WHAT IS UNITY

What Unity Teaches Us

Unity is a worldwide ministry of prayer, publishing, and education that helps people of all faiths apply positive spiritual principles in their daily lives.

The Unity Institute* is the World Headquarters of the Unity Movement, located in Unity Village, MO.

For details on Unity World Headquarters, go to http://www.unityonline.org/index.htm. For details on the Unity Institute, go to http://www.unityonline.org/learn_ui-main.htm.

Telephone Unity Institute* at (816) 251-3535.

Silent Unity Prayer Ministry. This Prayer Ministry of the Unity Institute operates 24 hours each day, 365 days each year, and can be reached by calling (816) 969-2000 [Español (816) 969-2020], or one can submit a prayer request to Silent Unity on-line. Click on Submit a Prayer Request.

The Association of Unity Churches is the membership organization of the individual Unity Churches.

For details about the Association of Unity Churches, go to http://unity.org.

Unity Church of Green Valley is a member of the Association of Unity Churches.

* The Unity Institute was formerly known as the Unity School of Christianity.

What is Unity?

Unity Church of the Valley is a positive thinking, loving community who express their unity and oneness with each other and with our world through daily practicing the Christ principles of a loving, supportive God. We welcome everyone and support each person's spiritual growth.

From the Minister of the Unity Church of Green Valley, Rev. Maurice E. Guerette:
Dear Friends,
I am often asked, "What is Unity?"
Unity began with the publication of Modern Thought, a small magazine devoted to the teaching of Universal Ideas of Truth. This occurred in 1889. Since then, it has grown to be a worldwide movement through the publication of Daily Word, Unity Magazine, and a variety of other books and pamphlets. Unity is the home of the world-famous Silent Unity Prayer Room, a 24-hour prayer service, located at Unity Village, near Kansas City, Missouri.
This Unity Church is a spiritual community where people come to learn how to live positive, meaningful lives, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. People also come to find a deeper spiritual meaning in their life.
Unity is a Christian organization whose primary emphasis is on the practical application of spiritual principles. The purpose of this spiritual community is to provide a place where the members can bless, heal, and celebrate who they are as humans on this wonderful path of life. Based on the example of Jesus Christ, we teach practical applications of spiritual principles. Unity is not an offshoot of any other Christian denomination; therefore, we do not replicate any rituals and dogmas common in traditional Christian churches.
People keep returning to this church because their lives are transformed in a positive manner when the principles are practiced. Unity is a way of life. There are no requirements for attendance. We DO NOT recruit, convert, save, or proselytize; nor do we coerce. We DO come together and learn to live a positive, loving, peaceful, happy, and prosperous existence.

YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!
Abundant Blessings,
Reverend Maurice E. Guerette

"Unity says that true religious growth is a 'do-it-yourself' project ... One might describe Unity as a religious philosophy with an 'open end,' seeking to find God's truth in all of life." - Charles R. Fillmore, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Unity Headquarters and grandson of the founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore.

The Essence and Simple Truth of Unity:

Unity emphasizes the divine potential within every child of God, and teaches that through a practical understanding and application of those spiritual and mental principles taught by Christ Jesus, every person can realize and express his or her inner genius and divine potential for a healthier, happier, and more successful life here and now.

Unity with God, Man and All Good is our way of life.
Christ in you; your hope of Glory is our ideal.
Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind is our teaching.
Love is our God.
Humanity is our church.
Truth is our wisdom.
Applying truth creatively, in positive thought and action is our daily living.
Loving God's spirit in you, ourselves, and one another is our daily worship.

"I and my Father are one." - Jesus (John 10:30) Also quoted by H. Emilie Cady in Lessons in Truth, Chapters 2 and 10.

What Unity Teaches Us

Unity has no dogmatic statements of faith, which you will be asked to follow. We do invite you to accept the teachings you find helpful in your efforts to lift your consciousness to a higher spiritual level. We are seeking to express a more loving consciousness, which then enhances our practical living experiences. Our relationship, our health, and our prosperity are also enhanced.

