Metaphysics Course

Universal Life Church Seminary

Master of Metaphysics

"Spirit Quest"

It's interesting to see how many of these courses written by completely different people, on completely different topics cover the same basic material. Spirit Quest is another one of those. It covered giving and receiving energy as well as grounding, some main points of several courses. Rev. Long's way of doing things involving "roses" and "golden suns" is very similar to things I've read in other ULC Seminary Courses as well as things I've read in books prior to now and other courses such as the Ar nDraiocht Fein and Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids course work. The "golden sun" part is basically the same throughout every course I have ever taken. The "rose" technique is used throughout although this is the first time I've seen a rose used. I like the symbolism although it's not overly effective to me, probably largely because of the effeminate connotations that go with it. Rev. Long also helps to drive a lot of her points home by using personal examples.

While these examples don't apply to everyone they make it easier to understand and in many cases relate. At times I found myself wandering away from the course because of the repetitiveness of the course and the sometimes silly thoughts it evoked in my mind. I'm a spiritualist but at the same time possess a rational and logical mind that has a hard time going along with things that seem fanciful or silly. Once I pulled myself back on track though I normally found that while her exact technique didn't play well with me I could modify small bits to get the same effect. One that I never got past was the rose. In the case of the destruction rose it was easier for me to just picture whatever it was I wanted to destroy blowing up than bothering to picture putting it in a rose. For the cleaning techniques I found that just visualizing something similar to a cotton swab accomplished the same task as the rose was meant to. All in all this was a good course and like most ULC Seminary courses, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.

Rev. Justin Oles

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Religious Philosophy

Master of Religious Philosophy It truly has been a wonderful experience to take this course. I have always found Philosophy interesting in all aspects of the word, but this course is different in several ways. One being, that it is dedicated to the religions and personal beliefs of our planet past, present, and to some degree the future. I know I'm a lot more informed now than I was, even though I have studied many different religions both secular and non secular in respects before. One of the more interesting though was the Hare Krishna's. Back in the early 1980's I actually joined the priesthood of a temple in San Diego, California and became known as a Bakta in the Hindu faith. Just so I could try and understand who these people were and what they believed. It was an experience that has aided me many times in my life to deal with individuals from India that were Hindu. It's strange to them to see how much I know about their religion and it becomes a common starting point of respect between us. This course is much like that experience in my life, it has opened my eyes and my heart to other types of briefs that not many people are willing to try to understand. Granted it is only a beginning point of study, but it has tripped my intuitive side and I am sure I will not stop with just this course. No matter what, it is a great course to start with, when trying to understand what faith is and what others hold true to their knowledge and hearts. The fact is that this course takes you to the beginning of mankind and speaks about the archeological findings that support the prehistoric cultures and their beliefs. And then takes you to a discussion of what the future of religion will look like, if it survives humanity. I hope whoever reads this, will take seriously the intention behind it, it is my pleasure to be able to help you to decide to take this wonderful course. It will offer you an insight on the world and peoples in your neighborhood and give you the opportunities to break through barriers that have stood the test of time. So don't hesitate to sign up today for this course. It is a rare opportunity that you have today to learn something new, different, and exciting. Rev.Fr. Andrew R. M. Manley ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Spiritual Development

