Introduction

Where do we begin? How can diverse groups of people in different parts of the world with a common stake in global issues like peace, human rights, or environmental health overcome the barriers they confront in working together toward their visions? How can cultural, geographic, religious, and organizational boundaries be transcended in service of cooperative action toward the ideals people value most? What does it take for millions of people to co-create and co-own visions of possibility and breakthroughs in mass action toward these visions?

This article describes the United Religions Initiative, which is experimenting with certain organizing innovations to meet these daunting challenges. The Initiative is attempting to create a global social change organization through a "chartering" process, and is conducting conferences using a new organizational development methodology that combines Appreciative Inquiry[1] and Future Search[2] to aid the chartering process. These innovations, we hope, will prove important to any global social-change actors who aspire to support enlivened action across numerous boundaries, and also to break new ground in the critical process of forming effective global organizations.

Background

The calling toward a United Religions came to Bishop William E. Swing in a troubled sleep three years ago, just after he had accepted an invitation from the United Nations to host a 50th Anniversary celebration of the U.N. charter signing at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. How can it be, he asked himself, that the nations of the world have struggled together toward global good for 50 years, however imperfectly, and that the religions of the world have not done likewise? In that sleepless night was born the idea of the URI, an initiative dedicated to developing a permanent forum for the world's religions and spiritual movements to come together daily in both silence and dialogue, in support of peace and cooperative action for the good of all life.

During the next year, Bishop Swing would test the vision in gatherings all over the world, including trips to China, Japan, and Korea, and a three-month pilgrimage through India, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, Italy, and England. In each place he visited prominent religious leaders to talk about the United Religions Initiative, hearing a combination of heartfelt support, advice, and concerns, but meeting many challenges along the way. Having heard repeatedly both the fervent hopes for and the perceived obstacles to a United Religions, Bishop Swing returned with an even clearer sense that the URI would happen, but with even less clarity as to how. This "knowing uncertainty" - this dedicated commitment enveloped in an awareness that the answers must come from many - is a hallmark of the URI. And how to involve people from all over the world, from different faith traditions and different walks of life, in jointly creating a United Religions is one of the Initiative's central challenges.

Toward that end, the URI convened its first global conference meeting in San Francisco in June 1996 to begin the process of collectively envisioning what a United Religions could be and what steps might lead to its creation. Together with the Bishop's local host committee, the conference was co-designed and guided by members of the Social Innovations in Global Management (SIGMA) program at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU).[4] The conference design featured a unique combination of Appreciative Inquiry and Future Search Conference approaches to organizational development, and provided an extraordinary opening for participants to begin co-creating a United Religions.

Innovations in Transboundary Conference Design

The purpose of the June 1996 United Religions conference ("A Time for Action: Discovering the Steps for a United Religions Charter") presented an opportunity to explore the synergy of the AI and FS methodologies. The use of AI places a strong emphasis on deeply held values, building from the personal (individual) level up through the organizational (collective) level. In addition, engaging in an Appreciative Inquiry forges an experiential connection with these values as a basis for visioning. As people get in touch with their own deeply held values and best experiences, they are better able to articulate their hopes and dreams for the future. The Future Search methodology emphasizes finding common ground and generating committed action on the part of individuals to work together toward an enthusiastically endorsed vision. Future Search builds community action toward a collectively desired future. Hence, the combination of AI and FS, in what we have called an "Appreciative Future Search," brings together two powerful methodologies that highly complement each other in reaching the same goal: creating images of the future and then beginning to live in that desired reality.

The combining of these two approaches for the week-long United Religions Summit conference led to a design in the form of a modified 4-D model,[5] as illustrated in below.

The 4-D Model, a hallmark of the Appreciative Inquiry process, helps accelerate learning and innovation with organizations, most notably during GEM-sponsored organizational Excellence Programs (OEPs). In this version of the 4-D model, elements specific to the Future Search approach were interwoven into the week-long design.

More specifically, the four phases consisted ofthe following elements:

Discovery Along with engaging participants in an Appreciative Inquiry in pairs and small groups, the discovery phase was expanded through the use of Future Search techniques to create hundred year historic timelines on three different levels (in this case personal, interreligious, and global) and to build a collective "Mind Map" of trends emerging to effect the creation of a United Religions. For example, participants identified the following major trends effecting the creation of a United Religions organization:

. Movement toward a sense of global spirituality
. Growing recognition of values at the heart of every religion
. Increasing leadership role of women (and women's style)
. More positive collaboration among religions
. Ongoing challenge oftranslating what happens in leadership circles and meetings like this one to have relevance at the grassroots

In addition, participants were asked to bring an artifact symbolic of their interfaith or interreligious work, and were given an opportunity to share their story of its significance.

