The Community of Service
at Four Quarters
an Earth Religious Monastic Order
At all times and in all places people are called to
their religious experience, and the expression of that experience. Four Quarters is such
an expression, as a Church and a Spiritual Sanctuary based upon the Land.Four Quarters is
also a Religious Order, a group of people who have accepted a Rule governing the living of
their lives, and who have dedicated their lives to supporting the work of this Church.
They accept no wage for this work and if the work is outside of the Church they give their
wages to the Church, being supported by the Membership and the Common Treasury of the
Church.
Although the Community of Service at Four Quarters is in every way a
living community, it is not an intentional community in the commonly understood sense. We
are not attempting to create a model for economic or egalitarian lifestyles, nor are we an
effort to provide an alternative to society at large. In fact, we doubt that anyone is so
wise as to be able to create Community by intent. Our experience has been that when people
are moved by a common goal, have struggled in common effort and share a mutual spiritual
and physical investment, that community will arise. In fact it can hardly be otherwise.
Charism and Rule of
The Community of Service
at Four Quarters
Adopted Feb 11, 2001 by The Board of
Directors
Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary of EarthReligion
A Religious Order of the Four Quarters InterFaith Sanctuary of Earth Religion
Charism of the Community of Service at
Four Quarters
We find Spirit working
through ourselves, through those with whom we share this journey and through the cycles
and seasons, all in their proper time, of the world of nature all around us.
We find Spirit revealed
to us in the eternal Dance of the Goddess and Great God, reflecting both the singular and
the plural nature of Spirit; revealed to us again in the turning of the Great Wheel of the
Year, marking out the universal rhythm of the cosmos and reflected in the stations of our
own personal lives; and revealed yet again in the dynamic of our community, drawn together
in worship and religious festival, to mark our own understanding and to Honor the Old
Gods.
We find Spirit dwells
within ourselves, within our Sisters and Brothers in relation with each other, and within
the substance of the living world. Together, these things constitute the Mind of Spirit.
As we travel through the
Great Wheel, we are privileged to experience that which has brought us such understanding
as we may have. Seeking to increase our understanding of Spirit, we now realize that we
can best do so by undertaking a life of Service.
Service to the Spirit
that dwells within the natural world, through a commitment of physical stewardship to the
land upon which we live, held as an InterFaith Sanctuary of Earth Religion; and through
stewardship of that greater whole, our Planet Earth.
Service to the Spirit
that dwells within our Community, by making our Sanctuary open for the peoples experience
of Spirit. Through regular worship on the Land, through religious festivals and ritual
held upon the land; and by bringing ceremony and solace to those who request it from afar.
Service to the Spirit
that dwells within our Sisters and Brothers, by caring for their wants both physical and
spiritual, and seeing in their own hurts and joys a reflection of our own.
And a life of Service to
the Spirit that dwells within our own hearts; through personal Sacrifice, Ceremony and
Celebration.
The Rule
of the Community of Service at Four Quarters
This Rule is provided
for the guidance of the Sisters and Brothers of the Community of Service at Four Quarters
and describes how they have agreed to live, for anyone undertaking this Life of Service
should do so in knowledgeable understanding of its terms.
Authority
As loving discipline is
a good thing, the Community of Service is subject to the authority and decisions of the
Board of Directors of the Four Quarters InterFaith Sanctuary of EarthReligion, in all
matters where the Board exercises that authority
Discipline from within is as important as
discipline from without; in any other matters a Member of the Community of Service is
subject to the authority and decisions of a Council of Dedicants of the Community of
Service.
Common Goods
If you undertake to live
under this Rule have no expectation that you will receive financial benefit or physical
wealth for your labors. And if you owned nothing of the world do not look for those things
within the Community of Service that you were unable to have when living without.
The income or benefit of property held by a
Member of the Community shall not personally benefit that member in a way that would
distinguish them from any other Member of the Community. And the financial rewards of any
kind of internal work or external wage paying work performed by a Member of the Community
shall always be settled to benefit the common treasury of the church.
Think of nothing within the Community of
Service as your own, but consider it to be yours in common. Food, clothing and shelter
shall be provided from the common treasury in equal portions, with just allowance made for
differing individual needs.
