The Hare Krishna temple is more than a building - it's the vibrant heart of a community that extends all over London and the South East of England. For over thirty years our numbers have been growing, and the growth rate shows no signs of slowing down. Increasingly, people are turning their attention to the teachings and spiritual culture of Krishna, and writing, calling, or visiting for more information and practical advice.

So this year we have a special series of projects to give our existing members - and all the newcomers - the experiences and opportunities they've been asking for. We've taken the eight petals of a lotus flower as our theme. There are eight teams with eight exciting projects. We'd like to introduce them to you here.

Please select a petal from the lotus flower on the right to find out more.

Every member is brought together with others

While some yogis and hermits take to the hills or the forest to practise their spiritual life, the devotee of Krishna joins together with others. That's mainly because the essential technique of spiritual evolution is the congregational singing of kirtan - the holy names of God. When members join together for these uplifting musical chanting sessions they all feel uplifted and energised. Only a few musical instruments are needed - the most important being the voice - and everyone can remember the simple words of the Hare Krishna mantra.

But the temple is not the only place where this can be done; in fact, it's meant to be performed everywhere: in the home, school, factory or office. And while we may have some time to go before this ancient yoga practice becomes a standard in your own workplace, those who do enjoy chanting can come together wherever they can find a suitable place.

This year we want to find more homes and halls in London and the South where our members can gather together, not only for kirtan, but for networking and learning from each other. We want to sponsor more small, local groups so that no-one has too far to travel to get to their local kirtan, and we'll be organising more social events too, so that our members can relax with like-minded friends.

Coordinators: Harivamsa and Krishnapurna

Every member is cared for, and is caring for others

Sometimes, when you're trying to take your life in a fresh direction, you need a little help from your friends. Spiritual and pastoral care are an important aspect of any stage of life, and especially when there's a lot of changes going on in how you look at life and how you're trying to put it all into daily practice.

So in addition to the tutors who are delivering the knowledge, we wanted to offer the chance for members to have a personal mentor - a supportive friend on the path - who could provide occasional guidance. Leading a more spiritual life can be a challenge sometimes, and its good to have others who care about your progress. Still better when they can point out the common pitfalls along the way, saving you precious time and trouble.

The Care Petal during 2008 will ensure that spiritual and pastoral care becomes an intrinsic part of the Hare Krishna community's ethos and system. We'll be recognising mentors and helping to identify any other personal skills required to make them fully equipped for their role.

Coordinators: Bhutabhavana, Rasamurti, Radha, Dravit

Every member is a Messenger

The Hare Krishna movement is a mission, a movement of people who, having found something of great spiritual value, want to share it with others. Taking a time-honoured spiritual culture and telling others about it is not something new, but this is the first time that the Vedic wisdom has been spread outside India. One of the stated aims of the movement, an educational and religious charity in Britain, is to: 'To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.'

That makes us a community where everyone can get involved in sharing the message in a systematic way - and enjoy doing it! And although in 2008 we use just about any technological innovation to get the message across, some of the oldest methods are still the best. That's why you'll still see our members passing out literature, going door-to-door, performing kirtan in public places, and inviting others to come to a delicious Sunday Feast or suburban dinner party.

The Preach Petal is about organising fun and practical outreach activities, and making it easy for all of our many small groups to reach out to neighbours and other interested local people. We'll also be sponsoring more cultural festivals.

Coordinators: Nandagopa and Vrajarasa, Nimaicandra and Pranasakhi

Opportunities for every member to serve

We live in a busy world. But surprisingly, we all have some time on our hands. We can use our precious time to enjoy ourselves, or we can use our time to serve others - and enjoy ourselves even more. Volunteering has been called 'the great secret of happiness' because so much satisfaction can be gained by helping others. By sharing your time in a practical way, and employing your skills in service to someone who really needs your help, you get to see yourself from the other person's appreciative point of view - a great boost to self-esteem!

There's a very wide and diverse range of careers represented by our members in the Hare Krishna community. More than 80% of them are accomplished in some professional field. The Volunteer! Section of our 'lotus flower' through 2008 will help to match up the considerable skills and the service area in which those skills are needed. Whatever any member feels he or she can offer - time, words, intelligence or wealth - is all of vital importance to the good work.

Coordinators: Chaitanya Jivan Das.

Every member is informed and connected

When the Hare Krishna movement was quite small, and new to England, every member knew where they belonged - and had a sense of belonging. Sometimes that important feeling can be lost when a movement grows, like ours has, to its present size.

Good communication is always important, and within a religion, that means an awareness of one's own identity and where one fits into the universal scheme of things. But more than this, it means finding out where you fit into the spiritual community, how you relate to others in the community and other communities of Faith, and how you can make your informed contribution to the rest of society.

Communicate! is thus initially about integration, good relations, and mutual respect and appreciation of the various sections that make up the ever-growing Hare Krishna community. Beyond that, it will serve to increase the representation of our community to some of its main audiences such as other faith communities, academics, politicians and media.

Coordinators: Vinay, Radha Mohan, Sujon

Every member is informed and supported with accessible and relevant, printed and online materials

For an organisation whose business it is to reach out to various audiences, it's very important to have just the right voice, represented by the appropriate literature or online message. The English language is constantly changing, as are the political realities and climate it expresses. Spiritual reality is always fresh, being of the eternal, but the words we use to explain it may change according to time, place and circumstance.

The there are occasions when we've got the right message but need to have it in the right format in order to share it with others. People may read a book much less than they listen or watch, so the same ancient message can be placed in another, easier format.

The Hare Krishna movement is constantly creating new ways in new media, and this year will be no exception. The Publish petal is all about identifying the needs, writing and designing, then improving the distribution system so that what we do is fully supported by what we publish. Members will also be catered for with a larger range of educational material.

Coordinators: Srutidharma, Janak, Jahnava Rani

Every member learning, every member teaching

Although the basic ideas of 'Krishna consciousness' are simple, they are underpinned by a vast philosophy found in the Vedas, the world's oldest spiritual writings. According to the Vedas, we can help ourselves to grow spiritually by gradually adjusting the way we look at the world around us, and how we interpret our experience of it. Based on this fresh perspective, we can then transform our consciousness by using a series of classical spiritual techniques. Learning about all this is a great journey, and teaching it to others is equally rewarding.

Our Educate project this year will give all members increased opportunities to learn locally from qualified teachers, and will allow them to improve not only in what they know, but also in their practical skills of bhakti-yoga and how yoga successfully integrates with life in the world. Our series of weekend retreats and other courses will allow congregation members to become fully acquainted with all the essential knowledge, skills and values over the period of one year. We'll also be expanding the number of Sunday school teachers in response to the heavy demand from parents.

Coordinators: Sanjiv,Kamlesh, Jivadoya, Nila Madhava dasi, Bhutabhavana Das

We count all aspects of growth so that we value them more

It's important for a members and growth oriented movement to occasionally take stock and ask important questions: How are we doing? In which ways are we growing? Are newcomers to our society getting everything they need? Have we lost anyone over the past year, and if so, why?

The Grow Petal is focused on all aspects of growth - everything in the other seven petals - and will collect and communicate information to everyone in the community so that we all have a picture of what the Hare Krishna temple - and it's movement - actually looks like.

Grow will equally be concerned with promoting membership of the Society through attractive subscription packages.

Coordinators: Ananta Purusottama Das, Nila Madhava Das