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Membership Class Manual Welcome to
the Church
of Today We're
very glad you're here! Wendy Craig-Purcell
Founding Minister Church of Today •8999 Activity Road •
San Diego, CA • 92126 • (858) 689-6500
I Am There James Dillet Freeman You need Me? I am there. You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you
see by. A copy of "I Am There" is now on the moon ... carried there on the Apollo XV voyage by Astronaut James B. Irwin, and left on the moon for future space voyagers).
Dear Friend, There is an emptiness, a dissatisfaction, a feeling of discontent that many men and women are experiencing today. Perhaps you have felt it yourself. We are busier and lead more complex lives than any generation before us. And, we're doing a pretty good job of it. We've learned how to create some measure of balance between home, work and family; and even have been able to carve out a slice of time from our hectic schedules to work in our workouts or enjoy a cup of capuccino with friends. Yet, after all we're accomplishing at home and at work, a great number of us are left with a haunting feeling that something is still missing. This "something," we are beginning to discover, is our spirituality. The very large number of books dealing with spirituality that have been appearing in our bookstores the past few years is solid evidence of the spiritual awakening that is happening all around us. We've seen books like The Road Less Traveled, The Celestine Prophecy, Embraced by the Light, Care of the Soul, Soul Mates, and Mutant Message Down Under hit and stay on the New York Times best seller lists for weeks. This spiritual awakening is also causing many to return to church with the desire to deepen their spiritual understanding within a community of like-minded individuals. But few are finding what they are looking for in the churches they grew up in. Like many from the baby boom generation, I attended church intermittently with my parents as a child. We attended a variety of denominations. But, when I was old enough to make my own decision, I stopped attending for the same reasons you may have stopped attending: irrelevant and boring messages; going to church looking for answers, support, encouragement and strength to face the challenges in my life, but leaving church feeling worse than when I arrived; a concept of God that just did not "fit" with what I intuitively felt must be true of a God capable of creating and sustaining the universe; and the narrow mindedness that suggested "our way is the only way to God." I was definitely looking for God--and looking for spiritual support, guidance and strength, too--but had come to believe I was not going to find it in any church ... until I was introduced to Unity by a friend. I found what I was looking for in Unity. I felt as if I had "come home." Perhaps, you, too, will find what you are looking for in Unity and here at the Church of Today. But, in any event, I want to encourage you to find a Spiritual Path that is right for you and a spiritual community that can support and nurture your spiritual growth, and get involved! To evolve, you've got to be involved! In all the world's religions are the seeds of Truth. Different religions are like spokes on a wheel with the hub being God. They may be set apart by a variance of beliefs, styles and approaches, but they are all seeking the one God at the hub of all life. Just as the spokes on the wheel come closer to each other as they near the hub, so, too, as each Path comes closer to God it comes closer to all other Paths. When I was introduced to Unity, I found a Spiritual Path that made sense to my heart, soul and mind. I found a Path that teaches there is one God; but many ways to find that one God. I found a Path that did not insult my intelligence, that valued me as a person and a woman, that affirmed my intrinsic worth while helping me to overcome my shortcomings and stretch toward my goals, and that did not use fear, guilt or manipulation to place me in a box of outdated beliefs. The essence of spirituality is the consciousness of God--whatever your concept of God may be. As I have grown in my understanding of God and in the application of spiritual principles in my life, my life has truly been transformed. There is not that emptiness or that haunting feeling that something is missing. There is deep meaning and purpose to my life and a tremendous sense of joy and contentment. I am experiencing more of what I want in my life, and less of what I don't want. As you explore and deepen your own spirituality, I believe you will also experience the same. There is one God, called by many different names and found through many different Paths. Whichever Path leads you to a greater understanding of God, is the right Path for you. Sincerely,
Unity and The Church of Today We're glad you've chosen to find out more about the Church of Today. This class will introduce you to our Church and Unity. The objective of this class is to explain: • What Unity is--Our Beliefs, Teachings and Practices • What the Church of Today is and what we can offer you • How to become a member Unity defined by our Co-Founder, Charles Fillmore: "Unity is a link in the great educational movement inaugurated by Jesus Christ; our objective is to discern the truth in Christianity and prove it. The truth that we teach is not new, neither do we claim special revelations or discovery of new religious principles. Our purpose is to help and teach mankind to use and prove the eternal Truth taught by the Master."
Key Ideas about Unity . . . • Spiritual more than religious • Unity is a teaching rather than a creed • Unity offers a practical way of life more than a set of beliefs • Unity practices the religion of Jesus rather than the religion about Jesus • Unity is Christian--though we recognize the Truth and goodness found in all religions, we accept Jesus Christ as our wayshower.
Unity's primary goal: As a religious/spiritual movement, Unity's primary goal is not membership, conversion, or evangelism. Our primary goal is to help people develop a relationship with God.
