MEMBER NEWSLETTER
September 2013
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And, we are proud and thankful to announce that SNS has an expanded new staff. While we are fortunate to have many wonderful volunteers who have contributed in many ways, this team consists of volunteers of a more regular nature, who will be taking over key functions of the Society. This will allow us to do even more with more things going on simultaneously. The staff consists of:
Michelle LeBlanc, Executive Assistant
B.T. Newberg, Education Director
Matthew Copple, Membership Director
Darren Bell, Editing Director
Lee Fitzgerald, Outreach Director
Thomas Schenk, Director at Large
and, of course, myself as Executive Director. Many thanks to these kind folks for their wonderful efforts. Please note that these folks still have need of further volunteers in their department so feel free to let us know if you are interested in helping out with our mission!
With love and thanks 🙂
Daniel Strain
Executive Director
UPCOMING DATES (Please mark your calendar!)
You can also see our calendar anytime by going to the Community page…
FROM OUR MEMBER FORUMS
Please join us on the member forums to jump in on these discussions!
The following are some of the most recent pieces added to the membership’s growing archive of inspirational and educational materials. Please feel free to discuss what you think about these with the other members in the Society forum!
POEM: “More toThis Life”, by Michelle LeBlanc
STATUS REPORT ON OUR NEW SPIRITUAL NATURALISM COURSE
As many of you know, we are busy designing an online course of Spiritual Naturalism! Our new Education Director, B.T. Newberg is heading up the effort, and sends this report:
“The introductory course is making progress. We’re in the initial stages of laying down course structures and deciding on means of assessment, after which we’ll begin to determine course content. Thanks to collaborative efforts, original ideas have been substantially elaborated and improved. We’re aiming to make the course highly engaging, effective for different kinds of learners, and above all practical.”
NEW BOOK COMING OUT WITH SOCIETY ADVISER SUSAN BLACKMORE
We’d like to let you all know about a book that is going to be coming out in mid-2014, which will include interviews with “some of the world’s leading philosophers, scientists, theologians, apologists, and atheists” including Dr. Susan Blackmore, who is on our Advisory Board. The book is by Dr. Gregg D. Caruso and it will be called “Science and Religion: 5 Questions“. If you’d like to keep up with news about it, you can like the book’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/
SNS BOOK CLUB
Articles the Society has publicly published recently, as part of our mission to help others by sharing helpful wisdom and practices for better lives. If you’d like to get notice of these as they are released, please subscribe to the Society blog by clicking here if you haven’t already.
There is a bug in our thought process that often blocks compassion. Here’s how to deal with it…
What is the self? What is its greater context? Thomas Shank explores this and other questions…
Executive Director of the Society, DT Strain, gives an overview of what’s been accomplished, and where we’re going from here!
Is experiencing the present moment and the awe and wonder of reality enough for social creatures like ourselves? Sigfried Gold deals with how an imaginary god can help with answering these questions…
Don’t forget, if you haven’t already you can like our page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more content and up-to-date info. You can also check out our Local Chapters page (here) to meet spiritual naturalists in person, or start hosting a local gathering if there isn’t yet one in your city by contacting us. Thanks so much for your kind support and your membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society!