Spiritual Leadership

Rev. Dr. Seth Watson Pickens is the Senior Minister and Spiritual Director of Guidance Church of Religious Science, where he leads with spiritual depth, intellectual curiosity, humor, and a passionate commitment to human flourishing. Since becoming Senior Minister in 2023, he has helped lead Guidance into a new season of energy, community connection, and possibility.

Dr. Pickens is also Managing Director of the USC Homelessness Policy Research Institute, where his work advances research and practical solutions to homelessness and housing insecurity. He is the author of several scholarly reports, toolkits, articles, and other curricular material. His first book, Unadulterated: Reclaiming Your Childlike Nature, was published in 2026 by Precocity Press. He describes Unadulterated as a “systems change manifesto”: a call for people and institutions to reclaim the childlike capacities that make flourishing possible.

A native of Detroit, Dr. Pickens holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Morehouse College, a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Education from the University of Southern California. Before entering his present leadership roles, he served as an elementary school teacher, a sales professional, a Peace Corps volunteer in Haiti, and a pastor in the Baptist tradition for over a decade.

Dr. Pickens is married to Delana Dailey Pickens. Together, they are the proud parents of five young adult children. He believes that creation is wondrous, humans have vast untapped potential, and that life is too short not to have a little fun.

Dr. Clara “Ma” Mosley is Guidance’s Administrative Minister. She is recognized by many as a mystic: one who possesses great clarity, divine insight, and phenomenal intuition. In honoring her gifts, many who know her affectionately call her Ma Mosley.

Dr. Clara is the former presiding minister at the historic June Cobb Church of Religious Science. She officially joined the Guidance family in 2015, although she had been affiliated with Guidance for several years as an instructor for the practitioner training classes. Dr. Clara says, “I continue to wake up and coach others to wake up.”

She became a Religious Science Practitioner in 1995. Dr. Clara is a licensed and ordained minister and holds a Master’s degree in Religious Science and a Ph.D. in Metaphysical Science. She conducts classes, workshops, personal counseling, sacred ceremonies, and speaking engagements.