A Brief History of Unity Founded in 1889, by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Unity offers a practical philosophy for living. We have no strict creed or dogma, but offer a comprehensive teaching to all who are seeking a deeper understanding of their spiritual nature. Unity is more than a church, more than a school. It is a spiritual movement for all individuals growing, seeking, unfolding, and becoming what they are meant to be. Unity is more interested in teaching one how to think than what to think. It always leaves you free to choose what has value for you. Unity is a way of life, a way of thinking that emphasizes humanity's divine nature and the goal of expressing that nature in every area of life. One of Unity's fundamental working propositions is that the way we think and feel about ourselves, our fellow human beings, our world, and God is a determining factor in the expression of that divine nature. Unity stresses prayer as the fundamental method for developing constructive thought patterns. Prayer unifies us with God. It is out of our relationship with God that our divine nature comes alive, our thinking becomes constructive, and our life is blessed with good. The actual impetus for the founding of the Unity movement came from Myrtle Fillmore's remarkable healing of tuberculosis. Myrtle Fillmore was healed because her thinking was changed. She had a deep-seated belief that her illness was inherited. From a lecture on metaphysics, however, she suddenly grasped the idea that she was a child of God and did not inherit sickness. She prayerfully applied her new insight with great success, and her health instantly began to improve. In describing her experience, Myrtle writes: "I have made what seems to me a discovery. I was fearfully sick; I had all the ills of mind and body that I could bear. Medicine and doctors ceased to give me relief, and I was in despair, when I found practical Christianity. I took it up and I was healed. This is how I made what I call my discovery: "I was thinking about life. Life is everywhere ... Ah! intelligence, as well as life, is needed to make a body. Here is the key to my discovery. Life has to be guided by intelligence in making all forms. The same law works in my own body. Life is simply a form of energy, and has to be guided and directed in man's body by his intelligence. How do we communicate intelligence? By thinking and talking, of course. Then it flashed upon me that I might talk to the life in every part of my body and have it do just what I wanted. I began to teach my body and got marvelous results." It was the central event of Myrtle Fillmore's healing that provided the beginning inspiration for the Unity movement. As a boy Charles Fillmore had suffered a hip disease and curvature of the spine. He, too, grasped and applied divine law and reaped benefits physically, mentally and materially. Charles began helping Myrtle and in 1899 they decided to devote their full time to a ministry of prayer and helping others. The publication of the first Unity magazine took place in 1889. Unity now publishes two magazines--UNITY Magazine, a monthly magazine of inspirational articles and DAILY WORD, a monthly pocket-size magazine containing a prayer for each day of the month and a short uplifting message. And WEE WISDOM, one of the first children's magazines in the United States, was printed for almost 90 years. (It was, unfortunately, stopped in 1992). The teaching practice of prayer led to the establishment of Silent Unity, the prayer ministry of Unity School. Silent Unity is the heart of the Unity work. Someone is always praying in Silent Unity around the clock. And anyone may request these prayers--for him or herself or another at any time. There is never a charge for Silent Unity's prayers. (Silent Unity can be reached--any time of the day or night--by calling 1-816-246-5400. If you have an urgent need and have no means of paying for the call, you may call Silent Unity on their toll-free number: 1-800-669-7729). In the book, The Story of Unity, James Dillet Freeman says of the early days of Unity: "Charles and Myrtle Fillmore were a man and woman of faith. In the word faith is summed up the story of their life and works--and the story of Unity. They did their works through faith. They soared beyond their works through faith. They were teachers through faith. They were healers through faith. They were builders through faith. They were overcomers through faith. "Many, many times in the history of Unity they came to a place where it seemed that they could not go on, yet, they went on through faith. "They taught that God is a help in every need and they prayed in this simple faith. Over and over when they were in need, they went to God to prove that what they taught is true. All that they thought and wrote and did they wrought through faith. Through faith, they turned to God in the beginning. Through faith, they healed their bodies. Through faith, they brought healing to others. Through faith, they founded Unity. Through faith, they persevered in their idea when everything seemed to say that they were destined for failure. Through faith, they built a work that circles the world. "Once Unity was in serious financial straits. Bills that had to be paid were piling up, and there did not seem to be money enough to meet the payroll. The Fillmores called their staff together to pray about the matter. One of the staff said, 'Let us pray that the money holds out.' "'Oh, no,' whispered Myrtle Fillmore, 'let us pray that our faith holds out.'" And it did!
Unity today . . . In Unity: 100 Years of Faith and Vision, Connie Fillmore writes: "Since I am a member of the fourth generation of Fillmores to serve the Unity work, people often ask me for my vision for the future. Unity stands on the brink of its next 100 years. Its headquarters rest squarely in the middle of a country that for several decades has dominated world history, and that currently finds itself in a state of some confusion and disorder. Unity calls itself a movement of "Christianity," and yet many of the more fundamental Christian movements would dispute our right to say so. There are those who say our world is breaking up under the stresses of economic and political maneuvering, and those who say we are passing into a New Age of oneness, harmony, and light. Just what is Unity's place in the midst of all this? "Unity's place is a place of prayer. It is a place of commitment to spiritual values. It is a place of integrity, where what is said and what is done are one and the same. It is a place of dedication to serving the spiritual needs of God's children. Unity is a haven of Truth that stands outside the limitations of time or place. Unity is the awareness you carry that God is good and that He is with you. "Unity rests solidly on a core of teachings set forth by Charles Fillmore and other early Unity teachers...[T]hese teachings provide a framework to consider any challenge of modern-day living. Truth is timeless and holds within it the tools to approach all human situations. The Unity teachings function as well in a world confronted with the possibility of nuclear war as they did in a world torn apart by conventional weaponry. They function as well in a world terrorized by AIDS as they did in one crippled by polio. The essential human needs do not change, and God's capacity to meet those needs doesn't change. "Today Unity's work continues through the prayer ministry of Silent Unity, Unity's many educational activities including the Ministerial Education Program and the Continuing Education Program, Retreats, the publications--and of course, through the 900 Unity ministries and 175 study groups found throughout the world." Charles Fillmore, grandson of Unity co-founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, writes in Unity: 100 Years of Faith & Vision: "[Unity's] influence has reached far beyond those who consider Unity to be their only religious affiliation. Unity ideas concerning spiritual healing, positive thinking, brotherly love, freedom from undeserved feelings of guilt, and the justification of personal prosperity are widely understood to be desirable characteristics of a full life. These and many other concepts pioneered by Unity have been accepted by thinking people the world over. "When asked what the next century holds for Unity, my answer is that I believe the message will continue to attract intelligent, progressive, positive-minded people. Thus, the future holds unlimited promise for continuity and expansion. Our spiritual movement will not be confined by the limits of a dogma etched in stone, because freedom of spiritual thought breaks all barriers of negation. " Connie Fillmore continues: "Unity doesn't hold the answer to every question in everyone's heart, because only God and that person know the answers to those questions. What Unity does know how to do, and is always willing to do, is to help people find their own answers. We do this by praying with them so that they may tune into God's guidance for them. We do this by offering educational programs so that friends may better understand themselves and their relationship with God. We do this by publishing and distributing inspirational materials so that words of Truth may go places where a teacher may not be able to go. "Today we see our message turning up in more and more places. We hear the words we've been speaking for 100 years in Army slogans, sermons by non-Unity ministers, and self-help books. We rejoice to hear this special awareness of the goodness of God and of His children echoing around us. Our purpose is to bring light wherever it is needed. The past 100 years have been a wonderful beginning of Unity. The next 100 years hold a promise: When light is needed, Unity will be there; When love is needed, Unity will be there; When peace is needed, Unity will be there. "We cannot know specifically what tomorrow will bring. But with God as our unfailing support, we can know that it will be good."
