New Thought Anglican and More

Intersections: New Thought, Anglicanism, and Other Traditions 

Sunshine Cathedral (Fort Lauderdale) 

By Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

People often refer to Sunshine Cathedral as a hybrid. They will say the message is “therapeutic”, the atmosphere is “loving”, the mission is to facilitate positive change in the world, and the liturgy is “uplifting.” Perhaps those realities are reflected in Sunshine Cathedral’s affirmation: “Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities.”

Some will say Sunshine Cathedral is New Thought Anglican, some will say it’s Science of Mind meets Methodism. Some call it a Positive Thinking church, others High Church Universalist, still others will say it is New Thought with Ritual and evangelical passion. Some will call it Catholic Light and Liberal. One leader in the congregation has said, “If the Episcopal Church and the Unity Church had a baby, it would be the Sunshine Cathedral.” Another lay leader calls SC the “happy Church.”

Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostals, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Humanists, 12 Steppers, and even a Wiccan or two have all found a home at Sunshine Cathedral, and people from many traditions have mentioned there is a moment in almost every service that reminds them of their former traditions while offering a new experience as well.

I am the Senior Minister of Sunshine Cathedral and I bring a blended/hybrid background and worldview to my role. A confirmed Episcopalian, certified Reiki Master, and Kriya Yoga initiate with seminary degrees from Protestant seminaries (Union Theological Seminary and the Episcopal Divinity School), I am also ordained in Metropolitan Community Churches (founded by an ex-Pentecostal minister, Troy Perry); I am ordained as an independent/Old Catholic priest (by my SC pastoral predecessor, Pentecostal minister/Old Catholic Bishop/MCCer/New Thoughter Rt. Rev. Grant Lynn Ford), and I am an ordained Divine Science minister (Divine Science, a New Thought philosophy, was founded by Quaker Malinda Cramer and almost simultaneously by Presbyterian Nona Brooks). Between my predecessor (Bishop Ford) and me, Sunshine Cathedral has been led for over 3 decades by Liturgical New Thoughters! No wonder there are so many different experiences of our wonderful Cathedral!

We are a “different kind of church.” Our spirituality is “progressive, positive, and practical.”

It turns out that our New Thought/Anglican/Ecumenical style is not without precedent (though surely our presentation of it is somewhat unique).
*Divine Science minister W. John Murray was a Catholic priest before becoming a Divine Scientist.
*David Alkins was an Episcopal priest who became the dean of Brooks Divinity School (a Divine Science ministerial school).
*F. Bernadette Turner was a psychologist and an Episcopalian who became a Divine Science minister and then later in life was ordained a Deacon and Priest in the Episcopal Church.
*Unity co-founder Myrtle Fillmore had a parent who was Episcopalian.
*Healer Agnes Sanford was the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries who married an Episcopal priest. Her theology, prayer techniques, and healing methods were very compatible with (often indistinguishable from) New Thought; she also experienced glossalia (praying in tongues)...she has been claimed by Protestants, Charismatics, and New Thoughters!
*Divine Scientist Emmet Fox grew up Catholic.
*Jospeh Murphy was a psychologist and a Catholic priest before becoming a Religious Science and a Divine Science minister.
*Mystic Emanuel Swedenborg was a Lutheran whose allegorical interpretation of scripture still influences New Thought Christians.
*Religious Science founder Ernest Holmes was a Congregationalist before studying Christian Science, getting ordained in Divine Science, and starting the Religious Science/Science of Mind movement.
*Fenwicke Holmes (Ernest's brother) was a Congregationalist minister who became a Divine Science minister and was instrumental in the early days of the Seicho-No-ie movement
*Church of Truth founder Albert Grier was a Universalist minister for decades before embracing New Thought.
*Norman Vincent Peale was a Methodist turned Dutch Reformed minister who embraced and taught many of the New Thought principles extolled by Ernest Holmes, Emmet Fox, and the Fillmores.
*Herman A. Spruit was a German born "Old Catholic" with Dutch ancestory. His family became Methodist and he later returned to Old Catholicism, becoming consecrated a bishop in the Liberal (Old) Catholic tradition and starting his own mystical (theosophy influenced) Old Catholic denomination (Apostolic Catholic Church of Antioch...sometimes referred to as New Thought or New Age Catholic).
*Franciscan (Roman Catholic) priest Robert Rohr presents a mystical Christianity that is very compatible with New Thought adherents.
*Episcopal Bishop John Spong for years has been a popular guest of Unity churches.
*Leo Booth is a Unity minister who was previously an Anglican priest.

