RSSUnity, all these years
Yakima Herald-Republic
Unity Spiritual Life Center minister Cheryl Rohret meditates in the church's sanctuary on Wednesday.
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It's simple: Call the number, hear the blessing.
There's no cost for the call, and the uplifting affirmation changes on a daily basis.
"Hello, dear friend, and welcome to Dial-A-Blessing," the voice on the line begins.
After some explanation and maybe a Bible verse -- Monday it was Proverbs 7:1-3 -- the voice, which is calm, clear, soothing, reiterates the message: "Remember, friends, your blessing for today is concentrate. Divine light reveals what my focus is here and now."
Callers can leave a message, requesting prayer, even a call back. The same church volunteer who records the daily blessing returns calls every day, too.
"That's a huge part of Unity, the power of prayer to change the world, to change us," says the Rev. Cheryl Rohret, minister of Yakima's Unity Spiritual Life Center, where Dial-A-Blessing has been a community service and outreach since 1967.
But the church -- the only metaphysical spiritual community in this part of Central Washington, according to Rohret -- has been part of the Yakima Valley longer than that.
Today and Sunday, Unity Spiritual Life Center is celebrating its 75th anniversary.
Rohret, minister at the nondenominational church since 2005, describes the church as "a place for people that are seeking to discover the truth, wherever it is."
"It sort of sounds like 'The X-Files,' " she jokes with a laugh, repeating the tag line of the former sci-fi television show, "The truth is out there."
"Some people say it's spiritual, but not religious," she says. "We're really open to people finding their own way of coming to God."
The Unity Church of Christianity has no strict creed or dogma. In its early years, it was a member of the International New Thought Alliance. But unlike some New Thought groups, Unity accepts "positive, practical Christianity" and modern medicine.
Its five basic principles are:
* God is all good and active in everything, everywhere.
* I am naturally good because God's divinity is in me and in everyone.
* I create my experiences by what I choose to think and what I feel and believe.
* Through affirmative prayer and meditation, I connect with God and bring out the good in my life.
* I do and give my best by living the truth I know. I make a difference.
"We're really into changing bad habits of thinking," says Rohret, who previously served 25 years as a Presbyterian minister, including nine years at Naches Presbyterian Church.
"My dad was a Presbyterian minister; I was a Presbyterian minister. But there was a time when my soul felt constricted by some of the ideas."
She's not alone. Many members of her congregation were once members of different Christian denominations, including Lutheran and Roman Catholic. LeAnne Hathaway, a member of the church since 2003, was raised Baptist.
At Unity, "I love the freedom and the atmosphere and the openness with respect to people's beliefs," she says. "I love the way questions are encouraged, seeking is encouraged."
Banners in the sanctuary proclaim the lyrics to "Let There Be Peace On Earth." A quilted tapestry -- made by a church member and depicting a waterfall and mountains -- decorates the front of the room.
At Sunday services, "We always have a time of quiet meditation," Rohret says. "I think the wall-hanging helps lead you into a place of serenity."
Behind the sanctuary, in a corner of the fellowship hall, books for sale are 40 percent off. Titles include "Open Your Mind and Be Healed," "Wisdom of a Lifetime," "Calm Surrender," and "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success."
In the basement library of the church, portraits of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, the founders of the Unity religion, sit on an upper shelf.
The Fillmores founded Unity in Missouri in 1889 after Myrtle, who was suffering from tuberculosis, was apparently healed after attending a New Thought lecture, praying and repeating the phrase, "As a child of God, I do not inherit sickness." This led to her husband's interest and study of New Thought ideas and practices.
"They began to teach people about how changing their thinking was changing their lives," Rohret says. "They never intended to start a church or spiritual community, but that's what happened."
Today, Unity has about 1,000 churches and groups worldwide, according to the Association of Unity Churches International at www.unity.org.
In Yakima, people began meeting as a Unity study group in the late 1920s and early 1930s. But the church officially formed -- with 40 charter members -- in August of 1933 as the Unity Metaphysical Center. The founding ministers were Christopher and Beulah Scott.
Christopher Scott served the church until 1940. Beulah Scott continued to minister there until 1957. Since then, the church has seen 19 more ministers and had three more name changes.
In 1957, the church became the Unity Center of Yakima. In 1961, it bought its current building at the corner of South Eighth Avenue and Pine Street. A year later, the name changed to Unity Church of The Valley. It became the Unity Spiritual Life Center in 2004, a year before Rohret took the helm. Today, it has about 65 members.
"I'd feel really lost if there wasn't a Unity Spiritual Life Center," says Jeannie Reid, a 20-year member of the church. "Unity encourages people to be themselves. It encourages people to love and forgive one another."
"There isn't a lot of oppressive dogma," she says, "just really good, basic principles to live by."
If you go ...
WHAT: 75th anniversary celebration of Yakima’s Unity Spiritual Life Center
WHEN: Today and Sunday
WHERE: 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the church, 401 S. Eighth Ave. (The deadline to register for tonight’s banquet and silent auction has passed, but Sunday’s worship service — “A Diamond in the Rough” — is free and open to the public.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call the center at 575-5551, or visit www.unity-yakima.org. For Dial-A-Blessing, call 454-4845.
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