Joyful Gathering Spiritual Center is here for you!

• We are a non-denominational spiritual community rooted in Religious Science or Science of Mind, a spiritual philosophy founded by Ernest Holmes in the form of Universal Truths arising from science, philosophy, and religion.

• We offer a variety of enriching activities and wonderful opportunities for spiritual growth and transformation through empowering and uplifting, dynamic and inspirational, weekly Sunday Celebration services and prayer, an array of transformational spiritual classes and healing workshops, Wednesday Night Meditation & Prayer, and other programs.

• We are a richly diverse community that celebrates each person’s path on their spiritual journey.

• We are dedicated to cultivating the practical application of spiritual principles based on New Thought Ancient Wisdom and Science of Mind, and our intention is to foster a nurturing, inclusive, and loving community of like-minded spiritual seekers.

• We are committed to involving ourselves in a variety of outreach programs whereby we support and foster the upliftment of the greater community, be it through volunteerism, education, providing goods and services, or raising money to support organizations dedicated to promoting the well-being of the global community at large.

• We welcome everyone who wishes to enrich and empower themselves in an environment that is friendly, supportive, and loving.

• We are a community that encourages and supports each person as they deepen into their spirituality, and the God of their own understanding, uplifting energy, downloading Divine Love, and igniting the God Spark in everyone's soul!

 Joyful Gathering Spiritual Center was founded as a New Thought Religious Science center and as such, is based on the teachings of Ernest Holmes’, “The Science of Mind.” Religious Science is one of the three branches of New Thought which includes Religious Science, Divine Science and Unity.

• WHAT IS NEW THOUGHT? a belief in the Oneness of God and the individual by understanding that the individual’s true identity is God, and God is all the individual truly is. By God we mean such things as Infinite Being, Love, Intelligence, and Power. New Thought affirms that human experience derives from the individual’s own sphere of thought and feeling, with consequences for all areas of life, such as health, expression, happiness, wealth, and companionship. We are spiritual beings in a spiritual universe, empowered to shape and mold our experience for good (or not) in all things and under all circumstances. We do this by working with spiritual law, which is cooperation with divine causation, working always from Mind within, to result without.

• WHAT IS RELIGIOUS SCIENCE? a correlation of laws of science, opinions of philosophy, and revelations of religion that apply to humanity and the aspirations of humankind. Religious Science belief centers on the idea that God is everywhere and everything is in God. Religious Science, then, promotes getting in touch with this ever-present Source and becoming unified with it. Religious Science teaches that all paths lead to God, and so all sacred literature is used to define and discuss spiritual principles for living, the Bible is just one of many. The key, however, to unlocking the mysteries of God isn’t found in a book or writings, but within oneself. Religious Science teaches how this might be done.

• WHAT IS SCIENCE OF MIND? an outgrowth of the spiritual faith that people have had throughout the ages. Before science was conceived, the Presence of God was felt. The mental experience of the invisible universe is as old as the history of man. Science of Mind is new in that it puts together all the findings that contribute to the establishment of man’s relationship with the universe and to that end, man may be able to apply his spiritual understanding to the everyday problems of human life. It starts with the spiritual proposition that we are living in a spiritual universe whose sole government is one of harmony, and that the use of right ideas is the enforcement of its laws. It is built on the theory that there is One Infinite Mind which includes all that is, whether it be the intelligence of man, the life in the animal, or the invisible Presence which is God.

• WHO WAS ERNEST HOLMES? (1887 to 1960) a man who organized a group to formally study his teachings on metaphysical spirituality in 1927. Holmes himself studied the mind science teachings of Dr. P. Quimby, Mary Baker Eddy, Charles Filmore, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with Eastern mysticism and religions such as Hinduism. He took a little from each of these (Christian Science, Unity, transcendentalism, etc.) and formulated his belief system, which he then gave lectures on. It was after writing a book titled “The Science of the Mind” that his teachings became very popular, and the Institute of Religious Science and School of Philosophy was formed. More groups were started each year through the mid-1950s, when leaders within the Institute proposed to create a central governing body to oversee each group. Many of the “churches” balked at this, which created a rift. From this rift formed the United Church of Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind, and Religious Science International. Both of these groups of churches have the same basic belief system, though teachings can vary quite widely, and coexist very well together.

 WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY?

From “Exploration of Consciousness” by John White

IN ESSENCE, SPIRITUALITY IS SIMPLY LIVING WITH THE INTENTION TO REALIZE GOD IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE OF YOUR BEING - your thoughts, emotions, words, deeds, relations, aspirations - in short, the totality of your life, right to the very end… That attitude, that stance in life is the only thing which can truly create a better world. There will never be a better world until there are better people in it. The way to build better people, is to begin with your self by realizing God. To realize God means to know God on every level of reality and in every mode or aspect of God’s being. Thus, spirituality can be defined, level by level of reality, this way:

• IN PHYSICAL TERMS, spirituality is recognizing the miraculous nature of matter and the creative source behind the mystery of matter.

• IN BIOLOGICAL TERMS, spirituality is realizing that a divine intelligence underlies all life change and that such change is evolving in all creation to ever greater degrees of wholeness and perfection in order to perfectly express itself.

• IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TERMS, spirituality is discovering within yourself the ultimate source of meaning and happiness, which is love.

• IN SOCIOLOGICAL TERMS, spirituality is giving selfless service to others, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, caste, or nationality.

• IN ECOLOGICAL TERMS, spirituality is showing respect for all the kingdoms in the community of life - mineral, vegetable, animal, human, spirit, angelic.

• IN COSMOLOGICAL TERMS, spirituality is being at one with the universe, in tune with the infinite, flowing with Tao.

• IN THEOLOGICAL TERMS, spirituality is seeing God in all things, all events and all circumstances, indwelling as infinite light and unconditional love, and seeing all things, events, and circumstances in God as the matrix or infinite ocean in which the universe occurs.