Core Beliefs
We believe: Life is consciousness and thought is formative.
Could we but see the pattern of our days, We should discern how devious were the ways By which we came to this, the present time, This place in life; and we should see the climb Our soul has made up through the years. We should forget the hurts, the wanderings, the fears, The wastelands of our life, and know That we could come no other way or grow Into our good without these steps our feet Found hard to take, our faith found hard to meet. The road of life winds on, and we like travelers go From turn to turn until we come to know The truth that life is endless and that we Forever are inhabitants of all eternity. Martha Smock
Basic Unity Teachings About . . .
In the pages that follow, you will find information on what Unity teaches about a wide variety of spiritual topics: God, Jesus, humanity, the Bible, heaven and hell, sin, the continuity of life and other spiritual paths.
About God . . . We believe in a loving, not judging, God. God is not some human-like being, far away, but a very real spiritual presence that indwells us all. God is the Source, Creator, and Sustainer of all.
We believe that there is only one Presence and one Power in this universe--God, the good. In The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery, Richard and Mary-Alice Jafolla write: "There is only one Presence. There is only God. Therefore, God is Omnipresent . . . Since God is all, there can be nothing outside of God. There can be no place where God is not. Everything is part of God. Therefore, God is more than Omnipresent; God is Omnipresence!
". . . everything is part of God, everything. Think of how that knowledge affects us. Think of how such an abstract statement helps us live better lives. If we embrace the fact that everything is part of God, then we must admit that we are all part of God, we are all one with God and one with each other. There can be no quarrels, no conflict, and no wars among people who truly understand that oneness.
"More than that, wherever we are, God is. No matter what problem we are facing, no matter how confused we are, no matter what we are going through, God is with us.
"God is also Omnipotent, All-Powerful. This is another aspect of God. Yet even more than being all-powerful, God is Omnipotence, All-Power, the only Power there is. And this Power is good! Not only are there no other powers, there can be no other powers! Since God is in all places, there is no room for any other gods or any other powers. That means the power that is God is always in our lives and always available to us. And we can use this power to the extent that we can recognize and acknowledge it.
"Furthermore, since the only power is God, and God's plan for us is only good, we have to assume, and trust, that even when in some areas there appears to be `evil,' there is always a larger, higher plan for good. We may not be able to see it, but it's there.
"God also has universal knowledge. God is Omniscient. God knows all things. More correctly, God is Omniscience. God is All-Knowledge, which is all knowingness. The mind of God is universal and encompasses all things. How could it be otherwise? How could the ultimate Creative Force not totally embrace all knowledge? It is all knowledge. And that's great news, too, because it means there is an answer to every problem, to every challenge in our lives. Here's why: Since we are part of God, our own minds are part of God's mind. God's mind operates through us! This means we have access to all of the intelligence of the universe."
About Jesus . . .
We believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and we believe in the divinity of humanity. The spark of the divine indwells us just as it did Jesus, though certainly not to the same degree.
We do not believe that the only way to God is through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ showed the way, but Jesus Christ is not the way. Jesus Christ was not the great exception, but rather the great example.
In The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery, Richard and Mary-Alice Jafolla write: "[Unity] is based on the teachings of Jesus ... When we study Jesus' life (instead of worshiping Jesus the man), we see a perfect example for us to follow . . . His life and teachings are the examples we can learn from in the quest for the transformation of our own lives.
". . . So much attention has been paid to Jesus' divinity that we have overlooked His humanity. He was born fully human, just like the rest of us. He was fully a man. He was tested in the same ways that all of us are tested, but He transcended His humanness and opened the way to self-mastery, to a oneness with God.
"Evidence seems to suggest that this self-mastery was a progressive unfoldment. . . One can see it in His reluctance to begin His ministry at the marriage feast at Cana (John 2:4) and in His working through His anger in the temple (Mat. 21:12), and in His initial snub of the Canaanite woman who asked help for her daughter (Mt. 15:22-28). It is apparent that Jesus was always working to identify and experience His own spirituality. His teachings and healings are ample testimony to the continual expansion of His consciousness.
"There is an incident where Jesus returned to the synagogue in Nazareth. He knew the ancient prophecy of a messiah in The Book of Isaiah and read it aloud in the temple: `The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind.' Then He closed the book, sat down and said, `Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing' (Lk. 4:18, 21).
"Many theologians point to this passage in Isaiah as a prophecy of the coming of Jesus and claim that this scene in the temple proves the prophecy was fulfilled in Him. It seems more likely the ancient prophets, rather than anticipating a specific messiah, had an intuitive awareness of the Christ principle--that divine spark latent in all humanity. They created a template, a model. In a sense, it was a `job description'! It called for someone who could find the Christ in himself and who would lead others to the Christ within themselves. They knew that this was achievable and that someone would eventually appear who would be able to do it.
"So, when Jesus read Isaiah's prophecy, it was as if He were announcing, `This job description fits me. I volunteer. I will be the one. I will do all that I have to do to allow the Christ in me to express as me. And by my example, I will show others how to do it.'
". . . Jesus audaciously insisted that whatever He had done, each of us could do. `He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do (Jn. 14:12).' That's a crucial statement, absolutely central to your transformation, because it tells you that you can experience the same spiritual insights that Jesus had. He is promising you conscious communion with God, if you will search the spiritual depths within yourself as He did. Jesus is saying to follow His way and discover the secrets of your inner Self--the Christ in you--as He has discovered the Christ in Himself.
