What is Unity?

Discover your Divine Potential

Unity is a Positive Path for Spiritual Living

Unity Center of Cedar Rapids is a welcoming and inclusive spiritual community.
We celebrate our Oneness with all and honor the Divine presence in every person
regardless of color, nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation,
family structure, age, economic status, ableness, educational level, faith or politics.

We gather to create an experience of Spirit, blessing all with the awareness that God is within.
At UnityCR, we offer practical teachings that empower abundant and meaningful living.
Meeting you right where you are, we provide a variety of ways to support YOUR path of spiritual living.

We invite you to join us for 10 am Sunday service

Youth Ministry and Nursery are available.

“I am just so glad I found you! I feel like I’ve come home!”

Unity: What We Teach

  • We all have an innate capacity to know God through direct experience.
  • The “Christ” is that part of God that is in every person. There is a spark of divinity within all people, just as there was in Jesus.
  • Prayer works.
  • Heaven is not a place, but a state of consciousness; we create our own heaven and hell here and now.
  • We are here to set a positive example and be a role model for others.
  • We are here to make the world a better place.

5 Basic Unity Principles  

We encourage you to explore and apply Unity teachings based on your own spiritual understanding.

The five basic ideas that make up the Unity belief system are:

  • God is absolute good and everywhere present.
  • Our essence is of God, therefore we are inherently good.
  • We create our experience of life through our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.
  • Prayer and meditation are our connection with God-Mind.
  • We must live the Truth that we know.

Our Mission is to provide spiritual awareness

and share the wonder and joy of God’s Love!

Unity Worldwide Ministries

Unity Center of Cedar Rapids is a member ministry of Unity Worldwide Ministries.  The Unity movement was founded in 1889 by Myrtle and Charles Fillmore in Kansas City, Missouri. The website www.unity.org is an excellent resource to learn more about Unity’s beliefs and history.  UnityCR, established in 1924, is one of the first ministries in the Unity movement.

Unity Center of Cedar Rapids

UnityCR is a dynamic, inclusive congregation that welcomes people of all faiths and backgrounds. We are a center of positive, practical Christianity.

If you would like to learn more about Unity teachings, or if you already know that UnityCR is your home and wish to become a member, please contact the UnityCR office to register for the Exploring Unity classes.

Timeline of Unity Center of Cedar Rapids

September 4, 1924 – Unity Center of Cedar Rapids was founded by
Goldie Cook Richardson.  

1935: Larger quarters were obtained and satellite churches had been established in Waterloo, Clinton, Independence, Muscatine and Moline, Illinois

1940: Mabel Swanson was our second minister.

1943: Mabel launched a new outreach ministry, starting the Sunday radio broadcasts on WMT-AM 600.  These broadcasts continued until 2010.

1977: John Cuddeback became the third minister of UnityCR.

1981: Dick and Lola Andrews were our fourth set of ministers.  

1983: The current building was completed. The passive solar design represents a drastic departure from conventional church architecture and is a reflection of Unity’s positive, uplifting, and progressive nature.  The architect, Sig Bjornson, received a Presidential Citation from President Ronald Reagan for his work in the design of the building.

In the 1980’s, a group of Unity members founded, established, and nurtured to maturity Safe Place in Cedar Rapids, a haven for recovering substance abuse users.  Today, Safe Place is an independent establishment supported by the local United Way.

1993: Unity helped form and found the “Inter-Religious Council of Linn County”.

1994: Geoffrey and Ann Marie Davis was our fifth set of ministers.  

2000: Rev Thelma Hembroff was our sixth minister.

2004: We celebrated our 80th anniversary along with the Daily Word which also debuted in 1924.

2006: We dedicated a major new addition to the building which doubled the floor space of the original building and matched its architecture.

2007: Rev brenda s. ehret is our seventh minister.

2009: Board member, Joshua Haun, established our annual Prayer-A-Thon – 40 hours of continuous prayer which continues today and is a key Consciousness & fund raiser.

2014: We marked our 90th Anniversary!

2018:  Rev brenda s. ehret retires and UCR spends 18 months looking for a new minister.

2020-2023: Rev Debra Carter-Williams is our eighth minister.

Our mission is to provide spiritual awareness and share the wonder and joy of God’s love. 

We are grateful for the many hundreds of persons who have come in contact with Unity Center of Cedar Rapids over the years.  People are set free by the knowing of their own Divinity and the Power of Spirit within. Perhaps the best testimonial for our existence is the exclamation, “I am just so glad I found you! I feel like I’ve come home!”