When the teacher taught that we are made in the image of God, the student replied, “Doesn’t that make us a kind of mirror?”  “Yes,” said the teacher, “And Christ is also a mirror for us, for in Christ we see what we now are, and what we shall become.”

                                                                             (James Farris)

Biographical Sketch of James M. Farris, Ph.D.

James M. Farris, Ph.D. is a licensed therapist and a priest of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion.  Having served as a Roman Catholic priest for seven years, he resigned from that ministry in 1982 and pursued further studies in counseling psychology.  Through a difficult time of spiritual journey he discovered not only the Ecumenical Catholic Movement, but also the wisdom of many great non-Christian religious traditions, including Sufism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.  This quest returned him to a deeper understanding of his own Christian faith that he found through an examination of the prayer practices of Western mystics and the spiritual traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy.  The thread of devotion that underlies this interfaith spirit has become a part of his daily life and has influenced his own practice.  Now teaching classes and leading retreats for groups of various religious traditions, Dr. Farris has devoted himself to recording his teachings of spiritual guidance in both books and CDs.  He lives with his wife, Ann, in Laguna Beach, California.

  (Photograph by Evelyn Munro)