The Institute for Studies in Practical Spirituality, Inc.

Charles Fillmore, the cofounder of Unity, defined it (Unity) as “a link in the great educational movement inaugurated by Jesus Christ.” The Institute for Studies in Practical Spirituality, Inc. (The ISPS) is, too, such a link.

The ISPS is a ministry, in the “New Thought” (Introduction by the Rev. Dr. Mary A. Tumpkin) tradition, whose purpose is to serve those who are actively on the road to spiritual enlightenment. We practice stewardship, which is—among other things—service through partnership and the empowerment of everyone we serve (Block, 1993). Closely related to this is the notion of courageous followership (Chaleff, 1998), which means we have redefined the role of so–called “followers” such that they are empowered to challenge leadership as appropriate—readily and respectably. This is appropriate for any ministry. And while we are a ministry, we are not solely a religion or religious denomination; we are more!

The ISPS is a principle–based movement, drawing from theology, philosophy, and science, that fosters our spiritual development, growth, and maturity. We distinguish between religiosity and spirituality such that spirituality is how one relates—on a soul level—to God as Universe; on the other hand, religiosity is how one expresses understanding of one’s spirituality. Thus, while religiosity is based upon sets of dogma, legalisms, and customs, spirituality is based upon universal life principles.

This is not to say that religion is a bad thing; quite the contrary. Religion, in most contexts, is a beautiful thing. Our religious practices are, after all, based in part upon our spirituality (or lack thereof). We define ourselves as New Thought Christians, so we are a religion in the sense that we are like–minded individuals who have embraced a specific set of beliefs that govern our thoughts and behaviors. However, we are not informed by dogma or any specific creed.

Therefore, the ISPS is not aligned—formally—with any religious organization even though we have in common beliefs that are associated with other “New Thought” organisms, such as Unity, the Universal Foundation for Better Living (UFBL), and other members of the International New Thought Alliance (INTA). We honor all religions and encourage individuals to practice whatever is comfortable and expedient for themselves. Our goal is to supplement and complement whatever sets of beliefs our learners have and empower them, our learners, to realize their full potential.

To accomplish this, The ISPS offers learning opportunities that may include in–person classes, correspondence and online courses, webinars, blogs, podcasts, virtual media, and life experiences as needed to serve our learners. All our course offerings are designed to foster the peaceful evolution and spiritual unfoldment of our learners. Each is ecologically valid (if we can borrow a term from research), which is to say that each learning opportunity has real–world application. Lessons are designed based on a cadre of learning theories and instructional technologies.

Given our purpose, mission, and vision, we offer our services at no charge. Jeshua (Jesus) the Christ taught his disciples to give as freely as they received (Mt. 10:8); so, we choose to do the same. Whatever we produce, we share accordingly. However, we do incur a modicum of expenses, and we trust God to lay it upon the hearts of our loyal followers to bless this ministry as they see fit. Recommended resources, such as books, can be purchased through one of the purveyors listed in the “Useful Resources” section of this website.

Bibliography

Block, P. (1993). Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self–Interest. San Francisco: Barrett–Koehler Publishers

Chaleff, I. (1998). The Courageous Follower: Standing Up To and For Our Leaders. San Francisco: Barrett–Koehler Publishers.