Staff & Leaders
Founder
Dan Holland
Founder and First Metropolitan Curate
For many years I felt overwhelmed by the concepts surrounding religion and felt there had to be a better way to do religion and to treat people within religious and societal contexts. I used to wonder why religions were exclusionary and not accepting and why there was such conflict with new scientific understandings. I knew there had to be a better way. Creating The Realigious Network and its Conscious Affiliates has been a life-long journey. Before the internet it was difficult to find anyone who openly conversed the way that I thought. In the last ten years it has been much easier to reconcile what I was told as a child with advances in scientific and religious thought. I’m convinced that the emphasis of any church should be on helping us to think logically and to grow as human beings. The emphasis at The Conscious Church (TCC) is on living fulfilled lives where we are supported in growing our beingness into the fully actualized person that we are capable of becoming. We spend so much time on that that we don’t spend much time on worrying about what comes after this life. We do not believe in dogma and the man-made concept of original sin is not part of our theology. If you make a mistake or injure someone ask them for forgiveness and then get back on track at learning, growing, and becoming.
I’m the founder and the leader of The Conscious Church. I live in Wyoming Michigan and currently work full-time for the State of Michigan in the area of property taxation. For many years I have been working on the theology, the legal founding documents, and the structure of TCC. I have wanted the organization to be built on a strong foundation, one that provides a legal structure and framework for leadership that is accountable to the members before we opened the doors to members. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 I made much progress in that regard and it is now time to invite you to consider becoming involved. Because I am the founder and the author of our main theological text, The Distinctions, the board of TRNI voted to ordain me as the first Curate. A curate is similar to a minister, chaplain, priest or other member of the clergy. The term curate is unique just like our entire structure, theology and emphasis is unique. Take a look through our website and if you have questions give me a shout out at Dan@TheConsciousChurch.Org. I’d love to converse with you and answer your questions. We are a totally new religion with a totally new way of looking at the concept of god as natural and not supernatural. It can be quite refreshing to learn that you are not evil at your core and that you do not have to pay homage to a jealous God to live a good life. We all have so much to learn and at The Conscious Church we are trying to do our part to create a church home that is built on the historical good things that have come out of church and religion while leaving behind the bad and the negative. We are looking for individuals to be involved and to help us and others to grow. We believe that because there will never be another person the same as any one of us, we are totally unique. We all need involvement from others to grow and to become and therefore it is incumbent on each of us to help others on their path so they can do the same. Its about paying it forward on a personal level in a positive manner that multiplies forward as long as the connection is not broken.
Thank you for reading my bio. And, I realize it does not say much about me on a personal level. There is time for that. Stop by or come to a meeting and let’s get introduced.
Leadership
Mary Nalbach
Vice President
My name is Mary Nalbach and I am part of the community of The Conscious Church where I can connect with fellow humans and grow meaningful and lasting relationships. I look forward to working with individuals from the perspective of humility and also of compassion and empathy.
I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian home where my life had been one of allconsuming faith – not my faith, but the faith of others that consumed every aspect of my life. In every action, every thought, and in every moment when I stumbled in faith I was judged, shamed and directed to my relationship with God, to God as the one and only truth and the ultimate “certainty”. Certainty in the teachings of God made things seem simple and gave an answer to each question. Accepting the certainty meant to accept the faith paradox to be true. With the acceptance of the paradox came the new and blessed certainty that told me that my job was to be submissive and to do what I was told because, the Bible said so.
The limitation of our words to describe actual meaning is so vast that sfor some to say ay with “certainty” that their religious paradox should exclude other humans when it comes to religion, philosophy and belief is so very destructive and damaging to those that are set aside and set apart. Words are simply metaphor. Ideas about truth change. Ideas about beauty and aesthetics change.
I came to a crossroad in my life where I had to admit to myself that I simply did not believe anymore what I had been taught and what I had been saying. I faced a dilemma in not knowing what to do next. How and when would I communicate to those I loved and respected dearly that I had drifted away from the core beliefs of my upbringing. Having once been a “professional Christian”, my vision is muddled by the baggage I carry. The habits of fundamentalist faith linger within me, even long after I have rejected those habits. I am in search of something that is bigger than myself including how to find love, how to create beauty and how to find peace.
What brought me to atheism (I believe atheism is an opinion because the existence of something outside of our reality is neither provable nor unprovable), was humanism. Humanism has become my motivation. It is humanism that gives me hope. I embrace the hope that can only be enjoyed by humanists as they serve humanity. This hope is true to me because humans instinctively know that the highest place is in serving one another. Secularism provides the only real consolation for humanity. By looking beyond traditional faith my eyes have been opened to how special each human is and that through others we can see ourselves and appreciate who we are.
While I embrace for something to be out there, and for that or it to be a witness for all the things we go through, I am comfortable by simply acknowledging that I no longer have an answer to this question.
