating an atmosphere conducive to consensus building.

 References

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Our cabin fever is soon to break and, as our minds turn to thoughts of spring, these hills are very much alive with the sound of music. Julie Andrews taught us the “Do-Re-Mi” song as children. If we can understand that, we’ve already learned the basics of an Appalachian tradition akin to what was carried by the circuit riding singers and preachers of the early 1800’s. It is known as either sacred harp or shaped note singing where the “harp” is the voice you were given at birth.

In shaped note music notation, each interval of the standard musical scale has a different name and shape. It’s easy to memorize the shapes and the intervals they represent which makes old time music more accessible, while its enthusiasts are more agile, able to sing and read music in any key.

The late Quay Smathers was born in 1913, just west of Asheville. He is remembered as a fine example pointing to the lasting legacy of shape note singing. Family and friends recall that Smathers exuded a warmth through his music. One reminisced “It’s as if each note came with a flickering tongue of the Holy Spirit . . .”

This spring, on April 14, 2018, the Quay Smathers Memorial Singing School will hold its third annual gathering in Clyde, North Carolina devoted to carrying on Quay’s work of raising up shaped-note singers. The school teaches using The Christian Harmony songbook. This book, published in 1866, featured additional notation that effectively upgraded the “fa so la” system of four syllables and introduced the seven-syllable “do re mi” system that is used throughout Western North Carolina. The Seattle Voice Lab is where one can go to get help with their voice training.

It is for those who long to sing in the traditional style, originally heard throughout the Blue Ridge mountains.
The singing school is taught by leaders in the Blue Ridge style of shaped-note singing. The faculty includes Quay’s daughters as well as his son-in-law. They will be joined by the Christian Harmony Singers. Those who attend will gain a deeper understanding of the sacred harp tradition plus a proficiency in singing shaped-notes as they were originally sung in the Southern Appalachians.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

“Hill Street, it’s time to break open the doors and take to the street.” This was the message delivered by the former pastor of Hill Street Missionary Baptist Church in Asheville. North Carolina on Oct. 18, 2015. Throughout his fourteen year tenure, Reverend Keith Ogden was a well known advocate of a biblical world view in and around Asheville. Now the church is engaged in the search for a new pastor, one that can “Articulate a clear vision for spiritual growth, Christian Education, and personal development” according to its search committee.

The Church was formed in 1915 moving from Stumptown to the Hill Street location in 1949. These and other neighborhoods would face tumultuous change in the decades to come. Sarah M. Judson with the Department of History at UNCA, wrote in 2010 “urban renewal was a continuous experience for Asheville’s African American community for almost thirty years. Beginning with the Hill Street neighborhood in 1957. ”She continued “The fabric of each of these historic African American communities was torn apart.”

Hill Street Baptist weathered these ravages of time gracefully, just as their faith was informed and reinforced by lessons such as this: “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” — Jesus (Matthew 7:25) Today, when one enters the sanctuary for a Sunday service, the warm reception and the music speaks volumes about a congregation that is steadfast and centered on the Gospel of Jesus.

Music contributes mightily to the congregation’s sense of continuity. Terry Letman, the Minister of Music was originally retained as an interim for three months. That was seven years ago. Speaking of the thirty voice adult choir, Letman said, “They love what they do. And I get truly excited by the fervency.” Letman’s own feathery touch on the keyboards also contributes to an understanding of why the group receives requests to sing at other area churches. He tells us that a city wide choir is in the works and that we can look forward to their first concert in the near future.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

“Gazing past the planets, looking for total view.”  With this lyric from the popular sixties album To Our Children’s Children’s Children, a Moody Blues tribute band opens a unique celebration of creation spirituality with the Jubilee Community on Wall Street in downtown Asheville. It was earlier this year, on a warm night in late May, that Jubilee hosted the debut performance of The Lost Chord. And the band would sing on. “Wonders of a lifetime, right there before your eyes.”

Mike Parvin attended the Friday night gathering and said “At the end of the concert I found myself standing, applauding and cheering this band.” I then realized that I was also standing, applauding and cheering the sounds and songs of the Moody Blues. This is what a tribute band is for – celebration! Were they good? Yes. Did they succeed? Yes…YES!”

