Immanuel Community Church
-MadameEGOLB@gmail.com
When I was eight years old, one of my fondest memories was attending Sunday church with my grandma. I was one of 35 grandchildren, so whenever grandma told me that she would take me to McDonald's if I went to church with her, I always accepted the offer. It was a chance for me to have one-on-one time with a woman I absolutely adored. And besides, what eight-year-old kid would say no to McDonalds?
That was many years ago, and my grandma has long been gone. It had been over 20 years since I stepped into a church. On another gorgeous Long Beach day I decided to get myself up and attend Sunday service. I text messaged as many friends as I could, telling them I would take them to McDonald's if they went with me, and not surprisingly, nobody responded. The only person I knew would go with me was my late grandma. I said a prayer, asking for her to attend with me and headed to Immanuel Community Church - Center for Conscious Living at 3215 East Third Street. As I approached the beautiful building, I got nervous. My plan was to attend the 10:30am meditation followed by the service at 11:00. I looked up at the stairs and into the building and passed back and forth at least five times. Looking at my watch, I saw that it was 10:29am and if I was going to attend, I needed to now. In that moment, I decided to head back home.
The next thing I knew, I felt like I had a gentle hand on my back, pushing me up the stairs and right into the church (thanks grandma)! I was greeted by a very friendly man who handed me a program and said, "Welcome to Immanuel." According to Rev. Dr. Jane Stormont Galloway, Spiritual Director, "the hardest part of attending service can be walking up the stairs. We at Immanuel want each person to feel comfortable and safe walking in."
I found my seat, and just as I sat down the meditation service began. As I opened my eyes after 20 minutes of blissful peace, I looked around at the wonderful building. Built in 1922, the inside is quaint and artwork is displayed (similar to Agape church in Los Angeles). There were about 75 people attending service this day and just like Long Beach, displayed the diversity of the city: gay, straight, old and young coming together to enjoy a message of hope. Rev. Jane has been with Immanuel for nine years and according to the reverend, "I started with nine members and it was formally a Baptist Church. The church didn't have a lot of money and it took the first three years to get everything stable. We decided to find a moral minimum and asked ourselves, what can that be? We decided to look at the city by valuing the neighborhood, schools and people." This is how the new Immanuel Church was created and the shift moved toward a Conscious Living approach.
Some of Immanuel's ideas and principles include:
• You are an emanation of God, with God-like qualities, capable of becoming a transcendent mast.
• Your true essence is that you, like God, are a creative Spirit being.
• You co-create with the infinite.
• The Law of Attraction brings into your experience exactly what you deeply desire, believe and feel...consciously or unconsciously.
• Through personal choice, you decide your destiny.
• Through personal choice, you can remove every obstruction, and implant new patterns in your mind.
• Being self-aware of the belief patterns you hold is the first step in your transformation.
• Find time in your life to go within.
• When you go within, the Universe talks to you in flashes of inspiration and you find you suddenly know that you never knew before.
• Life will be to you what you are to it. Divine will allows you to have free choice in determining your life.
As quoted by Rev. Jane on the Immanuel website:
Whatever you are experiencing right now is an out-picturing of something you have held to be "reality” for you at some time in your recent or not-so-recent past.
The Good News is that once we become aware of the power of our belief, we can access "the Truth, which sets us free."
When we begin to connect to our True Nature of All Good, All Love, All Abundance at a deep level, we become a part of the healing and wholeness of our entire world.
At Immanuel, we are opening to the fullness of our potential, and celebrating our Oneness in Spirit in Long Beach…the most diverse City in the U.S.
There is a shift in focus at Immanuel, and instead of referring to the building as a church, it is looked at as a historic building in the middle of our city that provides many services. The 3rd Street Project is to provide a place where conscious community is fostered through the arts, fine arts, folk art, the art of communication, culinary, martial and healing arts. The goals of the project are:
Create Art: A conservatory level center for performing and visual arts where art is created, promoted, and taught.
Celebrate Life: A community gathering place for neighbors to make and appreciate art together.
Connect Community: Where we meet, greet, transform, perform, learn, play and make meaning as a community, as a neighborhood.
There are four cultural enterprises within the 3rd Street Project, which include:
H'artWorks: An arts conservatory theatre, music, dance and visual arts program for the youth and adults in our community.
HealthWorks: Holistic practitioners, bookstore and healthful snacks.
Immanuel: Center for crativing living church, classes and programs for spiritual growth.
Space Rental: Event and space for the community, businesses and events.
To find more about H'artWorks and a calendar of services offered, please visit Immanuel's website at www.icclb.org.