"Like the wave, we are expressions of God's universe. We are indeed `the universe made alive.' Each of us is a congregation of inert elements of the physical universe--carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, iron, sodium, and many others . . . But we are unique, vital clusters of those elements, able to walk and talk and dance and sing and think and love and contemplate our place in the universe. We are pieces of the universe made alive! The universe would not be complete without each one of us.
"But what we really are and what we seem to be can be as different as an eagle egg lying humbly in its nest and that majestic eagle spiraling upwards on a current of warm air far above us. The difference between the two is in the awareness of who and what they are.
"Like the yolk of the egg which contains the genetic code for the eagle, the essence of us, our `yolk,' is our individual oneness with God. We call this our individuality. It is our real self, our true self. It is our spiritual identity. But like the unhatched eagle, we are imprisoned in shells of our own. Our shells are the hardened, outdated attitudes and behavior which we show to the world. This is our personality, the human part of us, the external of us. Because our personality can express itself in so many ways, we can have a very difficult time identifying who we are. Our current personality does not define the essential us. Our identity is our individual awareness of our oneness with God. We are spiritual beings. Just as it is natural for an eagle egg to become a magnificent bird, so all of the forces of the universe are directed toward nurturing us in our transformations.
"If an eagle egg could see, it would gaze in awe at a soaring eagle, thinking, `I'll never fly like that. Eggs can't fly!' That's right, eggs cannot fly, and they never will, but eggs can hatch into eagles.
"So what are you? You are composed of spirit (the divine you), soul (the mental and emotional you), and body (the physical you). Your spirit is your true identity because you are a God-being--a perfect idea in the mind of God. The more you identify with your spiritual self, the closer you are to answering `What am I?'
"`Who' you are is what you are expressing right now. `Who am I?' is up to you to decide every moment of every day. `What am I?' was decided by God a long time ago."
About Consciousness
Previously we have spoken about the "spark of the divine" inherent in all humanity. It is through the character of our thinking--or to use a popular term in Unity--through our consciousness--that we release this divine spark.
Eric Butterworth in Unity: A Quest for Truth writes: "One man brought his boss home to dinner. He had primed his precocious child to `be seen and not heard.' The boss was a gruff and self-centered executive, a perfect caricature of the jokes made about bosses in general. The silenced lad stared at the boss through the evening. Finally, annoyed, the man asked, `Why do you keep looking at me that way?'"
"Seeing his father was out of the room, the boy broke the silence by saying, `My daddy says that you are a self-made man.' The man beamed at this and proudly admitted that he had surely made his own way in the world, carving out his niche through hard work and ability. With candor the boy said, `But why did you make yourself like that?'
"We all are constantly making ourselves what we are. Unity reveals that our lives and affairs are completely influenced and shaped by the character of our thinking, that a person is not limited by God's will or by heredity or environment or by fate or circumstance--but by his own dominant state of mind."
Thought is formative. We see the world not as it is, but as we are. We co-create our life with God. And when we change our thoughts--our consciousness--we change our world.
Mary-Alice and Richard Jafolla write in The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery "Thoughts are the power of the world. They are the very blueprints for our lives. And just as God brought forth the world with a thought, we bring forth our world with our thoughts. God creates people, and people create their conditions. It is from our thoughts that we systematically draw the people, places, and circumstances into our lives that eventually become our reality. Each thought constructs our future. True, it is action which shapes our material world, but actions are nothing more than three-dimensional thoughts. It is through our thoughts that we give life to our world."
Early Unity writer, Imelda Shanklin, says: "Your mind is your world. Your thoughts are the tools with which you carve your life story on the substance of the universe. When you rule your mind you rule your world. When you choose your thoughts you choose results." Almost 100 years ago, James Allen put it this way:
Mind is the master power that molds and makes And man is mind and ever more he takes the tools of thought And shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills. Man thinks in secret but it comes to pass Environment is but his looking glass.
About the Bible . . .
The Bible is Unity's basic textbook. We accept the Bible as a body of history, a moral and ethical teaching, and a great literary work. We do not believe that all passages of scripture are equally significant, nor do we believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. We find deep significance in the Bible's metaphysical interpretation which shows the unfoldment of consciousness.
Mary-Alice and Richard Jafolla write in The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery: "Who wrote the Bible? When was it written? Is it the Word of God or of human beings or both? Should we take the Bible literally? As the best-selling book in history, virtually everyone who has read it has an opinion. Some argue for the inerrancy of the Bible, stating that it is God's Word and therefore should be taken literally in every detail. Others see it merely as a harmless collection of interesting and historical moral anecdotes. In light of all the speculation surrounding it, does it have any value? Or is it passe'?
"All of the conjecture as to biblical fact and fiction, no matter how scholarly and profound, is only an intellectual assessment of this great work. Even if we did know the authors, even if we did know exactly when it was written, even if all of the questions of biblical scholarship were answered, what would we have gained? Would this knowledge bring us any closer to knowing God as a living Presence expressing through us? In viewing it merely intellectually, we miss the Bible's greatest messages: those metaphysical lessons that lie camouflaged in its characters, events, and symbols. "The word metaphysical is taken from two Greek words: meta meaning `above, beyond, or over' and physika meaning `physics.' Metaphysical literally means `beyond the physical.' So when we interpret the Bible metaphysically, we find personal meanings beyond the words. Underneath the obvious lesson, there is always the hidden meaning for each of us. If we study the Bible as religious history only, the living inner reality is lost. We fail to see it as an idealistic portrayal of our own spiritual development. Clearly, for those of us willing to look past the words, the Bible is a story of our own personal evolution. It is an allegory, story, and parable. It details how we were created with divine potential, how we have misplaced our divine heritage and, most importantly, how we can find it again. Because the Bible was written by people with spiritually illumined minds, we can see that unfoldment only to the extent that we allow Spirit to illumine our own minds.
"We're going to take an overview of the Bible now, to get a feel for how it represents the spiritual evolution of humanity.
