Feb 25, 2019
Sexy Spirituality Episode #25
Finding Your Spiritual Home
Hosts
Lezli Goodwin
Sonia Byrne
Opening Chat
Sonia and Lezli learned a lot on their recent road trip, including where to find the world's best gluten-free pizza (a truck stop in Vicksburg, Arizona), American gas stations require zip codes for gas machines, ear buds and ear plugs are different things, and why you should believe a liquor store employee when they say you don't want their wine.
Finding Your Spiritual Home
- There are a number of archetypes of people who come into a spiritual center for the first time. Most people are a blend of these archetypes.
- The Spiritual Seeker: Looking for a community that shares their same beliefs and language, where they can expand and learn.
- The Wounded: Something crisis-level has happened in their life, and they are broken open. Looking for support, love and a safe place to heal.
- The Skeptic: Looking to be convinced that this is better than some other religion or community, but loves to criticize and find fault.
- The Modern Traditionalist: Looking for a traditional spiritual community experience (often for children or family), but wants to avoid the guilt or judgment that they associate with more traditional religion.
- The number one thing that determines whether a person will come back to a church or spiritual center is if they feel like they have someone to sit with. In other words, did people say hello? Were they welcoming? Do they feel like they could belong here?
- Well-meaning people can violently disagree on what makes people feel welcome, because we tend to believe that what makes "us" feel welcome is what makes "people" feel welcome. Hugs, handshakes, having new people stand... all of these have their strong proponents and opponents.
- It is the responsibility of center leadership to be very intentional about creating a welcoming environment. This can include a very clear path to involvement in the community that makes space for varied levels of personal commitment.
- One way to mitigate this is to lean into the word "invitation." This opens up options for people to be acknowledged without people feeling cornered or embarrassed.
Something Good
Sonia
I am offering a workshop at the virtual Center for Spiritual Living Vista Conference on Strategic Planning for Spiritual Communities. March 6, 10:00 AM PST.
Lezli
I am releasing a new book this month. "Built on Faith: Transform Your Life through Affirmative Prayer" is the how-to on affirmative prayer that I wish I'd had when I was learning. Whether you are just starting affirmative prayer or you're looking for a great textbook for your prayer classes, this is the book for you. www.lezligoodwin.com/builtonfaith
We'll see you March 4 for our next episode of Sexy Spirituality, The Spirituality of Coupledom. Share your thoughts with us at sexyspirituality@gmail.com.