|
Our church is life, nature, the universe and all that exists. The Essene Church of Peace currently has no central physical location in particular and has set up a land fund for this purpose. Our Kauai congregation is island-wide and meets on Sundays and for church events at various locations throughout the island. Contact us for details of current places and events. We believe in living and worshiping in nature, communing with our Mother Earth and Heavenly Father along with all of their Angels daily. We also believe in self-sufficiency, sustainability and living lightly on the land. We want to help the Earth recover and thrive while we do as a result of living in our true niche as human beings on this planet. We do not see ourselves as merely stewards of the Earth, but see the Earth as part of God, and as such we rightly worship and respect her. We study nature as our bible study in order to learn the living word of God and feel that working with and on the land helps reveal this to us. We believe that in order to fully understand the word of God, we must take care of our bodies the best way possible. Our bodies are temples and require the freshest, purest foods and environment possible in order to truly hear and understand the living word of God. This means growing our own raw vegan food on our own land in organic orchards and gardens utilizing our own physical labor and Permaculture techniques as Mother Earth and her angels guide us. In addition to growing food for ourselves, we also want to grow excess food so that we can distribute this highly nutritious fresh food to the poor and nutritionally needy. The Essene Church of Peace needs acreage to practice our beliefs fully. The Land Fund has been set up to receive donations for this purpose. Contributions to the Land Fund are greatly needed and appreciated. You may contact our liaison’s office for information about tax deductions and related matters. The land will be a place for our orthodox followers and clergy to live while tending the orchards and gardens within. Daily communions will be held on the land for our congregation and weekly Sabbath gatherings with music and dancing will be open to the public. A multi-use eco-friendly building will serve as our church’s community center. A community birthing & health center on the land will provide a viable and safe alternative to hospital births & allopathic medicine. Community education on sustainability, Permaculture, organic gardening, eco-living, raw foods, and health will be held as well as exercise and fitness classes. Parents will be able to send their children to classes held in our community center as well as take parenting classes. The church gratefully accepts donations and does not have any relationship or ties to the government. The following is a statement from the church liaison’s office regarding tax-deductible donations. Donations to the church are tax-deductible as are donations to any 501(c)3 organization. The church is exempt under US Federal law from filing as a 501(c)3 organization or any kind of organization. Even so, our church is still a charitable non-profit under US Federal and state law, yet needs no tax or business registration numbers. The church is separate from the state (AKA government). Contact the church’s government liaison’s office for more information. We believe the church is truly separate from the state and the clergy of the church have nothing to do with the government. When the church needs to interact with the government, they do so through a liaison. The church doesn’t recognize any numbers assigned to it by the state. What we mean by “state” here is the government. The church doesn’t recognize labels put upon it by the government such as “corporation” or “non-profit organization.” The church is simply a church which is the only label that it accepts, recognizes and acknowledges. Yes! You may help out the Essene Church of Peace in a variety of ways. Please contact us for more details and/or with your suggestions. Mahalo! The Essene Church of Peace has origins dating back 3,000 years or more. The ancient Essenes lived in the Middle East centuries before Jesus of Nazareth was born. Some say Jesus himself was an Essene. Jesus is the central figure of The Essene Gospel of Peace as translated by Szekeley in the 1920s from ancient Aramaic and old Slavonic texts. Some disagreement exists regarding the authenticity of this book’s origins. Our church is not concerned with whether this text truly recorded Jesus’ teachings or if it was of Szekeley’s complete creation. What truly matters is the truth conveyed in its contents. It is inspirational and comes as close to spiritual truth as anything ever written. Our church is inspired by much of the Essene Gospel of Peace, Book 1 and has much in common with other modern Essene churches as a result. We believe in peace, truth, love, and happiness. We come from the Essene tradition as we believe that the true scripture is written in life and all living things, and in fact in all things that exist. We focus on what is written in life to promote life and happiness, which we see as a primary