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Spiritual Episcopal Church

               History and Beliefs

Rev. John W. Bunker (1893 - 1956), of Eaton Rapids, Michigan and Camp Chesterfield, Indiana, 

founded the Spiritual Episcopal Church in the 1940s.  Along with a number of his supporters, he sought to

 provide a religion that could appeal to each individual's highest possible conception of God and 

the Universe. 

As a Spiritualist religion, it seeks to comfort the bereaved by proving  that the departed ones still live. 

It seeks to expand the consciousness of  its adherents by providing them with opportunities to deepen 

their awareness of things Spiritual. It seeks to explain our destiny and to help us to aspire 

to achieve the highest personal unfoldment available to each of us. 

These ideas can be viewed from several perspectives.


Mystic

This Church uses the mystic teachings of the ages to provide a Spiritual interpretation of Scripture 

as distinct from a Literal interpretation that may be practiced elsewhere.


Christian

This Church is Christian in the sense that it views Jesus the Christ as being one of many God Anointed 

human beings who have, throughout history, come to provide us with examples of human potential. It 

focuses upon his life and message as the basis for much of our inspiration.


Liberal

The Church is truly liberal in character, following no dogmatic creeds. It encourages us to use our 

own intelligenceand inner knowing as the standard for the acceptance of the teachings of the Church. 

It encourages its members to seek Truth wherever it may be found.


Promotional

The Church is promotional because it believes in the vigorous promulgation of its teachings to the public 

so that all might have the option to choose the pathway most appropriate for each person. To this end it 

carries on a program of worship, education and publication.


Arcane

We are spiritual beings having a human experience. However, the Spiritual aspects of our existence are 

arcane. They are hidden behind the "reality" we perceive with our senses. We can become aware of these 

deeper aspects oflife by various means that can be learned through the guidance of knowledgeable others. 

It is the purpose of thisChurch to make such personal development available without restriction to all 

who seek spiritual development seriously through study and meditation.


Ecclesiastic

This Church is ecclesiastical in nature because it emphasizes the religious aspects of Spiritualism over 

its phenomenological aspects. We call ourselves "Episcopal" because we have separate boards for 

ecclesiastical and mundane matters.


Spiritualist

Spiritualism is a religion based upon the evidence for the continuity of the Human Soul as provided through 

research into arcane phenomena, intuitive interpretations of all Sacred texts, and the experience of expanded 

awareness that comes from regular spiritual practice. It depends upon the confirmation of Revelation through

 direct observation and scientific investigation to establish Truth. We are in the process of "becoming" the

 expressions of God that underlie our Spiritual nature, making Spiritualism a vital, alive, and growing system 

of understanding that goes beyond "belief" into the certainty of demonstrable knowledge.

Crucial to the study of Spiritualism is the relationships among the physical, mental and spiritual aspects

of all observable objects and events. As such we delve into the realm of the Unseen, reaching inward from 

our physical natures into the sublime heights of contemplating the Divine.


Beliefs

We believe that Spirit is the Origin, Sustainer, and underlying Reality in all forms of nature and in 

all the various expressions of life. The major characteristic of this Underlying Principle is Unconditional 

Love. As extensions of this Divine Being, our human Soul is also an expression of this Unconditional Love. 

It is only in the ways in which we use our "free will" to over emphasize the material aspects of our existence

 and to perceive ourselves as separate entities in competition with each other that we cloud our vision of our 

Divine Natures. We believe in the Divinity of all persons. Everyone is a child of God, no matter how prodigal,

 and that we all inherit a Spiritual nature. As such we deserve the treatment we would afford to the Divine 

and  we have the responsibility to treat each other in like manner. It is only to the degree that we have 

strayey  from  our natural Divinity that we fail to be in good health, to prosper and to recognize the value 

in empowering  those around us to thrive as we should be thriving.  We see in the death and resurrection 

of Jesus the Christ an  illustration of the unselfish and heroic devotion to humanity that characterized his 

mission. We see these actions  as an example for each of us to emulate, realizing that we will live within 

the torment we are creating for ourselves until we step beyond the illusion of physicality into the full 

perception of our sublime Spiritual Natures.

We believe that through selfless service, meditation, and prayer that we may lift ourselves spiritually to 

the higher planes. Once we learn how to become receptive to contact with these higher planes of existence

 we can express the same dynamic forces that characterized the life of Jesus and other Christed individuals

 to become  a part of the continuing Revelation of God to Mankind.


Disclaimer

This document has been prepared by Rev. Jay Powell, Presiding Clergy of the Spiritual Episcopal Church to

 help promulgate our Faith on February 7th, 2000. It is not yet an official document of the Church and should

 be regarded only as an interim expression of our position.

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