The openness, the freedom to investigate and experiment, the personal connection to mystery and wonder, the self-empowerment and optimism, and the bonds of a community devoted to both mind and heart, thinking and feeling, liberation and love is what a mixture of the mainline traditions and “new thought” can offer. Indeed, it is what one is likely to find at Sunshine Cathedral.

An article explaining the relatedness of New Thought and Anglican spiritualities was written in 2003 (see below) by Educational Psychologist Deb Whitehouse (who was married to an Academic Philosopher and New Thought practitioner/scholar Alan Anderson). Whitehouse was an Episcopalian who found her way to New Thought. When reading her historical perspective, Sunshine Cathedral will make even more sense to those who call it their spiritual home.

(To read Whitehouse’s article “New Thought and the Anglican Tradition” Click HERE)

Heart Thoughts

Heart Thoughts:

The Anglican chamber of my heart values reason as much as tradition and sacred texts (yes, valuing all three, in tension and conversation with one another).

The Humanist chamber of my heart affirms human potential, goodness, and the need to respond to human need.

The Universalist chamber of my heart sees something sacred in every culture, tradition, and sincere endeavor to commune with the holy.

And the Mysticism chamber of my heart trusts that all life is connected and therefore our attitudes, habitual thoughts, and purpose filled words can influence how we experience life and can even influence many events.

In these days when reason, compassion, diversity, and hope are under constant attack, my heart with its many spiritual components struggles to maintain its highest ideals, to celebrate its most treasured truths, and to remain courageous enough to resist cruelty and injustice without sacrificing what it holds most dear.

#ConfirmedEpiscopalian #OrdainedProtestantMinister #OrdainedOldCatholicPriest #OrdainedNewThoughtMinister #SelfDeclaredSpiritualHumanist

Religion & Gays...Better, Not Perfect

One can no longer assume that Religion is the enemy of same-gender loving and gender non-conforming people. The Quakers and the Unitarian Universalists and the Swedenborgians, the UCC (United Church of Christ...though I have encountered parishes that didn't share their denomination's inclusive rhetoric), Rev Dr Carter Heward and Bishop John Spong and Bishop Barbara Harris and Bishop Gene Robinson (and finally the Episcopal Church overall, more or less), Centers for Spiritual Living, various "Old Catholic" (not Roman) communities, many Buddhist groups, Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism, and finally Conservative Judaism, Alliance of Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and now ELCA Lutherans and PCUSA Presbyterians, and since day 1 MCC (Metropolitan Community Churches) have all stepped up to be friends, allies, and advocates of LBGT people. What great progress! But marriage equality isn't universal yet, and even where it is legal, there are other efforts to enshrine discrimination against LBGT folk (married or not). And fundamentalist rhetoric is as hateful and soul-destroying as ever. So please don't allow homophobia to convince you that there isn't more work to do, that lives don't still hang in the balance, that Justice has finally had Her way. Moderate to Liberal religious folk are more welcoming and more vocal about it, but that isn't a cue for any of us to retreat into the comfort of closets. The world still needs our voice, our witness, our work.

The Invocation I wrote for Gay Pride Sunday

All-inclusive and Unconditional divine Love,

On this Pride weekend we give thanks for who we are, each contributing to the diversity of life.

We give thanks for pioneers who led the way, coming out when to do so meant taking great risks, risks they took so that the world would be a more welcoming and kinder place.

We give thanks for Metropolitan Community Churches that have declared since 1968 that same-gender loving people are the children of God.

We give thanks for states and countries that now have marriage equality, and we pray that such equality will become a universal reality.

We give thanks for the Unitarian Universalists, the Quakers, the Swedenborgians, and the United Church of Christ which have all stood with us as allies and advocates for decades.

