Religious Science is a correlation of laws of science,
opinions of philosophy and revelations of religion applied
to human needs and the aspirations of people.
— Ernest Holmes

Evolve to Stay Relevant

In the March issue of Science of Mind magazine, Rev. Josh Reeves, a lead minister at Mile Hi Church in Lakewood, Colorado, examines how spiritual centers and churches must evolve to stay relevant to today's worshipers. “Our Centers for Spiritual Living are not our places of worship,” he writes. “Our centers are our people, the ones who tune in for our ministries wherever they may be.”

That being true, the questions for church leaders to answer are: How are we showing up for our communities? Are we willing to evolve our mediums to deliver what Reeves calls “timeless harmonies for surefire inspiration”?

The message, he asserts, is crystal clear: “Innovate and evolve or die, or at least stay still, remain stagnant and hope you come back into fashion at some later time.”

As living organisms made up of people, churches go through life cycles. And just like with people, Reeves adds, “if we don’t care for them, if we don’t stay committed to growing or if we don't take a day of rest now and then, or if we forget that people matter more than the bulletin being just right, we die spiritually.”

His advice for those who are ready to move from surviving to growth again is simple: Get relevant. “It’s not time to get rid of our mediums or Sunday gatherings, classes, workshops or timeless teachings.

“It's time to reinvent, reinvigorate and reinterpret these in relevant ways for today's busy, often hyper-anxious individuals, lost in the illusion that it is their phone and not their heart that connects them with the world. We have to help people move away from a superficial interaction with life and back to sacred connection.”

— Read the full article in the March 2024 Science of Mind magazine.

Three Initiatives to Support
the Sacred Connection

In support of his work to create relevant spiritual connections, Rev. Josh Reeves, as quoted above, offers three ways in which Mile Hi attempts to do this. “Our goal with these ongoing initiatives,” he says, “is to infuse them into our services, our classes, our community events, spiritual practices, youth curriculum and more.”

1. Diversity and Belonging: Correlation of Philosophical Opinions. “Our societies long for unity,” he writes, “and oneness demands we do the hard work within ourselves to move from bias to belonging. At its heart, this approach requires your teaching to reflect your people and those you want to attract.”
2. Interfaith: Revelations of Religion. Two key concepts guide Mile Hi's interfaith work. First, interfaith work represents both diversity and unity. Second, “people long for the sacred, and we are in the God business. Provide people with sacred experiences, sacred rituals.” And remember, “interfaith includes Christianity.”
3. Sacred Earth: Laws of Science. “In Religious Science, we embrace our Earth as sacred. This matters. … For Religious Scientists, the beauty of nature is our greatest proof of God. The awe we feel expands in reverence, acknowledging that this life itself and the world we live in are our experience of Spirit.

 — Excerpted from the March 2024 Science of Mind magazine