Rev. Sonja Mathis

Widely known in New Thought, Martha’s trainings approach deep inner work as an adventure with a sense of curiosity and wonder. A master of the art of right questioning, she calls forth the most stubborn and self-defeating patterns to create a new way of being, literally. Ordained in Religious Science and Divine Science, Martha has served as Great Lakes Unity Consultant, and is a member of Unity Institute faculty. She has attended Emerson Theological Seminary (Masters and Doctorate), Byron Katie School for The Work, and Hoffman Institute. She is a Healthy Congregations Facilitator and Trainer.

Rev. Bill Marchiony is a co-founder and Spiritual Director of New Thought Philadelphia. He has been a practitioner of Practical Healing Prayer since 2002. His spiritual studies began six years earlier, and he received ministerial credentials in 2011 from the Emerson Theological Institute.

Rev. Bill is the author of "Practical Prayer for Real Results", available in Kindle and paperback versions at Amazon.com and other booksellers. It's a wonderful primer on the steps of Practical Prayer, with 40 complete prayers on a variety of topics that you can customize for your own immediate use.

This young convert was deeply impressed and determined to make these the rules of his life. From that day onward throughout his life he made it a rule to spend the first moments of his day alone with God and God's Word. Before he read a letter, looked at a paper or even read a telegram, he went first to the Bible, that the first impression of the day might be what he got directly from God.

Rev. Dr. John is the Vice-Moderator at City of Light Atlanta where he holds Science of Mind classes in person and he also teaches online for Emerson Theological Institute.  He is licensed through the Emerson Church Without Walls and the Spiritual Living Center of Education and Training at CSL.  Rev. John is the minister for a homeless/hungry ministry that includes a food bank and clothing bank in Atlanta.  He serves as a volunteer chaplain for the LGBTQIA prison population and contracts as a hospice chaplain as well. His passion is serving the disenfranchised.

Rev. Pjae is the Senior Minister of Harmony Spiritual Center of Fort Worth and Secretary of the ANTN Board of Directors. She is a member of the ANTN conference committee and the chair of the membership committee for ANTN. Rev. Pjae is the founder of the NT Ministerial Alliance of DFW and a metaphysical instructor at Tarrant County Community College, teaching spiritual practices and encouraging artistry and creativity.

Rev. Sonja was Baptist before being introduced to New Thought teachings under Rev. Dr. Barbra King of Hillside Truth Center in Atlanta, GA, and Dr. Kennedy Shultz of the Atlanta Church of Religious Science (now CSL).

Sonja received a Master’s of Divinity from Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute, Spring 2022 and served as President of the Unity Ministerial Student Association.

She is an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) with the National Guard and serves as minister with Unity Center of Tuscaloosa, AL, and Unity Village Chapel where she teaches a weekly online yoga class.

She graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA, and has traveled to 22 countries.

Sarah Brown serves on the New THought Philadelphia Board of Trustees as Corporate Secretary.

Venerable Bhante Y. Wimala is a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk of the Theravada tradition, who travels the world to share his guidance and wisdom with people of all faiths. Sent by choice to a Buddhist temple at the age of 13, Bhante completed six years of formal training and received his higher ordination at age 20. At this stage, a Buddhist monk is typically encouraged by custom or inclination to continue in strictly formal studies, which are primarily academic in their emphasis. Bhante Wimala however, chose to set out into the world bearing only his robe and bowl.

Bhante has devoted his life to helping others by promoting his message of inner peace and spiritual transformation. Through his Triple Gem Society, where he serves as Spiritual Director, he has impacted the lives of people far and wide. He is currently based in Princeton, NJ, and continues to travel the world sharing his spiritually enlightened and inspiring message - teaching  and inspiring people to create more peace, harmony and joy in their everyday lives.

Unlike most monks who wander their homelands or live ascetically in monasteries, Bhante has been called to spend his life traveling the world, teaching and healing and bringing peace to the people of our planet. He has forged friendships across the globe, and his contagious compassion in action has resulted in numerous varieties of humanitarian projects.

Venerable Bhante Wimala is also the Chief Monk and Spiritual Director of Nairobi Buddhist Temple, Nairobi, Kenya.

Michele Whittington became an ordained minister in 1997, received her Doctorate of Divinity in 2007 and had the honor and privilege of serving the spiritual community of Creative Living Fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona, for 22 years as its Senior Minister. As a certified Real Love coach for over a decade, she has worked with countless individuals and couples to make the internal changes necessary to create loving, joyous relationships. And now as an Art of Feminine Presence® master teacher, she has added a set of practices and tools to amplify her own personal power and magnetism and to support others in doing the same.

