The Grail is drafting a Mission Statement.  Read this document both to find out who we consider ourselves to be, and how we work collectively to shape the expression

The draft statement as it was articulated:

The Grail, an international women’s movement, believes in the creative power of women to transform the world.

The Mission of the U.S. Grail is
To provide experiences through which women can develop their talents and skills, deepen their spirituality, and learn more about themselves and the world in order to play an active and conscious role in the co-creation of a society of justice and peace in harmony with the earth.

To involve women in international exchange and understanding in order to bring a global perspective to our work as agents of change.

Definitions used – from Creating a Life Together, by Diana Leafe Christian

• Vision: the shared future your want to create, your shared image of what’s possible, the thing that motivates your actions to create community.  It’s often expressed as the “who,” the “what” and the “why” of your endeavor.  Ideally it’s described in the present tense, s if it were happening now.
• Mission, Purpose: expresses your vision in concrete, physical terms.  It’s what you’ll be physically doing as well as experiencing as you manifest your shared image of what’s possible.

To understand the difference between “vision” and “mission,” consider a community with the vision: “A world where everyone has adequate, healthy shelter.”  Its mission, to express this vision physically, could be “To build a model demonstration village using low-cost natural building materials, and through outreach programs teach our building methods, particularly in Third-world countries.”

From: Jeanakearns@aol.com
I don't have anything wonderful to contribute to this, but I would hope that we could make our Mission Statement very brief----like about 3 sentences. Hopefully, funders and others would then read it.

From: mary hughes
When I think of mission, I think of two kinds of interaction, one spiritual, the other temporal. As persons of spirit I would hope that we as Grail women would speak out against injustice and other serious impropriety and to be part of the solution to the wrongs that we encounter. I would hope that we could do this patiently and lovingly with much prayer. As persons living in the real world I would hope that we would always be an advocate for those in need of food, housing, education and health care and those imprisoned. These should be concerns of any person of good will.

In addition, we as Grail have in the past committed ourselves to have special concern for social justice, religious search, empowerment of women and the environment. I see this as our special mission as Grail while not forgetting the other important works that many of us are involved in daily.

From: Ria de Groot

Without "DEEP" thought and reflection.....my immediate response is:
-The Grail's mission is to be
       1. An international women's movement
       2. To foster spirituality in women
       3. To stand squarely for justice

That's what keeps me going!

From: Marie Sutter
I'm going to quote from the Grail Mission Statement, IGA '93, which covers so much:

• We feel ourselves called by the Spirit to commit our lives and join our energies in order to develop the seeds of hope we find present in the world today.
• We are committed to developing strategic and effective ways of meeting the urgent cries for justice throughout the world.
• We are committed to challenging women, wherever they may be, to gather together and bring forth their unique gifts and life-giving powers.
• We are committed to implementing innovative ways of thinking and being that ensure the quality of life for each person and contribute to the survival of the planet.
• We are committed to uncovering the sources of life that abide in the roots of our diverse cultures, that lie silent in the heart of each human being.
• We deeply desire to live these commitments within our Grail community, with respect for each other as we meet the challenge of authentic intercultural relationship.
• Working in our local contexts as individuals and as Grail groups, interconnecting regionally and internationally, we are bonded in action, in solidarity, and in faith.

Perhaps the above could be re-worked if we feel that is necessary.

Also, I like the following statement:

This international faith community of women who are The Grail strengthen and support one another in our search for God; urge each other to be open to the Spirit; and work toward transforming our world into a place of justice, peace and love.

From: Simonetta Romano
In very sketchy words:
"The mission of the Grail is to provide educational opportunities through which women can develop their talents and skills, deepen their spirituality, learn more about themselves and the world, and play an active and conscious role in the co-creation of a society of justice and peace."

Comments from the meeting with the National Leadership Team

What is missing from the draft statement:

• The centrality of Spirituality / Spiritual Search
• Various words / phrases along the lines of: our depth / passion
• “life” or “life style”, how we as Grail live
• the “prophetic voice” of the Grail in the present world Notes of Clarification:

There is a distinction between a Vision Statement and a Mission Statement; if the Vision Statement describes our broader vision for the world as we’d like it to be, then the Mission Statement can focus in on the concrete works
The document sent to the movement is NOT a final document; it was intended to provoke response and dialogue

Questions of Purpose:
What is the relationship of such a statement to the International Grail Mission?
Is such a statement for internal Grail use or for external (i.e. fundraising) purposes?

