Sunday, March 13, 2016

NOTICE: Church of Spirituology enlarges into the MINISTRY OF SPIRITUOLOGY

PUBLIC NOTICE:

Church of Spirituology 
enlarges 
into the 
MINISTRY OF SPIRITUOLOGY





Note: the inclusion of the "eye of Heru (Horus)" represents the clarity in vision of the "ministry" with the enlarging of its disposition from the connotation of a "church". The "All-Seeing-Eye" set as a symbol of the ancient Khemeti in the center of the other 12 icons symbolizes the evolution of culture and spirituality from what is now known as the African continent across the planet.




With a view to guarantee the objective of the Association of Cultural Awareness (ACA) as defined by the organization's constitution clause Section I: General Provisions, Article II: Objectives and Area of Jurisdiction 1) g) to ... :



a)            Promote religious cultural understanding/tolerance and awareness of human spirituality with the aim of contributing to the advancement of the evolution of the collective human consciousness towards understanding of the Universal Cosmic Mind or "God.""



...be effectively implemented through the expounding of the subject matter of "spirituology", the ideological mechanism of the association formally known as the "Church of Spirituology" has been changed to the "MINISTRY OF SPIRITUOLOGY".

This decision has been taken to avoid  any mixed association with the usage of the appellation of "Church" being assumed to be strictly a group of people who meet to worship or perform other religious activities.

The difference between a "church" and "ministry" is relatively obscure to those who do not make issues pertaining to the organization of spiritual gatherings their priority.

As explained under the "Membership" section of this blog:



"Contrary to popular assumption, the word "church" does not refer to any physical building, but as used in  early pre-Roman Catholic Christianity was used to represent the word "ecclesia" translated from the Greek,  which means "called out" depicting a coming together, "assembly" or "congregation" of people.

The word “church” comes from the name of the Greek goddess “Circe” who was a “patroness of magic, sorcerers, medicine and herbs” said to live on the island of “Aeaea.” In the Greek archetypes or "gods and goddesses" she was the daughter of Apollo (Khemet-Ra, Roman-Helios), the “god of the sun” and Perse an oceanid. The term “church” as used in the New Testament is synonymous with the Greek “Circe,” Scottish “Kirk” and German “Kirche” with other variant forms of usage as “Kerk and Sirse.” From her rituals we have the notion of today’s “witchcraft circles” or “witchcraft covens.” The meaning of the word "witch" is misunderstood being etymologically derived from the Anglo-Saxon "wicche" or "wicce" meaning simply "intelligence" or “understanding," used as a noun for someone who is "wise." As a compound word, "witchcraft" is the strength, power, force or skill (craft) of using intelligence, understanding or "awareness" which itself is consciousness. A “witchcraft circle" then is a "congregation" for the manifestation of the power of consciousness. This definition can be applied to any spiritual tradition including the formula for prayer applied in "orthodox" Christian churches.

William Tyndale (AD 1494 – 1536) one of the earliest translators of the bible when referring to the “temples” of Artemis in the Book of Acts 19:37 used the term “circe” and employed “ecclesia,” when referring to the gatherings of the 12 disciples, implying literally to be “called out.” William Whittingham who followed him in translating the bible in 1557 consistently used the term "church" to represent "ecclesia" when referring to the gatherings of the followers of Jesus, insinuating a “state  of consciousness” or “state of being” and not a physical structure but a meeting of individuals for the  attunement of consciousness, coinciding with the Greek usage of the term "circe."


Admittingly the definition of church as prescribed by ACA is extremely precise to describe the movement to expound on spirituology as a gathering of like-minded spiritual and culturally aware people, but NOT as a religion NOR for the purpose of worship. The ambiguity of the local Cameroon legal system will not recognize beyond the value of the word "church" used by the orthodoxy which enforces the entity be deemed "Christian" and force all of the regulations enforced on groups organized with the intention of "worship" to adhere to this standard. However, the "church" of spirituology in its formation has never had the intention of organizing members for any worship practices but to promote inter-faith dialogue. Not at all seeking to be an organization for "worship" the "Church of Spirituology" holds the intent of being humanitarian and indulging in philanthropic activity for the welfare of humanity. This intention would better be executed as a "ministry".

To compliment the purpose of a church, the late Dr. Martin Luther King expounded on what ministry is in the Christian context. However his elaboration does not limit itself to the aims of only religion...


"The idea that service to God should have only to do with a church altar, singing, reading, sacrifice, and the like is without doubt but the worst trick of the devil. How could the devil have led us more effectively astray than by the narrow conception that the service of God takes place only in the church and by works done therein.  …  The whole world could abound with services to the Lord  …  not only in churches but also in the home, kitchen, workshop, and field."
                                                                                                      ––Dr. Martin Luther King



Differentiating between a church and a ministry in a message board discussion on the Universal Life Church/ULC Seminary Forum on the question topic "Ministry Vs Church: What are the differences between a "ministry" and a "church"?, a commentator, Scott Luxon offered this explanation:


"A ministry is the efforts of one or more people to share their faith with and/or help others with a specific method in mind.

A church is a body of believers of the same faith who wish to come together in congregation for purposes generally including worship, usual at a meeting place.

The gray areas are there, and it is a very good question.

In general the main difference between most churches and most ministries is this; churches usually have multiple leaders and are usually granted tax exceptions with the understanding that as a body of believers donating money to the church they want to be able to use that money towards charitable ends, while ministries have one or a few leaders, generally aren't granted tax exemptions (unless registered as a charity or a NPO) and rely on donations from the general public which may or not receive a tax credit and don't necessarily congregate but instead travel around or do outreach from mobile stations and don't necessarily have a base of operations i.e. a building but sometimes do.

A ministry may or may not be religious while a church almost always is." 



Enlarging its appellation from church to "ministry", the Ministry of Spirituology is guaranteed promotion comfortably as the "central ideological mechanism" of the Association for Cultural Awareness (ACA), without falling into questions concerning its legal personality. 


The Ministry of Spirituology automatically derives the non-profit status of the Association for Cultural Awareness which functions strictly on the basis of member contributions and goodwill donations with support offered by philanthrophic persons and bodies. ACA as a subsidiary of AFRICA ADVANCING  also derives 501-C-3 non-profit status.


Church Planter, Speaker, Author and CEO, Raul Rivera in an article on his website "www.startchurch.com" entitled , "Do You Know How to Classify Your Ministry?" explains Under the U.S. tax code of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), ministries are classified as "Religious Non-profit" organizations and qualify for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt recognition. "Additionally, according to section 170(b)(1)(a) of the Code, donors can receive a tax deduction for donations to these organizations. This means that churches and all other religious ministries are given the same tax benefits as nonprofit corporations." 


The legal pertinence in the grey areas between a church and ministry are minor. The priority of this name change is structural with the intent of harmonizing the Ministry of Spirituology in its objective with the legal personality of the non-profit Association for Cultural Awareness. Operating as a "church" this legal personality can immediately be questioned in betrayal of the organization's aims to represent and promote education of all spiritual paths in a context of cultural unity. 

As well, the correct appellation "ministry" will allow the mechanism to appeal and represent other spiritual paths clearly whereas a church would generally cause members of other traditions to assume spirituology has Christian conversion aims. This too has never been our objective, but the former. It should be clear this name change has been taken purely in the interest of this organization with no ulterior motive.

All members of the ministry and affiliates are hereby humbly called upon to take note of this evolution.

Information on the blog, other online sites and all stationary and documentation, etc. will subsequently be updated to reflect the enlarging.