At Unity Palo Alto, we have many opportunities for you to grow spiritually, meet new friends, and just have fun. In addition to Sunday services, we offer workshops, classes, and events that will lift your spirit and give you something to help you with the real life issues you face during the week. We look forward to seeing you!
Sunday Service
Join us for "Marrying the self to Self" with Rev. Karyn Bradley and music by Dominion and our Carnegie Hall Choir, Sunday, February 12, 8:45am and 11:00am.
Spiritual Growth
The Twelve Powers
Facilitated by Rev. Margaret Flick
Wednesdays, January 25 - March 7, Noon-1:30pm - Drop ins welcome
Cost: love offering
Join us for this powerful class exploring the Twelve Powers of human consciousness. Our co-founder, Charles Fillmore believed that we have Twelve Powers or centers within us to help us manifest healing, love and abundance. We will be using the book, “PowerUP” by Paul Hasselbeck.
Lessons In Truth
Class facilitated by Rev. Margaret Flick
Wednesdays, January 25 - March 7, 7:00pm-8:30pm - Drop ins welcome
Cost: love offering
“Lessons in Truth” by Dr. Emily Cady is a cornerstone in the foundation of Unity teachings and brings to light Truth principles and how to use them in our daily lives. If you want to manifest more joy, peace and awareness of abundance in your life, this class is for you!
Keys to the Kingdom
Class facilitated by Rev. Karyn Bradley
Sundays, February 5 – March 25 (skipping March 18), 1:00-2:30pm
Materials Fee: $40
Registration closed.
“In your quest for Truth, don’t stop short with simply being entertained or pacified by peace-of-mind platitudes. Truth should disturb you, challenge you deeply. It should ignite sparks within you, set fires under you, stir up your enthusiasm.” Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth.
The Keys to the Kingdom, a seven week prosperity course, aligns perfectly with Eric Buttterworth’s quote. This is a powerful, transformational journey for all who participate. This class requires dedication and commitment to your spiritual growth. For the duration of the class you will be required to tithe 10% of your gross income for the seven weeks, attend services, volunteer in some capacity and do your spiritual work. It is an opportunity to live the mission of UPA: we are a welcoming community that inspires personal and spiritual growth.
If you are willing to make this commitment, you will profoundly alter your experience of life’s abundance and awareness of your own highest potential. If you attend all classes and participate in all assignments and you do not have this experience, your tithe will be returned to you at the conclusion of the course without question.
2012 Annual Meeting
Sunday, March 18, 12:30pm
Come experience the vision of our ministry as we celebrate our successes and look forward with a confident expectation for our good. Everyone is welcome to attend and members will be invited to vote for new Board of Trustee members.
Unity Basics
Class facilitated by Rev. Karyn Bradley and Rev. Margaret Flick
Sundays, April 15 – May 13, 1:30-3:00
Cost: love offering
This is a required course in our "New Member" curriculum. Learn more about becoming a voting member.
Register online at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2611816012
This class will provide an in-depth exploration into the foundations of Unity, our five basic principles, how Unity interprets the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and our emphasis on prayer and prosperity. Materials for the class: The Principles: A Guide to Practical Spirituality by Rev. Ellen Debenport.
Unity Men's Retreat at Lake Tahoe
with the West Central Region
May 18 - 20
Cost: $125 before April 20, $150 after.
More information and registration
The men’s weekend is an opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of life and connect with spirit in a beautiful, natural setting. An opportunity to Rest; Relax; Rejuvenate; Reconnect; Reflect; Recharge; and Reconsider our lives as men. There will be tradition and ritual; a chance to get outdoors in a beautiful setting; discussions on spirituality with other men; light hearted conversation and fellowship; and quiet reflection. Meals are healthful, delicious, and abundant!
On-Going Classes
Nonviolent Communications Group
1st and 3rd Sundays, 1:15-2:24pm in the Fireside Room
Everyone is welcome to join us in this life-enriching practice. For more information, email Steve or Philip at speakpeace-owner@yahoogroups.com.
"A Course in Miracles" every Monday at 8:00pm. Love offering
See Classes & Workshops for more information
Wednesday Night Meditation every Wednesday at 7:00-8:00pm
In Ministerial Prayer Room, everyone welcome.
Question Your Thinking, Change Your Life – The Work of Byron Katie
1st and 3rd Mondays, 6:30-8:00pm, Y.E.S. Hall
See Classes & Workshops for more information
Fellowship
Auxiliary Quilt Raffle
Tickets available on February 26, March 4 and 11.
