Sunshine Cathedral Blog

Question: What is your understanding of where we “go” after death? When someone dies, invariably people will say, he or she is now in heaven, but then what is the reference to the second coming of Christ when the dead will rise?
Answer: I know that energy can’t be destroyed, it only changes form; so, I [...]

Question: The Church doctrine page of the Sunburst shows the Eight Points of Progressive Christianity (from The Center for Progressive Christianity) and the Principles of the International New Thought Alliance. Why should I follow the INTA principles instead of Christ’s commandments? And why are we affiliated with The Center for Progressive Christianity (aren’t the “real [...]

Question: I can’t forgive someone who hurt me badly. We pray every week, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” but I’m not just able to forgive. Does that mean that God isn’t forgiving me for my misdeeds?
Answer: I don’t believe in religion as a means to control people’s behavior. I know non-religious [...]

Question: When does the Divine show us how to heal the pain inside? In the past, I was able to find peace and comfort (even after being gay-bashed or having a relationship come to an end), but lately it’s been difficult. I feel like I’m in darkness and just can find the light. At Sunshine [...]

Question: The closest person to me in the world recently died. I honestly prayed for his healing, but he didn’t get well, and now he is gone. Why didn’t my prayers work? What did I do wrong?
Answer: Prayer, faith, a positive attitude, hope… these are all very powerful and can make a difference in the [...]

Question: I keep hearing that Sunshine Cathedral is a progressive church. Doesn’t progressive mean liberal?
Answer: A dictionary definition of “Liberal” is as follows: favorable to progress; favorable to concepts of maximum individual freedom; free from bigotry; open-minded; generous; not bound by tradition; doesn’t insist on literalism. Synonyms for “liberal” include: progressive; broad-minded; charitable. Opposites of [...]

Question: I am a gay man in my mid 60’s who is searching for a spiritual home. I’m a former Roman Catholic but I no longer believe much of what I was taught as a child. Even though I have more doubts than solid beliefs, I still want a place to explore spirituality, to commune [...]

Question: None of my prayers are being answered lately. I wonder if God can hear me. What do you say to people who have this sort of crisis of faith?
Answer: I’m not sure you’re having a faith crisis. It takes a lot of faith (“trust”) to ask honest questions and to name genuine feelings. In [...]

Q&A by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins, Senior Pastor
Question: We say before the Gospel reading, “Glory to you, indwelling Christ!” What exactly does that mean?
Answer: It’s a play on Colossians 1.27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Very few people have grown up in MCC. People usually come to Metropolitan Community Churches from other [...]

Q&A by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins, Senior Pastor
Question: How can we be a Cathedral since we don’t have a bishop?
Answer: When I first arrived here, we had at least two people who claimed to be bishops in independent (non-Roman) Catholic communities. But I take your point: historically, a cathedral houses the cathedra, the bishop’s [...]