Our Community 💗 July 17, 2025

CSL Kelowna
11 minutes ago
6 min read

What's Happening This Week at CSL Kelowna

Sunday, July 20: Evolving Church: Awakening the Future of Faith, with Rev. John DePalma
Last Sunday: What a Load of BS, with Neal Klassen
World Philosophies and Religions: The Evolution of Church Services over 500 Years
Science Corner: How Thoughts Evolve Through Spiritual Practices: A Scientific Perspective
SOAR is Getting Closer
Inspirational Song of the Week: Evolution, by Sheryl Crow
Connect with Rev. John

Join us every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at Studio 9, 1180 Houghton Road, Kelowna, BC. Doors open at 10:15 am. Please visit the event page for more details and a map. Everyone is welcome!

Or, WATCH US ON

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Sunday, July 20^th, 2025

“Evolving Church: Awakening the Future of Faith”

An Interactive Experience Where Your Voice Actually Matters (Yes, Yours!)

Are you secretly allergic to boring church? Tired of dusty traditions and hungry for something... alive?

Join us for “Evolving Church: Awakening the Future of Faith”—a 2-hour interactive experience based on Bruce Sanguin’s groundbreaking work on the Emerging Church.

This isn’t your grandma’s Bible study (though she’s welcome, too). It's a co-creative conversation about what Spirit is up to now—and how you are part of it.

· Explore how faith is evolving

· Engage your whole self—mind, body, shadow, and spirit

· Share your voice (no theological degree required)

· Help reimagine spiritual community for a new era

Spoiler alert: Your presence, perspective, and participation aren’t just welcome, they're essential. Because spiritual growth isn't a spectator sport. This is the future of faith, and you are on the team.

Come curious. Leave inspired. And maybe—just maybe—change everything.

Join us at Studio 9 (1180 Houghton Rd, Kelowna, BC). Doors open at 10:15 am. Enter the property by the side entrance behind the staff parking lot. Look for our signs to guide you! Please use street parking or park at Ben Lee Park (1.5 blocks away).

Or you can always watch our live stream on Facebook Live via Centre for Spiritual Living Kelowna's Facebook page.

Facebook

Last Sunday

WHAT A LOAD OF BS

With Neal Klassen

Last week we looked at all the BS in our lives – Belief Systems that hold us back. We examined the three paths we can take to get out of, or remain stuck in, the BS that no longer serves us: The Path of Repetition, the Path of Opposite, and the Path of Transformation.

If you missed the talk or want to hear it again, click here:

Link to Talk

THE EVOLUTION OF CHURCH SERVICES

Five hundred years ago, church services echoed with Latin chants, incense rising in cold stone cathedrals. The priest, elevated above his flock, delivered sermons few could understand, while grand organs thundered and stained glass filtered sacred light.

Faith was something inherited, unquestioned, and intertwined with every moment of daily life.

Then the world shifted. The printing press brought scripture into common language; the Reformation shattered monolithic power. In time, Enlightenment ideals encouraged reason alongside faith. Hymns were sung in local tongues, sermons grew more personal, and pews welcomed questions rather than silencing them.

By the 19th century, revival meetings under canvas tents ignited hearts with fiery preaching and rousing gospel songs. Churches became gathering places for community action: abolition, temperance, suffrage.

In the 20th century, radio and television broadcast sermons beyond sanctuary walls. Mega-churches emerged, offering everything from rock bands to coffee shops. Services turned informal: pastors preached in jeans, screens displayed lyrics, and “fellowship” expanded beyond Sunday mornings.

Today, technology has further transformed worship. Live streams reach believers across continents; podcasts deliver devotionals during commutes. Faith communities gather on social media as much as in pews. Sermons explore mental health, climate change, and social justice, reflecting modern concerns.

Yet through every change, the core remains: people gathering—physically or virtually—to share hope, comfort, and the sense that life holds deeper meaning. The language may evolve, the music may shift, but the human longing for connection and the divine endures, as alive now as it was half a millennium ago.

How Thoughts Evolve Through Spiritual Practices:

A Scientific Perspective

Thoughts are not fixed; they are dynamic neural patterns shaped by experience, intention, and practice. Modern neuroscience shows that repeated mental focus can rewire the brain through neuroplasticity—our brain’s natural ability to form and reorganize synaptic connections.

