General members of Sacred Connections are welcome at any one-day event sponsored by Sacred Connections. People become members by being sponsored to two events, invited to join, and affirming their desire to join, as described below. People stay members by remaining active and connected to the community.

General members have access to our email lists and calendars, and they can sponsor Guests.

Becoming a new General Member

Short version: a current member of Sacred Connections invites somebody they know well and whom they think would become a good member of SC. Guest attends one meeting with sponsor, another meeting with or without sponsor. After two meetings, guest may be invited to become a member in their own right.

Normally our members sponsor friends whom they know well and believe to be appropriate for our group - they are personally vouching for this friend, not just saying "I ran into this person who was interested, and who might or might not be appropriate, you guys figure that out". By sponsoring their friend they are saying "I know this person and I believe they will enhance Sacred Connections". We deliberately grow in this way as an extended friendship network, which suits the intimate nature of our community.

The guest and new member process is described in more detail on our page about sponsoring guests (see the "Sponsoring" menu item on the left).

Occasionally a potential or actual guest is perceived as not (yet?) ready for Sacred Connections, and the Membership Team is charged with protecting the community (screening) as well as welcoming new members. In cases where this is a concern, the Membership Team will communicate directly with the Guest, clearly and compassionately expressing their concerns and seeking solutions. The Sponsor will be kept informed and is available as a resource to both the Guest and the Membership Team; however, guests are primarily self-responsible in accord with the principles of our Covenant. The membership team is mostly interested in how good a fit there is between the community and the potential member standing on their own, not how skilled the sponsor happens to be as an temporary intermediary.

If a member of the community has concerns or issues about a guest, they are generally urged to clear those directly with the guest if possible, and to make use of the Sponsor for support in this. If there are ongoing concerns, the member can contact the Membership Team with their feedback, at any point before the guest is invited to full membership. The Membership Team will consider all feedback and seek the best resolution for everybody.

We are committed to encouraging diversity, so we may bend some of these guidelines to include people of diverse cultures, races, ages, body types, sexual preferences, and so on. We welcome suggestions on how to do this better.

Remaining a Member of Sacred Connections

People will cease to be general members if they become sufficiently inactive, ask to be removed, or have been disinvited by the Membership Team. We normally expect members to attend two one-day events, or one multi-day retrest, each year to remain active.

Sometimes there are problems among existing members of Sacred Connections. Members are strongly encouraged to clear personal issues with each other directly, with or without support from mutual friends or mediators. We provide opportunities, or even training and practice, at some of our events (particularly multi-day Celebrations).

If problems go beyond the personal issues and are not resolvable in that manner, members may refer their concerns about another member to the Membership Team. The Membership Team will attempt to help resolve this, perhaps finding other resources (that is, they don't have to always get directly involved themselves).

In a few cases, people who are disruptive, or who seem to threaten the safety of the community, are eventually "disinvited" by the Membership Team - removed from membership. This might be "for a specified time period", or permanently. We regret ever having to do this, but we have found it neccessary in order to preserve an intimate, trusting community.

Multi-Day Events: Celebrations of Sacred Sexuality

The description above is primarily about general membership in Sacred Connections - that is, regarding one-day events sponsored by the combined leadership pool and open to all general members. Sacred Connections also creates multi-day retreat type events called "Celebrations of Sacred Sexuality". These are hosted by the "Core Team" and operate as catered residential retreats for deeper community; as such they inherently cost more than a nominal amount, even without paid staff or a profit motive.

Active general members of Sacred Connections (as described above) are in general also invited to go deeper into community by participating in these Celebrations. However, this is not entirely automatic - the Core Team has many considerations in trying to make these more intensive events work well, and reserves the right - if neccessary - to select participants from within the general membership. However, this is rarely an issue. Any general member who has not yet attended a Celebration and would like to attend should just contact the Core Team about that (see contact info elsewhere).

The process for newcomers to the Celebrations is currently evolving, but may involves a second step of sponsorship and guests - as a way of providing buddies and orienters for the longer and more intensive experience. Think of this as going a step deeper into Sacred Connections, with respect for the process and intentions of that.

Leadership

Our events are produced and led by teams of volunteer leaders from within the community. We support new leaders to emerge from the membership, and we support leaders to gracefully drop back into simple participation as that suits their life path and resources. We encourage even experienced leaders from other contexts to be regular participants for a while in our community, focusing on their own growth, fun, and integration into the community.

There will be more information on leadership as this site evolves. For now - just contact the existing leaders if you find yourself interested in helping produce and lead the events of this community!

All of these are guidelines which we hope will help to strengthen our community and bring us ever closer together while diving deep into joy, love, ecstasy, growth, and healing. We welcome your comments on this or anything else relating to Sacred Connections.