Unity Spiritual Center Westlake stands at 23855 Detroit Road in Westlake, Ohio, just west of Clague Road and off Interstate 90. A congregation whose official start date was January 24, 1925, it is known for a positive, practical, and progressive approach to Christianity rooted in Jesus, prayer, and New Thought. Its 11 a.m. Sunday service gathers in Unity Hall, while meditation, music, family learning, small groups, service, and Earth Care shape the rest of the week. The welcome is broad and practical, with in-person and livestream worship, live translation, captioning and transcription, a fully accessible building, nursery care, and explicit LGBTQ+ inclusion.
A Century of Prayer in Westlake
Unity Spiritual Center Westlake's official start date was January 24, 1925, and the congregation marked 100 years in 2025. Its story is both local and part of a much broader New Thought movement. The Westlake congregation has carried that lineage into a present-day community centered on practical spiritual living, welcome, and service rather than on a single expression of religious certainty.
Unity's roots reach to Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. They attended New Thought classes in 1886, organized a prayer group in 1890 that became Silent Unity, and published Unity Magazine in 1891. Their 1892 Dedication and Covenant committed their time, money, and lives to the Spirit of Truth through the Society of Silent Unity. Unity began formal minister training in 1931. Its founders treated Jesus as the great example rather than the great exception, interpreted the Bible metaphysically, and taught that God is present within all people.
Unity Spiritual Center Westlake is led by Senior Minister Rev. Dr. Richard Loren Held, who began in November 2024, and Music Director Matthew Wilson, who joined the same month. Held brings more than a decade of spiritual leadership, two ordinations, a Doctor of Divinity, work as a musician and author, and a commitment to inclusive spiritual dialogue. Wilson has joined him in creating the center's music ministry.
The Full Sunday Rhythm
A Sunday at Unity Spiritual Center unfolds as a sequence of spiritual practices rather than a single meeting. The schedule includes time for conversation, meditation, worship, family learning, and fellowship.
- 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The New Thought Café gathers in the Spirit Room for breakfast-style conversation, a short presentation, and table discussion.
- 10:35 to 10:50 a.m. A 15-minute pre-service meditation takes place in the Garden Chapel.
- 11 a.m. to noon Sunday worship is held in Unity Hall, with the Youth and Family Ministry meeting at the same time.
- 12:10 to 12:30 p.m. Coffee, conversation, and connection follow in the Community Room. Baked goods and store-bought treats are welcome contributions.
The gathered service includes a Daily Word reading, prayer, meditation, spiritual teaching, and music. It is a service designed around Unity's conviction that each person is an eternal, individual expression of God and that spiritual principles should be applied in ordinary life. A Daily Word reader may share a passage, while the music ministry supplies singing and instrumental support for the hour.
A first-time visitor enters through Unity Hall, where welcome teams greet guests and their families. The building is fully accessible for people who use wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility aids. Administrative-wing doors remain secured during the morning to support the safety of children and teachers. The center also supports hearing-impaired guests with live transcription and captioning and helps people connect to translation tools. No technical expertise is assumed, and step-by-step assistance is available for people joining the service remotely.
The Sunday service is also streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Streaming generally begins around 10:50 a.m. with announcements and opportunities to connect. Facebook retains live services for 30 days, while YouTube's service archive grows over time. Written transcripts of Rev. Richard's teachings are also available by request.
Photographs and video may be recorded during services and events for promotional purposes. Attendance is treated as consent for the possible use of a guest's image in promotional materials.
Children Grow Within a Safe Learning Community
YFM Nursery welcomes infants, toddlers, and children through age 3 while their families attend the Sunday service. Experienced childcare providers offer a safe, nurturing environment, age-appropriate toys, and equipment for young children's needs. Families are asked to supply diapers, wipes, juice cups, or bottles that their child may need. The nursery staff engages children with an understanding of the presence of Christ within them.
Older children begin their Sunday morning in an Opening Circle that serves as the youth service. The gathering follows a relaxed approach with prayers, meditation, candle lighting, movements paired with affirmations, and joyful songs. Children are encouraged to get to know one another and experience the session as both spiritual learning and fun.
Youth and Family Ministry uses Unity's Living Curriculum, a self-discovery approach built around stories, parables, questions, and activities. Sources include books, movies, the Bible, and video, while prayer, meditation, yoga, theater, and dance add physical and creative expression. Elementary lessons help children understand that they are loved, that Jesus modeled love and goodness, and that they have spiritual potential to express their best selves.
Uniteens serves grades 6 through 8, while Youth of Unity serves grades 9 through 12. The teen programs connect Unity principles with school-age challenges, peer pressure, identity, choice, and leadership. Weekend retreats and rallies combine spiritual reflection with team building, crafts, sports, music, dancing, prayer, and fellowship. The Wednesday Night Youth Group meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for ages 11 through 18, with extra attention to retreat planning and sharing spiritual journeys. No registration or charge is required, and adult volunteers and snack helpers are welcome. Everyone serving on the Youth and Family Ministry Team undergoes background checks.
