December 2, 2024 • 55 mins
In this inspiring conversation, Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye, founder of the Joyful Gathering Spiritual Center, joins Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren to share her remarkable journey of discovering New Thought teachings, founding her spiritual center, and stepping into her power. From her profound experiences at Unity Village to her bold decision to leave a long-term marriage and trust the universe, Rev. Margaret’s story is a testament to living in alignment with spiritual principles.
Thor and Rev. Margaret explore topics such as:
- Her early encounter with Ernest Holmes' teachings and how they transformed her life.
- The intuitive steps that led to founding the Joyful Gathering Spiritual Center in New Jersey.
- How New Thought principles supported her during life-changing decisions.
- Balancing teaching for seasoned practitioners and newcomers in her Sunday services.
- Her passion for incorporating quantum physics into her teachings as the "next evolution" of New Thought.
- Her approach to navigating challenging moments, including addressing political and societal tensions in her ministry.
- How the pandemic led to the creation of Spiritual Wednesdays and new opportunities for community connection.
Lightning Round Fun:
Rev. Margaret reveals her favorite part of her spiritual practice, shares her dream dinner guest, and explains how her childhood love for performing still shows up in her ministry.
Key Takeaway:
“Step into your power and trust the universe to support you. The most important guidance system we have is the fire in our hearts.”
Connect with Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye:
Learn More About the Show:
All Revved Up is an inspirational podcast for spiritual leaders seeking to deepen their impact and expand their influence. Subscribe for weekly conversations with thought leaders, ministers, and change-makers who are shaping the future of spiritual communities.
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Namaste.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (00:07):
Have you ever wondered what it takes
to fully step into your power,trust your intuition and say yes
to the calling of your heart?
In this week's episode of AllRevved Up, I had the honor of
sitting down with Reverend DrMargaret Pelleggi, founder of
the Joyful Gathering SpiritualCenter and now in her 20th year
(00:29):
as a minister.
Her story is one of resilience,faith and profound
transformation.
Here's a glimpse of what you'llhear.
Reverend Margaret shared alife-changing moment when she
made the bold decision to leavea long-term relationship guided
only by faith and her trust inthe universe.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (00:49):
I left at 3 am in the morning one
night without saying a word.
I had a little bag I packed,walked out that door and knew I
was never going back and it wasvery challenging.
But I said you know what I haveto live these teachings.
I know that the universe alwayssupports me.
(01:09):
You say that you teach it,margaret, are you going to live
it?
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (01:13):
I asked her about the unexpected
journey that led to her foundinga spiritual center.
Her response highlights thepower of listening to divine
guidance even when the pathahead isn't clear, of listening
to divine guidance even when thepath ahead isn't clear.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (01:26):
I got rid of the block big block that
was keeping me playing small,and I step out again and the
flow started once again withthings coming to me.
And I still expect things tocome to me.
It's a wonderful way to livelife because I don't know what
they're going to be.
There's no big expectation,it's just.
(01:49):
If it feels right, then I'mgoing to do it.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challg (01:54):
Margaret's wisdom extends beyond her
personal story.
She offers a profound reminderabout the importance of living
our teachings every single day.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (02:00):
We read all this.
It's so beautiful and wonderful.
Are we living it?
We have to live what we arestudying, what we want to be.
We have to live it and use itin our lives, not just, as they
say, on Sunday, but every day ofour lives.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgre (02:19):
Reverend Dr Margaret is a remarkable
example of what it means to livea life of faith, purpose and
courage.
Here now is my interview withReverend Dr Margaret Palalgye.
Welcome.
This is my interview withReverend Dr Margaret Pellegi.
(02:42):
Margaret, how are you?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (02:44):
I am wonderful today.
Thank you, Thor.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (02:48):
Well, I just have to say before we
started recording here, I wasmentioning to Reverend Margaret
that we met.
Well, we met two places.
First was in a class that DrJames Mellon taught, where you
and I were both in the class fora year and I loved being in
class with you.
It was always like such a greatexperience to talk about these
(03:12):
sort of advanced consciousnessideas that we shared, so that
was cool.
But then this past fall, whenwe were both at Unity Village
for the Anton Conference, I gotto meet you in person, so that
was a real treat.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (03:24):
Yes, yes, likewise, it was wonderful,
it was great, isn't theconference phenomenal.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (03:31):
It really was.
I had a wonderful experience.
In fact, I booked going backagain next year already.
I will say one of the thingsI'd never been to, unity Village
.
I'll just share this for peoplethat may or may not have ever
been there.
It was really just a profoundexperience to be in a setting
that goes back what like ahundred years.
(03:52):
I don't think there's anythingin New Thought like it is there.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (03:55):
Absolutely not.
I mean it has I have to saythis it has its own zip code.
That's how big it is.
The first time I went there Iwas thinking like dirt roads a
small little, and I felt like Iwas in Europe.
It's so incredible and sacred.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (04:15):
It does feel that way.
That's a great way to think ofit.
When you're there, it does feelvery much like I'm back in
Florence, italy, or something.
The architecture of it and justthe campus and the gardens and
the energy of it is amazing.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (04:30):
Yeah, it's amazing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (04:32):
I will say, just since we're on that
topic, I'm sure you've done this, but did you do the silent
unity?
I did that on the final Fridayof the conference this year,
friday of the conference thisyear, and if people don't know
Silent Unity, they've hadcontinuous prayer for what?
Over 100 years.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (04:50):
Over 100.
I think it's 126 years andthere's a flame in there that
has never gone out.
Even when they changedbuildings they were very careful
with the flame going and it issuch a sacred honor to be in
that room with that energy ofprayer for over 100 years.
(05:13):
Just amazing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (05:15):
Just amazing.
It was when you step in thereand you realize the history of
the continuity of energy of thatprayer that's continuously been
in there.
And then to sit down and Iremember thinking we only had a
half an hour.
We went from 7 to 7.30, and itjust went like that.
(05:36):
I was like wait, it's overalready.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (05:39):
Yeah, yeah, it's an amazing
experience and we were one ofthe first groups that they
allowed in there.
I don't know how long ago,maybe six years ago, and it was
just beyond words.
I have no description.
Just being in that beautifulenergy of prayer for people all
(06:02):
over the world, I mean it'sincredible.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (06:06):
Yeah, it is Well, I look forward to
I'm sure you'll be there nextyear.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (06:10):
Oh, I will.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (06:11):
Yeah, so I'll look forward to seeing
you there, if not sooner.
I want to start.
Your biography says that youfound New Thought Religious
Science in 1992 and that yourlife changed profoundly
afterward.
Tell me what was your life likebefore that and what would you
say has changed after?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (06:31):
Yeah, actually, in 1990, I started
praying.
I come from a Catholicbackground.
That didn't work for me and Ileft the church when I was 15.
And so, about when I was 40, Istarted praying to the Holy
Spirit because I didn't knowabout affirmative prayer and I
(06:53):
wanted a place.
I didn't know what it was.
I had never been in a NewThought Center, I had, you know,
never been in a Buddhist oranything else.
So I would just pray for twoyears straight.
And then I found this studygroup two years later, in 1992.
And it was okay, it was aSunday morning and it was
(07:17):
Reverend Carol Lawson had astudy group and it met once.
This was the Sunday servicepart and it met once a month.
Uh, once a week, did not, youknow, once a month didn't do it
for me.
I thought this is nice, but butI signed up for, uh, a class.
No, I just signed up as a guest.
And a couple of months later Ireceived this flyer in the mail
(07:42):
for foundations of science, ofmind class, and I follow my
intuition for everything.
I don't even my rational mindtakes a back seat and I'm like I
have to take this, I have totake this.
So I signed up for that.
That first class I heard ErnestHolmes and the reading and
(08:04):
everything I ever wanted since Iwas a teenager was there.
It blew my mind.
I knew I had found what I hadbeen looking for, that I didn't
have words for, so it profoundlyand forever changed my life.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (08:21):
Curious .
You said you heard ErnestHolmes.
I know there are recordings ofhim.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (08:25):
No, I read him, I didn't hear him.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (08:27):
Okay, yeah, I'm curious because
sometimes people have saidthey've heard his recordings
afterwards.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (08:31):
Oh, I've heard them too but,
afterwards.
No, I heard Reverend Carrolltalking about it and the
assignments.
And I'm like wow, and Iremember it, like in about the
second or third class, because Ididn't know.
They said you're going to learnprayer.
And I'm like what, I'm going tolearn prayer.
(08:52):
And I swear to God I was almostjumping up and down I was going
to learn affirmative prayer.
So I mean, from then on, thatwas it.
I couldn't get enough.
I could not get enough.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (09:03):
Did you have any?
Trepidation is not the rightword but, coming from a Catholic
background, was there anyresistance or were you just all
in like?
This is my tribe.
I found my calling in this.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (09:15):
All in the other.
God never worked for me as achild anyway.
I was in Catholic school inthree different countries.
Never worked for me anyway.
So I had to leave the Catholicchurch, Didn't have a good
experience and I never broughtmy children up in any organized
religion.
So you know, when you hit your40s now you're middle-aged,
(09:38):
you're 40 years old and there'sa God hole, there's something
missing.
And so I just kept praying.
And there's a God hole, there'ssomething missing.
And so I just kept praying andthere it was.
It filled that God hole and I'mstill studying.
It's overflowing, Overflowing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (09:55):
Did you ?
I saw that you your journey.
Then you became a practitionerin the late 90s and then you
became a minister in the early2000s.
Did you?
Did it feel like a calling toyou?
Or some people just say, youknow what?
I just love studying.
I just kept doing the nextthing.
What was your journey like fromwhen you took that first
foundations class to becoming aminister?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (10:16):
You know what I compare it to
because it's so ingrained in me.
For like 28 years I was fanaticabout studying martial arts.
I have a third degree blackbelt and I just took class after
class four times a week for 28years until I was teaching it
and it became the next step.
I never did it to become ablack belt.
(10:38):
I never did this to become apractitioner or a minister.
I did it because that intuitiveself said this is it?
Keep going, keep going.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (10:51):
Did you see a change in that time in
your own life and what waspossible for you and the things
that happened as a real, becausea lot of times people will say
that I know my wife has said shestarted practitioner training
recently because she said I sawthe difference it made for you
and I wanted that sameexperience.
Did you notice over the timefrom becoming a practitioner to
(11:13):
a minister that your life waschanging in these profound ways?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (11:17):
Absolutely , it really was changing and one
of the big changes but I'm slowto move out of a situation
sometimes was when I opened I'mjumping ahead but I'll go back
because this pertains to that.
When I opened Joyful GatheringSpiritual Center, I saw really
(11:40):
how out of integrity I was in my40-year marriage.
