 August, 2009 marked a new moment for the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue as it held its first Training Seminar. Eleven women from around the country who work in a variety of ministries participated.
From its beginning ICCD has assisting others to engage impasse through a communal contemplative process. ICCD sees itself as part of a larger movement contributing to the transformation of consciousness. Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue® embodies our insights and vision. Over the past six years with more than 300 persons participating in our Circles, ICCD has established a quality program with a strong and positive reputation and a rich and meaningful methodology.
This, our first training seminar, provided the opportunity to enlarge the reach of the Circle experience and insights. It trained those who wish to use the Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue® method and materials in their own work to become a part of the broader engaging impasse community and to contribute to the larger movement for transformation.
When asked why they responded to the invitation to attend the Training Seminar, to a person participants replied “because it worked.” Their experience of the process testified to its power to invite personal transformation in a communal setting.
Nancy Sylvester, IHM and Pat Kozak, CSJ, assisted by Arlene Ashack, IBVM, provided the participants with an understanding of the underlying assumptions and flow of the Engaging Impasse process. The participants then went to work planning how they might use the methodology in their places of ministry. The possibilities were exciting: those working in retreat centers thinking about two hour segments over a year; those in health care planning to invite the physicians and mission integration persons to get involved; university professor wondering how to integrate some of the principles into her course work; and others working with the deaf community and women's groups seeing how they could offer five or six weekends during the year.
At the end of a Training Seminar participants entered into a legal agreement which permits them to offer programs using the methodology of Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue®. Although these women are not agents of ICCD, the Board is excited that the wisdom and gift of the methodology of Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue® will be accessible to many more persons in the years to come.
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