Spiritual practices, such as those taught in the Science of Mind philosophy, actively engage this process to help transform limiting beliefs into constructive, life-affirming thoughts.

At the core of Science of Mind is the idea that thought directs energy, and energy shapes experience. When individuals regularly practice affirmations, meditation, or Spiritual Mind Treatment (a focused form of affirmative prayer), they repeatedly activate neural pathways associated with positivity, hope, and resilience.

Over time, these pathways strengthen, while older, negative patterns weaken due to synaptic pruning—the brain’s mechanism for eliminating unused connections.

This mental training has measurable effects. Studies have shown that consistent meditative or affirmative practices reduce activity in the amygdala, the brain’s fear center, and increase activation in the prefrontal cortex, which governs rational thought and emotional regulation.

As a result, practitioners become more adaptive, creative, and solution-focused.

Science and spirituality meet at the intersection of intentionality: by choosing which thoughts to nurture, individuals literally reshape their minds.

The evolution of thought through spiritual practice is thus not just poetic—it’s biological. With daily dedication, what begins as effortful intention gradually becomes a natural state of being, reflecting the age-old truth that as we change our minds, we change our lives.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON SOAR!

There are still a few spots left for this incredible conference

An Incredible Spiritual Opportunity Right in Our Own Back Yard

A Journey of Revelation, Restoration, and Grace

August 7–10, 2025

Banff, Alberta

SOAR 2025 Summer Retreat: A Journey of Revelation, Restoration, and Grace is an opportunity to gather, connect, and be rejuvenated through inspiring speakers, musical performances, experiential workshops, spiritual practices, meditations, and communal meals.

This year our retreat will head to the heart of Canadian Rockies and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta.

This intimate retreat has limited space, but there are a few spots still left for the conference.

SOAR Info

Inspirational Song of the Week

EVOLUTION

Sheryl Crow

Link to Song

Sheryl Crow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her optimistic and idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of including genres of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She toured with Michael Jackson providing backup vocals until her breakthrough solo album in 1994.

Website: https://sherylcrow.com/

LET’S CONNECT

Rev. John DePalma’s contact information

Contact Rev. John via email: jdepalma@cslkelowna.org

He is also available for one-on-one telephone conversations. To schedule a connection, visit his online calendar:

Rev. John's Calendar

Fill out your membership here, https://www.cslkelowna.org/membership

Regular Events at CSLK

See Upcoming Events on our home page. Stay informed of all the latest news from CSLK! Subscribe now to receive notifications of future blog posts.

Sunday Celebrations start at 10:30am PT at Studio 9, 1180 Houghton Road, Kelowna. Please park on the street or at Ben Lee Park (1.5 blocks from the school). You can also watch us live on Facebook or watch the replay later on YouTube.

Our volunteers are immensely valuable to CSLK! If you can help out with making coffee, setting up and/or after-service taking down, please contact Rev. Corinne Crockett at 250-868-9090 or email corinne_crockett@telus.net.

Do you have an idea for CSLK community opportunities you’d like to experience? We'd love to hear your thoughts! Please contact Rev. Corinne Crockett at 250-868-9090 or email corinne_crockett@telus.net.

Practitioner Support

Our ministers and practitioners are in service to all of us. If you need help to see the Truth in a situation; if you are looking for clarity; if you are struggling; our ministers and practitioners are here to support you. You can contact them through the About page on our website, or you can submit a prayer request on the Contact page.

Bring Nature’s Fare Receipts to CSLK!

Nature’s Fare grocery store receipts are worth a pretty penny to us! Bring your shopping receipts to Sunday service and place them into the receipt box on the table in front of the stage in the Studio 9 auditorium. Nature’s Fare will donate 3% of the total of your purchases to CSL Kelowna! Every receipt helps! Thank you!

Your Support Means So Much to Our Community!

We’re grateful for the ways CSL Kelowna is able to accept donations:

Online via the Ways to Donate page of our website (PayPal or credit card).
Using the Donation Station (Debit or Credit Card) at our Sunday Service.
By Interac e-transfers sent to donate@cslkelowna.org .
Cheques can be mailed to: Suite 131, 101-1865 Dilworth Drive, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9T1.