Personal Statement : The Religious Experience

My desire to work in the Catholic School system stems primarily from the ability to share my faith openly in such an environment, however, the Catholic School’s focus on the growth of the whole person, spiritual and academic and its commitment to service in the community and the world are also very important to me.

As a Christian counseling, I realize that I am an adjunct, specializing in a practice that is appropriately attached to and derived from the core practice, as it is legally defined (Clinton and Ohlschlager, p133). I also realize that I am more than a counselor; however, I have become a soul-care artisan, a disciple, a mentor, a spiritual director, and a guide into the deeper way of Christ (p132). Therefore, every Christian counseling session, I have encountered, has started with a prayer, to welcome God into the midst, as the Holy Spirit take the lead and guides what is said by me, as the counselor. As a Christian counselor, it is my hope that my knowledge of Spiritual formation reshapes the inner man, by being formed spiritually from the inside out, transforming from a selfish and carnal existence to a holy and joyful one; by one’s faith, as well as, the client’s faith, in God (Clinton and Ohlschlager, p130)

When given the opportunity, I am usually open to and enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone. This project allowed me to do just that. For my religious visit, I visited Shaare Emeth, Reformed Jewish Synagogue on Saturday June 20, 2015 for their Shabbat Morning Worship Service at 11 a.m. It is located at 11645 Ladue Rd, St. Louis, MO 63141.

To say my faith life has been completely revamped in the last year would be an understatement. I had views and ideas about faith that seem somewhat vile to me know with the experiences I’ve had. From just lectures to the retreats my spiritual side has gone from that of a holiday catholic to a Campus Ministry Student. From little things to big ethic topics I’ve changed in a multitude of ways, my Spiritual Autobiography looks like looks like someone else wrote it compared to any year before it. I think faith is one of the most important aspects of our life and it took me until last year to realize it.

For all seventeen years of my life, I have grown up in a Christian home and attended a Seventh Day Adventist church and school. I believe that growing up in a Christian environment has provided me with the foundation of my spiritual life. I 've been taught fundamental aspects and ideas of Christianity and have studied most of the common stories and messages of the Bible. However, even though I am equipped with these study materials and spiritual strengths, I believe that my relationship with God is shaky and not as strong as it has the potential to be. Even though I can proudly acknowledge that there is a God, I often don 't feel His presence and sometimes doubt His existence. I always find myself questioning my spiritual life and relationship with God. If I 've grown up in a Christian environment all of my life, why do I not have a strong relationship with Him? Why is my faith so weak? I believe that the answers to these questions can be found by acknowledging my spiritual weaknesses and using my spiritual strengths to improve them. I believe that acting on some of my spiritual weaknesses, such as an insufficient amount of time devoted to God, unfocused time with spent with Him, and biblical unintelligence, can help me to improve my spiritual life and walk with God.

Religious experiences are experiences we have of the divine or God. These experiences may be Mystical experiences, conversion experiences or revelatory experiences. Paul Tillich states that religious experience is a feeling of ‘ultimate concern’, a feeling that demands a decisive decision from the one receiving it. He describes it as an encounter followed by a special understanding of its religious significance.

Prior to understanding and describing religious experiences, it’s important to define the terms and typology of religious experiences. A point of contention for theologians is whether or not mystical or out-of-body experiences are religious in nature. To understand what the role religion plays in these experiences, for this context, you must define and understand what religion is and the major components that make it up. James states that religion “cannot stand for any single principle or essence, but is rather a collective name” (35). If you were to ask someone about the essence of an object or a concept, different people would provide various components or parts of it. You would end up of with a list ranging from objective and subjective responses, but it would provide a better understanding of it because, like religion, no one thing or person can be summed up in a sentence or a word.

If I were to start my own Faith Community Practice I would first plan to sign up for EMU's online Faith Community Nursing Course in order to fully understand what an FCN is and how best to go about establishing my own practice. After completing the course, spend however much time I needed to figure out how exactly I want to run my practice. After figuring out a baseline plan, I would go about facing my other challenges. One challenge that I would most likely face is where to set up my practice. I would most likely want to start my practice in service to my home church at Lindale Mennonite Church. I don't believe we have an FCN practice there and I think it would an amazing opportunity to serve my home church in that manner if they allow. My

Throughout time, Christianity has been divided into many different denominations. I, myself, identify as a Baptist. Therefore, I decided to interview a Catholic priest, in order to gain a better understanding of its practices, so that I could compare and contrast the Catholic tradition to my own Baptist tradition. I chose to complete this particular project because I have a lot of family members and friends who practice Catholicism. It is important to me that I become more knowledgeable about Catholicism so that I will no longer be ignorant to the conversations of Catholicism when talking to others. In order to successfully fulfill the requirements of this project, I reached out to one of my Catholic friends. After telling my friend about my project, he agreed to take me to his church, which ultimately led me to being able to interview a Catholic priest about their religious practices. The interview itself was mind-blowing because I never knew how similar, and yet how

If I were to start my own Faith Community Practice I would first plan to sign up for EMU's online Faith Community Nursing Course in order to fully understand what an FCN is and how best to go about establishing my own practice. After completing the course, I would spend however much time I needed to figure out how exactly I want to run my practice. After figuring out a baseline plan, I would go about facing my other challenges. One challenge that I would most likely face is where to set up my practice. I would most likely want to start my practice in service to my home church at Lindale Mennonite Church. I don't believe we have an FCN practice there and I think it would be an amazing opportunity to serve my home church in that manner if they

I would describe my own personal faith to be Christian- Catholic, the same as my parent’s faith. I grew up being catholic. I was baptized, did my first communion and even did my confirmation. I believe in one God; but I also believe in God as a Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe in Angels, Saints, and the old and new testament. I believe in Mary, God’s mother, and I also believe in all of Jesus’s apostles.

As I consider the question for then personal ministry experience paper I realize that my personal life experience has shaped my life and calling tremendously. In fact I have stated many times that I wished I would have kept a daily journal of all the things the Lord has done in my life since I became a believer. But, as you will see as you read this paper, after becoming a Christian, and having now been saved for almost 13 years, I can look back and see the sovereign hand of the Almighty working throughout my life.

My faith journey has been challenged throughout my life. I have had many ups and downs, and many times when I questioned my faith. Although those times were rough, I found comfort in God and knowing that He is always there for me. One of my favorite quotes is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13. This quote got me through tough times when my faith was shaking.

To experience a new religion is to open one's mind to an entirely new world. For my World Religions course, I was asked to visit a place of worship for a religion other than what I was most used to. Upon considering being raised as a Pentacostal Christian, the first idea that came to me after hearing this was for Billy and I to go with our friend Arjun's family to a Hindu temple—since Arjun had moved away recently to go to college however, he was unable to attend.

In my life I have never been a person to attend church or religious ceremonies. I have gone twice to church and I personally didn’t like because I think that one doesn’t need to go to church to worship god. I believe that as long as you have faith god would never abandon you. My experience in the Jehovah`s Witness ceremony was very interesting because they are very similar to Christianity but their believes are different.