Unity is an inclusive fellowship that celebrates the Divine Presence in each and every human being. We prefer to think of Unity as a Spirituality more so than as a religion. Unity values a contemplative life of communion with God that transforms our understanding and expresses as loving service in our community. Unity nurtures and supports each person in developing their individual relationship with God. Unity accepts the Bible as our basic text and the example of the life and ministry of Jesus as our guide to a personal realization of the “Kingdom of God” within each of us.
Unity proclaims the divinity of Jesus and understands as the heart of Jesus’ teaching that every person is a child of God and therefore divine in nature. We believe that a person's mind and emotions are his or her connecting link with God or Divine Mind. Therefore, much emphasis is placed on the effective power that every thought, feeling, work or act has in creating one's experience of life.
Unity believes in eternal life and views the present moment as a part of that life. We also emphasize the divine potential in every child of God, and teach that through a practical understanding and application of what Jesus taught every person can realize and express their potential for a richer and fuller life.
Unity affirms the sacredness of all life, all people and all faiths. Unity believes that each of us, created in the image and likeness of God, were created to be the “Light of the World”, to so live our lives that we create a world of peace, love and harmony. Unity has no creed, doctrine or dogma. Instead of these fixed faith precepts Unity affirms five basic principles.
1. There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and as my life, God the Good.
2. We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good.
3. We create our life experiences through our way of thinking.
4. Through meditation and affirmative prayer, we align our thinking and feeling natures in connection to God.
5. Knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them.
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 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.
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.
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. The more we awaken to our divine nature, the more fully God expresses in and through our lives.
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.
· 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.
Affirmative prayer is the highest form of creative thought. It includes the release of counter-productive, 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.
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 Beholds all children as whole and perfect expressions of God
· Unity Empowers children to fulfill their divine potential
· Unity Teaches children to meditate and pray
· Unity Invites children to experience a loving God
Unity provides a strong spiritual foundation for children's lives.
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.
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
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 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