Our Bloggers

The Principles of Spiritual Living is a group blog of practitioners from the Center for Spiritual Living. Our Contributors are listed here.

Dr. Kenn Gordon is the Spiritual Leader for the Centres for Spiritual Living, and has served in numerous capacities on the board of directors with the International Centres for Spiritual Living since 1999. In 2005 he was named Minister of the Year and received his Doctorate of Humanities.  Dr. Kenn began his Science of Mind studies in 1986, taking classes and ministerial training in Palm Desert, California. In 1993, he and his wife, Dr. Deborah, graduated from Ministry and returned to their hometown of Kelowna, British Columbia.  Together, their vision has created a community that is now the spiritual home to more than 500 like-minded people taking part in Sunday services, classes and workshops.  Dr. Kenn’s commitment to serving others extends far beyond the geographical boundaries of their Centre.

head shotLori Ella Miller serves as the Marketing Guru for the Centers for Spiritual Living. She is also a regular contributor to Science of Mind Magazine: A Guide for Spiritual Living, a travel writer, strategic storyteller, screenwriter and blogger. Currently, she is working on a “visionary fiction” novel. An experienced writer, Lori Ella utilizes storytelling to promote and build brands.

She is a founding member of the Conscious Media Future Search Think Tank; serves on the board of the Extraordinary Living Foundation and is an active member of the Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Lori Ella is also a certified life/professional coach. While she currently calls Denver her home, Lori Ella says she is a citizen of the world, and loves to travel. Her favorite pastime is square dancing.

Carole Carnes has been a member of the Association for Global New Thought Leadership Council since 1998 and has participated in three synthesis dialogues with HH Dalai Lama and other world religious and civic visionaries.  Honored with other AGNT leaders for their work with the Season for Non Violence, she was inducted into the Dr. Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.She has been a featured writer for Creative Thought and Science of Mind magazines. She is the author of “The Way In”, selections from her daily blog “Living Consciously.”  Dr. Carol actively supports the role of this teaching in the future of spiritual dialogue in the world.  She believes, as Dr.Ernest Holmes did, that “liberating religion from superstition and dogma” will be a major factor in bringing about the great shift in human consciousness that will open the door to the co-creation of an Awakened World.

Dr. Jim Lockard is Spiritual Leader of the Center for Spiritual Living, Simi Valley, California. He served on the International Centers for Spiritual Living Board of Directors from 2003 to 2012. He has also served at Centers in Baltimore, Maryland, Fort. Lauderdale, Florida, and Westlake Village, California.His book SACRED THINKING, Awakening To Your Inner Power is available in paperback and electronic editions.Prior to his entry into ministry, he worked in law enforcement in Maryland and Florida.Dr. Jim is a certified presenter of Spiral Dynamics® and the SQ21® Spiritual Intelligence assessment and coaching process. He leads spiritual travel groups to locations around the world.Dr. Jim lives in Oak Park, California with his wife Dorianne, His step-daughter, Grace Stauffer, attends Boston University. His daughter, Heather Lockard, lives and works in Manhattan. Dr. Jim can be found on Facebook as Jim Lockard, and on Twitter as @JimLockard.

Rev. Andriette Earl is the founding spiritual leader of Heart and Soul Center of Light, a loving and compassionate world-class teaching and empowerment ministry, which has flourished through a continuous inflow and outpouring of love since November 2009. Rev. Andriette began her path to ministry over 30 years ago with Terry Cole Ministries and later served for five years as the Assistant Minister at East Bay Church of Religious Science. She is a SOM Magazine columnist, author of Embracing Wholeness: Living in Spiritual Congruence, and creator of the transformative board game, “Speak Your Word: The Freedom Game”. A spiritually committed teacher, facilitator and “freedom coach”, Rev. Andriette stands courageously in the “YES” and inspires us to be much more that we thought we could be.

David Alexander is a life-long student of spiritual principles, having been born and raised in the New Thought tradition. Called to the ministry at age thirteen, Rev. David has made the study and application of universal spiritual principles his life devotion. Rev. David became a Licensed Religious Science Practitioner in 1999, received his ministerial license in 2004 and was ordained in 2006, and affiliated with United Centers for Spiritual Living in 2007. Rev. David serves on the Board of Directors for the Community of Welcoming Congregations. Rev. David writes the monthly column “Philosophy in Action” for Science of Mind magazine. Rev. David has a deep passion for New Thought history and manages the sitewww.newthoughthistory.org.  In April of 2009 Rev. David was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers of Morehouse College. As one of the youngest and most dynamic ministers in the New Thought movement, his messages are inspiring, humorous and relevant to today’s world. Rev. David serves as the co-founding and Senior Minister of New Thought Center for Spiritual Living (2004-Present). In 2012 Rev. David was elected to the first Leadership Council of the newly formed Centers for Spiritual Living organization and is currently serving a 2 year term on the council.

