Christmas 2018: What's in a Name?

In 2018 we celebrated our 10^th anniversary as an organization.  As a way of honoring this milestone, I want to share a bit about the history and meaning of our name.    

Going back a few years… in 2006 a friend approached Don Diva and me about creating healing opportunities for a group of young adults.  We were inspired to create a conference context where young adults could experience

relational and spiritual healing in a context of worship and experiential learning.  We gathered a team and named the conference, the “Soul Restoration Project.”  In 2007, when we realized it made sense to form an organization that would bring together the various facets of the healing work we were doing, the name stuck.  “Soul Restoration Project” embodies our values – spiritual integration, depth-process restoration and a commitment to creativity and healthy boundaries.   

SOUL… it connotes complexity, depth and aliveness.  Soulful music, for example.  But what is the soul?  Definitions vary, depending on who you ask.  Biblically, a Hebrew word often translated as “soul” is “nephesh.”  It appears in the creation story (Gen 2:7) where it is often translated as “living being.”  “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being (nephesh).”  In Greek, the word “psyche” is often translated “soul.”  For example, Jesus says, (Mt 5:8), “What good is it for man to gain the whole world but lose his soul (psyche)?”  We think of the soul as the core self, a self embodied and created for life, complexity and depth.  This is true for each person we work with.      

RESTORATION… consider the things we restore: vintage cars, art work, architecture, ecosystems.  “Restoration” connotes a process involved in repairing things of great value.  That’s very different than fixing broken stuff.  This is the work we do: through a process that is attuned to the unique needs of our clients, we seek to bring to health aspects of the self (or relationships) that have been damaged or never developed. 

PROJECT...  Project connotes two ideas to us: creativity and boundaries.  When we did our first conference, our plates were full of full-time jobs in other ministries, grad school and a myriad of other commitments.  Calling it a “project” helped us to conceptualize our commitment as limited to one conference.  It gave us freedom to work on this “project,” without taking on more than we could handle.  Of course, we have taken on quite a bit over the years.  But we also maintain an attentiveness to healthy boundaries, knowing that boundaries enable us (and our clients) to truly thrive and be present.  “Project” also, very importantly, connotes creativity.  We are working on a project that requires our best selves and our greatest creativity.  It is a project worthy of focus and prayer.  Whether in how we lead a workshop or conference, to how we organize SRP, to how we sit with our clients, we seek to creatively bring new life.    

Much has changed since our first conference in 2006.  We are now a group of ten wonderful, talented therapists who embody our SRP values and who are committed to learning and growing together.  And we continue to expand our network to better support churches, ministries and others in the communities of north Orange County and Long Beach.  We give thanks for you and your part in this Soul Restoration Project!