Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

That call was always there

"My friend looked at me and said, 'Make a choice.' So I did."

While growing up Catholic, Guy Williams had aspirations to become a Dominican priest
While growing up Catholic, Guy Williams had aspirations to become a Dominican priest
Place

Hilltop Center for Spiritual Living

331 E. Elder Street, Fallbrook

Membership: 150 (Attendance: 80).

Pastor: Guy Williams

Age: 64

Born: Cornell, CA

Formation: San Diego State University; Holmes Institute, Golden, CO

Sponsored
Sponsored

Years Ordained: 10

San Diego Reader: What’s your favorite subject on which to preach?

Pastor Guy Williams: Love. I have been influenced by the Jesuits, and specifically by Jesuit theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who says that if we humans as a species do not learn how to love we will perish. So I am deeply influenced by the words of Jesus, who taught us to love to wholeness. Teilhard feels that love is the most creative force on the planet. As we are co-creators of this cosmos, humans are cooperating in the power of love.

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PW: Growing up Roman Catholic, I had aspirations to become a Dominican priest. I believe the call to ministry is truly a call. I teach in the school of ministry for our organization, and one of the first things I tell the students is that if there’s anything else you can do, go do it. I have a great gig and I have gratitude every day about that. But it is a calling. When I left Catholicism, that calling became repressed. But I have to say that when I became active within this organization, that call to ministry awoke in me. My career was varied, and at the time I owned a catering company when the call awoke in me. I came late to ministry but that call was always there. There was a moment when I was having a glass of wine with a friend of mine, and we were at a conference and I was going back and forth [about] whether I should join the ministry. She looked at me and said, “Make a choice.” So I did.

SDR: Why Centers for Spiritual Living?

PW: The Centers for Spiritual Living grows out of the work of Ernest Holmes, and our spiritual DNA is connected to the Unity ministry, and to Christian Science and Divine Science, but I am ordained as a minister of the Science of Mind. That is our denomination. We are part of the New Thought, which is different from the New Age movement. This ministry gives me an incredibly long leash. We don’t have a lot of dogma but we’re open to the ongoing expression of spirit. Anyone can be a revealer of this sense, which to me is the most refreshing thing about this organization. In New Thought, Dr. Holmes desired that we remain open at the top, which means we can continue to evolve and respond.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PW: Even Dr. Holmes was purposely vague on that topic. He even contradicted himself several times. Our philosophy teaches us about the eternality, immortality, and continuity of the individual soul. So that’s a pretty broad view of things. But personally, the migration of the soul, maybe even the idea of reincarnation, answers a lot of questions for me. It makes sense to me. We as an organization don’t have a dogma, and we’re open about that. The soul continues to evolve and intelligence must find expression, and that which is in me continues to evolve and cycles closer to this divine idea. We live in a mystery, though. Do I lean toward reincarnation? Probably. Would I be willing to hang on a cross for it? Not really.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
While growing up Catholic, Guy Williams had aspirations to become a Dominican priest
While growing up Catholic, Guy Williams had aspirations to become a Dominican priest
Place

Hilltop Center for Spiritual Living

331 E. Elder Street, Fallbrook

Membership: 150 (Attendance: 80).

Pastor: Guy Williams

Age: 64

Born: Cornell, CA

Formation: San Diego State University; Holmes Institute, Golden, CO

Sponsored
Sponsored

Years Ordained: 10

San Diego Reader: What’s your favorite subject on which to preach?

Pastor Guy Williams: Love. I have been influenced by the Jesuits, and specifically by Jesuit theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who says that if we humans as a species do not learn how to love we will perish. So I am deeply influenced by the words of Jesus, who taught us to love to wholeness. Teilhard feels that love is the most creative force on the planet. As we are co-creators of this cosmos, humans are cooperating in the power of love.

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PW: Growing up Roman Catholic, I had aspirations to become a Dominican priest. I believe the call to ministry is truly a call. I teach in the school of ministry for our organization, and one of the first things I tell the students is that if there’s anything else you can do, go do it. I have a great gig and I have gratitude every day about that. But it is a calling. When I left Catholicism, that calling became repressed. But I have to say that when I became active within this organization, that call to ministry awoke in me. My career was varied, and at the time I owned a catering company when the call awoke in me. I came late to ministry but that call was always there. There was a moment when I was having a glass of wine with a friend of mine, and we were at a conference and I was going back and forth [about] whether I should join the ministry. She looked at me and said, “Make a choice.” So I did.

SDR: Why Centers for Spiritual Living?

PW: The Centers for Spiritual Living grows out of the work of Ernest Holmes, and our spiritual DNA is connected to the Unity ministry, and to Christian Science and Divine Science, but I am ordained as a minister of the Science of Mind. That is our denomination. We are part of the New Thought, which is different from the New Age movement. This ministry gives me an incredibly long leash. We don’t have a lot of dogma but we’re open to the ongoing expression of spirit. Anyone can be a revealer of this sense, which to me is the most refreshing thing about this organization. In New Thought, Dr. Holmes desired that we remain open at the top, which means we can continue to evolve and respond.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PW: Even Dr. Holmes was purposely vague on that topic. He even contradicted himself several times. Our philosophy teaches us about the eternality, immortality, and continuity of the individual soul. So that’s a pretty broad view of things. But personally, the migration of the soul, maybe even the idea of reincarnation, answers a lot of questions for me. It makes sense to me. We as an organization don’t have a dogma, and we’re open about that. The soul continues to evolve and intelligence must find expression, and that which is in me continues to evolve and cycles closer to this divine idea. We live in a mystery, though. Do I lean toward reincarnation? Probably. Would I be willing to hang on a cross for it? Not really.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.