We give thanks for Anglican Bishops John Spong, Desmond Tutu and Barbara Harris who have long stood as courageous allies for LBGT people and those who love them.

We give thanks for denominations that now bless same-gender unions.

We give thanks for behavioral and social scientists who have continuously affirmed our place in the human family.

We give thanks for the Stonewall rebels who said enough is enough.

We give thanks for gay bars, drag queens and drag kings, bear men and leather communities, Dykes on Bikes, Log Cabin Republicans and Stonewall Democrats, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and all communities that have given us safe places to explore and affirm the life that is ours to live.

We give thanks for those who have patiently educated us about the gender continuum and we bless the courageous gender non-conforming people who show us all how to live with dignity and self-respect.

We give thanks for those who have chosen to be friends of the Queer community, worshiping, working, and playing with us, praying for us, speaking out for justice, having nothing to gain but nevertheless being committed to the power of love.

We give thanks for parents whose love proved to be unconditional, and we lament over those who could not allow love to win out over the fear of difference.

We give thanks for every genuine and mutual expression of love and for all the joy that it offers.

And we give thanks for the faithful witness and ministry of the Sunshine Cathedral.

Bless us abundantly on this Pride Sunday and may we continue to be your voice calling for healing and your hands working for justice in our world. Amen.

Rev Dr Durrell Watkins

Pride Sunday 2014

Reflection: St Francis

"My God and my all." St Francis of Assisi 
St Francis' affirmation makes for a very convenient spiritual exercise. We can use the phrase "My God and my all" as a Lectio Divina exercise...(1) Reading or reciting the phrase slowly, then (2) meditating on what the phrase means to us or what a word or part of the phrase brings to mind for us, then (3) asking questions of the insight that has come to us (dissecting it, deconstructing it, probing it, arguing with it, trying to see it from a variety of angles), and then finally (4) releasing it all while slipping into deep Silence beyond discursive thinking.
"My God and my all."

Another way to use St Francis' phrase is as a mantra. Simply say over and over for several minutes non-stop, "My God and my all, my God and my all, my God and my all, my God and my all, my God and my all..." Soon, we'll find ourselves in a meditative state letting the words wash over us while our deeper Selves simply commune with the Infinite. The words may plant themselves deeply in our subconscious minds where they will later sprout as spiritual insight or profound optimism, or they may simply serve as a screen to keep out distracting thoughts so that we can immerse ourselves in abundant peace.

Finally, St Francis' statement can serve as a simple theological observation. Believing that Life is infinite, that the Life-force is omnipresent and enfolds, flows through, and expresses as every life, that the "Ground of being" is the All-in-all (and All-as-all), that there is one divine, universal Presence and Power which many of us call "God," can be simply summed up in the words, "My God and my all." It is a simple and still powerful reminder of supreme Omnipresence, the Light within all life, the Source of life that includes all life, that fills all space and is everywhere fully and evenly present. As we often say, "there's not a spot where God is not." But before our catchy rhyme, St Francis said, "My God and my all."

Today is the Feast Day of St Francis. Often we use this day to give thanks for our pets and for the opportunity to care for them and we wish them long lives of contentment. We think of animals because Francis is said to have honored all life and to have ministered to animals as well as people.

Beyond the tradition of blessing animals, let's remember that Francis was a simple cleric who saw and served God in all life. He was aware of the Omnipresence and remembering him today can help us acknowledge and commune with the Omnipresence as well.

There's not a spot where God is not.
My God and my all!

 - Durrell Watkins,  MA, MDiv, DMin

Never Assume...

Today is the Feast Day of the Assumption of the Blessed Lady Mary, Mother of Jesus, if your personal piety or religious tradition observes it. Those who observe it call it the most important of the Marian feasts.

Jesus' ascension is modeled after the story of Elijah being taken into the heavens/eternity (without dying) by a whirlwind (althought Jesus was executed and it was his resurrected presence that was said to ascend).

The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox traditions have continued the story telling tradition Ascension by applying the same phenomenon to Mary. The Eastern church doesn't have a dogma about Mary not dying first, but in 1950, Pope Pius (speaking ex cathedra, and thus relying on papal infallibility, a doctrine only from the 19th century) dogmatically defined the Assumption of Mary declaring her to have been taken into heaven (bodily) without dying.

