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The following members have been nominated for the Member Board of Trustees. Ballots were sent to all members via email on Sunday, July 3, 2022. So please check your inbox.
To help you make a decision as to which candidate(s) to support, a list of nominees with a short biography for each appears below. In addition, the above audio/video from the Candidate Forum meeting is there to help you more easily make an informed decision.
Rev. George Maddox
George currently serves on the Trustee Member Board. He is an Awakening Together (AT) Ordained Minister as well as an ordained minister through the “Voice for Love”, David Paul and Candace Doyle’s ministry, which taught students to hear God’s Voice within themselves. George served as a mentor for ministerial candidates for several years after becoming ordained by the Voice for Love Ministry. George has also been active in Unity churches, serving several committees of his former home church in Indiana, and contributing everything from Sunday sermons to helping with repairs and maintenance projects.
Although he was raised in the traditional Baptist faith as a child, as an adult George joined the Lutheran church and served as a board member and a trustee in the two Lutheran Churches where he was a member. About twenty years ago he had a Spiritual Transformation and was prompted to attend Unity church. George soon discovered A Course In Miracles and studied through Inner Guidance and solitary contemplation, then through weekly study groups, and finally through daily early morning meetings. George continued to expand his ministry in the Voice for Love, which he discovered through his ACIM community, and found himself as a minister, teacher, and counselor. George notes that he has met so many wonderful fellow spiritual travelers and friends through this path, having attended many ACIM Conferences, Voice for Love Programs, Awakening Together Retreats and so many more joyous gatherings.
George now considers AT his spiritual “home”. George states: “I am so grateful to Regina for her clarity and profound dedication to our Awakening. I know that this Inner Voice shines through so many in Awakening Together, and I hear the call to share and strengthen this Voice in myself and in others.”
Rev. Yolanda Mapes
Rev. Yolanda Mapes was born as Roger Anthony Mapes in 1956 in Muscle Shoals Alabama. She is now and has always been an artist in the disciplines of painting/ drawing/ performance art and music (singer-songwriter). The “Artist Way” path of spirituality has taught her so much about being true to herself and living a life of authenticity when others around her tried their best to discourage her.
She has been interested in spirituality from a very young age. Her first experience of “knowing God’ occurred when she was a toddler just learning to walk. She remembers one specific day as she was standing up in her crib when a bird appeared in her window. It looked at her intently and when she looked into its eyes, she somehow knew that there was a loving, Energy that was beyond her and yet also her at the same time. This was an energetic impression that has stayed with her for her entire life.
As she has traveled through her life, she has gravitated towards being very involved in many different spiritual communities. Just to share a few: she lived in a Christian commune called The Jesus Manor, she lived in a Pagan commune with a group called The Radical Faeries, she went to One Spirit Seminary as “Roger” and grappled with “does God accept me as a transgender person?” -and graduated as “Rev. Yolanda”. Throughout all of these experiences, she has created art, music, and performances that always center around the spiritual path and knowing the truth.
She can truly say that Awakening Together is the first church/spiritual community where she has ever felt completely welcomed, nurtured, and loved for exactly who she is and the expression she chooses to present. Yolanda states, “I am so grateful to this community for providing a space for me to continue healing and growing. I’m currently enrolled in MPP and enjoying going deeper with you all. It is because YOU have given so much to me that I want to serve you on the Member Board Trustees.”
Rev. Jackie Walden
Rev. Jacqueline (Jackie) Walden is on a spiritual journey back to her true Self. “My spiritual aspiration is to “Abide in Truth.” To Jackie, Abiding in truth means to stay present in truth regardless of what life may be showing you at the time. Jackie accepts that living this spiritual aspiration happens moment to moment.
From being an established broadcast journalist to transitioning into a community health executive, she understands that every experience she has had has led her to this very moment of awakening to who she really is.
As with most of us, Jackie’s journey has not been without its challenges…even having a bodily experience with cancer was part of her human experience to teach her she is more than a body. As a Spiritual Mentor, Rev. Jackie is dedicating her life to her own awakening and supporting others who are on a similar path.
Rev. Jackie has a passion for joy, and happiness, and sharing this through the gift of music which flows through her. She is a 20-year professional vocalist in Jazz and R&B genres. She currently sings at two spiritual communities in Southern New Jersey and performs for International Awareness Conferences. Jackie is currently working on music projects dedicated to spiritual teachings that help us awaken to our true selves.