Dr. Of Spiritual Development Final Essay By Dennis Zerull I appreciate Dr. David Crouch in authoring this course and the ULC Seminary for making it available to all students participating in this wonderful program and making a difference not only their own personal lives but making a difference in their relationship to fellow beings and communities around the world. Today in an age when science and technology have reached a most advance stage, we are incessantly preoccupied with mundane concerns. In such an age, it is crucial that we attain faith based on various traditions of religious and non-religious teachings on the basis of genuine understanding. It is with an objective mind endowed with the curious skepticism that we should engage in careful analysis and seek reason behind our beliefs. Then on the basis of seeing the reasons, we engender a faith that is accompanied by wisdom. It is this wisdom that should be the emphasis on approaching any kind of spiritual development not just through faith and devotion but also through critical inquiry. In Buddhism for example this approach is known as the "way of the intelligent person". Another saying I'm sure many have heard is "no self, no problems". The selflessness of both the person as well as the psychophysical components of the person is another way of understanding "no self".   In this course, NLP, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, is one of the main focuses as a method for self-improvement in achieving a higher plain of spiritual development. It is my belief that Dr. Crouch needs to go a bit further into the history if this controversial approach to psychotherapy and organizational change based on a model of interpersonal communication chiefly concerned with the relationship between successful patterns of behavior and the subjective experiences underlying them and a system of alternative therapy based on this which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective communication to change the patterns of mental and emotional behavior. We know that Richard Bandler while a UC Santa Cruz, was listening to taped portions of therapy sessions of the late Gestalt therapist Fritz Perls and Bandler believed he recognized particular word and sentence structures which facilitated Perls' therapeutic suggestions. Bandler took the idea to Linguist John Grinder and Virginia Satir to produce what the termed the meta model which gathers information and challenges a client's language and underlying thinking. It was then presented in 1975 in two volumes, The Structure of Magic I: A Book about Language and Therapy and the Structure of Magic II: A Book About Communication and Change. They believed that the   "therapeutic magick" as performed in therapy and by performers in any complex human activity, had structure that could be learned by others given appropriate models. They believed as Dr. Crouch, that implicit in the behavior was the ability to challenge distortion, generalization and deletion in a client's language. We also know that later Milton Erickson became the third model and wrote Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton Erickson, Volumes I & II. Basically it was it was a model that was vague and metaphoric in the inverse of the meta model. It was a combination used with the meta model as a type of softener, to induce a trance, and to deliver indirect therapeutic suggestion and includes the models and techniques mentioned by Dr. Crouch such as anchoring, reframing, sub modalities and representational systems. It was also a time of the so-called human potential movement and was developing into an industry. One so lucrative that Bandler and Grinder gave up academic writing and produced popular books from seminar transcripts such as Frogs into Princes. It may seem that I am a bit skeptical about this system but as I mentioned before I do have curious skepticism when it comes to representational systems. NLP doesn't seem to concentrate on diagnosis, treatment and assessment of any disorders. Instead it focuses on help people overcome their own self-perceived, or subjective problems. And as they learn more about their problems they learn how to modify those goals further as a result of extended interaction with a therapist or teacher. But what does NLP have to do with spiritual development. Dr. Crouch explains that there is "the application of mental technologies in spiritual change". I assume those technologies which are presented throughout this course is NLP.  In all honesty I have found NLP to be a bit like a Tony Robbins seminar. I find NLP to be somewhat vague and ambiguous in its language, which can mean different things to different people. NLP tends to offer you a sort of users manual for the brain. This seems to be a metaphor as I have also hear it referred to as "software for the brain". NLP relies heavily upon the notion of the "unconscious mind" as constantly influencing conscious thought and action. A common thread I did find in NLP is the emphasis on teaching a variety of communication and persuasion skills, and using self-hypnosis to motivate and change oneself. I certainly have no doubt that many people benefit from NLP training sessions and from these lesson but there seems to be several questionable assumptions based on such beliefs about the unconscious mind, hypnosis and the ability to influence people by appealing directly to the subconscious mind. All scientific evidence, which exists on such things, indicates that NLP claims are not necessarily accurate. You cannot learn to speak directly to the unconscious mind as Erickson and NLP claim, except in the obvious way of using the power of suggestion. We know that Einstein and Tolstoy's work as an example might produce a dozen "models" of how the mind works, but there is no way of knowing which, if any models is correct. In lesson 18, Dr. Crouch talks about Eckhart Tolle's book "The Power of Now" and how it made an impact on his life. I can also attest to Tolle's works. I have read most if not all of his works and have attended his seminars and lecture.  He is a contemporary prolific spiritual teacher who expands on powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. In his book the Power of Now he talks about methods and "how methods are sometimes needed until they are no longer needed and should be cast aside or dropped".  An essential part of spiritual awakening is the recognition of the unawakened you, the ego as it thinks, speaks, and acts, as well as the recognition of the collectively conditioned mental process that perpetuate the unawakened state. I submit that unless you know the basic mechanics behind the workings of the ego, you won't recognize it, and it will trick you into identifying with it over and over again. It takes you over and pretends to be you. The simple act of recognition itself is on of the ways in which awakening happens. No other complicated methods or hours of writing are needed. "When you recognize the unconsciousness in you, that which makes the recognition possible is the arising consciousness, is the awakening." Eckhart Tolle, a New Earth.  Over and over again Tolle talks about living in the now and that the past and the future will always manifest themselves as the present. Therefore any method that uses projections into the future as to where your life will be is both illogical and not grounded in reason. It is of course possible to plan for the future as long as it is done in the present moment and done with understanding and reason. In my opinion NLP places outcomes on the criterion of usefulness rather than objective truth. Metaphors for the mind conflict with what cognitive science have discovered. This does not imply that NLP would argue against the mind being embodied. The difference between researcher working on Artificial intelligence and NLP is that the first use a computer as their laboratory, while the latter uses human subjects to test their theories. Again it is vital for us to obtain genuine confidence in the nature of mind and reality, grounded in understanding and reason. As long as you are unaware of being you will seek meaning only within the dimension of doing and of future. That meaning will dissolve or turn out to have been deception and it will be destroyed by time for it is only true relatively and temporarily. Earlier in this essay I mentioned selflessness.  Let me further expand on this subject briefly and how it relates to spiritual development. What would you say that success is? The world tells you that success is achieving what you set out to do. It tells that it is winning, finding recognition is essential in any success. They may be by-products of success but they are not success. The conventional notion of success is concerned with the outcome of what you do. Some say it is a combination of hard work and luck, determination and talent, being in the right place at the right time. What the world doesn't tell you is what it doesn't know. That is that you cannot become successful. You can only be successful. Being successful is nothing more than a successful moment. The sense of quality in what you do. Care and attention which comes into awareness. The joy of being conscious, of being awake, of Being. We create a universe with ourselves in the center, and from this point of reference, we relate to the rest of the world. With this understanding it becomes crucial to ask what the self is in relationship to spirituality. Self can be described as ego, as ignorance, which is the failure to see reality and the ultimate nature of reality. But once we gain insight into ultimate reality we ask what is it's nature? Since the physical and mental faculties that constitute our existence are transient, they change, age and then one day cease they cannot be true self. The answer may be that the existence of the individual is accepted only as a dependent entity and not as n independent absolute reality. We are a convergence in the world and the universe and are the interaction of all constituents in mutual interdependence. Each person's life and each life form represent a world a unique way in which the universe experiences itself. In place of spirit I use consciousness or Being. Consciousness is already conscious. It is timeless and therefore does not evolve. It was never born and does not die. When it is manifested it appears to be subject to time and undergoes some sort of evolutionary process. No human mind is remotely capable of comprehending or fully understanding the reason for this process. But we can become aware of it in ourselves and catch a glimpse of it and become a conscious participant in it. It is the intelligence, the spiritual, and the organizer behind the arising of form. Spiritual development is nothing more than an awakened consciousness. That realization is awakening because awakening is the realization of Presence. ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Religious Philosophy