Katie Holland
Treasurer and Board Member
I’m Katie Holland, Treasurer on the board of The Conscious Church. I was born in 1997, in Grand Rapids Michigan, and am the youngest of 3 children. I was raised by two very different individuals who over time taught me to look at the world through different perspectives. I have always been very into science and exploring nature as well as puzzles and problem solving. I like to express myself through art and music and spend as much time as possible with animals. I strongly believe that self-reflection and broadening your perspectives are key to getting to know yourself and becoming a better person. By having two parents that thought very differently from one another, I was able to gain two opposite ended perspectives of the world. By the time I was able to decide for myself what I thought about all the different things that humans encounter in life, there were some things that just never added up to me.
While hearing about God throughout my life, the word “if” always came to mind. The older I got the more I realized that the concept of a God, in the traditional sense, just doesn’t make sense. I have spent a lot of time trying to understand religion and what draws people into it so much. The lack of a purpose in the world is an overwhelming and indescribable feeling and, for many, believing in a God is what gives them a purpose. The idea that God plays a role in your life and has everything planned out a certain way is not logical. The things that take place in your life are all due to the decisions that yourself, and other humans make. The only way to truly understand why things happen the way they do is to get to know yourself and the world around you. During that process is when I believe you learn what your individual purpose is. It is hard to find a purpose for life solely on your own, but I believe that it is one of the many reasons we’re here.
Michael Holland
Board Member
I am just a normal reddit-browsing, music-loving, stressed young millennial trying to make sense of the universe while on my quest to find happiness. My compassion for personal growth spans from my professional life to my hobbies. From a young age, I have loved science. To me, science boils down to discovering the truths of the universe. Through this passion, I concluded that God, in the traditional sense, is not compatible with science. That which created the universe must exist within the laws of science. As our understanding of science grows throughout time, our idea of god must evolve with it.
Rebekah Olds
Board Member
Rebekah Olds, Board Member I was born at the end of the 80’s putting me right in the middle of the millennial generation. Our generation looks at the world differently than many from the prior generation. We are more open and accepting and want to first understand before we accept things as fact. I’m on that journey of discovery and did not want to seek out those answers via traditional religious organizations because of their history of not being accepting to new thoughts and not being accepting of individuals that are different than they are. Through involvement in The Conscious Church (TCC) I am helping to build a community that is inclusive and just, one that is welcoming and helps build us as individuals into the fulfillment of our potential. We discuss topics that expand my horizons and help me to learn how to help others and to be a valuable contributing member of society. We are a relatively new organization and through my involvement I am learning about new things that give me the skills to reconcile what I encounter in my daily life. I am learning to think for myself and how to rationalize what I see. I’m gaining knowledge about science to help me determine the supportable basis for a rational world. As a board member I’m gaining organizational management skills that I will be able to use all my life. In my early to mid-20’s I started to realize that traditional religious teachings did not make sense and were often contradictory. I was raised Christian but had never felt any kind of a connection to faith, to church or to God as God had been explained to me. I did not seek out answers because it was not acceptable to question and there was really no one to discuss these topics with in an open and accepting manner. I did not know where to start. I feel strongly about The Conscious Church because I am allowed to question everything. The focus of TCC is about helping us to grow, to learn, to become critical thinkers and to be accountable to others for our actions. I am free to be of faith or to be a freethought critical thinker. At TCC we realize that we are all human and as such we make mistakes and cause problems and that is an acceptable part of life. When we err, we are not branded a sinner or cast apart or cast out or shunned, not even when we question things. These are all part of the human experience. What is important is getting back on tract and forgiving ourselves and others and allowing ourselves to be human and to allow others to be human. While I often do not know how to articulate how I fee or how I think I do not see myself as much different than most in these regards. The topics of god and faith and religion and the process to reconcile all of this is very complex. I have found a community that supports me at TCC and that is why I’m involved. I’ve been on a path of discovery for the past 7+ years and with the arrival of my first child at the end of 2018 I have a new sense of purpose that is driving me to learn more so that I can reconcile what comes into my world. As my son grows up, I want to be supportive of him and to help him to grow into the best person he is capable of becoming. Helping others to reach their true potential is one of the main focuses at TCC and that is important to me.
Sal Russo
Board Member
My name is Sal Russo. Sal is short for Salvatore. I was born in 1938 to Mary and Peter Russo and spent my formative years through the age of 17 growing up in Sicily, that part of Italy off the Southwestern tip of the boot in the Mediterranean Sea. I have many fond memories of my time there and also was much appreciative of being able to come to America to start a new life. At 17, this was my first experience of what life could be like outside of Italy. In Italy, the Catholic Church was ingrained in all aspects of life, in society, and in the culture. My mother was a devout Catholic although in those early years, dad didn’t go to church often. The Church was so ingrained into daily life that I felt like I was raised by the Church, by the priests in many respects. While I was never committed to the Catholic teachings, I never gave it much thought until I came to the United States and experienced many things that opened my mind. Eventually, my parents, siblings and I settled in Michigan.