AGNT Leadership Council

AGNT Leadership Council Bios

Rev. Michael Beckwith	Rev. Howard Caesar	Barbara Marx Hubbard	Rev. Argentina Glasgow
Barbara Fields	Rev. Mary Omwake	Rev. Carol Carnes	Dr. Roger Teel
Rev. Wendy Craig Purcell	Dr. Christian Sorensen	Dr. Kathy Hearn	Tom Zender
Mary Manin Morrissey

Michael Bernard Beckwith, D.D. (Agape International Spiritual Center, Culver City) is the Founder and Spiritual Director of the Agape International Spiritual Center, an 8000 member transdenominational spiritual community. A Co-founder and President of Association for Global New Thought, Dr. Beckwith is the originator of the Life Visioning Process, an author and composer. He shares with Dr. Arun Gandhi and Mary Manin Morrissey the national Co-directorship of A Season for Nonviolence, and is an assembly member of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Dr. Beckwith is a keynote speaker throughout the nation. His commitment to world peace has drawn public recognition including awards such as The Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award from Morehouse College, the Humanitarian Award of the National Council for Community and Justice, The Howard Thurman Stained Glass Window Award and many others.

Rev. Howard Caesar (Unity Church of Christianity, Houston, Texas). As senior minister at Unity Church of Christianity for more than 20 years, his inspired messages have helped many find a deeper spiritual meaning in their lives while experiencing happier, healthier and more productive ways of living. As a founding member of the Leadership Council of the Association For Global New Thought (AGNT), Rev. Caesar is recognized as one of the foremost leaders and speakers in New Thought, traveling the world to meet with religious leaders such as his Holiness The Dali Lama. He is a member of the prestigious Board of Preachers at the Martin Luther King Chapel at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, and previously served two terms on the Board of the Association of Unity Churches and on the Board of the International New Thought Alliance (INTA). Rev. Caesar has been recognized with the Voice of Unity Award for Excellence in his 25 years of work in radio and television and is also the 2005 recipient of the Light of God Expressing Award, a top honor given by his peers and the Association of Unity Churches.

Barbara Marx Hubbard (Founding Member, Emeritus, AGNT) is President of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution. A speaker, social innovator and author of 5 books, Barbara is an evolutionary educator, communicating the new worldview of conscious evolution. She is currently producing a film series entitled Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together. Her educational program Gateway to Conscious Evolution, a guided evolutionary curriculum on line is reaching over a 1000 people worldwide. She is establishing a Chair in Conscious Evolution for Wisdom University and has formed an Education Core developing a Meta Syllabus in Conscious Evolution as a framework supporting evolutionary leadership and social connectivity. She produced 25 SYNCON conferences to bring opposing groups together in the light of the potential of the whole system, and is now reviving the SYNCON process and the Wheel of Cocreation. Her name was placed in nomination for the vice-presidency of the United States on the Democratic ticket in 1984 proposing a Peace Room in the office of the vice presidency to scan for, map, connect and communicate what is working in America and the world.

Rev. Carol Carnes (Centre for Spiritual Living, Calgary, AB). Currently the senior minister of the Centre for Spiritual Living in Calgary, AB, Rev Carnes carries on the tradition of New Thought to "liberate religious thinking of superstition and dogma." As a member of the leadership council of the Association for Global New Thought, she was inducted into the Board of Preachers of Martin Luther King International Chapel at Morehouse College in 2000. She has participated in the Synthesis Dialogues with HH Dalai Lama in India and Italy and is active in the Season for Nonviolence Campaign convened annually by AGNT.

Dr. Barbara Fields Executive Director, The Association for Global New Thought
Co-founder and Project Director – The Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence 1998-2006; Program Director - 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago; Co-founder and Project Director of the Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Dharamsala, India, 1999, Trent, Italy, 2001, and Rome, 2004; Co-director, with Dr. William Ury, Harvard Global Negotiation Network’s Abraham Walk Initiative in the Middle East; Conference and Program Director for the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies 1996 (Chicago) and 2000 (Tacoma, WA); Program Director - International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter, Purdue University and the Lilly Foundation 1998-2004; Participant - UNESCO Seminar on Religion and Peace, Granada, Spain, 1998. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, United Church of Religious Science, 2005, and Religious Science International’s first Peace Award in 2003; Recipient of The Peace Museum's 1998 Community Peacemaker Award, in the area of Diplomacy. Serves on the Boards of EarthAction, the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, and La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara, CA. Co-founder of The Earth Network, a non-profit alternative television organization dedicated to the environment, social action, and the human spirit for which she received the 1994 Visionary Award from the Center For New Television; Contributing author, The Community of Religions (Continuum Press, 1996).

