Along a Coastal Road

Along a Coastal Road
Photo by Reverend Steve Waites

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Why I Became a Minister



The Dean of Education, Reverend Angela DeBry, H.H.D., D.D. asks me to write about why I become Minister.

She said being a minister means different things to different people and that each of us is called and the reasons change and evolve over time. She went on to give me a list of things she wanted me to think about.  

1. To have a church and services
2. To be a spiritual healer
3. To do spiritual counseling
4. To be a Hospice or hospital chaplain
5. To perform rituals
6. To legally marry, bury or baptize
7. To Teach

Here is my reply…

In my search for ways to heal my own trauma I was drawn to classes and experiences that supported me in spiritual ways. For me, it was this spiritual connection to life that taught me powerful healing tools. I found that personal responsibility was the key to my healing process.

It is unrealistic to think that someone else can heal us, we can only heal ourselves. We are responsible for how we process what happens in our lives, how we think, feel, act and react. We are responsible for our own healing. Blaming others for how we feel gives our power away and builds walls that block our ability to heal and shackles us in a prison of victimization.

The varying tools I learned in my healing process freed me from much of my mental and emotional pain so I could live my life with less resistance and fear and embrace more of the love that flows all around us.





I found that one single spiritual path did not meet all of my needs. 







I continued my training in many faiths and traditions and received my Doctorate of Divinity degree. The tools I have learned in my healing process have been so powerful for me I wanted to help empower others in their own paths to healing. We all have hurts; self-imposed walls that keep us from truly embracing and sharing love. I now work with many tools from different faiths and traditions to create custom ceremonies, rituals, and healing modalities.   

I chose to become a minister for legal reasons. I could not share my gifts if I was not legally licensed to do so. As a minister with Sacred Foundations, Inc., I am legally able to facilitate others in their own healing process, through spiritual counseling, hands on healing, ritual, prayer and teaching. As an added gift I am legally able to perform ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, baptisms and other rites of passage. What a gift it is to anoint a new baby, facilitate their coming of age, join them in marriage, ritualize and honor their croning, sit with them at the end of their life and then comfort those who will miss them when they have returned to spirit.

I have not just found tools for healing. I have been gifted with the ability to feel and embrace life, in all its highs and lows. I have found that even the extreme lows in life are gifts, for it gives me the ability to fully feel and embrace the opposite and equal highs that life has to offer. For without one you cannot truly understand and feel the other.



For me, being a minister has been a blessing. It has expanded my compassion in ways I never thought possible. And it has grown my ability and willingness to hold and share love with myself and others.   







 May you be open to all the blessings in your life, may you feel loved, and above all, may you love yourself.      

In love and light,
Felecia 



Reverend Felecia Mulvany, D.D.
President, Sacred Foundations, Inc.

revmulvany@sacredfoundations.net
www.sacredfoundations.net

877-877-4275



Sacred Foundations, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit church. We affirm the Divine in all its manifestations on earth. We honor all paths and embrace the wisdom of all the Sacred Text across the globe. We believe that only through dialog, education, and community sharing that humanity will find a way to live peacefully together in tolerance and diversity.  

CREATIVE ACTIVITIES - March Asset of The Month



CREATIVE ACTIVITIES
Young people spend three or more hours per week in lessons or practice in music, theater, or other arts.

This document is designed to help adults throughout Santa Clara County develop materials and activities to promote the asset of adult role models.

Newsletter Content
The following text may be used in organizational newsletters. Please include the
attribution at the end of the article.




The Importance of Creative Activities






For many young people, creative activities can fulfill what Peter Benson describes as a “spark”—the hidden flames that tap their true passions, motivate and inspire them to achieve and create, and keep them on a positive path. Youth who have sparks, and are surrounded by people who recognize and support their sparks, have higher grades in school, are more socially competent, are more likely to volunteer to help other people, have a greater sense of purpose, and are less likely to experience depression.

Creative activities are one of the most common categories where youth find their sparks. Even if creative activities not a young person’s life passion, they still provide benefits like fostering creative problem solving, critical thinking, and discipline, and provide opportunities to connect with instructors who are role models and caring adults. Unfortunately, most youth in Santa Clara County don’t participate in creative activities. In Project Cornerstone’s 2011 survey, 66% of 4th-6th graders and only 24% of 7th-12th graders reported that they spend three or more hours each week in lessons or practice for music, theater, dance, or other arts. To help raise awareness of their importance, March is Creative Activities month in Silicon Valley.

The following discussion topics can help young people recognize the value of creative activities and identify new kinds of creative activities that they might be interested in:
· Think back on the art you’ve created. Is there a particular piece that you’re most proud of? Why?
· Who is your favorite musician? What do you like about their music?
· If you could be a professional artist, what would you be—painter, dancer, singer, actor, sculptor, craftsperson, or writer? Why?
· If you could take lessons in anything, what would you learn?
· How do the creative activities that you do teach you more about yourself?

By the way, creative activities can be directly linked with Asset #9—Service to Others.
Senior citizens, hospital patients, and military troops (just to name a few) truly enjoy it when young people send them cards or useful handmade gifts, or perform their skits and music.

This article was provided courtesy of Project Cornerstone’s Asset-a-Month program.
For more information, visit www.projectcornerstone.org.


Activities
The activities below offer a starting point to help integrate creative arts into everyday
activities, and to use creative activities as an opportunity for asset building.




 For families






· Help your children identify their creative sparks! Expose them to a variety of creative activities, and find follow-up lessons when they find something they’re interested in.
· Help your child understand that their mentors in creative activities are caring adults in their lives.
· Advocate for your school to provide balance for students by serving as a voice for arts programs.

For all adults
· Demonstrate the importance of creative activities to young people. Make an effort to find out about the creative activities of the youth in your circle, and share the creative activities in which you participate. Don’t just share what you’ve created—explain why you enjoy your activity and how you feel while you’re engaging in it.
· If the young people in your life participate in creative activities, support them! Attend their art shows, performances, recitals, and concerts.



 At school or in youth programs






· Make an effort to ensure that the creative activities you provide take into account young people’s different interests and skills. For example, some young people who do not enjoy drawing or coloring may prefer opportunities in photography or digital arts.
· Help kids get exposed to a variety of creative processes through a “Give It a Try!” For an art “Give It a Try,” obtain a variety of art supplies and sample projects. Encourage kids to try a process that they haven’t tried before. Have sample projects and instructions available for kids who don’t feel confident or inspired enough to come with a new idea, but be sure to allow kids who have another idea about what they want to make.

About the Asset-a-Month Program
The goals of the Silicon Valley Asset-a-Month program are to help align adults throughout our diverse community in their efforts to promote positive youth development by fostering developmental assets. For more information about the Asset-a-Month program, contact Project Cornerstone at (408) 351-6482 or info@projectcornerstone.org.



 Reverend Felecia Mulvany, D.D.
President, Sacred Foundations, Inc.

revmulvany@sacredfoundations.net
www.sacredfoundations.net

877-877-4275