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My most visible participation with Awakening Togehter has been the work I have done on the website\u2019s Forum. Back in the 90s I went back to school to finish my Bachelor\u2019s degree at Mt Holyoke College and was introduced to technology and we fell in love. I was webmaster for their Art Museum website until I took at job at UMASS and became webmaster for the Psychology Department along with various other jobs requiring technical expertise.<\/p>\n
Previous to that, I held various management jobs, including being a regional manager of the Medical Claims division for a mid-sized insurance company. My organizational skills are strong and problem-solving is a joy. Those are my outer world skills and they have been appreciated and very useful.<\/p>\n
As for my spiritual journey, if you can really separate one from the other, I began as a Catholic, then from junior high on catapaulted into searching for what my heart was seeking. I\u2019ve studied Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner), Sufism, Quakerism, Gurdjieff, Course In Miracles and then right into non-dual teachings. I\u2019ve stopped seeking. I\u2019m remembering Who I am now. Coming into Awakening Together I have found an openness and breath of freedom that I have not found elsewhere. I have taken MPP classes, am currently taking Gentle Healing Year One and facilitate the NTI Circle group on Saturday mornings to augment the GH1 class as well as being the Forum Director.<\/p>\n George’s Bio<\/strong>: I\u2019ve been active with AT for three years as a Sanctuary presenter for the program \u201cLove\u2019s Voice\u201d and am currently midway through the MPP ministerial program. I\u2019m an ordained minister through the \u201cVoice for Love\u201d, David Paul and Candace Doyle\u2019s ministry which taught students to hear God\u2019s Voice within themselves, and served as a mentor for ministerial candidates for several years afterward. I\u2019ve also been active in Unity churches, serving several committees of my former home church in Indiana,\u00a0 and contributing everything from Sunday sermons to helping with repairs and maintenance projects.<\/p>\n Although I was raised in the traditional Baptist faith as a child, as an adult I joined the Lutheran church and\u00a0 served as a board member and a trustee in the two\u00a0 Lutheran Churches where I was a member.\u00a0 \u00a0About twenty years ago I had a Spiritual Transformation and was prompted to attend my first Unity church. I soon discovered A Course In Miracles and studied through Inner Guidance and solitary contemplation, then through weekly study groups, and finally daily early morning meetings. I continued to expand my ministry in the Voice for Love, which I discovered through my ACIM community and found myself as minister, teacher and counselor. I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n AT is now my spiritual \u201chome\u201d. I\u2019m in the third year of Gentle Healing Classes and 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 in others. I have really felt the call to step away more from the world and focus on Spiritual growth.\u00a0 \u00a0I would be honored to serve on the Trustee Board.<\/p>\n Beverly’s Bio<\/strong>: My spiritual journey has involved the following: \u00a0I have studied and graduated from the Barbara Brennan School of Healing which is a four-year training program. \u00a0I have studied Science of Mind and am a SOM practitioner. I have read and studied course of Miracles along with the Teacher\u2019s Manual. \u00a0I am currently studying Emma Curtis Hopkins, and as a result some studies with Kabala and the spiritual teachings of the Tarot. My spiritual journey has involved sharing what I have learned through a series called Healing through Consciousness, through combining The Power of Now, A Course in Miracles and some energy healing as it related to both of these. \u00a0As a family physician this path has deeply affected how I practice medicine as well as how I see \u201chealing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n My business experience mainly involves my energy healing practice called Body In Soul in 2002, where I practiced energy healings and held the series mentioned above. \u00a0I started this business approximately after one year out in medical practice. I actually quit my job and had an energy healing practice for about two years. I enjoyed this experience which taught me a lot about myself and human nature. \u00a0\u00a0During this time, I met a client who dealt with an underserved population of the African American community through her radio program. She asked me to come on her program, and I have off and on (since 2002) done a talk series similar to what I have done in my practice. \u00a0It has been an exciting experience for me. My series of course evolved as I have, and I had even introduced some teachings from Regina that I have benefitted from along with other teachings. My last series was about two years ago. It has been so gratifying to bring to a radio station audience whose focus had been injustice, racism and disenfranchisement, a sense of empowerment by going beyond race and socioeconomic identity. \u00a0I was faced with difficult and loaded questions as an African American myself, that I was able to move through with Truth. These inquiries brought up more inquiries that forced myself as well as the audience to question the belief in the pain that has formed such a rigid identity–truly powerful. To honor our\/their journey while making known the freedom that is always available was my goal. <\/span><\/p>\n Hopefully this has given you feel for my journey. \u00a0Thank you for the opportunity to apply.