About CSL Anacortes

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Meet the Board and Senior Minister Donate to CSL Anacortes

Our Spiritual Center is a place of Celebration, Community, Inclusion and Fun!

We celebrate all Spiritual Beliefs – whatever spiritual path you are on, you are welcome here.

We celebrate Holidays, Holy Days, Birthdays and Oneness. We are a Community who supports our personal growth and the needs of our community. We are an Inclusive Community, without regard to age, race, ethnicity, gender identification, height, weight or your Spiritual Path.

If you like Wayne Dyer, Terry Cole Whitaker, Eckhart Tolle, Oprah Winfrey, Alan Watts, Joe Dispenza, Michael Beckwith and others, you’ll love our Center for Spiritual Living in Anacortes. We are a New Thought community that studies the philosophy of Ernest Holmes, and also Transcendental relatives such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emma Curtis Hopkins, and others. We provide spiritual tools for personal transformation, and it is our intention to help make the world a better place.

We extend a warm welcome to people of all religious backgrounds and faiths in search of a spiritual community where they are respected and accepted for who they are. We aim to inspire and support each and every person in growing into their highest potential. CSL Anacortes is a place to make friends, share experiences with like-minded people, and know the power and presence of God in your daily life.

Our Mission

Is to provide spiritual tools for personal and global transformation.

Our Purpose

Is to awaken humanity to its spiritual magnificence.

Our Vision

Is for a world that works for everyone.

Who We Are

Our Board & Senior Minister

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Board of Trustees (left to right): Barbara Gaffney, Gay Harper, Monica Oppel, Rev. Shelley Heller, Carol Brown, Karen Richman.

Rev. Shelley Heller

Senior Minster

Our Board of Trustees

Rev. Shelley Heller

Bio Goes Here

Gay Harper

I am an active real estate broker, on the job for 21 years. I enjoy walking, cooking, tending to my flower gardens, and playing with my grandchildren in Bellingham. I also enjoy volunteering to help the community as best I can.

I saw an ad for CSLA and decided to give it a try. Once in the door I felt like I was ‘home.’ The people are genuine and caring, and the Center has a very casual feel to it. After only a couple of years I found myself on the Board, which has been very rewarding.

“When happiness shows up – give it a comfortable seat.” – Mark Twain

Karen Richman

My first experience of Science of Mind was over 35 years ago, listening to a cassette taped talk by Rev Kathianne Lewis of Seattle CSL. The recorded talk was both positive and up-lifting. With spiritual guidance and a miracle, I was able to relocate to the Seattle area and acquire a good job. I particularly appreciated the power of the unique way of praying called “treatment” practiced in Science of Mind, the positive focus, learning about connection with God and how my thinking affects my life.

When I moved to Anacortes several years later, I was grateful to discover a Religious Science Church there. Though much smaller than the Seattle center, it was warm and welcoming, had the same positive thinking messages and effective prayers. It was easy to become a part of this smaller community. After a few years I became a board member which gave me an opportunity to learn about and participate in planning and decisions for the greatest good of the Center.

I have been the President of the Board for 9 years and feel good about my role as a facilitator and leader alongside our minister and other wonderful members of the board and our Center of Spiritual Living.

Carol Brown

After a 23 year career in the corporate world, my husband and I moved to Anacortes in 2001. We had both been Practitioners in our previous Center, and we joined this Anacortes CSL and continued volunteering. I am now widowed, and enjoy being an artist and volunteering at Soroptimist in their Thrift Shop.

I found the Science of Mind teachings in 1961; it was life changing! I took three years of classes to become a licensed prayer practitioner. I retired my practitioner license before moving to Anacortes but continue to be active in our prayer ministry. I once heard Science of Mind Founder Ernest Holmes give a lecture in Los Angeles. And the adventure continues.

Barbara Gaffney

I’ve had a long career in the field of mental health, and I’m passionate about helping people find ways to live up to their highest potential. I also love knitting and crocheting, and being outside walking, hiking and traveling.

Thanks to my sister, I found this ‘new way’ of approaching Life when I began attending Unity in 1997. I moved to Anacortes and came to CSLA, and the message was similar to Unity and the people were very welcoming. Receiving a welcome card from Reverend Shelley after my first CSLA service made me wonder if CSLA might be my new spiritual home – and it is!

The people are kind, caring, talented and loving. I am grateful to have this fun and supportive spiritual center in my life!. I’m now in private practice with my career in mental health, still helping people to maximize their potential.

Monica Oppel

I’m a creator, a designer, an organizer, and a pretty positive person. I’ve worn a lot of hats, and I still do. At age 49, I went through a midlife passage triggered by the deaths of several people important to me, and job burnout. I read some books on near death experiences, and one of them said that the world is moving more toward women spiritual leaders.

I’d seen newspaper articles about the Center for Creative Living, and about Rev. Ginny Kluth’s ordination at age 70. The name of the church grabbed me, and so did the fact that there was a female minister.

I like the positive thinking aspect of this teaching, and the fact that it addresses lots of other spiritual practices. I remember that CSLA fit better with the Native American teachings that I had learned about in college. In an introductory class, I said that I hadn’t heard sin or hell mentioned and Rev. Ginny verified that.

When Rev. Ginny discovered that I was a quilter, she requested the creation of a wall hanging behind the podium. A couple of years later, after returning from a trip to Asilomar, she asked me to make another quilt. It says “God is All There Is “.
I’ve been here ever since, longer than anyone else now. I’m still wearing many hats.