"The wonderful phrase, `Let there be light,' found in the first chapter of Genesis, sets the tone for the entire Bible. In order to discover the layers of meanings of the Bible, we have to bring some light to them. Spiritual ideas can only be discerned spiritually.
"In Genesis, humanity is conceived and brought forth in innocence, unaware of its divine nature. In life we, too, are conceived and brought forth in innocence, unaware of our divine nature. The Garden of Eden in which Adam and Eve were placed represents all of God's unconditional good. We, too, are in a garden of divine ideas. And like Adam and Eve, we can choose to fall from innocence, disregard God's way and go our own way. Thus the double-edged sword of free will is born.
"Much of the rest of the Old Testament is the story of the children of Israel, symbolic of us, in their struggle to find the Promised Land. Breaking their bondage to the Egyptians is our story as we struggle to break our bondage to our human shortcomings so that we can begin our journey into spirit. As did the Israelites, we, too, have wandered in the desert looking for our home. Our desert is the barren wasteland of dead-end thinking which we stumble through as we look to reconnect with God.
"The Old Testament prophets? Surely they are our spiritual thoughts warning us, teaching us, directing us. The Israelites' constant disregard of the prophets' revelations perfectly reflects us each time we turn our backs on that still, small voice that so often speaks to us. Every story, event, character, and symbol in the Bible represents a state of consciousness in us as we, too, look for the promised land--as we, too, look to reunite with our spiritual home.
"The Old Testament represents a state of consciousness that you have already experienced. It is the state of mind that told you if you do a certain thing, you can have good in your life. Your good is conditional. It depends on what you do and do not do. It depends on how you act.
"The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone of the Old Testament and represent its consciousness. Immutably carved in stone, they imply that if you do certain things (love God, honor your parents, keep the Sabbath holy) and don't do other things (kill, steal, covet) this will make you worthy of God's good. In other words, if you do something in the outer, you change your inner self and become a better person.
"The New Testament is different. It assumes that you have graduated from that elementary school of spiritual awareness. Don't you really know by now that it's wrong to kill, to steal, to commit adultery, to covet what is not yours? Of course. And because you know that, you're ready to take the next step in consciousness. The New Testament shows a new way. Rather than doing something, the New Testament says to be something. `You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect' (Mt. 5:48).
"Like some primitive amphibian lurking on the edge of a muddy tidewater and sensing it is time to continue its evolution in the land of air and sunlight, the entire New Testament is a triumphal march from our dim suspicion of the divinity within us to a glorious expression of that divinity. Jesus represents the Christ awareness in each of us as we allow it to become more and more active in our lives.
"Jesus' life represents spiritual humanity in expression, the person each of us is destined to become. The saga of Jesus is the saga of your own soul, not necessarily where it's been but where it is capable of going.
"His birth to a virgin represents the birth of the Christ in you, capable of being conceived only by God. Jesus was born of Mary, a woman. A woman in the Scriptures usually symbolizes your feeling, emotional, and intuitive nature. The realization of the Christ in you is born in your feeling nature. It can't be intellectualized or analyzed. It can only be brought forth on an intuitive level.
"So the Bible takes us from Adam to Jesus, from unenlightened human consciousness to enlightened Christ consciousness. Viewed this way, the Bible is one great epic quest. It is the evolution of a soul--a journey we all must make, and the Scriptures tell us how to do it.
"If you cannot use the Bible to improve your life, to help you find your oneness with God, then it becomes just another good book. But the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is more than a `Good Book.' It is the ultimate `How-To' manual."
About Heaven and Hell . . .
"Heaven and hell," write Richard and Mary-Alice Jafolla in The Quest, "are not places to go or to avoid. Heaven and hell are states of mind. There is no geographical location where streets are paved with gold, people play harps, and St. Peter stands sentinel at a pair of pearly gates deciding who may enter. Nor is there a geographical location ruled by a red-garbed being with horns, tail and pitchfork, where people scream in agony and are tortured endlessly in eternal flames.
"The notions of this kind of heaven and hell have been popular for centuries. If you happen to have been brought up in a traditional Christian home, chances are these ideas were passed on to you, too, and at a very early age. If they were, and if they are still your dominant impressions of heaven and hell ... suspend this belief for a bit and stay open to what may be a new idea to you. The truth is that the idea actually has its origins with Jesus.
"One of Jesus' primary teachings is that the kingdom of God is within. Not somewhere in the sky...but right inside of us. `For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.' Jesus spent much time spinning parables and weaving metaphors about heaven. Yet there is not one word in the more than one hundred references that He made to heaven where Jesus describes it as a physical place `out there.'
". . . Heaven is a state of mind. When you live in the awareness of God as a presence and a power in your life, when no matter what happens in the outer world the "real" of you is unchanging, peace-filled and expectant of good, heaven will indeed be in the midst of you, heaven will indeed be near.
". . . What about hell? What about the myth of a devil and his dreadful abode? While merely a myth that is easily explained, myths die hard, especially if they are engraved in our souls when we are children. The famous French priest, Abbe Arthur Mugnier, was asked if he believed in hell. `Yes,' he hesitatingly replied, `because it is a dogma of the church, but I don't believe anyone is in it.' Well, the Abbe was right. People are not languishing in some physical location of hellfire and damnation. This doesn't mean people don't suffer in hell. They go there many times.
"We have a friend, Sally, who is a former drug addict. She describes the time she was using drugs as `sheer hell.' As a result of her addiction, she lost her job, house, husband, and nearly her life! Her children were taken from her by the courts and placed in foster homes. She hung out in the streets, sleeping in abandoned cars and flophouses. She was beaten and abused by the men she chose to be with, and she described her self-esteem at that time as `lower than flat feet.'
"Finally, she was sent to jail and, as part of her probation, had to attend a rehabilitation program. This was the beginning of her ascent out of `hell.' Now, with over two years of drug-free living, a good job and her children back with her, she uses such poetic words to convey the joy of her recovery: `I thought God had opened the gates of heaven and let me in, but I had opened the gates of hell and let myself out.'