A native New Yorker, Jesse Jennings became involved in Religious Science at age 20. Receiving his Practitioner’s license in 1983, he then formed a study group in suburban Houston, Texas that would grow into Creative Life Spiritual Center, which he has served ever since. He completed his ministry studies in 1986, and in 1997 had conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the United Church of Religious Science. Beyond his Houston ministry, Jennings has served extensively in organizational leadership, chairing conferences and conventions for the New Thought community, and serving on various boards and committees, most notably, in the 1990s, the (then) UCRS Board of Trustees, which he chaired for two terms.  In his writing life, he created the book, The Essential Ernest Holmes (Tarcher/Putnam, 2002); wrote the preface to Holmes’s reissued The Hidden Power of the Bible (Tarcher/Penguin, 2006); and authored the introduction and author’s biography for the 2010 “Complete Edition” of Holmes’s The Science of Mind textbook, upon which the Centers for Spiritual Living base their teaching. His monthly Questions and Answers: The Way It Works column has run for 22 years in “Science of Mind” magazine, for whom he also regularly contributes feature articles, and an annual set of “Daily Guides.” His late father was the historical novelist Gary Jennings, and along with his ministerial and writing work, he is an active member of the Masonic fraternity.

Dr Edward Viljoen is the Senior Minister of the Center for Spiritual Living, Santa Rosa. While studying to be a minister he served in the World Ministry of Prayer and created the Reading the Science of Mind in One Year guide. He was the author of the Ernest Holmes Study Guide in the Science of Mind Magazine for many years. He was ordained in May 1996 and graduated as a Sonoma County Law Enforcement Chaplain in April 1999. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary Doctoral Degree in Divinity from Holmes Institute and is the recipient of the Ernest Holmes Award (2008). He served as chairperson of the leadership team responsible for guiding Centers for Spiritual Living through its organizational restructuring.  Dr. Edward is co-author or Seeing Good At Work with Dr Joyce Duffala, and co-author with Dr Chris Michaels of Practice The Presence Journal, The Prosperous Life Journal and Spirit is Calling Journal. He most recently published two short e-books The Bhagavad-Gita For Beginners: The Song of God in Simplified Prose and Science of Mind and Spirit for Beginners: Four Chapters in Simplified Prose.

Rev. Joe Hooper is the Spiritual Leader of the Center for Spiritual Living – Palm Desert, CA. With a relaxed, entertaining and many times irreverent style, he reaches everyone in the congregation with relevant themes and personal stories, many of them self-effacing, which resonate and demonstrate the commonality we all share.  He’s also been known to give a lesson from the top of a ladder, don a costume or two and even throw in some interpretive dance as appropriate to illustrate a point.  Born, raised and christened in the Unity philosophy, Rev. Joe was first introduced to Dr. Ernest Holmes and the Science of Mind while he resided in Redondo Beach in 1995. Interested by what he heard and then personally demonstrated, he sought out more information about the Science of Mind and has spent the years since then concentrating on his spiritual development. “It’s about creating a spiritual experience and environment for personal growth and development for each member of our congregation. Ultimately, what we do at our Center changes the world, one person at a time.  By applying the Principles of our teaching to our Centers, I know we will clearly, methodically, and without exception demonstrate positive change in our world.” Rev. Joe has never met a Krispy Kreme doughnut he didn’t love.

Dr. Kathy Hearn is an international speaker, consultant, counselor and facilitator. In February 2012 she completed 10 years as the Community Spiritual Leader of United Centers for Spiritual Living and had an important role in the recent integration of International and United Centers for Spiritual Living. She is an Ordained Minister, and was awarded the Honorary Doctorate and the Doctor of Religious degrees by United Centers for Spiritual Living.  She has been a regular contributor to Science of Mind magazine.  Currently, Dr. Kathy serves as an instructor for Holmes Institute School of Consciousness Studies and is on the Board of the Science of Mind Foundation and the Board of Governors for the Spiritual Living Archives.  She is a member of the Leadership Council of Association for Global New Thought and is active in women’s leadership and empowerment work. She appeared in the film “The Heart to Lead – Women as Allies for the Greater Good.” Dr. Kathy founded Pacific Church of Religious Science in San Diego, serving as Senior Minister for 15 years.  In her role as Community Spiritual Leader she traveled to Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Switzerland to share Science of Mind and the Global Heart Vision. Through her work with Association for Global New Thought, she attended the Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1999 and presented at the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona, Spain and the 2009 Parliament in Melbourne, Australia.  She traveled to the Middle East as the sole female religious leader for Harvard’s Abraham Path Initiative, November 2006, and led an Abraham Path trip to Turkey and Syria in October 2008. In October 2012, she served as a facilitator for AGNT’s Awakened World 2012 Conference in Rome and Florence.

