What is Unity?

Unity is a positive, practical, progressive approach to Christianity based on the teachings of Jesus and the power of prayer. Unity honors the universal truths in all religions and respects each individual’s right to choose a spiritual path.

God

God is Spirit, the loving source of all that is. God is the one power, all good, everywhere present, all wisdom. God is divine energy, continually creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God, we live and move and have our being. In Unity, some other ways we speak of God are Life, Light, Love, Substance, Principle, Law, and Universal Mind.

Jesus

We believe that Jesus expressed his divine potential and sought to show humankind how to express ours as well. We see Jesus as a master teacher of universal truths and as our Way-Shower. In Unity, we use the term “Christ” to mean the divinity in humankind. Jesus is the great example of the Christ in expression.

The Nature of Humankind

We are each individual, eternal expressions of God. Our essential nature is divine and therefore inherently good. Our purpose is to express our divine potential as realized and demonstrated by Jesus and other master teachers. The more we awaken to our divine nature, the more fully God expresses in and through our lives.

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.

Our Teachings

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.

In this touching interview, first aired on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday show, Maya Angelou discusses her experience with her Unity church and the idea in Lessons in Truth, a classic Unity text, that changed her life.

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.

Youth and Family Ministry

Unity recognizes that there are many expressions of family life. All are welcome. Unity creates an affirming environment that fosters positive self image, personal responsibility and unconditional love and acceptance.

Unity:

Unity provides a strong spiritual foundation for children’s lives.

Spiritual Action

In Unity, we feel a sacred responsibility, individually and collectively, to make a positive difference through personal example and active service in our churches, our communities and our world.

Honoring Diversity Within The Unity Movement

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, color, gender, age, creed, religion, national origin, ethnicity, physical disability, or sexual orientation. Our sincere desire is to ensure that all Unity organizations are nondiscriminatory and support diversity.

In our effort to reach out to all people as did our Way-Shower, Jesus Christ, 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.

Adopted by: Unity School of Christianity and the Association of Unity Churches, January 23, 1995

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

Unity Worldwide Ministries

Vision – Centered in God, we co-create a world that works for all.

Mission – Advancing the movement of spiritual awakening and transformation through Unity, a positive path for spiritual living.

Core Values – are the foundation of the organization and vital for it to be successful; the organization’s ideals; non-negotiable; fundamental for organizational coherence.

Spirit Led – We are centered in God. Spirit leads our thoughts and actions as we co-create a world that works for all.

Integrity – We act from a place of wholeness and are ethical in all our actions. We keep our word.

Diversity – We believe that all people are created with sacred worth. We promote greater understanding among people in a spirit of unity.

Transformation – We are a dynamic movement on the cutting edge of spiritual evolution. We teach universal spiritual principles that change lives.

Abundance – Living in the infinite flow of God’s good, we draw from God’s inexhaustible supply and wisely use our rich resources to serve the world.

Unity Worldwide Ministries PO Box 610 • Lees Summit MO 64063 Off 816.524.7414 • Fax 816.525.4020 • www.unity.org