Inside Churches of Sarasota Florida: Part 1

Sarasota, Florida is a well known tourist destination featuring one of the top beaches in the world, Siesta Key, but where does a tourist, or a religionist like myself, go when seeking out one of God's meeting places for a little spiritual sustenance?

With so many colorful and somewhat obscure spiritual centers and churches in Sarasota to choose from, I have set myself the task of finding a church whose religion is free of dogma and instead is filled with love - something befitting the spiritual level and knowledge of our time.

The first three places I will explore are: The "I AM" center, Robin Hood Street, the Unitarian Universalist Church, (UU), Fruitville Road, and the quaint Friendship Baptist Church, Palmer Blvd.

On Sunday, May, 17, 2009, I ventured with a friend to the UU and listened to a sermon about the marketing of the UU religion being seriously lacking. I had to agree with Brock Leach, student minister, little is known about the church and it has a lot to do with the way the religion has been marketed. Despite this fact the church welcomed a slew of new members; parading them in front of the congregation while Leach read out their names and accomplishments.

There was no scent about the church and its clean cut modernism conjured no emotion in me at all. The spiritual highlight of the sermon was during what they termed "Mindfulness," where a few moments of silence were required. The sharing of woes and joy during what they termed "Milestones," reminded me of a Baptist fellowship meeting. There was the traditional organ/piano complete with solo vocalist and singing of hymns, but no choir.

The congregation joined together to say the affirmation, "Love is the spirit of this church. And service is its law. This is our great covenant: To dwell together in peace. To seek the truth in love. And to help one another."

The Sarasota UU fellowship was formed in 1952 and they began building their church in 1957. The building features some attractive stained glass windows, designed by local artist, Syd Solomon. Mounted in an area called the sanctuary are Mandalas, (concentric shapes, which are meant to represent the cosmos). The Mandalas contain deities' images which are meant to represent the unifying of self. There is also a copper chalice sculpture on the pulpit.

Trustee Joanne Curtis pointed out to me that the church does have rules despite having no creed and the best way to find out more about the church is to visit them online at www.uusarasota.org. Membership in the UU requires a financial commitment - however they do welcome curious impoverished visitors with open arms. The congregation predominantly consisted of gentile retired professionals.

The church is currently involved in building Habitat for Humanity Homes and is part of Interweave; after the sermon there was a performance by Sienna Bonner, who performed her State History Fair piece entitled: "Del Martin; Pioneer in Lesbian Activism." A UU flyer states: Unitarian Universalism - A welcoming place for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people. "The UU Church Minister, Rev. Roger Peltier, is himself gay," a church member said.

William Schulz, former president of the UU Association, defined the religion best when he said that its members can be atheists, or agnostics, and that it is a creedless faith. However, it is not to be thought that this means they do not believe in every god of every religion, because what they believe is that whatever God is - God cannot be quantified or categorized nor can He be revealed in a single metaphor or myth, but that is not to say that these metaphors and myths are not part of this glory of life that is so great it defies being neatly packaged.

It is hard to find fault with the philosophy of this church. I'm not keen on churches asking for money, but all churches do that and not just in America. American churches are just a bit more up front about it. Sunday service is at 10:30 a.m.

I was surprised when I visited the second spiritual space on my list, the "I AM" center, where there was no one at the front desk - despite the fact that there was a multitude of valuable items on display in the reception area, such as jewelry, smudge sticks, gems, incense, books and tapes. Even the bathroom in this small center was a pleasure to visit complete with its fancy incense holder and earthy perfume.

The modern "I AM" center has many types of gatherings, such as meditation groups, Tai Chai, Wing Chun Kung Fu, "Belly France Dance," healing stones, self help, a real variety of spiritually enhancing classes, yoga classes, as well as public speakers visiting. There is also a Sunday service. Rev. Jim Toole states that his passion is "Helping people find their true sense of truth, power and love."

One of the most intriguing events offered at this spiritual center is the energetic healing clinic, where 20 minute healing energy sessions are offered on Mondays between 2 and 4 p.m., on a first come first served basis. The fee is a love offering.

