Beloved Friends,
Welcome to the year 2008! May it be your best year yet! It will, if you choose it to be so and put God first in your life. Do you ever make New Year Resolutions? How have you done in accomplishing them in the past?
Have you ever realized that today is the most important time of your life? What if you set the intention and followed through to make every day the most important day of your life. Scottish author and historian Thomas Carlyle wrote, “Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings itself the whole day through; and thou shalt make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as thou wilt….”
Each day can be an exciting adventure. What if your New Year was filled with adventurous, life-enriching days? It can be! Shakespeare once said, “There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will.” In Unity we say, “God is my Source, and a Consciousness of God my abundant supply!
Charles Fillmore believed the number 12 metaphysically represents spiritual wholeness, health and healing. We see the number Twelve occurring repeatedly in the Bible, from the Twelve Tribes in the Old Testament, to the Twelve who served Jesus in the New Testament to the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation, with Twelve Gates attended by Twelve Angels. What if we concentrated on Twelve Practices for making each day the most important of your life?
Life is what we make of it. A friend once shared his method of having joyous life-enriching days. Maybe they would give you a new daily perspective!
1. Complete what you start.
2. Enlarge your interests.
3. Laugh a lot.
4. Give thanks for all things.
5. Be kind, thoughtful and caring.
6. Pray for all people to have the gifts of life you wish from God, and more.
7. Accentuate the positive.
8. Tell a friend you appreciate him or her.
9. Extend a helping hand.
10. Every morning write down five reasons to be happy.
11. Overlook pettiness and jealousy.
12. Make God first in your life!
May God’s abundant resources flow to you freely, quickly and assuredly this New Year!
In Spirit and in Truth,
Reverend Stephen P. Horn
One Door Opens, Another Door Closes…
We welcome Carla Clark into the position of Church Administrator at Unity Church of the Bay Area. Carla will fully assume the duties as Administrator on January 1, 2008. She brings with her a wealth of experience in management positions with several restaurants, but most importantly in several years experience as administrator at a sister Unity Church. We know she will be a blessing to us. Give her a warm welcome when you see her!
Although sad at her leaving, we are filled with gratitude for Kim Stephens, who has left the position to pursue other interests. Kim served our church well as Administrator in a time of great transition for our church, from renting to owning our own church. She often helped in so many areas behind the scenes, serving in love. We will miss her and her presence, and her angelic voice. We see only God’s unlimited good flowing to her as she moves forward. Thank you Kim, and welcome Carla!
Rick’s Reflections
We are on schedule with our contractor Herring Construction. We will be receiving a flow chart for the build out process from the builder next week. This will help Rev. Steve to determine what furniture and fixtures have to be moved. We will need volunteers to move these items to the storage area when the time comes. We especially want to thank Marcy Hale for so generously providing her time and talents in designing the electrical load analysis that is required by League City for the build out. Marcy saved us $650. Please give Marcy a personal thank you the next time you see her.
We are moving closer and closer to our goal of $45000 in order to have the build out completed the way we want it. We are only $12000 away from our goal. I am confident we will be blessed with achieving the goal as we have been blessed with so many other things we have asked for in faith.
As of this last Sunday, December 9th, we had received $1800 in donations for our adopted family. Reverend Steve and other members have made arrangements for the larger items that the family requested such as a stove and beds. To our delight someone had dropped off a Craftsman 263 piece tool set and crock pot when we arrived for the board meeting last night. What a wonderful Christmas we expect for our new family!
I encourage all of us to do what we do best in Unity. Let us affirm and hold a blessed, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year spreading throughout the world this year. Only let’s continue to affirm the joy of Christmas and Happiness each and every day of the coming New Year and beyond.
I invite all to come and celebrate our special services the evening of December 24th and Sunday December 30th.
From myself and the Board of Trustees, we wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas and a joyous and prosperous Happy New Year!
Blessing to all,
Rick Flynn
YOUTH EDUCATION
A new year, a re-newed connection with God, our Source, and a re-newal of my commitment to the children and teens of our wonder-filled family at Unity Church of the Bay Area! We are planning and setting new goals for our Youth & Family Ministry team. I want to ensure our youth know and realize that they know, without a doubt, that they are beloved, loving, and lovable children of God – ALWAYS! God is Good – All the Time! We can say this with conviction and fervor, but do we really live FULLY in this knowingness? And do we demonstrate and live this Truth by the actions in our lives? We nurture and love our children, as they are the dawn of our future. Let us love, inspire and lead by example for them to courageously embrace and create our collective future!
I really want to thank each of you for your trust and faith in me to manage our Youth & Family Ministry Team. It is truly one of the greatest blessings and privileges in my life. I feel so blessed to know our youth and to be a part of their lives. I’ve seen some of them grow from infants to young children, and others from young children to teenagers. And now I’m watching some mature into young adults! WOW! THANK YOU and THANK GOD!
Please know that this none of this is possible without the continued support of our volunteer teachers, class assistants, and sponsors. Please take the time to acknowledge and appreciate our active dedicated Youth & Family Ministry team in your prayers and especially on Sundays:
Sylvia Hebert-Goldreyer, Amy Groblewski, Linda Lawson, Gayle McFadden, Owen Leisey, Marlene Mercado y Colon, Jackie Pratt, Cindy Thomas and Sue Witt. These loving people are working with our youth of today, to help guide, inspire and spiritually prepare our leaders of tomorrow.
If you are called to be a part of this ministry, please contact Chris Bennett at 281-339-2096 or the church office at 281-554-2450. Being a part of this ministry and our children’s lives is the greatest gift I have ever given to myself! And we would love to share this joy with you, too!
Youthful Blessings!
Chris Bennett
TREASURER’S REPORT for NOVEMBER 2007
General Fund Income $ 19,789.92
Expenses - 19,105.30
Net General Fund Income 684.62
Building Fund Income + 975.00
Total Income $ + 1,659.62
Building Fund $ 136,694.02
Unity Church of the Bay Area's tithe for June was $1,982.00. It was blessed and $495.50 each was sent to the Association of Unity Churches and Unity School of Christianity. $991.00 was sent to our sister church in International Unity Ministry, Unity-Costa Rica. Your continued financial support allows our church to grow and flourish and carry the message of positive, practical Christianity in the Bay area. Thank you, and thank you God!
