Gathering of Light
INTERSPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP
About
Gathering of Light Interspiritual Fellowship
Welcome!
Gathering of Light was founded in 1996 as a nonprofit, multifaith worship and fellowship organization by Rev. JoAnn Barrett, Senior Minister.
The Gathering of Light is a living, evolving concept of Interspirituality. Our mission is to bring peace to the world by raising one consciousness at a time. We are a dynamic community that honors all Faiths and the One-Truth at the core of these many Spiritual Paths: Love. Whether your background is Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Islam, Native American spirituality, another faith tradition, or no faith tradition, you will find a welcome home at Gathering of Light.
What is Interspirituality?
- It is not a new religion.
- It is not a blending of all paths.
- It is not trying to identify who has the right belief.
- It is not a replacement for your spiritual path but a validation of it.
- It is a willingness to find wisdom regardless of the label it is expressed within.
- It is a respect for the interconnectedness of all life.
- It is a focus on experiences of heart and unity consciousness rather than on creeds and dogma.
- It is a recognition of a common mystical basis and experience within all the great wisdom traditions.
“We must seed a new consciousness… drawing its inspiration from perennial spiritual and moral insights, intuition, and experience. We call this new awareness interspiritual, implying not the homogenization of religion, but the recovering of the shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions.” (Br. Teasdale)
At Gathering of Light, we seek to align ourselves with what is most true about the collective wisdom in the world’s mystical traditions: the teaching that each human being is an individual expression of Divinity in physical form, and as such, we are all One. This core concept lies at the center of everything we teach.
What Our Services Look Like
We discover the world's many faith traditions and the highest spiritual concepts from sacred texts and modern writings.
Each week, the altar in the bright and airy Sanctuary is fashioned around the central concept or holiday that we are exploring.
There are musicians providing live music at every service.
We consecrate our worship space at the beginning of every service.
There are prayers, Words of Wisdom, an inspirational message and a reflective, guided meditation followed by a healing chant.
We get excited and sing our hearts out!
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Children are welcome, too! Our Little Lights and Brilliant Lights activities are geared to their interests.
For our friends who cannot get out, the service is streamed in real-time on Facebook.
Check out our past services on our
YouTube Channel here:
Fellowship Community
We welcome each and every one of you to a vibrant fun-filled Fellowship Community where you will find unconditional love and lots to do!
As you make new friends, there are also opportunities to serve in groups on our various activities, events, outreach, education, healing, and hospitality programs and community projects.

Our Worship & Leadership Team
Reverend JoAnn Barrett, Senior Officiant/ Minister & Founder
Spiritual Director of LightPaths Wisdom Studies
Reverend JoAnn Barrett was ordained in 1995 from the then New Seminary which is now One Spirit. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Services, as well as a Master’s Degree in Social Policy, specializing in collaborating efforts with faith-based organizations and social service agencies. She is also a certified counselor with a degree in Substance Abuse. She served as Co-Chair of the Interfaith Anti-Bias Task Force of Suffolk County and local task forces and served as a member of Faith Leaders Task Force for NY State. Newsday has regularly featured her in its publications.
Her ongoing classes in ‘A Course in Miracles,’ since 1980, have helped numerous seekers on the spiritual path. She founded many Community Service projects, under GOL's
LightWorks: Starter-Packs for the homeless families of Long Island and Bedding for Babes. She has also served as the Pastoral Care Associate for North Shore, Syosset and Huntington Hospitals, and has held the position of Clinical Director of a major Long Island Substance Abuse and Addiction Treatment Center. Locally to GOL, she is a member of the Huntington Clergy Association and Leadership Huntington and was asked to author a chapter in the well-received book,
Mature Interspirituality:
Wayne Teasdale's Nine Elements and Beyond. She also has published prayers and poems with Guideposts. She has officiated and performed hundreds of individualized wedding ceremonies in the tristate area and conducts sacraments and ceremonies for all life events. Several prestigious institutions including Stony Brook School of Social Welfare, and VA Medical Center have invited her to render spiritual and inspirational orations.
Reverend JoAnn’s burning desire to cultivate ‘Similarity in Diversity,’ has put her in the center stage of the Interspiritual Movement, with droves of like-minded individuals responding to her mission dedicated to diversity and the right to personal spiritual expression. Reverend JoAnn lives with her husband in Long Island and has six children and five grandchildren.
We welcome you all to be part of
our community.