purpose of the human life experience. We do not come from an ascetic and limiting point of view, but rather an expanding one. We choose life over death in all things in order to reach our true happiness, and experience joy and true peace as a result. This is why our church is named the Essene Church of Peace. We cannot speak for all Essene sects, but yes, you can certainly be a member of the Essene Church of Peace and be an atheist, agnostic, or omnivore. We do sometimes frame our speech in religious terms. We talk of the Earthly Mother and the Heavenly Father, and of the angels of earth, air, fire and water, so it helps to be tolerant of spiritual terminology. We do not even require that a member of the church be a raw foodist, although we do require it of our clergy. In the bible of our church, the Essene Gospel of Peace Jesus says – “Kill neither men, nor beasts, nor yet the food which goes into your mouth. For if you eat living food, the same will quicken you, but if you kill your food, the dead food will kill you also. For life comes only from life, and from death comes always death. For everything which kills your foods, kills your bodies also. And everything which kills your bodies kills your souls also. And your bodies become what your foods are, even as your spirits, likewise, become what your thoughts are. Therefore, eat not anything which fire, or frost, or water has destroyed. For burned, frozen and rotted foods will burn, freeze and rot your body also.” We refer to the Earthly Mother because
we see Earth as the mother of all living things on this planet
for our bodies came from her body, our life, and our ancestors
lives, and indeed all life on Earth was nurtured in her womb,
so to speak. Our species is still in fact like a fetus, completely
dependant on the mother’s body for our protection. None
of us can yet leave the Earthly womb for extended periods of
time without dying. Even a journey to Mars is not possible at
this time without improvements in our technology, and actual
colonization will be a long time in coming. The Essene Church
of Peace differs slightly from other Essenes in that other Essene
sects often speak of the Heavenly Father as the creator and
God of all things. The Essene Church of Peace on the other hand
speaks of the Sun as the Heavenly Father, and ascribes no gender
to the ultimate universal God. We see the Sun as truly our father
in that he gives us life and makes life possible for us. He
provides us with the energy that grows the plants we need for
our food and protects us from the deadly cold of space. We believe
the Earth and Sun are our ultimate parents for we all come from
them and our bodies are made of their bodies. They alone are
not the Universe. They alone are not the ultimate genderless
God. Yet they are part of God as we are part of God, as every
thing that exists and has ever existed, tangible and intangible
is part of God. God is the Universe, the ultimate supreme being.
God is everything and everything collectively together is God. Yes, we perform marriage ceremonies. Some of our clergy is licensed by the State of Hawaii to perform marriages recognized as legal in the United States. We also perform religious marriage ceremonies of a spiritual nature. Marriage is a union of love between consenting adults in the eyes of God, regardless of the race, gender, religion, creed, or number of those involved. The choice to marry and definition of the religious marriage belongs to the individuals involved and counseling services are available to help define your specific union. WHAT DO THOSE GLYPH-LIKE SYMBOLS MEAN ? Our church has symbols that serve as an additional tool for complete worship that are tied to the traditional daily communions and contemplations which have been adjusted to reflect our sect's beliefs. Many of our clergy and congregation have beads, sashes, and the like with these symbols to assist in our spiritual worship. A bookmark of them is available for download here and a key to the individual symbols is located on the Communions and Contemplations page. WHAT ARE THE COMMUNIONS AND CONTEMPLATIONS? Much of our spiritual practice is done individually and on a daily basis. Like other Essene faiths, daily communions and contemplations are an integral part of our spiritual practice. Unlike other Essene faiths, we do not see the communions and contemplations as a necessary order or method of worship. Rather, we see them as an efficient and helpful arrangement that allows us to worship all aspects of our faith completely each week, ever deepening our understanding of and alignment with the Living Law. Following them verbatim or in the same order as prescribed is not necessary for our faith. The living word of God can be studied, worshiped and the Law followed without this formal practice. The choice is left to the individual. These communions and contemplations are described in further detail on our Communions and Contemplations page. ARE THERE OTHER WAYS TO HELP THE CHURCH ? Yes! You may help out the Essene Church of Peace in a variety of ways. Contact us for more details and/or with your suggestions. Mahalo! |
|
|