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| Submitted for website March
17, 2005
By Melanie Coakley and Doug Werth
and amended as needed
Unity of Chattanooga began as a study
group. This study group sprang from a visioning meeting
at another Unity Church. During this visioning it became
clear there were two distinct groups of people with two
very different visions, expectations, and needs for their
church home. And so it came to be in the summer of 1999,
that eight of those members met at one person’s home.
After discussing their ideas of what they felt their needs
were, the question was asked, “So how do we start
a Unity church?” With an impromptu gesture, a dollar
was thrown into the circle, then another and another. After
a pause, a statement was made that it looked like we needed
a treasurer. Our first volunteer took on the post, and a
study group was formed. As time progressed the intention
of creating a Unity church complete with a full time Minister
became clear.
We developed our mission statement: |
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Transforming lives through
love, faith and prayer
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 With
this intention in mind, a place to meet was needed. One
of the group members offered the showroom in their business,
and each Sunday chairs were set up, refreshments brought
in and coffee was made. Studying Unity principles became
the focus. There was an attitude that “if you build
it, they will come." We chose the name Unity of Chattanooga,
and began laying the foundation using Unity principles.
Tapes were ordered from a Unity Church in Texas where Howard
Caesar was the minister. Each Sunday we listened to the
tapes and had spiritual discussions. We began applying the
teachings to our personal lives, having fun, and sharing
with others our intentions of being an official Unity Church.
As we began to prosper, we started tithing to the Association
of Unity Churches as well as Silent Unity, Unity’s
telephone prayer ministry. The intentions and foundation
of the church became stronger with each step forward we
took.
In the meantime, conversations were
developing with the Association of Unity Churches
to determine the requirements of becoming a full fledged
Unity Church. We soon had members traveling to Unity North
in Atlanta and meeting with Rev. Carol O’Connell,
the minister. She offered assistance and guidance on how
to run a church. Soon, Unity North became our sponsoring
church and in turn they began to tithe to our start up efforts!
While still a study group, we made the decision to hire
a full time minister and experience the next step in building
a Unity Church.
 In
October of 2000, we were approximately 12 to 14 strong,
faithful members, and felt it was time for a minister. Lyn
Hale was hired as our first Minister, and he was instrumental
in moving us from the “business showroom” into
the Jewish Synagogue, Mizpah, that is located in an older
neighborhood of Chattanooga. This move provided more space
to meet in, and created a more spiritual setting for Sunday
services. With the increase in space, more people began
to attend and the church began to grow. Growth brought its
challenges, and with a need for music, Lyn attempted leading
us in song as a “one finger-pianist” pecking
out enough of a tune for us to follow! Eventually someone
who could truly play the piano showed up and the music improved
drastically! After only one year, Lyn was forced to retire
for health reasons and leave the area to be closer to his
family.
The next chapter of growth began in
November 2001, with the hiring of Rev Patti Brooks.
Patti helped us build a cohesive spiritual community with
ideas such as a once-a-month “Potluck Sunday”,
which created an atmosphere of sharing and getting to know
one another better. The church that was being built was
not of brick and mortar but of people with a shared vision.
As fate would have it, Patti married and soon moved to Florida.
At this point, one of our own members, Ralph Speck stepped
up to the plate and began delivering the Sunday lesson.
At the same time, we also became a training ground for Rich
Walters from Unity North in Atlanta, who would drive from
Atlanta frequently to deliver the lesson. We continued having
different speakers each Sunday and enjoyed the diversity,
while we switched our focus to finding a more permanent
location for the growing congregation as well as the next
minister.
Our search brought us to our current
church home, 604 Black Street in North Chattanooga.
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It is at
this location that the church expanded to include a
new minister and our largest growth. Reverend
Doug Werth and his wife Penny came to us on August
1, 2004, and since then we have grown from 25 to 55
people on a Sunday, and from 21 members to 45 (as of
this writing March 17, 2005). Today we have quarterly
weekend workshops, with evening, Unity classes throughout
the week. There is strong fellowship, which is building
that Unity church which started merely as an intention. |
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On Sunday September
26, 2004 “Rev Doug”, as he is so warmly
referred to, welcomed 18 new members and honored those who
came before with the vision to “build a Unity Church."
Sharing from his message that Sunday,
“This special service is designed to look deeply
at the Spiritual Journey we have all chosen to take. It
is a time to understand more fully what it is, to feel
our connection to Spirit and to each other, to honor our
path and to reaffirm our dedication and commitment to
this Path of Greater Awareness through personal study,
support of each other and this church, as well as living
the principles taught by Jesus Christ to the best of our
ability.
“It is fitting and proper that we honor those
who have made similar commitments to themselves and others,
who several years ago chose to follow the direction of
their heart’s journey, and have persevered and laid
the groundwork for this church. It is because of their
dedication to the path they chose to take, their hard
work and their determination that we have the opportunity
to be here this morning.
“For many of us, we clearly remember the day
and the hour of that still, small voice, or that feeling,
or that twist of events, when we came to a Unity Church
for the first time. We knew we were home, and we knew
that longing, that inner calling in our heart for something
greater in our lives…to be greater than we’ve
ever been. To be closer to God than we’ve ever been.
Today, we are honored to welcome 18 people who have heard
and CHOSEN to listen to that voice, have CHOSEN to take
the next step, and simply say, “Here I am Lord,
use me.” To these new members, you are the seeds
that have fallen on fertile ground, and you will go forward
to bring forth a hundredfold. You are here by Divine Appointment.”
On
November 12, 2005 we welcomed 14 new members into our Unity of Chattanooga
family. From
left to right are: Linda Bass, Pam Bullard, Marlene Cradic,
Steve Cradic, Robert Floyd, Carole Guest, David Fly, Carl
Freitag, Marie Hall, Allie Jay, Jason Kendrick, Jeff Sandy,
and Amanda Larson. Not pictured is Fayann Schmidt.
This
brings our total membership to 68. Rev Doug said " I
am so excited about the growth that Unity of Chattanooga
is experiencing, the new friendships that are developing,
and the commitment that so many are making to a path of
spiritual growth."
From the beginning, our intention
has been to build a Unity Church with a strong foundation
of Unity principles. We have found that there is more to
building a church than just brick and mortar. The foundation
of spiritual principles expressing through people is the
strength that springs forth our growth and enriches our
history with each passing day.
Our mission statement from the beginning has been “Transforming Lives through Love, Faith, and Prayer." With these words we grew and prospered and created a church which was built on a strong foundation based on the Unity Principles. In February of 2009, the Board met with Rev. Carole O’Connell to visualize the next step in expansion for Unity of Chattanooga. From that meeting a new Vision Statement and a new Mission Statement were created.
NEW VISION STATEMENT
Unity of Chattanooga expands awareness of the Christ Presence within each individual, radiating love and wisdom into the world.
NEW MISSION STATEMENT
As an inclusive community:
- We EMPOWER people to connect with their own Divine Guidance through prayer and meditation.
- We INSPIRE and teach adults and children how to live Spiritual Principles.
- We MODEL the Christ Presence of love, joy and peace.
- We express our Divinity through SERVICE to others.
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