I finally found the power toleave and I did that.
I just walked out the front doorand left, never, went back, so
I would say it completely put mein integrity with so much of my
(12:03):
life.
Now that had to go, because itreally wasn't in integrity and I
have never been happier, neverin my life as I am right now.
But it took, I would say, fromthe very beginning until 2010,.
It took that long for me toreally come into my own power,
(12:25):
because we're so ingrained withthese old beliefs that keep us
stuck in relationships andpositions and beliefs that no
longer serve us.
So, yes, absolutely.
Without it I can't imagine.
I just cannot even imagine.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (12:43):
I can't imagine.
I just cannot even imagine Ifyou don't.
I'd love to just explore thatjust a little bit further,
because a lot of times peoplewill have significant
revelations or changes in theirlife.
Was that something that waschallenging to come to?
That realization of like thisrelationship is not serving me
anymore.
(13:03):
I need.
There's something more for me.
Tell me more about what it waslike, and how did you use your
faith, so to speak, to get youthrough that moment.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (13:16):
That was a very interesting time.
I knew for quite a while thatthis was a very toxic
relationship and I was convincedthat I could never make it on
my own, never in any way, shapeor form.
So then I opened a spiritualcenter, which that's another
story, and there was no controlon his part over me.
(13:39):
So now I'm stepping in faith.
I left at 3 am in the morningone night without saying a word.
I had a little bag I packed,walked out that door and knew I
was never going back, and it wasvery challenging.
But I said you know what I haveto live these teachings.
(14:01):
I know that the universe alwayssupports me.
You say that you teach it,margaret, are you going to live
it?
It was the most amazing.
Things fell into place that Icould never have planned for.
I was fully as scary as couldbe.
I didn't have money.
Really, all I had was my faithand my community, and things
(14:24):
kept coming to me, coming to me,coming to me, and so the
universe completely supports uswhen we step out into the
absolute unknown.
It was one of the most profoundand incredible experiences of
my life, and the best.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (14:41):
I would imagine, too, that that becomes
a sort of signature thing thatyou can speak about, because
it's got to be that peopleresonate with that Like forever
Margaret was able to go throughthis.
What could I do in some area ofmy life where I just I'm living
from a place of fear?
So I imagine that has hasserved you well.
(15:02):
Having gone through that.
It's something that you talk alot about, I'm sure.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (15:06):
Well, I used to bring it up as a
lesson.
Only I'll tell you something Ileft 3 am Monday because I did
Sunday service, I did a workshop, okay, and then I went to bed
and I couldn't sleep and thatvoice was I've never heard a
voice in my head Okay, and thissaid, pack that little bag and
(15:28):
go, and it wouldn't let me sleep.
I did that and I just walkedout that front door and never
missed a class.
The next day I was teaching.
I was teaching radicalforgiveness.
The universe really has thebest sense of humor.
And so, thank God, it was thelast night and we were watching
(15:49):
a movie on forgiveness.
I never missed a Sunday serviceand people didn't even know
until later on.
You know, because I'm like Icome from you can't tell it from
this accent, but I do come fromEngland, so I have this English
fortitude and it got me througheverything.
That and that, the belief thatthe universe really supports me.
(16:13):
It's a great teaching tool.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (16:16):
It's funny you mentioned English.
I think of the thing we allassociate with England of keep
calm and carry on.
That's almost like a positiveaffirmation in itself, isn't it?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (16:26):
It absolutely is.
The toughest people I have ever.
The strongest people I've evermet in my life were because I
grew up in England.
For eight years were theBritish.
You don't talk about that.
You just no one ever talkedabout the war, which you know.
I just was born right out ofthe war and because I was 49, so
(16:49):
you all know my age now yes, 75, I'm going to be in December
1st and it's you just keep going.
The show goes on.
Life goes on, you know, and youmove through it and you deal
with the feelings.
You know, I do because of thisteaching, but no one ever talked
their emotions.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (17:10):
Yeah Well, you mentioned having
started your center, joyfulGathering Spiritual Center, in
2010.
I'm curious what were theorigins of that?
Were you at that time, were youa minister in another center,
and what was the calling for youthat said, hey, I need to start
my own spiritual center?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (17:31):
This is a really interesting story.
So I was 17 years at the Centerfor Conscious Living and a
woman there came up to me andshe lived in this little church
in another town and she said Ihad a dream about you.
You were talking in the churchI live in and you had a group of
(17:53):
people watching you.
You want to do that?
And I'm like okay.
And I'm like okay.
So I never planned in my wholelife to start a spiritual center
.
This was not on the consciousradar of me, it was somewhere in
my subconscious, I guess.
But I did it Friday nights oncea month, but it was like a
(18:16):
Sunday service because that'swhat I knew.
So I did the talk.
I had a great musician friendof mine.
He did the music and we didthat for quite a few months.
I met with the minister threetimes.
It was very difficult, oh boy,to leave because I needed her
blessing to be in integrity.
(18:38):
So I left and then I was atthis facility, a beautiful
building that was calledStarting Point, a lot of
psychiatrists and psychologistsand recovery, big recovery place
, and I was there like for maybetwo months doing sessions with
(18:58):
people counseling, like formaybe two months doing sessions
with people counseling, and itwasn't resonating.
So I met with Vince DePasqualeto leave.
I was going to leave and hetook me out for lunch.
He didn't know that and he saidyou know I was place, so I have
(19:29):
to put a board together and Ihave to invite people to be on
that board.
And so that was how it allunfolded, step by step by step.
Applied for the 501c3, dideverything as I was reading.
I had no mentor as I wasreading.
This is what you do and that'sit.
2010,.
We're incorporated as anonprofit and then a 501c3.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (19:53):
I love how, in both of the instances,
it was someone that came to youand said I have this dream where
I saw you, and then someoneelse said you should do this and
you should open it here.
It's so funny.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (20:07):
It's almost like that's the universe
talking to you saying hey, nodoubt in my mind.
And that's how, because I'm notreally good with goals.
I can plan trips and plancertain things.
But I remember before I met myformer husband, which was a long
time right, Things would cometo me, All these opportunities
(20:27):
would come to me.
But this shows you thedifference.
I was ready at that point tosay yes to starting.
I turned down every singleincredible opportunity that
people just came up to me for.
So I got rid of the block.
This is so important foreveryone.
I got rid of the block, bigblock that was keeping me
(20:49):
playing small, and I step outagain and the flow started once
again with things coming to me.
And I still expect things tocome to me.
It's a wonderful way to livelife, because I don't know what
they're going to be.
There's no big expectation,it's just if it feels right,
(21:10):
then I'm going to do it.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (21:12):
You mentioned that you got the
blessing of the minister, thecenter you were leaving.
How was that sort of transitionDid you end up having?
Were there people that followedyou or was it a kind of a whole
new group of people?
Tell me about what that firstyear was like.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (21:27):
Yeah, what I did was I did not want
to.
I had the mailing list, ofcourse, of all them.
I did not want to do that.
So there were some people thatwere coming Friday nights not a
lot, but there were some peoplethat came with me.
But this is the thing I was inthis recovery place and lots of
(21:49):
therapists and psychiatriststhere and Vince who did lectures
during the week.
He would send all these peopleto us and they became some of my
most amazing they're still withme, a lot of them most amazing
students and now ministers.
It all came through thestarting point.
(22:11):
I did not know, I didn't eventhink about.
Oh, I knew that I did not wantto do anything to jeopardize the
other spiritual community.
That would be wrong.
So, again, the universesupported me and I miss having
him recommend all those peoplebecause we left there after 10
(22:31):
years.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (22:33):
Yeah, we mentioned at the top of the
show.
I met you at Anton.
Is that your main affiliationin terms of your center?
I know you're a science of mind, religious science center but
you're not like a CSL center.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (22:46):
No, we are independent, not one to
follow rules, which is why theCatholic Church really did not
resonate with me, or I didn'tresonate with them, that's for
sure.
And so, yeah, affiliated NewThought Network is what we are a
(23:08):
part of.
In fact, when I started thisministry class which I let
Spirit put together becausethere was no way I was putting
that together, and it did.
It was an incredible,incredible journey I told them
go research CSL.
They were my practitioners,they were 12.
Go research that, go researchAgape, and go research Anton.
(23:32):
And it was unanimous we staywith Anton, which we were with
before.
So we stayed with Anton, neverbelonged to CSL.
They did not want to belong toCSL, they did not want to belong
to Agape.
I let it be, you decide.
And so here we are with Anton,and I love, love that
(23:56):
organization.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (23:58):
Yeah, with your community as it is now
.
What would you say is the sortof what religious background do
most of your members bring?
Are they sort of scattered,different, like Catholicism?
What do you find people is?
What was their spiritual homeor teaching before they are with
your center?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (24:18):
I would say 95% were Catholic or
some kind of Christian, butmostly Roman Catholic and I
should say you're in New Jersey.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (24:28):
Yes, is it fair to say that you're
outskirts of Philadelphia area,part of New Jersey?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (24:36):
We're about 20 minutes outside of
Philadelphia.
We're in Collingswood, NewJersey.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (24:42):
Okay, so that probably is an area.
I would assume that there's alot of Catholics in that area,
correct?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (24:48):
Yes, there are Okay.
Quite a bit, that makes sense,yeah, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (24:52):
What other besides religious science,
science of minors, homes?
What other teaching, what otherwork do you bring to the
ministry, to your talks?
I know some people were like Idon't bring a lot of Bible into
what I talk about.
What do you find resonates withyou and with your community?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (25:11):
Yeah, it's what I'm studying.
At the time I studied withColin Tippin in 2002.
So that's radical forgivenessand so that was the first class
that I taught at my other centerand that was like phenomenal it
(25:31):
still is.
People need that forgivenesswork.
Mary Morrissey, with ProsperityPlus one, two, three, did all
of them many times, that was areally big.
And the Abraham work you know,Jerry and Esther Hicks, my
(25:51):
criteria is as long as it is inalignment with Ernest Holmes and
those spiritual truths, thenthat's I can teach that, I can
say that.
If it's, if it conflicts in anyway, it just I don't even
attract it into my life.
I just attract the things thatare in alignment with.
(26:13):
What I found was from otherexperiences that when a
spiritual center mixes too manyother influences into their
center, the people who arecoming in for the first time,
they get confused.
So I wanted to make sure fromthe very beginning that people
(26:34):
knew this is religious science.
I'm not afraid to say the name,as I kind of was brought up in
this like you might want to callit something else.
No, I called it religiousscience.
I call us religious science,slash New Thought.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (26:51):
So I'm very proud of Ernest Holmes'
work going back to the whatthings might you not want to
bring in or associate with, havethere been things where
sometimes people are like oh,I'd like to do a workshop on
this or that, and you're likethat's not really, it's too far
outside of our core teaching.