"Hell is a state of mind. It, like heaven, is within. Yet if that's true, then where did we get the idea of eternal fire at a specific geographic location? The word hell is not a correct translation from the original language of the New Testament, which was Greek. ... The `hell' referred to in the Gospels represents the word gehenna, which was in a valley southwest of Jerusalem, where the refuse and filth of the city was burned. It was actually the city dump. ... In Jesus' day, it was a smoky, smelly, gruesome place.
"Centuries earlier it had been even worse! Certain idol-worshipping kings of Israel had practiced appalling religious rites in this same place, sacrificing children in the fires. The region was called the Valley of Hinnom, which means groans and anguish. A perfect name for such a grisly site!
"Gehenna became legendary as a place of human suffering and eternal fire. When Jesus and his contemporaries spoke of what we are now calling `hell,' they were not referring to some underworld of eternal fire. They were referring to that valley, using it as a metaphor for what happens inside of us, in our souls, when we go through our inner torments.
"Along with heaven and hell, we usually hear the term judgment day. That's the day we supposedly will all be taken before God, who will render the final judgment as to whether we go `up' or `down.' Is there a judgment day? You bet there is. But it's not where, what, or when most people think it is.
"Judgment day takes place each time you set a cause into motion. If you are responsible for some wrong action of any kind, you are `punished' by the deed itself. Your own thoughts and deeds are continually setting up their results, their judgments, and are `taking action' for or against you. No one escapes the day of judgment, because it is taking place every moment of our lives.
"Heaven and hell and judgment day are not places or experiences waiting to pounce on us if we leave this earthly existence. Each of those concepts is a part of us right now. They are within. It is we who determine the outcome of each judgment day, and it is we who make our own heaven and hell."
About the Continuity of life . . .
In The Quest: A Spiritual Journey of Rediscovery, the Jafollas write: "Many of us believe in an eternal life as it applies to the future. We believe that we will continue to live after death. But not all of us see eternal life, if it is truly eternal life, as endless life--that it is eternal on both ends, past and future, before our birth and after our death. "Where was the soul before it was born in a physical body? Have we been here before? Accepting the existence of the soul prior to its earthly appearance seems as logical as accepting its existence after it departs from its earthly sojourn.
"Jesus referred to the pre-existence of the soul when He said, `Before Abraham was, I am' (Jn. 8:58). If we can get the picture of life as an unbroken circle, with the earthly experience as merely one segment of that circle, we can start to see the unending aspect of us all.
"The question¾`from where do we come and where do we go?'¾is fascinating as well as basic to each of us, and believing in an endless soul journey, open at both ends, does seem to answer many questions.
"There are countless examples of special talents and abilities and prior knowledge which appear to have no source in the person's present existence. The idea of a prior life (or lives) seems the most satisfying explanation for many otherwise unexplainable phenomena. Since we never know exactly where the soul has been or what secrets it brings with it, we cannot fully know or understand the motives of another person. We do not know what soul needs are brought into this earthly existence, needs which must eventually be met or transmuted or resolved in some way.
"It is not part of [Unity] ... to learn or speculate about past lives and pre- or post existence, however. [Unity] is involved with life right here, right now. This is more than enough material with which to structure your transformation.
"As a part of God, that which we are eternally had no beginning nor does it have any end. It is really enough for us to know--that life persists, that it is indeed eternal--and then to get on with the life that we are experiencing in the here and now. We are always greater than what we express, and the purpose of our life is to express more and more of what we eternally are. We do that by living each moment of life ... we view each event in our journey as stages of an unfolding spiritual process.
About Sin . . .
We are not miserable sinners or worms in the dust. We are spiritual beings, born in original blessing, made in the image and after the likeness of God. The God-seed indwells each and every one of us whether we are aware of it or not.
God is a loving God; not a God of judgment. God does not "judge" our sins or punish us for our sins. He doesn't have to. We are not punished for our sins; we are punished by them. We live in a spiritual universe, governed by spiritual law and we are always reaping what we have sown.
William Fischer, in his book Alternatives writes of sin: "...Sin is `living under a false sense of separation from God.' It is a false sense of separation because we cannot actually be separated from God. God is our very Spirit, the life that pulsates in and through our beings."
About the Second Coming
In Unity, we do not believe literally that Jesus Christ will return again to the earth. Jesus does not have to come back. Through His teachings and His example, He has already given us more than enough to take us as far as He went--or as far as we want to go.
The second coming of Christ is not some historical event in the future. The second coming is an awareness--a person's recognition of the Christ presence within him or her.
In other words, when the awareness of the Christ within "dawns" on a soul, the second coming has taken place. We say that the Christ is born in that individual. Rather than an incident to take place at some future time, the second coming is a possibility in each present moment--a possibility in each one of us.
About other paths. . .
We believe in freedom for people in matters of faith. To Unity students, the essence of religion is the consciousness of God. We believe that in all the world's religions are the seeds of truth.
Different religions are like spokes on a wheel with the hub being God. They may be set apart by a variance of beliefs and approaches, but they are all seeking the One God at the hub of all life.
What We Practice
Unity is a way of life. It is something we actively practice. And, specifically, we try to practice what our Teacher and Wayshower, Jesus, practiced. We take to heart his words, "Follow me" and "the things that I do, greater things than these will you do."
Jesus told us to "put God first." "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes .... Your father knows you need such things. But, seek first his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." (Luke 12:22-31)
In Unity, our practices are His practices. And our practices "put God first."
We practice . . .
• Unconditional Love--Putting God first in our relationships
• Forgiveness--Putting Principle (God) over personality
• Tithing--Putting God first in our resources
We Practice . . . The Presence of God through Prayer and Meditation:
In Unity: 100 Years of Faith and Vision, we read "Prayer is the process of turning our attention within to experience God's presence and power. The purpose of this practice is not to learn about God, but to have an experience of God. We are not so much seeking to reach God as to express God as life, love, intelligence, power and substance. Our prayers do not change God, they change our awareness of God.
