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September 2005 Beloved Friends A Divine Idea was birthed ten years ago in August of 1995 through Reverend Diane Plamondon, Ph.D. Our church, which we know today as Unity Church of the Bay Area, held its first service in the Ramada Inn in Clear Lake City. Reverend Diane and those who formed the first group of members of our church laid a solid spiritual foundation of Truth. Through the years God has touched hundreds of lives through our ministry. Our simple principles of Truth have helped people to deepen their relationship with God and create fulfilling and joy-filled lives. This year is our Tenth Anniversary! I would like to personally invite you to attend the Unity Church of the Bay Area Tenth Anniversary Gala Celebration on Saturday, September 17, 2005. We are honoring this important milestone with a special evening of celebration and remembrance. We will be reflecting the past, honoring the present and looking forward to the future. You have, in your own unique way, been one of the building blocks of the rich consciousness which helps our church fulfill its mission – Unity Church of the Bay Area is a loving spiritual community embracing the teachings of Jesus Christ. We inspire minds, awaken hearts and empower lives. The Gala Celebration will be an evening filled with joy and fun and dinner and dancing. We will be having auctions of exciting donated gifts to benefit our Building Fund. Most importantly, it will be a celebration of the fellowship in Spirit that we all share together. Churches exist because of a common desire to know and experience God and then share that experience of Love with each other. People give life to the church! It will be a unique opportunity to gather together, visit with friends and celebrate the beautiful spiritual community we have created together with God. Make plans to join us! I look forward to joining you in rejoicing in the miracle-working power of God that is alive in each of us! And always remember, God is Good – All the Time! In Christ Love, MARK'S MUSINGS September is here and school has started! The family schedule has been rearranged for Ryan to play soccer and try out for Marching Band. This past week has been a whirlwind for me – juggling and rescheduling for pick-ups and drop-offs, coaching soccer and my client appointments. I found myself very tired and a bit irritable at times. There were times I felt very out of control and I didn’t like it one bit. Thank God for the support of Amy and my friends and for the I of the Storm class on Wednesday nights. The class is based upon the premise that “No one and no thing is against me.” Everything is created within me, both positive and negative. I project what I see or feel onto the world and other people. I create my own “storms” in life through separation, misperception, competition, and defensiveness. I can move back into the “I”, or the calm at the center of the “storm”, by taking responsibility for how my behavior or perceptions caused or aided the conflict. Then I can bring forth my spiritual qualities such as love, compassion or patience. This week provided many lessons in how miscommunication can create scheduling issues. At times I wanted to blame others for how irritable or tired I felt (“the storm”- no one is thinking of me). However, I practiced moving back to center, looking at what was missing in me, and then what I needed to communicate or take responsibility for. I feel like I’ve still got my training wheels on, but I’m feeling more empowered in my relationships to be who I really am even in stressful situations. I highly recommend this book! Plan to join us in September for two big events for UCBA: World Day of Prayer on Thursday, the 11th, and our Tenth Anniversary Gala Celebration on Saturday, the 17th. Make sure you invite some guests for both events. They will be powerful! Mark Groblewski BOARD TALK The colorful fish caught in our collective net represent donations of $17,093.54 for our Building Fund project, Let Down Your Nets For a Catch. This summer Building Fund drive lasted until August 21, 2005. We've collected enough to purchase another $21,000 CD for the Building Fund. God is good – all the time! Because of this generous outpouring, we have tithed $1876.50 from the Building Fund to date to purchase school supplies through Interfaith Caring Ministries. The August tithe from the General Fund contributions was determined according to the formula established in July. Janie Kelley and Gloria Hardesty, Unity ministerial students, will each receive $100. The remaining tithe is divided as follows: 25% to the Association of Unity Churches; 25% to Unity School of Christianity; and 50% to Unity Church Universal, Unity’s mother church, in Kansas City, Missouri. Thanks to those of you who have taken time to express your views by way of the Suggestion Box. The Board reads your ideas and attempts to respond to those requesting feedback. The new order of Sunday services may inspire additional suggestions. As Rev. Steve says, “Nothing is etched in stone.” Change is good, some of the time! And, we will find out which changes work and which don’t. Let’s withhold judgment for the first few weeks before asking for a return to the comfort of familiar patterns. New Member Sunday! We will be receiving new members on October 2, 2005. Membership is a declaration of one's commitment to a spiritual path, one aligned with the principles of