Rev. Stanley L. Yorker is an Atlanta-based minister with a message of personal empowerment called Urban Inspirational Metaphysics. It’s summed up in the phrase “Think a New Thought!” He currently leads the Spirit of Brotherhood men’s auxiliary at Southwest Atlanta’s Hillside International Truth Center and is co-spiritual director of a ministry without walls, InSpirit Truth Center. His book, “My Daily Sources of Light” can be found on Amazon.com.
City: Atlanta, GA
House of Worship: Hillside International Truth Center and InSpirit Truth Center
Religion: New Thought Christianity
Social media handles: (IG) @stanleyyorker (Facebook) Stanley Yorker, InSpirit Truth Center
When did you know that God was calling you to be a messenger of the gospel?
It’s been gentle taps and tugs all of my life. I finally decided to yield to it around 2010.
How important is it to have a personal relationship with God, Jesus Christ or a higher power?
You can only have a personal relationship – there is no separation.
What three successful habits are a part of your daily routine that help you maintain your success, sanity and peace of mind?
Prayer/meditation, some type of physical activity and reading.
As a pastor, what is your greatest or proudest achievement?
Being ordained by Bishop, Dr. Barbara Lewis King
How do you incorporate technology into today’s church?
By live streaming services, daily online devotionals and I help facilitate a daily 7am eastern inspiration phone call, “The Daily Source of Light” 1(857) 232-0155 Passcode 1050. Also, [we utilize] social platforms, but there is room for even more as technology has totally changed society and the religious/spiritual experience has, and will continue, to change as a consequence.
What impact does technology have on the Black church?
For some, it has been a boon and for others a bust. It all depends on how comfortable they’ve been in embracing and incorporating it into the ministry. Live streaming has become so prevalent that many congregants have chosen to just view from home. It’s also increasing. That can be a double-edged sword because it expands the potential for the reach of the message, but finances dwindle when physical attendance does.
Who is your biggest inspiration? Why?
My father, Rev. Eddie Lee Yorker. He just retired last year after 61 year of ministry in Daytona Beach, FL
Who are your favorite disciples? Please explain.
All twelve. In New Thought, we read the bible through a metaphysical lens that assigns a spiritual faculty to each of the twelve. These faculties, or powers, are all aspects of ourselves, e.g., Peter represents Faith and James and John represent Wisdom and Love. Once you understand that, you see how vital each of them is to the total narrative and to our personal spiritual unfoldment, even Judas who, surprisingly, represents life.
What is the best way to learn how to meditate in the Psalms?
Psalms 43:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Name two scriptures that address trouble.
- Psalms 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”
- Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
What are several scriptures, with context, regarding health and healing?
- First Corinthians 6:19: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which isin you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” When you can think of your body in this way, you are less likely to desecrate it with junk. It also then gives the story of Jesus cleansing the temple a new and powerful added dimension.
- Genesis 1:29: “Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.” We need to incorporate more whole and plant-based foods into our diets.
- John 5:6: When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” We have to ask ourselves that question because with so many of the chronic ailments that plague us, we have the capacity to affect our own healing with a change of attitude and behaviors.
- Mark 5:34 “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
What is your favorite story in the bible that addresses health and healing?
John 5: 1–12. This is the full story of the man who had “an infirmity” for 38 years and wasn’t healed because he was waiting on someone to help put him in the healing pool. This is when Jesus asked him point-blankly if he wanted to be healed, then told him to take up his bed and walk. Science through epigenetics and other practices is showing us quantitatively that we have the power, through thought, to change even our genetic structure.
What are two scriptures that address grief and bereavement?
- John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” Grief is a natural expression and outpouring. In our humanness we can empathize and share the emotional pain of others as even in our spirituality we know death is not the end. In fact, shortly after weeping, Jesus actually called Lazarus forth from the tomb. He knew he would and yet, he was still connected to the emotional state of his friends.
- John 14:1–4 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”
Can you give us a biblical story that address grief and bereavement?
Second Samuel 18:33 “… Absalom! Would God I had died for you, O Absalom, my son, my son! … Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! …”
Who is your favorite gospel artist? Why?
Walter Hawkins. The lasting impact and lingering freshness of his material.
What are your five favorite gospel songs?
I’m old school, I still like to listen to The Hawkins Family (Walter, Edwin, Tremaine) stuff like, “Going Up Yonder”, “Changed”, “Be Grateful” and “He’s That Kind of Friend.” I also like Michael Beckwith and Rickie Byars Beckwith’s Agape Choir “I Release” and Sounds of Blackness “Optimistic”.
Why is it important for people to attend Bible Study and Sunday School?
The bible encourages us to “forsake not the fellowship” because we are still communal animals and there is a synergistic power that is created when “two or three are gathered together in my name.” Also, from a social and cultural perspective, the church has traditionally been one of our primary institutions for education and activism.
