15-Jan-08 9:00 PM CST

Community Gathering Looks at Possible New Direction for New Warrior Community

Community Gathering Looks at Possible New Direction for New Warrior Community
by Mike “Lionman” Leone, DRUM Editor

On Saturday, January 5, the first community gathering of 2008 was held at the New Warrior lodge. Led by Board of Directors Chair Mel Taylor, the first part of the meeting emphasized the many positive strides made by our community in 2007, including our new-found financial stability. In stark contrast to our situation at this time last year, we find ourselves in much better shape financially, and have even been able to make a couple of payments on the principal indebtedness for our lodge. Our current stability is largely thanks to several things: the new dues structure; the gifts we have received from individual members of the community; the staff and initiate fees from the 2007 NWTAs; and our fundraising events, in particular our recent gala that netted $20,000, to be split with Women Within.

A large part of the rest of the meeting was framed by some rather sad news: the imminent cancellation of the January 2008 NWTA. Our community celebrated its 100th training back in December of 2004, with roughly a dozen trainings each year since then; yet, this is the first time in the history of MKP Houston that it has been necessary to cancel a weekend because of low enrollment. Weekend leader Gene Perry referred to this sad step as a “community decision,” speaking of how hard the January 2008 staff has worked to bring men onto this weekend.

However, this situation also served as a springboard and catalyst toward discussing some new and exciting directions in which our community is heading. We began with a question that will be familiar, in slightly different form, to any man who has ever staffed a weekend: “Who is responsible for attracting men to our community?” The answer, of course is, “I am.”

While the discussion initially began with the word “enrollment,” most of what followed delved into areas where this word did not really fit. We started looking more at the concept of “attracting” men to our community and discussed two principal methods of achieving this goal.

The first method that we discussed was the idea of Open I-Groups. Open I-Groups include both initiated men, and men who have not yet done the NWTA. While there has been a fair amount of resistance in Houston to the idea of open I-Groups, other communities have been quicker to try these sorts of groups with definite success. One particular success story mentioned by Tom Flaherty, Integration Committee Chair, was that of the Northern California community, where open I-Groups are the rule rather than the exception; as a result, there is a waiting list for each of the six weekends that that community holds each year.

There was some inconclusive discussion about how we might persuade the I-Groups in the Houston community to be more willing to open themselves up, with the admission that doing so involves a certain degree of vulnerability and openness on the part of these groups. One thing that Mel emphasized was the need for better communication between the lodge and our I-Groups, especially those groups who do not meet at the lodge and of whose existence we may not even be aware.

We segued into the second part of the discussion by means of talking about another men’s group rarely discussed within our circles and yet with whom we have some definite things in common: the Masons. The Masons have been around and thriving for centuries; Mozart, for example, who died in 1791, was a Mason, as have been a number of our former presidents. Yet, paradoxically, a Mason is forbidden to specifically invite another man to join the organization. Men join the Masons because they are attracted to what the organization does and what it represents.

With this in mind, Mel turned the meeting over to Ken Rogers, who raised the very important question, how does the outside community see us? Ken, who discussed this issue briefly in the Fall 2007 DRUM, said that there is a growing need for communication between us and the community at large. He expressed the desire that we return to who we once were, “Men in Mission.” The very last thing we tell all men on the weekend is to “go in mission” and “go in service,” and we honor men in our community who live their lives in mission and service through the Ron Hering Award. Yet we do not provide opportunities for men in our community to do that. Not until now, anyway.

Ken suggested that we start creating missions through agencies who have needs for what we have to offer. He emphasized that by serving, we can transform ourselves. He said that we need our non-Warrior brothers just as much as they need us, and that we will come to know ourselves in a new way through our connection with them. Bruce Anderson added that keeping our energy to ourselves is not working, and Jim Rosborough brought up the concept of redefining our I-Groups as “mission teams.” On a more practical level, Tom Flaherty spoke about giving out projects to our initial I-Groups on the last night of their first cycle.

A project Ken Rogers spoke of that is coming up very soon is that a dozen or so New Warriors will be serving a meal at the Beacon, a facility for homeless men that is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral downtown. This will be the first of, it is expected, many such projects. See the interview/profile of Ken Rogers of this issue for more information.

Mel then asked that all men at the community gathering who were interested in being involved in this new undertaking step forward, and the response was almost unanimous. So the meeting ended on a very optimistic note.

There will be more information in upcoming issues of the DRUM about these missions of service. So stay tuned, and contact the men heading up this project—see their names in the Ken Rogers interview—if you are interested.
Aho!

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Source: Mike “Lionman” Leone
http://www.mkphouston.org