Our Vision Statement
We stand at a critical moment in our history, a time when the people of the Earth must choose their future. As the world becomes increasingly inter-dependent and fragile, that future at once holds great peril and promise. To move forward we must recognize that we are one human family and one Earth community sharing a common fate.
As citizens of the Lowcountry, a region that will be among the first to suffer the debilitating effects of climate change, we acknowledge our position as sentries in this looming family crisis. The stakes are existence itself.
Contemplative Alliance of Charleston understands that the lives of our children and grandchildren, of generations of humans and animals that have no voice, hinge on the actions that we do — or don’t — take now. We believe that many more people sense that in their hearts, and we commit to widening and working from that common ground. We pledge to partner with others to bring forth a more contemplative, just, and sustainable society founded on deep respect and care for our one home and one destiny.
In partnership with the Global Peace Initiative of Women
The Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW), the parent organization of the Contemplative Alliance, has been striving to help facilitate this process since 2008 when we organized a gathering of religious leaders and spiritual communities at the Aspen Institute in Colorado. Out of that meeting the Contemplative Alliance was formed to bring contemplative practice to aid in the transformation of society, knowing that contemplative practice has not only individual but also collective impact.
Recent Events:
June 9 & 10, 2017
Charleston, South Carolina
Restoring Wholeness: Within Ourselves, with Each Other, and the Vast Community of Life
Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW) and The Sophia Institute (TSI) jointly sponsored, for the second time, Global Contemplative Alliance Convocation in Charleston in June of 2017, Restoring Wholeness within Ourselves, Each Other, and the Vast Community of Life with Contemplative Alliance of Charleston. Participants explored how to foster the sense of unity in each of us, the sense of belonging, and of connection to the “other” in order to expand our realization to know our interconnection with other life forms and all of the earth. This awareness is crucial as we address social justice and care and protection of all people in Charleston and move into a future of unknown climate shifts and ecological instability.
November 2014
Charleston, South Carolina
Awakening Heart: Caring and Protecting Earth’s Community of Life
In November 2014, the Contemplative Alliance and the Sophia Institute of Charleston, SC partnered to organize a community roundtable on the theme Awakening the Wisdom of the Heart: Protecting and Caring for Earth’s Community of Life. Joined by faith and spiritual leaders, ecological advocates and others based in the Charleston area, the group convened for two days at the Lance Hall of the historic Circular Congregational Church in downtown Charleston.
Our two days together focused on ways to engage the local community to respond to the urgent need to protect and care for the Earth’s eco-systems and to create a more equitable and caring human society. Ecology was a central theme at this gathering. Many residents of Charleston, a revitalizing city, expressed deep concern over the rising seas in the wake of climactic shifts, which now makes the Charleston population and the city’s structures vulnerable to severe flooding. Some in attendance, like Dana Beach of the Coastal Conservation League, spoke of their untiring work to raise awareness of the issue and create ecologically sound responses.