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Jay’s Bio<\/strong>: Jay is\u00a0a founding Trustee of Awakening Together and has been serving on the Trustee board since it began in 2012. During his time on the board, Jay actively contributed to the formation of all the core organizational policies and procedures for AT.\u00a0 As a minister, Jay regularly presents weekly gatherings on Sunday morning. \u00a0\u00a0He has facilitated all 16 MPP courses at different times through three curriculum cycles of ministers, presents a weekly \u00bd hour program called \u2018Clarity from the Heart\u2019 on Wednesdays , and actively participates\u00a0in Gentle Healing since it began.\u00a0 Jay was the pioneer of the AT forum, and currently serves on the AT Forum subcommittee.\u00a0 Jay also served for six years as the Scholarship subcommittee chair, Webmaster, and contributed to creating the first AT website.\u00a0 Jay has also attended almost all of the AT pilgrimages and main retreats, and currently resides in La Veta, next to our retreat house.\u00a0 Jay volunteers at the Retreat House as the maintenance consultant, performs some maintenance tasks upon request, actively keeps up the grounds, and plans to participate in upcoming construction projects.<\/p>\n In his professional life, for many year Jay worked as a contractor building databases since 1993. This career afforded the opportunity for easy re-location as Jay was guided by Spirit to serve in one city to the next.\u00a0 Around 2015, Jay embarked full time in his own company and currently employs four people part or full time doing project work for clients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 2019 nominees to the Member Board of Trustees are: Aggie Mitchkowski George Maddox Beverly Toporowski Jay McCormick They have provided the following photos and bios to help Awakening Together members decide who to vote for during this year’s Member Board of Trustees election. This year, members will elect two people to the Member Board […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":65,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-41006","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/awakening-together.org\/dev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_0573-3-150x150.jpg\")
\nMy name is George Maddox and I\u2019m asking for your support to join the Awakening Together Trustee Board.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/awakening-together.org\/dev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_1076-e1560805152694-121x150.png\"){kind=spacer}
\nMy name is Beverly Toporowski. \u00a0I have been with Awakening Together for approximately 2 or more years now. \u00a0I am in the third year of gentle healing and have recently become a minister after finishing MPP. Awakening Together has been a vital part of my spiritual journey. \u00a0I am looking to deepen my commitment at Awakening Together and feel that this would be a good way to do that.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/awakening-together.org\/dev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Jay_150x150-150x150.jpg\")
\nJay has been drawn to God from a young age. At the early age of fourteen he began meditating and exploring spirituality.\u00a0 Not satisfied with the lack of answers traditional religion gave him, his path brought him to inner practice, ACIM, and the study of various religious texts.\u00a0 After college, Jay served in the School of Metaphysics from the age of 24-41 where he practiced daily disciplines, and taught spiritual practices and metaphysical principles in evening classes to hundreds of students.\u00a0 Jay taught and directed five different centers in: Madison, WI, Kansas City, KS, St. Louis, MO, Louisville, KY, and Chicago, IL as a non-paid volunteer. These duties included continuous outreach, financial report preparation, volunteer coordination, and overall center management.\u00a0 He also attended a year and half intensive study program at the College of Metaphysics in Missouri.\u00a0 Jay earned four certificates from the SOM, culminating in being awarded a Doctorate of Divinity.\u00a0 Jay taught over 10 other teachers, and replaced himself as director at 3 of the 5 centers he directed.\u00a0 He was awarded Teacher of the Year award, and was the creator the Peace Mandala in the Peace dome.\u00a0 This project has been constructed with over 7000 individual tiles, and was used as a ceremonial practice for years with a different person placing an individual tile along with a thought for peace. He has given dozens of lectures to groups and organizations, led many workshops, and given continuing education classes during that time.\u00a0 After leaving the SOM in 2009, Jay met Regina Dawn Akers in 2011 while hosting her at an event in Chicago, IL.\u00a0 Immediately after this event, Jay joined Regina in a pilgrimage to India for over two weeks, and was subsequently asked to be part of the team that was assembled to form Awakening Together.<\/p>\n