Services
Spiritual Counseling and Ministry
Spiritual counseling is a relationship of companioning, witnessing, and exploration for individuals, couples, and groups, of all faiths and beliefs – whether spiritual, religious, or secular – to explore and address the aspirations and challenges of life, to more intimately know oneself and one’s Source, to find greater meaning and more fully live one’s life journey, and to support personal transformation toward wholeness… Learn more >>
Joyous Weddings
When it comes to weddings, one size does not fit all. Rev. Gary becomes “Reverend Joy” and works closely with each couple – though ongoing conversations and an in-depth questionnaire – to create and officiate a wedding ceremony that is true and meaningful for them, that tells their unique story, expresses their feelings and beliefs about each other and about marriage, and is in harmony with their faith path, whether religious, spiritual or secular. “Reverend Joy” blends in traditions and rituals that reflect the couple’s love, joy, dreams, and growing edges for their married life together. Learn more >>
Life Transition and Celebration Rituals
Life is constantly in flux and each of us goes through many changes and significant events – sometimes joyous and desirable, sometimes painful and not wanted, and sometimes a bit of both. Honoring and celebrating our lives, whatever happens, helps create for us fulfillment, beauty, and meaning, to appreciate each moment, and gives us strength and wisdom to accept life changes and to engage them creatively, rather than reject and resist them. Learn more >>
Death and Dying
The inevitability of our death and the uncertainty about what happens afterwards is terrifying to many of us. The thought of no longer being alive can feel too scary or the loss of a loved one too sad, so we often just can’t face it. Rather, we tend to deal with it by avoidance, denial, helplessness, and despair. We may just laugh it off. After all, we are human beings. And yet there is more to consider here, something larger than our personal thoughts, emotions, and experience. Whatever our beliefs – whether we identify with a particular form of spirit or religion, or with a secular perspective about cycles of physical nature – we can connect to a larger reality, that life and death are intertwined in an intimate circle of existence. It is a circle that we can embrace with our minds and hearts, in ways practical and emotional. And for many, with our souls too, in ways spiritual. Learn more >>
Transformative Peacebuilding
Peacebuilding is a long-term communal process at all levels of society that facilitates the establishment of sustainable peace through activities that address the causes and effects of conflict, and promote security, justice, relative stability, and development on economic, political, social, and cultural levels. Important peacebuilding activities include: addressing underlying tensions and core grievances (structural, etc.) at an early stage before they lead to intractable conflict and violence; recovery after war; developing responsive institutions… Learn more >>