Affirmation Circles

Hi Friends –

I am so happy to have Affirmation Circles relaunched today, because what your mother and everyone else wants most is to be affirmed.

What’s new is the Zoom meeting Monday nights at 8pm EDT where my collaborator, Jack Roberts, and I will be hosting an online Affirmation Circle. You are welcome.

Also what’s new is the refreshed Facebook Affirmation Circles Group, also moderated by Jack and me. You are welcome there too, but you must ask to join the group, so do that right away. Scroll down to learn more.

Have you ever tried to write an affirmation? Would you like to have a set of affirmations that support you now in a challenging experience? Would you like to practice writing affirmations for friends and family?

Affirmation Circles are small groups of friends, who may become like family, because we write affirmations for one another. It just may be that such groups are how New Thought truly emerged over one hundred years ago.

Join us tomorrow night and on Facebook. We will, together, learn how to affirm one another and to support one another in the most powerful way, the way of affirmation.

Mark Hicks
Mother's Day 2021, May 9, 2021

What is an Affirmation Circle?

An affirmation circle is a spiritual group of two or more persons who meet regularly in an atmosphere of trust and harmony for the purpose of affirming the truth of each other's divine intentions by means of denials and affirmations.

They do this by composing denials and affirmations for each other. The process begins by someone sharing a desire or concern. The others in the group compose and write out on a 3x5 card a denial or affirmation that they believe would be helpful.

Each of them then "speaks the word" to the person and gives to him or her the 3x5 card. This continues until everyone has received an affirmation or denial from everyone else.

Besides composing and sharing denials and affirmations, the group also recites Hypatia Hasbrouck's three great affirmations for general use and they also recite Unity's Five Basic Principles.

The process should take about 5-10 minutes for each person in the group.

What are Denials and Affirmations?

Denials and affirmations are short, powerful statements of truth, spoken silently or audibly to our subconscious mind, for the purpose of relaxing the soul and opening ourselves to the flow of divine ideas from Spirit. They are written in the present tense and spoken in a relaxed manner.

A denial states the powerlessness or impermanence of a situation and thereby prevents our subconscious mind from investing energy in a mistaken belief. Examples are:

“No one is lost in Spirit,” “There is no absence of opportunity or intelligence anywhere”

“The lack of a job is powerless to take my good from me”

“Death cannot master me for birth and death are merely transition points in eternal life”

An affirmation states the truth of a situation and thereby instructs our subconscious mind to focus attention on that which is true and permanent. Examples are:

“God's healing life flows through me now”

“There is the perfect job at the perfect pay open for me right now”

“Divine order is established in me and in this situation”

Denials and affirmations may be used together to cleanse and build-up consciousness. The power of denials and affirmations is evident in this clip of Martha Giudici leading her congregation with prosperity statements:

Clip #102 from Why Not Be Rich?.

The Affirmation Circle Process

Begin the affirmation circle by declaring together:

My mind, your mind and the Mind of God are one.* I now establish and declare spiritual oneness with God and those here present:

• There is only one Presence and one Power in my life and in the universe, God the omnipotent Good.
• I and all persons are individualized expressions of God with the Christ Spirit within, and therefore we are all inherently good.

With Godlike thoughts, I think into being a Godlike world.* Holding a consciousness of flow, play and joy, I declare and affirm:

• I create my experiences by the activity of my thinking. Everything in my manifest realm has its beginning in thought.
• Prayer is creative thinking that heightens my connection with God-Mind and therefore brings forth to me wisdom, healing, prosperity, and everything good.

Each person in the affirmation circle shares a concern or desire:

A person in the circle begins the process by briefly stating the situation or concern he or she wishes to address. For example, the person may say, "I have heard that my company is about to begin laying off some of its employees next week and I am concerned that I may lose my job."

The others in the group then take a minute or two to write on a 3x5 card a denial or an affirmation that identifies the divine Truth idea behind the concern or desire and that helps the person see the Truth of the situation. In the case of concern about losing one's job, an appropriate affirmation might be:

“There is a perfect job at the perfect pay open for me right now.”

They then read to the person the denial or affirmation that they have written, changing “I” or “me” words to "you", such as:

“There is a perfect job at the perfect pay open for you right now.”

After everyone in the group has shared with the person the Truth they see, the cards are passed to the person.

The process continues until each person in the group has shared his or her desire or concern and has received a denial or affirmation from everyone else.

Conclude with Silence and Gratitude

Begin to close the affirmation circle with sufficient time in silence for each person to savor the Divine intentions that have been identified and to ponder the denials and affirmations that have been formulated.

Break the silence by stating together:

I send forth only thoughts of good and good returns in overwhelming measure.* As an individualized expression of God-Mind, I affirm:

• Knowing and understanding the laws of life, also called Truth, are not enough. I must also live the truth that I know.

The process is brought to a close by each person expressing gratitude to Spirit and to the group for the affirmation of their divine intention. One way to do this is to say:

“I am grateful that ...”

