The Compassion Consortium is a non-sectarian support center. We offer well-being resources, spiritual guidance, support, and community fellowship to Vegans, Vegetarians, animal rights activists, shelter/sanctuary workers, animal lovers, and all humans who care about and advocate for animals, habitats and the planet as a whole.

 

OUR APPROACH

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Compassion Consortium is an interfaith, interspiritual, and interspecies organization.

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Interfaith means we welcome people of any religion, spiritual , philosophical path, or system of meaning-making, and we feature a diverse range within our programming. From Humanist to Christian, Jewish to Wiccan, Ayurvedic to Zoroastrian (and everything else!) we are interested in talking with people about how their system of meaning making influences and impacts their relationships with animals and habitats.  

 

• View replays of our spiritual guests on our YouTube channel

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Interspiritual is a term coined by Brother Wayne Teasdale. It means that we believe underneath all the world’s religions, spiritual paths, and philosophies of living we can find commonalities, particularly the shared values of peace, compassionate service, and love for the Earth community. We want to recognize and cultivate these values in ourselves and others. So, we engage in spiritual practices focused on human-animal relationships, including meditation, prayer, music, contemplation, journaling mindfulness, chanting, yoga, creative expression, affirmations, visioning, forgiveness, sacred rituals, breathwork, and more! 

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• Try interspecies spiritual practices

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Interspecies which means when we say "Earth community"—we include jaguars, Jack Russels, jackrabbits, Japanese Bantam Chickens, and any other animal with names beginning with any letters! We include not only companion animals (or as some say, "pets"), but also free-living creatures ("wildlife"), animals held in captivity or exploited for human uses, and even honoring those who have gone extinct. We raise awareness of human-animal conflicts and how we can use both compassion and action to these situations worldwide.

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WHY WE FORMED

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We recognize that many people do not see their deeply rooted compassion for all creatures reflected in houses of worship or spiritual centers; some people have even left faith traditions after seeing animals excluded from the level of mercy they deserve; in many cases, they're even denied the possession of a soul.

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The Compassion Consortium is here to supplement this "missing piece" for persons who are part of another religious or spiritual community and those who are not affiliated ("nones") or identify as secular. Our regular monthly service takes place monthly on a Sunday afternoon, 4 pm U.S. Eastern Time, to avoid interference with most church, synagogue, temple, or mosque services. While we encourage Compassion Consortium membership for those so moved, this is not a "join up required" kind of organization: we're here to serve you, the companion animals you love, the nearby "free-living" ones you care about, as well as all exploited, abused, and endangered animals, and the fragile habitats and ecosystems of planet Earth.

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Our Sunday programs, offered via Zoom, feature either a solo presentation or panel discussion with experts from various religious and philosophical traditions who share the conviction that all living kind, and the planet itself, deserve respect, justice, and lovingkindness. Each service also includes elements of traditional worship services and the opportunity to personally express faith, gratitude, and celebration to the degree that each individual wishes to participate.

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The Consortium also hosts additional events, classes, and interest groups (such as the Book and Film Events), and offers services including pastoral counseling and companion animal grief counseling, animal chaplaincy, and animal Reiki. Our website itself is an ever-renewing resource for information about inclusive spirituality. The Compassion Consortium celebrates diversity and operates with an inviolable anti-racist and anti-speciesist ethic. While our ministry is global, we are based in New York City, where we are organized as a non-for-profit religious corporation.

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We also offer a robust Animal Chaplaincy Training program for people who feel called to spiritual service on behalf of the more-than-human world.

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The cofounding members of our Leadership Team are available for speaking engagements and media interviews; please contact us.

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• Reverend William Melton

• Reverend Sarah Bowen

• Victoria Moran, CHHC(AADP), RYT

• Animal Chaplain Jennifer Baker

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This team is supported by our interfaith Advisory Board.