Universal Life Church

ULC Seminary Announcements - May 2010 Happy Mother's Day! Hello! Spring has Sprung and the Grass has Riz - May is always so beautiful. Warm enough to wear shorts, but not so hot that we long for air-conditioning. If it weren't for allergies, it would be absolutely perfect. NEW COURSE - The Master of Astral Projection and the Dr. of Christian Ethics are both underway. Both can be ordered through the church store. Master of Astral Projection: http://www.ulcseminary.org/store/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=210 Dr. of Christian Ethics: http://www.ulcseminary.org/store/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=211 CURRENT GROWTH - The last month for me has been about computers. I'm not sure if a constantly breaking computer counts as a growth period, but it has been a struggle for sure. I now have a reliable laptop from one of our ministers, Gene Hughes (http://hhspcservices.com), who has set me up! This should reduce the drama for awhile. I think part of my growth this month is about the concept of setting boundaries and knowing when the right time is to draw a line in the sand. This can be difficult for a lot of us. If you have a friend or loved one who is terrific in many ways, but not so good in others, the challenge is to determine which ones weight more importantly. Maybe someone is kind and loving, but not good with money and spends recklessly or doesn't bring much into the household. Or a friend who you've known forever -- Does your history with that person outweigh some truly inconsiderate and selfish behavior? Where do we draw the lines? At what point do we decide that the cons are more important than the pros? Tough decision. It changes with every situation. Even when you draw the line, it can be hard to let go. TESIMONIALS - I'd like to add more video to the website. I have a camera and I'm going to get started adding video sections with blurbs and such to talk about different things. What I would love is to have you all do the same thing, if you would. If you have access to a videocamera of any sort, videotape yourself talking briefly about weddings you've done, any of the books or products that you've used, classes you've taken, the church you started, etc. I'd love to get a montage of these and put them throughout the site. A short .mwv file would be great. Something I can play on windows. I'll edit them together into a few clips to post. Cool, huh? It would also be great to put a face/voice with so many of your names. MAILING PROGRAM - I have been moving my mailings to a new program to head off some of the problems we've been having. For those of you who got the kinds words sent multiple times, I do apologize. If you unsubscribed because of it and want to sign up again, you can at www.ulcseminary.org/kindwords.php. One of the new things I have going on with the mailings is that on the forms, you can sign up for everything at once. I'm still making adjustments, but when you sign up for one, you should see the options for adding yourself to all the mailings that interest you. Some people have already taken advantage of it. I think it'll streamline things. I've also been getting some wonderful assistance from my beau, Ron, who has been adding a ton of new sermons and Sunday School lessons to the cue. If you sign up for those, you'll be getting them weekly for a year, at least, without interruption. CANADA - Unfortunately, the drive to get Canada approved was abruptly halted when I found that I have to have the cooperation of the 'head of the denomination', which is Andre Hensley. So, I'm at his mercy right now. Sorry about that. I'll keep doing what I can though. The other thing I'm reading is that even if they accept all the paperwork, it'll still take 2 years for them to approve a new denomination. CONTEST - I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to vote for me in the book contest I'm in. Round one has ended and I do believe I'm heading off to round two. If you didn't get a chance to vote the first time around, please check in for round two and place your vote for me. http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=432 I'd greatly appreciate it. I believe I'll be posting the book outline and a sample chapter or two for this round. ROBES AND STOLES - I did an oops on the newsletter that just went out. I had re-done my newsletters and inadvertently left in a line about robes and stoles being added to the store. They aren't. Our distributor went out of business, but I do have a line on a new one just recently. I have an email out to them about terms and if it is favorable, I'll be putting robes and stoles back in the store. Sorry for the misunderstanding. http://twitter.com/ulcseminary http://www.myspace.com/ulcseminary http://www.facebook.com/ulc.seminary Thanks for everything! Rev. Amy Long Program Director Visit Our Website | ULC Seminary http://www.ulcseminary.org 4714 Careyback Ave. Elk Grove, CA 95758 916-690-1682 ******************************* The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.   The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.   Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Universal Life Church