Rev. Dr. Kathy Hearn (Community Spiritual Leader (President) of United Church of Religious Science/United Centers for Spiritual Living), an international organization with 200 communities and ministries and publisher of Science of Mind magazine; actively engaged in spiritual organization development to expand spiritual living through personal and global transformation; monthly contributor to Science of Mind magazine; Chair of Organizational Renewal Project and member of New Organization Design Team; Vice Chair International Board of Trustees; Chair and Vice Chair of United Clergy of Religious Science; instructor for Holmes Institute School of Consciousness Studies. Member of the Leadership Council for the Association for Global New Thought; traveled to the Middle East as AGNT's representative and sole female religious leader for Harvard's Abraham Path Initiative, November 2006; Abraham Path Initiative Tourism Conference, Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 2007; presented at the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona, Spain; attended Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1999. Founded Pacific Church of Religious Science in San Diego, Senior Minister for 15 years.

Rev. Argentina Glasgow (Detroit, MI). is a peace activist and the former Senior Minister (1992 - 2005) of Detroit Unity Temple and CO-minister of Detroit Unity Temple from July 2005 through March 2008. She is a licensed and ordained Unity Minister. Her commitment for peace is undergirded by the scripture, Isaiah 26: "He will keep you in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Rev. Glasgow has received numerous awards such as The Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award from Morehouse College, an International Peace Award from the Universal Federation of Peace; a Unity Pioneer Award honoring the Africa American's in Unity, The Ruth Mosley Award and many others. She was inducted into the Board of Preachers of Martin Luther King International Chapel at Morehouse College; and participated in the Synthesis Dialogues with HH Dalai Lama in India and in Trent, Italy. Under her tenure at Detroit Unity an Outreach Ministry, The Holistic Development Center was formed and is thriving as one of the crown jewels of the city. She blessed both the City of Detroit, which she refers to as the Holy City, and the previous Mayor, Mayor Dennis Archer at his second inaugural ceremony. She is currently formulating a ministry entitled Spiritual Interfaith Center of Light Ministries which has as its main focus a world that works for everyone. She is both humbled and honored to be the fourth African American to chair the Board of Trustees for the Association of Unity Churches International in over 100 years. She has served on numerous boards and has served as a leader locally, regionally, national and internationally.

Rev. Mary Omwake (Maui, HI) Mary Omwake is a spiritual teacher, writer, radio host and retreat leader. Ordained a Unity minister in 1989, she has served ministries in Overland Park, Kansas, where she developed the Love in Action sacred service program and the Unity Basics One curriculum and Maui, Hawaii. A founding member of the Association for Global New Thought, Mary has spoken United Nations for the Season for Peace and Nonviolence, worked on the Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and worked within her community on numerous peace projects. She was inducted into the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers in 1998. She has served on numerous boards and committees, including The International Association of Unity Churches and chaired the church growth and development teams for both the AUC and INTA. Mary lives on Maui and leads retreats for churches and sacred tours to Assisi, Dharamsala, Africa and Maui. You can hear her on www.conversationswithfriends.org or contact her at mary@maryomwake.com

Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell (The Unity Center, San Diego, California). Wendy is a graduate of the Unity School of Christianity and was ordained in 1980. She is founder and CEO of The Unity Center, a 1500-member spiritual community located in San Diego, California, in 1983. She has been a part of the Association for Global New Thought since 1999 and currently serves as Vice President. She participated in all three AGNT-sponsored “Synthesis Dialogues,” which brought together some of the world’s leading thinkers to dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet in Dharmsala, India in 1999 and in Italy in 2001 and 2004; and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey in November 2006 as part of the planning for the Abraham Path Initiative, in partnership with the Harvard Negotiation Project, to open up a pilgrimage route in the Middle East retracing the footsteps of the prophet Abraham. With a strong interest in Spiritually Motivated Social Action, Wendy & The Unity Center were instrumental in the early formation of the San Diego Department of Peace grassroots group in the fall of 2004. That initial group, Americans for the Department of Peace (AFDOP), now encompasses all of Southern California with The Unity Center providing ongoing support. In addition, Wendy serves on the board of the Foundation for Affordable Housing in San Juan Capistrano. Her service awards include the Gandhi Non-Violence Award from the Tariq Khamisa Foundation and induction into the Martin Luther King Jr. board of Preachers Hall of Fame..

