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 was founded on September 4, 1924 by Goldie Cook Richardson.
The first class, consisting of only six people, was held at 728 Fourth Avenue, S.E., Cedar Rapids.
1936: UnityCR moved to a larger house at 1015 Second Avenue, S.E. Satellite churches were established in Waterloo, Clinton, Independence, Muscatine, and Moline, Illinois
1940: Mabel Swanson became our second minister after the passing of Goldie Richardson.
1943: Mabel launched a new outreach ministry, starting the Sunday radio broadcasts on WMT-AM 600. These broadcasts continued until 2010.
1977: Rev. John Cuddeback became the third minister of UnityCR. Services and classes were moved to the Knights of Pythias Hall at 1101 Old Marion Road, N.E.
1978: Unity Center of Cedar Rapids joined the Association of Unity Churches. 4 Acres of land at 3791 Blairs Ferry Rd NE was purchased from Life Investors for $100,000.
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.
2005: Groundbreaking for the new addition, April 2
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: UnityCR held the first of several Prayer-A-Thons – 40 hours of continuous prayer – as a key consciousness raiser and fundraiser
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. From Jan 1, 2020 through Dec 31, 2023, Rev Debra led us through the Covid epidemic and a catastrophic derecho.
2024: 100th Anniversary of UnityCR
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!”