ULC Seminary Announcements March 2010 Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hello! MAILINGS LAST MONTH! - Oh, the joys of technology! I'd like to sincerely apologize to those of you who got a flurry of emails from the seminary all in one day. Most of you, (I hope) realized it was a mailing program glitch and not some bizarre spamming technique. My program apparently hadn't been working properly for a little while now because when it was 'fixed', EVERYTHING that had been backlogged went out at once. Ugh with a capital U. Once I realized how many were going out, I had a bunch deleted from the cue, but a lot still went out. Please accept my apologies and know that it wasn't on purpose. If it ever happens that you get a flurry of emails from the Seminary, please know that it is NEVER on purpose and generally a glitch in either the mailing program or my use of the mailing program. Thanks. NEW COURSE - A New Course is available. The course is called, the Master of Astral Projection. It's a 24 week course which talks about the techniques for increasing your ability to astrally project. There is information posted about it at www.ulcseminary.org/seminaryProgram.php, as well as a sample. Within a few weeks, we'll also have one called the Dr. of Christian Ethics. It'll be high-lighted in next month's announcement, but you can keep an eye out for it. HELP FOR THE SEMINARY - I have been asked before how people can be of service to the seminary. I do have a request, for those who would be interested. As many of you know, we have mailings for two kinds of sermons, Sunday school, newsletters, seminary student mailings and Chaplaincy mailings. Oh, and the kind words. I have a little trouble keeping up on some of them. What I'm looking for is some help on the sermons and the Sunday School lessons. If you have an html program (I've found that there are free html programs available online -- shareware and such), I could use some help finding/formatting the lessons to be ready to go out. I've put up a page outlining my request/need with a place to download the lesson templates. www.ulcseminary.org/mailingshelp.php. If any of you could help with that, I'd be ever so grateful. There's no min. or max number you can do. If you sent something to me once or decided to do a few every couple of months, etc. it would all help. CONTEST - Another request: I'm hoping that I'll be able to enlist your help next month. I'm entering a book writing contest that depends on people going online to vote. I'll let you know when it gets closer, but I do hope I can count on you to cast a vote in my direction. KIND WORDS - I'd like to thank all of you who have been giving me such great responses to the kind words campaign. I think it has become my favorite thing to do for the Seminary. I am finding how big a difference it makes for people to get a few words of encouragement. I'd like all of you to try it. At least one day a week, if not more, say at least one encouraging thing to someone who needs it. Say something uplifting, positive and true. Say it without expectation, but with the intention of spreading good in the world. Mean what you say. Notice the difference. It's available at www.ulcseminary.org/kindwords.php. RADIO SHOW - I was on Cynthia Vickers' radio blog show last week. She did a great job. If you're interested, here's the link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/vickers_tree/2010/02/21/shamanism If anyone else has a ULC-related radio show and would like a guest, I'm happy to do it. CANADA - I've been working on the application for becoming a charity in Canada. It seems to be the first step. The universe seems to be putting things in my path because the email I was sent with the numbers to call/fax seem to have disappeared out of my email box. If the person who has those numbers to fax and call would re-send them to me, I'd appreciate it. It seems to all have disappeared. GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE - We have great interest in this idea. Now that I know people want it, I'll start doing some research for the best deal and the best way to do it, given that there are so many different states involved. When I know something, I'll post it, announce it, put it on facebook, etc. I currently have a few people who have offered to look into it for us. SALE ITEMS - There are still a lot of items on sale right now. Wedding Workbooks by the case are currently on sale. Buying the books in bulk are a great way to save money on the books. Giving the books to your couples enhances your professional image and makes your job much easier, by allowing the couples to select and customize their own ceremonies. I found that by giving the couples a book, people comment frequently that the ceremony seemed so 'them' and wondered if the couple wrote the ceremony themselves. Give it a shot. http://www.ulcseminary.org/store/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=204 The social networking sites that we've been using are below: http://www.facebook.com/ulc.seminary http://twitter.com/ulcseminary http://www.myspace.com/ulcseminary Thanks for everything! Rev. Amy Long Program Director Visit Our Website | ULC Seminary http://www.ulcseminary.org 4714 Careyback Ave. Elk Grove, CA 95758 916-690-1682 ******************************* The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.   The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.   Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Universal Life Church

