In Touch out of touch?

As has been common practice with the Landmark/Friends of Chapel leadership since they took over Chapel of Awareness, only certain members are receiving the church newsletters. There has yet to be any explanation of their rationale for this.

Chapel Guardians' opinion that they are excluding members of the chapel (which goes against the spirit of their own lawsuit) have gone unchallenged for months now.

The latest, dated "Winter 2010", has more interesting items to consider.

ANNUAL MEETING:

Of most interesting note is the lack of transparency when it comes to the Annual Meeting election results. When the Landmark/Friends were suing Chapel of Awareness, they demanded transparency to the point that they were publishing election results on their blog. Now, as leadership of the chapel, there is no announcement on the Chapel website, no mention in the newsletter, no email announcement.

The only reference to the election results is a cryptic announcement in the "In Touch" leaflet: "A list of the names of the full board of directors for 2011will be posted inside the Chapel Sanctuary."

This notice is exclusionary. It essentially tells chapel members who are not able to attend services (some of the very people they claimed to speak for in their lawsuit) that they are not privy to the workings of the church. This attitude runs counter to their goals as claimed in 2009-10.

CHURCH NAME:

As already noted by some Guardian contributors, the Landmark/Friends group continue to misuse "Spiritualist" in the name of the organization, not in keeping with founder Rev. Gene Larr or the bylaws (which they sued over, as well).

The use of "Spiritualist" in the name of the church now has also gone unchallenged by the Landmark/Friends group. Chapel Guardian can only draw from this that such a name and philosophy is intentional, unless they clarify this to the membership. If anyone truly understands Chapel of Awareness philosophy, they know that there is a difference.

HEALING "CENTER":

Sherry DeLoach's "Healing Center" (formerly referred to as Healing Clinics, a name which connotes medical knowledge) is reportedly closed for part of the Winter, yet her imanifestwellness.com website does not state this. She also continues to promote her own phone number and contact information for what is being touted as a chapel function. Another cryptic statement in the "In Touch" leaflet: "Please use the kitchen entrance".

"SPIRITUALISTS BIBLE":

The leaflet also continues to promote a publication that the Landmark/Friends claim is the work of founder Rev. Gene Larr. Guardian have not dealt with this issue directly yet, but will say now that the validity of the publication deserves to be confirmed for all who care about Chapel. Most notable, the name of the book ("A Spiritualist's Bible") itself, which runs counter to Tau Sing, Rev. Larr's own words, and the bylaws of the church. Chapel Guardian believe it is highly unlikely that Rev. Larr would ever title a book in this way, as evidenced by his philosophy and every Chapel and personal published work before this.