Reverend Christian Sorensen, D.D. (Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, Encinitas California.) He was the last appointed President of the United Church of Religious Science and their first elected Community Spiritual Leader. Author of "CATCH THE SPIRIT - RIDING THE WAVES OF LIFE" and its sequel: "CATCH THE SPIRIT - FLYING THROUGH LIFE", "The Book of Prayers", "Good Cents" "Free Your Own Tibet" and his newest release, "Soar, Flying Above Turbulent times" His T.V. show, "The Power of One" has been airing on XUPN and will be soon delivered on his website, www.seasidechurch.org.

Dr. Roger Teel (Mile Hi Church of Religious Science, Denver, Colorado). Dr. Roger W. Teel, a leading speaker and spiritual teacher, has served New Thought and the Religious Science ministry for over 25 years. He holds a degree in psychology and religion and the degree of Religious Science Fellow. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity in 1988 and the Doctor of Religious Science Degree in 1999. Dr. Roger has served pulpits in Oregon, California and, in 1993 returned to his home church, Mile Hi Church in Denver, as Senior Minister. He oversees all aspects of this thriving ministry of over 8000 members and friends. He has been very active in United Church of Religious Science leadership, serving on numerous committees. In 1980, he was elected to the International Board of Trustees and in 1983 was elected Chairman, a position he filled for two years. As his career has expanded, his influence has extended internationally; he lectures and conducts workshops for churches, service organizations, schools, and businesses. Dr. Teel assisted in facilitating the Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1999 and 2001. He is co-founder of the Association for Global New Thought, and serves on the board of the Foundation for Affordable Housing.

Tom Zender (Unity of Tustin, CA; Former President & CEO, Unity). Tom joined the Unity executive team in 2001 and served as President & CEO for five years. He was the first president of Unity who was not a member of the founding Fillmore family. Tom has extensive experience with board governance and operating leadership. He held management positions at General Electric, Honeywell and ITT, and was an officer in three publicly held corporations, one NYSE listed and two NASDAQ listed. Tom is a board member of Peerless Systems, a NASDAQ listed digital imaging company and is the board chair of VillageEDOCS, an OTC:BB listed Internet messaging services company. He has been on several other boards, including public and private corporations, and not-for-profit organizations. Tom holds a Business Administration degree from Ottawa University, with focus areas of management, marketing, and information technology. He has been instrumental in AGNT's participation in the Abraham Reunion and the Harvard University Abraham Path Initiative for interfaith dialog, economic development and peacemaking in the Middle East and Holy Land. Tom has initiated a Peace Initiative within his Unity of Tustin community.

Mary Manin Morrissey (Simi Valley, California) has a Bachelor's Degree in Education, a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology, and a Doctorate of Humane Letters. She has been an ordained minister for over 30 years. She founded, and served for 23 years, as Senior Minister of a dynamic Northwest ministry which grew to 4000 local members and over 10, 000 national members. She is the Co-founder and the first President of the Association for Global New Thought. Along with Dr. Michael Beckwith, she and Dr. Beckwith became the first New Thought ministers to be appointed to the executive Parliament of the Parliament of World Religions. She has spoken three times at the United Nations as the National Co-Chair for A Season for Non-Violence, as well as receiving the honor of being inducted into the Martin Luther King Order of Preachers. Representing the Association for Global New Thought, she has co-convened and facilitated, 3 different week-long meetings, with His Holiness The Dalai Lama leading conversations with world leaders, addressing the most significant issues our world is facing. In addition, as part of the Gandhi-King delegation, she met with Nelson Mandela in Cape Town, South Africa. She is the author of two best selling books, No Less Than Greatness and Building Your Field of Dreams, which became a PBS special. Her work takes her weekly to different parts of our globe, as she shares messages of hope, inspiration and the power of possibility within every individual.

AGNT ADVISORY COUNCIL