It is my belief that, in some people, there is a genetic/biological affinity toward 'religion'.  The matter of which type of or established religion, faith system one follows has a great deal to do with in which religion/faith system on is born.  Hence those born into a Christian family/community will, as a matter of natural course of learning one's culture, be 'Christian'.  The same in regard to various beliefs/faith of those born in Muslim, Hindi, Buddhist, atheistic, etc., cultures. The difference between myth and holy truth...myth is someone else's beliefs that are not accepted by others...holy truth/gospel...one's own accepted beliefs.  This is evident in what is considered 'sacred'. Sacred...that which is selectively important to any certain religion/belief group.  This then connected to what we definitely consider important to a religion:  books /scripture (Bible, Koran, etc.), places (pick any one of the many in Jerusalem), things (icons, relics).  The 'sacred' may not be readily viewed as sacred when we consider groups that are not within our 'normal/usual' realm of what we label as religious groups...such as, Marxist atheism (which in itself,, atheism, that is, is indeed a religion), but in the case of Marxist atheism we have sacred items such as the Communist Manifesto, Lenin's tomb and, in China, Mao's 'Red Book'. As much as any group may profess it, God's Community as a universal concept doesn't actually exist...not among men, anyway.  Every group that professes that God and religion are universal usually has some groups/people that they would exclude...and, in the case of the true Universalist, there are groups that would refuse to be included within the all encompassing universalism of the Universalists.   So while, for example, Eastern and Western religions have their similarities, if in nothing other than end aim, each would tout their differences so as not to be too similar to the other....just a matter of human nature. As for religion and science, there should be no conflict in that science can be seen as what is revealed to us by the Devine in the way of knowledge of our universe, yet fundamentalist would disagree in that science does not account for the literary, word for word, interpretation of scripture.  Hence fundamentalist would say science is wrong when scientists say the world/earth was created over an extended period of time and not in six days with a day off for God. We can look to the past and see that there are those religions which have come and gone, as so will, no doubt, many of our current religions.  All are the current accepted interpretation of what people consider 'Divine will' (or lack thereof).  It's all just human nature.  Human nature to question, to wonder.  And, if all this seems a mixed up mess, even if one interprets all the mis-mash between religions current and past, as well as, future, one should consider....maybe this is as God meant it to be.   By Rev. Daniel Irwin ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free  and lasts for life, so use the button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. Many have been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and can attest to its ongoing growth and change. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spiritual Development