Unity. If you would like to become a member of Unity Church of the Bay Area, please fill out a membership card at the church office. There will be a New Member Meeting on Thursday, September 29, 2005, from 7-9 p.m. Mark your Calendars for our Annual Meeting, October 9, 2005! Mark your calendars now for our Annual Membership Meeting that will be held after the Sunday service on Sunday, October 9th. Everyone is invited to attend. Church members will be voting on any business matters before the church and for three new members to our Board of Trustees. Our nominating committee for board elections has been formed. The committee is available to take nominations for board members. If you have someone you would like to nominate for the board or have any questions, please contact a committee member. Mark Kirby 713-252-5606 Unity Church of the Bay Area Click Here! to download your Gala Celebration Reservation Form SUNDAYS IN SEPTEMBER! September 4, 2005 September 11, 2005 September 18, 2005 September 25, 2005 TREASURER’S REPORT Expenses - 15,050.68 Net General Fund Income $ 3,623.77 Building Fund Income + 17,093.54 Total Income $ 20,717.31 Building Fund (CDs & investments) $ 91,000.00 Unity Church of the Bay Area's tithe for July was $3,532.80. It was blessed and $100 each was sent to Janie Kellley and Margie Brach, ministerial students at Unity School of Christianity. Also $405.95 each was sent to the Association of Unity Churches and Unity School of Christianity. Christ Unity Church in Sacramento, CA was sent $811.90, for their support of Bob and Janie Neill. The remaining of our tithe, $1,709.00 was sent to Interfaith Caring Ministries as the tithe from our Let Down Your Nets Building Fund project for school supplies for children. Your continued financial support allows our church to grow and flourish and carry the message of positive, practical Christianity in the Bay area. YOUTH EDUCATION As we anxiously await the cool weather of autumn, the school year has once again begun for our students and teachers. In accordance with our 3rd Unity principle, we are using affirmations in our classes to remind us of our true nature. This is a new practice for some us and is challenging. Yet it is so important to continually remember who we really are and affirm it! I encourage everyone to practice affirmations with their children and themselves. Our children pay attention and watch what we model! A child’s confidence and self-esteem is greatly enhanced by this practice – it works for adults, too! Our Uniteens recently completed their series on Relationships. In celebration, they had a great time at Astroworld. Many thanks to our adult sponsors who drove and chaperoned this event! Relationship was a recurring theme at the Child/Teen Ministry week recently held at Unity Village. I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to attend this training. The phrase, “It’s all about relationships!” applies to children and teens in or out of the classroom. It applies to everything in our lives – our relationship with God, families, friends, church, community, and our world. It has certainly made me more mindful of how much even a seemingly insignificant thought or interaction can affect one relationship or another. We currently have a need for adults to work with our Uniteens. This is a particularly significant age as they begin their maturity into adulthood. If you feel a calling to be with our Youth Ed with the Uniteens or other age groups once a month, please give me a call at 281-339-2096 or the church office. We are truly blessed in our service to our children and teens! Youthful Blessings, ANSWERED PRAYERS! I have a son who around the age of sixteen got started in his addiction. For fourteen years he followed a path to destruction. I wanted so desperately to help him. He tried and failed several times to stay clean and sober. I never gave up on him. I prayed for him to be clean and find peace. In 1989 he asked me for help and went into a rehab hospital in April. This is what I had been praying for! He stayed clean for a few months, but continued to stumble. One day I was at a park and I remembered something a 12 Step friend had said, “Hold your hands out to God and let him go.” As I imagined him in my hands I gave my son to God. Then the most amazing thing happened. I lay down and went to sleep, something I do not do in the daytime. After that I was able to let him go down his own path. On New Year’s Eve that year I called him to say, “Be careful”, but the words God put into my mouth were “I am here for you no matter what happens. I’m not ashamed of you.” It took nine months after that. He celebrates fifteen years of sobriety this month. He has a wife and two beautiful children and a career as a nurse. Thank You God! Gayle McFadden UNITEEN TEACHERS NEEDED! Our Uniteens meet every Sunday. They meet and talk about life issues and how spiritual principles can help them in this very important stage in their life. We are in need of adult teachers who can offer their time each month to help support our teens on their spiritual journey. If you are willing to volunteer, please contact Chris Bennett, our YE Director, at 281-339-2096. LET DOWN YOUR NETS FOR A CATCH! Thank you God! With your help we filled our nets and are able to add $21,000 to the Building Fund! Our tithe from this project outfitted over 80 children with school supplies through Interfaith Caring Ministries. Thank you to our donors below! May the