Dream The dreaming phase for the United Religions Summit consisted of two segments. First, each small group was asked to visualize the possibilities for a United Religions, what it might be and accomplish, and what it might look like. Each group then presented its dreams to the larger community. This was a high point ofthe week-long summit, generating enormously creative ways of articulating highest-held hopes and dreams. A poignant example is the end of one group's broadcast from the "Global Awareness Network" during the year 2026:

. . . but before we go allow me to share some personal reflections, taken from my journal of 30 years ago. . .

I dreamed of a day when no one was killed in the name of God. That day is now.

I dreamed of a day when selfless giving and the practice of tithing, the concept of God's Money, was the norm. That day is now.

I dreamed of a day when ahimsa, nonviolence, nonhurtfulness in thought, word, and deed had become the norm. That day is now.

I dreamed of a day when rock stars and movie stars and athletes would lose their luster and teachers and nurses and mothers would become the objects oJ`adoration and the role models of our children. That day is now.

I dreamed of a day when children had grandparents and parents they could ask for advice, and would heed that advice, and of a day when children would become the agents of inquiry among their elders. That day is now. I dreamed of a day when every time one eats, one thinks and thanks f rst, and of a day when all people meditate upon awakening, and when church bells greeted each new day. That day is now. 4nd I prayed for all of us to recognize that somewhere, in some space, this United Religions was already perfect, already created, and that divine guidance in implementing (God's perfect design was already at work within us and through us, and by knowing He sometimes speaks in whispers, that we only needed to be quiet enough on the inside to hear His gentle voice. That day is now.

An additional dreaming segment focused on the coming year's activities: what needed to be done over the ensuing twelve months to successfully position and launch the next global summit meeting.

Design The design segment of the UR Summit began with a Future Search technique to find common ground for action. Participants were asked to articulate what they believed were the emerging and common themes involving four aspects of a possible United Religions:

. Images of organization

. Purpose

. Principles and values

. Actions, functions, or areas of work

From this common ground "mind map," possible group topics for three rounds of "open space" were generated. ("open space" a large-group methodology created by Harrison Owen, encourages exploration of diverse topics of interest to selfselected groups.) open space gave participants a chance to articulate: (1) the topic they were most interested in working on for the remainder of the conference and, (2) the part of the URI's development that most captured their imagination and energies.

In addition, some of the experienced interfaith leaders present offered deeply thoughtful written contributions complimenting this activity. For instance, the Venerable Chung ok Lee offered a written Won Buddhist proposal outl ining important principles for the creation of a United Religions. As Secretary of the Won Buddhist Committee, she is dedicated to realizing the 1970 proposal of Master Dae-Sun to create a "Jong-Kyo-Yun-Hap" (United Religions organization) that serves "Ir-Won-Ju-Ye" (one World Community).

Destiny The Destiny phase included a sharing of action plans from each open space group and discussion of personal commitments and next steps upon leaving the conference. In particular, five broad areas of action were identified, each with a designated coordinator:

. Statement of purpose and principles for the charter writing process

. Regional gatherings and enrollment in the UR initiative

. Communications

. Organization

. Funding

However, perhaps the most memorable event ofthe Summit's Destiny segment was the final night's dinner, held in the Garden Room ofthe Fairmont Hotel. This was the same room in which the United Nations charter had been signed some 50 years before. The symbolism of this act was felt by all, signifying the importance ofthe week and ofthis moment in history.

While this is but one example of using these two organization development tools together, the United Religions Initiative (URI) plans to take this dual methodology "on the road," hosting conferences in other parts of the world as part of its organizing process. As of this writing, Regional Summit conferences are in various stages of design and planning for Europe (England), South America (Argentina), South Africa, and the Middle East (Egypt), as well as Washington DC and New York in the United States. In each ofthese conferences, a modified version ofthis Appreciative Future Search will be used, allowing us to further our understanding of how these two methodologies can be optimally utilized.