(27:11):
Has that ever happened?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (27:13):
Not really.
At our spiritual center we havea lot of workshops, usually one
a month or two sometimes, andwe'll do sound healing chakras,
which is like people love that.
I want to give the communitywhat I think they're going to
feel, because I have like apulse on the community and what
(27:35):
they like.
And no, but see, what I learnedbefore was you can dilute a
teaching with so many othertheories that, like I said,
people get confused.
This is to uplift people, toexpand them, this consciousness,
(27:56):
and that's why I'm so attractedto quantum physics.
Yeah, it's so perfect.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (28:06):
Yeah, it's kind of the next evolution.
It is have the ability to talkwith those people using
spiritual language.
But now with quantummetaphysics, now you have an
ability to talk with people whomaybe they're approaching it
(28:27):
more from a scientific or thatkind of language resonates with
them.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (28:31):
So now you can say okay, it's like
this I'm just starting tointegrate these terms because,
wow, there's so much behind it.
But it's the same thing withquantum physics.
Like two years before I met DrJames Mellon, I kept saying to
everybody I've got to study, Idon't know why.
(28:53):
I never know why I have tostudy quantum physics and I have
to find a teacher.
I've never had anotherspiritual teacher, uh, besides
my first teacher, dr CarolLawson until I heard James
Mellon, and so it took a whileto find him, and then it took
another year, as you know, tonail him down.
(29:15):
But I was going to study withhim because he is the only
teacher that I said I need tostudy with him.
I need to study with himbecause he is the only teacher
that I said I need to study withhim.
I need to study with him.
I didn't even know what he wasgoing to.
I didn't know he taught quantumphysics at the time.
That's not what he talked aboutwhen he was the keynote speaker
at Anson.
But I knew I had to speak withhim.
Then I found out it was quantumphysics.
(29:36):
Now I really have.
So the universe always guidesme and I always listen.
I feel it in my body.
I don't question it with mymind.
I have never, ever in my lifestalked another human being, so
he has the honor of being theonly one.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (29:56):
I remember that when a couple of
months before his class, about ayear ago, started, I remember
him coming back from Antonsaying I met this woman,
reverend Margaret, and she is soon fire about wanting to take
that class, and so you were kindof a legend before the class
even started, oh God, a legendin someone's mind, huh a legend
(30:24):
in someone's mind.
Huh, I don't know why, but I wasthinking, as you were talking
about feeling it and being inyour heart but not in your head,
the phrase no brainer came intomind, you know, because
sometimes we think of thatphrase of no brainer, mean like
of course you would do that, youdon't even have to think about
it.
But isn't that also in a way,like if you're guided by that
inner knowing, by your heart,then in some ways you don't have
(30:44):
to think about it?
It just is the most obviousnext thing that you should
pursue.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (30:50):
Absolutely .
I have done that just about mywhole life.
I just sometimes to mydisadvantage when I was younger.
But I've always followed thisinner knowing and then I
discovered this is my God voice,my intuition, this is what
feels right and that's how Imake all my decisions, even
(31:15):
moving into this, my home.
After I got divorced it waslike I don't do black, you know,
on paper, black and white.
I just found a house I lovedand I said I'm moving in, I
don't care what it says with thenumbers or anything else, I'm
moving in, and I did, and it'swonderful.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (31:39):
I love that.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (31:40):
Yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (31:40):
Tell me about your process.
When you're putting togetheryour Sunday service and maybe
you're thinking about what youwant to talk about you balance
(32:02):
the teaching of people that arelongtime members, who know what
you're talking about, versusmaybe newer people who are like
what Mental equivalent, what isthat?
How do you balance the newpeople and also the people who
have been with you in a teachingfor a while?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagy (32:14):
That's a great question and I'm very
aware of that.
When I was in martial arts andI only studied with Korean men,
I was taught when you'reteaching a class, focus on the
white belt, not the red belt,not the green belt.
You focus on the white belt.
So it's like that's ingrainedin me.
(32:34):
So I'll have.
My talks are all written out onpaper.
That's the way I do them, andif I have a concept that I know
is going to be on the level thatsomeone's been studying this
for 10 years, we'll get, they'llget it.
Then I'll break it down, I'llsimplify it.
(32:54):
I always break down thoseconcepts to very elementary, go
as simple as I can, because Iwant everyone to understand what
I'm talking about and itusually works.
It usually works.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (33:12):
And do you find that people that are
newer there do they generallyget what you're talking about,
or will they come up afterwardsand go, hey, can you elaborate
more on that?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (33:21):
Yeah, they get it.
They usually say, oh my God,you were talking to me, it was
for me and I'm like it was foryou, it's for me too, it's for
both of us.
Yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (33:32):
That's a great point.
I think a lot of times peoplewill when they're thinking about
the talk is if it's somethingthat you go this is what I
needed to hear for myself thenyou can pretty much be assured
that other people will resonatewith it too.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (33:45):
Yes, that's been my experience.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (33:48):
Yes, Tell me, I know you also.
In addition to your Sundayservices, you also have a
service on Wednesday.
How does your Wednesday or yourmidweek services?
How do they differ from whatyou do on a Sunday?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (34:00):
Okay, so I don't do them because I'm
a big believer in delegation,but I attend them.
We had one.
It's called SpiritualWednesdays and we started that
during the pandemic because allof a sudden everyone's on Zoom,
right.
So you know, the first Sundaywe have met, sunday first,
(34:21):
wednesday we have meditation.
It's an hour long.
It's not a sunday servicewhatsoever.
The second we do what is it?
The science of mind, living thescience of mind.
So we'll do a couple of pagesand break it down.
People, it's a question andanswer.
And then the.
The third what do we do?
(34:42):
Oh, that was last night.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (34:43):
We did power of eight, that's I was
going to ask you tell me aboutthat.
What is that?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (34:49):
yeah, that's.
And then that's lynnmctaggart's book, the power of
eight and I have one of ourministers leads that and Michael
Rogers, reverend Michael Rogers, and it's intention setting,
and so we have the two peopleyou know he sets the tone and
(35:10):
we'll have two different people,because that's as much time as
we have set an intention They'dlike prayer for, and then the
rest of us, not even prayer,just take it into consciousness.
And then the rest of us, noteven prayer, just take it into
consciousness, and then the restof us on the call will see what
comes through and pictures,ideas, you know, all kinds of
(35:31):
things come through, and thenthey share them with that person
.
And yeah, it's not anythinglike a Sunday service.
And then the fourth Sunday wehave a spiritual movie which we
have now moved into, greg Braden, and you know, really
metaphysical, not metaphysical,quantum physics spiritual movies
(35:54):
.
I said no more of those othermovies, let's play this.
This is where we are takingreligious science communities to
the next level slowly.
But those spiritual scientists,the quantum physicists, I think
(36:15):
it's something that ourcommunity needs to hear and they
seem to be responding to thatcommunity needs to hear, and
they seem to be responding tothat, and so you'll watch that
on Zoom and then have adiscussion about it afterwards.
Yes, yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (36:26):
I love that.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (36:27):
It's great.
It is great.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (36:28):
Talking of bringing a little bit of
real talk into our discussion.
We're now a couple of weeksafter the election.
People are still sort offinding their equilibrium of.
You know, there are some people, obviously we know that this is
the result they wanted, somepeople clearly not.
How do you as a minister, howdo you address that?
(36:50):
How much can you bring in thereal world and yet still stay on
principle?
What are you finding in thesefirst couple of weeks is your
voice on these kind of subjects?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (37:01):
Yeah, as a lot of ministers have
expressed, that first Sundayafter the election for us was
pretty challenging and you can'tignore the elephant in the room
, right.
So I'll talk about.
I did talk about the upset.
I'm not upset, but I don't evenknow what I said.
(37:24):
But I don't name partiesbecause I don't believe that
churches, spiritual centers,should influence their members
one way or the other.
But there were a lot of peoplethat were really hurting and
there's no way I was going toignore that pain.
So I had my talk anyway, whichhappened to be on prayer that
(37:48):
week.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (37:49):
I watched it.
It was excellent.
Oh, did you?
I did.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (37:52):
Oh, then you can tell.
I don't watch them afterwards,so I don't even know what I said
, but I do know that in thebeginning I felt very strongly
about, um, opening it up and notignoring the uh pain that a lot
of people in the room weregoing through.
There might've been a couplethat were not, that were elated,
(38:15):
and I said that, wherever youstand, you know that's fine, but
I had to address that because,yeah, a lot of pain, a lot of
grief, that was.
There's a big grief going on inthis country.
There really is.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (38:32):
And what do you find how as a
minister?
How do you see your role inhelping people process that
grief?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (38:39):
And I've been really cognizant of
how I really want to show up andhow I really want to be and
address this, and it's what I'vealways believed that we are the
light, but not just words.
We are the light, we are thelightbearers, and during this
(39:01):
time, we need to be evenstronger.
And what does that mean?
That means that we need to bekinder, we need to have more
respect for others.
We need to really step up ourgame here.
This is a huge shift inconsciousness that I don't know.
We've been talking about thisfor like 20 years.
(39:23):
There's going to be a big shiftin consciousness.
Well, guess what?
It's here.
So now you can spend your lifein that sadness and darkness or
joy, whatever you are feeling,or you can really become aware
even more of that love withinyou and the goodness within you
(39:44):
and stick to what you think isethical in your life.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (39:49):
I've spoken with a number of
ministers in the last couple ofweeks and I suspect this could
go back even beyond just theelection, where they initially
were like.
I have my own emotions about it, but I also know in my role as
a spiritual leader, I have tofigure out what am I saying to
people?
And it has to be authentic,like if I'm sad, if I'm upset.
(40:12):
It has to be that.
How do you, when you havechallenging things going on in
your life and maybe this is anexample where do you get your
spiritual nourishment such thatyou can minister to other people
?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (40:27):
And I really do get it from within
myself.
It's like the week after I leftmy former husband I showed up.
Nobody even knew.
It's like carry on.
And I have a prayer partner, soI mean I'm'm getting prayer
also because that's what weteach during the week.
(40:50):
But really, this is what I'msupposed to do, this is what God
wants me to do, because thething within me that is God is
saying yes, just step up there.
And it's like the opening tothat talk.
I just let it flow.
I had a whole thing written outand I was like, oh, forget it,
(41:12):
we're not saying that.
And so I just whatever was Iwas feeling is what I I spoke of
.