The group performs in and around Asheville carrying a message that resonates with the Jubilants as well as anyone else looking for a brand of spirituality that is a bit more cosmic in scope. To contact the band visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thelostchordmoodybluestribute/

While a Sunday morning celebration within Jubilee’s diverse community draws liberally from the Judeo-Christian scriptures for inspiration, participants might also enjoy insights from the Beatles or Dylan. At times the congregation is held, enraptured, by the sound of a Buddhist bowl. At other times they will engage with a highly versatile house band that offers a little something of everything, from Bach to Zulu. For any newcomer, it quickly becomes apparent the Jubilants are a wildly independent lot. But, when it’s time for celebration they are all in, just as they were admonished to be as the Moody Blues and the Lost Chord sang “Baby there’s no price upon your head, sing it, shout it!”

“Eighty percent of what we do is music” according to Howard Hanger. It was this same Reverend Hanger who, in May of 1984, commenced a gathering of creative people to develop an artistic interpretation of eight “Seeds of Celebration.” The group shared stories, songs, dance, poetry, paintings, and other expressions in a highly interactive, participatory way. From these humble beginnings the Jubilee Community was born.

From the time of its inception, Jubilee has enjoyed the support of area Baptist, Buddhist, Jewish, Methodist, Episcopal, Unitarian-Universalist, and United Church of Christ congregations. It has borrowed from these traditions together with Sufi, Native American and others while fostering a “Creation Spirituality” that honors all of creation as a “Holy Gift.” Among the many affirming messages displayed within Jubilee’s Earth friendly building is the statement that “Diversity of faith enriches our community.”

During the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas wrote “We can and do relate to the universe as a whole since we are a microcosm of that macrocosm and this relationship “intoxicates” us.” Jubilant’s clearly believe that Aquinas was on to something. While this way of thinking is, perhaps, as old as humanity, it may have been best articulated in text that a scribe in ancient Egypt produced as a legacy for his son. The Instruction of Amenemope dates back to the the Ramesside Period, during which the tribes of Israel first became a unified nation. For anyone who tends to view our universe of universes in a creation spirituality context, there is one line from this text that sort of jumps out at you:

“For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.”

Pastor Hanger describes a personal awakening of sorts in this way: “I studied under Margaret Mead. She was an anthropologist.” He goes on to say: “One of the things that turned my head around when I was twenty years old was when she said “Go to any archeological site, anyplace in the world, and one of the first things you will find are sacred artifacts. We’ve always sought to connect with that which we do not understand.”” At that point Hanger recalls that he thought to himself “Yes, yes! That’s it, that’s it, that’s it! Were yearning for that.”

“So that’s really what we try to do at Jubilee We don’t try to give anybody any answers. But, we try to open them up to ask better questions about their life, about life on this planet.” Hanger goes on to say “Music is . . . We all know it’s a social lubricant. But I say it’s a spiritual lubricant too. It gets you out of your set kind of ways of thinking and being. It opens the door to other possibilities.”

“The whole western church is built on music.” Hanger said. “The only reason we have Bach is because he was hired by a church and he had to write all these things. And so, music is crucial, absolutely crucial in Jubilee. Many people are attracted to Jubilee because of the the music. It offers such variety.”

At one point in our interview, Pastor Hanger described the way he came into possession of a Buddhist bowl saying “A guy at Jubilee had a store, called Far Away Place. He told me “I want to give you a Buddhist bowl, but you’ve got to come in and let it pick you.” So I go to his store and he says “Now shut your eyes and I’m going to start playing them and you’ll know when it’s your bowl. You’ll just know that.” So I’m thinking, ok, I can play this game. I close my eyes and he plays fifteen or twenty of them and I’m like, this is not working. I’m getting kind of embarrassed, you know, for him. And he tells me “Just keep on, your bowl may not even be here.”

