We are now the Alliance for Spiritual Understanding (AS-U)!

Dr. Robert Karle (Dr. Bob) brought Religious Science to the Washington, D.C. area in 1977.  He  recognized that the New Thought movement was very slow to spread in the east, and he set out to graduate as many practitioners and ministers as possible.

Dr. Bob recognized that many people are thirsty for the messages of teachers like Ernest Holmes and Emma Curtis Hopkins, and ready to align their thinking with natural law to lead more ethical and satisfying lives.

His Center for Creative Living and seminary flourished.  When Dr. Bob retired, Rev. Doug Kinney took over the Center, and Dr. Bob's graduates, including Dr. Thelma and Rev. Dwight Smith, continued to nurture the organization that became Global Religious Science Ministries (GRSM) in the 1990s.

As we've opened ourselves to all the wisdom of the ages and the mysteries of the universe, we have welcomed interfaith members and non-traditional modes of questioning and learning.  Some of us have studied different healing and learning modalities, and others have focused on more scholarly pursuits.  We have expanded who we are to meet our own growing needs and interests and to be true to the teaching of Ernest Holmes--"open at the top."

We have purchased new tools to help us obtain grants, and our members are charting new territory.  At our annual meeting, we voted on changes that many members have already embraced.  We have formed a new umbrella organization that allows us to branch out into areas such as community service, research, and writing,  and extend our studies and practice to explore spirituality in all its forms and potential.

Global Religious Science Ministries, Inc. (GRSM) continues as an organization under the AS-U umbrella for those of us who desire to build on the philosophy of Ernest Holmes.  Other interfaith practices and interests are now possible, too!  GRSM is a member of the International New Thought Alliance (INTA).

It's an exciting time for us as we continue to practice and teach and learn.  Whether we are "newbies" to this work or seasoned old-timers, we are travelers on an endless spiritual journey, where we find ourselves operating as both students and teachers.  Thank you, Spirit, for bringing us together and opening us to our infinite divine nature.