First Unity Church
of
St. Louis
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Letting Go
Fall is the season of dramatic changes -- leaves creating a canvas of burnt red, fiery orange, and dazzling gold. And as the radiant display of color nears an end, it seems that the trees willingly release their leaves to allow new ones to grow in the spring. The falling leaves can be a reminder to us that letting go is part of the cycle of life.
I remember when our youngest daughter was in high school, one night she asked me if she could wear one of my old long dresses hanging in the basement to school the next day for a theme day. A little bit later she came up all excited, “I’ve found the perfect one,” she said holding up a dress that had been one of my favorites.
“Oh, that will be beautiful on you. What is tomorrow – formal day? Vintage clothing day?”
“Oh, no,” she yelled back over her shoulder as she ran upstairs. “Tomorrow is actually NERD DAY.”
You know you’ve held on too long when your child uses a cherished piece your clothing as a nerd costume! And as hard as it might be to part with outdated and useless belongings, it can be much harder to release thoughts and attitudes that no longer serve us or perhaps never did. In the basement of our minds we store negative messages from our childhood, our parents, and society – messages that we are not worthy enough, not intelligent enough, not attractive enough, not good enough. It is time to let go of those old voices we’re allowing to live rent-free in our heads. They are error messages and never were the truth of our being. We need to let them go just as willingly as trees release their leaves in the fall.
Release is a spiritual practice – one of the twelve powers of the Christ. Sometimes called elimination, it is defined as the ability to release, remove, denounce, deny, let go. It is the ability to disempower beliefs that are not aligned with our spiritual nature. In other words, we must erase the false in order to embrace the True. The Truth is that we are each individualized expressions of God - endowed with all the powers of the Christ - including love, wisdom, strength, and life. If you are still carrying messages of “less than” or “not enough” around,
KNOW
they are not the Truth of you, and it’s time to take a “lie swatter” to them to purge them from your mind. May Rowland suggested the affirmation, “Through the Spirit of Truth within me I know, see, hear, and speak only Truth."
Some have called Fall “the season of Wisdom”, perhaps because the Autumn equinox signals equal amounts of darkness and daylight, restoring the earth to a sense of balance after the long days of summer. So as we enjoy the fall crisp air and beautiful trees this autumn, let us make the falling leaves a reminder to release negative attitudes about ourselves in order to embrace the power and wisdom of our True Identity. Happy Fall.
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First Unity Church of
St. Louis Newsletter
Sept/Oct 2019
In This Issue:
Minister’s Corner
Unity Basic Principles
4 New Officers
Welcoming Ministry
Save The Date
Upcoming Events
Core Values
Humor
Calendars
Photographs
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Unity Basic Principles
We encourage you to explore and apply Unity teachings based on your own spiritual understanding. We believe this spiritual understanding is enhanced through reflective prayer and meditation.
The five basic Principles that make up the Unity belief system are:
God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring power. God is good and present everywhere.
We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good.
Human bein
gs create their experiences by the activity of their thinking. Everything in the manifest realm has its beginnings in thought.
Prayer is creative thinking that heightens the connection with God-Mind and therefore brings forth wisdom, healing, prosperity, and everything good.
Knowing and understanding the laws of life, also called truth are not enough. A person must also live the Truth that he or she knows.
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Welcome the New Members to the Board
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President - John Young
John Young was honored to be elected president of the board for First Unity Church of
St. Louis. He served in this capacity in the late 70's and again in
1999.John looks forward to working with the board to help guide the church to grow spiritually and
financially.
John was introduced to the New Thought movement in my early 20's by his future wife, Gladys. In the mid - 70's the two joined First Unity Church of St. Louis.
John feels very fortunate that all of his immediate family
lives in the St. Louis Area.
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Vice President - Rick Emnett
Rick Emnett was elected vice president. The vice president assists the president in the performance of that officer’s duties and performs all the presidential duties in the absence of the president.
Rick accepted the position because it provided an oppo
rtunity to further support a church that has been a big part of his family for many years.
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Secretary - Betty Jean Kofron
Betty serves as Secretary on the Board of Trustees because she believes in the Unity principles and is excited about the future of our Church, especially the Youth Ed Teenage program.
Working with children and young adults has always been an important part of her life. She enjoyed a 35 year career as Owner and Director of the Betty Jean Dance Studio teaching the art of dance. She started a new chapter in her life becoming a licensed Real Estate agent.