blessing you have given be returned to you blessed and multiplied! Barbara Barrett And in Memory of: Unity’s Twelfth Annual World Day of Prayer World Day of Prayer is a day filled with the energy from people throughout the world joining in prayer for the love, peace, and healing of themselves and others. It’s a day of renewal, for when we are centered in God, we are transformed. Our Sanctuary will be open from 8:00 a.m. until the evening service for silent prayer. Together we pray: United in the transforming power of God’s love, we are renewed in Mind, Body, and Spirit as we pray for one another and the world. Prayer forms are available at church. Please place them in the prayer box or in the box in the Gathering Room. You can also go online and add them at www.worlddayofprayer.org. UNITY TREASURES Spending a Day Ego Honey Takes a Vacation by Janie Neill Ego Honey Takes a Vacation While we were vacationing in South Lake Tahoe, my husband Bob fell while walking up an escalator. He sustained a spinal cord injury and had to be flown by helicopter to Sacramento for treatment. One always wonders how he will react in a traumatic situation. From the beginning I was very clear that we do this one moment at a time. I have everything I need to deal with this moment in front of me. There is no other moment I need to think about. I cannot solve tomorrow’s problems today. My mantra for the first few days was “What is, is.” Any time I insist that life be other than it is I am beating my head against a brick wall and hoping the wall will quit hurting me. I released the need to blame anyone, including myself. I shared this with Bob and he embraced that idea because he was blaming himself. As soon as I said there will be no blame, he let it go. The ego loves to ask questions without answers like “Why me?” So I sent Ego Honey (my name for my ego) on a vacation. I told her very firmly, “I will not go there with you.” My second mantra became “All events are neutral.” Everything in my life has only the meaning I give it. It is kind of like the story of the three umpires. The first one says, “I’m an idealist. I call it the way it should be.” The second one says, “I’m a realist. I call it the way it is.” The third one says, “I’m A Course in Miracles student, “It ain’t nothing until I call it.” A Course in Miracles says, “Everything I see has only the meaning I give it.” I decided that the only meaning this would have in my life would be as opportunity to extend love. I am here to experience the peace of God and to extend love. All events are neutral. We decide if the results are positive or negative so I can’t wait to see the good that will come out of this! Life is not about living without problems, it is about living in peace within a problem. This is so easy to do when we just let go. I could not fix this situation; the future was in the hands of God. When a doubt about the future would flit through my mind, I’d quickly respond, “No, no, Ego Honey, remember you are on vacation.” All I need to look at is this moment in front of me, and right now I choose peace. Each day the thought for the day in Daily Word was so perfect I knew God was making this journey with me. Just a few days after the accident, the thought for the day was “Moment by moment I center myself in the presence of infinite peace.” This became my third mantra. I must have said this over and over to myself several hundred times. Peace is always present inside. All I have to do is be still and know that God is there. There were some difficult situations. It was not easy to watch when Bob was hallucinating or when he was going through pneumonia, but I would remind myself, “God is good all the time.” He does not change for even a single second. God is healing all the time. God is peace all the time. God is supporting me all the time. I reached spiritual heights I’d never dreamed possible. I know this occurred because many, many people were sending us love and prayers. I literally felt those prayers. It was the most amazing experience of my life. I was carried except for a couple of times when I said, “Okay, God, you need to put me down for a bit while I have a melt down.” But even during the meltdowns, I felt God with me just waiting until I was ready to be picked up again. At this writing, we are only weeks into this journey, and Bob’s recovery will take six months to a year. He has regained complete use of his left side and is slowly regaining use of his right side. He is currently at TIRR the rehab hospital and will be there for about a month. He will walk again and regain most of the use of his right arm. His right hand will probably be the last thing to heal, but the outcome looks good Those four weeks we spent in Sacramento, I was longing to be home in Houston. After a few days, I said to myself, “Home is wherever Bob and I are together.” Then after a few weeks, I said, “Home is wherever I am connected to God.” Home is that place deep inside where I experience the peace of God. Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I was home all the time. Your newsletter contributions are welcome! Please submit them to the church office or e-mail them to info@unityofbayarea.org by the 15th of each month. We ask that articles not exceed 300 words, and ask that Answered Prayers articles be between 150-200 words if possible. Our goal is to share your articles in newsletters as soon as possible.
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