Community Resilience and Sanctuary
Koinonia: the intimacy and cooperation between us
One of the more essential initiatives we have begun at Gateway House in recent times is the “Sanctuary Group” as we respond together to the clear mandate of our times: to build strong, resilient, local community.
What Does Resilient Community Really Mean?
Resilience is not an idea, it’s a muscle. It’s the muscle of our hearts. It’s the capacity to stand with and for each other, in both darkness and light. It’s a collaboration between our specific charisms i.e. gifts of the spirit, and bearing of each other’s hopes and fears.
Back when I served as Rector of St. Clement’s in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan the Episcopal Diocese of NY was considering selling our building. We responded by rooting our ministry so deeply in our neighborhood that our work became essential to the mission of the Episcopal Church in that place. We became a mission to people in the neighborhood with AIDS, sex workers, street youth, provided a legal clinic, and did our best to support our community.
Here now in this historical moment, our “Sanctuary Group” is borne from a mandate of these times and place.
Initiation
Back in the terrifyingly teeth-rattling inauguration of this administration, we felt the call to initiate an opportunity for people together, to hold our fears and align our purposes. Our initial meeting had about 20 people present. Many people called saying “I want to come!” “I’ll be there!”
At that first gathering everyone put their deepest fears into a literal golden bowl, the group did a meditation in which we experienced our purpose before the Divine.
Deeply involved activists in the region with their fingers on the pulses of numerous ongoing initiatives joined in. One Gateway House regular stepped up to serve as a navigation guide, supporting the rest of us as we find our way to the where, when, and why of our chosen actions.
We have continued to meet every 2 weeks since February, beginning each meeting with a ritual action, often around a fire. In a go-around, we share what’s alive for us, and what initiatives and actions we have engaged in (taking, being, doing). We share, discuss and reflect on theological and moral concerns arising from the heartbreaking local, national and global polarizations.
Initiatives
Our members are involved in numerous different initiatives:
Activist music bands, Playback Theater and other performing arts responses.
Local electoral & statewide issue campaigns
Advocating for Palestinian rights and standing against antisemitism.
Defending our immigrant neighbors from ICE
Together we hold a kaleidoscopic range of the intersections between climate, the Middle East, and immigration, all issues that are alive at this time. We continue to build a network of resources and exchange.
Some thoughts on a Theology of Community
KOINONIA
The Greek word for community is “koinonia” κοινωνία: the intimacy and cooperation between us. We are always in communion with the Divine and each other as we seek to embody Love in Action.
Community is nurtured, facilitated, empowered by the following aspects: Proximity, Continuity and Lineage.
PROXIMITY
In other words, community is built in part by physical and spiritual nearness to each other.
CONTINUITY
And there is continuity. You can have a community of the moment, but to nurture resilient community we need continuity. Continuity is what allows us to know that we can meet and find each other in time and space on an ongoing basis.
LINEAGE - THE BIG, DEEP PICTURE
We step into something larger than our own social connectivity. We convene as a way of sourcing a purpose that is beyond the immediate liking of each other.
As a priest I have invited people to look around at each other in a circle, acknowledging: we’re brought here together by the Spirit to enact something we together are uniquely suited to do. What we create together serves…. We might or might not socialize with each other beyond this. But each of us have something to offer the mission that we’re called together to embody. In wholeness we are greater than the sum of us as parts.
May we all find and be communities of Sanctuary.
Please call, text, message, or email me to learn more about the Sanctuary Group and how you might join us.
Upcoming Events in November and Beyond...
Gateway House Day of the Dead ceremony, honoring Jane Goodall and Joanna Macy.
GATHERINGS AT GATEWAY HOUSE:
Gateway House Sanctuary Meeting
Thursday, November 20th | 6:30 pm
Gateway House, 12 Fairview Ave, Rosendale
Looking for deep community in these times? Of all the offerings here at Gateway House, this is most critical now.
Gateway House Sanctuary Group is evolving into a deep and performative practice, meeting almost every 2 weeks.