If you owned something of the world, do not
make haste in wanting to give it to the Community, but rather give thoughtful
consideration to your irrevocable acts.
The Novice
A Novice of this
Community is a person exploring this Rule as a basis for living their life. They have
petitioned the Council of Dedicants, which has recommended them as a Novice to the Board
of Directors, which recommendation the Board has accepted. They shall be accepted as a
Novice in private ceremony with the Council of Dedicants.
The Novice agrees to live under the terms of
this Rule and the authority of the Church to the best of their ability, and the Church
agrees to provide for their daily wants from the common treasury; understanding that the
Community and the Church have extended no assurances of their tenure. The Council of
Dedicants or the Board of Directors may terminate their Novitiate for any reason or for no
reason.
Because a lack of alternatives is the poorest
of reasons for membership in the Community, no Novice of the Community should ever be
without the means to freely effect a graceful decision to leave the Community. A Novice
must show proof of and retain such personal resources sufficient to allow their free
withdrawal from the Community. Likewise, the Community is forbidden to accept as a gift
from a Novice any resources that would inhibit their free withdrawal from the Community.
To join or withdraw from the Community of Service carries with it neither honor or
derision. It is a choice that reflects the needs of the individual and the Community.
A Novice is encouraged to retain their personal
and movable property, and may bring with them to the Community such movable personal
property as can be neatly stored in their assigned living quarters. If they make available
for the use of the community personal or movable property that is consumable, they do so
knowing that such consumption shall be considered a gift to the Church.
A Novice may retain ownership of real property
acquired prior to their membership in the Community of Service, or may receive
inheritance, legacy or gift from family or persons who knew the Novice prior to their
living under this Rule; provided that they do not personally receive any benefit in a way
that would distinguish them from any other member of the Community; and that the Novice is
not required to provide any substantial form of support or supervision that would diminish
their labor on behalf of the Community.
The Dedicant
A Novice may be
nominated by the Council of Dedicants to the Board of Directors for acceptance as a
Dedicant to the Community of Service, such nomination occurring twice and acceptance
occurring twice within a period of three lunar cycles. It is best that at least one year
and preferably three years of service and training prepare a Novice to make a
knowledgeable decision to dedicate themselves as a Member of the Community of Service.
The Dedicant shall be received into the
Community at a public Full Moon Service, that includes a laying on of hands by the Council
of Dedicants, Church and Four Quarters Members.
An explicit compact exists between the Church
and the Dedicant of mutual responsibility and obligation. The Church is accepting of its
obligation to provide for the daily needs of the Dedicant and that persons dependant
children, from the common treasury as equally shared among the Members of the Community.
The Dedicant accepts the direction and decisions of the Church, even when these extend to
matters of directing day to day activities of the Dedicant, work outside of the Church for
wage, that persons long term personal development and their spiritual responsibilities to
the Church and the people. For both parties the expectation is that these reciprocal
responsibilities are for life.
The compact can only be sundered on the part of
the Church after its third loving and written censure has gone unheeded on the part of the
Dedicant, and after both the Council of Dedicants and the Board of Directors have twice
reached the decision to sunder the compact within three Lunar cycles. The compact may be
sundered by the Dedicant upon request made of the Board of Directors and the Council of
Dedicants, and followed by a public Full Moon Ceremony of Sundering. In the event that the
compact is sundered, the Dedicant retains their personal movable property and such real
property as they have not yet disposed of.
A Dedicant should retain only such movable
personal property as can be neatly stored in their personal living quarters. Any tools,
equipment or other articles that they may make available for the use of the Community
shall be considered a gift to the Church.
A Dedicant may retain ownership of real
property acquired prior to their membership in the Community of Service, or may receive
inheritance, legacy or gift from family or persons who knew the Dedicant prior to their
living under this Rule; provided that they do not personally receive any benefit in a way
that would distinguish them from any other member of the Community; and that the Dedicant
is not required to provide any substantial form of support or supervision that would
diminish their labor on behalf of the Church.
Over time, it is expected that a Dedicant may
choose to release their real property to their own family or a non-profit institution of
their choice, or assign the income of such property to the Church, observing the
formalities of civil law.
A dedicant must execute a will providing for
the disposal of their goods upon their death.
