By Nathan Young
Hello All,
This is the latest update on what is happening with the New Narrative. A lot has changed and we’ve definitely struggled with our direction during the pandemic. Now that things are opening up and the world feels a little bit safer, a more focused set of plans have begun to emerge.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably somebody who has expressed interest in being involved with the New Narrative. I’m hoping that you’re interested and intrigued by what we have coming up and would still like to be involved. I describe it all below. If you like what you read and would like to be included in the mix, please shoot me a quick message to let me know and we’ll plan the next steps from there.
Starting from the top, here’s what is going on…
We’re hoping to start hosting events again soon. I’m guessing that many of you feel the same way I do in that you miss community, you miss people, and you miss the opportunities we previously had to bring folks together. You’re excited to get out and see people again, but maybe you’re just taking your time to make sure it’s safe.
I get it. And while I’m definitely hoping we can start hosting events again soon, I’m envisioning that we’ll start by hosting events outdoors, in parks and other such venues, to be as safe as possible when we first venture out too.
There’s going to be some changes for The New Narrative too.
Over the years I’ve talked to many of you about how The New Narrative can be a more activated group. We talk about a lot of stuff, but what do we actually DO?
I’ve found that the primary things that have drawn people to this group are the unique approach to how storytelling can serve as a tool for community building, facilitating conversations on difficult social justice topics, and also as a way to explore ourselves and grow as individuals. So how can we more fully activate those ideas in a way that moves us forward; as individuals, as a community, and in our society as a whole?
Through continued conversations with many of you, a new idea has begun to emerge that has gained traction and inspired a lot of excitement amongst the people I’ve shared it with. It’s almost like it finally puts all the pieces into place. That idea is to reimagine The New Narrative as a sort of non-theistic, community-based alternative to church.
The idea is that churches have been an important community institution for millennia, but I’m sure many of you are like me in that you have limited interest in a standard theistic church, and may have even had bad experiences with them in the past.
I personally grew up going to church but eventually came to reject much of what Christianity has taught me and had to actively "unlearn" it too.
Yet I’ve always missed the sense of purpose, meaning, and belonging that came from church and the community that came together to work on something bigger than ourselves.
The main idea behind the alternative we’re proposing is that real change starts with us, but is amplified in community. I want to create a space where we all come together to help and support each other in our own personal growth and to also make us stronger and more effective actors in creating “new narratives” for ourselves and a better world for everyone else--but to do all this without the theism and dogma that has ruined religion for many of us too.
I hope that through this new format we can also offer that sense of purpose, meaning, and belonging that I know so many of us feel like we’re lacking. I get the sense that something like this is sorely needed in our communities and I’m excited by the prospect of working together to make this happen.
So what will this actually look like?
A lot of this is still open for discussion, but a basic framework is coming together.
I’m envisioning hosting regular Sunday morning events focused on themes such as Courage, Gratitude, Resilience, and Authenticity, all things that we’re working to deepen our understanding of and improve our practice upon.
These events will often feature a guest speaker as the “sermon,” as well as some space for discussion, sharing our own stories, and getting support for the aspects of our own personal growth that we need help on.
In between the Sunday events, we can also have discussions and check-ins on how the themes show up for each of us personally and how we’d like to deepen our practice with the ideas.
And while storytelling will still be important, we’ll be talking about it more directly as a tool for how we can show up better as humans, both in community, and to create a positive impact on the world around us.
Here is the other important part.
In order to make this happen, I’m going to need some help.
I’d like to build this out in such a way that it creates space for all of us to contribute and serves our own personal growth while not overcommitting ourselves in the long run either.
I’ve been working with a small group of advisors to figure out how to do this. The plan we’ve come up with involves bringing together a small cohort of folks to help with producing the events and hosting the discussions on a particular theme for a certain period of weeks.
Cohorts will be short-term commitments and switch out often. By volunteering to be in a cohort, you’ll work as a team to make things happen and can serve on as many or as few cohorts throughout the year as you’d like.
My hope is that the cohort plan is an opportunity for all of us to learn, grow, and be rewarded for our contributions while also moving the community forward. At the heart of it all, we’ll be working together to create a space where we can more deeply relate to each other and be gracious and welcoming to many other people, including ourselves.
So what’s next?
If you’re getting this email and you’re intrigued by what I’m sharing, I’d love to have you involved. Let me know if you’re interested and we’ll plan the next steps from there.
My guess is we’ll start by hosting a couple of large group meetings towards some higher-level decisions—such as the first themes and the details of the Sunday morning events—before breaking off into cohorts and planning the first couple of months of events from there.
Most of the planning will happen via Zoom just to make sure we’re safe. We can switch to in-person meetings once it feels more comfortable for everybody too.
I’m really excited about putting this together and I hope you are too. We’ve already managed to build a great community of folks around The New Narrative. I’m hoping this new focus and the cohort program can be the glue that begins to really tie us together.
Thanks so much for your continued interest and enthusiasm. I hope this plan excites you as much as it does me and we can see each other in person again soon!
Thanks!
Nathan
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