Winner announced at Auxiliary Luncheon – Wednesday, March 14
Cost: $1/ticket, $5/6 tickets, $10/12 tickets
Lois Perry has made and donated a quilt which will be raffled off at our Auxiliary luncheon. The quilt will be on display and tickets will be available at the Auxiliary Table in the breezeway after services. All proceeds will go to the Auxiliary’s “Pay-Down-The-Mortgage Fund.” This is such a gift of love on Lois and Wilma’s part. Let’s all support their generous offer to help pay down our mortgage. Come to our luncheon on March 14. You might be the lucky winner of the quilt!
Unity Palo Alto Auxiliary Luncheon
Wednesday, March 14, 11:45am in the YES Hall
Featuring The Jewel Tones
Tickets on sale after services on February 26, March 4 and 11.
Cost: $15
When we had The Jewel Tones perform last year for the Auxiliary, we couldn’t wait for them to return. As an added bonus, our own Feeta Bishop is a member of the group. They are a versatile group of women who perform songs from the turn of the 20th century through the 1950’s. They have a variety of period costumes and if their program consists of songs mainly from the 40s, they’ll be dressed in clothes from the 40s. We might hear “Blue Moon”, “Accentuate the Positive” or “Embraceable You”. We don’t hear those wonderful songs any more, except on rare occasions and this is one of them. You’ll leave smiling and humming. Come, bring a friend or two, join the fun and enjoy a delicious lunch, prepared by those wonderful chefs, Gerry Franzen and Gerry Jennings.
Harmony Rock Unity Choir
Calling all singers! Do you love to sing? Come to a rehearsal and be a part of our wonderful choir. For more information, contact Valerie Brown at choir@unitypaloalto.org.
Unity Socials Brunch most Sundays at 1 p.m.
See Fun & Fellowship for more information
Youth Activities
Conscious Discipline Classes For Parents And Educators
Dates and Times TBA
Join us as we learn to give our children better life coping skills by learning and modeling them ourselves. We will use the DVD series presented by Dr. Becky Bailey and based on her book, Easy to Love; Difficult to Discipline. (Childcare is available on advance request.)
YE/Y.O.U. Leadership Workshop
Camp Monte Toyon, Aptos
Friday-Sunday, Feb. 3-5
Teens will attend this powerful weekend regional retreat learning how to “take the lead,” while YE volunteers share and learn new skills.
Easter Party
Saturday, March 31, 10:00am-12noon, YES Hall
Egg dying and hunting, crafts, games and fun for all. Live bunnies will come for a visit and love to be petted.
Palm Sunday – One Service At 10:00am
April 1
Youth go directly to classes in the Fireside Room to prepare for “triumphant entry” into the sanctuary at end of service – waving our palm branches.
Easter Sunday
April 8
All youth will go directly to class for a special lesson.
Unity Village
Established nearly 100 years ago, Unity Village is the home for Unity World Headquarters, Unity Worldwide Ministries and Silent Unity. Unity Village is located 15 miles southeast of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Today the Mediterranean-style campus still offers a quiet refuge and nurturing activities for body, mind and spirit.
The pristine campus includes 1,400 acres of beautiful countryside along with formal gardens, magnificent fountains, walking trails, a “green” hotel and conference center, a swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, the best and most extensive library in the region for books and other resources on spiritual education and personal growth, a bookstore and coffee shop, and a variety of peaceful indoor and outdoor chapels for prayer and meditation. For more information about Unity Village, visit unityvillage.org.
Lyceum 2012 The Church in the Future:
Teaching, Praying and Serving in the House of Tomorrow
With Matthew Fox
April 11–14, 2012 at Unity Village, MO
More information and registration
Listen, learn and join the conversation as leading speakers and scholars, Unity Institute faculty and selected students explore issues affecting the church of tomorrow. Visit beautiful Unity Village in the springtime, and soak up knowledge and insight from esteemed workshop presenters and keynote speaker Matthew Fox, a spiritual theologian whose views have long sparked controversy.
Cruise the Ancient Empires
A Spiritual Tour of Italy, Turkey and Greece
April 30–May 12, 2012
More information and registration
Join us for the second annual spiritual and educational journey supporting Unity Institute ® and Seminary!** This year we are setting sail for the eastern Mediterranean with Unity friends—including Unity Institute® Dean Ted Collins—aboard Holland America Lines' five-star flagship cruiser, the Nieuw Amsterdam.
Your 12-day guided tour includes spiritual insights from Unity minister Mark Fuss, exploring modern cities coexisting with relics of ancient empires. Visit fascinating ports of call, including:
• Kusadasi, Turkey (Ancient Ephesus)
Trace the footsteps of the apostle Paul on his missionary journey.
• Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Byzantium and Constantinople)
Go where many religious crusades were fought, leading this city through transformations from Christianity to Catholicism, and eventually Islam.
• Athens, Greece
Explore one of the world's oldest cities, and discover its many connections to New Thought philosophy.
This once-in-a-lifetime journey includes time for relaxing and meditating, as well as shopping, sunning and sightseeing
Nehemiah XIV
May 6–11, 2012
At Unity Village
More information and registration
Nehemiah Retreats provide an opportunity for members of the Unity community to come together for a week of volunteer work at Unity Village.
The name, taken from the Book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, reflects Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in the 5th century B.C.E., which restored the Jewish people’s faith in God.
Like Nehemiah, retreat guests will volunteer their time for the purpose of rebuilding and restoring the sacred grounds of Unity Village, while providing an opportunity for personal spiritual renewal and growth. Each retreat will have different work projects. Volunteers should select the retreat that best fits their own capacities and skills.
Six-Day Silent Meditation Retreat
With Rev. Carolyne Mathlin
May 27–June 1, 2012 at Unity Village, MO
More information and registration
Of all the spiritual practices you can engage in to change your life, the practice of contemplative prayer, also known as entering the Silence, is by far the most transformational. The Silence is the ground of all being. When you commit to the practice of Silence, you are really making a commitment to listen to the still small voice of God—a voice that is always speaking to you. The question is: Are you listening?
When you listen, you can move mountains. Those mountains can show up in your life as difficult relationships, unhealed hurts, negative patterns and feelings of disconnect with your spiritual nature. These mountains in your life move not from your personality but from the seat of true power, the Silence.
This spring, take time away from the hustle and bustle of life and be on retreat as we enter the Silence at this six-day Silent Meditation Retreat. In the sacred setting of Unity Village, the busy-ness of the world falls away as you minimize distractions and become more present in your inner experience.
During this retreat you will:
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Learn the meditation technique of Centering Prayer.
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Come together for one-hour Silent sits.
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Experience the beauty and natural setting of Unity Village.
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Share dreams, insights and experiences you had in the Silence.
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Have time for questions regarding teachings or your experiences.
Private sessions with retreat leaders will also be available during the week.
Out in the Open: An LGBT Spiritual Experience
Robin Reiter, Sal Sapienza, Jack Fowler and friends
September 27–30, 2012, at Unity Village, MO
More information and registration
“Come on out, come on out into the light. There is no jury. There is no judge. Ready and waiting are the steady arms of love. … So I’m standing here spinning around in the fields of freedom, and I’m still alive and reaching out. And I can feel the healing.” Out in the Open by Chris Eaton and Amy Grant
Join us for a weekend of joyful community and inspired learning at beautiful Unity Village. Together we will create an experience that feeds us and lifts us up to a more authentic way of living … Out in the Open.
Hosts Rev. Mark Fuss, Jenny Hahn and Skip Sams invite you to attend this weekend retreat filled with fun, healing and heart-expanding community. There will be time for nature walks, walking the labyrinth, meditations, drumming and more.
Retreat presenters include Salvatore Sapienza, author of Gay Is a Gift, Rev. Robin Reiter, founder of Sacred Abundance Ministries, and Ken Daigle, creator of Coming Out Spiritually.
Music will be provided by Jack Fowler.
2012 Touching the Stillness Silent Retreat
Presented by Touching the Stillness Ministries with Rev. Paulette Pipe and music by Jack Fowler
Thursday, October 4 - Sunday October 7, 2012 at Unity Village, MO
More information and registration
If you’re someone who balks at the idea of spending extended time in silence and the very thought of it makes you say, “I could never do that,” then this retreat will make a convert of you!
It’s easier than you think, and more rewarding than you can imagine. Beginners and advanced meditators alike will be enriched as, together with Rev. Paulette, you co-create a safe, sacred environment that incorporates just the right amount of soul-nourishing prayer and meditation practices and ushers you deeper and deeper into the silence. Not only will you likely achieve a transformative experience of the Divine but, once you’ve touched the stillness, you may wish for even more time to hush and listen!
This retreat is designed to:
- Safely immerse participants into a dedicated time of silence, reflection and renewal;
- Provide meditation tools and tips to help you move past the chattering, roving mind to the tranquillity of healing, holy silence;
- Provide time for group and individual practice while engaging in the language of silence;
- Create space for silent inter-connectedness with like-minded people on a profound level;
- Include gentle heart-inspiring music that touches the soul;
- Invite an experience of centred calmness that comes from stepping away from the tugging, peace-pecking, hubbub of our daily activities.