Universal Life Church Seminary

Doctor of Spiritual Development

Rev. Justin Oles

This course used an interesting methodology to teach the material which worked very well for me. My world is very much based around reason and logic and it would appear that the author's is as well. As such I was able to more easily relate to the discussions brought up in the discourses than I am in some of the fanciful courses that the seminary offers.

Dr. Crouch starts out the course right from the get go with a scientific explanation of where the mind exists within our world. He then in future discourses goes on to explain how to use the mind to change our world and ourselves to help us grow, develop, and meet our needs and wants. He also goes on to explain how with a little work we can change the way we think about certain things by moving around their location on our "visuo-spatial workbench" or cognisphere, in other words what we see when we look through our minds eye. Dr. Crouch explains that the location of things within our "workbench" has a lot to do with how we view things.

For example, if something gets stored away near the area of things you dislike, then you will dislike it, but if we make a conscious effort to move that thought over to the area of things we enjoy then we may be able to get ourselves to like it. The same thing works the other way. While this may seem like a trivial item, who cares about changing what you like or don't like, you feel that way for a reason right? This technique can be useful in our personal and spiritual growth, for example, if there is something that is causing a road block in your development due to fear or anger, and you can't seem to understand why and get over it, you may be able to change its location in your thought processes and therefore change the way you feel about it.

In lesson 2 Dr. Crouch continues with his scientific methodology by first stating the "universal law", which is that energy follows thought. From there he goes on to give examples of cases where scientists while looking for something and expecting a certain result went on to find exactly what they expected. Are these cases of sheer coincidence or are we seeing scientific proof that energy follows thought. Are we finding what we expected because it was always there, or are we finding it because we expected to and therefore made our expectations manifest based on our strong assumption that it is the way is must be? Using the assumption that whatever thoughts we have will change the very energy of the universe he goes on to talk about how by accepting this and then accepting or affirming what we need or desire we may be able to provide for ourselves.

Dr. Crouch also explains in several of the lessons how the mind works and how it works with the universe. He states that in order for the mind, and therefore thoughts, to change the energy of the universe that it must be placed in the present-positive mind set. The positive portion of this is easy to prove as the mind only works in positives. A good way to think of this is to try to tell yourself that something can not happen or does not exist. Because the mind only works in positives if you try to prove this to yourself you will only see on your minds eye what you are trying to disprove.