Happy Valentine's Day!! Hello!   FEBRUARY IS ALREADY HALF OVER! - I find it interesting every year that January always flies by before I even get a chance to get adjusted to the 'new year' status. This year is no different. I had some personal things that were resolved a few days before the end of January, so I got to start February with a relatively clean slate. .......................Then life happened. lol That's okay though, it's what keeps life interesting. (If I remember right, 'may you have an interesting life' is a Chinese curse.)   NEW COURSE - I'm working on putting some new courses together. I have one that has been submitted to me, a course on astral projection, that will be available in the very near future. Many of you will get a sample of it within a week or so, and some of you are not as far along on the newsletters/mailings and may not get it for awhile. It will be sent to the seminary students as well. The course will be the Master of Astral Projection.   CURRENT GROWTH - As with last month, I thought I'd share some of the things I've been working on. My focus of late has been about the question of agreements. We all have agreements with various people in our lives -- maybe it's an agreement to be married to someone, to be someone's parent or child, to help someone, teach someone, etc. Have you ever met someone and felt a particular need to help him/her? Not the general kind of 'let's make the world a better place' kind of feeling, but one more specific to that person? My question that I've been looking at is 'what triggers an agreement to kick in?' How is it you can know someone casually for a few months, then suddenly 'notice' them? Or feel the need to suddenly help them, ask for help, or be part of their lives in some way? What causes that? I have noticed it strongly a number of times in the last few years. Growing up, I've often had the ability to notice certain people as being people I want to be friends with, but I never thought about it much. In the last few years, however, I've had it happen several times in an uncomfortably obvious way. I know that when I was sick, I had to go get a bone marrow biopsy. At that point, the most painful thing I'd ever experienced in my life. My church had asked for volunteers to come and be with me (my family was not close by). Two people volunteered. One left after about 10 min. The other one stayed and held my hand and talked me through it. We ended up becoming friends. She said she didn't know what made her decide to come. She said she just knew she had to be there for me. I'd known her briefly as the former roommate of my new roommate (who turned out to be a nutbar). What triggered that need for her to be there? Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?   MAIL - For those of you who have placed orders in January, rest-assured that everything has been sent. We've been having a terrible time with the USPS over the last few months. We do mail everything within days (usually), but I think someone in the post office has been really enjoying a whole bunch of ULC materials because the packages seem to not be arriving. If you have been sent a tracking number, that means we have packaged your order, gotten postage, and brought it to the post office. We can't get the tracking number without having bought the postage, which is a good indication that your package is in the mail. :) If you haven't received your package, please write to orders@ulcseminary.org and Monica can look into it. Sorry for the delay. It has been very frustrating on our end as well.   ASTROLOGY - I don't know if you are interested in Astrology, but I've found a really cool site that gives very in-depth astrology readings. http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/. I don't live my life by them, but I do think that the readings are fun and interesting. It's a free site, so if you want to see it, you might be surprised.   KIND WORDS - I'd like to thank all of you who have been giving me such great responses to the kind words campaign. I think it has become my favorite thing to do for the Seminary. I am finding how big a difference it makes for people to get a few words of encouragement. I'd like all of you to try it. At least one day a week, if not more, say at least one encouraging thing to someone who needs it. Say something uplifting, positive and true. Say it without expectation, but with the intention of spreading good in the world. Mean what you say. Notice the difference. It's available at www.ulcseminary.org/kindwords.php. COMPUTER CRASH - If you've written to me in the last week and a half and I haven't responded, I'd like to apologize. My computer crashed and I had to wipe the hard drive. I had been using Norton Ghost, which was supposed to 'easily' restore my computer. Apparently, Norton's idea of 'easy' and mine are different. My dad spent about 12 hours on it yesterday and got everything restored. I do love my dad! At any rate, I'll be working to get things caught up and answer the many emails waiting for my attention.   CANADA - I just got some great information from one of our ministers about getting approved in Canada. If what she says turns out to be the case, we can be approved in Ontario in the next 6-8 weeks. I need to make a couple of phone calls and fill out a form. If I need help (members to sign), I'll let you know. I'm excited about the prospects.   GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE - I don't know if this is something that would be possible to do for ULC ministers, but I'm going to look into what would be involved in getting a group rate health plan for ULC ministers. Is this something anyone else would be interested in? If so and/or if you know anything about setting it up, let me know.   SALE ITEMS - There are still a lot of items on sale right now. Wedding Workbooks by the case are currently on sale. Buying the books in bulk are a great way to save money on the books. Giving the books to your couples enhances your professional image and makes your job much easier, by allowing the couples to select and customize their own ceremonies.   I found that by giving the couples a book, people comment frequently that the ceremony seemed so 'them' and wondered if the couple wrote the ceremony themselves. Give it a shot. HERE       The social networking sites that we've been using are below: http://twitter.com/ulcseminary http://www.myspace.com/ulcseminary http://www.facebook.com/ulc.seminary     Thanks for everything!   Rev. Amy Long Program Director   Warmly, Amy Long www.ulcseminary.org 916-690-1682 Wishing you all good things....... Please go to this link and vote for me: http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=432 Try our new free toolbar at: http://ULCSeminary.OurToolbar.com/

