Grant Schnarr

Grant Schnarr is an author, teacher, and spiritual leader. He started a progressive church in Chicago for the young at heart in 1984. There he developed one of the first twelve step programs for anyone who would like a more fulfilling and spiritual life. This preceded the twelve-step phenomena that swept North America in the 80's. His first book UNLOCKING YOUR SPIRITUAL POTENTIAL: A TWELVE STEP APPROACH, published by Abbey Press, was one of the first books to bring the 12 Steps of Recovery to everyone, and this particular book, which has now been revised and reprinted with the new title, SPIRITUAL RECOVERY, has been translated into several languages and has been used by recovery groups everywhere.

Schnarr was one of the first to offer programs and support groups for men and men's issues in the early 90's, and was a trailblazer in new ritual and process work in this area. He and therapist Lyle Keller developed a twelve week course devoted to initiating men into mature adulthood, offering insights into the masculine soul and identity. These programs led to the development of men's spirituality weekends in the woodlands of Wisconsin, and are the basis for today's SWET (Spiritual Warfare Effectiveness Training) weekends for men and boys in the Moosic Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Schnarr is also the co-founder of the Bryn Athyn Men's Gatherings, now recognized nationally as a powerful constituent of the men's movement, and has shared the podium with Robert Moore, Robert Bly, John Lee, and others. He has also presented at the Annual Chicago Men's Conference, and the Mankind Project and Woman Within International Conference. Schnarr was invited to Fort Hood, Texas to honor the fallen soldiers from the 4th Infantry brigade. His book, ART OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE, based on Sun Tzu's Art of War, published by Quest Books, has been published by independent publishers on four continents, and has been read by everyone from military generals to rock stars.

Schnarr was graduated with a Master of Divinity in 1983 from the Academy of the New Church theological school, and was ordained into the priesthood of the New Church (Swedenborgian). He, like his colleagues, is a biblical scholar and expert in the doctrinal teachings of the eighteenth-century scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg's influence on modern spiritual thought can be traced down many paths, including the twelve-step program, new thought philosophy, near-death experience research and thought, Suzuki's teachings of Buddhism, Burnham's design of the city of Chicago, Helen Keller, Jung and James, as well as many writers and poets such as Emerson, Blake, Borges, Yeats, Browning, Coleridge, and Balzac. Swedenborg's teachings are expressed in WAY OF WISDOM, a book of Swedenborg's most striking quotations put together with commentary by Grant Schnarr and Erik Buss. Swedenborg's common-sense teachings also show up in Schnarr’s book, RETURN TO THE PROMISED LAND, which delves into the symbolic meaning of the biblical Exodus story, and reflects the deeper journey each person encounters on his or her quest for spiritual growth and happiness. Schnarr was the director of outreach for the world-wide New Church for thirteen years.

Grant Schnarr is currently an Associate Professor at the Bryn Athyn College in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. Schnarr's book, Guardian Angel Diary, a book about a sixteen-year-old girl in crisis and her guardian angel, was considered for development into a full feature film. It is a non-denominational or rather "all-denominational out of the box book about life and growth.

His book, YOU CAN BELIEVE, is a Swedenborg Foundation Publisher's best seller.

Follow Grant Schnarr's podcasts and other videos on YouTube and Spotify.