Why we should have Affirmation Circles in our small group and individual ministries

We all arrive on Sunday with our desires and concerns. Even Jesus at one time seemed a bit lost. He asked his friends, “who am I?” About that encounter we know two things. First, that Peter responded with the great affirmation, “You are the Christ.” Second, according to all gospel accounts, it was only a few days later that Jesus’ “face shone like the sun” at the transfiguration.

There is a connection between affirming a fellow congregant and seeing his or her face “shining like the sun.” We know that prayer builds connections in churches and grows religious commitment. But what is it that Peter did? How did he pray with Jesus? He simply affirmed the Truth of Jesus by means of an affirmation. Upon that simple spiritual act was built the Christian church. That same act will build our church as well.

Writing an affirmation for someone else and sharing it with him or her may be the most powerful thing we can do in Unity for building love and commitment in our churches. Perhaps the simple act of composing and writing down an affirmation on a 3x5 card and sharing it with a fellow congregant is Unity’s unique way of saying “I’ll pray for you”.

The Unity Correspondence School course teaches us that we are each an “individualized church of Christ.” I will write more about that in a later post. But for now, why not explore how small groups of affirming congregants can be organized to unlock error thinking and become the rock upon which is built a committed faith community?

Join Us on Zoom Monday Nights at 8pm Eastern

(on hiatus Summer 2021)

In May 2021, we are launching a Zoom based Affirmation Circle on Monday nights at 8pm Eastern (New York) time. The format and the process is similar to what we have in local Affirmation Circles: We begin with an affirmation! We then have a short lesson and discussion about what affirmations are and how they can be powerful blessings when given to others.

But the main part of our time is devoted for anyone to express a desire or concern and for others to compose affirmations for him or her. No one is required to participate, but we encourage everyone to do so.

The process is simple. When the floor is open, share a desire or concern with those present. Jack and Mark will guide the process. If others are so inspired, they will compose an affirmation or denial for you and share it with you and the group. So that you may have it written down to carry with you, we ask everyone to post their affirmation in the chatbox. You may find yourself with a dozen or more affirmations to help you with your desire or concern. That is our hope.

Go to the TruthUnity Events page for more information. >

Co-hosting this Affirmation Circle is Jack Roberts, soon-to-be Licensed UFBL Teacher and author of The Science of Affirmations: Your Power for Creating the Life You Deserve and Desire, available on Amazon. More information about Jack is at The Science of Affirmations.

Joining Jack is Mark Hicks, long-time Licensed Unity Teacher and founder and developer of TruthUnity. More information about Mark is on the About page of TruthUnity.

(on hiatus Summer 2021)

Join the FaceBook Affirmation Circles Group

Affirmation circles are for small group ministries. But there is also a Facebook Affirmation Circle! Post your own desire or concern on Facebook and receive affirmations and denials from your friends by joining the Facebook Affirmation Circles Group.

There are two simple rules of the Affirmation Circles Facebook Group:

• A post on the page must be a short, 1-3 sentence request for an affirmation, enough for others to compose an affirmation or denial.
• A comment on the page must be an affirmation or denial that would be helpful to the person who has made a post.

For all you mathematicians out there, know that this group is a function: Input are desires or concerns and the output are denials and affirmations.

As with the Zoom Affirmation Circle, this Facebook page is moderated by Jack Roberts and Mark Hicks.

How To Write Affirmations and Denials

• Begin with an awareness that the person who has declared an intention is a spiritual being who really desires to be a perfect expression of God-Mind. Always see the person from the point of view of Spirit.
• Try to perceive the divine idea that is driving the intention and always look for the true, compassionate and beautiful ideal that lies in back of the desire. Then formulate the affirmation as a specific expression of that divine idea. For example if the person is desiring a successful business meeting, the affirmation might highlight the ideal of Divine Order:

“Divine order is expressed in this meeting, Now!”

• Compose the affirmation with an awareness that Spirit is aware of our every need, even before we are able to express our need in words and that what we desire is already being provided by Spirit. Remember to place the affirmation in present tense and, if possible, conclude the statement with “Now!”
• Use as few words as possible.

Things To Keep In Mind

• Affirmation circles are a Spirit-led community. While one person may serve as facilitator for the day, no one truly leads or teaches in an affirmation circle.
• Everyone participates in an Affirmation Circle.
• Affirmation circles are intended to hold the truth for each individual rather than to fix anyone's problems.
• Since they are based on trust and confidence, they require group consensus before bringing in new members or visitors.

Download the Affirmation Circles Handout

Click here to download the Affirmation Circles handout in PDF format. If you print this on two sides, be sure to select "flip on the short side." If will make for a great Sunday service bulletin insert.

More information from Unity's teachers

Credits and Copyright

*Thank you, Hypatia Hasbrouck, for three powerful affirmations on p.25 of Handbook of Positive Prayer.