The United Church – dying or living?

In the June issue of the United Church Observer, three articles ask what direction we are going.  Dwindling congregations in size and number prompt concern for the future.  Lois Wilson, former United Church moderator, World Council of Churches president, and present Senator, asks in an interview “Are we still promoting the spirituality of enegagement?  I don’t think we are.” 

I have written a letter to the Observer editor about the engagement I have at Knox United Church, as a member of the Healing Touch team.  There are eight of us in the team, participating in two meetings monthly to practice and to give and receive treatments.  We give treatments to people within (and sometimes without) our congregation upon request.  Usually the treatments happen twice a month, before or after church.  This practice is our ministry.  Participating in the group for the past decade has supported my own growth and maintained my health.  At first many people were skeptical and we had few requests.   One year  requests for treatments were so low that we joked we mostly helped ourselves (broken bones, bad backs, flu, cancer treatments, heart problems, stress)!  Now we get regular requests, and during healing services about two-thirds of the congregation go to stations to receive anointing and a blessing. Pre and post-surgery treatments enable faster healing, as several articles in the church newsletter attest.  Anyone who wishes to learn how to give a Healing Touch treatment can do so, by signing up for an introductory course.  It’s not magic, but it is mysterious. 

Healing Touch engages the body, heart, mind and soul.  Healing Touch is based on Jesus, firmly rooted in his teachings and example.  We allow ourselves to be channels of healing love, and Spirit does the rest. 

There is no need for the United Church to dwindle and become irrelevant.  It’s important to meet peoples’ needs where they are.  At Knox we also have a superb adult education program through Knox Centre.  It feeds the mind and soul with workshops, classes, discussion, films, book reviews, and international lecturers.  Healing Touch addresses needs of body and heart, complementing the intellectual approach of Knox Centre.  Our church uses both.  We engage people, and we continue to attract and keep newcomers both young and old.

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Inner Star Meditation

This is a new addition to Your Invisible Bodies: a reference for children and adults about human energy fields.

I am working with graphic designer Kathy Lycka to prepare a power-point version of the book, for use by qualified children’s workshop leaders.  The Study Guide has been expanded to assist discussion.  We practiced meditating together to experience greater calm.  This is especially important when addressing our emotions.  The Inner Star Meditation is introduced after the lesson about our inner star (p.21).   Plans are underway for recording this meditation and making it available for a free download.  Until then, you can read it here.

Inner Star Meditation

Sit with your feet flat on the floor, and your back resting comfortably against the chair.  Close your eyes and be still…  Relax your body…  Place your hands over your chest and breathe in slowly. … Imagine a light inside you and send air to that light, so it grows and shines like a star…  Feel it grow bigger and brighter with each breath…   Breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth.  As you breathe out, let go of worries or thoughts. …As you breathe in, imagine your light getting bigger with each breath.

Be aware of  white light coming in from the universe to a point at the top of your head…. Let it come down behind your eyes, in a line through your centre  … in the back of your throat… down to your chest.  Send this light to the golden light of your star … notice your star growing fuller and stronger.

Through your feet feel earth energy flow into the soles of your feet … up your legs to your knees…, then to your hips and lower body… Feel red energy fill your body, then rise to your belly… let it filll your solar plexus…  Breathe more deeply.  … feel the earth energy mingle with the white light in your heart.  … feel the two colours meet, dance, and mingle, each changing to become a fuller richer light of love… notice your star growing fuller and stronger.  

….  Let the light of your star flow outward in your body… down to your toes…. out your arms… into your hands and fingers. …  Let it fill your face, your mind, your ears, your nostrils, your eyes,  and voice… Become aware of your whole body as it fills with the energy and light of love… relax and feel how good it is to be in touch with your whole body… If there  is tightness or pain, notice it and let it go. 

When you are fully relaxed and comfortable, notice the air on your skin.  Notice smells and sounds.  Thank Goodness and Light for filling your body and being with you.  Thank your body for being you.  When you are ready, open your eyes and be present  here.

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Decadence – Choir Concert

Tonight I went to see Decadence: Songs of Six Decades, put on by Up2Something and She’sUp2Something.  My friend and I watched these two great choirs and moved our bodies to the familiar tunes from the last 6 decades.  It was so much fun!  The selections really took me back, and I loved it all.  They sang medleys from the 50s, a few songs from Hair, two Beatles songs, up through the Disco years, into the 80s, 90s, and to todays music.  Amazing costume changes and hairstyles and rhythms — colorful and vibrant.  Thanks so much Jen, for telling me about it.  If you get a chance to see it tomorrow (Sunday June 13) GO.

