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The summer book release "Ecumensus: The Next Vision" has won the 2008 Publishers Choice Award from iUniverse Publications. Lauded for its timely message of hope and inspiration in a world full of religious conflict, author Clifford Lane Mark (North High 1969) tells the story of the seven people who are challenged to find the wise ones, sages and saints of all religions who will meet to establish the next spiritual template; a paradigm shift that takes us beyond religion and will propel our civilization through the next 2,000 years to heights not yet imagined.

These seven ordinary people; a skeptical black man, an analytical Asian woman, a blind Muslim boy, a inquisitive archaeologist and an innocent Catholic girl are hired to plan the meeting of the wise ones. Led by a retired Jewish publisher who has been inspired by an Indian guru and a 95-year old priest, they join forces with the Native American Pueblo leader on whose lands the sages and saints will gather. Together, they begin their quest for Ecumensus.

As they struggle to make sense of the cryptic clues designed to help them identify and locate the master teachers of our time, they begin to glimpse some of the insights that will come to light when the wise ones and sages from all over the world finally speak as one voice. From the gathering place at Acoma Pueblo - the place that always was - they uncover the truths that have always been and devise the means by which they can be taught once again to the world.

Through love and inspired understanding, these seven ordinary people and seven special sages come to discover a new spiritual perspective that is as old as all the religions of the world and as new as tomorrow's headlines. The culmination of their time together is as dramatic and hopeful a story as any that has ever been told.

The Novel:      "Ecumensus: The Next Vision"   
The Sequel:  (due out 2012)  "Ecumensus: The First 25 Years"

Available online at www.BarnesandNoble.com, www.Amazon.com and other online retailers. Coming soon to local bookstores as well. Web site: www.Ecumensus.com