Why Unity?
Unity is a spiritual resource for daily living and considered by its members as positive, practical Christianity. Unity teaches the practical application in everyday life of the principles of Truth taught and exemplified by the master teacher Jesus, as interpreted in the light of modern-day experience by
Unity School of Christianity and the
Association of Unity Churches. Unity is a way of life that leads to health, prosperity, happiness, and peace of mind.
Unity affirms the freedom of each individual to advance spiritually according to his or her own level of understanding. Respect for and faith in the spirit of God in every person makes it unnecessary to set down fixed creeds or impose limiting beliefs. Each individual is encouraged to follow the Unity teachings in determining personal responses in his or her life.
What We Teach
Unity teaches that each person is a unique expression of God created with sacred worth. Living from that awareness transforms our lives and the world. Unity emphasizes the creative power of thought in our life experience. We refer to this as the Law of Mind Action. When we take personal responsibility to choose life affirming thoughts, words and actions, we experience a more fulfilling and abundant life. Unity emphasizes the importance of applying spiritual principles in our daily lives. Unity teachings continue to evolve as we identify, embrace and apply spiritual insights and the spiritual implications of new discoveries.
5 Basic Unity Principles
1. There is only presence and one power active in the Universe and in my life God,the Good.
2. If there is only presence, God, then that presence must exists within everyone and express as everyone and all of creation. The very essence of who we are is God; therefore, we are inherently good.
3. We create our experiences by the activity of our thinking. Everything in the manifest realm or “the world as we know it” has it’s beginning in thought.
4. Through prayer and meditation, we aligned our hearts and minds with God, bringing for the wisdom, healing, prosperity and everything good.
5. Knowing these Truths is not enough, we must live them in our daily lives, through our thoughts, words and actions.
A Short Glossary of Unity Terms and Concepts
Pillars of Spiritual Growth
• Daily prayer and meditation
• Ongoing spiritual study
• Seeing and treating everyone as a beloved child of God
• Giving generously and receiving abundantly
• Regularly attending church services
What We Practice
The standards by which we live and grow
1. We change our lives by changing our thinking.
2. We live in a reciprocal Universe.
3. All sacred scriptures, when understood mystically and metaphysically, reveal the path to spiritual maturity and enlightenment.
4. The spirit of God lived in Jesus, just as it lives in every person. Every person has the potential to express the perfection of Christ, as Jesus did, by being more Christ-like in everyday life.
5. Sin is our sense of separation from God, the Good, in consciousness.
6. Salvation is now—not something that occurs after death. It happens whenever we turn our thoughts from fear, anxiety, worry, and doubt to thoughts of love, harmony, joy, and peace.
7. Heaven and hell are states of consciousness, not geographical locations. We make our own heaven or hell here and now by our thoughts, words, and deeds.
Unity and The Bible
Unity co-founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, studied the Bible as history and allegory, and interpreted it as a metaphysical representation of humankind’s evolutionary journey toward spiritual awakening. In addition, Unity recognizes that the Bible is a complex collection of writings compiled over many centuries. We honor the writings as reflecting the understanding and inspiration of the writers at the time they were written. The Bible continues to be a valuable spiritual resource for us.
Prayer and Meditation
Affirmative prayer is the highest form of creative thought. It includes the release of counterproductive, negative thoughts as well as holding in mind statements of spiritual truth. Through meditation, we experience the presence of God. Prayer and meditation heighten our awareness and thereby transform our lives.
Prayer at Unity of Toledo
Diversity In Unity?
We believe that all people are created with sacred worth. Therefore, we recognize the importance of serving all people within the Unity family in spiritually and emotionally caring ways. We strive for our ministries, publications, and programs to reach out to all who seek Unity support and spiritual growth. It is imperative that our ministries and outreaches be free of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age, creed, religion, national origin, ethnicity, physical disability, or sexual orientation. Our sincere desire is to create spiritually aware organizations that are nondiscriminatory and that support diversity.
In our effort to reach out to all people as did Jesus, our Way-Shower, we support: the modification of our facilities to make them accessible to all people, regardless of physical challenges; the translation of our materials into Braille and other languages; and respect for the wonderful variety of human commitments and relationships. We encourage ministers, teachers, and others within Unity to honor the strength of diversity within their spiritual communities. It is with love and in celebration of our unity, in the midst of our wondrous diversity, that we affirm this position.
Statement for Peace
Unity stands for peace in the presence of conflict; for love in the presence of hatred; for forgiveness in the presence of injury. Unity honors the many names for God, the many paths to God, the many ways to worship God; for there is only one power and presence of God and that God loves each one of us equally. It is therefore the position of Unity to urge all nations, their leaders, and their people to turn to God by whatever the name for guidance during these challenging times and pursue peace, not war, for this is what honors the God of all our faith traditions. Unity stands for peace in our lifetime.
Adopted by: Unity School of Christianity and the Association of Unity Churches
February 1, 2003