"The process of turning our attention to God in prayer can be approached in many different ways. In Unity, we combine prayers of invocation with prayers of affirmation, acknowledging both the transcendent and immanent aspects of God. When we use both asking and affirmative prayer forms, we establish a balanced understanding of God's true nature as a loving presence in life and as the unfailing principle of creative law. These two forms of prayer involve both our feeling and thinking natures in the prayer process.
"Meditation and concentration are techniques we use in prayer to help us attain the realization of God we seek. There are many types of meditation and concentration methods used in the various spiritual disciplines of the world. In Unity, the purpose of these techniques is primarily to focus the attention on God.
"Unity's prayer method is called `the silence.' We enter the silence to consciously experience our oneness with the one Mind, God. To do so we must change the focus of our minds; we must with-draw our attention from the manifest realm of effects and turn inward where we seek and find the cause of all things, God as Spirit. God's presence is always available to us, for it is in, around, and through us.
"We must, however, turn to God in the silence in order for this Truth to be revealed to us. For this revelation to come about, we need to disengage from our everyday consciousness, which is focused primarily in the realms of sensation, thought and feeling. By detaching ourselves from these areas of consciousness, we enter the intuitive faculty of our minds and discover there our link with God: `The secret place of the most high.' [This] is the place in consciousness where God is directly experienced, where believing becomes knowing, where the concept of the Christ within becomes a personal reality.
"Within the `secret place of the most high' we listen for the `still small voice' of God. This voice is not a sound but rather a feeling of inner knowing and peace. All of us must learn to contact the voice of God within ourselves and become accustomed to it. This inner voice comes from the silence within us, and it will teach us exactly what we need to know and do to unfold spiritually. The still small voice will direct and guide us in definite ways once we learn to hear and trust it."
We practice . . . Unconditional Love
The only commandment Jesus gave us was to "love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12). He also told us, "You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ... If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?" (Mt. 5:43-46)
Jesus challenges us to look at ourselves. We don't really love if we only love those who love us. That's an easy thing to do. The real test is how loving we are toward those who do not love us. What is the reward that Jesus is speaking of? The reward He is speaking of is the personal growth that comes out of practicing and learning to love those who do not love us.
Mary-Alice and Richard Jafolla write in The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery, "Imagine the power of Jesus, a man who was able to command the forces of the universe. He could have made many pronouncements on how to take charge of this power, yet He chose only one commandment to pass on to us: `This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.' Unconditionally was how Jesus loved.
"We can love unconditionally. In fact, at some point we must. Yet it's not as hard as it may seem, because unconditional love, Christ love, is the most natural of all love. To love another is the most instinctive of all reflexes. The fact that we may have trouble doing it is not that it is an unnatural trait so much as it is a forgotten trait. We are and always have been capable of unconditional love--true love. It is the most natural part of us because it is the substance of God."
Unity author, Eric Butterworth, writes: "Love is not an emotion that begins in us and ends in the positive response of another. Love is a divine energy that begins in God and has no end."
In 1 John 4:8, the Apostle Paul tells us: "God is love."
"Love ... is not ... something we can trot out and use and then take back and put away when we are finished with someone," write the Jafollas. "Love is a divine activity. It is a cosmic force, a spiritual gift. It is a part of our life just as the ocean is part of the fish. As long as the fish swims in the ocean, the ocean sustains it and nurtures it and renews it because the fish is taking in ocean for life and renewal. The fish is part of the ocean, and the ocean is part of the fish.
"Love is God's ocean, and we live and move and have our being in that ocean. Love is God's energy, and when we let love direct us, we let God direct us and we become part of the divine energy of God."
We Practice . . . Forgiveness
In The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery, the Jafollas write: "Your spiritual progress is at a standstill until you practice true forgiveness.
"Harboring unforgiveness and resentment in our hearts does not hurt others. It hurts us. It eats away at the soul, filling it with bitterness and blocking the free flow of God's love, which is the essence of our true nature.
"Holding grudges and hanging onto anger and hatred are self-destructive. .. No matter how educated we are in spiritual principles, unless there is complete forgiveness in our lives, we wither and die spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes even physically because we are working in such opposition to our basic nature, which is to love. Without complete forgiveness, we ultimately deny ourselves access to total healing (emotionally and physically), abundant prosperity, permanent peace, and all of the other good which God wants us to experience. Our way is blocked.
"Sometimes we know only too well whom it is that we are having trouble forgiving. On the other hand, sometimes we're not even aware of a long-past disagreement which we've been hiding in a dark corner of the soul.
"Sitting quietly and asking God to reveal to you whatever needs revealing will usually quite quickly uncover where your work must be done. If your life is not exactly what you know it can be, chances are there is some forgiving work for you to do.
" . . . Ask the Holy Spirit within you to reveal what and who needs releasing. If you are unable to do this unconditionally, at least let God know that you want to do it. That sincere desire to forgive, in itself, will open the gate."
How to forgive:
• Ask God (Spirit) to help you want to forgive
We Practice . . . Service as an Act of Devotion to God
We believe all service is an act of devotion to God. We draw closer to God as we draw closer, in loving service, to each other. Service is a key part of spiritual growth and personal transformation. To evolve, you've got to get involved.
Albert Schweitzer said: "The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve." And Henry Drummond wrote: "You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others."
We believe that everyone has something to give. "When your own burden is heaviest, you can always lighten a little some other burden. At the times when you cannot see God, there is still open to you this sacred possibility, to show God; for it is the love and kindness of human hearts through which the divine reality comes home to men, whether they name it or not. Let this thought, then, stay with you; there may be times when you cannot find help, but there is no time when you cannot give help." George Merriam.
And we believe that everyone is called to service. "A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving." Albert Einstein.
There are many places to become involved here at the Church of Today and accelerate your growth through service. You can be involved a lot or a little. Behind the scenes or out in front . . . it's up to you. We have a place for you.
Our staff is happy to talk with you and help you find that perfect place.