And so for me, I I get it withthem, because I know there's a
purpose for each of us here, andespecially when we are in the
sacred role of spiritual leaders.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (41:32):
I think also in times like and I've
thought this for the last coupleof years what an opportunity
there is in our teaching,because there's so many people
out there that are hurting, andwhatever side of a political
question there are, there arepeople that are hurting and they
don't know who they are, theydon't know how much power they
have.
If they were able to realizethat, what could they do with
(41:56):
their life?
And so sometimes instead theyturn to blame or they turn to
division or it's somebody else'sfault.
So just from an opportunitystandpoint, I look at that and
go gosh, if we could find waysto broaden that message so that
people go oh, you know what, Ido have more power to do these
(42:17):
things than I realize.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (42:19):
And that's what the Sunday messages
are really about stepping intoyour power, bringing it down to
a level that we can use.
Because that's my, one of mybiggest things in life is like,
okay, we read all this, it's allbeautiful and wonderful.
Are we living it?
We have to live what we arestudying, what we want to be.
(42:43):
We have to live it and use itin our lives, not just, as, say,
on Sunday, but every day of ourlives.
That's why we have the Sunday,I mean the Wednesday hour, the
spiritual hour, so people cantouch in if they were feeling
out of sorts.
And then we have all thepractitioners and ministers that
are open for all, of course,phone calls for prayer, you know
(43:07):
, just to pray.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (43:09):
When you're writing a talk, you're
thinking about what you wantthat Sunday message to be.
How much of your life is inyour message?
Do you pull from your ownexperience and share that with
people?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (43:22):
Well, I'll write the message, the
talk is written, I'll have allmy books and everything and
that's down.
And then as I'm speaking it andas I'm living through the week
with it, then my own life getsright in there and that's not
written down in the talks.
That's something that I just Iknow is coming through.
In fact, it's so funny becausepeople don't know this and I
(43:44):
tell them, I tell ourcongregation.
I'm up there, I got like I havemy talk and I have like 10
different ideas in my head andat the same time as I'm speaking
, I'm like saying, yeah, this isgood, that's good.
Don't get rid of that one.
Don't say that one, I'll say itanyway.
This will make them laugh.
I love to make people laugh onSunday, but yeah, it's amazing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (44:16):
So, yeah, a lot of my life are in
the talks.
So it's sort of a combinationthen of you have a written
preparation of things you wantto say, but then you're also
open in the moment to the waythat it's going to unfold.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (44:23):
Absolutely yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (44:25):
Tell me about your like, from a
physical standpoint, where youguys meet.
If I understand right, you meetin a community center.
Is it in Collingwood,collingswood?
Rev. Dr. Margaret (44:34):
Collingswood , yeah, new Jersey.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (44:36):
Okay.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (44:37):
Yeah, this is the crazy part, okay.
So we were in this building andI never liked the room we were
in.
That was its starting point.
Wonderful organization, likethe room we were in.
That was its starting point.
Wonderful organization,incredible, just the greatest
people.
And that's where we got most ofour members from.
And during the pandemic, wecouldn't really meet there and I
(45:01):
wasn't liking that.
So we had outside services whenwe could, with masks.
We did that for about eightweeks and in the middle of all
this, in 2020, september, thespace we had been looking at
became available because Iwanted a nice big space with
lots of windows and no uglypaintings and things on the
walls, and so it becameavailable.
(45:22):
So the board and I went over,we looked at it, loved it,
signed the contract, and so thatwas four years ago.
Yeah, that's four years ago.
So that's how we found this is.
So.
It's the collingswood umcommunity center and it's
upstairs in the ballroom, so wehave the huge room and every
(45:46):
there must be about 20 windowsin this room.
So you know there's pros andcons to making that move.
We had to give up a lot ofstuff, but I feel so good when
we go on Sunday mornings thatwe're in a beautiful space and
people feel comfortable.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (46:04):
So that's where you meet on Sundays
, but it's not your businessaddress, per se Is that correct.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagy (46:10):
That's correct.
Business address actually is inmy home because we don't have
an office.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (46:17):
Right, and then what do you do for
classes?
Do you teach those virtually,or what's that like?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (46:23):
No, I didn't like the virtual
teaching.
I'm not Dr James with like 50PowerPoints.
He does the best Zoom classes.
I don't like them on Zoom.
So for many years we met in myhome and now we'll do both.
We'll rent a room in thecommunity center because a lot
(46:46):
of people live near them thereand it's convenient, or we'll do
them in my home if it's notLike the summer.
It was so large that we had tomove it to the community center.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (46:58):
Like I saw you're doing a class in
January.
The power of decision based on.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:03):
Is that?
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (47:03):
the yeah.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:04):
So is that something that you're?
Yeah, I'm changing that.
Oh, are you Okay?
What are you Okay?
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (47:08):
What are you going to do now?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:09):
I'm not.
I'm not really sure yet.
I in fact.
That's on my list.
I have lists all over the place.
I've come up with a reallygreat um class.
You know I might do ProsperityPlus again.
Um you know, I haven't quitedecided yet.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (47:34):
All right, um, yeah, I just just
finishing off the conversationabout the location.
I'm always curious because wedon't have our own building.
I mean, we have a leased space,but I know there are some
centers where they do havesomething.
They own some that don't.
Has that ever been?
I'm assuming it works out wellfor you and it's affordable in a
sense of like okay, this makesgood financial sense.
Is that?
I guess it's not reallysomething where you'd ever look
at buying something right?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:55):
No, we really.
I mean, if it happened, I wouldgo with it, you know, because
it would come to me, but it'snot something that I have as a
goal in my mind to own, to be alandlord.
I would like more flexibilitywith the space we're in now.
However, that's the great thingabout owning your own.
(48:18):
You can do, you can throwparties, you can do all kinds of
stuff anytime you want, becauseyou own the building.
And we just and I tell you,when we moved in the pandemic,
right when everything was likepeople weren't coming out,
nothing going on, we, we renteda space that was four times more
costly than the one we wereleaving.
(48:40):
But if you believe in thisteaching, then you just do it.
Know that was the right thingto do.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (48:48):
How do you market your center or get
sort of get the word out for newpeople?
What do you find has beeneffective for you guys in terms
of growing your membership?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (48:57):
So right now, since the pandemic
has completely changed, I neverreally marketed but social media
being on social media, which Ido, all that on Instagram on,
mostly on Facebook you knowwhere we can make events and get
the word out there and ournewsletter, which we you know,
(49:19):
of course, we send that out andremind us for all of our
different events.
People, when I ask them howhave you heard about this center
, they usually say through thecomputer, because I put hashtags
.
I don't even know where they go, I don't know anything, I just
do it because that's what peoplesay is effective.
So I have a whole bunch ofhashtags after all my videos,
(49:44):
after whatever I send out.
There's hashtags everywhere andthen you can share them to
different groups, which I do.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (49:52):
Do you find people mostly come to you
from the sort of neighborhood orcommunity you're in?
Or how far away fromCollingswood do people come for
like a Sunday service?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (50:03):
Well, I have one person, but she's
been a member for a long time,like 14 years, since the
beginning.
She comes about an hour awayand she comes nearly every
Sunday, but most people arelocal.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (50:19):
Okay.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (50:20):
Yeah, that makes sense, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (50:22):
Yeah, I've had that conversation with
my daughter.
She lives in New York City andI asked her how far would you go
on a Sunday for a service?
Like there's a center FirstReligious Science Center, I
think is up west side, and shesaid it's like an hour away from
her and she's like, no, Iwouldn't.
I mean she's 25.
So she's going to more likelygo to brunch on Sunday versus
(50:44):
going to church, but I'm alwayscurious, like how far people
will go for a Sunday service.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palag (50:51):
Usually half hour, I would say would be
the calf the closer the better,yeah, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:01):
Well, let me now move to the lightning
round.
This is a series of questionsI'm just going to ask, meant to
be sort of fun, and yes or no,or whatever comes to you, and if
there's something we want tofollow up on, we'll do that, so
all right.
So have you ever manifested aparking spot or a first-class
upgrade using science of mind?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:13):
Yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:14):
Okay, what is the most important part
of your morning spiritualpractice?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:20):
My meditation and my reading.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:23):
Is there a TV show, a movie or a
book that you think sort ofperfectly demonstrates science
of mind, principles?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:30):
Most of it would be Ernest Holmes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:33):
Okay, In our teaching in religious
science we will often hear theterms God, consciousness, the
universe, the thing itself,quantum field.
What's a term that you findyourself using the most and sort
of have the most comfort with?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:47):
Okay, so I'm comfortable with all of
them, but I was using universefor a very long time and now
it's like the field ofpotentiality in the field and
I'm bringing that, so, yeah, andI think people probably hear it
and they go, okay, whateverthey hear it as God or yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (52:08):
And it's funny, I'm now thinking
I've sort of come full circle inthe I am God part that I do.
I'm very comfortable with thatnow.
In the beginning it was likeokay, I got to think about this,
but now I think it much more ofI am God in a quantum sense,
that all of these quantumpotentials in my life are in
(52:29):
essence God.
It's consciousness, it's thatloving energy.
So to me they're synonymous.
But okay, so let's say youcould invite one person for
dinner Ernest Holmes, ralphWaldo, emerson Gandhi or Oprah.
Who's coming over to dinner?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagy (52:46):
Ernest Holmes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (52:47):
He's always like the number one
answer.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (52:48):
Oh yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (52:50):
I'm like it's an intriguing question
Aside from being a minister orspeaker, what's one career or
job that you could imagine thatyou would love having?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (53:00):
None, the only other profession I was
ever interested in as a youngchild and I manifested it but
wasn't ready was an actress.
So, like I tell people when I'mup there at the podium, you put
a mic in front of me.
I was performing at three.
You put a mic in front of me.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna dosomething with that mic, I'm
(53:21):
gonna perform in some way.
So I'm still in front of amicrophone.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (53:25):
You're still doing it.
Yeah Well, my last question issort of more contemplative, and
this is where I want to wrap upour discussion today is if you
think about advice you mightgive to two people.
One is maybe someone who'sstarting out in ministry, and
then the second is to youryounger self, maybe when you
(53:48):
first became a minister and, ifI understand right, 2004,.
So is this your 20th year?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (53:53):
It is as a minister, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor C (53:55):
Congratulations , thank you.
What, if anything, would yousay to you know 20 years ago,
version of Margaret when youwere starting off, and what
advice do you have for ministerstoday and what's going on in
today's world?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (54:11):
So I to my, when I was starting out.
Okay, I would just say tomyself keep doing what you're
doing and that's the way I livemy life.
Now I wouldn't give it anyother advice.
No advice Just keep on doingwhat you love to do, what you're
(54:32):
called to do.
And I would give that sameadvice to ministers.
Starting out is if you feelthat passion, that fire in your
heart, then follow it.