Clarification of Process:
Feedback will go back to the Council for incorporation; revision will be sent back to the Movement for further input.
Suggested wording / proposals for changes:
The Grail “has its roots in Christian tradition”
“ways in which we help each other become the change we want to see in the world”
Add a third bullet related to Spiritual Search
“lived experience with diversity” (sensitive to being mistaken for fundamentalist)
“build bridges between different faith traditions and spiritual paths, to effect possibilities for peace”
Reframe the first bullet: start with the “in order to play an active and conscious role” phrase; strengthen “provide experiences” (eliminate that phrase – weak); incorporate “solidarity” and “common search” and eliminate “and learn more about themselves and the world”
“invite women into a lifestyle” or “a deeper life”

From: Ria de Groot
Mission:   To involve women in international exchange programs and to a greater understanding, in order to bring a global perspective on our work as agents of change

While the roots of the Grail lies in the Christian tradition, it is now engaged in working to build bridges between religious traditions so as to enhance (or affect) the possibilities for peace in the world

The Grail through its long and short term relationship based education courses, workshops, seminars, retreat and liturgies, challenges women of all ages who are called to justice and eco-justice work to gain the skills necessary and to build (and base) their work and life upon the deep well of their spiritual tradition.

From: AudreySorrento@aol.com
I hope that we recognize the International General Assembly statements: 1979 Vision, l988 Faith Statement, l993 Grail Mission and l998 statement...as a base and background for our statements. Critical for me are spirituality (Spirit) at base, empowerment of women for the sake of justice and peace in the world, global awareness and involvement, care of the earth (and all that means!) as our nurturing home....

From: Helena M Schaareman
Belief in God, commitment to God's Creation expressed and made concrete in active participation to transform our world into a community/communities of love and justice.

Included in the statement: women's movement, global, international, diverse ways of participation in the transformation process of our world.

What gets me excited and was my inspiration to join The Grail: Justice, Community, International, "culturally taste full" meaning celebrations/rituals were so meaningful.

From: Nancy Cooney

1. Do I See myself expressed in this articulation? Yes and no.
   "To provide experiences..." this is the outreach part of the Grail, the invitational part. What happened to our assertions over the years that what we do in our lives "is the Grail"? We certainly find at Pilgrim Place that a group of women who call ourselves the Grail are having an effect on the community by the spirit and the gifts that we bring as individuals and as people who share a "culture and spirit".
   This was an issue in the past for Grail women with children. We needed to remind ourselves that the work of child raising was a Grail work - and in a sense we were "providing experiences" for our families though we would never put is in such a one directional way. The Grail is interactive - we give and we take, we take and we give to one another and to the larger world we touch.

Part 2 - To involve women in international exchange and understanding...Perhaps to reverse the order here. Not everyone can be "exchanged" but we all can broader our understanding. Sometimes this can be through contact with natives of other countries living in our midst and through consciously working to understand our own positions as women in the U.S. Empire and to reject the privileges that this brings as much as possible.

Re the mission statement in general. It is composed of too many words and they are not words that touch the heart. This is ok for an internal statement but I once learned that a mission statement for others should be able to be written on a coffee cup (if you are Cinnebun Co) or on a T shirt if you are Nike, etc. I was moved by the statement that Mary Gene Devlin quotes in her report from the spirituality team and have adapted it;

The Grail - women who have a deep alive flame in us - our holy journey.
In meetings, rituals and creative work we create small fires of justice and peace to light up and transform our world.

Not so easy to do as you can see. I hope you also see that it requires a poet to give translate the statement when it does get finalized into compelling language for the heart.

From: Jackie DiSalvo
We adopted language at the 2000 GA that could serve as a mission statement:

"The Grail is an international movement for the enabling of the contribution/leadership of spiritually based women committed to a holistic vision for transforming the world."

The resolution called for "outreach to like-minded and potentially like-minded women" as well as enabling their "initiation, formation and ongoing development, communal bonding, mutual support and collaboration."

From: Carol Barton
It looks good to me. I think it needs to be refined together with the vision statement, wherever that is. I would say that prioritizing outreach to women of all ages, especially young women, is important. I'm wondering if racial justice needs to be mentioned, or else it gets forgotten. I think we have great strength in leadership development, and should name that explicitly.  I certainly affirm what you already have. I know you want to keep it short, so perhaps these things are implicit in what you already have.