A MONTHLY EMAIL PUBLICATION of the FIC since 1999. November 20, 2004 1 Online Communities Directory Launch Report 2 What's Popular This Week At The IC Store 3 Sunrise Credit Union 4 Communities Magazine Fall Issue & More 5 Join The FIC & Bring More Connection To The World! _________________________________________________________________ 1 ONLINE COMMUNITIES DIRECTORY LAUNCH REPORT _________________________________________________________________ The new online Communities Directory website is off to a very good start since its launch on October 1! Here are a few statistics: The total count is about 1400 listed communities. Since the Directory was opened to the public, 72 new communities have added their entries. There have been over 3000 separate edit updates logged on nearly 250 already listed communities. Browse the online Directory http://directory.ic.org The Directory is a free searchable database of intentional communities. Visitors can browse through the alphabetical community list or search for communities based on location, keyword, and various aspects of community living that are important to community seekers. If you live in an intentional community and haven't yet done so please visit the site today and add or update your listing. There is no charge of any kind for this service. If you're pressed for time, we highly recommend a quick visit to the site to add or edit your community name and contact info. To edit your listing or to create a new listing follow the instructions found here http://directory.ic.org/neweditors.php Our online database will be the primary source for the next print edition of the Communities Directory, scheduled for release in early 2005. So update your listing today to be sure your community is accurately described in the next book. FIC is also pleased to be collaborating with the Cohousing Association of the US on this exciting new resource. Please forward this announcement to friends, associates and intentional community members who might be interested. If you have questions or suggestions about the online Directory, information about the status of a listed community, or if you notice any problems using the directory please contact directory ( at ) ic ( dot ) org The online Directory is a project of the nonprofit Fellowship for Intentional Community, funded by many generous individual donors. _________________________________________________________________ 2 WHAT'S POPULAR THIS WEEK AT THE IC STORE _________________________________________________________________ There's been a surge of interest this week in one particular item at our online bookstore: Geoph Kozeny's Visions of Utopia Volume One video on DVD. A companion piece to the Communities Directory, this video documentary features profiles of seven diverse communities, plus a fascinating history of 2500 years of shared intentional community living. Volume Two (now in the edit phase) will profile eleven other contemporary communities. Read more about this popular title here http://fic.ic.org/video/communities.html Additional info and ordering are found here http://store.ic.org/products/visions-of-utopia-video.html To order a copy of Volume One (DVD or VHS) for yourself or as a gift to share with your family and friends Volume One :: 94 minutes color DVD format (universal) or VHS (NTSC American) or VHS (PAL European) $30 plus $3 S/H standard mail in US [FIC members qualify for a 10% discount] Order by phone, fax, or mail FIC :: 138 Twin Oaks Rd :: Louisa VA 23093 800-462-8240 :: fax 540-894-4112 _________________________________________________________________ 3 SUNRISE CREDIT UNION NEWS _________________________________________________________________ Sunrise Credit Union, the credit union that serves individual and community members of the Fellowship for Intentional Community, has heard and answered the cry of anguish from members. Online banking is here -- check your balance, transfer money, and download your statement, all from a secure web browser. Sunrise Credit Union, in operation since 1997, is based in the Emissaries intentional community in Loveland Colorado. As with all credit unions, the people who belong are its owners, not merely customers as in other financial institutions. Saving at and borrowing from the credit union means you're a member AND an owner. That's because credit unions are set up as not-for-profit cooperatives. If you are not a member of the Sunrise Credit Union, consider joining. Sunrise has a full range of financial products and services and over 60 years of community living experience. http://www.sunrisecreditunion.org/ _________________________________________________________________ 4 COMMUNITIES MAGAZINE CURRENT ISSUE & MORE Spiritual Communities theme Upcoming Winter Issue Diana Christian's book reprinted _________________________________________________________________ The Fall 2004 Spiritual Communities issue of Communities magazine features articles exploring various aspects of spiritually oriented communities, from how they function to how emotionally challenging it can be to live in one! Articles include * Avoiding Spiritual Community about why Communities magazine hasn't featured this topic as a theme for the last 10 years * Rocky Mountain High about life at Lama Foundation in New Mexico * Why I'm Moving to Findhorn by a self-professed "cynical New Yorker" who can't stop returning to this famous British community * On the Edge of the Abyss about the search for spiritual community -- and what happens when you find it. "Truth Practice" and Social Justice explores the idea that living in community intimacy, spiritual practice, and social justice activism are mutually reinforcing. Spiritual Beings, Material World by an ecovillage founder in Bolivia asks us to ground spiritual aspirations in the hard, humbling work of serving others in the physical world Doing the Work explores the diverse spiritual expressions at Camphill and Catholic Worker communities. Also see Burning Man! Art, Culture, and Community through the Gift Economy, about an increasingly popular annual temporary community in the Nevada desert, and other feature articles. Columns include * Shaw EcoVillage: Bicycle Power and Activist Youth in the Inner City * Tree Bressen's process column: Working On Your Issues With Someone (Whether Or Not They Join In) * Shivalila: Yes, We're Still Here * Do We Really Value 'Diversity'? Asking the Hard Questions at Wild Sage Cohousing. ----------- Coming up in next in the Winter 2004 Student Co-ops issue: Are co-opers moving on to other forms of community? Moving to the suburbs? Keeping ties with their student co-ops? How else do co- ops influence their members later in life? Current debates in the student co-op movement: student vs. non- students, diversity, 'community co-ops.' Why a student co-op handbook is so necessary for this type of community; tips for writing one. Get a sample issue, renew or subscribe here http://store.ic.org/products/communities-magazine.html http://store.ic.org/products/communities-magazine-sampl.html Sample issues by surface mail $6 US - $7 Canada - $8 Other Subscriptions one year 4 issues $20 US :: $24 Canada :: $26 Other Order by phone fax or mail FIC * 138 Twin Oaks Rd * Louisa VA 23093 800-462-8240 fax 540-894-4112 ----------- CREATING A LIFE TOGETHER: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities Communities magazine editor Diana Leafe Christian reports that her new book had it's first reprint in August 2004, 14 months after its launch last year. The first printing (New Society Publishers, 2003) was 3,000 copies; the second, 2,500. Creating a Life Together continues to be a best-selling title available through the FIC's Community Bookshelf mailorder book service. Single copy $23 plus $3 S/H Standard Mail US delivery http://store.ic.org/products/creating-a-life-together.html Order by phone fax or mail FIC * 138 Twin Oaks Rd * Louisa VA 23093 800-462-8240 fax 540-894-4112 _________________________________________________________________ 5 JOIN THE FIC & BRING MORE CONNECTION TO THE WORLD! _________________________________________________________________ If you enjoy the information that reaches you via this newsletter, you're probably the kind of person who likes to bring people together, who appreciates cooperation and community. Those things are important to us, too--so important that we've centered our organization around them. And we'd love to have you with us. This e-newsletter, the Communities Directory, our Bookshelf and online store, Communities magazine, our regular member newsletter, the phone calls and emails we answer every day, the events we sponsor, the workshops we give...these are all part of meeting people's need for greater connection, around the world. Your $30 membership contribution or $100 donation today will help us do an even better job. Please consider joining the FIC now. For more info on membership benefits and to join online using our secure server go to http://store.ic.org/products/fic-membership.html To request a membership form by mail, or to email, or to talk with a human, contact us at RR 1 Box 156 Rutledge MO 63563 800-995-8342 fic ( at ) ic ( dot ) org To learn more about the mission of the organization visit http://fic.ic.org/index.html Thank you for your interest, and thanks for everything you do to promote and sustain community. Please review your membership status at the end of this email.