It's the most importantguidance system that we have, I
believe.
For me it works.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (54:49):
I love that.
Well, reverend Dr MargaretJoyful Gathering Spiritual
Center.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today.
I loved our conversation, lovedtalking with you, and I get the
privilege of getting to see youagain every week, every week.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (55:06):
Thank you so much.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (55:08):
Thank you, bye.
Thank you so much for joiningme on this episode of All Revved
Up.
I hope you found inspirationand wisdom in my conversation
with Reverend Dr Margaret Pelagy.
If this conversation resonatedwith you, I'd love for you to
share it with someone who mightbenefit from hearing it.
And don't forget to subscribeto the podcast so you never miss
(55:29):
an episode.
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time.
Have you ever wondered what it takes
to fully step into your power,trust your intuition and say yes
to the calling of your heart?
In this week's episode of AllRevved Up, I had the honor of
sitting down with Reverend DrMargaret Pelleggi, founder of
the Joyful Gathering SpiritualCenter and now in her 20th year
(00:29):
as a minister.
Her story is one of resilience,faith and profound
transformation.
Here's a glimpse of what you'llhear.
Reverend Margaret shared alife-changing moment when she
made the bold decision to leavea long-term relationship guided
only by faith and her trust inthe universe.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (00:49):
I left at 3 am in the morning one
night without saying a word.
I had a little bag I packed,walked out that door and knew I
was never going back and it wasvery challenging.
But I said you know what I haveto live these teachings.
I know that the universe alwayssupports me.
(01:09):
You say that you teach it,margaret, are you going to live
it?
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (01:13):
I asked her about the unexpected
journey that led to her foundinga spiritual center.
Her response highlights thepower of listening to divine
guidance even when the pathahead isn't clear, of listening
to divine guidance even when thepath ahead isn't clear.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (01:26):
I got rid of the block big block that
was keeping me playing small,and I step out again and the
flow started once again withthings coming to me.
And I still expect things tocome to me.
It's a wonderful way to livelife because I don't know what
they're going to be.
There's no big expectation,it's just.
(01:49):
If it feels right, then I'mgoing to do it.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challg (01:54):
Margaret's wisdom extends beyond her
personal story.
She offers a profound reminderabout the importance of living
our teachings every single day.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (02:00):
We read all this.
It's so beautiful and wonderful.
Are we living it?
We have to live what we arestudying, what we want to be.
We have to live it and use itin our lives, not just, as they
say, on Sunday, but every day ofour lives.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgre (02:19):
Reverend Dr Margaret is a remarkable
example of what it means to livea life of faith, purpose and
courage.
Here now is my interview withReverend Dr Margaret Palalgye.
Welcome.
This is my interview withReverend Dr Margaret Pellegi.
(02:42):
Margaret, how are you?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (02:44):
I am wonderful today.
Thank you, Thor.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (02:48):
Well, I just have to say before we
started recording here, I wasmentioning to Reverend Margaret
that we met.
Well, we met two places.
First was in a class that DrJames Mellon taught, where you
and I were both in the class fora year and I loved being in
class with you.
It was always like such a greatexperience to talk about these
(03:12):
sort of advanced consciousnessideas that we shared, so that
was cool.
But then this past fall, whenwe were both at Unity Village
for the Anton Conference, I gotto meet you in person, so that
was a real treat.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (03:24):
Yes, yes, likewise, it was wonderful,
it was great, isn't theconference phenomenal.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (03:31):
It really was.
I had a wonderful experience.
In fact, I booked going backagain next year already.
I will say one of the thingsI'd never been to, unity Village
.
I'll just share this for peoplethat may or may not have ever
been there.
It was really just a profoundexperience to be in a setting
that goes back what like ahundred years.
(03:52):
I don't think there's anythingin New Thought like it is there.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (03:55):
Absolutely not.
I mean it has I have to saythis it has its own zip code.
That's how big it is.
The first time I went there Iwas thinking like dirt roads a
small little, and I felt like Iwas in Europe.
It's so incredible and sacred.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (04:15):
It does feel that way.
That's a great way to think ofit.
When you're there, it does feelvery much like I'm back in
Florence, italy, or something.
The architecture of it and justthe campus and the gardens and
the energy of it is amazing.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (04:30):
Yeah, it's amazing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (04:32):
I will say, just since we're on that
topic, I'm sure you've done this, but did you do the silent
unity?
I did that on the final Fridayof the conference this year,
friday of the conference thisyear, and if people don't know
Silent Unity, they've hadcontinuous prayer for what?
Over 100 years.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (04:50):
Over 100.
I think it's 126 years andthere's a flame in there that
has never gone out.
Even when they changedbuildings they were very careful
with the flame going and it issuch a sacred honor to be in
that room with that energy ofprayer for over 100 years.
(05:13):
Just amazing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (05:15):
Just amazing.
It was when you step in thereand you realize the history of
the continuity of energy of thatprayer that's continuously been
in there.
And then to sit down and Iremember thinking we only had a
half an hour.
We went from 7 to 7.30, and itjust went like that.
(05:36):
I was like wait, it's overalready.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (05:39):
Yeah, yeah, it's an amazing
experience and we were one ofthe first groups that they
allowed in there.
I don't know how long ago,maybe six years ago, and it was
just beyond words.
I have no description.
Just being in that beautifulenergy of prayer for people all
(06:02):
over the world, I mean it'sincredible.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (06:06):
Yeah, it is Well, I look forward to
I'm sure you'll be there nextyear.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (06:10):
Oh, I will.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (06:11):
Yeah, so I'll look forward to seeing
you there, if not sooner.
I want to start.
Your biography says that youfound New Thought Religious
Science in 1992 and that yourlife changed profoundly
afterward.
Tell me what was your life likebefore that and what would you
say has changed after?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (06:31):
Yeah, actually, in 1990, I started
praying.
I come from a Catholicbackground.
That didn't work for me and Ileft the church when I was 15.
And so, about when I was 40, Istarted praying to the Holy
Spirit because I didn't knowabout affirmative prayer and I
(06:53):
wanted a place.
I didn't know what it was.
I had never been in a NewThought Center, I had, you know,
never been in a Buddhist oranything else.
So I would just pray for twoyears straight.
And then I found this studygroup two years later, in 1992.
And it was okay, it was aSunday morning and it was
(07:17):
Reverend Carol Lawson had astudy group and it met once.
This was the Sunday servicepart and it met once a month.
Uh, once a week, did not, youknow, once a month didn't do it
for me.
I thought this is nice, but butI signed up for, uh, a class.
No, I just signed up as a guest.
And a couple of months later Ireceived this flyer in the mail
(07:42):
for foundations of science, ofmind class, and I follow my
intuition for everything.
I don't even my rational mindtakes a back seat and I'm like I
have to take this, I have totake this.
So I signed up for that.
That first class I heard ErnestHolmes and the reading and
(08:04):
everything I ever wanted since Iwas a teenager was there.
It blew my mind.
I knew I had found what I hadbeen looking for, that I didn't
have words for, so it profoundlyand forever changed my life.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (08:21):
Curious .
You said you heard ErnestHolmes.
I know there are recordings ofhim.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (08:25):
No, I read him, I didn't hear him.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (08:27):
Okay, yeah, I'm curious because
sometimes people have saidthey've heard his recordings
afterwards.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (08:31):
Oh, I've heard them too but,
afterwards.
No, I heard Reverend Carrolltalking about it and the
assignments.
And I'm like wow, and Iremember it, like in about the
second or third class, because Ididn't know.
They said you're going to learnprayer.
And I'm like what, I'm going tolearn prayer.
(08:52):
And I swear to God I was almostjumping up and down I was going
to learn affirmative prayer.
So I mean, from then on, thatwas it.
I couldn't get enough.
I could not get enough.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (09:03):
Did you have any?
Trepidation is not the rightword but, coming from a Catholic
background, was there anyresistance or were you just all
in like?
This is my tribe.
I found my calling in this.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (09:15):
All in the other.
God never worked for me as achild anyway.
I was in Catholic school inthree different countries.
Never worked for me anyway.
So I had to leave the Catholicchurch, Didn't have a good
experience and I never broughtmy children up in any organized
religion.
So you know, when you hit your40s now you're middle-aged,
(09:38):
you're 40 years old and there'sa God hole, there's something
missing.
And so I just kept praying.
And there's a God hole, there'ssomething missing.
And so I just kept praying andthere it was.
It filled that God hole and I'mstill studying.
It's overflowing, Overflowing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (09:55):
Did you ?
I saw that you your journey.
Then you became a practitionerin the late 90s and then you
became a minister in the early2000s.
Did you?
Did it feel like a calling toyou?
Or some people just say, youknow what?
I just love studying.
I just kept doing the nextthing.
What was your journey like fromwhen you took that first
foundations class to becoming aminister?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (10:16):
You know what I compare it to
because it's so ingrained in me.
For like 28 years I was fanaticabout studying martial arts.
I have a third degree blackbelt and I just took class after
class four times a week for 28years until I was teaching it
and it became the next step.
I never did it to become ablack belt.
(10:38):
I never did this to become apractitioner or a minister.
I did it because that intuitiveself said this is it?
Keep going, keep going.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (10:51):
Did you see a change in that time in
your own life and what waspossible for you and the things
that happened as a real, becausea lot of times people will say
that I know my wife has said shestarted practitioner training
recently because she said I sawthe difference it made for you
and I wanted that sameexperience.
Did you notice over the timefrom becoming a practitioner to
(11:13):
a minister that your life waschanging in these profound ways?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (11:17):
Absolutely , it really was changing and one
of the big changes but I'm slowto move out of a situation
sometimes was when I opened I'mjumping ahead but I'll go back
because this pertains to that.
When I opened Joyful GatheringSpiritual Center, I saw really
(11:40):
how out of integrity I was in my40-year marriage.
I finally found the power toleave and I did that.
I just walked out the front doorand left, never, went back, so
I would say it completely put mein integrity with so much of my
(12:03):
life.
Now that had to go, because itreally wasn't in integrity and I
have never been happier, neverin my life as I am right now.
But it took, I would say, fromthe very beginning until 2010,.
It took that long for me toreally come into my own power,
(12:25):
because we're so ingrained withthese old beliefs that keep us
stuck in relationships andpositions and beliefs that no
longer serve us.
So, yes, absolutely.
Without it I can't imagine.
I just cannot even imagine.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (12:43):
I can't imagine.
I just cannot even imagine Ifyou don't.
I'd love to just explore thatjust a little bit further,
because a lot of times peoplewill have significant
revelations or changes in theirlife.
Was that something that waschallenging to come to?
That realization of like thisrelationship is not serving me
anymore.
