Mission and Principles

Jonathan's Circle Mission

Our mission is to create safe spaces where men can integrate eros and spirit.

Our Principles

These principles guide Jonathan’s Circle:

  • men can grow in self-understanding through intentional and honest interactions with other men

  • men need a way to explore uniquely masculine spiritual experience of which phallos is the supreme symbol and archetype

  • men grow in wholeness by affirming the fullness of bodily life and its union with spiritual life, regardless of the particular shape the spiritual life might assume

  • men experience freedom and joy through being able to share and reflect upon their spiritual and their erotic practices without fear, judgment, or shame

  • men can have close, intimate, and physical contact without fear that such contacts mean that a relationship must be sexualized.

Our Organization

Because we are a chartered, non-profit organization, your gifts and donations to our work are tax-deductible. 

We are led by an Executive Director and governed by a Board of Directors that meets quarterly.  The board is responsible for setting policy, planning, and offering support and mutual accountability to the executive director. Jonathan’s Circle employs best business practices in handling finances, undergoing periodic audits by an independent agency.

Our Norms

Men in Jonathan’s Circle have in common a desire to explore the connection between a spiritual life and whatever sexual practices we engage in.  Norms for participating in any of Jonathan’s Circle events, whether online or in person, include a willingness to be honest with one’s feelings, a willingness to share and reflect on experiences, respect for others’ positions and personal beliefs, an appreciation for the breadth of men’s erotic experiences spanning a wide gamut of tastes and preferences.

Our Membership

Jonathan’s Circle is open to the ideas, experiences, values, and beliefs that men bring into it.  Jonathan’s Circle includes men with profound religious faith and those with little or none at all; those with a wide range of sexual experiences and those with very few; some in their sixth or seventh or eighth decades, and some who are close to the bottom line of participation, which is age 18, and many who are in between.  There are men with little formal education and those with a great deal.  Men here identify themselves as gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, curious, and in other ways.  Every man is a man:  we don’t have to prove ourselves.

How Do I Join Jonathan's Circle?

Membership in Jonathan’s Circle is free. We have no membership dues, and no plans to institute any. We rely on modest fees to cover the cost of our programs and voluntary donations of money and time to support our mission. To join, simply subscribe to CIRCLING, our monthly e-zine. In there, you will find current Jonathan’s Circle-sponsored events and features such as poetry, photos, music, art, and books of interest to our members. The subscription form is below.

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