As a fledgling
community, we need to be very selective about our members. We
want people who are emotionally mature, able to cooperate,
innovative and intelligent, and who can commit to our values.
Many people seek community who are too wounded to join us at
this stage. Eventually we will be able to accommodate more
wounded/needy people, but for now we need to protect ourselves.
There are many examples of too open a membership policy that
resulted in breakup of young communities (see Creating a Life
Together by Diane Christian). In order to select the kind of
people we want, we require people to read a few books, study our
website, and engage with us in conversation about the ideas
therein. You don't have to agree with everything. In fact,
critical thinking is highly valued. We will also require you to
visit with us and we will ask you questions about your personal
life and ask for references (or we might already know some
people who know you and ask them about you).