There isn't much about Mary in the bible (there is actually more about her in the Qu'ran).

Some value Mary as a co-Redemptrix, Queen of Heaven (a title held by the Egyptian goddess Isis as well), spiritual mother of all people (based on the story of Jesus telling his beloved friend that Mary would now be his mother). For those who have a "high" Mariology (a devotion to and detailed mythology about Mary), she shares in the work of Redemption, and may even represent the divine Feminine.

For others, Mary was a European looking figure stitched on banners of armies coming to conquer peoples of the Americas. For them, Mary is not so much divine figure as a symbol of colonialism, European imperialism, and the decimation of native cultures.

For some feminists, Mary (as presented by the male dominated hierachy of the Christian Ecclessiastical institutions) represents the silencing and control of women. An instituion that will not ordain women or allow them control over their own bodies or sexuality elevate a woman to almost divine status...a women, just one; and that one woman is a perpetual virgin who said "yes" to her impregnation that had already happened without her consent. The one woman worthy of adoration in the misogynistic church tradition is a woman who does as she is told and never has sexual urges, feelings, or needs. That, they argue, is not a realistic picture of flesh and blood women nor is it an empowering image for women.

For most Protestants, Mary is simply a rural peasant girl who had a baby who grew up to be a remarkable person, a teacher and healer, and lasting figure on the human imagination for millennia. Even if they have a high Christology (belief in Jesus as a redeemer of the world and somehow uniquely God-filled), they usually do not have a similarly high Mariology.

But then Dr Doreen Virtue puts a New Age spin on the "Beloved Mother." She suggests that Mary might have taken baby Jesus to live among the Essenes for a while where they both learned mysticism. She sees Mary as a nurturing, protecting figure for children. She believes those who claim to have vision sof Mary are experiencing something truly supernatural reminding us that miracles are possible. And she says that she personally asks the Blessed Lady for help from time to time.

Whatever we believe about Mary, it might be useful to look at the various ideas about her and let those ideas fire up our imaginations and help seek a more mature, life-giving faith, regardless of what part Mary may play in that.

On this feast of the Assumption, let's not make the assumption that there aren't new ways to look at it :-)

HAPPY FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION.

Statement from MCC Moderator to Anglicans

Rev. Nancy L. Wilson, Moderator Metropolitan Community Churches
on behalf of the MCC Board of Elders

A Pastoral Response byMetropolitan Community Churchesto the Crisis in the Anglican Communion March 2, 2007

PASTORAL RESPONSE: As a woman Moderator of a very Twenty-first Century church, Metropolitan Community Churches, I felt enormous compassion and solidarity with Presiding Bishop (Primate) Kathleen Jefferts Schori as she recently traveled to Tanzania in her historic role as the first and only woman to serve as the leader of a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. She knew what she was facing, and that made it only a little easier, I am sure. Bishop Jefferts Schori is a person of enormous faith and spiritual maturity who, though a relative newcomer to church office and politics, is wise and well-grounded. As a woman who leads a church that ordained an openly gay bishop and that seeks to welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people at all levels, she is the bearer of what scandalizes the Anglican Communion.

This combination of "offenses" puts her on center stage for all the world to see. Some of the primates at the conference in Tanzania refused to take communion with her, or to acknowledge her presence. But I do not think she can be ignored. Today, as fellow shepherds and bishops of Metropolitan Community Churches, we call to account our colleagues for their poor example as bishops and shepherds. Refusing to take communion with fellow bishops brings our calling and profession into disrepute and is a poor witness for our Christian faith. Likewise, the treatment of duly elected gay bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, as well as the deafening silence which appears to sanction the homophobic and potentially lethal anti-gay legislation in Nigeria promoted by Archbishop Peter Akinole, betray the model of the Good Shepherd described by Jesus in the Gospel of John, Chapter 10, and add to that sense of professional and spiritual disrepute.

