About Scott

Accompanying you through life's meaningful moments.

Thank you for being curious about Energetic Spirit Ministry!

I am Scott Youmans, and I use he/him pronouns.

My Sufi Initiate name is 'Alim, meaning inner wisdom, and I am an ordained Interfaith Minister in the Sirat-i Inayat Interfaith Sufi Path. I am committed to fostering spiritual growth, inclusivity, and compassionate service within myself and those I serve.

While well-versed in many faiths, especially Christianity, Zen Buddhism, Universal Sufism, Unitarian Universalism, and earth-based traditions, I can be present with and help guide seekers on paths of their choosing.

Whether you are seeking spiritual care, pastoral support, worship leadership, or guidance in navigating the digital estate and legacy of a deceased loved one, I offer my expertise and compassionate presence to help you navigate life's sacred moments. Grounded in Love, Unity, and Respect, I invite you to continue your transformative journey of spiritual exploration and discovery.

Training and Experience

Personal Religious Background

Raised Christian, I attended Episcopal and Catholic schools, swam through atheism and agnosticism, explored Taoism, and am now a practicing Unitarian Universalist, Zen Buddhist, and Universal Sufi with strong connections to earth-based traditions; I usually refer to myself as a mystic. I also embrace and affirm multi-religiosity: our ability to connect with and embody multiple religious or spiritual identities and belongings.

Meaningful Experience

Church of the Larger Fellowship
Ministerial Fellow, 2012 - 2014

CLF is one of the largest Unitarian Universalist Congregations –a congregation without walls– that serves members where they are: deployed in the military, incarcerated, or attending services primarily online. I served as a Ministerial Fellow for two years, hosting online worship, studying clinical pastoral care, and participating in the community. Learn more about CLF.

Officiant and Facilitator

I have officiated at weddings, house blessings, and ecological blessings (streams, rivers, and groves of trees). I have facilitated workshops that use writing practices to explore our lives, nature, and the divine masculine; I've led men's groups that create safe and open spaces for connection, shadow work, and transformation.

Lay Worship Leader

Most Unitarian Universalist congregations have a shared ministry model where the minister collaborates with lay worship leaders and provides space for them to lead services. I have been a lay worship leader for over twenty years, offering services on various themes in congregations across the US.

Software Engineering Leadership

Scott has a background in software development and brings his years of understanding in the field to his work in Digital Estate and Legacy Support.

Select Education

Sirat-i Inayat Interfaith Sufi Path
Ordained Dec. 2023

A two-year path of ordination within my Universal Sufi community. This preparation has included studying a variety of topics, such as comparative religions, death and grieving, suicide and assisted dying, leading Universal Worship Services, providing sacred care, and offering house blessings, weddings, and memorials. This program requires its ordained ministers to adhere to ethical guidelines and to be in relationship with and in community with a mentor. Learn more.

Next Stage Integral Facilitation Training

The 3-day Next Stage Facilitation Program develops facilitative leaders through a balanced exploration of inner and outer dynamics, with ample experimentation, advanced facilitation practice, and personalized feedback. Participants learn how to go off script, guide the energy of any group, and handle more complexity with ease. Learn more.

Starr King School for the Ministry

I attended SKSM's Masters of Divinity program for two semesters and then withdrew for financial reasons. SKSM's focus on multi-religiosity and counter-oppressive theologies continues to inspire my perspectives on faith and life and has deepened my compassion for all beings. Learn more.

Goddard College
Masters of Art in Transformative Language Arts

The TLA program at Goddard College helps enliven those who seek to create personal and collective change through the written and spoken word.

Sirat-i Inayat Interfaith Sufi Path

A red heart with a star and crescent within it, with gold wings on either side.

Sufism, in general, is the mystical branch of Islam. Just as there are Christian mystics and Jewish Kabbalists, there are Muslim Sufis. If one were to consider that any religion could be approached from theological, philosophical, and experiential perspectives, the mystical branches tend to focus on the experiential -– the direct experience of the divine, which is said to be universal. There are many orders of Sufism, each of which formed around a particular spiritual leader and has its own beliefs and practices.

The Sirat-i Inayat Order that I belong to is part of a Universal Sufism that was founded by Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, an Indian Sufi, in the early 1900s. Like many Sufis of his day, he was connected to several Sufi orders, including the Chishti Sufi Order. The Chishti accept seekers of all faiths without asking for conversion to formal Islam, and this practice continues in Universal Sufism today.

Sirat-i Inayat Interfaith Sufi Path was founded on July 5th, 2022, as a continuation of the lineage of Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. Murshid’s work began in earnest on September 13th, 1910, when he sailed from India to carry out the instructions of his teacher, Sayyid Muhammad Abu Hashim Madani, who said:

Fare forth into the world, my child, and harmonize the East and the West with the harmony of thy music. Spread the wisdom of Sufism abroad, for to this end art thou gifted by Allah, the most merciful and compassionate.

Learn more about the Sirat-i Inayat Interfaith Sufi Path.