For example, try to not think about pink elephants and what will you picture in your mind, why a pink elephant of course. The only way your mind can tell itself not to think of something is by thinking of it. The present portion of this theory is harder to prove without getting more in depth but long story short the only thing that really exists is the present, the past is gone and only a memory, often an incorrect one at that, and the future has yet to occur. Also the only part of this timeline you can affect is the present for the same reasons.

Dr. Crouch goes on to give several more examples throughout the course of how to affect the universe through your thoughts but as this course was long and in depth I'm not going to explain it here, you'll just have to read the discourses for yourself. Near the end of the discourses Mr. Pavlina takes over the writings for Dr. Crouch but the message stays the same, as did most of the thought process and narrative. I would recommend this course to everyone, but specifically those than want to gain a new way of looking at the universe.

By Rev. Justin Oles

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Chaplaincy Studies

ULC Seminary

Master of Chaplaincy Studies

Rev. Nick Federspiel

You Have Only Just Begun… from lesson 20. No truer words; no matter when and where one is in a project, as the old saying goes this is the first day of the rest of your life, This day a new chapter in the project has just begun. Except that with Chaplaincy it is not just your life but others as well and "us" chaplain's, ministers, pastors, reverends and evangelists have volunteered for this responsibility and duty. In my opinion this course was full of simple practical information. Did it take?

About Lesson 5 – The Chapel – Where One Ministers: Hospitals, Hospice, Nursing Homes – Part II; I decided to call the local hospital and inquire about volunteering as a chaplain. The door was slammed shut, not interest, barriers, rules, etc. "They" said that ministers were only allowed in the hospital by INVITATION of the PATIENT – IF - the patient specifically requested of the staff to see their minister AND the patient was a REGISTERED member of the ESTABLISHED church's congregation! I kid you not. WOW! Was I deflated! I felt like I had just read a lesson and took a step towards becoming a public enemy. "They" said the rules were made by the legal department. The hospital's lawyers are now their patients' spiritual gate keepers and the patients and doctors answer to them. Generally speaking, it has been my observation that few professions are as void of training in spiritual inspiration and moral discipline as are lawyers and law schools. The local hospital is a tangible case in point.

Later, on Christmas Eve, I attended a special holiday Anglican service held at the college chapel that I pastor services at on Sunday Mornings. The priest has a very active and long standing mission chaplaincy program at "correctional institutions." His staff were all "corrected and enlightened." A Long story short; he invited me to accompany him on his mission to observe and become aware of the how his program operates. He felt that in the correctional facility one meets many types of personalities, some salvageable and some not, but all were once NOT YET incarcerated and some will be repatriated and those are certainly people any chaplain or minster might meet along the path of life and mission service any time any place. There it was; the chaplaincy door slammed shut and locked tight earlier was suddenly wide open. You Have Only Just Begun.

Chapter 9 – The Listener - My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak… (James 1:19, NIV). This is the hard one for me. I want to jump right in and help right now, impatient am I, and I have to restrain my offer until I fully understand the issue. THINKING one understands the issue is simply unprofessional and inadequate. One has to be very certain one understands the issue or the person being administered to might feel even more left out and not accept any offer of assistance from the chaplain, lord, or anyone else.

Lesson 13 – Traps to Avoid - When I am asked about an area that I have no training or experience in, I will be honest and say, "I'm sorry, I have no experience there. I can give you some ideas or tips from scripture that you can study but if your problem is serious like you say it is, I can refer you to a professional better equipped to…

I could not help but think of our local lawyer run hospital making care decisions by rule for the patients in an area in which they have no training or experience and worse yet appreciation for another's profession. Worse yet, spiritual assistance and the Holy Grace have produced spiritual medical miracles time and time again – look what they are denying their patients! It is tantamount to torture. In our small chapel I minister prayer requests between the reverent prayer and worship service and the sermon. No private prayer requests is my policy as the power of the congregation in prayer exceeds that of only me. Last November a new attendee with a long standing and diagnosed inoperable thus lethal brain tumor submitted to God and prayer. Today he is up and around and feeling fine and the doctors call it a miracle. Is that chaplaincy or ministry? I am not sure if there is a difference really, but it shows how the Lord listens and he provides "professional" Godly services to the worthy and open minded.

