Denomination Bucks Trend - Reunited after 57 Years!

PRESS RELEASE FROM UNITED CENTERS FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING AND INTERNATIONAL CENTERS FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING.

Golden, CO…In an era when religious denominations are splitting into smaller and smaller sects, one just reunited after being split since 1954.  Science of Mind®, also known as Religious Science, founded in the 1920s by philosopher Ernest Holmes, functioned as two competing organizations for more than 50 years.  This week, delegates at their joint annual conference in San Diego approved reunification, called “integration,” with 98% of the vote.

In preparation for their integration, the two organizations, originally called Religious Science International and United Church of Religious Science, changed their names to International Centers for Spiritual Living and United Centers for Spiritual Living, respectively.  Now that the merger is official, the new organization will be known simply as Centers for Spiritual Living.

“We are a philosophy that teaches unity, so it is time for us to walk our talk,” says Rev. Dr. Kathy Hearn, Community Spiritual Leader for United Centers for Spiritual Living.  “Our founder, Ernest Holmes, always believed the movement would come back together at some point, and the time is now.”

“The time has finally come for our organizations to come back together,” echoes Rev. Dr. Kenn Gordon, President of International Centers for Spiritual Living.  “We simply cannot go on teaching unity while remaining split.”

The merger has been in process for eight years, intensifying over the last three years, and using a shared leadership model that included almost 400 volunteers working to create “modules” that reflect the functional departments of the new organization.  These modules became the basis for the new corporate documents that were overwhelmingly accepted this week.  

Science of Mind is part of the New Thought Movement, started in the mid-1800s by Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and continued into the twentieth century with the teaching of Emmett Fox, Napoleon Hill, Emma Curtis Hopkins, and Holmes.  The cornerstone of New Thought is a teaching of unity, yet despite this, two factions of Science of Mind broke apart in the 1950s over organizational differences.  “We have the opportunity here to heal the wounds of the past,” says Gordon.  

During Ernest Holmes’ life and ministry in Los Angeles, celebrities such as Cary Grant, Peggy Lee, and Doris Day followed his teaching.  More recently, Science of Mind has influenced such luminaries in the field of self development as Wayne Dyer, Jack Canfield, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Beckwith, and Marianne Williamson.  

The integrated movement has over 400 spiritual centers in 29 countries, and publishes two inspirational monthly magazines with a combined readership of 100,000.

“We have a big vision for providing spiritual tools and transforming personal lives,” says Hearn.  “We realize that our influence is much more powerful now that we’ve integrated than it has been on our own.”

Gordon adds, “I know Ernest Holmes would be proud today.”

For more information about Centers for Spiritual Living, or to find a center, you can visit either www.unitedcentersforspiritualliving.org or www.intcsl.org.

You Are A Spiritual Being

In the May issue of Science of Mind magazine article from Ernest Holmes, we gain some wonderful insights into his view of spirituality. These excerpts come from his first book, "Creative Mind", and provide a wonderful view into his consciousness in the early stages of what became a 42 year career of published spiritual ideas! Holmes addresses what it is to have a spiritual life.

How refreshing it is to know that to have a “spiritual life” does not require any external add-ons. The car you drive, what you eat, or your exercise program cannot bring you a more “spiritual life.” The only thing that that is truly required is your trust in Spirit. When you come to trust and rely on the Spirit from which all things come, then, and only then, are you leading a spiritual life.
For many of us this may be a tall order, as we have been acculturated into a society that revolves around material goods and mass consumerism. Breaking this spell does not have to be a complicated matter. Begin asking yourself where everyday things and objects come from. It won’t take you long to realize that everything, your coffee cup or the chair your sitting in, all came from the invisible realm. That is, they began as ideas in someone’s mind. This is the Universal Mind to which Holmes frequently refers. Holmes is really telling us that we are free to live as unique individuals. Being spiritual means knowing the ultimate source from which all things come.

Holmes also places a strong emphasis on the freedom of the individual soul. He states: “The Almighty has put the truth into your own soul; look there and there alone for it.” The bookstores are filled with authors who will tell you how to be more spiritual and how to interpret and analyze various aspects of your life, but only you can correctly interpret what is unfolding in your experience. After all, you have just as much access to the intelligence of the universe as any other person. Holmes understood this. His message is one of spiritual liberation—to become familiar with, trust, and know your own innate goodness, intuition, and connection to the whole.
You are a spiritual being; travel well!