Before visiting Sunrise Ranch, Monica and I had called them to schedule a tour and interview session
with them. They suggested filling out their application and coming on a Sunday. The email communication had a few days of lag between correspondence on their end. So it took us a few weeks to work a Sunday visit into our schedule. And when we finally did, we didn't actually get confirmation we could come until after we had arrived. Luckily, (as we'd suspected), Sunday services are open to the public.

We attended their ceremony service at 11 in their chapel dome, followed by their teachings. This particular Sunday, they did something alittle different and had 4 elder men from their community speak about their participation in a Men's Council workshop the men had just attended recently. It sounded very similar to Mankind Project (MKP) structure of men's work and they talked about the profound impact it had on their personal lives.

After they shared their experiences in their teaching-style, they offered everyone including us an atunement. Their atunements are energy healings that are similar to Reiki except that they focus their energy and intent on the major glands of our physical body. The atunements were done in a circle at the foot of the stage in the chapel and took about 10 minutes (all performed simultaneously).

Afterward, we joined them for lunch across the street in the Pavilion. This is where they have space to invite facilitators to perform their workshops and events. Most of their food is harvested local to their ranch and is organic, including their grass fed cows and 400 chickens. They served salad, chicken, collards, rice and watermelon.

This community is spiritually based and was founded in the 1930's. They have 350 acres of land, nestled at the foothills of the Rockies. They believe it is one of the oldest successful intentional
communities in the US (being about 70 years old). Most of their community is 55+, and they are geared toward inviting the younger generation to join their community and build more family demographics.

Their spiritual philosophy is broad and encompasses a diverse set of religions including Christianity, Indian and Native American (and more). They try to keep their terminology univeral and respect all expressions of spirituality. Their main intent is nurture the community's expression
of their own spirituality whether it be through yoga, meditation, farming or art. They welcome different perspectives and see conflict and discussion as an opportunity to grow.

In regards to visitation, they ask for 1 month minimum stay and offer room and board in exchange for 32-44 hours of work per week (depending on the job description being filled). They also have 2 internship programs (7 month programs) one for farming and sustainability and one for self-empowerment and spiritual exploration. They have some apartments and a dorm-styled barn that offer to guests of the programs.

All in all, this community is charged to succeed and spread light and love to the world. They have several satellite branches across the US but their main location is the one we visited near Longmont, CO.