We gather around a fire. We share the various initiatives in which each of us are engaged.
Gateway House is committed to holding sanctuary within ourselves, our communities and our world.
Join us. RSVP to 845-417-5430
Inquire for Signal Group access
The way you look at things changes the things you look at.
Learn more about this work here.
Monthly In-Person Group
Sunday, November 9 | 3 - 6PM | $50
Gateway House | 12 Fairview Ave | Rosendale
(Note Date change)
Space is limited; Advance registration is now required.
Please fill out this Registration Form below at least 4 days prior.
One-On-One Sessions
The opportunity to go deeper within an intimate container.
Available in-person or online.
Presence and Purpose in Uncertain Times: An Interactive Symposium
Sunday, November 16 | 2 - 5 pm
at The KIVA (behind Marletown Multi-Arts), Stone Ridge, NY
Facilitated by Kathleen Mandeville, M. Div., Irena Namayra Nayfield, PhD, and Drew Minter
In an era of rapid change and uncertainty, how do we stay grounded, purposeful, and connected? Presence + Purpose in Uncertain Times invites our community into an afternoon of shared ceremony, movement, and reflection—an opportunity to slow down, listen deeply, and remember what truly matters.
Through guided somatic and contemplative practices, participants will explore how presence in the body can open pathways to clarity of purpose and genuine connection. Together we will practice coming home to ourselves and to one another—learning to meet fear with awareness, complexity with compassion, and change with a grounded sense of belonging. This is a space for replenishment and renewal, where wisdom emerges not from striving, but from shared stillness and the simple act of being together.
Guided by three seasoned facilitators, the program will weave sound, movement, meditation, ritual, and conversation to cultivate steadiness, openness, and resilience. The tone is experiential, contemplative, and inclusive,—welcoming all who feel called to live with greater awareness and authenticity.
MORE INFO
Though there is no charge for the event, we suggest a $20 donation to Holistic Health Community as a way to honor the care you receive. Your contribution assists us in offering affordable holistic healthcare and wellness education to the community. If you’re able to give more, we welcome your generosity. Your support helps others receive services when they need them the most.
Gateway House, a Sacred Arts Community Venue, is growing… Step through the virtual gate (watch the video) to experience a full sensory immersion of Gateway House’s unique spirit. Gateway House is blooming as an ongoing expression of IgniVox’s mission in the Mid-Hudson Valley.
NEW VIDEO edited by Melissa Manrique!
We are profoundly grateful that Gateway House has received an extension on the offer from an anonymous donor to match all contributions up to $10,000.
To date during this matching campaign, we have raised 80 % towards our goal!!!
We need another $1500 to complete our match.
Almost there :)
Deep gratitude for this generous support.
We welcome your offerings. Together may we amplify the Field of Plenty as we honor and celebrate the harvest of community
An Invitation to the Practice of Biodanza
As explorer of the many modalities and forms of spiritual growth and healing, Biodanza is the spiritual somatic form which I have practiced consistently over the recent years. Boidanza deeply nourishes me personally, and allows me to sustain and embody the depth of my own work at The Outer Edge and Gateway House. Biodanza cross pollinates with both Constellations and Ceremony. Join us!
Wednesdays 7:15 - 9:30pm: weekly Biodanza "Vivencia." (thru Dec. 10th)
Sunday, December 6, 2025 10am-6pm: December FREE Day of Biodanza Vivencia and Potluck Picnic!
You can find more info and event calendar at the New World Ritual & Dance, the Hudson Valley's Biodanza center.
With an open heart,
Kathleen C. Mandeville, M. Div.
Community Pastor, Consultant, Facilitator, Coach
Through The Outer Edge, Kathleen offers personal and organizational coaching, employing the modalities of Systemic Constellations, ritual, pastoral guidance. Her specialities include working with healers and creatives, as they achieve the true expression of their soul’s mission. Combining heart centered intuition with hard headed strategy...'Cuz, baby you're a firework.'