New Logo, Eco-Sufism, Revamped Fundraising

Dear Friends,

We have been blessed with an abundance of sunshine and the warmth of friends and community for the kick-off of our Abode Weekend.

At this morning’s Annual Village Meeting, we made several announcements that we want to share with those of you who were not able to join us in person or online. We will be posting a recording of the meeting so that everyone who wants to view it will have the opportunity to do so.

Eco-Sufism:

The Abode, Universal Sufism, and the Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan have always been inextricably bound together by an elemental connection with nature. With hundreds of acres of land, a mountain, a pond, a farm, and a residential community, the Abode offers the perfect laboratory for learning what spirituality and ecology share and how each can mutually enhance the other.

As practiced at the Abode, Eco-Sufism uses Pir Zia Inayat-Khan’s The Holy Mysteries of the Five Elements as a guide – a handbook – for the exploration of earth, water, fire, air, and ether in a daily rhythm of both study and practice.

The Eco-Sufi practice will be manifested in a four-week rhythm, exploring an individual element each day of the work-week, and encompassing activities within the Abode campus: farming, cooking, service, hospitality, etc.

For more, please click here.

New logo and brand message:

To help communicate our renewed identity, we have updated the heart-and-wings wings symbol to incorporate and celebrate its connection to the five elements through a vibrant use of color. The inspiration for this logo came from the stained glass heart-and-wings donated to us by Aziza Scott for use in our Summer Appeal. This artwork is the work of the artist who designed the stained glass window in our Meditation Hall, and is thus at the center of the Abode’s spiritual life.

In branding the Abode as an Eco-Sufi Village, we are more clearly describing the diverse and energetic elements that encompassed our campus. This description will allow us to celebrate the individual components of the Abode, while tying them together into a collective, cohesive modern brand identity. And finally, the Abode: an Eco-Sufi Village is a organic expression of what already exists here, and a call to the outside to come explore how we live, work, and worship.

Revamped Fundraising Initiatives:

Fundraising needs to be a full-time activity at the Abode, rather than a once-a-year exercise. As a non-profit organization, and especially as a spiritual institution, donations will always be needed to support and expand our activities. In upcoming days, we will be implementing a new fundraising strategy that will provide more options for donors to target their giving, provide greater transparency and reporting of activities and incorporate options for giving.

Some of these include:

The re:Vision Fund: supporting spiritual activities at the Abode, including funding teachers, scholarships, and other initiatives that relate to the spiritual mission and heritage of the Abode.
The Elements Fund: funding major capital improvement projects, such as making our Shaker buildings more accessible, upgrading fire safety infrastructure, and other large-scale improvements.
The Community Fund: offering donors a choice to fund one or more of a wish-list of needed projects, from kitchen equipment to maintenance machinery to improving our energy efficiency.

Check our Donations page for updates in the weeks ahead.

Weekly Sunday Updates: The Abode will host an active calendar of activities in coming months, and will be rolling out elements of our Eco-Sufi and operational initiatives. Each Sunday, we will be posting an update on the following week’s events, a sneak peek at other coming activities, and a recap of what’s taken place at the Abode. We’ll also be posting more frequent updates on our social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) pages, to give everyone a continually open window into the many facets of life at the Abode.

Thank you for all you do for us. It’s time to go back to the festivities…

And if you missed the fun this year, SAVE THE DATE: Next year’s Abode Weekend will be October 6-8^th, 2017

We appreciate your support and love!

Al Bellenchia
Executive Director
The Abode of the Message
al@theabode.org