Innovations in Tranaboundary organizational Creation

For the URI chartering is envisioned as a process of global organizing that invites everyone with an interest in the organization to participate in creating it. Chartering does not depend on reaching a consensus of vision as much as it aims to create an ever widening, more inclusive set of global visions and relationships that enliven local action on behalfofthe emerging United Religions. As such, it responds to the challenge of creating a transboundary organization in a postmodern world where imposing a single vision onto others can lead only to failure. Furthermore, in the process of visioning and then acting from those visions, the foundations ofthe United Religions are being laid so that by the time a charter (or charters) is written, it is hoped that this text (or texts) simply chronicles what already, in many ways, exists.

At a concrete level, chartering encompasses at least four types of activities:

1. Inviting The first and perhaps most important step in chartering is to keep offering an invitation for wider and wider circles of people to co-create what the UR will be. As Bishop Swing has said, the URI intends to be "a monument to an invitation."
There is in people a natural resistance to new ideas and to the viability of cooperative action across boundaries, not to mention a tendency to perceive a movement like the URI as a threat to autonomy. Consequently, while some will immediately embrace the possibility of a UR, many others may reject it initially. As Schopenhauer has said,[6] every great idea goes through three phases: first it is ridiculed, then violently opposed, and finally accepted as common sense! The chartering principle of inviting is to start working with those who see the possibility early on but always, always keep the invitation open to engage with those whose trust can be won only over time.

2. In-visioning Drawing from deep within the wisdom traditions and other "deep knowings" of everyone involved, the process of chartering must be a continuous generatorofvisions of possibility. As mentioned earlier,the emphasis is less on reaching one vision than on finding complementary visions that each inspire action toward the possibilities of what a United Religions could offer the world. Consequently, any gathering to help design the United Religions must include in-visioning rooted in deeply held values, whether the application is global in scope or community specific.

3. Including operating in parallel with the ever-open invitation is a commitment to including all voices in the process. Trust can be built only if this principle is enacted, and people who participate in the process ultimately feel heard. How legitimate differences of opinion are dealt with will be an acid test ofthe viability ofthe organization. one is reminded of the recent achievement of South Africa in this regard, where over a million people had an active voice in the creation ofthe country's new constitution.

4. Initiating Finally, chartering is about initiating. It is not dialogue for the sake of dialogue, but inspired dialogue that leads to committed action. Many of the actions will be experimental, manywill arise in different parts ofthe world, and many will not succeed except in providing lessons from which to learn. But initiating will be encouraged at every forum and gathering ofthe URI, such that the very responsibility for determining what people do in service ofthe initiative will be widely dispersed and heavily networked.

Notice that the act of writing an organizational charter is not the focus ofthe process of chartering, even though its creation will be one ofthe outcomes ofthe process. By placing emphasis on the four activities above, the actual charter writing will be possible only after an extensive period of chartering. Most importantly, it is strongly anticipated that this will result in a quality of alignment with values and a commitment to living them that is unprecedented among global, transboundary organizations.

[1] For more information on Appreciative Inquiry, see Cooperrider, D. and Srivastva, S. "Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life" in Woodman, Pasmore (Eds.), Research on Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 1 JAI Press, 1987. Also see Cooperrider, D. "Positive Image, Positive Action: The Affirmative Basis of Organizing" in Srivastva, S., Cooperrider, D., and Associates, Appreciative Management and Leadership: The Power of Positive Thought and Action in Organizations Jossey-Bass, 1990.

[2] More information on Future Search can be found in Weisbord, M. Discovering Common Ground Berrett-Koelller, 1992; Emery, M. and Purser, R. The Search Conference: A Powerful Method for Planning Organizational Change and Community Action Jossey-Bass, 1996.

[3] Numerous scholars have written about the "heart" of the great religions of the world, noting the similarity in humanitarian values and beliefs that lie at the core of these systems. one of the most notable in the west is Huston Smith, The World Religions Harper, 1991.

[4] GEM is an Initiative of the SIGMA program at CWRU. The SIGMA members involved in designing and guiding the United Religions Summit Conference were David Cooperrider, Kathryn Kaczmarski, and Gurudev Khalsa.

[5] For further information, see "Inquiry and Innovation in the Private Voluntary Sector" in Global Social Innovations, Summer 1996, Volume 1, Issue 1

[6] This was shared with us by a participant at the United Religions Summit in San Francisco, June 1996.