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Spiritual Authors Contest

I’m happy to post this item from my colleague, Roger Joyeux:

Inside the Contest For the Next Top Spiritual Author

By S. Roger Joyeux
Author of The Story of Light, Through Heaven’s Gate
Vote for Roger in round two http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=715″>here</a>.
I have just put the finishing touches on my author profile (“http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=715″>profile</a> for the Next Top Spiritual Author (NTSA) contest.  Many of you voted for me and my latest book, The Story of Light, Through Heaven’s Gate and I want to extend my sincere gratitude for your support.  Because of that support, I am now facing the battle for the 25 slots of round three.  Initially, round one had a total of 3059 persons who entered the contest.  The field for round two has been narrowed to 271 contestants according to the latest information.  These authors are the serious contenders, but I am even more serious.  In the next five weeks or so (the date of termination for round two has not yet been announced), the intensity of the effort will become unbelievable.

The effort for round one, for me, was one of providence and divine guidance.  First, a good friend was kind enough to tell me of this contest.  Otherwise, I may never have known.  Second, another good friend immediately told me that his angelic guides were adamant that I should enter the contest.  Doing so felt right—right then and there.  Later, my own guides confirmed that I should not only enter, but put in a real effort.  With the encouragement coming from all sides and especially from above, I paid the $60 for the course fee and threw my hat into the ring.

I soon realized that many of the other authors were voting for each other.  Facebook was buzzing with the short blurbs from innumerable contestants asking for support, and Twitter was all a flutter.  The energy was contagious and explosive.  The NTSA website quickly made the top 45,000 of all websites on the net.  This was no small feat, given that there are 196,854,201 websites world wide according to <a href=”http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_total_number_of_commercial_websites”>wiki.answers.com</a>.  What chance did I have to even move past round one?  Spirit has a way and helped me to see it.

The NTSA contest is inevitably about promoting and selling spiritual books, many of which may be just what you are looking for if you care to peruse the profiles of some of the other contestants.  But, for that first round, it was all about votes.  Anyone with an email address could register their email and vote for me.  All I had to do was motivate enough voters to be in the top group of authors.  Before any of the contestants were eligible to receive votes, each had to post a <a href=”http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=715″>profile</a>.  For this profile, the author bio was already on my http://thestoryoflight.com”>website</a>.  So, cut and paste would do here.  The book description might have been difficult, but I decided to use the primary theme in a sentence or so, then add a list of what was in the book.  I could have made the description glitzy and sensational, but inflated hype is not my style.  The list itself was awesome.  The Story of Light is awesome.  I just let it speak for itself.

The final piece for round one’s profile was the audio or video ‘pitch’.  The contest was asking us to pitch our books.  No votes without a pitch.  I wrote up a ‘pitch’, which I thought would conform to the 3-5 minutes that were suggested.  Although shorter is better, I felt people needed to hear a reasonable amount about what the book was about.  The pitch ended up being 3:45 minutes—not too long, not too short, just right Papa bear!

The next step was to tell everybody that I was in the running and help them understand how they could support The Story of Light with their email vote.  Well… you can’t just ask for a vote and expect it will happen.  To help my supporters, I created a <a href=”http://www.thestoryoflight.com/ntsa.php”>Next Top Spiritual Author page</a> on my website to explain the contest and provide instructions.  The administrators were not going to allow someone to vote a thousand times for the same author, so emails had to be registered and confirmed as my instructions indicate.  With all the links right there, I made the voting process as easy as pie.  What remained was to contact as many people as I could to drum up support.  As I made the cut for round two, I was confirmed in my success—on to round two.

That was then, this is now!  Round two adds a few things to the <a href=”http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=715″>profile </a>such as the actual book proposal and first chapter.  It also requires that each contestant submit an expanded profile to the contest administrators.  More than adding to the profile, the contest has a second round of voting, which has already begun!  With the intensity of effort that the contest generates, I will need your vote again, but I will also need the support of anyone else that you can get to vote for me, and any community or group that can be motivated.  As you can vote right now, please go to my <a href=”http://thestoryoflight.com/ntsa.php”>instruction page</a> and support <em><b>The Story of Light, Through Heaven’s Gate</b></em>.

In this round, I am determined to help my supporters see that <em><b>The Story of Light</b></em> is a quality work worthy of their support.  There is a significant amount of info about my books both on my NTSA <a href=”http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=715″>profile </a>page and my website.  On the website, there are random audio readings from both volumes on the <a href=”http://thestoryoflight.com/audio.php”>audio page</a>, and the introductions, tables of contents, and first chapters for both books, each linked from the <a href=”http://thestoryoflight.com”>home page</a>.  As with the intent of the Next Top Spiritual Author contest, the ultimate goal is to put the message of <em><b>The Story of Light</b></em> into the hands of readers by selling books.  While I need your vote in the NTSA contest, if you want to know about how divine light works on Earth and in the heavens in depth, you need my book, which is available for purchase on my <a href=”http://thestoryoflight.com/store.php”>store page</a>.
© Roger Joyeux May 2010. See Roger’s <a href=”http://www.thestoryoflight.com”>website</a> for more info about his newest
book, <em><b>The Story of Light, Through Heaven’s Gate</b></em>.

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