Editor’s note: The following article by Andrew Murray was previously published in One Earth magazine Vol.7, Issue 1 December/January 1986/7

“Where the Foundation’s assets are either underused, or not essential to our main educational work, we may be open to proposals from members to purchase the operation. In the in­itial stages at least, the Foundation might retain 51 percent ownership of these new businesses. Examples of such assets are – weaving studio, recording studio, pottery, One Earth magazine, printing, design, apothecary, wholefood supply, Phoenix shop ”
Extract from ‘From Community to Village­ A Statement of Intent’, a draft prepared by Alex Walker, Spring 1986.

The Design Studio has taken its first step towards independence under the name of Bay Area Graphics. It will continue to do all the design work for The Findhorn Press and other branches of the Foundation that it has done in the past, and this work will count in lieu of rent for the studio building and existing equipment. The group, consisting of Tim Barrable, Ronald Morton and Claudia Klingemann is taking on work for businesses in the local area including other ventures that have emerged from the Foundation.

The project has picked its way through a minefield of anxieties and questionings to reach this point. The movement towards the larger village creates tensions. The vision of a semi-utopian community geared to planetary service can seem to be at odds with free enterprise. Pure spirit and devotion on one hand and on the other, ego and money. Temple slave ver­sus entrepreneur. This is an illusion, but it raises fears that need acknowledging.

I spoke with Craig Gibsone, a Com­munity member since 1968 who focalised the Park for three years and is currently a member of Core Group. He described something of this dynamic: “You could look at it like this – everybody is getting a good deal. In return for getting our design work below the market price, we’re sup­plying Bay Area Graphics with equip­ment, and some of their housing and food. They don’t have to make any capital in­vestment at this stage, and they don’t have to find, rent or equip a studio.”

But the move has raised some longer-term considerations. Craig continued, “What if, say, in two or three years when they’re fully independent, the designers tell us that instead of doing our work for five pounds an hour, they want ten, or twenty -whatever the going commercial rate is? What do we say then? ‘Hey, remember us, we got you to this point?'” “We can project these anxieties onto other service departments,” said Craig. “For instance, what if Maintenance goes independent? If we had to pay market prices for the services we presently generate for ourselves, we could not sur­vive. As the village grows, will these businesses continue to see the Foundation as a humanitarian venture and support it economically? We don’t have to buy these fears but we need to recognise that the structure is changing.”

The core of the Foundation is an educational purpose. At its simplest, people come to share our life and work with us, and that is how we all learn and grow. In a sense, the ‘servicing’ of the Foundation and the learning are the same process. The pottery studio is a good example of this, and interesting because it is also a small business that might easily go independent.

Craig, who has worked in the Pottery over many years, explained, “The Pottery can be both a creative craft studio and an educational tool. Last year it paid for itself with the pots made there. It also generated money from the winter workshop, and supported Gay Smith, a professional artist, to come here and teach. It served the Guest Department and the School, and offered a creative outlet for members. I could easily ‘go independent’ with the Pottery. I might not make a vast living. I could pay rent and live and interact with the Community, but I feel that the Pottery needs to remain part of the Foundation for the present. We need to be wary of hiving off too many parts of ourself just because they can be economically viable.”

Striving for independence brings new pressures. When you are hired you can also be fired. People won’t pay if they don’t like the product, or it doesn’t get there on time. We don’t have to deal with this too much within the Community because in many areas we are our only customer. It is a powerful dynamic, and the design group anticipate it stimulating both professional and creative excellence in their work. And this will in turn help us raise standards and increase efficiency. Growth brings other changes. When new members come to the Community now, they enter an intense process of integration, including an orientation pro­gramme and two years of living here before becoming eligible to join the staff programme. Emphasis throughout is on attunement to the whole as a means of interacting and making decisions.

People are now being drawn into village projects without going through this pro­cess. Tim Barrable, of Bay Area Graphics, has a relationship with the Community which goes back quite a while, but he has never ‘oriented’ formally. He is clearly an integral part of the design team. There are others like him, but only a small number. As the village grows it is likely that more people will come in like this. How will they integrate? What changes will this ask of us?

Our purpose is to demonstrate a holistic way of life and part of that is asking ourselves to be responsi­ble in our interaction with the society around us. Craig spoke about this too. “We plug into the health and welfare system, but we don’t pay a whole lot into it right now. How fair is that? We have to think about a pension scheme for our members. How do we prepare for that now?”

“We’re really pushing at the mem­brane that surrounds us,” he explained, “and it’s getting more permeable all the time. We want to let it expand without tearing if we can, but sometimes people feel threatened by what they see as a movement away from the cosy Communi­ty Centre or the friendly food shed.”

Structures have to change. The challenge is to let the spirit keep growing and to take the risk in faith. It sometimes gets tense. We have to accept this and work with it – expand our sense of just how far we can go. And it brings us right back to the Community’s basic precept – ‘go to sanctuary’. At the heart of what we are is our spiritual practice, wherever our personal sanctuary may be. If we stay true to that, then we can move through all the tests.