Appreciating the gifts other devoted and competent people can deliver to help one's spiritual patient is part of our duty as is bringing God closer to the bedside by bringing the patient closer to God.

Lesson 14 – Ceremonies - An application meeting: This is where you meet with both persons. Ask them why they want a "religious" wedding ceremony. I find this to be a wonderful time to learn more about what the couple believes and why. Often this leads to friendships long after the wedding where I mentor them spiritually. I explain my policies for weddings. If the institution has any policies (use of chapel and grounds) also provide them as well. I would also give the couple a "data collection" form that I use to review in preparation for pre-marital counseling. …

I performed my first wedding of mixed faith partners in December. Neither was really committed to 'their religion' but the parents demanded a "church wedding." So the question was to decline a church wedding or make it into an opportunity? Opportunity knocks is my business. When the lesson 14 like process above was undertaken, and the congregation chipped in to make it a better wedding than the budget allowed for, and the wedding completed – AFTERWARDS – in a chance encounter the couple was exuberant in praise and gracious and generous with appreciation. A light had been lit - I pray it stays so.

From lesson 1: The Need is Great - There are hurting people everywhere. … A chaplain can help come along side those who are hurting. This unique minister is still viewed as the "keeper of the sacred" by those who are unattached to a religious congregation. A prayer, a word of advice, a simple ritual, and a touch of a caring hand does much for people who seem alone, detached, or afraid. I am reminded of the teaching of Jesus Christ who taught the parable of the sheep and goats: (Matthew 25:34-40, New King James Version).

Matthew 10:1-18 NKJV "Jesus the Good Shepherd" Chaplains and ministers many times stand at the gate with the responsibility of inviting many in need IN and explaining to them, ministering to them, as to why IN is better and for them. The Mansions of God per John 14:1-5 ( … many mansions … and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.) The mansions have some fine doors (gates) and it is "our" duty to help as many as we can to have a place PREPARED ready and waiting and an Inviting Light On in the window for when that time comes.

My point is chapter by chapter this ULC Seminary Chaplaincy course is an excellent summary and brings forth real issues. Congratulations dpastordan@closecall.com.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Master of Religion

Master of Religion Course Final Essay I appreciated this course very much and found it most interesting and varied in the number of subjects included, all of which are necessary for a Christian Minister of whatever persuasion. There are many points that a keen student can learn from a close study of the lessons. The content was of much value particularly in the lesson on women in the ministry of the Church because they should be fully included  in that vocation as they have much to offer in service to the Christian Church and can bring a different and distinct outlook to any denomination.  To deny them the right to serve in a full capacity is to lose much authority and opportunity. The lessons on church history followed by the contribution by Bishop Pat was very appropriate as St Paul was, with St Peter, the foremost leader of the early church, spreading the good news around the Mediterranean coasts to the centre of Rome. His epistles show his caring love for the new Christians even though they were falling aside from the truth.  It was helpful too, in the early lessons to have a good summary of bible basics for both the Old and New Testaments, and the subject of Bible Study, with the emphasis on having a good guide when doing so, was necessary to ensure that one was getting the true meaning of God's word. It was also good to have some firm views on subjects like Marriage, Family, Divorce and also some comment on some of the social evils of our time with guidance on Counseling. This is a very tricky subject for the inexperienced and needs more in-depth study for those undertaking this hard but very valuable contribution to our society. Overall. I found that I enjoyed working through the course and can honestly say that I looked forward to each lesson, and found valuable help and guidance throughout. Rev. Derek Kemp ******************** Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar