—— :: Our Ministers :: ——

Senior Minister Jesse Jennings, D.D.

Jesse Jennings, founding minister of Creative Life Spiritual Center, grew up in the Morningside Heights section of New York City, where his mother worked as Assistant to the President of Columbia University. From the 1940s on, Jesse’s aunt and grandmother attended lectures by legendary teachers Florence Scovel Shinn, Neville Goddard and Emmet Fox, then in the mid-1960s discovered Religious Science, through the teachings of Dr's. Raymond Charles Barker and Stuart Grayson at Lincoln Center. In the 1970s his family relocated to Texas, where at age 20 Jesse began to study Religious Science with Dr. Ben Winter.

After receiving his Practitioner's license in 1983, Jesse co-founded a study group in suburban north Houston that would eventually grow into the Center he serves today. He enrolled in the Ernest Holmes College School of Ministry in Los Angeles (now the Holmes Institute, graduated as a Religious Science Fellow in 1986, and, having served the customary two-year period as a licensed minister, was ordained in September, 1988, by the United Church of Religious Science (now the United Centers for Spiritual Living).

For over 25 years, he has been a featured speaker and workshop leader in churches and at conferences across the country, while his extensive leadership on a national level has included chairing conferences and conventions, developing curricula for use in UCRS churches, and serving on the Executive Board of the International New Thought Alliance, and the UCRS International Board of Trustees, which he chaired from 1994 until 1996. The honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the United Church of Religious Science during its 70th Anniversary convention in February, 1997.

He is an enthralling speaker and storyteller, conveying deep wisdom in an easily grasped and highly entertaining form, and a gifted teacher and facilitator, but it’s as a writer that he is best known to many, his column, “The Way It Works,” with questions and answers on practical metaphysics, having appeared monthly in Science of Mind since 1991, as have many feature articles and an annual set of “Daily Guides to Richer Living” since 1989. All told he has published over 200 articles and essays in a variety of publications. Some of his articles may be read here. In 2002, Tarcher/Putnam published his compilation of the work of Religious Science’s founder, the book The Essential Ernest Holmes, available here. Three of his articles have been selected as "Science and Religion Articles of Distinction" by the Templeton Foundation.
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Marsha Lehman M. Ed, M.A.

Masterful Mentor • Passionate Minister • Fiercely Loving Life Coach A religious renegade for most of her life, Rev. Marsha Lehman has been exploring, learning, and living authentic spirituality through New Thought and Science of Mind teachings for well over three decades. Mentored by Dr. Jesse Jennings, she learned early on to not settle for someone else’s “truth.” Marsha has honed the art of listening to the wisdom of her heart–the authentic source of spirit–and acting powerfully and lovingly on that inspiration.

A willingness to respond to her unique inner voice opened the guidance for Marsha to become a Religious Science minister. She was licensed in 2005 and ordained as a Religious Science minister at Creative Life in 2008. She loves being a spiritual leader who supports others as they reveal their own authentic spirituality and as they follow their own inner wisdom into a power-felt, joy-filled life. Marsha has also been a professional life coach since 1995. She blends her coaching and ministerial training as she works with individuals and groups of women on a spiritual path, women who want to feel authentically happy and prosperous in all areas of creative self-expression. She also coaches men who are wiling to express their spiritual brilliance in all that they do. Marsha’s newest passion is being a personal coach to groups of ministers and spiritual entrepreneurs in personal self-care as they hone and continually craft spiritual leadership skills and financial success. Marsha’s ability to channel personal wisdom for everyday understanding and better living takes the “magic” out of our innate psychic connection. She shares personal and spiritual tools of heartfelt communication, visioning for one’s life’s purpose, affirmative prayer, and unique guided meditations to release stress, excavate inner creations, and launch expansive, imaginative capabilities. Marsha is fascinated with the concept of instantaneous healing and transforming seeming impossibilities into miraculous realities. CLC provides the spiritual atmosphere for her to experiment in and experience this healing domain. Marsha has developed a committed following through her fun and pressure-free approaches to personal growth and authentic leadership. Her engaging programs, classes, and retreats, including women’s PJ parties, support groups, networking luncheons, ceremonial circles, and rites of passage have inspired and invigorated women for more than a decade. “For me to do something, it has to get me going, to be ‘juicy,” Marsha says. “The environment of creation is a playground for me. And Creative Life is all about playfulness. It’s the perfect place for anyone who wants to find some fun and join others who are moving into fresh, new life experiences. That’s what I love about our spiritual community.” Marsha is very clear that her own spiritual practices, self-care, and, love of inner connection with the Divine, with family, with community and others fuel the energy of service that she loves to give. Her spiritual counseling, combined with downright practical life coaching, will continue to be an enriching gift that she offers for a very long time to come.
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