Both careers have been most fulfilling, but Betty Jean's greatest joy in life is being of service. It is her pleasure and honor to serve on the Board of First Unity Church of St. Louis.
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Treasurer - Hope Dodson
Hope Dodson started in Unity in 1982 and attended Unity of Nashville in Tennessee. After moving to St. Louis she began attending First Unity Church in 1998 and was active as a Youth Ed teacher for several years. This is Hope’s fourth year as a Prayer Chaplain and she is currently on the path to become a Licenced Unity Teacher (LUT).
This is Hope’s third year on the Board and it’s her second year as Treasurer. Hope rehabbed houses for 15 years, which helped when it came time to renovate and rent the manse.
Hope loves the Unity message and practices. She thinks people are hungry for what we have to offer and visualizes them being drawn to Unity and other New Thought communities to uplift their lives and the world around them.
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Welcoming Ministry
Our committee was created to make welcoming an intentional asp
ect of our church’s core values. We have examined our physical structure, our online presence and our culture of welcoming. Changes have been made along the way to enhance welcoming. One example is the signs you see around the church to make it easier to find different areas.
It is our intention to connect with each person who enters our church, whether they are a first-time guest or a long-time member, creating a caring and supportive community.
The most visible aspect of our committee is our Sunday morning, trained Welcoming Team composed of a greeter, a host and two ushers who greet each person walking through our doors. Team members sign up for “shifts” on Sunday that are convenient for them.
If you enjoy meeting and talking to people and would like to join our team, please contact Karen Wallis at
lizspkn@outlook.com to sign up for training.
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Minister, Jan Mourning
Board Officers
President,
John Young
Vice-President,
Rick Emnett
Secretary,
Betty Jean Kofron
Treasurer,
Hope Dodson
Board of Trustees
Betty Ponzar
Mary Tumminello
Prayer Chaplains
Lance Baugh
Hope Dodson
Linda Harr
Anne Hartupee
Paul Henley
Lynn Mark
Betty Ponzar
Mary Tumminello
Platform Assistants
Hope Dodson
Linda Harr
Mary Tumminello
Bookstore Manager
Jane Vondruska
Webmaster
Carol Ellerman
Office Manager
Sara DeWitt
Music
Anne Hartupee, Music Director
Dean Wiegert, Soloist
Youth Ministry Team
Denise Halbert-Reggio, Director
Glenda Gibhardt
Cindy Gibb
Newsletter Editor
Patricia Riess
riess@htc.net
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Book Club
Our Book Club will meet on Tuesday, September 10th,
2 pm - 4 pm at The St. Louis Bread Company on Tesson Ferry Road. The book to be discussed is "
The Underground Railroad" by
Colson Whitehead.
Future books to be discussed are:
October -- "
Educated" by Tara Watson
November -- "
Still Life" by Louise Penney
December -- "
Breakfast with Buddha" by Roland Merullo
January 2020 -
"Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gayle Honeyman
Looking forward to seeing you at the book club!
for more information.
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Ladies Night Out
Monday,
September 16th, 5:30 pm at
Zen, located at 9250 Watson Rd. St. Louis 63126. Please contact Mary at
jtpres5111@sbcglobal.net for more information and the location for October's Ladies Night Out.
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World Day of Prayer
I celebrate the vast possibilities for my life.
First Unity Church of St. Louis will be holding an all-day prayer vigil on
September 12. Our sanctuary will be open from
8 a.m. until
7:00 p.m. for prayer and meditation. A prayer service will be held at the top of each hour. Come by to leave a prayer request in our sealed prayer box and/or pray with one of our prayer chaplains. Our prayer chaplains are trained to hold all prayers in strict confidence. At the end of the day, all prayer requests will be sent to Silent Unity® where they will be held in prayer for 30 days.
We look forward to supporting you in prayer. “Prayer may seem at times to work wonders. But the wonder-working potential is always within you, waiting to be released” (Eric Butterworth).
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The Art of Abundance:
10 Rules for a Prosperous Life
On
Thursday, September 19th,
at
6:45 pm
., we will begin a new six-week book discussion series. In this book, Dennis Merritt Jones explains that we all essentially want the same things: freedom, inner peace, and a life filled with purpose and meaning. He proposes that a life of wholeness and peaceful satisfaction is readily available to us; we just need the eyes to see it and the faith to claim it. This book will help readers open their eyes to the limitless abundance that lies waiting just beyond their current belief system.