(13:03):
I need.
There's something more for me.
Tell me more about what it waslike, and how did you use your
faith, so to speak, to get youthrough that moment.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (13:16):
That was a very interesting time.
I knew for quite a while thatthis was a very toxic
relationship and I was convincedthat I could never make it on
my own, never in any way, shapeor form.
So then I opened a spiritualcenter, which that's another
story, and there was no controlon his part over me.
(13:39):
So now I'm stepping in faith.
I left at 3 am in the morningone night without saying a word.
I had a little bag I packed,walked out that door and knew I
was never going back, and it wasvery challenging.
But I said you know what I haveto live these teachings.
(14:01):
I know that the universe alwayssupports me.
You say that you teach it,margaret, are you going to live
it?
It was the most amazing.
Things fell into place that Icould never have planned for.
I was fully as scary as couldbe.
I didn't have money.
Really, all I had was my faithand my community, and things
(14:24):
kept coming to me, coming to me,coming to me, and so the
universe completely supports uswhen we step out into the
absolute unknown.
It was one of the most profoundand incredible experiences of
my life, and the best.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (14:41):
I would imagine, too, that that becomes
a sort of signature thing thatyou can speak about, because
it's got to be that peopleresonate with that Like forever
Margaret was able to go throughthis.
What could I do in some area ofmy life where I just I'm living
from a place of fear?
So I imagine that has hasserved you well.
(15:02):
Having gone through that.
It's something that you talk alot about, I'm sure.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (15:06):
Well, I used to bring it up as a
lesson.
Only I'll tell you something Ileft 3 am Monday because I did
Sunday service, I did a workshop, okay, and then I went to bed
and I couldn't sleep and thatvoice was I've never heard a
voice in my head Okay, and thissaid, pack that little bag and
(15:28):
go, and it wouldn't let me sleep.
I did that and I just walkedout that front door and never
missed a class.
The next day I was teaching.
I was teaching radicalforgiveness.
The universe really has thebest sense of humor.
And so, thank God, it was thelast night and we were watching
(15:49):
a movie on forgiveness.
I never missed a Sunday serviceand people didn't even know
until later on.
You know, because I'm like Icome from you can't tell it from
this accent, but I do come fromEngland, so I have this English
fortitude and it got me througheverything.
That and that, the belief thatthe universe really supports me.
(16:13):
It's a great teaching tool.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (16:16):
It's funny you mentioned English.
I think of the thing we allassociate with England of keep
calm and carry on.
That's almost like a positiveaffirmation in itself, isn't it?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (16:26):
It absolutely is.
The toughest people I have ever.
The strongest people I've evermet in my life were because I
grew up in England.
For eight years were theBritish.
You don't talk about that.
You just no one ever talkedabout the war, which you know.
I just was born right out ofthe war and because I was 49, so
(16:49):
you all know my age now yes, 75, I'm going to be in December
1st and it's you just keep going.
The show goes on.
Life goes on, you know, and youmove through it and you deal
with the feelings.
You know, I do because of thisteaching, but no one ever talked
their emotions.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (17:10):
Yeah Well, you mentioned having
started your center, joyfulGathering Spiritual Center, in
2010.
I'm curious what were theorigins of that?
Were you at that time, were youa minister in another center,
and what was the calling for youthat said, hey, I need to start
my own spiritual center?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (17:31):
This is a really interesting story.
So I was 17 years at the Centerfor Conscious Living and a
woman there came up to me andshe lived in this little church
in another town and she said Ihad a dream about you.
You were talking in the churchI live in and you had a group of
(17:53):
people watching you.
You want to do that?
And I'm like okay.
And I'm like okay.
So I never planned in my wholelife to start a spiritual center
.
This was not on the consciousradar of me, it was somewhere in
my subconscious, I guess.
But I did it Friday nights oncea month, but it was like a
(18:16):
Sunday service because that'swhat I knew.
So I did the talk.
I had a great musician friendof mine.
He did the music and we didthat for quite a few months.
I met with the minister threetimes.
It was very difficult, oh boy,to leave because I needed her
blessing to be in integrity.
(18:38):
So I left and then I was atthis facility, a beautiful
building that was calledStarting Point, a lot of
psychiatrists and psychologistsand recovery, big recovery place
, and I was there like for maybetwo months doing sessions with
(18:58):
people counseling, like formaybe two months doing sessions
with people counseling, and itwasn't resonating.
So I met with Vince DePasqualeto leave.
I was going to leave and hetook me out for lunch.
He didn't know that and he saidyou know I was place, so I have
(19:29):
to put a board together and Ihave to invite people to be on
that board.
And so that was how it allunfolded, step by step by step.
Applied for the 501c3, dideverything as I was reading.
I had no mentor as I wasreading.
This is what you do and that'sit.
2010,.
We're incorporated as anonprofit and then a 501c3.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (19:53):
I love how, in both of the instances,
it was someone that came to youand said I have this dream where
I saw you, and then someoneelse said you should do this and
you should open it here.
It's so funny.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (20:07):
It's almost like that's the universe
talking to you saying hey, nodoubt in my mind.
And that's how, because I'm notreally good with goals.
I can plan trips and plancertain things.
But I remember before I met myformer husband, which was a long
time right, Things would cometo me, All these opportunities
(20:27):
would come to me.
But this shows you thedifference.
I was ready at that point tosay yes to starting.
I turned down every singleincredible opportunity that
people just came up to me for.
So I got rid of the block.
This is so important foreveryone.
I got rid of the block, bigblock that was keeping me
(20:49):
playing small, and I step outagain and the flow started once
again with things coming to me.
And I still expect things tocome to me.
It's a wonderful way to livelife, because I don't know what
they're going to be.
There's no big expectation,it's just if it feels right,
(21:10):
then I'm going to do it.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (21:12):
You mentioned that you got the
blessing of the minister, thecenter you were leaving.
How was that sort of transitionDid you end up having?
Were there people that followedyou or was it a kind of a whole
new group of people?
Tell me about what that firstyear was like.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (21:27):
Yeah, what I did was I did not want
to.
I had the mailing list, ofcourse, of all them.
I did not want to do that.
So there were some people thatwere coming Friday nights not a
lot, but there were some peoplethat came with me.
But this is the thing I was inthis recovery place and lots of
(21:49):
therapists and psychiatriststhere and Vince who did lectures
during the week.
He would send all these peopleto us and they became some of my
most amazing they're still withme, a lot of them most amazing
students and now ministers.
It all came through thestarting point.
(22:11):
I did not know, I didn't eventhink about.
Oh, I knew that I did not wantto do anything to jeopardize the
other spiritual community.
That would be wrong.
So, again, the universesupported me and I miss having
him recommend all those peoplebecause we left there after 10
(22:31):
years.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (22:33):
Yeah, we mentioned at the top of the
show.
I met you at Anton.
Is that your main affiliationin terms of your center?
I know you're a science of mind, religious science center but
you're not like a CSL center.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (22:46):
No, we are independent, not one to
follow rules, which is why theCatholic Church really did not
resonate with me, or I didn'tresonate with them, that's for
sure.
And so, yeah, affiliated NewThought Network is what we are a
(23:08):
part of.
In fact, when I started thisministry class which I let
Spirit put together becausethere was no way I was putting
that together, and it did.
It was an incredible,incredible journey I told them
go research CSL.
They were my practitioners,they were 12.
Go research that, go researchAgape, and go research Anton.
(23:32):
And it was unanimous we staywith Anton, which we were with
before.
So we stayed with Anton, neverbelonged to CSL.
They did not want to belong toCSL, they did not want to belong
to Agape.
I let it be, you decide.
And so here we are with Anton,and I love, love that
(23:56):
organization.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (23:58):
Yeah, with your community as it is now
.
What would you say is the sortof what religious background do
most of your members bring?
Are they sort of scattered,different, like Catholicism?
What do you find people is?
What was their spiritual homeor teaching before they are with
your center?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (24:18):
I would say 95% were Catholic or
some kind of Christian, butmostly Roman Catholic and I
should say you're in New Jersey.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (24:28):
Yes, is it fair to say that you're
outskirts of Philadelphia area,part of New Jersey?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (24:36):
We're about 20 minutes outside of
Philadelphia.
We're in Collingswood, NewJersey.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (24:42):
Okay, so that probably is an area.
I would assume that there's alot of Catholics in that area,
correct?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (24:48):
Yes, there are Okay.
Quite a bit, that makes sense,yeah, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (24:52):
What other besides religious science,
science of minors, homes?
What other teaching, what otherwork do you bring to the
ministry, to your talks?
I know some people were like Idon't bring a lot of Bible into
what I talk about.
What do you find resonates withyou and with your community?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (25:11):
Yeah, it's what I'm studying.
At the time I studied withColin Tippin in 2002.
So that's radical forgivenessand so that was the first class
that I taught at my other centerand that was like phenomenal it
(25:31):
still is.
People need that forgivenesswork.
Mary Morrissey, with ProsperityPlus one, two, three, did all
of them many times, that was areally big.
And the Abraham work you know,Jerry and Esther Hicks, my
(25:51):
criteria is as long as it is inalignment with Ernest Holmes and
those spiritual truths, thenthat's I can teach that, I can
say that.
If it's, if it conflicts in anyway, it just I don't even
attract it into my life.
I just attract the things thatare in alignment with.
(26:13):
What I found was from otherexperiences that when a
spiritual center mixes too manyother influences into their
center, the people who arecoming in for the first time,
they get confused.
So I wanted to make sure fromthe very beginning that people
(26:34):
knew this is religious science.
I'm not afraid to say the name,as I kind of was brought up in
this like you might want to callit something else.
No, I called it religiousscience.
I call us religious science,slash New Thought.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (26:51):
So I'm very proud of Ernest Holmes'
work going back to the whatthings might you not want to
bring in or associate with, havethere been things where
sometimes people are like oh,I'd like to do a workshop on
this or that, and you're likethat's not really, it's too far
outside of our core teaching.
(27:11):
Has that ever happened?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (27:13):
Not really.
At our spiritual center we havea lot of workshops, usually one
a month or two sometimes, andwe'll do sound healing chakras,
which is like people love that.
I want to give the communitywhat I think they're going to
feel, because I have like apulse on the community and what
(27:35):
they like.
And no, but see, what I learnedbefore was you can dilute a
teaching with so many othertheories that, like I said,
people get confused.
This is to uplift people, toexpand them, this consciousness,
(27:56):
and that's why I'm so attractedto quantum physics.
Yeah, it's so perfect.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (28:06):
Yeah, it's kind of the next evolution.
It is have the ability to talkwith those people using
spiritual language.