I still felt a little vague about what the "I AM" church was about but I found an article in the Washington Post, by Claire Hoffman, entitled "Under God" which explained in some detail the history of the "I AM" movement. "I AM" literature further explained that followers believe the divine spark of the "I AM" is in all of us, they also believe in karma and reincarnation. They believe in our profound ability to heal ourselves with powers that are latent in us and can be conjured through unity with the "I AM" Presence.

Basically, what they believe is that everything is an emanation from God, or the "I AM" Presence." What this means is, if we are that divine emanation, we too can emanate, or create our own reality. Jesus also talked of this in the Gnostic teachings when he discussed all things only being an emanation and that he was all evolution and involution.

There is a spiritual hierarchy which they call the Great White Brotherhood consisting of Lords or Masters. The story goes that one of the Lords of the Great White Brotherhood, Saint Germaine, spoke to the founding father of the "I AM" movement, Guy Ballard, who published under the name of Godfre Ray King, and who incidentally, believed he had been George Washington in a previous reincarnation, Hoffman says.

Ballard ascended in 1939 to become an ascended master. The "I AM" belief is that all can attune to their divine nature, the Presence, or I AM. When they achieve this - they become ascended masters or cosmic beings too.

The philosophy does not seem so far fetched and where its message came from seems only of consequence to those attempting to sensationalize it. Hoffman said that Godfre Ray King was one of the Masters, but she neglected to mention that Guy Ballard is Godfre Ray King. Oops! Hoffman quoted other writers declaring that Ballard was a fraud because of the books he read while writing the account of his encounters with Saint Germain. The information that it is said was gleaned from older texts is no different from the book of Genesis being taken from older fables in its day: The story Adam and Eve was a common tale in its time except the characters were called Isis and Osiris, the only difference between the two being, Eve was born of a brainless rib, rendering all women today brainless - symbolically, and Isis was made from a part of Osiris' brain, which is why Catholics still cover their heads today in church. (Hello)! The point being, nothing is new and if we are to call Ballard a fraud for taking something on board and making it his own - do we then call the writer of Genesis a fraud also? Next!

Last on my church visiting list, for this article, was the quaint Friendship Baptist Church, built in 1949. On a Wednesday night supper is provided by Pastor Brian, and his wife, Liz, together with some of the other church members between 6 and 6:30 p.m. The dinner is followed by a fellowship meeting in the church proper.

At the fellowship meeting that I attended Pastor Brian talked about the importance of walking amongst the needy in the area, the many afflicted drug addicts and homeless, but not becoming them. The congregation discussed issues in their quarterly Baptist learning magazine and shared their woes and joys - then everyone prayed. The congregation also discussed opening up to the large Hispanic community and members were asked to consider the cost of paying for a new Spanish speaking pastor.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings the church has a clothes closet for the many needy families and homeless people living in the area. The church is also a member of the SHARE food program.

On occasion a homeless person will spend the evening in the church's old cemetery which predates the church and many of the old grave stones date to the 1800s. The church fellowship formed in 1875 and there is a good chance that this old grave yard was once part of a much earlier building. The grave yard is situated at the back of the church in a wooded area - at the front of which is a magnificent oak tree.

So what of becoming a Baptist, food is good, the clothes are great, the people are completely void of any desire to be condescending, and the happy clapping is a real bonus, which is why I have been back a few times. However, while I am able to pretend not to find notions of a real live heaven and hell ludicrous, I cannot bury the fact that the Baptist Faith believes the office of pastor is for men only. Ouch! I thought that I left that hierarchical nonsense behind with Catholicism. Despite the medieval dogma, the fellowship is wonderful, the hearts are huge and the intentions are all good. It is worth visiting this church just to see the stained glass windows, the old cemetery with its fabulous trees and to try 92-year-old Miss Alice's banana bread cream pie on a Wednesday night. Sunday services 10:45 a.m., and 6:30 p.m.

Sources:

Unitarian Univesalist Church of Sarasota

I AM center

1930s and 1940s Godfre Ray King brochures

Friendship Baptist Church

Pastorbrian17@verizon.net