We Practice . . . The Principle of Tithing
"The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your life." Deut. 14:23
The Bible is a book about giving with more promises related to giving than to any other subject. For example, the subject of "believing" appears 272 times in the Bible, "prayer" 371 times, and "love" 714 times; while "giving" is mentioned 2,162 times! Jesus talked more about giving than anything else; more than half of the parables have to do with money and worldly goods.
What is a "tithe"? The word "tithe" means "a tenth part." A "tithe" is giving 10% of all that you receive where you are spiritually fed.
Unity minister, Stretton Smith, creator of the 4T Prosperity Program, offered regularly at the Church, explains: "As we fulfill the Law of Giving, that is giving 1/10th out of love and joy of giving, our faith immediately becomes strengthened, and doubt disappears and fear disappears. We do not prosper 100-fold because we tithed. We prosper 100-fold because our faith increased 100-fold, our consciousness increased 100-fold, as a result of tithing. ... Tithing simply establishes a regular method of giving. It is a self-imposed discipline, and it is the beginning development of a consciousness centered in God."
What tithing does:
• It reminds you of your Source
• It opens new channels of supply
• It strengthens your faith
• It "shapes" consciousness as nothing else does
Here are some of the personal benefits tithers experience:
• What they have goes further and lasts longer
• 90% with God goes further than 100% without God
• They start a flow of good back to themselves
• New opportunities come into their life
• They feel good about themselves because giving feels good
• Their tithe is a means to empower others
"Changing lives and building dreams; loving people and serving God."
The Church of Today:
The Church of Today is:
• A member of the Association of Unity Churches
• A member of the Southwest Unity Region
We support with our tithes: • The Association of Unity Churches • Silent Unity (Prayer Ministry) • Southwest Unity Region • Other Unity Churches • Habitat for Humanity • Oxfam America
The Story Of C.O.T.'s Beginning
The Church of Today was founded by Wendy Craig-Purcell, in 1983. Wendy was ordained in 1980 after attending seminary in Missouri. She is one of the youngest ministers ordained by Unity.
For the first two years the Church met in a hotel and approximately 56 people attended our Sunday services. In the summer of 1985, when the hotel would no longer guarantee us a room, we began renting space in a public school.
In the winter of 1987, it became clear that we needed a facility that we could use every day of the week and it was time to move the Church's office out of Wendy's living room! Since funds to purchase a facility were not available, a search for space to lease began and continued until a facility in Mission Valley was found in July of 1988. This move represented a tremendous "leap of faith" in many ways not the least of which was financial! Rent went from $600/month at the school, to $6500/month.
On Sunday, August 28, 1988 the first service was held in Mission Valley with approximately 125 people in attendance. (Seating capacity of the sanctuary then was 150.) By the middle of November of this same year, a second Sunday Service was added to accommodate our growing attendance. Attendance continued to increase rapidly and eventually additional space was leased so the sanctuary could be enlarged to seat 400 and more classrooms could be added.
In September of 1991, when space and parking once again became a problem, an all-out search began for a larger facility. In February of 1992, we made an offer on our new Church home in Scripps/Miramar.
After much hard work, mountain-moving faith and sacrificial giving by our members and friends, we closed escrow on this new home on February 28, 1993 (Ash Wednesday). Construction of Phase One was completed in July of 1993 and our first Celebration Service was held on the Fourth of July with over 800 people in attendance!
We are currently working on raising the necessary funds to complete the remaining construction.
The phenomenal growth we have experienced has not only made Church of Today the largest New Thought church in San Diego county, but has placed us among the ten largest Unity Churches worldwide.
What the Church of Today Offers You: •Sunday Services Sunday mornings are alive with activity as hundreds of people come to hear a dynamic message that is practical, positive and relevant, to enjoy uplifting contemporary music and to meet other enthusiastic, miracle-minded people. • Youth Ministry Our youth ministry (infants through teens) meets during both Sunday services. Here your children can develop a healthy relationship with God, learn positive values, share their feelings, communicate with one another and develop a healthy self-image. • Prayer Ministry We are here to empower you during your time of need by joining with you in loving prayer support. Prayer partners are available to pray with you one on one or on the phone, as well as supporting your written prayer requests. • Counseling Short-term, spiritual counseling is available to members by appointment on a love offering basis. • Bookstore Our modern Bookstore has a large collection of personal and spiritual growth books, tapes and gifts available.
• Adult Ed Classes We offer a broad curriculum of classes for personal and spiritual growth throughout the year--prayer and meditation, the Bible, prosperity, relationships and more. • Famous Speakers Individuals who are on the leading edge of making a positive difference in the world are brought to the Church to help us live exceptional lives. We've had Marianne Williamson, Barbara DeAngelis, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Ken Blanchard, Denis Waitley, Father Leo Booth and Og Mandino. • Healing Services Are held each quarter and provide an opportunity for members and friends to join together in a time of deep prayer and meditation and to support one another in healing. • Service Ministry To evolve you've got to get involved. There are many, many ways to be involved in Service at the Church--whether behind the scenes or out in front. Some of the areas include teaching in Youth Education, Prayer Ministry, working in the Bookstore, being part of the audio team or ushering team. • Faith in Action A program designed to help you and our Church grow, FIA is con-ducted in the Fall during October and November. Discussion groups, testimonials, special written materials, a 24-hour prayer vigil and a huge party at the end are part of what make FIA the transforming experience it is for so many. • Social Events This is a spiritual community that is fun-loving! We have annual picnics and beach parties, we go to art shows, baseball and football games, we celebrate fun Sundays like Rock-N-Roll Sunday and we put on great parties for our children at Christmas and Easter ... to highlight a few! • Couples Club The Couples Club organizes social activities for members and friends in a committed relationship. Some events have included "Mystery Night," the San Diego Parade of Lights at Christmas time and special New Year's Eve parties. • Toastmasters Toastmasters is an international organization dedicated to helping individuals learn how to speak before a group. There are two Toastmasters groups that meet at the Church of Today. • Support Groups Such as FIA discussion groups, twelve step groups and A Course in Miracles are also available.
Our Goals for 1999
• Expand our radio outreach from 35 spots a month to 50 spots • Increase our presence on the Internet |