Letter to Sage-ing® Leaders

November, 2005

Dear Sage-ing® Leaders,

All eight members of the Sage-ing® Guild Coordinating Circle met for three days in South Bend, IN in early October to discuss the future of the Sage-ing® Guild, make decisions and coordinate efforts in continuing to honor the work of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. We are focused upon bringing to all of you an organization dedicated to right relationship, financial stewardship and, communication.

We thank you for your trust in the Sage-ing® Guild, that by mid-October had 71 members. Our mission statement, "Guild's mission is to empower a community of Sage-ing® Leaders whose culture reflects the values of care, respect and responsibility among the elders in our world," is one we take very seriously.

At this time, it seems likely that SEI will not continue, and although the Sage-ing® Guild serves a different and separate purpose from SEI, all of us received our training and inspiration from SEI and its leaders. Our meeting in South Bend was to clarify our purpose and to determine how best to serve all of you. Below is a brief summary of some of our activities.

• The Guild will seek 501c3 incorporation, to give corporate protection and non-profit benefits to our activities
• Guild member benefits include, but are not limited to, a password protected Sage-ing® Guild web site (accessible only to Guild members), with listing of your workshops and contact information including personal web sites. The Guild web site is being polished and will be up and running before the end of the year.
• A generic Sage-ing® brochure will be on-line in the password-protected site for you to download and use with your personal information added
• The protected site will include best practices, teaching strategies, articles, reviews, quotations, rituals and more
• A Guild listserve will be up and running shortly
• The Sage-ing® Guild is in the process of confirming our right to use Reb Zalman's trademarked terms dealing with Sage-ing® and aging
• We will continue to communicate with and recruit Sage-ing® Leaders who are not yet members unless we are asked not to
• Our seven regions will be semi-autonomous with each regional coordinator a member of the national Coordinating Circle
• Regional members will connect through email, gatherings and conferences for continuing education and sharing resources
• Guild membership will be renewable annually; however, your initial membership will not expire until December, 2006
• Sage-ing® Circle Facilitator trainings will be on hold for restructuring through 2006
• A timeline will be developed for future Certified Sage-ing® Leaders training, possibly to be regional

If you have any questions about any of the items or any other Sage-ing® Guild information, please contact any of the Coordinating Circle members listed below. We look forward to our mutual endeavors!