Rev. Dr. Harold (Brock) Ford is an ordained Science of Mind minister through Emerson, as well as a Unity Prayer Chaplain through Unity of San Francisco.  He holds a Master’s in Interfaith Religious Studies from Emerson.

He also volunteers working with homeless people, as well as advocating for homeless dogs.

Brock works as a trainer, coach and realtor for Century 21/Alliance in San Francisco.

Dr. Tiffani is a staff Minister at the Global Truth Center in Los Angeles, a leader in the prop-tech industry, a comedian, a wife, and a mother to two amazing children.  Having spent many years studying improv at The Second City and as a stand-up comedian all over Los Angeles, she brings a sharp sense of humor and an unwillingness to take herself, or life, too seriously to every class she teaches and every talk she gives.

Through her lifelong passion for spirituality, an unwavering need to question EVERYTHING, and a general disdain for organized religion, Dr. Tiffani found her way to the Center for Spiritual Living Westlake Village in 2013 and dove head first into all that this teaching had to offer. Though she never believed that someone with a flair for sarcasm and an irreverent take on life, such as herself, could ever be a New Thought Minister, all of that changed when she met her mentor, Dr. James Mellon. Through Dr. James’s unfaltering support, superhuman patience, and encouragement to be unapologetically herself, Dr. Tiffani became a Minister of Religious Science in 2020 and earned her doctorate through the Emerson Theological Institute in 2022.

Ever the student, she continues to expand her understanding of the Science of Mind through the study of quantum physics and is excited to be a New Thought leader during this time that Ernest Holmes spoke of when he said, “we all look forward to the day when science and religion shall walk hand in hand through the visible to the invisible.” Being able to inspire others to change their own lives through this teaching is one of the greatest joys of her life. Making them laugh in the process is a fantastic bonus!

Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a career journalist and author, a licensed social worker and psychotherapist, ordained interfaith minister, speaker, Reiki Master, and PR professional. She is the founder of Hugmobsters Armed With Love.

A native of San Diego County, Rev. Dr. Jerry Troyer has been a New Thought/Religious Science minister since 2007, ordained in 2009.  He holds a Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate from Emerson Theological Institute.

Jerry has served as auctioneer at the annual ANTN Conference/Retreat since about 2015.

He served as volunteer ANTN Administrator starting in 2017, then was hired in 2018 as an employee.  He resigned from that position in 2020, and was appointed to the Board.  Rev. Dr. Jerry was elected to his first three-year term in 2021.

As an independent minister, Rev. Dr. Jerry guest speaks at ANTN, CSL, Religious Science and Unity centers and churches around the country, offering workshops on pertinent topics including grief and loss, the process of forgiveness, money and finances, accepting and navigating change, and a new one, titled “Radically Content: Being, Doing and Having Enough.”  He also serves Om Center for Spiritual Living in the San Diego area as a guest speaker at least once per month.

Jerry is a founding board member and currently Director of Relationship Development for Urban Street Angels, an organization in San Diego that works to end youth homelessness by providing housing, employment and life skills training to homeless transition age youth, ages 18 to 24.  He served on the Board from 2012 until 2017, when he resigned to become a paid employee.

Rev. Dr. Jerry lives in La Mesa, a suburb of San Diego, with his English Cream Golden Retriever, “Maggie.” His son Brandon and family, including seven grandchildren, live near Eugene, Oregon.

Rev. Dr. Michelle Wadleigh is an inspiring and exciting Coach, Master Teacher, Speaker, Workshop and Retreat Facilitator, and sought after Prayer Practitioner. Michelle is the co-founder of Planned Happiness Institute and the PHI Coaching Academy with her husband Rev. Neil Pinkman. Michelle founded the Center for Spiritual Living North Jersey 19 years ago and continues to serve as Spiritual Leader and Pastor.

Michelle is an incredibly unique, practical teacher who is passionate about you mastering a fully expressed life. She is grounded in solid metaphysical principles and brings to her teaching a wide-open heart along with a sense of humor joyfully demonstrated through her laughter and her engaging style. Her focus as a teacher is empowering others for their own spiritual and emotional liberation through the application of practical tools and methods including the Science of Mind. She is a straight shooter who calls things as she sees them, while using her easy-going, personal style. Michelle brings a wealth of experience from having helped thousands of people to experience great transformation in their lives. Some of the lessons that she brings everywhere are: Everything is consciousness. Consciousness first, consciousness always. There is no other.

Members of the New Thought Philadelphia Practitioner Core.