People participate in faith communities for a variety of reasons – some because “that’s just what my family has always done;” some because they are seeking social standing in the community; and some because of a genuine desire to experience the Divine, and the church (or the temple, or the mosque, or the – you get the picture) is a a venue known for inviting people into an awareness of God.  And there are many more reasons beyond these three.

Owing to the fact that the Unity movement is relatively new (established in 1889), not a lot of people have been born into it.  That being the case, something or someone has served to induce members of Unity communities to attend services, classes and programs at Unity churches and centers.  Attending Unity, more often than not, is an intentional act.

According to the dictionary, the word intention means, “an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.”  Since Unity is a spiritual movement, the intentionality behind attending a service or class is to grow spiritually, and “Growing with Intention” is a core value of First Unity of St. Petersburg.  Not only is it a collective value, but a personal value for the individual members.

To that end Unity churches and centers offer a wide variety of programming to inspire individuals to examine and grow their own belief systems.  It isn’t unusual to have a service like our World Day of Prayer service on September 9 in which elements from Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah were both featured.  Is all of Spirit contained within one faith tradition?  We think not and seek out the richness of Spirit in all the world’s traditions.

We’re blessed to live in a country in which our freedom of religion is guaranteed.  So, in the spirit of religious freedom, I encourage everyone to learn about the world’s faiths and be open to gifts they have to offer.