Unity offers a comprehensive teaching to those who are seeking a deeper knowledge of spiritual things. Unity believes that God is Spirit. Spirit is the life principle animating all forms of life and the universe. God is creative; the source of all that is good. Unity believes that one's higher self is in the image and likeness of God. We are all children of God, and the qualities of God are inherent in us. Unity believes in Jesus as the one person who brought in full expression His Divine nature, the Christ. We acknowledge Jesus as the Wayshower, and believe that by following His teaching, we bring into full expression our divine nature.

Unity believes in the creative power of thoughts and words. We begin the formation of conditions by thought, and if the prevailing conditions are not to our liking, we are willing to change our thinking. Unity believes in prayer. Prayer is as necessary to be happy and successful in life as breathing is to physical life.

Above all, Unity believes in the love of God for all people. No matter what we have done . . . love never ceases. It is steadfast, constant, and everlasting.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Leviticus 19:18), restated by Jesus (Matthew 19:19)

What does Unity Believe About...

God. God is Love. God is Spirit transcendent and imminent, everywhere present, behind, in and through all things, visible and invisible. God is Infinite Mind, the principle of Absolute Good expressed in all creation.

Man. Man, an idea in Divine Mind, was created in the image and likeness of that Divine Mind and is, therefore, divine in nature.

Jesus Christ. Christ is the perfect idea of man in the mind of God. Jesus of Nazareth understood his divine sonship, and his life demonstrated that perfect idea. Jesus Christ, a union of the idea and the expression, is perfect man demonstrated. Jesus expressed his divine potential and sought to show us how to express ours as well. Unity teaches that the prophetic hope of mankind was not fulfilled in Jesus but was revealed through him and that the true hope of mankind is the Christ Spirit within the heart of every man. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27).

The Bible. The Bible reveals the spirit of Truth and the Word of God and is valued for its historical, moral and ethical teachings. Beyond this, Unity finds significance in metaphysical (beyond the physical) interpretation through which the Bible is seen as a record of man's varied experiences in his eternal quest for God and for Truth.

Evil and Sin. Denying the existence of any power or presence opposed to God, Unity ascribes the evil appearances and suffering in the world to man's ignorance of erroneous use of Universal Law. While the wages or results of "sin" or "erroneous use of God's laws" are apparent in tragic lack of fulfillment in individual lives, Unity seeks to emphasize present and future potential for good in those lives rather than past sins and failures.

The Hereafter. Unity believes in eternal life of which the present moment is a vital part. We place emphasis on the eternal now, knowing that as we perfect the immediate moment, the future will take care of itself. Man makes his own heaven or hell here and now by his thoughts, words, and deeds.

Salvation. Because there is divine potential within every child of God, through a practical understanding and application of what Jesus taught, every person can realize and express his or her divine potential for a happier, fuller, and more successful life. Salvation is, then, the expanding understanding of our innate divinity and perfectibility through living the life demonstrated in the teachings of Jesus.

Man's Responsibility. Man, brought face to face with God and with himself, has a new realization of his responsibility to discipline his own thinking in order to bring his life into accord with the laws of God's universe. One who assumes this responsibility will be able to enjoy that life more abundant which Jesus promised (John 10:10). Learning to live up to this challenging responsibility is the ongoing aim of those involved in this adventure called Unity.

It is done unto you as you believe. "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." - Jesus (Matthew 8:13)

"I am a child or manifestation of God, and every moment His life, love, wisdom, power flow into and through me. I am one with God and am governed by His law." - Dr. H. Emilie Cady: Lessons in Truth, Chapter 5, Affirmation No. 2.

For a history of the Unity Movement and the lives of its co-founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, go to: http://www.unityofflagstaff.org/unitygen/history.html and http://cornerstone.wwwhubs.com/fillmore.htm.

Jesus Myrtle Fillmore H. Emilie Cady Charles Fillmore Emmet Fox James D. Freeman Eric Butterworth Catherine Ponder

4BC?-30AD? 1845-1931 1848-1941 1854-1948 1886-1951 1912-2003 1916-2003 1918-2005

Other Pioneers in the History of the Metaphysical Movement Ca 1880-1990:

Phineas P. Quimby Ralph W. Emerson Mary. B. Eddy Thomas Troward Emma C. Hopkins Ernest Holmes Frederick Balies

Joseph Murphy Norman V. Peale

"There is a power for good in the Universe, greater than you are, and you can use it.” - Dr. Ernest Holmes