Hanger continues: “So he gets one, gets one, gets one and then, all of a sudden I said “That’s it!” Well, I don’t know. It sounded like all the other bowls, but there was something about it, the overtones that just, whew! And so, maybe the tone of that just spoke to me, cut through the crowd. That’s the bowl we use on Sunday. I don’t know if it speaks to the other people there, but it gets me there.” He said.

Pastor Hanger is in awe of the musical talent at Jubilee “We have wonderful drummers.” He said. “And there’s something about that drum. I’m a big student of ritual and, as far as we know, our first human ritual was done with drum and dance. That was our first connection to the Spirit world.” Jubilee’s schedule of celebrations is available on their website at www.JubileeCommunity.org and they will host an International Conference on Creation Spirituality in April.

Elsewhere and else-when, on a porch in Pensacola, North Carolina, David Green would play guitar and, along with neighbors and friends, sing “ol’ timey” Gospel hymns. Over the next ten years, the neighborhood gathering grew larger and the sing-a-long became a full-fledged community event in greater Burnsville. When David became the pastor of Grace Methodist in the shadow of Newfound Mountain, he brought his guitar, considerable talent, and a variety of lessons learned to a nearby community center in that rural valley.

Pastor Green told us that one of those lessons learned underscores the value of holding these hymn sings in a neutral place. “The community center allows us to attract people who may not be inclined to cross denominational lines or others who may be reluctant to even enter a church.” He said.

According to those who regularly participate in the Friday evening events that also feature a potluck dinner, the number of area churches represented has now topped out at seventeen while it usually hovers at twelve to fifteen.

Charles Ballew and Sam Smathers joined David in leading the songs a little over a year ago according to the pastor. Charles plays a standup washtub bass of his own making. To change pitch he pulls a crank originally used to draw the shades in a chicken coop. His other hand is free to pluck the single string, that looks a lot like a clothesline, as the old metal washtub resonates, shapes, and amplifies the sound.

Sam plays the lead guitar parts while David plays mostly rhythm as he sings. Pastor Green says that Sam has a real talent for covering most of the pastor’s mistakes while weaving them into something beautiful. “You couldn’t ask for a better complement.” David says.

Judy McGargle regularly attends these first Friday of every month sessions. She says she enjoys the banter and the opportunity to sing the hymns she knew as a child and highlighted the interactive nature of the sessions saying “ I love how everyone participates.” Patty Reichstad agreed with that sentiment saying “These are the songs that we grew up with.” She continued “ I grew up in the Catholic Church where we would only sing the first and third verse. Here we sing all of them.” Speaking of those who join from all the different area churches she said “I was impressed by how good they sound together, it’s as if they practiced together.”

Francie Green, David’s wife, added this observation: “ Even though they come from fifteen different churches, they already know most of the songs. The song leader loves old hymns and just has this library in his head of beautiful old hymns, so . . .” When asked about how this event became so successful, she said that “David knew some people from church and the welcome table lunches in Leicester. We had a banner and we put up some flyers. People just started coming.”

Francie continued “We have a great variety of people that come and just worship the Lord. Where else can you go, on a Friday night, and sing praises to God. It just warms your heart. Doug May joined the conversation saying “The people in this little valley are just as friendly and welcoming as can be.” Doug has been participating in these events since they first started. The event is held at 7:00 PM on the first Friday of every month at The Newfound Community Center.

In a world of competing ideas we are each searching for answers. And, there is no shortage of people with good ideas they hope will go viral, folks who sincerely believe their idea is the one whose time has come. Even so, in and around Asheville there are many highly diversified groups like these, composed of people thoroughly jazzed by diversity and what now appears to be a new unification of contrasts, people who seem to value spiritual unity over any form of theological uniformity.

They have brought a powerful contagion into our midst. It is through this enthusiasm (en-theos), that they are truly united as they strive to be ever more responsive to the Divine leading that brings us together. Some will hum along as they find resonance in the cosmos and each other. Some will sway as they share the sound of singing bowls or a washtub bass. Still others will raise their voices heavenward in a full throated expression of gratitude. When all is said and done, it is the common quest of searchers that make us a house undivided for, and far beyond, itself. “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”

Vincent Ventola (1948-1991) painted his way to light and life! This video features many of his most inspired portrayals of new horizons along the journey to Paradise. The lyrics of Troy Bishop and music by various artists complement the imagery in the most thrilling, yet tranquil, way.

