“Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous,
be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” ~1 Corinthians 16:13,14
October 2011 Eat, Pray, Love (In Action) A Remembrance of our
2010 Homecoming Sunday, October 2, 2011, after
the 11:30 am service On the auspicious date of
10/10/10, Unity of Walnut Creek returned to its spiritual home after being in temporary quarters for more than a year. What
a fun, celebratory and sacred homecoming it was!
This
October 2, join us as we celebrate our 1-year anniversary through ceremonies that bless our grounds and express our gratitude
and appreciation for all who came before and made the renovation possible through the Love In Action program; all who currently
bless us with their time, talent and treasure; and all who will bring their blessings to us in the future.
In true Unity fashion, we will Eat, Pray and Love (In
Action)! Immediately following the 11:30 service, we will eat together in the CommUnity Room –
a light meal will be provided. We’ll then come together in prayer. - The Joyful Noise Choir will lead us in music.
- We will take turns prayerfully walking a labyrinth.
- We will once more bless
and rededicate this sacred space that we love.
We look forward to eating, praying and loving with you on Oct. 2. For questions about Love in Action, call Lisa Nichols at (925) 689-7736.
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OUR RETURN TO OUR BEAUTIFUL
NEW BUILDINGS, OCT. 10, 2010!
See details below....
Oct. 2010 Love In Action Homecoming Update
Special Unity Events You Won’t Want to Miss!
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Please read this Homecoming flyer and send it to friends!
Homecoming Services at 8:00, 9:30 & 11:30 am – October 10 Our very special first services in our renewed home
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September 2010
Embracing New Beginnings -- 2020 Vision
A new sanctuary begins
a new chapter in our Center’s ability to serve our community.
October 10, 2010 marks that beginning at our opening services. To focus and empower the new vision
that Spirit has for our destiny, a new set of activities, 2020 Vision, will invite us to gather and discover together what God is calling us to be. On September 18 we will begin
a month of interviewing our spiritual family as that vision begins to reveal itself.
New furnishings, kitchen, children’s and community areas invite us to feel divine love, nurturing,
prospering and caring for us all. On 10/10/10 we will embrace our spiritual family’s return.
This very moment, and every moment, an Infinite Love is inviting each of us to listen anew to its dream for us, to accept
its care for us, and to be renewed by its radiant life.
July 2010
Join the next stage
of the journey
We invite everyone to join us in
the next important part of this spiritual journey. We invite everyone to make the commitment
to meet and exceed the financial needs of our new building for the coming three years. When we said yes to
this important project, we knew it would require us to step forward with a greater income over an extended time because of
the financing. We have demonstrated through our gifts to “Love in Action” that we can meet this additional financial
challenge. We would love to be able to not only make our payments each month, but to also reduce the amount that we owe. Join
us for a renewed commitment. Join us in continuing to create a consciousness of beauty, abundance, and spiritual support for
our wonderful community as it is and as it is becoming.
Feb. 8, 2010 Ground Breaking Monday Feb. 8th, at 6 PM, we held our Ground Breaking Blessing Ceremony! The contractors intend to start work within days of our having spiritually blessed and prepared
our beloved spiritual home for its transformation.
It was
a short ceremony but it marked an important milestone in our journey as we create an ever expanding consciousness
of Goodness, Beauty and Love in our world.
Jan. 2010 Breakthrough
Thank you everyone
for your faith in knowing that God is our Source as we breakthrough to the universal flow of financial abundance for our Center.
Yes we are at breakthrough! As we write this, we have two banks who are willing to be channels of God’s abundance and
provide financing for our Love in Action remodel. We are in the final stages of appraisals and negotiations with these banks.
Keep your prayers coming. Visualize the construction starting in January and our return to our beautiful Geary Center this
summer. Update:
the loan contract was signed! Construction will begin in early February!
Oct. 2009 At our Oct. 18, 2009 Annual Meeting, the congregation gave approval to increase the requested loan
amount.
Loan set back Before we could begin construction on our renovation, our original bank pulled out from church construction loans.
Lisa Nichols is leading our financial team in our applications for a loan for construction, and the resulting mortgage to
secure the loan for the amount not covered by the Love in Actin pledges.
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Click below to read Contra Costa Times article, July 30,
2009, describing our exciting renovation campaign and our move to Heather Farm.
Download CC Times Article
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Final Blessing Celebration, July 26, 2009 On Sunday, July 26, we had a joyful final Blessing Celebration
as we released the form of the buildings that have cradled us over the years, while we affirmed the love and consciousness
that is the enduring heart of our Center. Everyone wrote grateful affirmations and blessings on the walls of the
Sanctuary and YE Room. We
expect remodeling to be completed in 2009, and look forward to the day when we return to our beautiful new buildings.
In the meantime during remodeling,
our Sunday services will be held at Heather Farm Community Center in Walnut Creek, and our office and classroom space will
be located in a nearby office building at 1800 Oak Park Blvd. in Pleasant Hill. On the next stage of our journey, our first Sunday Service at Heather Farm will be Aug. 2, and we
will hold and Open House for our office and classroom space on Aug. 9.
Celebrating our Past, July 5, 2009 On
July 5, 2009, we had a very special and moving Sunday service, "Celebrating our Past." We reviewed the highlights
of our years since the Center's founding in 1948, as we listened to memories from many members and view video clips from previous
ministers. You may read a summary of that program here.
May 10 Delay Our original date for our final service at our old building had to be changed from May 10 to July 26
because the city of Walnut Creek requested more information before approving our plans.
