MiraclesOne Foundation Ministry Philosophy

“Ask Him very specifically:
What would You have me do?
Where would You have me go?
What would You have me say, and to whom?” ~Lesson 71

MiraclesOne was formed legally as a church in the State of Wisconsin in 2005. Being a non-traditional and unconventional church in nature because of our understanding of A Course in Miracles, there is still a place in our hearts where we hold the tradition of service to our brothers in the Spirit of Love.

All members of the Board of Advisors give the gift of service in one form or another, now and in the past. Be it in the employment positions some of us may have; the volunteer work for families; non-profit organizations, and others in our community; the sharing of Love by our ministerial messages; the joining of hearts in marriage ceremonies; the support in times of confusion or grief; or our freely giving attitude, we still hold true that we are here to be of service as spiritual leaders. We approach everything that we do with the premise, “I am here only to be truly helpful.”

Our approach to ministry is also influenced by the premise of Servant-Leadership. This was a term developed in the early 70s by Robert Greenleaf. We share with you some of his ideas from his booklet, The Servant as Leader.

The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?

...Awareness is not the giver of solace - it is just the opposite. It is a disturber and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace. They have their own inner serenity.

A leader must have more of an armor of confidence in facing the unknown - more than those who accept his leadership. This is partly anticipation and preparation, but it is also a very firm belief that in the stress of real life situations one can compose oneself in a way that permits the creative process to operate.

This is told dramatically in one of the great stories of the human spirit - the story of Jesus when confronted with the woman taken in adultery. In this story Jesus is seen as a man, like all of us, with extraordinary prophetic insight of the kind we all have some of. He is a leader; he has a Goal - to bring more compassion into the lives of people.

In this scene the woman is cast down before him by the mob that is challenging Jesus’ leadership. They cry, “The law says she shall be stoned, what do you say?” Jesus must make a decision, he must give the right answer, right in the situation, and one that sustains his leadership toward his goal. The situation is deliberately stressed by his challengers. What does he do?

He sits there writing in the sand - a withdrawal device. In the pressure of the moment, having assessed the situation rationally, he assumes the attitude of withdrawal that will allow creative insight to function.

He could have taken another course; he could have regaled the mob with rational arguments about the superiority of compassion over torture. A good logical argument can be made for it. What would the result have been had he taken that course?

He did not choose to do that. He chose instead to withdraw and cut the stress - right in the event itself - in order to open his awareness to creative insight. And a great one came, one that has kept the story of the incident alive for 2,000 years - ”Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone.”

We see our ministry work as similar to this familiar quote:

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime” - Author unknown

Revs. Paul and Deborah Phelps
Co-Founders of MiraclesOne