But now with quantummetaphysics, now you have an
ability to talk with people whomaybe they're approaching it
(28:27):
more from a scientific or thatkind of language resonates with
them.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (28:31):
So now you can say okay, it's like
this I'm just starting tointegrate these terms because,
wow, there's so much behind it.
But it's the same thing withquantum physics.
Like two years before I met DrJames Mellon, I kept saying to
everybody I've got to study, Idon't know why.
(28:53):
I never know why I have tostudy quantum physics and I have
to find a teacher.
I've never had anotherspiritual teacher, uh, besides
my first teacher, dr CarolLawson until I heard James
Mellon, and so it took a whileto find him, and then it took
another year, as you know, tonail him down.
(29:15):
But I was going to study withhim because he is the only
teacher that I said I need tostudy with him.
I need to study with himbecause he is the only teacher
that I said I need to study withhim.
I need to study with him.
I didn't even know what he wasgoing to.
I didn't know he taught quantumphysics at the time.
That's not what he talked aboutwhen he was the keynote speaker
at Anson.
But I knew I had to speak withhim.
Then I found out it was quantumphysics.
(29:36):
Now I really have.
So the universe always guidesme and I always listen.
I feel it in my body.
I don't question it with mymind.
I have never, ever in my lifestalked another human being, so
he has the honor of being theonly one.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (29:56):
I remember that when a couple of
months before his class, about ayear ago, started, I remember
him coming back from Antonsaying I met this woman,
reverend Margaret, and she is soon fire about wanting to take
that class, and so you were kindof a legend before the class
even started, oh God, a legendin someone's mind, huh a legend
(30:24):
in someone's mind.
Huh, I don't know why, but I wasthinking, as you were talking
about feeling it and being inyour heart but not in your head,
the phrase no brainer came intomind, you know, because
sometimes we think of thatphrase of no brainer, mean like
of course you would do that, youdon't even have to think about
it.
But isn't that also in a way,like if you're guided by that
inner knowing, by your heart,then in some ways you don't have
(30:44):
to think about it?
It just is the most obviousnext thing that you should
pursue.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (30:50):
Absolutely .
I have done that just about mywhole life.
I just sometimes to mydisadvantage when I was younger.
But I've always followed thisinner knowing and then I
discovered this is my God voice,my intuition, this is what
feels right and that's how Imake all my decisions, even
(31:15):
moving into this, my home.
After I got divorced it waslike I don't do black, you know,
on paper, black and white.
I just found a house I lovedand I said I'm moving in, I
don't care what it says with thenumbers or anything else, I'm
moving in, and I did, and it'swonderful.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (31:39):
I love that.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (31:40):
Yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (31:40):
Tell me about your process.
When you're putting togetheryour Sunday service and maybe
you're thinking about what youwant to talk about you balance
(32:02):
the teaching of people that arelongtime members, who know what
you're talking about, versusmaybe newer people who are like
what Mental equivalent, what isthat?
How do you balance the newpeople and also the people who
have been with you in a teachingfor a while?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagy (32:14):
That's a great question and I'm very
aware of that.
When I was in martial arts andI only studied with Korean men,
I was taught when you'reteaching a class, focus on the
white belt, not the red belt,not the green belt.
You focus on the white belt.
So it's like that's ingrainedin me.
(32:34):
So I'll have.
My talks are all written out onpaper.
That's the way I do them, andif I have a concept that I know
is going to be on the level thatsomeone's been studying this
for 10 years, we'll get, they'llget it.
Then I'll break it down, I'llsimplify it.
(32:54):
I always break down thoseconcepts to very elementary, go
as simple as I can, because Iwant everyone to understand what
I'm talking about and itusually works.
It usually works.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (33:12):
And do you find that people that are
newer there do they generallyget what you're talking about,
or will they come up afterwardsand go, hey, can you elaborate
more on that?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (33:21):
Yeah, they get it.
They usually say, oh my God,you were talking to me, it was
for me and I'm like it was foryou, it's for me too, it's for
both of us.
Yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (33:32):
That's a great point.
I think a lot of times peoplewill when they're thinking about
the talk is if it's somethingthat you go this is what I
needed to hear for myself thenyou can pretty much be assured
that other people will resonatewith it too.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (33:45):
Yes, that's been my experience.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (33:48):
Yes, Tell me, I know you also.
In addition to your Sundayservices, you also have a
service on Wednesday.
How does your Wednesday or yourmidweek services?
How do they differ from whatyou do on a Sunday?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (34:00):
Okay, so I don't do them because I'm
a big believer in delegation,but I attend them.
We had one.
It's called SpiritualWednesdays and we started that
during the pandemic because allof a sudden everyone's on Zoom,
right.
So you know, the first Sundaywe have met, sunday first,
(34:21):
wednesday we have meditation.
It's an hour long.
It's not a sunday servicewhatsoever.
The second we do what is it?
The science of mind, living thescience of mind.
So we'll do a couple of pagesand break it down.
People, it's a question andanswer.
And then the.
The third what do we do?
(34:42):
Oh, that was last night.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (34:43):
We did power of eight, that's I was
going to ask you tell me aboutthat.
What is that?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (34:49):
yeah, that's.
And then that's lynnmctaggart's book, the power of
eight and I have one of ourministers leads that and Michael
Rogers, reverend Michael Rogers, and it's intention setting,
and so we have the two peopleyou know he sets the tone and
(35:10):
we'll have two different people,because that's as much time as
we have set an intention They'dlike prayer for, and then the
rest of us, not even prayer,just take it into consciousness.
And then the rest of us, noteven prayer, just take it into
consciousness, and then the restof us on the call will see what
comes through and pictures,ideas, you know, all kinds of
(35:31):
things come through, and thenthey share them with that person
.
And yeah, it's not anythinglike a Sunday service.
And then the fourth Sunday wehave a spiritual movie which we
have now moved into, greg Braden, and you know, really
metaphysical, not metaphysical,quantum physics spiritual movies
(35:54):
.
I said no more of those othermovies, let's play this.
This is where we are takingreligious science communities to
the next level slowly.
But those spiritual scientists,the quantum physicists, I think
(36:15):
it's something that ourcommunity needs to hear and they
seem to be responding to thatcommunity needs to hear, and
they seem to be responding tothat, and so you'll watch that
on Zoom and then have adiscussion about it afterwards.
Yes, yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (36:26):
I love that.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (36:27):
It's great.
It is great.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (36:28):
Talking of bringing a little bit of
real talk into our discussion.
We're now a couple of weeksafter the election.
People are still sort offinding their equilibrium of.
You know, there are some people, obviously we know that this is
the result they wanted, somepeople clearly not.
How do you as a minister, howdo you address that?
(36:50):
How much can you bring in thereal world and yet still stay on
principle?
What are you finding in thesefirst couple of weeks is your
voice on these kind of subjects?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (37:01):
Yeah, as a lot of ministers have
expressed, that first Sundayafter the election for us was
pretty challenging and you can'tignore the elephant in the room
, right.
So I'll talk about.
I did talk about the upset.
I'm not upset, but I don't evenknow what I said.
(37:24):
But I don't name partiesbecause I don't believe that
churches, spiritual centers,should influence their members
one way or the other.
But there were a lot of peoplethat were really hurting and
there's no way I was going toignore that pain.
So I had my talk anyway, whichhappened to be on prayer that
(37:48):
week.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (37:49):
I watched it.
It was excellent.
Oh, did you?
I did.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (37:52):
Oh, then you can tell.
I don't watch them afterwards,so I don't even know what I said
, but I do know that in thebeginning I felt very strongly
about, um, opening it up and notignoring the uh pain that a lot
of people in the room weregoing through.
There might've been a couplethat were not, that were elated,
(38:15):
and I said that, wherever youstand, you know that's fine, but
I had to address that because,yeah, a lot of pain, a lot of
grief, that was.
There's a big grief going on inthis country.
There really is.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (38:32):
And what do you find how as a
minister?
How do you see your role inhelping people process that
grief?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (38:39):
And I've been really cognizant of
how I really want to show up andhow I really want to be and
address this, and it's what I'vealways believed that we are the
light, but not just words.
We are the light, we are thelightbearers, and during this
(39:01):
time, we need to be evenstronger.
And what does that mean?
That means that we need to bekinder, we need to have more
respect for others.
We need to really step up ourgame here.
This is a huge shift inconsciousness that I don't know.
We've been talking about thisfor like 20 years.
(39:23):
There's going to be a big shiftin consciousness.
Well, guess what?
It's here.
So now you can spend your lifein that sadness and darkness or
joy, whatever you are feeling,or you can really become aware
even more of that love withinyou and the goodness within you
(39:44):
and stick to what you think isethical in your life.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (39:49):
I've spoken with a number of
ministers in the last couple ofweeks and I suspect this could
go back even beyond just theelection, where they initially
were like.
I have my own emotions about it, but I also know in my role as
a spiritual leader, I have tofigure out what am I saying to
people?
And it has to be authentic,like if I'm sad, if I'm upset.
(40:12):
It has to be that.
How do you, when you havechallenging things going on in
your life and maybe this is anexample where do you get your
spiritual nourishment such thatyou can minister to other people
?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (40:27):
And I really do get it from within
myself.
It's like the week after I leftmy former husband I showed up.
Nobody even knew.
It's like carry on.
And I have a prayer partner, soI mean I'm'm getting prayer
also because that's what weteach during the week.
(40:50):
But really, this is what I'msupposed to do, this is what God
wants me to do, because thething within me that is God is
saying yes, just step up there.
And it's like the opening tothat talk.
I just let it flow.
I had a whole thing written outand I was like, oh, forget it,
(41:12):
we're not saying that.
And so I just whatever was Iwas feeling is what I I spoke of
.
And so for me, I I get it withthem, because I know there's a
purpose for each of us here, andespecially when we are in the
sacred role of spiritual leaders.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (41:32):
I think also in times like and I've
thought this for the last coupleof years what an opportunity
there is in our teaching,because there's so many people
out there that are hurting, andwhatever side of a political
question there are, there arepeople that are hurting and they
don't know who they are, theydon't know how much power they
have.
If they were able to realizethat, what could they do with
(41:56):
their life?
And so sometimes instead theyturn to blame or they turn to
division or it's somebody else'sfault.
So just from an opportunitystandpoint, I look at that and
go gosh, if we could find waysto broaden that message so that
people go oh, you know what, Ido have more power to do these
(42:17):
things than I realize.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (42:19):
And that's what the Sunday messages
are really about stepping intoyour power, bringing it down to
a level that we can use.
Because that's my, one of mybiggest things in life is like,
okay, we read all this, it's allbeautiful and wonderful.
Are we living it?
We have to live what we arestudying, what we want to be.
