The Living Spiritual Elders Project is an idea developed by Meredith Jordan for women and men over the age of 50 who stand at the threshold of becoming the next elders of their own families, communities, churches and the world-wide family of creation. Many participants are already serving as elders; some seek to learn from them about how to fill that role with integrity and wisdom.

Jordan has turned to those elders of every faith or spiritual tradition who are still actively teaching, preaching and making their wisdom legacies available to those of us who follow in their footsteps. She has gathered a library of rich resources from Nelson Mandela, Thich Nhat Hahn, The 14th Dalai Lama, Father Thomas Keating, Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jane Goodall, Elaine Pagels, Frederick Buechner, Pema Chodron, Robert Thurman, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Diana Eck, Wangaari Matthai, Muhammad Yunus, Bernice Reagon Johnson, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, Huston Smith, David Whyte, Angeles Arrien, Eckhart Tolle, Reverend Lauren Artress, Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughn Lee, Parker Palmer, the singing group "Young at Heart" and many others.

In each session, participants hear a CD or watch a DVD of these learned elders and then participate in Wisdom Council, where we discuss how these teachings influence and even shape the kinds of elders we hope to become. Emphasis is placed on the differences between "becoming an elder" and "being elderly." Each of us has a choice to develop in ourselves those qualities or character traits which others trust to represent wise leadership.

A new Southern Maine Elders Project series will start Thursday, September 10-October 15, 2009 from 6-8:15 pm. We will meet in The Wellness Room of The Rolnick Chiropratic Center just off Exit 32 of the Maine Turnpike and just off the Five Points intersection in Biddeford. Please note that this is a 6-week series this year instead of the usual 8-week series. We'll have truly extraordinary new films and wisdom teachings available from the spiritual elders of the world in these most challenging of times.

The cost of this 6-week series is $165 with an early registration fee of $150 if registration is received by September 1st. Please send registration to: Meredith Jordan, 6 Little River Road, Exeter, New Hampshire, 03833.

We are also offering an opportunity for a limited number of participants from at least two previous LSEP sessions to join an individualized certification program which, on completion, will recognize them as a "certified spiritual elder." There are currently 4 certified spiritual elders, one each in North Carolina and Virginia, and two in Sarasota. Another training for the certification program will be held in Southern Maine in the late Spring of 2010. Information on this program is be available on request.

"The Living Spiritual Elders Project" is available as an on-going weekly program or as a 4-5 day retreat. It's portable and can be taken to many parts of the country and Europe. If you are interested in LSEP, please contact the Rogers McKay office. Reach us at 207-283-0752.

We welcome your inquiries into this fascinating project to prepare ourselves to serve well when it is our turn to step into place as keepers of meaning and practitioners of wisdom.

READ NEWSPAPER INTERVIEWS WITH MEREDITH JORDAN ABOUT THE PROJECT:

Sarasota Herald Tribune

Portland Press Herald

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