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Power of Prayer Class
“The true purpose of prayer is to experience God. The highest use of prayer, then, is to announce our intention of opening ourselves to the presence of the Divine. It is our endeavor to merge with and accept all the qualities of God -- a heartfelt invitation to allow God’s life to be lived through us.” (JaFollas, The Quest for Prayer: Coming Home to Spirit)
If your goals include deepening your prayer experience and making your prayer life more meaningful, you will want to join us for this class on
Saturday, September 14th, from
9:30 am to
12:30 pm. This class is also a prerequisite for anyone who is considering serving as a prayer chaplain at First Unity Church in 2020 and has not already taken this class. Anne Hartupee, LUT, will be facilitating this class.
Cost: First Unity Church workshops and classes are offered without any set fee. Love Offerings are gratefully received.
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Spiritual Gifts Workshop
We read in the Bible in many different places about being good stewards of our gifts using them to serve one another. What are these gifts? Are they money, possessions, talents? All these things lumped together? No, these gifts are something worth far more. They are our spiritual gifts derived from Divine Intelligence for the purpose of fulfilling our soul’s purpose.
One of the fundamentals of soul growth is discovering our core values – who “I BE” at the depth of my Being. This workshop is designed to support you in identifying your most dominant spiritual gifts and offering suggestions and ways for using them to invest in your soul’s growth and consequently enrich your life experience. Join us for this workshop on
Sunday, October 6th, from
12:15 pm to
3 pm.
Lunch will be provided.
Cost: First Unity Church workshops and classes are offered without any set fee. Love Offerings are gratefully received.
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Sacred Healing Service
The Unity Churches of St. Louis are inviting the greater St. Louis Community to a healing service on
Saturday, October 5, 2019,
9 am to
1 pm at
Unity Christ Church, 33 N. Skinker Blvd.,
St. Louis, MO 63105.
Healing practices founded in Unity will start the program followed by the exploration of other healing approaches from various traditions. This service will include prayer, meditation, crystal bowls, drumming and yoga.
Information booths will feature nutrition, aromatherapy, stress relief and much more.
Healthy snacks will be provided.
This program is offered on a Love Offering basis.
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Prayer Chaplain Training
The Prayer Chaplain program at First Unity Church is part of a larger ministry, founded by Rev. Lei Lanni Burt of Love & Light Ministries. Chaplains from all over the country utilize the same training program and prayer process. This program is based on God as our source. We recognize and acknowledge that God is the center, head, and heart of all we do.
First Unity Church has been hosting this training in recent years for all of the Unity churches in the St. Louis area and Jefferson City.
Annual Prayer Chaplain training will be held on Friday evening,
October 18, from
5 pm to
9 pm, and on
Saturday, October 18 from 8 am to
4 pm.
The purpose is to teach a chaplain the skills they will need in order to serve their spiritual communities. These skills will be practiced throughout the year as they pray with others and at the monthly prayer chaplain meetings that are also part of the program. This training is required for anyone desiring to become a prayer chaplain or anyone wanting to continue serving as a prayer chaplain next year.
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Fashion Show
First Unity Church of St. Louis will be presenting a Fashion Show and Luncheon with vendors on
October 26, 2019,
10:30 am - 2:30 pm.
Doors open 10:30 am.
Luncheon 11:30 am.
Fashion Show 12:30 pm.
Don Rodgers Ltd. will facilitate the Fashion Show.
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One of our core values for First Unity Church is: ONENESS
God is the loving Source of all that is, and we are one with God and one another.
COMMUNITY BEHAVIORS
- Through our indwelling Christ nature, we express qualities of the Divine moment by moment
- We embrace all people as expressions of God
- Grounded in principles of Truth we are fully connected with all life
INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS
- I see myself as spiritually whole, expressing the creative life force
- My conscious awareness of oneness motivates me to help others achieve their highest good
- In Unity of Spirit, I continually seek ways to nurture my Spirit, mind, and body
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HUMOR
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'" Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!
OVERHEARD PRAYERS: "Please Lord give me patience, and hurry."
The last time we changed from daylight savings time, a preacher friend posted, “For those who habitually show up 15 minutes late to church, allow me to remind you that tonight is the night you set your clock back 45 minutes.”
A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' mother's name?" One child answered, "Mary." The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' father's name was?" A little kid said, "Verge." Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?" The kid said, "Well, you know they are always talking about “Verge n' Mary.''
Dear God, please take care of my daddy and my mommy and my sister and my brother and my doggy and my cat and me. Oh, and please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess.
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Minister:
Jan Mourning
Office:
314.845.8540
uPray
is a free mobile download
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