Jeff and Corey welcome as their guest Father John Forman, Rector of the Burien, Washington Episcopal Church. Father John shares his teachings on how we can embrace the birth of Jesus as a beautiful mystery, thereby accessing its spiritual potency in real time and enabling us to shine the light of Christ Consciouness into the world.
Fr. John Forman
Father John is the Rector of St. Elizabeth, Burien, where he has served since September 2014. He is a Benedictine oblate of Mt Angel Abbey who earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Washington and his MDiv from Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry, where he was the graduate assistant to STM’s Ecumenical Liturgical Director.
He served as a priest associate at the Church of the Redeemer where he completed his transitional diaconate under the guidance of Rev. Canon John Fergueson. Before that, Fr. John served as a community developer, liturgical master of ceremonies, Eucharistic Minister coordinator and prayer team lead at St. Paul, Seattle, where he went through a rigorous formation and discernment process under the direction of the Right Rev. Melissa Skelton, now the Anglican Bishop of New Westminster in British Columbia. Fr. John was a trainer at the Diocesan College for Congregational Development and a consultant for the Congregational Consulting Network. Prior to ordination, Fr. John ran a small organization and leadership development consultancy with his dear friends, Dr. Bert Parlee, Paul Landraitis and, in the early days, with Steve McIntosh. With former Microsoft Exec Laurel Ross, Fr. Joh is the co-author of “Integral Leadership: The Next Half Step” published by SUNY Press in 2013. Both the consulting company and the book involved organizations of all kinds, primarily in the areas of organization and leadership development based on a body of evidence-based developmental schemas under the umbrella philosophy of Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory and methodology.
As a founding member of Wilber’s Integral Institute and Integral Spiritual Center, Fr. John has had the opportunity to meet and befriend a number of intellectual and spiritual heroes, many of whom provided guidance and insights for the book. He was a contributor to the first two Integral Spiritual Center offerings. He has presented papers at the New England Complex Systems Institute, the National Defense University and the International Society of Systems Sciences. A colleague presented a set of his papers in a collection to the United Nations. Fr. John has also written for “Nectar of NonDual Truth,” an Adviatic-based magazine interested in universal teachings from multiple traditions. He is also an amateur student and long-time fan of Zen Buddhism.