History
It was founded in Kansas City, Missouri in 1889 by Charles Fillmore (1854–1948) and Myrtle Fillmore (1845–1931) after Mrs. Fillmore had been cured of her tuberculosis, she believed, by spiritual healing. This resulted in the Fillmores studying spiritual healing, and being influenced by Emma Curtis Hopkins and Mary Baker Eddy (the founder of Christian Science). Unity began without intention of becoming a “church” as demonstrated by the name “Unity School of Christianity.” For the first three-quarters of a century, “it had been an auxiliary type of religion, a booster station amplifying the power of Christian faith.” (Bach, 1965, p 5) Originally it was “A religious-educational movement teaching the use of God-consciousness in everyday life, clarifying the working of divine law, explaining the action of the mind which it calls the connecting link between God and man.” (Bach, 1965, p 5) Leaders and followers, equally shared their understandings in attempts to find “universal truths,” or laws that were true for all persons, all religions, all places, all times. “Unity, a synthesis of all religions, embracing and embraced by all religions, distilled in the essence of Christianity, is essentially the path of goodness. It says, “God is Good” and never ceases saying it.” (Bach, 1965, p 29) As such, its practices can be traced back to a wide variety of religions. It incorporates meditation akin to far east religions. Unity’s 24/7 silent continuous prayer and daily word can be traced to the 18th century Moravian village of Hernhutt. In recent decades it has evolved into a “church” separated from other religions, with definable doctrines of its own.
Unity School of Christianity, shares their insights through magazines, books, and pamphlets and through Silent Unity, a telephone and mail service that offered people help through prayer and counseling. This growth led to several moves within Kansas City, and eventually, after World War I, to the development of Unity Village, 15 miles from Kansas City. The movement was led, in part, after Charles Fillmore’s death, by the Fillmores’ sons and grandchildren.
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)