Communities #185
Winter 2019
Note: You can order a copy of this issue here.
How do intentional communities navigate generational change? What structures what help them outlast the founding generation? How are major responsibilities transferred as members age? Stories from contemporary and historic groups suggest key elements that either acilitate or sabotage smooth transitions and community survival.
PASSING THE TORCH: GENERATIONAL SHIFTS IN COMMUNITY
Contents:
Communities Relaunch, How to Support It, and Transition Updates
Letters: On Communities’ Near-Demise, and News from Our Partners by Dan Littman, Pat Boyd, Paul Freundlich
Readers share memories and assert the magazine’s ongoing value; plus, a new blog.
Notes from the Editor: Passing the Communities Torch to a New Publisher by Chris Roth
Thanks to FIC and you, we made it this far, and thanks to GEN-US and you, we’re back!
News from GEN-US by Linda Joseph, Daniel Greenberg, (Alejandra) Liora Adler, Giovanni Ciarlo, Lois Arkin, Diana Leafe Christian, Nathan Scott, Leonie Lylia Brien
Council members share their stories and visions for Communities and GEN-US.
Generational Transition and Communal Longevity by Tim Miller
Over and over, people with the highest ideals found intentional communities that turn out to be painfully short-lived. Can communities learn to navigate generational changes better?
Passing the Torch at Magic by Jen and Hilary Bayer
Twenty-year-old twins reflect on their growth into responsibility and leadership in their community of birth―and their next steps.
Then and Now: Generational Shifts at Heartwood Cohousing by Sandy Thomson
Aging cohousers confront sadness, change, and opportunity as the last of the children who grew up there move on. How to make their community multi-generational again?
Morninglory Farm Community by Robbie Anderman and Christina Anderman
The founders of an off-grid, back-to-the-land community reflect on 50 years of their group’s evolution and why it has survived and thrived.
Passing the Torch at Innisfree by Nancy Chappell and Julie Freeman Mullins
The long-time volunteer recruitment coordinator within a lifesharing service community, as well as her newly-trained replacement, reflect on changes, challenges, and continuing inspiration.
Handing Over Twin Oaks’ Garden Managership by Pam Dawling
Turning over coordination of a community’s extensive vegetable gardens after more than two decades in the role is not easy, but with enough intentionality, planning, and process, it can be done not only (relatively) gracefully but also successfully.
Taking On Twin Oaks’ Garden Managership by Brittany Lewis
After three years experiencing the same stressors and burdensthat her predecessor confronted, Twin Oaks’ new garden manager can at times be heard exclaiming, “Pam was right about everything!”
A Fistful of Sunflowers by Joanne Poyourow
After 11 years at the helm of the Community Garden at Holy Nativity, its cofounder makes the decision―difficult yet renewing―to pass leadership to the next generation.
Seizing the Torch by Chris Roth
At Fir Ridge community, a younger group’s “torch-seizure” seemed part of a necessary reinvigoration; at Maple Creek, by contrast, it almost led to communal oblivion.
Living in Multi-Generational Communities May Empower Everyone by Rev. Jacqueline Zaleski Mackenzie, Ph.D.
After a lifetime of community experience, two elders find roles as “grandparents” interfacing with volunteers in an Ecuadoran ecovillage.
Winter Circle by Stephen Wing
Under the Winter Solstice moon, the sky glows and the city glitters like a land unpromised, undiscovered, altogether unexpected.
Passing the Torch at Earthaven by Arjuna da Silva
A Baby Boomer reflects on a quarter century’s evolution, both personal and collective, within the community she cofounded―from tolerating painful changes to honoring differences and embracing the new.
Community Grief by Lee Warren
A tragic five seconds change the course of everyone’s lives at Earthaven Ecovillage, opening the opportunity for learning how to deal collectively with trauma, grief, and loss.
“Remain True”: 300 Years of Passing the Torch in the Amana Community by Jonathan Andelson
Throughout Amana’s history, church and community persist while structure and organization change periodically; a ninth generation is now receiving the torch.
Connecting through Generations at the Bruderhof by Marianne Wright
For the Bruderhof, birth names reflect honoring of and inspiration from ancestors and role models, tying together generations in a shared collective spirit.
Reducing Conflict with a “Rights of Renters and Owners Agreement” by Diana Leafe Christian
When owner-landlords share their rural property or city home with renters as fellow community members, a specific kind of agreement can drastically reduce the potential for owner-renter conflict.
Future Visions at Villaggio Verde by Etta Madden
At a spiritual ecovillage in Italy’s Piedmont region, two long-time members reflect on work and transitions, both within their own lives and in their home community.
Sharing Knowledge Through Generations by Blake Wilson
At Little Permies Kids Camp, younger and older generations share the exploration of permaculture and earth-based living.
Passing the Torch from Indigenous Past to Communal Present in Hawaii by Emily Gleason
The Hawaiian islands were once totally self-sufficient, but modern inhabitants have become dangerously dependent on massive food imports and fossil fuels. Kuwili Lani and allied initiatives are looking to change that.
Excerpted from the Winter 2019 edition of Communities (#185), “Passing the Torch: Generational Shifts in Community.”