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Help! Does anyone know what this “Unity Church” (Spiritual Living? Science Church?) is all about? My best friend, who also happens to be my Dad, has decided that this “church” is the best thing since white bread. At first I gave him a very bland, “that’s good” response. But after reading their Statement of Faith, I am, well, shocked. Our Statement Of Faith The Science of Mind is a correlation of the laws of science, the opinions of philosophy, the revelation of religion applied to human need and the aspirations of humankind. Okay, as if that didn’t have my head...

An AIDS patient writes a letter to the HIV virus, forgiving it for the harm it’s done him and thanking it for inspiring him to live a fuller life. A recovering alcoholic reminds herself to “let go and let God.” Parents pray to see their son as “the perfect child of God” rather than call a doctor to prescribe medication for his earache. A collective of incorporeal beings sends this message to a best-selling author: “There is nothing you cannot be, do, or have.” What do these people have in common? All of them are heirs of the religious philosophy...

When I was a boy, my parents used to enjoy a comedian named Ronnie Graham. One of his jokes was, "The other day a cat came up to me and said, 'How do I get to Carnegie Hall?' and I said 'Practice, man, practice.' This other cat came up to me and said, 'Meow.' He was a real cat." We talk a lot in our movement about spiritual practices. I am a Religious Science Practitioner; the root word of Practitioner is practice. But why do we practice? Ernest Holmes said that a central concept of our movement is "Perfect God,...

I'd love to hear your comments on the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know." I thought it was the most impressive movie I have seen in a very long time. Has anyone seen it? "What the Bleep" is a movie that deals with quantumm science, the power of thought to shape our experience, the scientific basis for the power of thought. It ries to explain the nature of reality, both scientifically and theoretically. It is about "how the quantum world invites spiritual and mystical interpretations of reality." "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" talks about the science of possibilities...

From Sunday, July 18 to Friday, July 23, 2004, the 89th International New Thought Alliance (INTA) Congress will be held at Sheraton Premiere Tysons Corner, Vienna, VA. This year's theme is "The Power of One: Coming Together as Love." INTA Congress programs on prosperity, healing and interfaith will include individuals from all New Thought movements coming together for dialogue, support and growth. Highlights include spiritual leaders Mary Tumpkin, Walter Starcke, and best-selling author Iyanla VanZant among many others, along with outstanding local and national musicians and an interfaith service. Highlights include an Interfaith Service on Sunday July 18th and a...

VIENNA, VIRGINIA -- As a part of a week-long gathering of New Thought leaders coming from around the world beginning July 18, 2004, the 89th International New Thought Alliance (INTA) leadership will be honoring Bishop William E. Swing for his groundbreaking work to stop religiously motivated violence. The Congress will be held at the Sheraton Premiere Tysons Corner, Vienna, Virginia from July 18 -23. Rev. Swing has gained national attention due to his innovative leadership of the drive to establish a United Religions body to promote religious harmony throughout the world through small circle dialogues among diverse populations. Bishop Swing...

The Philosophy of Jesus for the World Today by Ernest Holmes Chapter One: The Power that Jesus Used ©Science of Mind Publications Throughout our lives we have read and wondered about the miracles of Jesus. But to how many of us has the thought come that this same power must be available to everyone? We have been so accustomed to thinking of Jesus as a man filled with love and compassion and human kindness that we have over­looked something else about him that is equally important. Jesus had access to a spiritual Power that he used in every way. To...

In his final "Sermon By the Sea" given in 1959 at Asilomar, California, Ernest Holmes shared with us his vision of the outcome of global well-being, the human species and Earth transformed by the consciousness that he had articulated as Science of Mind. His Sermon is a prescription for planetary resurrection, a prophetic, millennial assertion of the role of Religious Science in bringing about the world's rebirth: [Science of Mind] is the most direct impartation of Divine Wisdom that has ever come to the world, because it incorporates the precepts of Jesus, and Emerson, and Buddha, and all the rest...

Preaching abundant living The Rev. Della Reese Lett teaches lessons of material success and personal empowerment in her own church. Della Reese, who played a down-to-earth heavenly being on "Touched by an Angel" isn't acting as she stands in front of a congregation on Sundays in West Hollywood. She's preaching — in her own church. And her message has no mention of sin, no mention of good and evil and no endorsement of sacrifice if it means doing without. She talks about abundant living, not in the hereafter but in the here and now.

I live in wonder, with the senses of my soul open and perceiving. I see the beautiful colors of my world. I hear the harmonies of the heart in each sound. I feel the Presence everywhere in my life.

Divinity without Dogma A Look at Progressive Churches by Jonn Salovaara Conscious Choice, September 2001 This article looks at groups associated to varying degrees with Christianity. Other articles have featured, and will feature, outposts of other religious traditions. For thousands of years, churches have formally stated and proclaimed "a body of doctrines concerning faith and morals" -- the dictionary definition of "dogma." Institutionalized belief tends to become dogmatic, even when the belief itself begins as an alternative to an earlier dogma. So it was with early Christianity, starting small and in contrast to Judaism and imperial Roman belief and eventually...

What We Believe - A Declaration of Principles The following Declaration of Principles was written in the 1930s by Dr. Ernest Holmes in the Science of Mind magazine. We believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; One indestructible, absolute, and self-existent Cause. This One manifests Itself in and through all creation but is not absorbed by Its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God, it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God. We believe in the incarnation of the Spirit in everyone and that all people are incarnations of the One Spirit. We...

We shall not cease exploring And the end of our exploration Shall be to return to the place where we started And know it for the first time. -- T.S. Eliot The story of the Prodigal Son is the story of each of us. It is your story and mine. The prodigal son is heir to a great estate, along with his brother. He asks for his share, gets it, and goes wandering off from his father’s rich estate. Eventually, the prodigal son runs out of money and returns home. His father throws a banquet for him, much to the...

We shall not cease exploring And the end of our exploration Shall be to return to the place where we started And know it for the first time. -- T.S. Eliot The story of the Prodigal Son is the story of each of us. It is your story and mine. The prodigal son is heir to a great estate, along with his brother. He asks for his share, gets it, and goes wandering off from his father’s rich estate. Eventually, the prodigal son runs out of money and returns home. His father throws a banquet for him, much to the...