Universal Life Church

Happy New Year!! HAPPY NEW YEAR! - 2010 is going to be a great year. Over this last year, I've heard a lot of people say that they had a rough year. Seems to be true for many people across the board, for a variety of reasons. With that in mind, I guess that 2010 would have to be better, at least by comparison. :) I know it has been difficult for a lot of you -- things have been difficult on this end as well. The good news though, is that we have the support of one another. New Years Goals - It's important for all of us to have goals, so we can have something to strive for, and the Seminary is no different. This year, I plan on publishing the Seminary Handbook for those who want a few ceremonies at their fingertips, along with a lot of the training material that we have available. We plan on getting out at least 3 new programs for the Seminary and flesh out the Chaplaincy program further. I'd also like to take a stab at getting us accepted in Canada. There are hoops that required me jumping through them and I may be asking for your help.   When I go through my days, I try to be aware of things I'm working on, personally and spiritually. My latest has been about accepting people as they are. I know this sounds trite, but since I got divorced two years ago, I have been spending my time thinking about what I want to do differently in my current relationship. (He's a wonderful man, btw.) One of the overwhelming problems my X had with me and still has with his children is that he has his image of how he wants people in his life to be, and then is angry when they don't live up to his picture. My thought was that it made no sense to be angry with someone for being themselves.   I have a friend who is much like me -- absent-minded about things like returning calls. At first, when my calls were not returned, I was sure it was personal. I was being a pest - a bother - and he didn't want to talk to me. As I got to know him, I realized that it wasn't personal. He was just absent-minded. So I decided to accept that about him. Now, I'm not offended when he doesn't call back and, since he also knows me now, he's not bothered when I keep calling until I reach him. My wonderful order gal, Monica, is a jewel. She is honest, hard-working and efficient. I know this about her. I know I can trust her implicitly. I also know that she lives a crazy life. I tease her by saying that her life could easily be a sitcom or perhaps a drama. Knowing this, I know that things come up for her and sometimes she falls behind. She beats herself up over it, like we all do when we aren't perfect, and is often surprised when I don't yell and scream about it. How can I? I know her. I know her strengths and I know what throws her off. When you know who/how a person is and accept that, how can you be angry with them for being who they are? And if you know who you are and you can accept it, there's really no reason to apologize for being who you are. Easier said than done sometimes. We all just need to keep doing our best to improve ourselves in whatever way we can. Every little bit counts. That's my growth period and my mini-sermon for the month. Thought I'd share.   KIND WORDS - I'm going to mention this one more time because I'm positively delighted with how well it's going. Creating and working with the Seminary has been a huge highlight of my life. I feel like I get to make a difference in people's lives and I get the privilege of hearing about/being part of the difference our ministers make in other people's lives. The Kind Words campaign has been another step along that path. More often than you can imagine, I have people write and tell me how it was just what they needed to hear or they share a story about something that happened during the time the email came in. I don't get a chance to respond to most of them, but know that they are very well-received and much appreciated by me. Tell your friends or, if you know someone who can use a lift, sign them up. It's free and easy.   I had a few people who were oddly offended by my mailing about being magical. One didn't believe in magic and another was offended because he thought I was going against the Bible. Magic can be seen in many ways. Magic doesn't necessarily mean sorcery (although for some it may). When I talk about magic, I mean creating something from nothing. Having a thought and having it happen. For some, that may mean putting their thoughts into a prayer and noticing when their prayer is answered. For others, it's putting out into the universe and seeing it manifest as the universe's way of giving back. My intention when sending the kind words is always for your highest good, so please take that into consideration.   It's available at www.ulcseminary.org/kindwords.php.   SALE ITEMS - There are still a lot of items on sale right now. Check the sale page. http://www.ulcseminary.org/store/index.php?cPath=40   I've noticed that there are several courses -- amazing courses -- like Master of Religious Philosophy and Mystical Christianity, that are somehow being overlooked. That one will be on sale, along with a couple of other really great courses, for another few weeks. Be sure to get them on sale while you can.   http://twitter.com/ulcseminary http://www.myspace.com/ulcseminary http://www.facebook.com/ulc.seminary     Thanks for everything!   Rev. Amy Long Program Director   Visit Our Website | ULC Seminary http://www.ulcseminary.org 4714 Careyback Ave. Elk Grove, CA 95758 916-690-1682