Reverend Doctor Maureen Hoyt was installed as the Spiritual Director of the Center for Spiritual Living, Westlake Village in September 2009. Prior to that, she was pastor of the Granada Hills Center for Spiritual Living for 14 ½ years.  Before taking on the Granada Hills pulpit, she worked as staff minister with Dr. Dennis Merritt Jones in Simi Valley, California. She was the Editorial Coordinator for Creative Thought Magazine for eight years and was indentured to the Religious Science International Dept. of Education forever. She is currently on the Tithing Committee and the Doctoral Committee for Centers for Spiritual Living. Maureen was president of INTA-Los Angeles for several years and is currently a member of the Conejo Valley Interfaith Council. Maureen Hoyt is a Canadian by birth and a naturalized U.S. citizen.  She has two children, Heather, 35 years old and Nathan 30 years old and a granddaughter, Sydney, the love of her life. Both children were raised in the Science of Mind and use it in their daily lives.

Rev. Angelica Jayne Taggart is an ordained Religious Science minister.  She has founded two Centers for Spiritual Living – one on the island of Hawaii, which celebrates its 28th anniversary this year, and in Langley, BC.  She was also the Spiritual Leader for the Center for Spiritual Living Baltimore, MD.  She is now the Spiritual Leader of the Eureka Center for Spiritual Living, in CA..  Angelica has served the Centers for Spiritual Living organization as the chair of the Online Practitioner Team, a new minister’s mentor, a member of the publishing team, sacred practices team and various other committees. She is an animal lover and an avid reader and writer, with her 1st book, “And So It Is … a Book of Uncommon Prayer”,  released in late 2013.  Angelica is also world traveler who has been to 9 countries visiting ancient sacred spaces. She recently co-led a spiritual tour to Ireland with 13 powerful women. She considers her whole life to be a Grand Spiritual Adventure and it’s a good one!

Rev. Dr. Petra Weldes, Senior Minister of the Center for Spiritual Living since 1998 (serving there since 1993) is a powerful, gifted leader, speaker and teacher whose visionary role has created a dynamic, spiritual community in Dallas empowering and transforming lives.  Her purpose is transformation and her mission is to grow people, communities, and consciousness. She has a long and distinguished history of service within our movement.  She served as the first Chair of the United Centers for Spiritual Living CORE Council (2001-2004) and first Chair of the UCRS Nominating Team(2000).  She was instrumental on the Move Core for UCSL (2004-2009) purchasing the building and moving its head-quarters to Denver, Colorado. Among the 16 positions she has held, she has just completed serving on the 2011 Bylaws and ODM Teams for the Integration of ICSL and UCSL, and is currently serving for the second time as Ecclesiastical Representative to Service Area 4. Rev Dr Petra has co-authored The Joyous Freedom Journal with Rev Dr Christian Sorenson, and been published in numerous local and national publications, including the Science of Mind MagazineRev. Dr. Petra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from the University of Dallas in Irving, TX, (1996) where she, as the first Constantine Scholar in 10 years, defended her independent studies thesis “with distinction” and graduated summa cum laude. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Metaphysical Philosophy from the Ernest Holmes College in Seattle, WA (1984). She more recently received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the Holmes Institute (2004). Rev. Petra became a Religious Science Practitioner in 1983 and received Ordination in 1988.

Rev. Dr. Terry Drew Karanen is an author, keynote speaker, life coach and CSL minister. He began his ministerial training in 1985 at United Spirit Church in West Hollywood, CA through United Church of Religious Science (UCRS). His studies were completed at Glendale Church of Religious Science through Religious Science International (RSI). He founded two SOM Centers, CSL Pittsburgh South, in 1994, and CSL Cumberland Valley in 2011. From 1997 to 2011 he served as an independent New Thought minister through guest speaking, personalized ceremonies, writing and counseling. In 2011 he re-affiliated with the integrated Centers for Spiritual Living, currently serving with the CSL World Ministry of Prayer (WMOP) and is a member of the SOM Archives and Library Foundation’s 1st Circle program. Dr. Terry has earned a doctor of divinity degree in holistic theology from the American Institute and a master of social work degree from Temple University. As a license social worker, he operates a clinical practice specializing in individual and couples counseling, mediation, addiction counseling and conflict resolution. He is the author of nine books. HIs eighth book, “Discovering Your Bliss: How having a vision and mission helps create a life worth living,” is due to be released within the year. He is also writing his ninth book entitled, “From the Trailer Park to the Pulpit: How the wisdom of Grandma Esther shaped my life and ministry.” His first meditation CD, with original music by Janet Spahr is currently in production. He can be found on Facebook as Terry Drew Karanen and on Twitter @TerryDKaranen.