As I was leaving the service, I really felt at home. The message given was that of hope and peace. I was glad that I was pushed up the stairs and into the service. Instead of heading directly home, I decided to head to McDonald's for a lunch with Grandma.
That was many years ago, and my grandma has long been gone. It had been over 20 years since I stepped into a church. On another gorgeous Long Beach day I decided to get myself up and attend Sunday service. I text messaged as many friends as I could, telling them I would take them to McDonald's if they went with me, and not surprisingly, nobody responded. The only person I knew would go with me was my late grandma. I said a prayer, asking for her to attend with me and headed to Immanuel Community Church - Center for Conscious Living at 3215 East Third Street. As I approached the beautiful building, I got nervous. My plan was to attend the 10:30am meditation followed by the service at 11:00. I looked up at the stairs and into the building and passed back and forth at least five times. Looking at my watch, I saw that it was 10:29am and if I was going to attend, I needed to now. In that moment, I decided to head back home.
The next thing I knew, I felt like I had a gentle hand on my back, pushing me up the stairs and right into the church (thanks grandma)! I was greeted by a very friendly man who handed me a program and said, "Welcome to Immanuel." According to Rev. Dr. Jane Stormont Galloway, Spiritual Director, "the hardest part of attending service can be walking up the stairs. We at Immanuel want each person to feel comfortable and safe walking in."
I found my seat, and just as I sat down the meditation service began. As I opened my eyes after 20 minutes of blissful peace, I looked around at the wonderful building. Built in 1922, the inside is quaint and artwork is displayed (similar to Agape church in Los Angeles). There were about 75 people attending service this day and just like Long Beach, displayed the diversity of the city: gay, straight, old and young coming together to enjoy a message of hope. Rev. Jane has been with Immanuel for nine years and according to the reverend, "I started with nine members and it was formally a Baptist Church. The church didn't have a lot of money and it took the first three years to get everything stable. We decided to find a moral minimum and asked ourselves, what can that be? We decided to look at the city by valuing the neighborhood, schools and people." This is how the new Immanuel Church was created and the shift moved toward a Conscious Living approach.
Some of Immanuel's ideas and principles include:
• You are an emanation of God, with God-like qualities, capable of becoming a transcendent mast.
• Your true essence is that you, like God, are a creative Spirit being.
• You co-create with the infinite.
• The Law of Attraction brings into your experience exactly what you deeply desire, believe and feel...consciously or unconsciously.
• Through personal choice, you decide your destiny.
• Through personal choice, you can remove every obstruction, and implant new patterns in your mind.
• Being self-aware of the belief patterns you hold is the first step in your transformation.
• Find time in your life to go within.
• When you go within, the Universe talks to you in flashes of inspiration and you find you suddenly know that you never knew before.
• Life will be to you what you are to it. Divine will allows you to have free choice in determining your life.
As quoted by Rev. Jane on the Immanuel website:
Whatever you are experiencing right now is an out-picturing of something you have held to be "reality” for you at some time in your recent or not-so-recent past.
The Good News is that once we become aware of the power of our belief, we can access "the Truth, which sets us free."
When we begin to connect to our True Nature of All Good, All Love, All Abundance at a deep level, we become a part of the healing and wholeness of our entire world.
At Immanuel, we are opening to the fullness of our potential, and celebrating our Oneness in Spirit in Long Beach…the most diverse City in the U.S.
There is a shift in focus at Immanuel, and instead of referring to the building as a church, it is looked at as a historic building in the middle of our city that provides many services. The 3rd Street Project is to provide a place where conscious community is fostered through the arts, fine arts, folk art, the art of communication, culinary, martial and healing arts. The goals of the project are:
Create Art: A conservatory level center for performing and visual arts where art is created, promoted, and taught.
Celebrate Life: A community gathering place for neighbors to make and appreciate art together.
Connect Community: Where we meet, greet, transform, perform, learn, play and make meaning as a community, as a neighborhood.
There are four cultural enterprises within the 3rd Street Project, which include:
H'artWorks: An arts conservatory theatre, music, dance and visual arts program for the youth and adults in our community.
HealthWorks: Holistic practitioners, bookstore and healthful snacks.
Immanuel: Center for crativing living church, classes and programs for spiritual growth.
Space Rental: Event and space for the community, businesses and events.
To find more about H'artWorks and a calendar of services offered, please visit Immanuel's website at www.icclb.org.
As I was leaving the service, I really felt at home. The message given was that of hope and peace. I was glad that I was pushed up the stairs and into the service. Instead of heading directly home, I decided to head to McDonald's for a lunch with Grandma.