Universal Life Church

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!! Hello! HAPPY HOLIDAYS - Not a lot of big news this month, other than some outstanding sales and just general well-wishes on my part to you. Just so you know, I'm very grateful to be able to be part of the ULC and to head up its seminary. I love being able to share in your lives, even if only in a small way, and I rejoice in hearing all the great things you all are doing. Thank you for being there   KIND WORDS - The kind words campaign has been a huge hit! On a whim, I decided to add all of our seminary students to the list. I think it was a good decision. I've sent out several emails so far and have gotten some great responses. As with all acts of kindness, it's selfish on my part. I feel so darn good every time I send one out that I grin for days. I can feel the well wishes coming back my way. If you haven't signed up for it yet, please do. It costs nothing and asks for nothing. The one thing I have found that surprised me was that I've had 5 or 6 people unsubscribe. I guess I'm curious as to why. Why wouldn't you want to hear some kind words coming your way. I like to get them, even the ones I wrote myself and sent myself. lol. Please sign up at any time.   It's available at www.ulcseminary.org/kindwords.php.   SALE ITEMS - For the month of December, I've decided to go all out and put a lot of stuff on sale. This is a great opportunity to get some things that you've been wanting from the Seminary, but didn't have the money for. I know the times are tough for everyone, so I thought a deep discount would be a great Christmas/holiday present that you can give yourself. There are going to be a lot of things on sale, so go to the sale section to view them all. If you have considered taking a course, this is the time because these are some great discounts on both courses and products. http://www.ulcseminary.org/store/index.php?cPath=40 FREE TOOLBAR - I mentioned this in the last couple of newsletters and I'm going to throw it out here again as well. This is a free new toolbar for your computer. One of the newest aspects of it is the 'chat' section. People have asked if we were going to reinstate the chat area, so we've done it via the toolbar. It's a free, real-time chat section for anyone who wants to jump on and say hello. It's a great way to talk in real-time without giving out your personal email or other info. Click here to get a look at what it is and, if you like it, download it quickly and for free: http://ulcseminary.ourtoolbar.com/ NEW NAVIGATION - If you haven't dropped by the site in the last couple of weeks, be sure to check our new navigation bar. I spent a lot of time on it getting all the pages on the site listed in a comprehensive way. One of the suggestions you ministers have said to me was that it would be good if I could create an easier navigation. The sidebars helped, but I think the new drop-down menus will clarify things. I think it'll make it a lot easier for people to find what's on the site. Let me know what you think. Perhaps you'll find areas on the site that you didn't know existed!   NEW COURSE - I mentioned this last month, but I thought I'd throw it out again. This is a unique course in that the first installment of 6 is free. Dr. Louis Hook has put it together and because of his reputation, we have agreed to offer it here for you in this unusual format. The course is called: The Foundations of Traditionalist Theology One. There are six installments and you can order them one at a time. The first free section is available at OMEGA DAWN.   The degree will be a Master of Traditionalism. The rest of the course can be ordered at: http://www.ulcseminary.org/store/product_info.php?products_id=209   ULC BUSINESS CARDS - I'm sorry to say I've had to discontinue the business cards for the time being. The person who was making them for us seems to have disappeared. I can't contact him through email or phone, so I don't want to send him any more orders until I figure out what's going on. Sorry about that.   TWITTER/FACEBOOK/MYSPACE - Just a reminder that we are now on all of these social networking sites. I'm still getting the hang of it. For those that aren't on Twitter, but want up to the minute info (such as there is), the Twitter box is on the front page of the site and it updates automatically. http://twitter.com/ulcseminary http://www.myspace.com/ulcseminary http://www.facebook.com/ulc.seminary     Thanks for everything!   Rev. Amy Long Program Director   Visit Our Website | ULC Seminary http://www.ulcseminary.org 4714 Careyback Ave. Elk Grove, CA 95758 916-690-1682 Warmly, Amy Long www.ulcseminary.org 916-690-1682 Wishing you all good things....... Please go to this link and vote for me: http://www.nexttopauthor.com/profile.cfm?aid=432 Try our new free toolbar at: http://ULCSeminary.OurToolbar.com/