Prayer and Meditation in Many Forms
The Wednesday Noon Service has continued for more than 20 years and lasts about 30 minutes in the Garden Chapel, with a Zoom option for the community's Connect in Community Room. It begins with a reading from Unity's Daily Word and continues with a Silent Unity Prayer Service meditation. The group shares affirmations about stillness, spiritual understanding, healing, abundance, peace, and Divine Nature. The gathering is offered on a love-offering basis.
Sunday worship is framed by the 15-minute pre-service meditation in the Garden Chapel. On weekdays, an 8 a.m. conference call provides another regular opportunity for affirmative prayer. Rotating leaders draw on the Daily Word, offer a reflection, make space for shared and community prayer, and close with a personal word or phrase intended to empower the day.
Prayer Chaplains support the congregation through affirmative and confidential prayer. Their ministry includes Sunday worship, prayer gatherings, the virtual community, and other ministry activities. Chaplains take part in an oath of confidentiality and a one-year commitment. The Prayer Shawl Ministry creates tangible expressions of care through knitted and crocheted shawls, with its group gathering after Sunday worship on the first Sunday of each month.
Small Groups for Friendship and Inquiry
The Men's Group has met since February 2010 and gathers on the first Saturday from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the Spirit Room, with a Zoom option. Its purpose is to promote friendships among Unity men and provide a welcoming place to discuss spiritual topics without dues, registration, or obligations of service. Participants bring a breakfast item, and coffee is supplied.
Young Adults Meetup brings people ages 18 through 30 together on the third Wednesday from 7 to 8 p.m. for open conversation and connection with fellow spiritual seekers. Participants can attend in the Spirit Room or through Zoom. USC Online Community Meetup convenes virtually on the first Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon for conversation, prayer, spiritual teachings, and the chance to form or deepen caring relationships.
Lunch and Learn meets on third Tuesdays at noon for fellowship, thought-provoking guest speakers, and a potluck or brown-bag meal. The Metaphysical Musings Group meets on fourth Tuesdays from 1 to 3 p.m. to explore unusual experiences and questions about the paranormal in a caring, nonjudgmental environment.
Growing Through Grief meets in the Garden Chapel on the second Sunday of each month. Facilitated by licensed clinical psychotherapist Ellen Severson, it offers a safe, understanding space for people to express and process grief without judgment. The Healing Circle gathers in the Spirit Room on the third Sunday from 12:30 p.m. for 45 minutes to an hour of prayer, meditation, sound, and Reiki healing.
Love Expressed Through Service
USC Outreach Ministry meets in the Spirit Room at 12:30 p.m. on the first Sunday of every month. Its vision is to become a locally recognized community team serving the wider community. Proposed areas of service include nursing homes and schools, food provision, emotional and mental-health support, partnerships with community agencies, seasonal events, free car washes, family movie nights, financial counseling, and prison pen pals.
The center also maintains a discreet Food Library for individuals and families. Contributions are divided into dry goods and canned goods, including pasta, rice, packaged meals, shelf milk, sauces, beans, soups, peanut butter, jelly, proteins, vegetables, and fruits. Family-sized canned goods are welcome, but glass containers should be avoided, and expiration dates are checked. Food is delivered to the office rather than placed directly in the library.
Past outreach projects include collecting hams for Westlake Community Food Bank Easter baskets, sharing needed items with Malachi House, and working with the Prayer Shawl Ministry to give dolls wrapped in prayer shawls and blankets to the Domestic Crisis Intervention Center. Other projects have supported the Westlake Community Food Bank's Thanksgiving baskets, provided personal items, clothing, and blankets to homeless men through Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, collected hats and gloves for City of Cleveland Schools children, donated outerwear to The City Mission, served a holiday meal to residents of the Lantern Center recovery center, and supported a clothing drive for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.
Earth Care Ministry gives the congregation a spiritual and practical framework for caring for the Earth. Its goals include sorting trash from recyclables, turning off lights and faucets, and gradually eliminating noncompliant items such as Styrofoam cups and disposable K-cups. The ministry also focuses on education, community engagement, sustainable practices, volunteer coordination, and tracking its work. The Grateful Gardeners tend the center's gardens with that same awareness, including a butterfly garden along the edge of the outdoor labyrinth.
Rooms That Bring People Together
Unity Spiritual Center has spaces for both intimate gatherings and large celebrations. Unity Hall seats up to 295 in theater-style arrangements, the Community Room accommodates 180, the Spirit Room 60, the Garden Chapel 30, and the K-5 Room 18. The indoor meditation garden and outdoor meditation garden provide quiet settings, while the labyrinth offers a walking path for spiritual practice. The surrounding gardens also support larger outdoor gatherings.