As Elders (a small house of bishops in our own right) in Metropolitan Community Churches, we rejoice at the courage of the Episcopal Church in the US in persevering in doing what is right, i.e., acknowledging and living into the full equality of men and women, and the full inclusion of LGBT people. Let us say unequivocally that gay people are not an "issue"; rather, we are real people, God's children, created in God's image. We cannot be "compromised" off the table, especially when that table doesn't belong to us, or to any church, but to the Jesus Christ, who we say is sovereign over that table, who lived and died and rose that it might be an open table of grace and mercy for all. This is the joy and hope we affirm every day within Metropolitan Community Churches.

We urge the Episcopal Church to say "No" to those who would want to intimidate them into turning back the clock on inclusion. Unity that thrives on exclusion, or which accommodates suffering and oppression, is not unity; it is deadly conformity. It does not serve the cause of Christ, which is to liberate and unite. To unite without liberating is to betray the Christ of history, who is moving so powerfully in our time to open the Church to all. We affirm the words of our friend and colleague, the Rt. Reverend Steven Charleston, Bishop and Dean of The Episcopal Divinity School: "We will not change our devotion to doing what we believe is right. We will not delay justice for the sake of making our lives easier. We will not deny a truth that we are certain is from God. We will not play politics with human lives."

Today, as the spiritual and pastoral leaders of Metropolitan Community : We urge... the Anglican Communion to be true to itself, continuing to cling both to the tradition of apostolic succession and its own history of willing engagement with and adaptation to contemporary culture, while continuing to embrace and re-interpret its cherished traditions. This is the genius and appeal of Anglicanism, which we, too, celebrate. Those who propose an Anglicanism that never changes, or that looks backward, are truly "un-Anglican" at the core.

- We urge... the Anglican Communion to engage in rigorous, faithful, public conversation and education, and even debate, about sexuality, scripture, tradition and science, in ways that can overcome the kind of fundamentalism that has infected some churches, particularly those with colonial roots. There must be an acknowledgment of the oppressive legacy of that colonial fundamentalism, which is still evident in unhealed sexism and homophobia. Creating safe spaces across cultures and churches for dialogue about these issues is a paramount spiritual responsibility. This important work must precede any calls for compromise of any kind. It cannot be avoided. It is the failure to do this work, and not women primates or gay bishops, that threatens to divide the church.

- We urge... all people of faith to understand that Africans are of many diverse opinions about many issues, including women in ministry and homosexuality. One only has to look at the inclusive ministry and writing of human rights hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu to see the range of views.

- We urge... the Episcopal Church in the US to stand firm and not to compromise or cede its authority to make decisions about ministry and leadership. Stand in your integrity, even as you are willing to have mutual, respectful dialogue and conversation about differences.

- We urge... the Anglican Communion and their primates to focus their energy on the true crises facing our world: war, poverty, HIV/AIDS, violence of all kinds, and the desperate need for interfaith dialogue and understanding. It is a scandal in the Twenty-first Century for the church of Jesus Christ to have its focus diluted by anything else.

- We urge... the Anglican Primate of Nigeria, Peter Akinole, to repudiate his support for the most vicious, lethal homophobic legislation ever proposed anywhere, which is soon to be signed into law. If enacted, these laws will exacerbate an already hostile environment for gay people and their families in Nigeria, and will lead to more suffering and death. These laws are unchristian and not worthy of the support of any faith community, especially by leaders within the Anglican Communion.

- We urge... the Anglican Communion to work with their constituencies for the inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in hate crimes legislation and to support the freedom of assembly for LGBT people in all countries, basic human rights protections afforded all people ascribing to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

- We urge... all member churches within the Anglican Communion to break their silence and speak boldly in support of their friends, family members, and congregants who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. Stand firmly with us against anything less that the unconditional grace, mercy, and love of Jesus the Christ, which is extended to all people.

- We further urge... all people of faith, including the people of Metropolitan Community Churches, to faithfully remember in their prayers the Anglican Communion, and the Episcopal Church in the USA, and their Presiding Bishop, Kathleen Jefferts Schori. Pray for her health and safety, and for her voice in this critical time. Pray for Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams and the leaders of Anglican Churches the world over. Pray for all who have assumed the mantle of Christ, that we may truly follow in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd.

/signed/

+ Nancy Rev. Elder Nancy L. WilsonModeratorMetropolitan Community Churches
and the MCC Board of Elders