Work and Service
Work is a gift and to
work is a grace. Daily work is our livelihood and an opportunity to serve ourselves, our
Gods and our neighbors. While leisure, recreation and personal contemplation are all
important parts of the Ceremonial Life of Service, they cannot replace the Blessings and
Grace of regular labor. Members of the Community are expected to freely give of themselves
to the physical, religious and spiritual work of the Church, in the manner deemed best by
the Council of Dedicants and the Board of Directors. It must be understood that this can
be demanding and hard work, requiring material and spiritual sacrifice. Often challenging
of our strengths and even more challenging of our weaknesses, it is through this process
of accepting challenge that we grow.
Especially important is work within the context
of worship and ceremony; privately, within our Moon Service Circles and within the larger
religious gatherings and festivals that constitute an integral part of the religious life
of our greater community. It is great sacrifice to forego the joys of private worship and
participation in ceremony, and take on the burdens of planning and leading public
ceremony, but this is necessary work and shall not to be avoided when requested by the
Community of Service or the Church.
Work among the people, sharing their pleasures
and their hurts, and offering such succor and guidance as we may possess, is the most
demanding of tasks. It is also that which carries within it the greatest potential for our
own emotional growth. When we say no to the appeals of others, we say no to the appeals of
our own hearts.
Work within the organization of the Church,
unseen, sometimes unknown and unthanked, is vital to the health of the body of Community.
It is here that we learn humility, to see that which was hidden and too easily taken for
granted.
The physical work of our bodies upon the land,
in Stewardship of the living body of the Earth, is both the simplest and most profound
form of worship that we have open to us. Never doubt that Spirit dwells in a clod of
earth.
The work and burdens of leadership are the
hardest to bear and the easiest to forego. Show understanding and compassion to those who
have taken up this work, because you walk in their footsteps and may be called to walk in
their stead.
Guidance
The Community of Service
at Four Quarters is outward reaching and of the world, our rule requires that we work with
the people both in common labor and in celebrating the worship and religious festivals of
the Old Gods. As you labor, be mindful that all eyes are upon you; your own, those of the
people and those who came before. Your behavior stands warrant in your own stead, and
stands to others as representing our ways and worth.
Show respect for the other traditions of
EarthReligion, even if they are not of your own understanding, for they are all
expressions of the Earth's understanding of herself and of her children.
When standing as Priestess or Priest in
ceremony, remember that you are a vessel, not the source. If asked to teach, remember that
your knowledge comes from beyond yourself. Be mindful that when doing these things you do
not represent yourself, but rather are seen by others as representing our Church, our
Community and our Traditions.
Speak out against the injustice that you see,
person-to-person and without prejudice. Leave the work of public politics to those who
have chosen it as their own way.
Keep to the simple in your needs and wants, and
in those physical things that you keep about you. A mind uncluttered by the need of these
things is all the more open to receive wisdom.
If you find your mind wandering to condemnation
of those who live in physical excess, remember that this is their free choice, just as to
live under this Rule is yours. Do not take pride or separate yourself from others on
account of the material poverty that is also your free choice.
Welcome the constructive criticism that is
lovingly offered to you, bearing in mind how differently are our actions as seen by the
actor and by the audience. Speak with kindness and consideration when offering criticism
to others, remembering that you have walked that road and you will walk it again.
It is our nature to desire belonging to a
group, and we sometimes attempt to deny belonging in others, as a way of feeding that
desire in ourselves. Although you live under this Rule, do not allow the illusion to enter
your mind that you are different or better than those who do not. Be instead thankful for
the Blessings that have manifested this Rule in your life.
Show honor to all of the stations of life, as
they mirror the stations of the Great Wheel. To the Sons and Daughters, the Maids and
Gallants, to the Mothers and Fathers, the Aunts and Uncles and to the Elders and
Ancestors, show respect and seek understanding of their experience. To the children
especially, give of your time and of yourself. For they are beloved of and a gift from the
Old Gods, still warm from the embrace of the Great Goddess.
We are the sum of all
that has come before, both the consequences of our own choices and of those things that
came to us unlooked for. This day, we are allowed to choose again from a horizon of
limitless complexity. Do not ever pretend to claim that another is responsible for your
present life. To live under this Rule is your free choice and you may make another choice
at any time. Think well upon your choices, both the great and the small, for they are a
future of your own creation.
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