Unanimous decision to go ahead At the Oct. 26 Annual Meeting, we discussed the Report of Findings by the LIA Task Force, and the
unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees to proceed with the remodeling of the two buildings as one project (rather than
two phased projects) even though our current level of donations are sufficient for only one building. By a unanimous
vote of the membership present at the the meeting, it was agreed to enter into a mortgage to cover the cost of the seqcond
building.
Annual Membership Meeting, October 26, 2008 The
annual membership meeting agenda will include several Love in Action items:
--A Task Force was formed in May to explore and develop alternatives of how we could proceed with
our capital improvements. --A report of findings and recommendations from the LIA Task Force, and the decision by the Board of Trustees, who examined these questions at depth, will be presented at the annual membership
meeting. --Members will also be asked to vote and select organizations to receive tithes from Love in Action.
Capital Improvement News “Woo-hoo!” The
Capital Development team has directed our architect to begin the review and permitting process with the City of Walnut Creek!
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| Alexandra True |
Announcement
from the Executive Director I have served as the Executive Director of the Love in Action Program since June 2007. During this
time, I have learned about love, about giving and receiving, about egotism and about altruism. I have learned that
I don’t know everything, but as I wait for inspiration and wisdom, my trust and faith sustain me, and I get the answers I
need just in time. I have been touched beyond words by the generosity of our Unity community. I have witnessed over-the-top
financial giving, and have also seen the willingness of so many dedicated volunteers as they gave tirelessly of their time
and talents.
Faith
is an integral part of any long-term program where results are not seen immediately and my faith is stronger, steadier
and is able to sustain me every day because of Love in Action. I thank you for enriching my life with
this transformational experience and for so richly blessing me during this time.
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| Don Shaw |
I’ve recently received a new calling and will soon start work on another
exciting project at Unity. In September 2008, I will transition out of my current role as Executive
Director of Love in Action. I'm pleased to announce that Don
Shaw has steped forward to take over the position of Executive Director and lead us into the next
phase of our transformation. As or next phase unfolds, I know that he will be transformed and blessed
beyond words.
As always, wishing you as
much love as you can stand, —Alexandra True, Executive Director
Love in Action Tithing In alignment with our Center’s prosperity
consciousness, we tithe from the gifts we receive in our Love in Action program. Tithing is the spiritual practice of acknowledging
God as our source. In tithing, one tenth of all we receive is given to spiritual organizations that support
us. The Love in Action program tithes ten percent to organizations that support our mission. We will also give an additional
five percent of our gifts in social giving. The five per cent of social giving is donated to community or global organizations
that bring peace, healing and harmony to our world. We invite you to nominate both spiritual and other non-profit organizations
to be recipients of our tithing. Tithe/Giving Nomination forms are available at the LIA table on the patio after Sunday
services, or they may be picked up at the Book Center. Nominations must be returned by Sept 21. Organizations designated to
receive Love in Action tithes will be selected by membership vote during our annual meeting on October 26. Tithes
and gifts will be distributed to the selected organizations for one year. This process will be repeated in 2009.
We know that sharing our abundance with an attitude of love and faith prospers all. Tithing at Unity As a spiritual community,
we model the spiritual principles that are a part of our teachings. Tithing and generous giving are two of those principles. Tithing
is an ancient spiritual practice mentioned often in the bible. It is the giving of “the first tenth” of all that
is received to the place where we are spiritually fed. Tithing is not an instrument for social giving. The teachings from
the Bible and from spiritual leaders who have explored the powerful practice at depth, continue to remind us that this
first tenth or tithe is for organizations or individuals who are helping people awaken to the presence of God in their lives.
For the individual, this may be a church, spiritual teacher, place of prayer or an author. For our organization, we view those
organizations that keep us and the Unity movement strong and vibrant as we seek to fulfill our mission. Because serving as
a Unity center is our purpose, we know that those things that keep Unity strong, growing and healthy support our spiritual
work.
Ask and It Shall be
Given We
asked and you gave, and we are delighted to report that we met the challenge of our anonymous, matching donor
and received new pledges of $25,000! Truth be told, we didn’t only meet the minimum amount of new
pledges, we significantly exceeded it by collecting a total of $83,940 in new pledges!!!
Way to
go Unity! As of June 20, 2008, our year-to-date receipts for Love in Action total $53,447.25. Thank you.
We are grateful. _______________________________________________
JUNE
2008
Matching $25,000 pledge!!
Our heartfelt thanks go out to each and every one of you who have made a
new pledge to Love In Action. We are very grateful. Every pledge counts! No pledge is too small. This is especially true now
that we have received a commitment for a matching pledge for every new person or family who commits to Love In Action. We
have a generous anonymous donor who is willing to match every new pledge, up to $25,000!
Love In Action Task Force
A new Task Force is forming to create clear pros
and cons and summaries of how to proceed with the Capital Campaign. This task force will present recommendations to the Board
of Trustees as we go forward with financing of the project. If you would like more information, please contact Susan
Miller.
December 2007:
The first manifestation of a more beautiful sanctuary appeared on
Sunday, December 23, 2007. Lovely new draperies add a touch of elegance. They are a light green, the color symbolizing the
heart chakra. These are a Christmas gift from our Love in Action campaign, funded by you! Thanks so much for your generosity
and ongoing commitment to your pledges to make our Center more wonderful.
"Divine
Love is our source of true abundance."
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