“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3-5 KJV
God is my Credo. First and foremost, my calling is to create an ever-deepening relationship with God in Oneness.
They say that ‘all roads lead to Rome’. The same way, there are as many approaches to God as there are people on the Earth. Similarly to Charles Fillmore, I believe that everyone is attempting to move back to Oneness with the Divine Presence, that I call ‘being in the Loving’, whether they know it or not. In my observation, every person tries to create a relationship with whatever they believe God is, depending on what they were taught and how they see themselves.
We all, me included, are each on an individual journey of discovering our true identity, as well as the false identities that we adopted to protect ourselves. During this journey, I have moved through different places of consciousness. As I become freer from limitations and errors, I am arriving into a deeper awareness of Oneness. When I commune with God, I establish a deeper level of connection with myself and all there is, and as a result, feel closer to the Divine Presence that encompasses all.
My main role as a minister is to anchor Divine Love, the consciousness of Divine Mind. This way, I can become a spiritual focal point for those in search of their spiritual and personal growth.
Educational Ministry
For me, education is considered a spiritual journey because our entire life is a learning curve during which we are supposed to become who we are meant to be in our wholeness. Krishnamurti says that education “should help man experience the integrated process of life”. In a great educational system, we can learn about our unique abilities and how to use them for our upliftment and growth. The educational journey is supposed to be about evolving in our entirety, our spiritual nature included.
When developing an educational ministry, my main aim is to create an environment of constant learning and unfolding by encouraging curiosity and active engagement with the different materials and services that the ministry offers.
My Ministerial Role
I see my main role as a minister is that of a ‘creator’ and an ‘enabler’: creating surfaces that enable a unique, personal and loving relationship between seekers and God through different forms of educational services.
As a spiritual or pastoral educator, my main role is to assist Unity students of spiritual development to discover their world and their personal relationship with God. I have always looked at ‘teaching’ as guiding people through the wilderness of an unfamiliar territory helping them overcome the challenges.
As I was writing different parts of the Credo, I realized that the relationship between a pastoral-educator and the student-seeker is a special one. The entire teaching and learning process serves one purpose: enabling a mutually caring relationship that unfolds between teacher and students. Teachers can only inspire learning through this unique relationship. This is how I see my role as a teacher-minister.
Finally, because of my difficult relationship with the militarized education system I grew up in, I understand that that education is an area where I need the most spiritual healing. I became so passionate about education because I suffered a lot. I am also aware that some of the abuse I suffered is still in my ‘system’ and needs some healing and letting go.
I am especially grateful for the chance to heal this way; in a way that I am be able to use my healing to support others in growing, developing and evolving. It is such a unique opportunity. This what I believe true ministry is: using my own overcoming and healing to support others is a meaningful way.
Youth and family ministry
Partly, because my education is in education, partly because I love children and youth, I would like to act as a youth minister at the ministry I will serve. On a practical level I wish to create and run spiritual educational and leadership programs that employ active learning techniques, a form of activity that is both joyful and educational. Being an artist allows me to approach the teaching and learning process with a sense of creativity and wonder.
My credo is God. My passion is teaching. Using all my skills and experiences, I wish to facilitate a deeper awareness of self and oneness within God as well as to assist oneness-awareness to become a greater reality for those I serve.