The center's wedding ministry creates personal, spiritual ceremonies for couples with traditional, creative, simple, or elegant preferences. Nondenominational ceremonies are available, as are weddings for same-sex couples and people of all faiths or no faith. The indoor Garden Chapel overlooks the meditation garden, Unity Hall offers larger theater-style seating, and outdoor ceremonies can move indoors if the weather changes. The entire campus is non-smoking under a zero-tolerance policy.
Accessibility extends throughout the visitor experience. The building is fully accessible for people who use wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility aids. Unity Hall's entrance receives guests, and a large parking lot accommodates those arriving for services, weddings, and other events. The property is just off Interstate 90 at Clague and Detroit Roads, and no permit is required for weddings.
Music as a Central Ministry
The Musical Ministry's mission is to provide inspiring, uplifting, high-quality music for Sunday worship and other center programs. Music Director Matthew Wilson is a recording artist, soloist, and performer whose background includes appearances with the Kansas City Symphony and the Grammy Award-winning Kansas City Chorale. His work with other artists has shaped a versatile approach, while his own roots in southern gospel, country, and bluegrass remain an important part of his musical identity.
Wilson directs the choir that supports Sunday worship and rehearses at 9:30 a.m. No previous choir experience is required, and people may attend the first rehearsal without committing. Full attendance is required for continuing choir participation. The ministry's larger goal is music that uplifts, inspires, and helps people experience Unity and New Thought in a meaningful way.
Practical Unity for a Changing World
Unity describes itself as a positive, practical, and progressive approach to Christianity based on the teachings of Jesus and the power of prayer. It honors universal truths in all religions and respects each individual's right to choose a spiritual path. The Westlake congregation adds an emphasis on inclusion, scientific and social perspectives, sound mental health, environmental responsibility, and practices that can be carried into daily life.
Within Unity teaching, God is Spirit, the loving Source of all that is, and is also named Life, Light, Love, Substance, Principle, Law, and Universal Mind. Each person is understood as an eternal, individual expression of God whose essential nature is divine and inherently good. Jesus is honored as a master teacher of universal truths and the great example of the Christ in expression, showing people how to express their own divine potential.
The Bible is studied as history and allegory and interpreted as a metaphysical representation of humanity's journey toward spiritual awakening. Unity also honors the writings as a complex collection shaped by the understanding and inspiration of their original authors, and it continues to regard the Bible as a valuable spiritual resource.
Unity emphasizes the Law of Mind Action, the creative power of thought in life experience. Choosing life-affirming thoughts, words, and actions is connected with a more fulfilling and abundant life. Affirmative prayer releases counterproductive beliefs and holds spiritual truth in mind, while meditation deepens awareness of the Divine. Unity teachings are understood to continue evolving as spiritual insights and new discoveries are applied.
That inclusiveness is explicit. Rev. Richard's welcome to LGBTQ+ people affirms that the Judeo-Christian Bible has never condemned LGBTQ+ people or their loved ones. The center welcomes people with or without a religious affiliation, people of every faith, and those who are simply seeking a spiritual path. Its mission calls it a dynamic community empowering all to embrace and express the Divine, and its vision is love in action, honoring the Divine within all. Acceptance, Love, Community, Connection to Spirit, and Service form its five core values.
Membership, Sacred Service, and the Giving Tree
Everyone is welcome to attend and experience Unity Spiritual Center. Membership is an optional deeper commitment involving regular worship, service, financial support, study of Unity principles, practice of those principles, awareness of community governance, engagement with the minister, and openness to future board service. Membership classes are offered annually for those ready to take that step.
Sacred Service is the practical expression of Unity's fifth principle: living the Truth one knows through thoughts, words, and actions. Opportunities include prayer ministries, youth and family education, Earth Care, outreach, small groups, worship and livestream teams, choir, correspondence, gardening, the library, kitchen service, event support, and leadership training. These roles allow people to share particular talents while building relationships based on Unity's teachings.
Giving is another part of sustaining the center's mission. The Giving Tree is a permanent foyer installation combining art and sculpture. Its bronze, silver, or gold leaves carry engraved messages of love, blessing, hope, or thanks, and larger contributions may be represented by an acorn, wooden rock, or eagle. Donations can be placed in the Sunday offering basket, mailed to the center, made with the credit card terminal, or submitted through online giving. Unity Spiritual Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its giving supports ordinary operations, long-term sustainability, and the endowment fund.
At its center, Unity Spiritual Center Westlake continues the rhythm that has defined the congregation since 1925: Sunday worship at 11 a.m., daily prayer and meditation, learning for children and adults, music, service, and a welcome wide enough for each person to find a spiritual path within community.