An audiovisionary portrayal of the cycle of reality by Troy R. Bishop.

This is a tour of the universe of universes as depicted in The Urantia Book. It features the art of Gary Tonge and the music is Claire de Lune, part of the Suite Bergamasque by Claude Debussy.

On one Homecoming Sunday, The Prodigal Son’s Quartet filled the sanctuary at Bell Church in Leicester, NC. This talented group of inmates, from the Buncombe County Correctional Center, is now singing for Jesus. And what a blessing it was to hear them lead the worship service at Bell UMC. Their encore was a lively reprise of the wonderful old gospel song Where Could I Go But To The Lord? The song was written in 1940 by James (J. B.) Coats after he had asked a dying friend if he knew where he would spend eternity. The friend replied, “Where could I go, but to the Lord?”

As The Prodigal Sons were singing, so were the ushers as they danced down the aisles with collection baskets for a love offering. You can donate to this vibrant prison ministry by addressing your contribution to BCC Prison Ministries, 125 Caldonia Dr. Candler, NC 28715

Now sit back and enjoy Where Could I Go But To The Lord? as sung by The Prodigal Sons Quartet on Sunday, August 31, 2014 at Bell United Methodist Church!

This brief sermon was delivered by Bob Kalk during a music service at Bell Church in Leicester, North Carolina on July 6, 2014. The guest pianist is Gerald Ball from nearby Mars Hill University. Bell Church was organized immediately after the civil war in 1866. At that time, the circuits in and about the Blue Ridge were largely served by native preachers, either ordained or local. Leicester was a center for “Northern Methodism,” with a great emphasis on education and connectional ministries. Today Bell is wired for, and focused upon, a set of challenges that include new educational initiatives and outreach.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

These hummingbird favorites are easy to plant and they will animate your garden in the most delightful way.

Agastache: Quickly becoming a summer favorite, this perennial has fragrant foliage and spiky flowers of pink, purple, blue, red and orange.

Hollyhock: Plant these and you’ll have sensational spires of flowers. A classic cottage garden plant that’s very easy to grow.

Alstroemeria: A favorite cut flower because they last so long. Lots of colors and plants of different sizes. Leave some for the hummingbirds!

Milkweed: Colorful and easy to grow. Yellow and orange/red are most popular. You’ll get lots of butterfly visitors, too.

Lion’s tail: Tall spikes of orange flowers appear on this shrubby perennial. Easy to grow.

Salvia: Lots of choices — all with colorful flowers. Many with richly fragrant foliage.

Pyrostegia: You’ll have cascades of orange flowers blooming fall through winter. Sometimes called flame vine.

Abutilon: Flowering maples produce beautiful bells of red, yellow, white, salmon and pink. They tolerate some shade.

Butterfly bush: Spectacular spikes of purple, pink, white and lavender. Cut back after blooming to get more blossoms. Of course butterflies love this shrub too. Plant the new dwarf forms if you have a small space.

Hibiscus: A favorite shrub in San Diego. Gorgeous, shiny, evergreen foliage and stunning flowers in warm weather. ‘Tradewinds’ is a new dwarf shrub reaching only 3 feet in height.

Lantana: So many colors, so many forms—from low, trailing types to small rounded shrubs. So easy to grow, too. Cut it back every winter to keep it clean and tidy.

Lavender: Take your pick; they’re all good. Fernleaf, Spanish and French lavenders bloom almost year-round.

Leucophyllum: Texas ranger, an evergreen shrub, has gorgeous silver foliage and violet or magenta flowers. If it begins to look a little rangy, cut it almost to the ground.

Rosemary: Bulletproof plants that trail, mound or grow upright, depending on the variety. You must let them bloom if you want hummingbird visits.

Trumpet vine: Included here are blood-red, vanilla, and royal trumpet vines—three different species of distictis. All have glorious trumpet flowers on beautiful, rich green foliage.