(42:43):
We have to live it and use itin our lives, not just, as, say,
on Sunday, but every day of ourlives.
That's why we have the Sunday,I mean the Wednesday hour, the
spiritual hour, so people cantouch in if they were feeling
out of sorts.
And then we have all thepractitioners and ministers that
are open for all, of course,phone calls for prayer, you know
(43:07):
, just to pray.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (43:09):
When you're writing a talk, you're
thinking about what you wantthat Sunday message to be.
How much of your life is inyour message?
Do you pull from your ownexperience and share that with
people?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (43:22):
Well, I'll write the message, the
talk is written, I'll have allmy books and everything and
that's down.
And then as I'm speaking it andas I'm living through the week
with it, then my own life getsright in there and that's not
written down in the talks.
That's something that I just Iknow is coming through.
In fact, it's so funny becausepeople don't know this and I
(43:44):
tell them, I tell ourcongregation.
I'm up there, I got like I havemy talk and I have like 10
different ideas in my head andat the same time as I'm speaking
, I'm like saying, yeah, this isgood, that's good.
Don't get rid of that one.
Don't say that one, I'll say itanyway.
This will make them laugh.
I love to make people laugh onSunday, but yeah, it's amazing.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (44:16):
So, yeah, a lot of my life are in
the talks.
So it's sort of a combinationthen of you have a written
preparation of things you wantto say, but then you're also
open in the moment to the waythat it's going to unfold.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Pa (44:23):
Absolutely yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (44:25):
Tell me about your like, from a
physical standpoint, where youguys meet.
If I understand right, you meetin a community center.
Is it in Collingwood,collingswood?
Rev. Dr. Margaret (44:34):
Collingswood , yeah, new Jersey.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (44:36):
Okay.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (44:37):
Yeah, this is the crazy part, okay.
So we were in this building andI never liked the room we were
in.
That was its starting point.
Wonderful organization, likethe room we were in.
That was its starting point.
Wonderful organization,incredible, just the greatest
people.
And that's where we got most ofour members from.
And during the pandemic, wecouldn't really meet there and I
(45:01):
wasn't liking that.
So we had outside services whenwe could, with masks.
We did that for about eightweeks and in the middle of all
this, in 2020, september, thespace we had been looking at
became available because Iwanted a nice big space with
lots of windows and no uglypaintings and things on the
walls, and so it becameavailable.
(45:22):
So the board and I went over,we looked at it, loved it,
signed the contract, and so thatwas four years ago.
Yeah, that's four years ago.
So that's how we found this is.
So.
It's the collingswood umcommunity center and it's
upstairs in the ballroom, so wehave the huge room and every
(45:46):
there must be about 20 windowsin this room.
So you know there's pros andcons to making that move.
We had to give up a lot ofstuff, but I feel so good when
we go on Sunday mornings thatwe're in a beautiful space and
people feel comfortable.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (46:04):
So that's where you meet on Sundays
, but it's not your businessaddress, per se Is that correct.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagy (46:10):
That's correct.
Business address actually is inmy home because we don't have
an office.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (46:17):
Right, and then what do you do for
classes?
Do you teach those virtually,or what's that like?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (46:23):
No, I didn't like the virtual
teaching.
I'm not Dr James with like 50PowerPoints.
He does the best Zoom classes.
I don't like them on Zoom.
So for many years we met in myhome and now we'll do both.
We'll rent a room in thecommunity center because a lot
(46:46):
of people live near them thereand it's convenient, or we'll do
them in my home if it's notLike the summer.
It was so large that we had tomove it to the community center.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (46:58):
Like I saw you're doing a class in
January.
The power of decision based on.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:03):
Is that?
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (47:03):
the yeah.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:04):
So is that something that you're?
Yeah, I'm changing that.
Oh, are you Okay?
What are you Okay?
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (47:08):
What are you going to do now?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:09):
I'm not.
I'm not really sure yet.
I in fact.
That's on my list.
I have lists all over the place.
I've come up with a reallygreat um class.
You know I might do ProsperityPlus again.
Um you know, I haven't quitedecided yet.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (47:34):
All right, um, yeah, I just just
finishing off the conversationabout the location.
I'm always curious because wedon't have our own building.
I mean, we have a leased space,but I know there are some
centers where they do havesomething.
They own some that don't.
Has that ever been?
I'm assuming it works out wellfor you and it's affordable in a
sense of like okay, this makesgood financial sense.
Is that?
I guess it's not reallysomething where you'd ever look
at buying something right?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (47:55):
No, we really.
I mean, if it happened, I wouldgo with it, you know, because
it would come to me, but it'snot something that I have as a
goal in my mind to own, to be alandlord.
I would like more flexibilitywith the space we're in now.
However, that's the great thingabout owning your own.
(48:18):
You can do, you can throwparties, you can do all kinds of
stuff anytime you want, becauseyou own the building.
And we just and I tell you,when we moved in the pandemic,
right when everything was likepeople weren't coming out,
nothing going on, we, we renteda space that was four times more
costly than the one we wereleaving.
(48:40):
But if you believe in thisteaching, then you just do it.
Know that was the right thingto do.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (48:48):
How do you market your center or get
sort of get the word out for newpeople?
What do you find has beeneffective for you guys in terms
of growing your membership?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (48:57):
So right now, since the pandemic
has completely changed, I neverreally marketed but social media
being on social media, which Ido, all that on Instagram on,
mostly on Facebook you knowwhere we can make events and get
the word out there and ournewsletter, which we you know,
(49:19):
of course, we send that out andremind us for all of our
different events.
People, when I ask them howhave you heard about this center
, they usually say through thecomputer, because I put hashtags
.
I don't even know where they go, I don't know anything, I just
do it because that's what peoplesay is effective.
So I have a whole bunch ofhashtags after all my videos,
(49:44):
after whatever I send out.
There's hashtags everywhere andthen you can share them to
different groups, which I do.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (49:52):
Do you find people mostly come to you
from the sort of neighborhood orcommunity you're in?
Or how far away fromCollingswood do people come for
like a Sunday service?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (50:03):
Well, I have one person, but she's
been a member for a long time,like 14 years, since the
beginning.
She comes about an hour awayand she comes nearly every
Sunday, but most people arelocal.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (50:19):
Okay.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (50:20):
Yeah, that makes sense, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (50:22):
Yeah, I've had that conversation with
my daughter.
She lives in New York City andI asked her how far would you go
on a Sunday for a service?
Like there's a center FirstReligious Science Center, I
think is up west side, and shesaid it's like an hour away from
her and she's like, no, Iwouldn't.
I mean she's 25.
So she's going to more likelygo to brunch on Sunday versus
(50:44):
going to church, but I'm alwayscurious, like how far people
will go for a Sunday service.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palag (50:51):
Usually half hour, I would say would be
the calf the closer the better,yeah, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:01):
Well, let me now move to the lightning
round.
This is a series of questionsI'm just going to ask, meant to
be sort of fun, and yes or no,or whatever comes to you, and if
there's something we want tofollow up on, we'll do that, so
all right.
So have you ever manifested aparking spot or a first-class
upgrade using science of mind?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:13):
Yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:14):
Okay, what is the most important part
of your morning spiritualpractice?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:20):
My meditation and my reading.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:23):
Is there a TV show, a movie or a
book that you think sort ofperfectly demonstrates science
of mind, principles?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:30):
Most of it would be Ernest Holmes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (51:33):
Okay, In our teaching in religious
science we will often hear theterms God, consciousness, the
universe, the thing itself,quantum field.
What's a term that you findyourself using the most and sort
of have the most comfort with?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (51:47):
Okay, so I'm comfortable with all of
them, but I was using universefor a very long time and now
it's like the field ofpotentiality in the field and
I'm bringing that, so, yeah, andI think people probably hear it
and they go, okay, whateverthey hear it as God or yes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (52:08):
And it's funny, I'm now thinking
I've sort of come full circle inthe I am God part that I do.
I'm very comfortable with thatnow.
In the beginning it was likeokay, I got to think about this,
but now I think it much more ofI am God in a quantum sense,
that all of these quantumpotentials in my life are in
(52:29):
essence God.
It's consciousness, it's thatloving energy.
So to me they're synonymous.
But okay, so let's say youcould invite one person for
dinner Ernest Holmes, ralphWaldo, emerson Gandhi or Oprah.
Who's coming over to dinner?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagy (52:46):
Ernest Holmes.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (52:47):
He's always like the number one
answer.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (52:48):
Oh yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (52:50):
I'm like it's an intriguing question
Aside from being a minister orspeaker, what's one career or
job that you could imagine thatyou would love having?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (53:00):
None, the only other profession I was
ever interested in as a youngchild and I manifested it but
wasn't ready was an actress.
So, like I tell people when I'mup there at the podium, you put
a mic in front of me.
I was performing at three.
You put a mic in front of me.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna dosomething with that mic, I'm
(53:21):
gonna perform in some way.
So I'm still in front of amicrophone.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (53:25):
You're still doing it.
Yeah Well, my last question issort of more contemplative, and
this is where I want to wrap upour discussion today is if you
think about advice you mightgive to two people.
One is maybe someone who'sstarting out in ministry, and
then the second is to youryounger self, maybe when you
(53:48):
first became a minister and, ifI understand right, 2004,.
So is this your 20th year?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (53:53):
It is as a minister, yeah.
Rev. Dr. Thor C (53:55):
Congratulations , thank you.
What, if anything, would yousay to you know 20 years ago,
version of Margaret when youwere starting off, and what
advice do you have for ministerstoday and what's going on in
today's world?
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (54:11):
So I to my, when I was starting out.
Okay, I would just say tomyself keep doing what you're
doing and that's the way I livemy life.
Now I wouldn't give it anyother advice.
No advice Just keep on doingwhat you love to do, what you're
(54:32):
called to do.
And I would give that sameadvice to ministers.
Starting out is if you feelthat passion, that fire in your
heart, then follow it.
It's the most importantguidance system that we have, I
believe.
For me it works.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (54:49):
I love that.
Well, reverend Dr MargaretJoyful Gathering Spiritual
Center.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today.
I loved our conversation, lovedtalking with you, and I get the
privilege of getting to see youagain every week, every week.
Rev. Dr. Margaret Palagye (55:06):
Thank you so much.
Rev. Dr. Thor Challgren (55:08):
Thank you, bye.
Thank you so much for joiningme on this episode of All Revved
Up.
I hope you found inspirationand wisdom in my conversation
with Reverend Dr Margaret Pelagy.
If this conversation resonatedwith you, I'd love for you to
share it with someone who mightbenefit from hearing it.
And don't forget to subscribeto the podcast so you never miss
(55:29):
an episode.
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time.
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