Meet our Fall Intern Rev. Dr. Lyle Schlundt

A long time ago, a friend told me a story that I realized was my own. She said that, before I came to earth, I planned out what I was going to experience and learn while here. Just as I was being born, an angel put their finger between my upper lip and my nose, and said, “Forget everything!” That is why we all have this little cleft between our lip and our nose. I have come here to remember who and what I really am. I came here, as a diamond in the rough. My mission is to explore and see within me, the diamond that I really am.

One side of the diamond is that of family origin. I grew up in N.E. Mpls. and am the eldest of six children born into a German Roman Catholic family. I was born in 1958. I am currently living with both parents as I put myself through school.

Another side is that of speaking my truth in this world. I have done that through Toastmasters, speech and debate, performing weddings and funerals, teaching classes and workshops. For 12 years I taught a number of classes in a few different locations for Sister Rosalind’s School of Massage. I have been trained as a Healthy Congregations Facilitator and am in training to be an Advanced Care Directive Facilitator. I am a life-long explorer of learning and love teaching.!

Yet another side is that of walking the spiritual healing path. I am a Shiatsu (Japanese Acupressure) Practitioner and a Reiki Master Teacher. I love exploring different spiritual practices and disciplines, as all spiritual paths lead to God. This might take the form of attending a Sweat Lodge, participating in a Sufi prayer dance, chanting Buddhist chants, telling stories from the Jewish tradition, and many others.

Since 1997, I have been doing Shiatsu and Reiki with private clients as well as The Aliveness Project. The Aliveness Project is an agency that works with people living with HIV. Many of my clients, besides being HIV+, have dealt with addiction and mental health challenges. This has been such an honoring and humbling ministry, and I have learned so much about addiction and mental health challenges. We in society might call them “unsanctioned illnesses”. I am there to proclaim the love that God has for all people, regardless of their station in life!

Another side is that of listening and dancing to music. I played the drums in the High School Marching Band. I love dancing, all the way from Square Dancing, Schottish, Polka, Fifties, Techno, Trance, and of course Disco! I love listening to music from Gregorian Chant, all the way through the Classics, up to Rock and Roll.

I was called to ministry at an early age. I always wanted to be a Catholic Priest. I attended The University of St. Thomas (B.A. in Theology, 1981), then went on to St. Paul Seminary. I finished two years there before I realized that I was called to ministry, but not as a Catholic Priest.

I was blessed to be introduced to Religious Science in my mid-thirties. I became an ordained Religious Science minister in 2008.

Religious Science represents a correlation of philosophy, religion and science. It is a religion in the sense that it explores and teaches Universal Principles defining the spiritual nature of the universe and our relatedness to God. It explores these Universal Principles with all the other spiritual paths around the globe and throughout time.

It is a science in that it asks us to experiment with these Universal Principles and accept only those which we can prove, demonstrate, or experience in our daily lives. It is open to the ongoing discussions of science and the ever-exploring adventure into truth.

It is a philosophy where ideas and ideals are brought together into a system of concepts about God, the Cosmos, humanity, and the human potential.

My future path is to be a Hospice Chaplain and be a non-anxious presence in helping people cross from this life to the next.

I look forward to learning from you as a congregation, and to share what I have learned as well.